I need a scale, so I know just how much I am hulking out. there was one at the gym that vanished
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VivixenneRemember your training, and we'll get through this just fine.Registered Userregular
edited May 2014
I wasn't asking to be pandered to. I did say I don't know how much I weigh and honestly I've never cared.
My point was I still feel bad about my body sometimes - in terms of how it looks. Shrug. It happens. Numbers don't factor in for me and for others, they tend to be a secondary part of how we beat ourselves up or celebrate ourselves.
Hi health thread, I am trying to get into shape this summer!
I'm lucky and have a crazy metabolism so I've been able to eat pretty much anything without gaining significant weight (although my stomach has gotten a little chubby which is weird given I am rail thin everywhere else) so I don't really know what to do, diet and fitness wise?
I've been working out on an every other day schedule, like this:
Monday: Jog a mile on the treadmill, do 15 bicep curls, bench press-things (I'm using my apartment's machine and it has, like pullies and handles) and whatever the thing that works your shoulders and back at 35 pounds (like I said I'm super out of shape) then cyclemachine 3.5 miles and do another set of arm/back stuff
Tuesday: Do 50 crunches, rest otherwise
Wednesday: Same as Monday
Thursday: Same as Tuesday, etc.
I'm 6'1, and weigh around 160 last time I checked. I tried the My FItness Pal thing but it seems to be focusing on weight loss whereas I'm more trying to get lean muscle and stuff
Suggestions?
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Squats, lunges and deadlift. Does your apartment gym have any free weights?
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I am about to go for a 5k run for the first time in weeks. To prepare for a 10k run on Sunday. Yep that sounds like a perfect training plan, well done me.
At least it's pissing with rain, so I can prepare for it pissing with rain on Sunday.
Hi health thread, I am trying to get into shape this summer!
I'm lucky and have a crazy metabolism so I've been able to eat pretty much anything without gaining significant weight (although my stomach has gotten a little chubby which is weird given I am rail thin everywhere else) so I don't really know what to do, diet and fitness wise?
I've been working out on an every other day schedule, like this:
Monday: Jog a mile on the treadmill, do 15 bicep curls, bench press-things (I'm using my apartment's machine and it has, like pullies and handles) and whatever the thing that works your shoulders and back at 35 pounds (like I said I'm super out of shape) then cyclemachine 3.5 miles and do another set of arm/back stuff
Tuesday: Do 50 crunches, rest otherwise
Wednesday: Same as Monday
Thursday: Same as Tuesday, etc.
I'm 6'1, and weigh around 160 last time I checked. I tried the My FItness Pal thing but it seems to be focusing on weight loss whereas I'm more trying to get lean muscle and stuff
Suggestions?
I was in a similar state to you two years ago - 6'1", 80kg, deadlift/squat/bench press: 120/80/40kg. I was doing Ironman triathlons and ultramarathons at the time but I didn't look at all impressive.
Currently, by doing the below I am 107kg at similar bf% and my lifts are: 227.5/185/125kg. I look a lot better.
You and some of the other beginners I've seen posting would probably benefit from reading this: http://simplesciencefitness.com/
It's the most accurate, complete and concise answer I've found to 'how do I get in shape?'
Your metabolism is very unlikely to be so high that you cannot gain weight, you just need to eat more. MFP can accommodate specific goals and if you want to gain weight then you need to be consistently eating a surplus of calories with an emphasis on getting sufficient protein (~1g/kg bodyweight). Work out your TDEE, add 10% to that and aim to hit it for a period of several weeks, assessing progress and adjusting numbers if you don't see changes.
You have fat around the abdomen because that's where most people store their fat first - it's nearer your centre of mass there and insulates the organs. If you have prominent abdominal fat then you probably have >15% bodyfat, which is not ideal. Crunches will have no effect on this, and are generally a worthless exercise, you must reduce your body fat to ~10% or below to have visible abs (more for women) and this is almost entirely down to eating at a caloric deficit, which is not ideal for someone aiming to gain muscle.
As you want to gain muscle and not just fat you'll have to do a progressively loaded weight training routine, for moderate reps (~8), going somewhere near muscular failure. Preferably doing compound exercises with a barbell. There are lots of proven programs and resources available to assist with this, some of the most common are mentioned here: http://simplesciencefitness.com/#anaerobic-training
You can build muscle without a barbell and squat rack, but it is harder. Dumbbells can be used, as can bodyweight (see nerd fitnesses BW workout). Machines are suboptimal for various reasons.
