Going to the Gym - Page 4

Jake, you talk about feeling like a weenie. There's nothing more intimidating then trying to find the 15 pound free weights when everyone else is using 50+ and apparently there are 95 lbs free weights. Jesus, those things are huge.

I get ya Jake. I been building up my core strength and flexibility by doing a modified Yoga and isometric workout. Most humiliating thing ever when I can't hold a lunge position for more than a few minutes.

To be fair, there is a misconception (mentioned earlier in this thread, I think) that if someone touches a heavy weight, they're gonna explode with muscle. Shit, I wish it were that easy. Without cycling test and ana, of course.

And there's also the common saw that cardio is a sufficient leg workout - while it arguably works, I'd have to use my toes and probably Ganesh's hands to count the number of times I've heard "Well, I run, so I don't really need to work my legs." Your legs count for a huge portion of your muscle, so it's good to give them a decent weight workout every once in a while. People talk about getting "toned", but the "toned" look really comes down to building enough muscle to where you have definition once you chip away the body fat.

The reason I suggested Crossfit is that it is a workout system that uses mostly your own body weight and resistance (you can add weights) so it doesn't take a lot of equipment, and any one at any level can do it.

To acheive what you want, you need to 1) build muscle (so there is something to have definition around) and 2) lose fat (so you can see the definition). Yes, cardio will make you lose fat. However, that will make you the scrawniest thing ever. Seriously. You're naturally skinny so you don't need to get smaller. You don't naturally have bulk, so you won't get bulky. That's genetics. You won't ever have Jake's bulk (unless you take LOTS of drugs). If you want to have a defined, muscular-looking version of YOUR body, you need to put on muscle. Muscle burns more calories at rest, so the fat loss will come with it.

Cardio is best for guys who are overweight and are really needing to bring their weight down. For naturally skinny guys, you should focus more on building a little muscle mass, otherwise, you just get skinnier, like a Kenyan marathoner.


Aerobics on a lean figure gets you like this:


Crossfit will get you more like this:

I have a bad back and weak ankles. Yoga kills me. Some day I dream of having the core strength to do that stuff.

This is very good information and if weren't for the fact I was at work (I lack flash and speakers) I'd test out some of this stuff (Perhaps for tomarrow).

But believe me Belethedheliel, I would not aim to be Jake's size. Jake is Jake and I know my roll.

I was on an ab machine and directly in front of me is a mirror so I can see back at the cardio machines the bench press machines right in front of them. There's these two hot chicks just chatting at the bench presses. So after a bit this tall, really skinny dude wanders over to the bench presses. Of course he picks the one the girls are chatting beside. He puts a 45lbs weight on either end of the barbell and lies down.

He takes the barbell in his hand brings it down to his chest. I was watching the guy the whole time he walked over cause I wanted to see what he was gonna do. I was amazed he took the 45's. I didn't think he'd be an idiot. So I'm watching him and he's not pushing the barbell up. I figured, "ok, he's getting in the zone and will pump out two or three like all skinny guys do." Nope. It sits there on his chest. A trainer was behind training someone I figured, "ok.... surely one of those chicks will say something? Maybe Brad (the trainer) will see him."

More time goes by.

The right side of the barbell starts to tip towards the ground and the weight slides off. "Oh fuck man." I get up and hurry over and grab a hold of the barbell and tell him to push up. I dont have a good grip cause I'm on the side thats on the ground, plus I was at the end of my workout, so basically I'm deadlifting 90lbs.

I keep telling him to push and this semi-muscle guy comes over and helps get it off of him. I then proceed to take the 45's off and put them away. I then tell him, in a low voice, "don't worry about it. we all make mistakes at the gym. just stick to low weights and go from there." He looks dead and just barely musters a nod. I go back to my abs work. I see him to laying there. I finish, go and get my coat from the locker room and come back to the floor to tell Brad to keep and eye on the guy so he doesn't hurt himself and he's still lying there.

I couldn't believe it. I have never seen that before! I have seen people going to fast, crashing weights, and yeah using too much weight and only getting a few reps out. But I have never actually witnessed the barbell slide before. I felt bad for him when I was driving home. Like how embarrassing is that? You need two guys to help lift the weight off of you in front of half the gym. And it was semi-busy too and since the bench press machines are in front of the cardio equipment, a lot of people saw it. Not to mention the two hot chicks!

