Weight Loss & Fitness 2012

[Deku-Nutz]

I really want to lose weight then bulk up... but lack any serious guidance... it's all a bit overwhelming but it's something I really want to do... I have tried doing fitness training and weight lifting but I just lack any sort of experience...

 

What I am asking in a round about way is whether anyone could start me on a mission, a weight loss crusade. I'm not looking to lose masses, only 3 stone or so... but I am starving for advice... so please help!

[Fierce_LiNk]

I don't actually do squats. Can't really be arsed to work my legs because of time and I cycle. I do deadlifts every time I'm in the gym, though. Three times a week.

 

Haha, wow, that's commitment. How come you're working on that three times a week? I wouldn't have the energy.

 

Do you just do full body workouts now, or is it solely just deadlifting and some back training?

 

I really want to lose weight then bulk up... but lack any serious guidance... it's all a bit overwhelming but it's something I really want to do... I have tried doing fitness training and weight lifting but I just lack any sort of experience...

 

What I am asking in a round about way is whether anyone could start me on a mission, a weight loss crusade. I'm not looking to lose masses, only 3 stone or so... but I am starving for advice... so please help!

 

What do you have access to? Gym? Or do you have a bike? Any sport, etc.

 

The main thing that will make or break this is your diet. Eating the right kinds of food in the right amounts will go a long way.

[Grazza]

I really want to lose weight then bulk up... but lack any serious guidance... it's all a bit overwhelming but it's something I really want to do... I have tried doing fitness training and weight lifting but I just lack any sort of experience...

 

What I am asking in a round about way is whether anyone could start me on a mission, a weight loss crusade. I'm not looking to lose masses, only 3 stone or so... but I am starving for advice... so please help!

 

I would prioritise muscle building and then see if you still need to burn any fat after you've been doing that for a while. It might be that you "activate" your muscles so much that they take any energy you throw at them. I've heard it said that muscles turn your body into a sort of engine, sending your metabolism through the roof.

 

Put it this way, when I joined the gym I told them I wanted to build muscle and burn fat, but it turned out the fat dropped off without me actually concentrating on cardiovascular. By all means keep active though - personally, I walk to the gym (35 minutes), do 5 minutes on the treadmill (strictly a warm-up), do my weights and then walk home again. I'm just saying you might not need to flog yourself in a cardiovascular fashion as much as you might think (I don't like it, but that's just me!)

[Daft]

Haha, wow, that's commitment. How come you're working on that three times a week? I wouldn't have the energy.

 

Do you just do full body workouts now, or is it solely just deadlifting and some back training?

 

Deadlifts are a pretty good all body work out so it something I just started doing with every routine. I think part of the reason was that I was a bit frustrated with my lame grip so I was concentrating on shoring that up but then just kind of enjoyed doing them. Now I think about it, more often than not I only do it twice a week (although I did it three times last week, it's all a bit of a blur). Depends on how I feel really.

 

But yeah, whatever muscles I am working out that day (if I'm doing back I'll obviously do other back exercises, too), deadlifts always seems to complement them, so I thought why not.

[The Bard]

Excellent, cheers for the info gaiz, guess I've been doing 'em wrong. It's one part of my workout I've completely neglected though, through a mixture of not knowing the "technique" and being lazy, but I tried to do squats after three deadlift sets and I just could not. It takes a lot of energy out of you.

[Deku-Nutz]

I would prioritise muscle building and then see if you still need to burn any fat after you've been doing that for a while. It might be that you "activate" your muscles so much that they take any energy you throw at them. I've heard it said that muscles turn your body into a sort of engine, sending your metabolism through the roof.

 

Put it this way, when I joined the gym I told them I wanted to build muscle and burn fat, but it turned out the fat dropped off without me actually concentrating on cardiovascular. By all means keep active though - personally, I walk to the gym (35 minutes), do 5 minutes on the treadmill (strictly a warm-up), do my weights and then walk home again. I'm just saying you might not need to flog yourself in a cardiovascular fashion as much as you might think (I don't like it, but that's just me!)

 

Haha, wow, that's commitment. How come you're working on that three times a week? I wouldn't have the energy.

 

Do you just do full body workouts now, or is it solely just deadlifting and some back training?

