Damn. Apparently they've pulled the squat rack out of my gym. Is it worth using the smith machine to do them, or replace them with something else? (I'm not changing gyms right now).
Also found some before pictures. I'll throw them up if I can get a cable tommorow so long as I'm not the only one.
Good call on the dips. I don't have a spot and would be embarrassed to ask any of the juicers at my gym to spot whatever girl weight I could manage on a close-grip bench, so I will try the dumbbell analog.
some gyms have assisted dip machines
where you pick a weight and it offsets part of your bodyweight
Why would they take out the squat rack anyways, a proper squat is fundamental to most workout routines.
Robman on
0
Options
Tallaclasseeyou ever seen a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelleRegistered Userregular
edited January 2010
Cosigning with the guy that said winter is the best time to start running. Not only because you need energy to run in the summer, but because running in the cold burns a ridiculous amount of calories rather quickly.
Why would they take out the squat rack anyways, a proper squat is fundamental to most workout routines.
The Uni is getting redeveleoped and the building the gym used to be in got knocked down over the summer.
Oddly enough the new place they have is bigger, but whatever, most gyms in my experiance don't care about the perfect workout anyway. It's all machines.
Why would they take out the squat rack anyways, a proper squat is fundamental to most workout routines.
The Uni is getting redeveleoped and the building the gym used to be in got knocked down over the summer.
Oddly enough the new place they have is bigger, but whatever, most gyms in my experiance don't care about the perfect workout anyway. It's all machines.
It's so hard to find a good iron dungeon these days.
My gym doesn't have a proper rack, but I can set the safety bars on the bench rack just below my squat height, and bail if necessary. If I get stuck at the bottom, it's enough room to safely roll the bar back and get out of it.
It might be a different design than at other gyms, though.
So now that I have bought a gym card, I strive for an all-around more athletic body and better cardio performance. I'm already agile and have good stamina, so I'm not actually trying to avoid any body/health issues, I just want improvement.
I'm not going to ask for a detailed schedule or advanced tips, because I will get stressed, but if anyone knows of anything they wish they had done differently in hindsight or conversely know of experience any measure that helped them from the get-go, throw it out there.
I plan to hit the scheduled group activities such as Yoga, Core, Bodypump etc., and I will make sure to get my walkthrough of proper machine operation so as not to appear quite the raging toolbox.
Is swimming my only real option for getting a degree of arm definition if I can't really lift weights? I broke the area just between my elbow and forearm on both my arms a while back and it makes all kinds of nauseating clicks and cracks when I attempt most weightlifting (in addition to probably not being a great idea).
Also, I need to get a scale...
smeej on
IT'S A SAD THING THAT YOUR ADVENTURES HAVE ENDED HERE!!
Swimming is great for you. Regarding your arm clicking and cracking like a driftwood campfire rolling down a hill in an oil drum, uh, talk to a doctor.
I actually haven't gotten a chance to hit the gym properly...got a lung infection which was causing me to cough and get winded right away during my workouts.. Worse I wasn't getting any restful sleep. Got checked out yesterday, got medication and had my first restful sleep last night. Doc told me not to go to the gym for two weeks though, until he sees me again and makes sure everything is fine.
On the upside, I had two moments where I realize that I'm making progress. One was seeing pictures that were taken of me this weekend and realizing that I actually look pretty good, specially around the face. Second was my dad telling me I looked really good last night, which meant a lot, since he was always the most critical of my weight.
Sorry bout the broken promises guys. Turns out my Nokia 5000 needs a smaller then micro transfer cable, which is a special order. Will follow up when I can.
I have taken a picture, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable posting it online. Maybe if a later picture shows visable progress, it'll be less of an issue. I don't think I look terrible, just not terribly comfortable showing off yet, even if a bit of public scrutiny might be an extra motivating factor.
The scale and I are getting along better than I expected. Since I purchased it last week, I've apparently lost 3 pounds, putting me down to 273. I'm making sure to take in more water during the day (still likely less than the fifteen litres or whatever the hell we're supposed to drink per day, but more than usual), am making a point of getting to sleep earlier (preferably by midnight rather than 1am or later) and while my weekend eating habits remain questionable, my weekday eating habits have improved.
My short term goal is to be under 270 by my birthday (March 6th), which I know is probably lowballed but I want to keep it reasonable, so I can be pleasantly surprised if I blow past that mark, and won't be too disappointed if for some reason I fall short. Of course, 3 pounds in over 5 weeks seems pretty doable if I've managed to do that in 1, but I'm trying to be realistic.