I laughed about it later with a buddy.

I was searching YouTube for accidents like the guy above but fuck, check this one out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cSJCDcAKShA&feature=related

Brutal.

That's what the stupid fuck gets for using suicide grip. Same thing with putting your feet up when you bench - completely useless and only destabilizes you more, plus you look like a dead cockroach.

It happens to everyone at some point. I've failed with no spot, and had to do the "weight whip." You let it slide off one side, then you use what strength you have left to use your arms and chest as a fulcrum while the bar whips the other direction until the other side hits the ground leaving the bar standing straight up. With 200+ pounds of weight on the remaining side, it's basically moving at the speed of death when it springs the opposite direction.

Same here when benching alone - there are a lot of idiots (read: students) at my gym who don't spot, and I can't always get access to the lone power rack when going for a max effort lift, so I just leave the clips off of the sides in case I need to dump it. The plates are rubberized (not bumper plates though, sadly), as is the floor, so damage to property isn't too much of a concern.

I find that I use the machines more than the free weights mainly because I don't want to bother with finding a 'spotter' when I'm at the gym. About two months ago I entered into a physical fitness regimen for the first time in my life and I'm amazed at how much better I feel. I usually end up doing about 30 minutes of cardio and about 40 minutes of weight training 3 times a week now...fuck, it's nice feeling CUT for once in my life. The wife is liking it too, so that's definitely providing the extra motivation for me to keep doing it.

Machines are good for getting started, but I definitely recommend the switch to free weights as soon as you feel comfortable enough - while machines DO get results, you're also working on a fixed plane of motion that doesn't engage all of the stabilizer muscles that you would normally use with freeweights, leading to potential physical imbalances.

Even just moving from machines to dumbbells is a great transition, as you can do most, if not all, of the big compound lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, military press) with DBs that you can with barbells. I've switched to benching with DBs on occasion because it more or less negates the need for a spotter and makes you more focused on your form. Then once you feel comfortable with DBs you can switch to barbell-based squats and deads in a power cage. The only reason I recommend the big lifts first and foremost is because they work. Bench, squat, dead, military press, and pullups are the best basics around which to build a workout, because they've been a mainstay for many years for obvious reasons. You'll always have your curl variations and whatnot, but I've always though of those as vanity movements than anything else. I've never had to curl something in my daily life, so I don't recommend starters to fool around with that unless they've done the big lifts and just feel like doing something extra.

You use only machines? What can you bench?

Third time's the charm, sir!

I have a friend who works in a hospital in Athens. He told me about a guy an ambulance brought in one night, dude had dropped a barbell on himself - pretty quick death. If I'm not in a position where the barbell can be safely dropped during an exercise, then I just stick to the dumbells. Most stores carry up to 50s. My nearby Play It Again ordered some 65s for me, and I plan to get the 75s soon (I doubt I could do much with them yet, but they'll be here to motivate me).

I've gone from 210 to 189 in the last few months, all of loss was gut fat, so I'm feeling pretty great about that. A few tips I will pass along:

-If you are reducing your caloric intake, don't forget to compensate for lost nutrition by taking vitamins. I take a liquid kind (some taste terrible, try a variety), and reccommend getting one that says it includes trace minerals.

-Little changes can go along way, read the labels of all the food you buy. Most foods labled "lite" are reduced in fat, not calories, and will often say "not a reduced calorie food" on the label. Fruit is mostly fructose, and being a form of sugar, alot of calories. Get most of your nutrition from meat and vegetables. White bread is evil. Try this sandwhich: pumpernickel with turkey and a slice of provolone, nuke for 15 seconds in the microwave. Use spicy or brown mustard at 5 calories per tablespoon, avoid mayonaise at 100 calories per tablespoon. Have pickles on the side, not chips. The single treat I will reccommend is Healthy Choice premium Fudge bars from the freezer section, at 80 calories each. Other than those, I've had like one cookie in the last 3 months; I was a terrbile junk-food-aholic before and my diet is killing me haha.

