2552 replies to this topic

[DoctorBlackJack]

I work out Mon-Thurs for about two hours each day. Covering upper body on MW and lower body on TTh, but all four days encompassing ab workouts as well.

It's good that you're including cardiovascular workout too, Crimson! I overheard a guy talking in the locker room yesterday. He's pretty big, but he talks about how muscle bound he is, and how painful it is for him to do things like bend down, kneel, to fix the kitchen sink.

In other words, stay flexible. Stretching's really important too ...

[Spookmeister C]

I haven't exercised in years, I think. But I guess I make up for it by working a lot here...of course I'm not working now but y'know what I mean...

[thecreeper]

I need to lose weight. I'm tired of being fat. So I have decided that I'm going to start dieting and exercising. Building muscle isn't as important to me as losing weight. So what is a good activity for me to do? A lot of walking?

thecreeper weight loss plan spanned about 11 months of 2001, during which time i went from 280 to 190 or so. after i began drinking more and ballooned in college, i went on another diet in april of this year and lost about 15-20 pounds to date (still trying to get rid of 10 more).

i think it's hard to simply tell someone else exactly what works and what doesn't but in general, i went out and got a gym membership (up yours boglin). you'd be surprised how much more it motivates you to go when you are dropping 30-50 bucks a month on a membership. second, if you don't know what to do, ASK. i made this mistake early on and hurt the fuck out of myself. if you want to just drop weight, not concerned about muscle, elliptical or stair climber is a pretty safe bet. i can burn 250-300 calories every ten mins on a stair climber. i also like to run at least a mile or two on the treadmills just to keep a good stamina. depending on your weight and wind though, it might be a good idea to start on the bikes. and whatever you do, it's important to sustain it. you really should get over 20 mins of cardio in during a workout. i also make a point to do 100 situps/50 pushups during my weight lifting phase as well. i think the most important thing is to do a workout that is sustainable and fun for yourself. try some things, and make sure you WANT to do the workout you make for yourself. i remember a teacher from college telling me that if you want to lose weight, 4-5 times a week at the gym is really the way to do it. 3 times or less will result in smaller weight loss or just maintaining your current status, depending on the intensity of the workout. when i was really losing a lot of weight, i would do a pushups/situps routine every night i didnt go to the gym, so that at least there was some activity for that day.

the best advice i can give for diet/foods is to start cutting out sugar. i started out by getting rid of non-diet sodas, anything dessert type thing, and sugary snacks. pretzels are a decent low fat alternative for a snack. lately i've been trying to get away from diet sodas as well, preferring to go with water or non-caffeinated beverages. i agree with what bogs said about meat, i try to only eat lean meats, like turkey, ham, chicken. i probably don't have the best habits, in that i eat a lot of pasta, but i prefer the energy i get from starches. i suppose i really should cut back there though. i've been still looking to drop some more weight, and sherv suggested i start calorie watching. I am going to shoot for 1500 calories/day or lower, and see how that works for me. i think that will help with my tendency to overeat at dinner too.

[Kirk]

I ate 3 300-400 calorie meals a day each 4 hours a part.

It sucks, and it's hard, but it works.

You can eat more calories though if you exercise. When I was too big that my legs couldn't bare the burden of jogging, I did punching bag exercises, which you don't even need a punching bag for. You might feel odd punching the shit out of the air, but make a playlist 25-30 minutes long, and punch to it, doing different speeds during songs and some jogging in place when you need to give your arms a break.

If you diet and/or exercise, give it a few weeks before you see a difference on the scale. Don't even weigh yourself more than once a week.

I've gained 15 since I started school, but I'm about to break out the biggest loser work out DVD and get back on my "diet".

Losing weight can be stressful at first, but it gets easier once you stop feeling ashamed about it.

Look at me be serious. cocks dicks lol

edit: To emphasize what creeper said, stop drinking soda.

[Skiptastic]

Typically, I go to my apartment's "gym" and do the elliptical for 30-45 minutes on Monday night, right before football so I'm not bored. Finish off that with either a 30 minutes walk on the treadmill (I'm not sure I really like the treadmill but whatever) and/or some time smacking the racquetball around. I started playing racquetball with my dad on Wednesdays and a buddy on Thursdays because I was turning into quite the lazy and fatigued bastard.

I've never really had to lose weight, necessarily, but I need exercise to let out aggression, help me sleep, and to get out the beer I have on weekends. I really wish I could get back into the weight lifting routine I had way back when I was a junior in high school doing my physical conditioning class. Nothing motivated me more to do things that are good for me than knowing a grade depended on doing them, so while others used it as kind of a free class to sit and chat (my brother did that five years later) I really walked around and put in the effort for that class, and boy I never felt stronger than I did after that class. Since then, I have little to no motivation to do that, so I struggle to get into weight lifting. Maybe if I was doing it with someone I know I could get into it, but that's not happening around here.

[Shervz0r]

I say tear your ACL! I've lost 17 pounds now since my operation, granted that includes some atrophy in the leg.

But yeah, what Creeper and Kirk write is definitely important, regulating your calorie intake, as well as getting some activity in. Before my trip to Turkey I was going to the gym everyday to do weight training and cardio every other day for 20-30 minutes on an elliptical. My biggest downfall is regulating my diet, I just love food....but set a realistic goal for yourself and try to attain it, it's very rewarding!

edit: oh yeah, make a good playlist to listen to, that is absolutely CRUCIAL

[DoctorShumway]

I did this program, combined with weights.

http://www.coolrunni...2/2_3/181.shtml

3 times a week I do the running part (I'm now finished and run 3 miles each time out), then rotate around several weight machines that work the upper body muscles running misses (arms, abs, chest, shoulders, etc.). I lost about 20 pounds doing this and have gained some muscle for once in my life. I was never a huge fan of running, but this program worked for me. I probably could have lost more weight if I dieted too, but I didn't feel like it was all that necessary.