Your current routine is highly unlikely to give you any noticeable gains in strength or change your appearance because it doesn't sound like you increase the weight, you do too many reps at too light a weight and it doesn't train many of the largest muscles in the body.
Cardio is exactly that, cardiovascular exercise - it trains your energy systems to be more efficient at conducting long-duration exercise. It will only reduce muscle mass in the long term (to become more efficient) and burns a relatively insignificant number of calories (compared to adjusting the diet) for the purposes of weight-loss or body recomposition unless performed at high intensity for an extended period. I personally don't do any at all and it hasn't harmed my body composition. You probably would benefit from some for the sake of general fitness, but it shouldn't be the emphasis if your goal is changing how you look. There's plenty of recent evidence that shorter duration high intensity exercise is optimal for improving CV fitness without muscle loss, whereas long duration steady-state cardio is best for getting better at running marathons.
Anyway, apologies if this is a bit ranty. I've been meaning to reply to a bunch of the beginner Q's in the new thread and yours is the first I've found time for, so it's somewhat generally directed.
Decided to work towards a 100 push up challenge on my days off the gym for fun. Been doing it for a week now, just did 120 push ups, not in a row, spaced out in 5 sets with 60 second breaks in between.
I'm getting better about appreciating things about myself, but I'm still occasionally tuning out those voices from when I was little that told me I didn't look the way they thought I should.
I'm trying not to let the numbers get me down while I focus on getting healthier.
Well, day one of fat guy trying to get into shape resulted in a pretty harsh wake up this morning. I knew I probably overdid it and that my body wasn't used to it - but wow. My arms and back and shoulders are just humming this morning and I woke up with a splitting headache (that could be unrelated though)...and I don't have any advil at work.
I did a little on the exercise bike, a mile on the treadmill, some weight stuff, and then punched our heavy bag. Overall about an hour of exercise...and because my son had to get to the shower/bed I didn't cool down quite as much as I should have.
I just keep telling myself it will get easier and eventually my manboobs will start to vanish. That's a good motivator.
Well, day one of fat guy trying to get into shape resulted in a pretty harsh wake up this morning. I knew I probably overdid it and that my body wasn't used to it - but wow. My arms and back and shoulders are just humming this morning and I woke up with a splitting headache (that could be unrelated though)...and I don't have any advil at work.
I did a little on the exercise bike, a mile on the treadmill, some weight stuff, and then punched our heavy bag. Overall about an hour of exercise...and because my son had to get to the shower/bed I didn't cool down quite as much as I should have.
I just keep telling myself it will get easier and eventually my manboobs will start to vanish. That's a good motivator.
First step brah! Some soreness/ DOMS is very normal when you start. Once your body gets its stuff together for putting in the effort that will likely be greatly reduced, so don't think that a workout wasn't a good one just because you didn't end up sore.
Well, day one of fat guy trying to get into shape resulted in a pretty harsh wake up this morning. I knew I probably overdid it and that my body wasn't used to it - but wow. My arms and back and shoulders are just humming this morning and I woke up with a splitting headache (that could be unrelated though)...and I don't have any advil at work.
I did a little on the exercise bike, a mile on the treadmill, some weight stuff, and then punched our heavy bag. Overall about an hour of exercise...and because my son had to get to the shower/bed I didn't cool down quite as much as I should have.
I just keep telling myself it will get easier and eventually my manboobs will start to vanish. That's a good motivator.
When I started I did the same thing with the overdoing - the headache might be partly from dehydration. As you start getting into it, make sure you're keeping up your water intake before/during/after your workout.
So, one of my friends is trying to be "healthier" but I think she's endangering herself...any thoughts? Spoilered for kinda-long:
So, one of my friends who's been overweight for a number of years, and made lots of half-hearted attempts to be healthier...told me a few months ago that she went vegan to try and eliminate foods that her body was struggling to digest (she's lactose intolerant and for some reason a bunch of other foods were bothering her too), and recently told me that she's lost 26 lbs! Her attitude towards life seems much healthier, and she's thinking of joining a local gym. All great, right?