Long term goal is 250 or under by the end of the year, accounting for the fact that I'll probably plateau to some degree sooner or later and will need to step up my game and/or add more time at the gym, or just change my focus.
Edit: for frame of reference, I'm 6'4", so even if 250 is a bit heavier than I should be, that mass is spread out over a considerable frame.
I continue to do mostly cardio (elliptical for now, to keep it low impact on my knees) along with some weights (free and machines, whatever's available as my gym is pretty busy after work, but I figure that'll probably die down in the coming months). I'm trying to focus on this as a lifestyle change rather than a resolution. I still look forward to getting home and pounding out a level in WoW or shooting things in the face in L4D2, but prior to that, I pound out 8k on the elliptical and start working back towards my old benchpress max.
I'm sustaining 3 visits a week now for 3 weeks straight, and assuming I go both on Thursday and Friday, will hit 4 this week, over an hour per visit.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
One hour Yoga (group class w/ instructor) followed by one hour, well, "Strength" (likewise). Felt like a hundred thousand bucks afterwards. Now? So much pain.
I'm currently at 64 kilos (141 lbs or fathoms or whatever the fuck you barrel-weighing and bushel-hauling anglican xenos use) and 178 cm (5' 10''), leaving me at a BMI of 20. I've always been quite thin, and my current body fat percentage is probably not even worth measuring.
My first goal would be to get some experience with different kinds of training so I know what works for the torso muscles I want to bulk up (my lower body is pretty strong thanks to my genes). My second goal is to incorporate gym activity into my calendar. Third is to muscle my way up to about 70 kg/154 lbs.
This has some benefits Kast, if you can start to put on even a small amount of muscle you can look really good.
Your main problem is going to be eating enough, I'm just the same. The lifting of the weights is a piece of piss, but cramming down four thousand calories is difficult as all hell. Even if you think you're eating enough you're probably not. Take note of how many calories you're getting.
had a shitty week and a half at work, didn't go to the gym at all
now at 216.4
going to the gym this morning
The thing is not to get discouraged by bad days/bad weeks. Another corny saying, but think of it like a marathon, not a race. You're aiming for long term habits and benefits.
Kyougu on
0
Options
MrMisterJesus dying on the cross in pain? Morally better than us. One has to go "all in".Registered Userregular
edited January 2010
I am hopping on this bandwagon
you may all document my inevitable failure and shame
MrMisterJesus dying on the cross in pain? Morally better than us. One has to go "all in".Registered Userregular
edited February 2010
So, I've been trying this,, not because I have any desire to do 100 push-up (that sounds hellish), but because I want some muscle definition, and because I like exercise I can do conveniently in my own home.
Anway, I got suck on the first day of the fist week (because I'm super weak ), and kept trying it over and over. I got:
6/6/4/4/1 6/6/4/4/0 6/6/4/4/1
but today I finally did
6/6/4/4/5!
So hooray! My pathetic hurdle, it has been reached!
My goal is to bulk up. I'm going to the gym three times a week and I feel like I've doubled my caloric intake.
My problem is that my trips to the gym often feel more like aerobic exercises than muscle-tiring workouts. I mean, I work to exhaustion and I feel sore the next day, but usually the barrier I hit at the gym is more of a "my heart and lungs can't take anymore" instead of a "my muscles feel like they're about to fall off." Squats especially. I do those last because if I do them earlier I'm just too spent to do anything else. I don't know. Maybe this doesn't matter.
How many reps are you doing? Perhaps you need to up the weight and do less reps.
I try to do 3 sets of 10 generally.
Maybe I just need to do this for longer.
How quickly are you doing the movements?
I do them quickly but controlled. And towards the ends of the sets I'm so tired I have to go slowly since I'm nearing my limit anyways.
I'll try slowing them down from the get-go.
Yeah - slow, controlled movements are better then rapid, bad-form movements when you're getting started with training. Until you've hit a real plateau, there's really no reason to do explosive-style sets. Better to keep things controlled and minimize the risk of injury, which ramps up when you speed up your sets.
Relatively slowly--the individual motions of a repetition shouldn't take much longer than a second. The actual work part can be relatively fast, but be careful on the "negative" side.