 

 

 

What do you have access to? Gym? Or do you have a bike? Any sport, etc.

 

The main thing that will make or break this is your diet. Eating the right kinds of food in the right amounts will go a long way.

 

 

Thanks guys!! OK so like some sort of slap around the face of a sign a Gym has opened over the road from me... so I won't be getting fit just walking there but yeah, I took a look inside and it's a pretty raw placebut the equipment is all really good... it's huge too!

 

What to do though? As I said my biggest issue is lack of direction and just generally not knowing WHAT to do... is it best to spread my body over a few days, like concentrating on one area per day... or to create a whole body workout that I do every other day??? This is where I really need specific ideas from you guys please!

[Grazza]

What to do though? As I said my biggest issue is lack of direction and just generally not knowing WHAT to do... is it best to spread my body over a few days, like concentrating on one area per day... or to create a whole body workout that I do every other day??? This is where I really need specific ideas from you guys please!

 

This is going to make me sound like a hypocrite because I do split my workout, but I wouldn't if I were you. Not yet anyway. I recommend a well-balanced workout three times a week (ie. that's the same one every time), Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

To put it simply, you need to exercise: chest, back, shoulders, legs, biceps and triceps. Again, to generalise, when you are pushing you are using your chest, triceps and shoulders. When you are pulling, you are using your back and biceps. For a really full workout, you'd want to do exercises that have a pushing motion upwards (Shoulder Press), in front (Chest Press) and downwards (Dips). Likewise, with your back you'd want to pull vertically from above (Lat Pull-down), in front of you (Mid Row) and from below (Upward Row). You do need to isolate your biceps and triceps as well.

 

But anyway, if you joined a gym I'm sure your instructor would set you a well-balanced workout in your induction. I predict it would be something like this:

 

1) Chest Press

2) Lat Pull-down

3) Shoulder Press

4) Leg Press

5) Mid Row

6) Bicep Curls

7) Tricep Extensions or Cable Push Down

 

That would be well-balanced. It doesn't cover every direction, but there are two "pushing" exercises, two "pulling", one for legs, one for biceps and one for triceps.

 

Another thing to consider is that your biceps have two parts to them, triceps have three and quadriceps have four, etc, so after a while you'd really want to do specialist exercises for every one. That's when you'd split it into A and B workouts.

 

For now, just give it a go and see how you get on!

[Raining_again]

I'm really annoyed that I've had to cancel my gym membership... I can't do any exercise at the moment because I've been having really bad asthmatic symptoms and crippling chest pain when I exercise (cause that's GOTTA be a good problem, what with having cardiac failure in the family...)

 

So I've got to keep my diet 100%, which i'm failing on a bit this week... Have to pull myself together Just got zero motivation because I feel so ill at the moment

 

thinking on it my heart was always erratic on my gym sessions... even when I was relatively fit (and pretty normal bp) my heart rate could shoot up to 180 in a very short space of time

Edited March 1, 2012 by Raining_again

[Fierce_LiNk]

 

Deadlifts are a pretty good all body work out so it something I just started doing with every routine. I think part of the reason was that I was a bit frustrated with my lame grip so I was concentrating on shoring that up but then just kind of enjoyed doing them. Now I think about it, more often than not I only do it twice a week (although I did it three times last week, it's all a bit of a blur). Depends on how I feel really.

 

But yeah, whatever muscles I am working out that day (if I'm doing back I'll obviously do other back exercises, too), deadlifts always seems to complement them, so I thought why not.

 

Sounds good, dude.

 

As for this talk about whole body exercise: I prefer to exercise certain parts separately. I don't think this "whole body workout" is for me. I like being able to go in and target specific muscles and push those. It just seems to work for me. There's no way I could go from a bench press to squats and then to deadlifts or something. I wouldn't get a lot out of that.

 

It's probably an idea to start off that way though, with light weights, if you've just joined a gym. But then, I'd personally move to training specific muscles on different days. Like, Biceps and Back one day, Chest and triceps another, etc. But, everyone is different. You live and learn.

[Daft]

Yeah, I do the same. Biceps and back, or chest and triceps but then I try and always do deadlifts.