-When I'm really in the mood for some fast food, I go with one of these two choices: Chick-fil-A's chargrilled chicken strips salad (very, very good, but you may want to skip the crutons and sunflower seeds they give you) with light dressing, or I get a salad and chili from Wendy's (ewww, red meat, you are likely saying, but its very high in protein and low in calories). If you are very hungy, get two small chilis rather than the big size, its actually 50% more food for the same cost.

-Protein, protein, protein. Your body, of course has a mechanism for storing excess carbohydrates - fat - but since it has nothing similar for protein, you must have a steady intake to repair muscle damage due to exercise, especially on a low-calorie diet. Whey protein mixes nice and is easily digested, if you get a kind that tastes not-so-great add 1/3 cup milk and a packet of stevia. Twenty grams in the morning, 20 before you workout, and 40 after you workout is a good starting point. Before bed try casein protein, 20 grams, rather than whey. Casein digests slower over about 6 hours and will therefore work all through the night; whey tends to digest immediately. My casein does not mix as well as the whey, and so I keep a little hand drink mixer nearby on the counter.

-I am in love with amino acids. Seriously. Read up on these: L-Carnitine, L-Glutamine, and L-Arginine (especially a form of it called AAKG). Of special mention, and one I would recommend to anyone doing the double-whammy of dieting while trying to gain muscle mass, are the BCAAs, the branched-chain amino acids. They help to prevent catabolism. I get the tablets at the supermarket, and eat them like candy. The powder is cheaper, but it doesnt' mix so well and tastes like hell. Ordering online will save you lots over going to like GNC or the local herb shop. Do a search for 'sports nutrition' or something, and compare prices. Note that your body does not have a storage mechanism for storing these either, just like protein, and so adding a steady supply to your diet will help your body recover.

-One hardcore snack trick I learned from a guy at work- make you a 'kit' with these 3 things: a bag of plastic spoons, 2-3 bottles of your favorite pepper sauce, and pull-tab cans of tuna or salmon. A load of low-calorie fish protein on the gut will curb your hunger right quick, and you can keep these items with you. Pepper sauce, being mostly vinegar, has no calories and does not need to be refrigerated. My personal preferrance is Texas Pete with tuna and Chipolte Tabasco with the salmon. If you can stand the stares of those around you, you will be surprised how quick you can get used to this 'snack'.

Hope this is of help to someone.

YES MORE 24 HOUR FITNESS PLEASE

...How much do you bench?

We demand answers!

All my hard work has gone for naught...with all the life happenings and then vacations, I've gained back the 15-20 lbs I lost...if not more. Now that I've been placed in a new position (I'm a contractor), I start back to the gym on Monday...the unfortunate part is, my new job is a bit away from my house and gym, so I'll be going in the wee hours of the AM before I go to work. Cycling classes at 5:30 and weight lifting at 6:00. And now that the weather is getting warm again, I'm going to start cycling again in general. So I should be all Lance Armstrong-like in, you know, probably 2-3 weeks.

You gonna be down a ball too?


I just got my new mountain bike yesterday. Its 6k to my job so that'll be about 12 km to and from. I'll ride it tomorrow to see how long it takes. The gym is about 13-14k away so I'll have to see how long that takes.

And I came across this guys videos on You Tube the other day, porno 'stache aside they're pretty interesting videos and the exercises are great. If you want definition and strength try 'em out:

Triceps

Shoulders

Chest

Biceps

Back

Abs

Quads

Love the neon blue hot pants!

So my trainer friend has been on me to start doing some weight training along with my cardio. My gym has nothing as far as free weights go, so today I snagged a couple of dumbbells to use at home. I was looking at a bench, but I might be moving in the fall so I didn't want to not be able to keep it.

Any recommendations on dumbbell exercises? Or link to videos with proper technique for lunges, curls, etc?

You can do alot just with dumbbells.

Skullcrushers
Bicep curls
Chest Press (bench press)
Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Flys
Lateral Raises
Arnold Press
Military Press
Bent over Rows
Hammer Curls

Check out those videos above that I linked too. You can pretty much do all those (except the back ones) with dumbbells.