I played Tennis for the first time in a year (Had moved, no one to play with) and shit I forgot how tired you get after a good couple of games. By the end of the first game I was panting and had to take a quick break, but after that I got my groove back.
So, I've been trying this,, not because I have any desire to do 100 push-up (that sounds hellish), but because I want some muscle definition, and because I like exercise I can do conveniently in my own home.
Anway, I got suck on the first day of the fist week (because I'm super weak ), and kept trying it over and over. I got:
6/6/4/4/1 6/6/4/4/0 6/6/4/4/1
but today I finally did
6/6/4/4/5!
So hooray! My pathetic hurdle, it has been reached!
I'm gonna try this I think. I'd love to be able to do 100 pushups, but I dunno how feasible that is. Got 6 on my test, so I'm gonna start the first day stuff now. I pulled off the 6/6/4/4/5 for the first day but my arms feel like death. So grats to you! I hope I can keep this up.
Last year my resolution was to not drink alcohol the whole year and I did that. This year I am trying to lose weight.
We bought an elliptical machine back in like September that I used a lot when we first got it, then I just stopped. The past few weeks I have been doing 40 minutes on the elliptical 3x a week and I play floor hockey (aka running) every Monday. I want to get dumbbells and a bench to lay on.
As for eating, I have been doing good (in my eyes). I have either oatmeal (with water) or, on days that I elliptical usually, I have a bowl of cereal (special k or wheat chex), a banana, and some turkey bacon. Lately, I have been having turkey (not those packaged lunch meats, actual deli lunch meat) sandwiches (with either green peppers or lettuce) on wheat bread or perdue frozen chicken patties (with lettuce). Usually, I have my mom cook up chicken or salmon, but she was away for a week on vacation, so I have been having those as my meals. I have those tuna pouches, but haven't had much of them lately.
I have tons of sugar free jello, yogurt, applesauce, salad with salad being the thing I have the most out of all of those.
So, with what little info I have provided, does it even sound like I am on the right track? Obviously I cheat from time to time, but I don't think it is anything terrible or out of the ordinary. I was browsing the one site in the OP and doing crunches, push ups, and all that jazz seems to be in my future too.
I'm gonna try this I think. I'd love to be able to do 100 pushups, but I dunno how feasible that is. Got 6 on my test, so I'm gonna start the first day stuff now. I pulled off the 6/6/4/4/5 for the first day but my arms feel like death. So grats to you! I hope I can keep this up.
So I did day 1 successfully one more time, then moved on to day 2:
6/8/6/6/5
Better luck next time, self.
MrMister on
0
Options
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
edited February 2010
Alright, so I don't go to they gym, I just don't have the money at the moment,.
but, I have a stationary bike, a regular bike, and some free-weights.
Last year my resolution was to not drink alcohol the whole year and I did that. This year I am trying to lose weight.
We bought an elliptical machine back in like September that I used a lot when we first got it, then I just stopped. The past few weeks I have been doing 40 minutes on the elliptical 3x a week and I play floor hockey (aka running) every Monday. I want to get dumbbells and a bench to lay on.
As for eating, I have been doing good (in my eyes). I have either oatmeal (with water) or, on days that I elliptical usually, I have a bowl of cereal (special k or wheat chex), a banana, and some turkey bacon. Lately, I have been having turkey (not those packaged lunch meats, actual deli lunch meat) sandwiches (with either green peppers or lettuce) on wheat bread or perdue frozen chicken patties (with lettuce). Usually, I have my mom cook up chicken or salmon, but she was away for a week on vacation, so I have been having those as my meals. I have those tuna pouches, but haven't had much of them lately.
I have tons of sugar free jello, yogurt, applesauce, salad with salad being the thing I have the most out of all of those.
So, with what little info I have provided, does it even sound like I am on the right track? Obviously I cheat from time to time, but I don't think it is anything terrible or out of the ordinary. I was browsing the one site in the OP and doing crunches, push ups, and all that jazz seems to be in my future too.
Yeah you're on a good track. What's your height and weight?
And elliptical machines are fine, but if you can, I would switch up to running. At the least make sure that you keep raising the intensity as the weeks go by. You always want to keep pushing yourself and never feel comfortable doing cardio.
I'll work on getting a picture up of the 'fat me' soon.
