Gym, Exercise & Weight Gainers - Page 2

http://www.jimmythomas.com/training/...mas/jt5day.htm

thats my current workout routine, I also take a protein shake after the workout. I fit in at least 3 glasses of water a day, avoid cola except on a day or two, and take a general purpose vitamin. I've been gaining weight the last month and a half like crazy in pure muscle (20lb or so).

My highschool coach made us do these (we called them "wall sits") for up to 2 minutes at a time. After 30 secs I was already in pain and at 1 minute I wanted to cry. I usually collasped after that point or cheated by putting my hands on my thighs to distrbute the weight to my arms and back. I give props to anyone who can do wall sits for 2 minutes just using their things to hold them up. It's brutal.

Since you are already down there, another good exercise to work your hamstrings and butt is to lay on the ground with legs bent, arms at your side, as if starting a sit up. Then squueze your butt and lift your hips up towards the ceiling, trying not to use your arms to help you push up (I usually have my palms facing up so I'm not tempting to use my hands). Do 10-12 reps, holding the last one for 30 seconds. You'll have a tight ass in no time. To make the exercise harder, do the same thing with either one foot on the floor and the other extended parrallel to the floor or with both feet placed on a step or box.

I could do these for a good 15 minutes at a time. My coach would hold contests to see who could do them the longest. That person could then not have to run the 3 mile "cool-down" at the end of practice. 15 minutes was always brutal; anyone that could tolerate it after 5 minutes was usually screaming in spurts. They probably thought we were killing people down there by the food stands.

It always sucked for the person that went out second to last because they would immediately have to run that 3 miles after collapsing to the ground. I won the competition around 90% of the time. I guess it didn't hurt to go home, take a shower and "practice" this while I watched The Price Is Right.

That reminds me of the Plank. Which is fun. I haven't done it in months but I was up to about a minute without any problems.

And going back to soda/weight thing. I worked with a guy who cut regular soda out of his diet. He switched to Diet Pepsi and dropped about 30 pounds in five months. And he's not an active person aside from doing repairs and garden work around the house.

Plus all that sugar just isn't good for you in terms of skin care, bone care, teeth care and energy levels.

I cut myself off from sugar/carbonated drinks at the beginning of this month. In high school I didn't drink any soda and I felt great. I did pretty good through college, but now that I'm working for a living, it seems like every winter/spring I get back on the soda.

I'm getting back to my high school/college routine and will only drink a soda on occasion. I don't need that much sugar and carbonation in my system, especially when I'm on the air in morning. I find myself trying to get all of my belches out seconds before going on the air.

I figure I'd try to do something on my gym off days. So I went and started using my building's pool and swim for at least 15 minutes (While trying to remember swim lessons I took 14 years ago). Holy jesus did I get sore.

Yeah, water's a bitch.

Yeah, but I figure it couldn't hurt to diversify the old exercise routine.

Yeah swimming is great cardio. I used to run long distance but my knee has gone bad a little so I have a hard time after 2 and half miles. Funny thing is, I never got my swimming certificate when I was a kid during lessions because I was afraid of the water and couldn't hold my breath too long. Now its the complete opposite story.

Yeah, it's a nice supplement to the Eliptical and I don't have the occasional discomfort in my legs from trying to do about 50 minutes of cardio three times a week.

My goal has been basically to be a bit more toned and keep the weight down. That's about it really.

After reading about what truly awful stuff high fructose corn syrup is in The Omnivore's Dilemma, I stopped drinking soda altogether and only drink water, 100% fruit juice, milk, and tea (lots of tea) now. I had about half a can of Sprite at a school function last month and I was sick for the rest of the evening.

As it is my last day at my current job and I have nothing better to do, I just tried the Norwegian Thunder Thigh against my cubicle wall. For about 30 seconds. Owowow. My legs are in really good shape from yoga (I thought), but how on earth do you do that for 15 minutes?

Like anything else, it's just training your muscles. When I played basketball we'd have to do them for 10 minutes to get our bodies used to bending at the knee. It was brutal at first, but you get used to it.

HFCS and the current sweeteners market is an interesting topic. The recent rise in concern over HFCS and weight is actually pushing people back to sugar, especially because of concerns raised over artificial sweeteners (though Splenda is excepted because it's 'not artificial...it's made from sugar!'). Who'd have thought that some brands would actually advertise on their labels "Made From Sugar"?

I used to swim pretty well and tried to get back into it after a decade of not doing lap swims. After one lap, I was struggling. It's just so different from any other exercise out there. My real issue is getting the breathing down.

Love this discussion. As movie aficionados, we spend a lot of time sitting on our asses, but it's good to know people are also concerned about getting some exercise.