...but on Facebook she keeps on "liking" posts from this girl's page....somebody called "Freelee - the Banana Girl"? Feel free to look her up. Basically a girl that struggled with eating disorders in the past (and is now apparently "completely healthy" and extremely thin looking) is touting her vegan, high fruit diet...that sometimes consists of eating ONLY dozens of bananas a day, or only two pineapples, or only 2 liters of orange juice, etc. This person posted a Youtube video that showed a recent blood test where all her results were apparently in the healthy range. The "Banana Girl" says that all the doctors and nutritionists that tell her she's malnourished are liars and it's all a big nutritional conspiracy. She has a huge number of followers.
My friend also shared an "infographic" a few weeks ago that suggested that some other mono-food health nut got "all her necessary protein from eating cherry tomatoes" because "cherry tomatoes are 20% protein". I linked my friend to something that showed that this person did not do their math properly, because there are 0.18 GRAMS of protein in a single cherry tomato...which does not mean that the cherry tomato is 20% protein. My friend never replied, but may have deleted her post.
So...am I crazy to think that the "Banana Girl" and these other people my friend is following are wildly, wildly unhealthy? I'm afraid that my friend is losing weight because she's following the advice from people that have no idea what they're doing...:( My friend doesn't use computers very often or the internet, so I'm not sure if she's aware how prevalent this stuff can be. Any of you guys dealt with this before? Is it actually possible these people are healthy and I am just completely wrong?
So, one of my friends is trying to be "healthier" but I think she's endangering herself...any thoughts? Spoilered for kinda-long:
So, one of my friends who's been overweight for a number of years, and made lots of half-hearted attempts to be healthier...told me a few months ago that she went vegan to try and eliminate foods that her body was struggling to digest (she's lactose intolerant and for some reason a bunch of other foods were bothering her too), and recently told me that she's lost 26 lbs! Her attitude towards life seems much healthier, and she's thinking of joining a local gym. All great, right?
...but on Facebook she keeps on "liking" posts from this girl's page....somebody called "Freelee - the Banana Girl"? Feel free to look her up. Basically a girl that struggled with eating disorders in the past (and is now apparently "completely healthy" and extremely thin looking) is touting her vegan, high fruit diet...that sometimes consists of eating ONLY dozens of bananas a day, or only two pineapples, or only 2 liters of orange juice, etc. This person posted a Youtube video that showed a recent blood test where all her results were apparently in the healthy range. The "Banana Girl" says that all the doctors and nutritionists that tell her she's malnourished are liars and it's all a big nutritional conspiracy. She has a huge number of followers.
My friend also shared an "infographic" a few weeks ago that suggested that some other mono-food health nut got "all her necessary protein from eating cherry tomatoes" because "cherry tomatoes are 20% protein". I linked my friend to something that showed that this person did not do their math properly, because there are 0.18 GRAMS of protein in a single cherry tomato...which does not mean that the cherry tomato is 20% protein. My friend never replied, but may have deleted her post.
So...am I crazy to think that the "Banana Girl" and these other people my friend is following are wildly, wildly unhealthy? I'm afraid that my friend is losing weight because she's following the advice from people that have no idea what they're doing...:( My friend doesn't use computers very often or the internet, so I'm not sure if she's aware how prevalent this stuff can be. Any of you guys dealt with this before? Is it actually possible these people are healthy and I am just completely wrong?
Humans are pretty robust creatures, getting 100% of your calories in a day from bananas once in a while won't kill you. But the idea that this is a efficient way to go about controlling your weight is batshit insane. As long as she consumes a variety of foods on the non-crazy days to fulfill the nutrients and vitamins that bananas don't provide there probably won't be any long term physical issues.
This all assumes she has a healthy digestive system and isn't diabetic. I imagine gorging on carbs all day would not be so great for your insulin.
the fiber in fruits helps a lot in regulating how fast the sugar gets absorbed. but eating 12 bananas in a day sounds like a good way to start hating bananas
Yeah, I mean...if this is a once-in-awhile thing, that's probably no big deal...that Banana Woman she's following though appears to eat only fruit for like 90+% of her diet.