Don't fuss over fluctuations in weight around the +/- 5 lbs mark whatever direction they go, you can drop a few pounds after a huge shit and piss, and in hot weather you can easily lose a surprising amount of weight due to water loss. BF% is really the only accurate marker of weight loss progress, reading your weight on the scale is just a convenient and vaguely accurate marker.
Posts
Also found some before pictures. I'll throw them up if I can get a cable tommorow so long as I'm not the only one.
And no, don't use the Smith. It's evil. Just use free weights, or do lunges instead.
some gyms have assisted dip machines
where you pick a weight and it offsets part of your bodyweight
I do hack squats on a Smith, they work out ok. Don't do normal squats though.
The Uni is getting redeveleoped and the building the gym used to be in got knocked down over the summer.
Oddly enough the new place they have is bigger, but whatever, most gyms in my experiance don't care about the perfect workout anyway. It's all machines.
It's so hard to find a good iron dungeon these days.
It might be a different design than at other gyms, though.
I'm not going to ask for a detailed schedule or advanced tips, because I will get stressed, but if anyone knows of anything they wish they had done differently in hindsight or conversely know of experience any measure that helped them from the get-go, throw it out there.
I plan to hit the scheduled group activities such as Yoga, Core, Bodypump etc., and I will make sure to get my walkthrough of proper machine operation so as not to appear quite the raging toolbox.
Also, I need to get a scale...
I actually haven't gotten a chance to hit the gym properly...got a lung infection which was causing me to cough and get winded right away during my workouts.. Worse I wasn't getting any restful sleep. Got checked out yesterday, got medication and had my first restful sleep last night. Doc told me not to go to the gym for two weeks though, until he sees me again and makes sure everything is fine.
On the upside, I had two moments where I realize that I'm making progress. One was seeing pictures that were taken of me this weekend and realizing that I actually look pretty good, specially around the face. Second was my dad telling me I looked really good last night, which meant a lot, since he was always the most critical of my weight.
The scale and I are getting along better than I expected. Since I purchased it last week, I've apparently lost 3 pounds, putting me down to 273. I'm making sure to take in more water during the day (still likely less than the fifteen litres or whatever the hell we're supposed to drink per day, but more than usual), am making a point of getting to sleep earlier (preferably by midnight rather than 1am or later) and while my weekend eating habits remain questionable, my weekday eating habits have improved.
My short term goal is to be under 270 by my birthday (March 6th), which I know is probably lowballed but I want to keep it reasonable, so I can be pleasantly surprised if I blow past that mark, and won't be too disappointed if for some reason I fall short. Of course, 3 pounds in over 5 weeks seems pretty doable if I've managed to do that in 1, but I'm trying to be realistic.
Long term goal is 250 or under by the end of the year, accounting for the fact that I'll probably plateau to some degree sooner or later and will need to step up my game and/or add more time at the gym, or just change my focus.
Edit: for frame of reference, I'm 6'4", so even if 250 is a bit heavier than I should be, that mass is spread out over a considerable frame.
I continue to do mostly cardio (elliptical for now, to keep it low impact on my knees) along with some weights (free and machines, whatever's available as my gym is pretty busy after work, but I figure that'll probably die down in the coming months). I'm trying to focus on this as a lifestyle change rather than a resolution. I still look forward to getting home and pounding out a level in WoW or shooting things in the face in L4D2, but prior to that, I pound out 8k on the elliptical and start working back towards my old benchpress max.
I'm sustaining 3 visits a week now for 3 weeks straight, and assuming I go both on Thursday and Friday, will hit 4 this week, over an hour per visit.
One hour Yoga (group class w/ instructor) followed by one hour, well, "Strength" (likewise). Felt like a hundred thousand bucks afterwards. Now? So much pain.
I'm currently at 64 kilos (141 lbs or fathoms or whatever the fuck you barrel-weighing and bushel-hauling anglican xenos use) and 178 cm (5' 10''), leaving me at a BMI of 20. I've always been quite thin, and my current body fat percentage is probably not even worth measuring.
My first goal would be to get some experience with different kinds of training so I know what works for the torso muscles I want to bulk up (my lower body is pretty strong thanks to my genes). My second goal is to incorporate gym activity into my calendar. Third is to muscle my way up to about 70 kg/154 lbs.
If I can find the camera
Your main problem is going to be eating enough, I'm just the same. The lifting of the weights is a piece of piss, but cramming down four thousand calories is difficult as all hell. Even if you think you're eating enough you're probably not. Take note of how many calories you're getting.
