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Raining_again

The Gym

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http://www.shapefit.com/workout-routines.html - there's lot of ideas on different areas to target in terms of weights

 

start with cardio, mix in some weights and cardio in between, then some slower paced cardio to finish.

 

Eg

crosstrainer to start

weights

some interval bike work (do 70rpm for 3 minutes, as fast as you can for 30/60 secs, 70rpm again for 2ms, fast again, rinse and repeat)

More weight work

bit of rowing

treadmill at medium paced walk to finish

 

You should try some classes if they are available always good craic! I love kettlebell classes/training but they are slightly more advanced, something to think about for the future maybe. Kettlebell workouts still make me feel nauseous pretty quickly and I've been training for nearly a year :p

Edited by Raining_again

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It depends what you want to get out of it, Ell. Are you doing this to be fitter, so that you can play sports and stuff for longer (like football, building up your stamina I mean). Are you trying to bulk up? Or tone yourself, slim yourself down, etc.

 

I've been continuing with my current plan of only doing a few exercises (3 usually) and increasing the weight to try and push myself/get stronger. I think it's working so far. I did some deadlifting last week and can now manage 92kg, which I've never done before.

 

Also, I'm trying to go to the gym before work now. I did it yesterday, and it was quieter, which meant I could do all the stuff that I wanted. Plus, it then means my evening is free. Which is nice. Did some shoulder work. They seem to be coming along now, starting to see the roundness a bit more. Arnold Pressing Ftw.

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General bulk up, I'm a bit on the light and thin looking side, only slightly. I do quite a bit of sport sporadically so I think fitness needs a bit of attention as well. I don't want to become huge or anything close, just a general small increase and toning I guess!

 

Thanks for the advice anyway, I'll see what I decide to do and hopefully find a plan that suits me.

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Whenever I go to the gym with someone new they always say something like 'I want to put on a bit of muscle but not be huge.' As if somehow by accident they're going to wake up someday like The Hulk. Not that that's what you're saying, you just reminded me.

 

Anyways, diet is just as important as the exercise you do. Eat loads. Although you want to tone as well. Bulking and toning don't really go together too well. So maybe don't eat loads more, just a little more.

 

A quick way to bulk up is to switch up your routine regularly. Say every two weeks.

 

I've switched from bulking to toning now. Which means I'm cutting a lot of carbs out of my diet. Seems to have made quite a difference in the three weeks since I've started.

 

I swear by the hammer jammer and the like.

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General bulk up, I'm a bit on the light and thin looking side, only slightly. I do quite a bit of sport sporadically so I think fitness needs a bit of attention as well. I don't want to become huge or anything close, just a general small increase and toning I guess!

 

Thanks for the advice anyway, I'll see what I decide to do and hopefully find a plan that suits me.

 

For the fitness, you could try some interval training. So, walking at one speed, then switching to a run, or jogging and then running, or even running at a slower speed and then increasing it, then decreasing. It depends how you want to do it.

 

I find it a pretty good way to help with stamina, as well as preparing you for sports where you use short bursts of speed, such as football and squash, where you might not be running the entire time. I definitely have seen an improvement with my fitness levels thanks to this.

 

A typical weekly exercise plan would look something like this (I did a similar one for Ine):

 

Monday: Shoulders + Triceps

Wednesday: Back and Biceps.

Friday: Chest and Triceps.

 

That's for upper body. With regards to legs, you could do those on the weekend, so perhaps Saturday, and then have Sunday as another rest, possibly.

 

About the exercises, if you're wanting to gain muscle, you need a "mass" builder type of exercise. For shoulders, that would be your typical shoulder press exercise.

 

dumbel_press.jpg

 

Back would be deadlifts. Or, even things like barbell rows. Pull-ups are also very recommended for helping to shape your back.

 

deadlift1.jpg

 

For the chest, you would be looking at the chest or bench press.

 

bench_press.jpg

 

Then, legs, you'll be looking at your squats.

 

squat.jpg

 

Those are the exercises which are going to help build muscle. Then, you've got other exercises which will "isolate" that muscle and will help shape it. For example, pectoral flies. For shoulders, you've got front raises and side raises. These are all good for helping to isolate those muscles and shape them.