This would fall under my definition of torture! 15 minutes?! Good god!

I'm pretty good at the plank due to yoga. I can hold it for several minutes. I always include planks in my exercise programs as its just a really good total body exercise that builds core strength just using one's own body weight. I find it so funny when I train guys (most of my clients are women) because they really have a hard time doing this. Not just because they weigh more, but because they spend so much time lifting weights (read: short burts of weight, such as in curls and presses) that they never do any stabilizing exercises that can help them support weight for longer periods of time and increase their balance.

I'm a functional trainer and if you think about the type of movements you do in every day life, short burts aren't really practical. I don't pick up boxes by lifting them to my chest and then throwing them to the ground (action of bicep curls). I lift it up slowly, carry it for an extended period of time, and then slowly set it down. As such, I usually have clients use lighter weights (but a challenging amount) and have them curl up at a slower pace (a count of 2) and release at an even slower pace (a count of 4). It may seem like you aren't working hard, but I dare you to try it. Instead of letting gravity do the work for you, control the weight as you release your motion. It's fucking hard!

Many exercises have this - I decided to finally get off my tubby ass and bike to work (I'm not Lance Armstrong here, it's 3.6 miles one way), and aside from obvious cardio issues to start with, biking REALLY works what I can only call your "haunches". Kicked my ass for a few weeks.

Yeah, the best training routines are the ones that switch up exercises either weekly or monthly. Once your body gets used to a motion, it calculates the exact amount of energy it needs to exert and shuts everything else off. When you switch from running to biking to swimming, etc., you force your body to expect any motion at any moment. All your muscles are fired up and ready to go. Switching up exercises is good for weight training as well.

It took a long time and a lot of motivation. (Not wanting to run a 3-mile warm-down will do that to you.) I haven't done them in about a month or so, but don't think for a second that I got through those 15 minutes without screaming, crying and forgetting what having legs felt like.

When I bench, I go as slow as possible. I want to make the best use I can out of the time I have to work out.

I don't drink much soda at all anymore, I've switched over to tea for the most part.

Still, it seems to me that if people eat the right portions of food the drink is not going to sink them. Conversely in restaurants I often see people order a large portion of fatty food and a diet soda. What is the point?

You're right it is strange to see people do that because it's self-defeating. However, maybe they like the taste of diet soda.

That could explain that one scene in True Romance.

They're not doing all that they can, but any way you can reduce calories is going to help. They're still getting fatter, but not as fat as if they were chugging regular cola.

But you are right about having a Coke here and there not killing you. Part of maintaining a healthy diet over the long haul is understanding that you're not going to give up everything that you love for a significant amount of time. The real problem with people who are constantly struggling to maintain weight loss is that they go on strict diets for a couple months, then find they can't keep up and just give up completely on it.

Eat chocolate cake and fried chicken now and then. You're actually more likely to maintain a healthy diet if you compliment it with less healthy treats here and there.

I guess I just don't get the appeal of diet soda. It tastes like dog spit. I'm always amazed to see a guy order one.

People who get used to drinking it usually can't go back to regular soda. Their taste buds have changed to where good tasting cola has that ultra-sweet/bitter twang of artificial sweeteners.

I figure people who like the taste of diet soda are like people who drink gin or whiskey (Clearly they don't have the same effect) but some do drink it for the taste.

The taste.

On another note, I drink way too much alcohol. I'd be a good 10 pounds lighter if I didn't go bar hopping so often.

Listen to this guy folks! He's right on the money. I love fried chicken and every diet book tells me I can't eat it. Fuck that. I'm an active person who generally eats fairly healthy. A chicken wing every now and then won't kill me.

Treat yourself on occasion. There's no need to completely abandon the things you love.

Unless it's a tub of mayonaise every Saturday night.

I know people who put mayonnaise on everything. I stopped eating mayo for a while because I got hooked on spicy dijon mustard for my sandwiches. When I tried to go back to mayo it tasted like I was eating pure lard. It made me physically sick. Just this past weekend, a friend made me try her macaroni salad at a BBQ and I felt nauseous the rest of the night. I don't know how mayo was ever appealing to me. It's just so gross.

I have a hard time eating mayonaise myself. If I go even a little overboard on a sandwich I have to toss it. It's just not something I enjoy anymore.

You guys would never make it as Undercover Brother. I'm a little picky about mayo (sometimes the "fresh" stuff in restaurants is nasty), but it's still my primary choice for sandwiches.

I knew a girl who would reflexively gag whenever mayonnaise was mentioned.

She was fun to take to parties.

Yeah, my wife and I both hate mayo. We never buy it and our kids never eat it. People come over and express shock that they've fallen into a world where the stuff doesn't exist.