There's also this too: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...exercises.html

Other than squats and calve raises, which I can do from a squat stand I have, I do pretty much all of my routine with dumbells. I realize this limits me in many respects, but I do my workout at home, and have no one to spot me. As I mentioned in a post earlier, I have a healthy fear of the barbell. I'm moving from 50 lb. dumbells to 65 lb. ones on several of my exercises, and thats keeping me going. I'd start back to a real gym, but half the reason I actually get around to doing a workout each day is the fact I can just take off my uniform after work and start immediately. If I had to travel, I would begin to wind down, and would most likely cop-out alot. I have to work around my own lazy nature.

If you're working on a tight schedule and you want a short, intense routine with lots of variety:

www.crossfit.com

I have an alumni membership at OU and have only been using it to play racquetball the last month. I play like 3 or 4 times a week, so I guess that is still good.

I like the OU fitness center better than any gym around here because of the racquetball courts and the indoor and outdoor pools. I hate just lifting weights

Actually, one of my goals is a ~85 mile bike ride by the end of summer, and I figure I'm going to need some carbo/protein blasts a few times during that ride, and your fish snack sounds exactly like the deal I'm looking for. Along with more typical riding snacks (bananas, oranges, granola bars, etc).

Thanks Brendan. I just did a 20 minute work out using exercises from this, and dear god I feel it already. After I finished the lunges I was completely out of breath (still breathing heavy now) and my legs are burning.

I am so glad I snagged the dumbbells. A huge reason I stopped going to the gym was I hated getting off work, coming home, changing, leaving again, and before I know it it's 7:30 or so. Lazy on my part, but I used it as an excuse.

I would like to retract my earlier reccommendation about adding milk to whey or casein protein to enhance the flavor, sorry. Turns out that this is a bad idea, and once I learned of it and stopped doing it, my 'intestinal situation' I've been dealing with has greatly declined. Even though it can say so on the whey protein container that you can mix with milk, just use water. Lactase, milk sugar, can interfere with whey protein digestion and absorbtion, in the same way that lactose intolerant people have trouble with dairy in general. If you still wanna drink milk, just keep it some time apart from the whey. If you really wanna add something, use rice milk.

BLASPHEMY! I will hear nothing of this!


The skinny dude was back at the gym last Friday. He was doing a shoulder press on the machine all wrong. He put too much weight on again and arched his back so it wasn't flat against the seat. So really he his whole back could have collapsed in on him at any second. He would do one rep, take a break, do two fast half reps, take a break, one more rep and take a five minute break. I'm not kidding.

He then came over to a chest press machine and put the heavy weight on. I was doing the second exercise on this page and since I have never done this type of exercise on this kind of bench I took it easy. The weenie saw me and asked me, with an attitude, how much weight I had and I said 60 pounds. I'd love to see this dude try my workouts. I'd love to see him try and keep up.

You would think after seeing how other people do exercises you would take the hint of how it's to be done. I've learned so much just by paying attention to the muscle guys or the trainers. Form, technique, hints and tricks etc.

He was crashing the weights on the shoulder press too. Which doesn't do any good for your body or the weights and the machine itself.

I actually started eating jerky because of a bike ride I did last year. We were training for it, and one of the folks we were riding with said something about food to take, and mentioned jerky. Folks also tell me those gels are a good quick burst of energy as well, but the jelly beans don't do anything.

On one training ride, we rode about 25 miles, during which we snacked a few times. Then we went to an Italian place, and I had some pasta, and then we biked back 25 miles. The pasta really did the trick...my wife ate a sandwich, and I had more energy than she did towards the end of the ride.

Man, my 50 year old parents have done centuries (100 mile bike rides). And they just stop for sandwiches or something in the middle. All it takes is consistent biking and time on the weekend to do the long rides to get up to 100 miles.

Of course, that's coming from somewhere where we have approximately zero hills. It's probably much harder if you've got mountains or something near you.

If there is anything I can't stand while being at the gym outside of exaggerated grunting aka "YEAARRRRGHHHHHHH" it's crashing of weights.