[Jav_NE]

I hate the gym. I hate running. The only thing i like to do to keep fit is sports, but it is hard to organise. I really want to start playing badminton again, but i have to get a leisure card for the local sports centre, and book a court, and convince a mate to play. I'm too lazy for all of those things. Am making some progress though - 2 mates agreed to play at our last pub meeting. Might just be drunken talk though.

 

If anyone lives in brum/sutton coldfield and wants to join me though, then let me know (thinking of playing at Wyndley Sports Center).

[Charlie]

Sounds good, dude.

 

As for this talk about whole body exercise: I prefer to exercise certain parts separately. I don't think this "whole body workout" is for me. I like being able to go in and target specific muscles and push those. It just seems to work for me. There's no way I could go from a bench press to squats and then to deadlifts or something. I wouldn't get a lot out of that.

 

It's probably an idea to start off that way though, with light weights, if you've just joined a gym. But then, I'd personally move to training specific muscles on different days. Like, Biceps and Back one day, Chest and triceps another, etc. But, everyone is different. You live and learn.

 

 

Yeah I totally agree that a whole body work out is great for when you're just starting off. You generally won't know all that much but will know enough you can do one exercise for all the main muscle groups. That's exactly how I started.

 

I'm now doing a 4 session programme.

 

Session 1: Chest

Session 2: Back and Biceps

Session 3: Shoulders and Triceps

Session 4: Legs

 

 

I like to keep chest separate as I think that it's something that you are able to work on for a whole session and keep it fresh and keep going as they are big muscles.

 

My mate who's a PT made the schedule for me and its working really well. Instead of doing 3 sets for each exercise you do them in a circuit. In each session there are 5-6 exercises so you do 6 reps on each one and then move on. At the end of each circuit you do a super-set off different muscles which means that each session you do get the chance to do a small bit of another muscle group.

 

I'm finding it's workign well for me right now.

 

On another topic, is anyone using any supplements?

[Raining_again]

if you do the same sequence of training, the last area on the list will always get less work because you'll be more generally & mentally fatigued, so it makes sense to focus on one area, or switch around constantly... my trainer used to focus on my shoulders a lot and by the time we got to legs I was so wrecked I couldn't put half of the effort in that I did at the start!

[Grazza]

As for this talk about whole body exercise: I prefer to exercise certain parts separately. I don't think this "whole body workout" is for me. I like being able to go in and target specific muscles and push those. It just seems to work for me. There's no way I could go from a bench press to squats and then to deadlifts or something. I wouldn't get a lot out of that.

 

Hmm, that's interesting. I actually prefer that method because it's much faster. Let's say you've just done Lat Pull-down... you can go straight on to Chest Press because you haven't fatigued the muscle group you're about to use.

 

Whereas if you split your workout (which I do), I find it harder to go from one similar exercise to another. For instance, I do Wide Pull-ups, then Mid Row, then Lat Pull-down... three very similar exercises, so I have to rest quite a bit more between them than if I was going from back to chest to shoulders. To each his own, obviously.

 

On another topic, is anyone using any supplements?

 

I was using bars that had Protein + Creatine in them. The price wasn't bad and I wanted to give myself the best kickstart possible. However, I've stopped buying them now because the price went up and I'm very sceptical of them. For one thing, my arms aren't any bigger than when I started. This could (and surely is) explained by the fact I regularly used dumbells before I joined the gym and haven't made any improvements yet. However, if supplements were that good, surely they'd have given me more of a boost? That and the fact I achieved better results years ago without any kind of supplement. Gonna stick with milk and good food.

[chairdriver]

So I've rediscovered skipping. There was a rope lying on the floor in the gym and I was like lol I wonder whether I'm still great at life? And it turned out to be one where the rope is on rotating hinge things, so you can skip without moving your hands, allowing amazingly fast/great skips.

 

I feel more worked out than I've ever been, it seems so much better than running. Drenched in sweat, and I can feel my ab muscles.

 

Also did loads of recumbent leg presses, with the seat set really close to the board thing where you put your feet, to maximise effect on ass muscles. It's definitely working. Used to never have an ass, now I'm pretty much like Nicki Minaj or J-Lo, loving my life.

[Daft]

I just finished with the gym an hour ago (I'm actually kind of getting used to going at 8:00 now...urrrgh, I hate waking up) and I did chest and triceps. Lol, dumb idea but it was actually pretty good.