I love mayo.

That's why it isn't in the house - my "ham and cheese sammich with mayo" becomes "mayo salad with bread, cheese, and ham"

You should try some tricep kickbacks, so you will be better at jerking someone off who's standing behind you, you want to do those fast though.

......

Yeah free weights are the best, avoid machines if possible.

Abs?

Oh man, its all about form, and trying to isolate your abs on crunches. It took me a long time, but I'm finally able to now, and my belly just started to disappear. Basically anything that involved moving your upper torso will work your top abs, and anything with your legs your bottom.

I've found menshealth.com to be pretty good. Sorry women...

Once of these I'll bring myself to do free weights although I'm skittish about screwing up form.

From what I understand the FW are better because more demands are made on your muscles to stabilize and balance your body and the weight. You do want to use the proper form thou, but a few Youtubes or even a few personal trainer sessions will fix that right up..

As far as Ab's go, I swim laps and that seems to burn everything off super quick just make an effort to stretch your torso out on each stroke and use your legs to push off the wall at the end of each lap. By the time you have finished you will have done the equivelent of 20-40 squats as far as which muscles are used.

I am not in good or great shape but I do read alot about it

Yeah other than squats and deadlifts the form is easy, I like the youtube watching idea.

What he said. Also, I've seen enough guys with really bad form to say if you are at all worried that you are doing it wrong, just ask a trainer. You don't even have to do a session. There are usually people wrorking the floor for that very purpose. Go up to a trainer, ask him or her to show you proper form, and they should be happy to help. Most trainers want to show off their knowledge (we're a narcissitic bunch) and they'll probably give you a free session right then and there (of course, in the hopes that you'll buy a training package, but most aren't aggressive about it).

I'm in great shape - perfectly round.

That's good to know, I know I've got a strengeth trainging manual from when I took that class in college. Time to bring that thing out of whatever box I put in and cross check it with a youtube video. Great idea guys.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Check this site out. It has a shitload of exercises for pretty much every muscle and has gif animations showing you how to do them. It's an awesome site.

Yeesh, that site would probably be a bit daunting for beginners. It's got a lot of great information, but I would suggest using it as a reference if there's a part of the body that you want to work on and need to find an exercise for.* I wouldn't use it as an exercise program in which you attempt to do every exercise on there to get a total body workout.

*Edit: Seeing how it says it's a directory, I suppose that's its intended use anyways.

*Edit 2: The workout template page is a pretty handy guide: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html

Looking at that site reminds me of that Brian Regan bit about going to the gym and dealing with trainers.

"This machine here. This machine is for your Flaktoid."

(In Idiot Guy voice) "That's the 'toid I'm workin on"

Mayo can pack it on unless you make your own.
Its oil, egg yolks and seasoning:
control the oil, control the fat.

After being a size 1-3 since I was 17
I tried for ten years to gain weight.
Now I work out four times a week to stay in a size seven.
Beware what you pray/workout for, you just might get it!
Good Luck!

-Not a Rapper

I took the National Academy of Sports Medicine course to get my certification and I basically had to learn 4 years worth of anatomy and biology in 3 months. We had both a practical and computer exam testing us on the anatomically correct terminology. During a practice run, I had to teach someone how to use the lat pulldown machine. I told the person to squeeze their "shoulder blades" together (as if they were trying to hold a tennis ball on their back) to engage the muscles before pulling down and my instructor corrected me that the correct terminology was "scapula". Of course, when I was actually a trainer and said "scapula", my client point blank said, "I don't know what that means".

Check out the programs' table of contents to see what I had to learn. It's insane.

Just a question about trying to stay toned, how bad is beer for keeping a good body? I was in really good shape until I turned 21 and started drinking all sorts of beer. I mean I'm still in decent shape now but I'm forming a bit of a belly. And I do ab workouts and all that. Obviously it's the beer that's doing this, but is there anyway to keep drinking and be in shape still? I don't have to go cold turkey do I?

Hmm not totally cold turkey, but liquor can still be your friend.

Mathematics 101: Every 3500 calories of beer you drink = 1 lb gained. You want to keep drinking, cut back on food (I don't suggest this), exercise more (always good), and/or only drink a few beers per week (as opposed to guzzling back a couple pints each night).

Also, spot training (e.g., doing sit ups to get rid of your beer belly) is an urban myth. You can't tell your body where to lose fat. Doing sit ups will build ab muscles under your beer gut. Where you lose weight is up to genetics.

Diva, thank you, for you are quite knowledgeable on this subject. I try to stay in shape on my own (can't afford a gym) and this thread has pointed some things out I hadn't realized.