Physical & Mental health

[Leif 6,006]

Ever since FSW joined the club I've found it harder to lose weight. Coincidence? Let's pretend it's not so I have another reason to hate him

[Rmpr 8,977]

Ever since FSW joined the club I've found it harder to lose weight. Coincidence? Let's pretend it's not so I have another reason to hate him

WTF LEIF???? WTF????

I told you not to go to his restaurant. All that paella isnt helping...

[dumps 284]

Thanks for the excellent feedback guys. I guess I do need to state my goals though - basically my body fat percentage is at around 25% so ideally is like to cut down a lot on BF. I'd love to lose like 10%. My body looks very lopsided and uneven to me and I beat myself up about it sometimes but enough is enough really.

I also want to get bigger arms mainly - I think my torso to arm ratio is very weird. My torso seems to be huge compared to my arms.

Another question is should I work on losing BF first (I'm not exactly sure on how to do this btw) or just work on my strength and getting my arms, chest and legs etc. bigger? Or do I just combine it sort of?

Also to note that I used to be in my uni basketball team but sort of gave up because I ain't fit enough really. I really need to pick myself up. But I know I can't demand for too much yet - I'd prioritise losing BF% and getting bigger arms over getting fitter for basketball - I want to work on that aspect in the summer. What should I do guys?

Thanks again.

Well this isnt somethigng thats gonna be fixed in a couple of months. to achieve what you want you need to be thinking over the course of a year.

my advice would be start with fat loss. when it comes to losing fat i like to think of it as quantity not quality of exercise (i.e. you dont need to be pushing yourself as hard as possible, hell, you dont even need to 'exercise' - ill explain) the more physically active you are, the more calories you will burn. for the first 4 weeks of this i would mainly focus on fat loss alone, and this just means be active and eat well. if you tell me your height,weight and age i can get a rough idea of what your calorie intake should be, and then its just a case of eating a few hundered less calories than that and being active.

being physically active is anything from just taking the stairs instead of the lift. walking/cycling to places rather than driving. all these little things add up. when you are in the gym, if heart rate monitors are available aim to hit 110-135 bpm (this is very easy, and you will feel like you arent achieving anything), this is an optimal zone for burning fat. get in the gym as much as you can, because you will then feel like you have to exercise, try to be more active throughout your life, and eat well.

at the gym, like i said whenever you can, get to 130bpm and do it for as long as time allows you, even if its just for 10 minutes, better than nothing. at least once a week try and do some muscle training, and work your main muscles, legs, core, chest, back. you want to get bigger arms etc, so start on them a well, but dont expect to see anything spectacular in terms of adaptations. you may not see any improvements, but you will prevent losing what muscle you already have. also try do one session of cardiovascular work, whether its cycling or running, try and aim for 160-180bpm, and you can either do this for 20-45 minutes, or you can do some interval training (depends on your current level of fitness - if you want to play basketball again, you'll be wanting to eventually focus on interval trianing - in the future though, not just yet!).

after 4 or so weeks, start to add in another strength session, keep up the fat burn stuff, but maybe drop one and swap it for a strength one.

you can see where im going with this. start with the fat burn, then try to slowly change this to a weight programme, at your own rate.

then once you are at a stage where you are happy with your BF, look to then gain weight in terms of muscle, this means a change of diet (need to eat more) and a heavy strength programme.

that is a really rough guide of what you should look to do over a year or more. you will need the motivation and dedication, but thats it in a nutshell.

so step one would be to focus on the fat burn, and worry about nothing else - start with 1 week of fat burn, on the second week continue but add in a cardio session. week 3 continue with the same thing but at a strength session as well, then maintain that for as long as you wish before you start removing the fat burn sessions for weights.

[SinineUltra 1,170]

Definitely don't run at 160-180 heart rate, not healthy unless you train for athletic reasons. You want aerobic endurance before aerobic power. Aim for 140 bpm at tops. I've done this mistake and ran in a wrong zone, not doing anything good for you.

More info:

- http://www.livestrong.com/article/130246-average-heart-rate-running/

- http://www.coachr.org/heart_rate_training_for_improved.htm

Cutting down on salt can help a bit due to water retention by salt.

- http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_salt.php

[dumps 284]

Definitely don't run at 160-180 heart rate, not healthy unless you train for athletic reasons. You want aerobic endurance before aerobic power. Aim for 140 bpm at tops. I've done this mistake and ran in a wrong zone, not doing anything good for you.