 

It might be an idea to start off with some of these on a light weight, to get you used to the motions and techniques. Some of these exercises are tricky to pull off correctly as they are quite technical, like deadlifts and squats.

 

Whenever I go to the gym with someone new they always say something like 'I want to put on a bit of muscle but not be huge.' As if somehow by accident they're going to wake up someday like The Hulk. Not that that's what you're saying, you just reminded me.

Anyways, diet is just as important as the exercise you do. Eat loads. Although you want to tone as well. Bulking and toning don't really go together too well. So maybe don't eat loads more, just a little more.

 

A quick way to bulk up is to switch up your routine regularly. Say every two weeks.

 

I've switched from bulking to toning now. Which means I'm cutting a lot of carbs out of my diet. Seems to have made quite a difference in the three weeks since I've started.

 

I swear by the hammer jammer and the like.

 

Haha, I agree with the bolded bit. I remember seeing a thread on a different forum where a guy asked "How do I get bigger, but not too big? I don't want to be a muscle-man." Made me crack up.

 

The diet is very important, though, like you say. It's the area most people will struggle with, tbh. Probably including me.

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I'd actually say for fitness, just do straight running. Don't slow down, pick a distance and run it. Try and better your time with each run. It works wonders. I ran every night for a couple years, bar maybe a couple days, and my fitness went through the roof.

 

I could play a 90 minute football match at full intensity and still be bursting with energy at the end. (Was awesome.)

 

Flink, is that your routine for every week? I used to have assigned days but now I just do whatever I think is neglected or what I'm in the mood to do. It's great because I have very little routine for my body to get used to and where I'd plateaued before I'm seeing progress again.

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I'd actually say for fitness, just do straight running. Don't slow down, pick a distance and run it. Try and better your time with each run. It works wonders. I ran every night for a couple years, bar maybe a couple days, and my fitness went through the roof.

 

Hmm, it depends on his knees, to be honest. If he's done a bit of running or is quite active already through sports, then give it a go, yeah. However, I find I burn a lot more energy when interval training, and also I feel more "into it" and less bored. Its a bit less repetitive.

 

I could play a 90 minute football match at full intensity and still be bursting with energy at the end. (Was awesome.)

 

Flink, is that your routine for every week? I used to have assigned days but now I just do whatever I think is neglected or what I'm in the mood to do. It's great because I have very little routine for my body to get used to and where I'd plateaued before I'm seeing progress again.

 

I change it all the time, but that was a starting point. So, you start off with that and over time you adjust it to fit your needs. What I like about it is that it is reasonably balanced, so every area is getting a workout. (You'd need to slot an ab session in there somewhere, missed that one.)

 

When I'm feeling myself getting tired or burned out, I'll change things. So, recently I've found myself struggling with increasing the weight, so I've been doing less exercise but just focusing on the mass builders and increasing the weight for that.

 

Sometimes I will have weeks where I can't make it to the gym because of work and stuff, so then I start with the exercise I think has been neglected most and go with that one, and then kinda start the week over from that point. I do try and stick to that plan though, so that in a week I am working out all areas. The area that does get neglected are legs probably, but I'm trying to change that.

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Hmm, it depends on his knees, to be honest. If he's done a bit of running or is quite active already through sports, then give it a go, yeah. However, I find I burn a lot more energy when interval training, and also I feel more "into it" and less bored. Its a bit less repetitive.

 

I agree with this. I started off doing a lot of personal training and did the different stuff he gave me, which was all interval. You're running round the gym like a looney bin, but its SO effective.

 

A year later I'm so so so much fitter and now I feel able to start to do more of the cardio side too. Some people just aren't physically able to jump on a treadmill and run straight away because you have to have strong muscles to support weak joints... if you have injuries/disease/weight its better to start off a bit easier.. although I imagine Daft probably never had that problem :heh:

 

I tried running not long into my gym membership - 7.5 for 30 seconds killed me.. so I got a bit meh towards the treadmill and never went on it, opting for the CT or the bike

 

now I am "running" on an interval basis, doing 1minute at a time easily, and doing that at least 10 times :) currently on repetitions of 1.5 run 1 jog for 10 minutes, and i'm going to start closing the gap of walking gradually.. means i feel like I'm achieving something as the walk number goes down and the run goes up :)

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What the shmit? No posts since April? Dit is niet goed.