I went to my school gym yesterday (I can't afford a real gym membership) and got on the treadmill. All of a sudden, the check-in guy says it's 10 minutes to closing. Apparently they had reduced hours because it's spring break (I searched for postings and there were none). So what did I do? I cranked up the speed to 6.5 (way fast for me) and had the most intense 10 minute run I've ever had in my life. I'm thinking of alternating my runs now - my usual 30 minute run at a brisk 5.5 with days were I just crank up the speed and see how long I can last.

When training for a marathon, this is a pretty common technique. You have your long runs for endurance and your shorter runs for speed/muscle.

What's kind of cool though is sometimes there are days where you start out doing the fast one and then you find that instead of just going the 10-15 minutes you were planning, you're actually good for another 5-10 minutes at the faster speed and you can kind of start bumping up your regular running speed to what used to be 'fast'.

Good to know. Thanks. I'm not big on running actually. I do it mostly to burn fat/improve cardio, but now that I can handle longer and faster runs I can see the appeal of doing it recreationaly.

Bad idea. If you eat healthy you don't need vitamins. Taking artificial vitamins is in some cases possibly actually unhealthy (recent meta-analysis study shows increased mortality with people taking anti-oxidants, for example). People who are still eating all fast food need vitamins... in the form of fruits and veggies.

Very true.

Biggest change most folks need to make: [b]stop pingling.[/p] If you only eat when you're actually hungry (note: hungry is not the same as "wanting to eat") and stop when you're full without overeating, you'll go a long way to losing weight without having to count calories. Eat slow, don't multitask, enjoy your food.

Not exactly true, but high protein diets are safe and effective (*note: only if you're not diabetic. always check with your doctor before starting a new diet and exercise plan, obviously). If you skip the carbs, your body will convert the excess protein into carbs. Your body is perfectly capable of storing excess protein as fat, it's just a different process than storing excess fat or carbs as fat.

Mostly health food store/gym bullshit. You'd do fine to just eat high protein foods (like meat and soy).

Wisconsin is "hilly", not "mountainous".

At the bike forum I frequent, they basically said that if your metabolism can handle 2 hrs, it can handle five. Probably similar to the idea of marathoners never running the actual 26+ miles during training.

I HAVE been picking up my daughter at daycare in the bike trailer this week - takes my commute from 3.7 miles each way to 3.7 to work in the morning, 4 miles work-daycare, and then 4.2 miles from daycare to home towing the bike trailer. I'm thinking that will whip me into fightin' shape fairly quickly, once it gets done kicking my ass.

I've got a question for cardio. What's produces better results, elliptical or bike riding? I can't keep the jogging up, not with this weight still on. My knees are absolutely killing me. I worked on the elliptical but it absolutely killed me and I could only stay on for a short time. Bike I could ride harder for longer, but it wasn't as hard a workout, obviously.

Do the bike. I have the same issue with the elliptical, since I have pre-existing knee issues from football injuries. I've also gotten into going for 20-30 minute 3.5 mph walks on a high incline (like 12 or 13) treadmill. If you've got enough fat to drop, it's probably better to start off with walking anyway - lower impact, for starters, and it's not good to start running/jogging if you weigh too much to begin with.

Just make sure to change up the pace and the route - do some uphill stuff, downhill stuff, etc. Variety's never a bad thing. I lost most of my fattyfat fat going for walks.

Jake's right--it isn't a question of doing what's the optimum cardio/fat burner. It's doing what you can do. Walking is great--if you have the time to dedicate to it, you'll drop the weight. You might want to think about setting up a long-range training program. As you meet your weight loss goals, you can step it up and add more intense exercise. If you're working out inside, a treadmill makes it easier for you to gradually work up to higher speeds--effectively transitioning from walking to jogging to running.

Elliptical and bikes are good intermediate activities, but there are pros and cons to both. I saw a study the other day that raised some questions about possible problems for people with knee injuries.

My suggestion would be to think about jogging at different paces as you feel more comfortable with more intensive activities. Look at doing fartleks or intervals--you can alternate between a slow jog and shorter bursts of faster paced running. It breaks up the monotony of longer runs and has a great cumulative effect. They can also keep you from embarking on more extreme schemes that might end up causing you some problems.