He pretty much ate protein bars all day every day. Also, terrifying, monstrous shits.
had a shitty week and a half at work, didn't go to the gym at all
now at 216.4
going to the gym this morning
The thing is not to get discouraged by bad days/bad weeks. Another corny saying, but think of it like a marathon, not a race. You're aiming for long term habits and benefits.
you may all document my inevitable failure and shame
mah body is sore
Anway, I got suck on the first day of the fist week (because I'm super weak
6/6/4/4/1
6/6/4/4/0
6/6/4/4/1
but today I finally did
6/6/4/4/5!
So hooray! My pathetic hurdle, it has been reached!
My goal is to bulk up. I'm going to the gym three times a week and I feel like I've doubled my caloric intake.
My problem is that my trips to the gym often feel more like aerobic exercises than muscle-tiring workouts. I mean, I work to exhaustion and I feel sore the next day, but usually the barrier I hit at the gym is more of a "my heart and lungs can't take anymore" instead of a "my muscles feel like they're about to fall off." Squats especially. I do those last because if I do them earlier I'm just too spent to do anything else. I don't know. Maybe this doesn't matter.
How many reps are you doing? Perhaps you need to up the weight and do less reps.
I try to do 3 sets of 10 generally.
Maybe I just need to do this for longer.
How quickly are you doing the movements?
I do them quickly but controlled. And towards the ends of the sets I'm so tired I have to go slowly since I'm nearing my limit anyways.
I'll try slowing them down from the get-go.
Yeah - slow, controlled movements are better then rapid, bad-form movements when you're getting started with training. Until you've hit a real plateau, there's really no reason to do explosive-style sets. Better to keep things controlled and minimize the risk of injury, which ramps up when you speed up your sets.
I played Tennis for the first time in a year (Had moved, no one to play with) and shit I forgot how tired you get after a good couple of games. By the end of the first game I was panting and had to take a quick break, but after that I got my groove back.
I'm gonna try this I think. I'd love to be able to do 100 pushups, but I dunno how feasible that is. Got 6 on my test, so I'm gonna start the first day stuff now. I pulled off the 6/6/4/4/5 for the first day but my arms feel like death. So grats to you! I hope I can keep this up.
We bought an elliptical machine back in like September that I used a lot when we first got it, then I just stopped. The past few weeks I have been doing 40 minutes on the elliptical 3x a week and I play floor hockey (aka running) every Monday. I want to get dumbbells and a bench to lay on.
As for eating, I have been doing good (in my eyes). I have either oatmeal (with water) or, on days that I elliptical usually, I have a bowl of cereal (special k or wheat chex), a banana, and some turkey bacon. Lately, I have been having turkey (not those packaged lunch meats, actual deli lunch meat) sandwiches (with either green peppers or lettuce) on wheat bread or perdue frozen chicken patties (with lettuce). Usually, I have my mom cook up chicken or salmon, but she was away for a week on vacation, so I have been having those as my meals. I have those tuna pouches, but haven't had much of them lately.
I have tons of sugar free jello, yogurt, applesauce, salad with salad being the thing I have the most out of all of those.
So, with what little info I have provided, does it even sound like I am on the right track? Obviously I cheat from time to time, but I don't think it is anything terrible or out of the ordinary. I was browsing the one site in the OP and doing crunches, push ups, and all that jazz seems to be in my future too.
Tumblr | Twitter | Twitch | Pinny Arcade Lanyard
[3DS] 3394-3901-4002 | [Xbox/Steam] Redfield85
So I did day 1 successfully one more time, then moved on to day 2:
6/8/6/6/5
Better luck next time, self.
but, I have a stationary bike, a regular bike, and some free-weights.
I've been trying to keep track of eveyrthing here: http://ahlterrandream.blogspot.com
I'll work on getting a picture up of the 'fat me' soon.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Yeah you're on a good track. What's your height and weight?
And elliptical machines are fine, but if you can, I would switch up to running. At the least make sure that you keep raising the intensity as the weeks go by. You always want to keep pushing yourself and never feel comfortable doing cardio.
Don't fuss over fluctuations in weight around the +/- 5 lbs mark whatever direction they go, you can drop a few pounds after a huge shit and piss, and in hot weather you can easily lose a surprising amount of weight due to water loss. BF% is really the only accurate marker of weight loss progress, reading your weight on the scale is just a convenient and vaguely accurate marker.