More info:

- http://www.livestrong.com/article/130246-average-heart-rate-running/

- http://www.coachr.org/heart_rate_training_for_improved.htm

160bpm is piss easy. but you are right, which is why i said do this after a week or 2 of fat burning at 130bpm. he also said he used to play basketball, so hitting 190-200bpm will be nothing new to him.

[SinineUltra 1,170]

160bpm is piss easy. but you are right, which is why i said do this after a week or 2 of fat burning at 130bpm. he also said he used to play basketball, so hitting 190-200bpm will be nothing new to him.

One thing is hitting those numbers for short period of time and then having a rest aka interval training. Other thing is to be in red zone at 180 bpm for 20-45 mins, especially as a beginner. No amateur should do this. Pros do this to be better at mid-length distances as 400m, 1000m etc. He will have a taste of blood in his mouth.

I'm not trying to discredit you, you are very knowledgeable at biochemistry in general but for people who are beginning too much info is a buzzkill - babysteps.

BAAAA!! 1-0

[The Skipper 20,593]

Thanks again guys, I'll try and take the tips mentioned here and conjure up some rough programme, which I will post on here again when I have time for you guys to have a look at. To dumps, I'm around 5'10"/11" and weigh around 180lbs, and also I'm 19. Any more tips would be very welcoming.

[dumps 284]

ok according to a calculation developed by WHO (world health organisation) you need about 1900kcal a day just to survive, (if you were to do no exercise). with doing regular exercise that will raise to about 2400kcal a day.

so if you eat 2000 kcal a day (assuming you are exercising regulrarly) you will be in a deficit of about 400kcal which is pretty good. thats about 45g of fat lost a day. (wouldnt just be fat though unfortunately). thats quite a lot. if you were consistent, after 18 days you'd have lost 1kg of weight. however, this will not happen, its extremely hard ot maintain it. some days you wont do as much exercise. some days youll do more. some days youll eat what you shouldnt, some days you will and plus its not just fat you are burning, i did those calculations assuming it was just fat being burnt, which it is not. but its a rough idea.

diet is super important though, you need to make sure hte calories yo uare eating are giving you the nutrients you need.

[Leif 6,006]

Kinda proud of how active this thread has become

[Leif 6,006]

I feel desktop + phone wallpapers are underestimated. They really can change/influence your day; whether it be a particular colour which changes your mood, the location of a place which brings back happy memories, or inspiring/motivational quotes to get you ready for a workout or challenge. I'll post some of my own in-use backgrounds (which I use on rotation) in a bit.

http://imgur.com/k1mTGFW

http://imgur.com/WYb4HYV

http://imgur.com/xmOT5tC

http://imgur.com/4T4iIza

http://imgur.com/vNRUEqn

http://imgur.com/NBvnYW0

[Rmpr 8,977]

Kinda proud of how active this thread has become

It is a very good thread mate, specially now that I will start to regularlly work out!

[dumps 284]

its a great thread to get me revising! Im very grateful for it. getting me to go though my old notes!

[Korea 734]

in Korea, people go crazy with dieting.....

I remember when I went to Korea for a "detox," I ate like 1.2-1.4k calories a day...

Also, regarding measuring body fat, i hope you guys aren't using some 10-20 dollar scale, height/weight nonsense, and most people that use calipers don't pull enough fat in to properly measure your bf.

The best way I heard ( I never did it ) is DEXA Scanning........ If you go to a university now, they should have access to these machines...

[dumps 284]

the skin folds are regressed with the scanning. we have a scanner at our uni, but you cant just walk in and use it.. there needs to be a reason and you need to get approval etc from the uni as its fairly pricey. best way to get to use it is to be a subject in some research involving it!

[Rmpr 8,977]

I will be honest and say I dont fucking care about BF% and that kind of stuff...I just go by what I am feeling. Am I feeling healthy and in good shape? Then everything is fine!

What is the difference if it is with 12% or 15%?

[Leif 6,006]

About to do 40mins (if i manage) of Insanity with this asshole shouting at me (yes, it does actually work!). #PrayForLeif

[Korea 734]

I think most young people can't really assess if your healthy or not. Since, our mentality is that we run the world, therefore we are invincible.....

On a side not, living in the States, I never felt fat.... I used to play american football, so I was built like Maurice Jones Drew... However, after i finished football in high school, all that muscle went to blubber. Yet, I felt uber powerful, since I was young and strong......... Than, I went to korea and realized how much of a fat slob I was... lol

[Leif 6,006]

Finished the cardio. Did 30 minutes of Insanity instead of the 40 but did 20 minutes on the treadmill at a decent pace. Now to do some free dumbbells while reading posts on here between sets