I can see my friend falling into the "crazy fad diet" stuff pretty easily...eating a well-balanced list of foods has never really appealed to her - she doesn't cook ever, and has said she doesn't even want to have to think about figuring out what she has to eat. She's told me before that she just wants a personal trainer who gives her an exact list of foods to eat for every meal so there's no effort on her part to figure it out.
So, I can see her catching on to the idea of "just eat one of these 5 fruits for a whole day!" pretty easily. Augh. :C
the fiber in fruits helps a lot in regulating how fast the sugar gets absorbed. but eating 12 bananas in a day sounds like a good way to start hating bananas
Try 57 bananas. That's what that Banana person has eaten some days. And only that.
[edit] Banana person has said that you can eat "unlimited calories" with this diet. She says she eats 2000 - 5000 a day.
This will depend on how well you know your friend and what you're comfortable saying to her but eating that way long term is super dangerous so if that's what she's doing someone needs to tell her.
That's going to be how I handle it moving forward, I think. I actually have no clue what she's eating every day, so I can't tell if she's doing this at all right now, or if she plans to...but knowing her as well as I do, I'm just really concerned about whether she would try this at all. I don't have full confidence that she'd stop after three days...or a month...if she was getting results.
Thanks for the input guys. I might ask her about it soon. We have plans to see eachother in July so I can try talking to her about it in-person then, too.
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
yea, weights just a number. Are you fit and eating healthy? Those are my personal metrics. Am I strong and in shape enough to do the things I like to do at a level I like to do them at. Do I eat healthy and in a way that isn't destroying my body. Those are my goals though. Lots of people have different goals, like looking a certain way, or fitting into certain kinds of clothing. Those are completely valid too.
My thing is that the goals should come from the inside, and not pushed onto a person from the outside.
The problem is that weight is sometimes a very important number. BMI is still used for certain things even though everyone and their mother will tell you that it's stupid and not that helpful.
If, for example, a woman would like to donate her eggs her application might not even be looked at if her BMI is considered too high.
The problem is that weight is sometimes a very important number. BMI is still used for certain things even though everyone and their mother will tell you that it's stupid and not that helpful.
If, for example, a woman would like to donate her eggs her application might not even be looked at if her BMI is considered too high.
Or could be refused certain medications, or even medical coverage
Companies are starting to make noise with their health insurance plans, making it mandatory to go get routine checks and visit with nutritionists. It's not hard to imagine a world where they start to tie BMI to premiums or some nonsense.
Companies are starting to make noise with their health insurance plans, making it mandatory to go get routine checks and visit with nutritionists. It's not hard to imagine a world where they start to tie BMI to premiums or some nonsense.
It's not hard to imagine because this is that world
Companies are starting to make noise with their health insurance plans, making it mandatory to go get routine checks and visit with nutritionists. It's not hard to imagine a world where they start to tie BMI to premiums or some nonsense.
Yep. Last two companies I've worked for have had "Wellness Programs" that involved bloodwork, biometric screenings, meeting with health counselors. If you did as they say/passed their checks by a certain point in the year you got a substantial break on your monthly premium for the next year. It wouldn't surprise me to see that "discount" become high enough that it would more or less force participation (or become a penalty against your paycheck), especially for lower-income employees. Putting a weight/BMI goal, a blood pressure level, whatever isn't too far of a stretch.
Unrelated, I'm looking for tips to help with weight/strength progression on overhead presses. My progress has all but halted in terms of weight/development. Any of you guys who know more than me have a good idea of the number of reps/set to help push through where I'm stuck. Like the minimum reps in a set to still be effective, but help creep things along? I'm frustrated, so any thoughts would be welcome.
Companies are starting to make noise with their health insurance plans, making it mandatory to go get routine checks and visit with nutritionists. It's not hard to imagine a world where they start to tie BMI to premiums or some nonsense.
It's not hard to imagine because this is that world
Posts
My point was I still feel bad about my body sometimes - in terms of how it looks. Shrug. It happens. Numbers don't factor in for me and for others, they tend to be a secondary part of how we beat ourselves up or celebrate ourselves.
I'm lucky and have a crazy metabolism so I've been able to eat pretty much anything without gaining significant weight (although my stomach has gotten a little chubby which is weird given I am rail thin everywhere else) so I don't really know what to do, diet and fitness wise?