 

Ine was in the UK for about two weeks recently, so I managed to temporarily sign her up to the gym I go to. It was a bit strange, since I tend to do it by myself and it has been years since I actually went to the gym with somebody else.

 

Went pretty well, though. She's got pretty strong legs and some strength in her back. Hopefully we'll do that again when she comes down.

 

I've realised now that I have muscle but not a great deal of mass. Particuarly on my legs. My calves and quads are not that big, but can take a battering. My diet is on the right track, but it does make you realise how expensive it must be to properly bulk up. Food ain't cheap.

 

Also, did some leg-work with Ine the day before travelling to Belgium. We were both in agony the next day and the day after. In fact, I'm still not totally recovered. Stuuuupid idea.

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Flink's post about the gym thread dying reminded me to post saying I'm currently trying out the 100 press up and 100 sit up (seperately not together) exercise challenge.

 

There is an app recommended to me by @Diageo and I've kept with it. Every two days it tells me how many to do in short bursts and gives me rest time and then a little alarm to say go on to the next set!

 

I'm now up to 110 press ups and 130 sit ups but with breaks in between. Hopefully I'll keep up with this because I got bored of doing weights and seem to go in phases :p

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Flink's post about the gym thread dying reminded me to post saying I'm currently trying out the 100 press up and 100 sit up (seperately not together) exercise challenge.

 

There is an app recommended to me by @Diageo and I've kept with it. Every two days it tells me how many to do in short bursts and gives me rest time and then a little alarm to say go on to the next set!

 

I'm now up to 110 press ups and 130 sit ups but with breaks in between. Hopefully I'll keep up with this because I got bored of doing weights and seem to go in phases :p

 

 

 

How long does it take for the 110 then with the breaks?

 

fair play, I can just about do 30. that's without a break though.

 

 

I'm training for the Lands end to John o Groats cycle next year, so in the Gym i've been hogging the bikes.

 

I know it's not anywhere as near as tough as real on road cycling, but still it's going well.

 

I managed 30 miles total last week, which I was pretty happy with given I haven't cycled since I was about 14. Last night did 12 miles.

 

 

my legs are fine, my breathing is fine, ...... My ass..... fucking hell. I'm walking like a cowboy.

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Flink's post about the gym thread dying reminded me to post saying I'm currently trying out the 100 press up and 100 sit up (seperately not together) exercise challenge.

 

There is an app recommended to me by @Diageo and I've kept with it. Every two days it tells me how many to do in short bursts and gives me rest time and then a little alarm to say go on to the next set!

 

I'm now up to 110 press ups and 130 sit ups but with breaks in between. Hopefully I'll keep up with this because I got bored of doing weights and seem to go in phases :p

 

I find press ups and situps boring. I got up to 100 in a row each (with situps I did it on an incline to make it harder) and couldn't be bothered and found new exercises.

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Well I will move on once I've done it bit its building me up at the moment. So I reckon I could now do about 50 whereas it was 30 before I think. I haven't tried.

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Well I will move on once I've done it bit its building me up at the moment. So I reckon I could now do about 50 whereas it was 30 before I think. I haven't tried.

 

Yeah, totally. It's a good target but you hit it and then it's like 'What now?'

 

Actually, that's when the real fun starts. :heh:

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Yeah, it's best to add weights, do them on inclines or super-set them. It's not even a problem physically with doing 150, it's just so boring. At least for me. Also, for maximum effect you'll want to mix it up.

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Fuck yeah, gym thread!

 

I went twice today! Did some cardio stuff in the morning before work, and then went for some shoulder work afterwards (with a bit of tricep thrown in, but predominantly shoulder stuff.)

 

Knackered me out, hehe. As for this press-up and sit-up stuff, it's good for your endurance to go for high reps. It's not really my sort of thing, though. I'd do it if I didn't have access to equipment.

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I've noticed that I've gotten heavier and look more fuller now, so all this exercise is doing me good.

 

I was in a sports shop the other day and saw some weighted gloves, I was thinking of getting them, I need gloves for my weights because they are starting to tear up my hand with the heavier weights. Weighted or not weighted gloves, that is the question!

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Been hitting the gym pretty heavy this summer..I've put on a stone and my body fat percentage has dropped to 20% from 24%! :D

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