Think about swimming too. The water gives you great support, especially if you're having problems with joints, ankles, etc. It's a fantastic exercise too--works your whole body. If you're not an accomplished swimmer, most pools have programs or instructors who can get you going.

The last thing that I'd say is make sure that you're working with your doctor if you have a lot of weight to lose. They can really help you to put it all together, and to point you to special advice (diet, injuries, etc.).

I would like to lose another 50lbs. No idea if that's considered a lot of weight to lose. It seems pretty significant to me, but I'm only able to judge against myself.

And the pool is a great recommendation. I have a pool at the apartment, but then it comes around to the very stupid "not comfortable in my own skin because of my weight" shit that prevents me from jumping into the pool half naked.

I'll look into just walks on the treadmill. I am going to possibly buy a exercise machine here soon (part of changing lifestyle, not just short term weight loss) and I think having the machine at home where I can pop in a movie and walk for a while will be a big help.

For what it's worth, I don't know if I'd buy something like a treadmill to use at home or not. One of the nice things about exercise is it gets you out of your daily routine and out of the house. I think that I'd save the money and go for a walk (or a jog) instead. I have a couple of diligent friends who have a bowflex or something at home and use the heck of it, but most of them would be at the gym if they could--they work long hours or crazy shifts that makes it next to impossible. Just about everybody else winds up piling clothes or junk on top of it, then feels guilty because they aren't using it.

If you like to bike and plan on working that into your routine, a stationary trainer is kind of nice. There are different kinds, but with little effort you can mount your regular bicycle on it and work out inside if you have to. It doesn't take up much more space than the bike itself and you can wheel the bike outside and ride too. One particulary terrible winter, I spent a lot of time using mine--I got a rider's POV video of cycling through Northern California from a friend and I'd park myself in front of the TV and ride. It wasn't as bad as I thought that it would be.

I think that it is nice to have some exercies gear at home--I have a nice jump rope, a couple of kettlebells, a pull-up bar and an ab wheel in the house, and a heavy bag in my garage. If I've put off working out, I usually see one of them in the corner and feel guilty enough to squeeze a workout in.

If you are looking for things to do at the house, you should look into bodyweight exercise. Most everybody has done some variety of this stuff in school and gave up on it because it's too low tech. Push ups, sit ups, squats, etc. at home can give you a heck of a workout. There's tons of information on line about putting together a routine that suits you. If you are really unfamiliar with what to do, guys like Matt Furey have programs that will answer your questions. But you don't actually need to buy anything--that's the beauty of it--you're already carrying around everything you need.

I've got two gym memberships, but with work and three kids I don't usually have time to get into a routine.

The only regular exercise I get is on a treadmill and a pull up bar in my basement. Further to your 'bodyweight exercise' comment I was wondering if anyone has info on the Perfect Pushup. Seems like an unnecessary device, but if I leave the contraption on the floor in my bedroom or office I'm more inclined to get down and do a couple reps.

There's not really much you can do with the Perfect Pushup that can't be done with a pair of pushup handles or a pair of dumbbells, really. The rotation's not that necessary of a movement, and while people have bought it and gotten results, the truth is that you can go from doing nothing to doing pretty much anything and get results. It usually comes down to the most efficient manner of getting them - Perfect Pushup's not the worst thing you can do (I'm looking at you, Ab Stool), but don't forget to change it up every once in a while so that you don't plateau.

Yep. Why not get a useful workout item like a workout guide book or maybe a workout mat?

I'm just saying that money can be better spent elsewhere. Often people feel if they get a piece of equipment it will motivate them to get into shape. But if you have low motivation in the first place, it's not going to help.

___

The pool is one of the best workouts you can get. I went to the indoor pool at OU (included with my alumni membership) but most of the time, it is for lap swim only. That would be great if I was already in shape, but after three full laps (or would it be considered 6, since I count back and forth as one lap) I felt like I was having a heart attack. Climbed out and almost fell over from rubber legs. Scared the shit out of me and I have not been back yet during lap only time.

As for the treadmill walking, half of the ones at OU include a personal TV attached to the treadmill with a headphone jack. I climbed on, switch over to ESPN or a good movie that might be on and take off. Having something to watch to keep your mind off the time running makes it go by much easier.