I've been working out on an every other day schedule, like this:
Monday: Jog a mile on the treadmill, do 15 bicep curls, bench press-things (I'm using my apartment's machine and it has, like pullies and handles) and whatever the thing that works your shoulders and back at 35 pounds (like I said I'm super out of shape) then cyclemachine 3.5 miles and do another set of arm/back stuff
Tuesday: Do 50 crunches, rest otherwise
Wednesday: Same as Monday
Thursday: Same as Tuesday, etc.
I'm 6'1, and weigh around 160 last time I checked. I tried the My FItness Pal thing but it seems to be focusing on weight loss whereas I'm more trying to get lean muscle and stuff
Suggestions?
At least it's pissing with rain, so I can prepare for it pissing with rain on Sunday.
I was in a similar state to you two years ago - 6'1", 80kg, deadlift/squat/bench press: 120/80/40kg. I was doing Ironman triathlons and ultramarathons at the time but I didn't look at all impressive.
Currently, by doing the below I am 107kg at similar bf% and my lifts are: 227.5/185/125kg. I look a lot better.
You and some of the other beginners I've seen posting would probably benefit from reading this: http://simplesciencefitness.com/
It's the most accurate, complete and concise answer I've found to 'how do I get in shape?'
Your metabolism is very unlikely to be so high that you cannot gain weight, you just need to eat more. MFP can accommodate specific goals and if you want to gain weight then you need to be consistently eating a surplus of calories with an emphasis on getting sufficient protein (~1g/kg bodyweight). Work out your TDEE, add 10% to that and aim to hit it for a period of several weeks, assessing progress and adjusting numbers if you don't see changes.
You have fat around the abdomen because that's where most people store their fat first - it's nearer your centre of mass there and insulates the organs. If you have prominent abdominal fat then you probably have >15% bodyfat, which is not ideal. Crunches will have no effect on this, and are generally a worthless exercise, you must reduce your body fat to ~10% or below to have visible abs (more for women) and this is almost entirely down to eating at a caloric deficit, which is not ideal for someone aiming to gain muscle.
As you want to gain muscle and not just fat you'll have to do a progressively loaded weight training routine, for moderate reps (~8), going somewhere near muscular failure. Preferably doing compound exercises with a barbell. There are lots of proven programs and resources available to assist with this, some of the most common are mentioned here: http://simplesciencefitness.com/#anaerobic-training
You can build muscle without a barbell and squat rack, but it is harder. Dumbbells can be used, as can bodyweight (see nerd fitnesses BW workout). Machines are suboptimal for various reasons.
Your current routine is highly unlikely to give you any noticeable gains in strength or change your appearance because it doesn't sound like you increase the weight, you do too many reps at too light a weight and it doesn't train many of the largest muscles in the body.
Cardio is exactly that, cardiovascular exercise - it trains your energy systems to be more efficient at conducting long-duration exercise. It will only reduce muscle mass in the long term (to become more efficient) and burns a relatively insignificant number of calories (compared to adjusting the diet) for the purposes of weight-loss or body recomposition unless performed at high intensity for an extended period. I personally don't do any at all and it hasn't harmed my body composition. You probably would benefit from some for the sake of general fitness, but it shouldn't be the emphasis if your goal is changing how you look. There's plenty of recent evidence that shorter duration high intensity exercise is optimal for improving CV fitness without muscle loss, whereas long duration steady-state cardio is best for getting better at running marathons.
Anyway, apologies if this is a bit ranty. I've been meaning to reply to a bunch of the beginner Q's in the new thread and yours is the first I've found time for, so it's somewhat generally directed.
Ow.
I'm trying not to let the numbers get me down while I focus on getting healthier.
I did a little on the exercise bike, a mile on the treadmill, some weight stuff, and then punched our heavy bag. Overall about an hour of exercise...and because my son had to get to the shower/bed I didn't cool down quite as much as I should have.
I just keep telling myself it will get easier and eventually my manboobs will start to vanish. That's a good motivator.
First step brah! Some soreness/ DOMS is very normal when you start. Once your body gets its stuff together for putting in the effort that will likely be greatly reduced, so don't think that a workout wasn't a good one just because you didn't end up sore.