Besides, food and booze are fucking awesome.

[Shervz0r]

Wow Doc, that's a pretty sweet plan...I hate running cuz it kills my shins so much but I bet if I slowly tried to ease into it like that it'd be much better. Nice!

One thing about working out is that you wanna be sure you're doing the exercises correctly otherwise, as I think Creeps said, you'll end up hurting yourself.

I'm usually not comfortable asking random people in the gym how to do things so I looked around online and found this site: http://www.fitnessva.....e library.htm

It's kinda goofy but it has pictures which, upon rollover, animate to show you the basic gist of each exercise. I know I was messing up my declined chest presses when I wasn't lifing perpendicular to the ground but rather perpendicular to my body. Oops.

[Skiptastic]

So, how much does a Shum weigh, Doctor?

After reading that link, that jogging routine does look pretty badass. I think I'm going to start incorporating that into my workout schedule.

[jvincion]

I've dropped 45 pounds since starting at the gym six months ago, but I seemed to have plateaued a bit around 260. I think I probably want to get down to about 220, so I'm gonna have to start doing like an hour and a half of cardio a day if I'm gonna do it, since I've pretty much cut all my sugar and eat small meals. Don't write off caffeine, though - done properly, it can be good for weight loss.

To Mr. Boglin - yes, my gym is full of yuppies (present company very excluded - it is in downtown Seattle, though), but the employees are friendly and my personal trainer (also named Jason) is teaching me how to break arms and choke people out. It's good times. Plus, it's kitty korner from my office building and how can you go wrong with that? I don't think I could work out to AgNo, but "Cause of Death" sounds like it could be a winner. \m/

[Ryan8bit]

For some reason the winter seems to inspire me to go there more.

Somehow I feel the same. It's easier to go outside and cool down afterward. Also, I seem to be more motivated in general when it's dark out.

[DoctorShumway]

Wow Doc, that's a pretty sweet plan...I hate running cuz it kills my shins so much but I bet if I slowly tried to ease into it like that it'd be much better. Nice!

It used to hurt mine too, but I found this stretch that helps with it. You put the heel of one foot on top of the toes of the other foot and try to push your toes down, using the other foot as resistence for 10-15 seconds, then switch. I do this during the day whenever I think of it and it has completely eliminated shin splints for me.

[Ken Oh]

Good stuff, MrBoglin. I pirated a pdf of that book (hey, I'm in China....ok, I'd probably pirate it anyway) and couldn't believe I hadn't thought about the Door Pull-ups myself. I'm a "Do whatever you can with a floor and 4 walls" kind of guy, but I've always been wanting just a bar of some kind. I think the door will work perfectly.

I'm a martial artist and pretty active with personal, gravity or inertia-based training. I've never had much problem with weight, other than trying to -gain- it, until the last few years when I started to put on a little gut. Not much to complain about, but a warning sign. So, most of my workouts are performance based.

Also, about what MrBoglin said on 6 meals a day, that's potentially more important than calorie intake. I can't believe how many people, girls especially, skip breakfast because they think it'll help them lose weight. It does just the opposite. They really meant it when they said "Breakfast is the most important meal." When you don't eat breakfast, it kills your metabolism, making you sluggish and tired. Then, when you eat lunch, your metabolsm rises and crashes, because your body is trying to conserve energy. The people who don't eat breakfast will most likely eat a large dinner and have a ton of that convery straight to fat.

Where people get confused is if you eat a decent breakfast, you get hungry at lunch. People who don't eat breakfast often cite that you'll just want to eat again soon. The difference is that if you eat breakfast and you get hungry, it means your metabolism is kicking and food you eat actually turns into energy.

The worst case of this that I've seen is this girl. She dates and lives with a guy who's eating habbits are horrible. On a good day she'll get up at 10am, eat something small at 3pm, go to work and then come back from work and eat around 11pm. She'll eat what the dude eats, probably a big plate of pasta and sauce and then go to sleep within the next 2 hours. She's literally doubled her weight within the last 4 years, probably most like tripled. She's getting bigger all the time, bought a dress for a wedding 3 months ago and had to buy another one recently because she's got another wedding to go to.

Another example is Sumo wrestlers. Want to know one way they put on all that fat? They eat a ton and then go to sleep right afterwards. Want to know why opera singers are often fat? Because they sing all day, they can't eat very much during practice or it messes with their breathing and singing. Then, the only chance they get to eat is late at night, before they go to bed.

The jist being, eat often and avoid eating late.

[Daemon9623]

I always feel like I'm eating late because I tend to have dinner around midnight... but then I end up not going to sleep for another 4 hours... and most nights I'll end up working out anyways.

Ken, do you know what the optimal target time to eat after you get up would be? I used to generally never eat breakfast (mostly because I don't like a lot of breakfast foods), but I've started to again in the past few months. On school days though I tend to not eat for 1-2 hours after I get up because I end up rising just in time for class and then I get something to eat afterwards (except on testing days... then it's always Tuna for dinner and that Smart Start stuff for breakfast).

[XMark]

So I was just yawning and stretching yesterday, when I noticed on my forearm, around where it meets the elbow - a bulge of muscle that wasn't there before. Sweet.