 

I've decided to keep my post-weighs aerobic to only Monday and Friday instead of three times a week. I think that's the perfect balance for me.

 

On another topic, is anyone using any supplements?

 

My Protein's Total Protein. I actually can't find anything better. I tried adding creatin too, for a bit but didn't notice any difference bar the gross gritty texture it added. I'm pretty sure it's just for water retention and I drink a ridiculous amount of water every day anyway, so that might be why.

[The Bard]

Why is Chest then Triceps dumb? That's pretty much what I do when I'm working on my press.

 

As for protein, I'm a Celiac, which means I can't have Wheat, and I'm also intolerant to milk, which counts out most Protein brands. What I get is unflavoured Pea Isolate protein from Myprotein.com, but it tastes so horrible it makes me gag. I've taken to adding a tablespoon of Agave nectar to it to make it tolerable though. Really miss the days of being able to have ready mixed, flavoured protein =(

[LegoMan1031]

I think I have lost some more weight! As I said I have not really been weighing myself but stomach is less noticeable when I am wearing certain t-shirts and belt buckle has gone in some more! Will weigh myself properly soon me thinks. Also my shoulders and arms look a bit more 'muscular' ie there is something there now besides what was just fat!

 

As I previously mentioned my gym session is an all round body workout but my main goal at the moment is losing fat and toning up so high reps per set.

 

A friend I go the gym with is like super toned compared to me and his goal is just building muscle mass, he used to do split workouts but has recently changed to one muscle group a session and he said he is finding it loads better in terms of energy and results.

 

I use Garnell's High performance whey protein as a supplement, my friend users a different Garnell one designed to help build mass and he also uses Creatine (uses it for a month, then has a month off it etc), he says he notices a difference in power when lifting weights when he is on it.

[Daft]

Why is Chest then Triceps dumb? That's pretty much what I do when I'm working on my press.

 

Because when you do chest you're also hitting your triceps (although obviously not as hard), just like how you use biceps when you do back. I might not be especially dumb but I think it's better to do back/triceps and chest/biceps. I may be wrong, but today I could barely do dips after hitting chest really hard.

[Charlie]

 

Because when you do chest you're also hitting your triceps (although obviously not as hard), just like how you use biceps when you do back. I might not be especially dumb but I think it's better to do back/triceps and chest/biceps. I may be wrong, but today I could barely do dips after hitting chest really hard.

 

A lot of PTs recommend doing Back/bi and chest/tri for that exact reason. You're hitting them both albeit one lightly.

 

One gets a chance to recover while you use the other one.

[The Bard]

 

Because when you do chest you're also hitting your triceps (although obviously not as hard), just like how you use biceps when you do back. I might not be especially dumb but I think it's better to do back/triceps and chest/biceps. I may be wrong, but today I could barely do dips after hitting chest really hard.

 

Yeah...dude, that's entirely my point; when you're working your triceps as a secondary part of your chest workout anyway, you may as well exhaust them completely by adding in a couple dip sets and a couple extension sets. The fact that you can't push them as hard as you might be able to if you were working them individually is irrelevant, since the effort you expend is cumulative if you work in terms of compond exercises. It also works out in the fact that if you do Chest and Biceps, the next day, when you're doing your back, your biceps are going to be fatigued, reducing the amount of effort you can expend on working the larger muscles.

 

I basically do all my workouts in terms of compound movements; Chest + Triceps, Back (Lats + Rows) + Biceps etc. It's significantly more beneficial, and definitely more expedient to do it that way.

[Daft]

I just do whatever I feel like on the day, tbh. I don't give a poo about a schedule and I'm pretty ripped (LOL).

[The Bard]

Yeah, I'm just lazy as fuck, so I spend most of my time min/maxing with the approach nerds take to stat based RPGs

 

I need to work on losing the fat that's accumulated from a year of playing videogames and eating snack food. 12st 2 at the moment. My ideal weight is 11st 9. Will get there soon.

[Daft]

I'm 11.5st now (and before bulking). I went up to 12.4st when I was bulking up in the middle of last year.

[chairdriver]

I'm slowly creeping up. First time in my life I've ever been 10.2st.