When I started I did the same thing with the overdoing - the headache might be partly from dehydration. As you start getting into it, make sure you're keeping up your water intake before/during/after your workout.
...but on Facebook she keeps on "liking" posts from this girl's page....somebody called "Freelee - the Banana Girl"? Feel free to look her up. Basically a girl that struggled with eating disorders in the past (and is now apparently "completely healthy" and extremely thin looking) is touting her vegan, high fruit diet...that sometimes consists of eating ONLY dozens of bananas a day, or only two pineapples, or only 2 liters of orange juice, etc. This person posted a Youtube video that showed a recent blood test where all her results were apparently in the healthy range. The "Banana Girl" says that all the doctors and nutritionists that tell her she's malnourished are liars and it's all a big nutritional conspiracy. She has a huge number of followers.
My friend also shared an "infographic" a few weeks ago that suggested that some other mono-food health nut got "all her necessary protein from eating cherry tomatoes" because "cherry tomatoes are 20% protein". I linked my friend to something that showed that this person did not do their math properly, because there are 0.18 GRAMS of protein in a single cherry tomato...which does not mean that the cherry tomato is 20% protein. My friend never replied, but may have deleted her post.
So...am I crazy to think that the "Banana Girl" and these other people my friend is following are wildly, wildly unhealthy? I'm afraid that my friend is losing weight because she's following the advice from people that have no idea what they're doing...:( My friend doesn't use computers very often or the internet, so I'm not sure if she's aware how prevalent this stuff can be. Any of you guys dealt with this before? Is it actually possible these people are healthy and I am just completely wrong?
Humans are pretty robust creatures, getting 100% of your calories in a day from bananas once in a while won't kill you. But the idea that this is a efficient way to go about controlling your weight is batshit insane. As long as she consumes a variety of foods on the non-crazy days to fulfill the nutrients and vitamins that bananas don't provide there probably won't be any long term physical issues.
This all assumes she has a healthy digestive system and isn't diabetic. I imagine gorging on carbs all day would not be so great for your insulin.
I can see my friend falling into the "crazy fad diet" stuff pretty easily...eating a well-balanced list of foods has never really appealed to her - she doesn't cook ever, and has said she doesn't even want to have to think about figuring out what she has to eat. She's told me before that she just wants a personal trainer who gives her an exact list of foods to eat for every meal so there's no effort on her part to figure it out.
So, I can see her catching on to the idea of "just eat one of these 5 fruits for a whole day!" pretty easily. Augh. :C
Try 57 bananas. That's what that Banana person has eaten some days. And only that.
[edit] Banana person has said that you can eat "unlimited calories" with this diet. She says she eats 2000 - 5000 a day.
If she's still doing it in a month and seems unhealthy, then bring it up.
57 banannas is 684% of your (her) daily recommended amount.
Thanks for the input guys. I might ask her about it soon. We have plans to see eachother in July so I can try talking to her about it in-person then, too.
I think potassium in food is relatively water soluble, so you probably just pee it out.
Good thing you can lose like 70% of your kidney function before you have symptoms!
My thing is that the goals should come from the inside, and not pushed onto a person from the outside.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
If, for example, a woman would like to donate her eggs her application might not even be looked at if her BMI is considered too high.
Or could be refused certain medications, or even medical coverage
It's complete bullshit
It's not hard to imagine because this is that world
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/10/as_bmi_goes_so_goes_your_insur.html
Yep. Last two companies I've worked for have had "Wellness Programs" that involved bloodwork, biometric screenings, meeting with health counselors. If you did as they say/passed their checks by a certain point in the year you got a substantial break on your monthly premium for the next year. It wouldn't surprise me to see that "discount" become high enough that it would more or less force participation (or become a penalty against your paycheck), especially for lower-income employees. Putting a weight/BMI goal, a blood pressure level, whatever isn't too far of a stretch.
Unrelated, I'm looking for tips to help with weight/strength progression on overhead presses. My progress has all but halted in terms of weight/development. Any of you guys who know more than me have a good idea of the number of reps/set to help push through where I'm stuck. Like the minimum reps in a set to still be effective, but help creep things along? I'm frustrated, so any thoughts would be welcome.
Behold! For I am Peenstradamus, bring me your questions and I will tell you what is to be!