Working out.

My stock-in-trade answer for a generic question like this is to have a look at testosterone.net. You'll need to search around, but there is a lot of good info there.

Jim.

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Original post by gamegod3001 Do to...

*Due to...

crossfit.

Crossfit - now you're talking!

Do you actually use crossfit? There's some really good stuff on there, but it's aimed more at the lighter folks (not the 250pounders like myself). For a really good all-round program, there's not much better (IMO)!

Jim.

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Original post by JimPrice Crossfit - now you're talking! Do you actually use crossfit? There's some really good stuff on there, but it's aimed more at the lighter folks (not the 250pounders like myself). For a really good all-round program, there's not much better (IMO)!

Yep, crossfit is unparalleled. And yes I am very light.

BodyBuilding.com

ExRx and NutritionData are fun fun fun!

How about, every spelling mistake you make in your posts, you have to go 3 times around the house on foot, or do 10 press-ups or ... etc! Your spelling is likely to improve too. (That's three times around already btw, off you go...)

Exactly how much time do you spend at the computer per day?
How old are you approximately?
What are your typical eating habbits?
What current phsical activity do you do?
How seriously do you want to get fit?

I run a reasonable distance at least twice a week. (Ran for 46 minutes this afternoon)
I could do with a bit of upper body workout, but I have to be careful because I fractured vertebrae in my back recently in a skiing accident.

iMalc:
1. Varrious, depending on how much time at my house. Other times I'm usualy working, or driving somebody somewhere.

2. I'm 19 years 24 days and some hours and minutes at the time of this post.

3. For breakfast and dinner I've been having ego walfalse, and for lunch I've eaten out.

4. Except for work (construction) not really anything

5. It's importent to me.

On running, I ran a bit durring the summer, but after going about a mile, I could not run anymore. However my heart rate never got all that high, nor did I feel like I did anything. Compared to say biking over the same time period, were my heart rate would go up a bit and I would actuly feel like I was exercising.

Buy a chin up bar and dumbells. Do press ups every morning and other times. Lift dumbells and do pull ups. Get a friend to work out with you. You can browse the internet all day for advice, but tt really wont help at the end of the day. Its down to your determination.

Eat lots.

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Original post by gamegod3001 3. For breakfast and dinner I've been having ego walfalse, and for lunch I've eaten out.

Uhm, what? lmao...

Rivera Kid, what is a press up? or did you mean push up?. Pull ups would be great to do, however I lack anywere to put a pull up bar. Once I find a place, I'll start moving some weights to my room.

Maybe you should learn to cook food instead of eating out all the time where you are probally going to end up eating more then you would if you ate at home (thats how it is for me at least) and for heavens sake stop eating eggos!

Important caveats for the following rant / post:

I'm not interested in body-building. I am interested in sports performance, and the attainment of strength and power. There are cross-overs (dietary, for example), and there are differences (specificities of training regimens). I know relatively little about body-building - but what follows may be useful for anyone interested in training in general...


I just can't let it lay - I can't help responding to these threads....

People seem to think training is an easy thing - and to some degree they are correct. Everyone, at a basic level, knows what they need to do to get fit and lose weight - eat less, do more.

You know what though? It's not that simple. Too many people assume that because they've read the swimsuit issue of musclemag, and know how to do a bench press and a curl, that they are some sort of expert on training. If I've read 'Learn C++ in 24 hours' and know how to write tic-tac-toe, am I an expert in programming? Then why is it different for knowing how to train your body, a damn site more complicated organism than a computer? If everyone is an expert, why are there so many weak and skinny / fat (or even skinny-fat) people in the gym?

So - why should you pay any attention to what I say? Well - I am a qualified coach in Judo, Swimming and Weightlifting (that's the sport of weightlifting, not weight-training). I've had the luxury of training, and discussing training, with an Olympic gold and silver medallist, a World bronze medallist, and a bronze medallist in the Japanese Judo championships, not to mention numerous national-level calibre competitors. I've considered doing some acredited qualifications, but to be honest I think the majority of acceditations, particularly in North America, avoid a lot of Eastern-bloc research, as well as cater too much for the common denominator, which is not what I'm interested in - for example: modern training tends to have too much emphasis on injury-recuperation methods as a primary training modality at the expense of basic strength - yes, you'll build some core-stability squatting on a wobble board, but you'll build a lot more when you're coming out of the hole with 500 pounds on your back.

Frankly though, none of this is relevant. I could be talking out of my ass. What I'd like to do is just provide a breadth of reading for you - something more than just the same old same old you see peddled in Flex and Muscle and Fiction every month. Such as:

How many types of strength are there? Do you lift 1-3 reps for strength, 8-12 for hypertrophy and 20+ for endurance? Then have a look here.

How about some lifting myths.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I've listed a few informative sites and books. These cover the gamut of training - they are not all versions of the same thing. You'll find stuff on powerlifting, weightlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, highland games, track and field. I would also recommend learning about gymnastics, martial arts, endurance sports, the history of sport training (particularly the development of aerobic training and bodybuilding pre-roids (Grimek et al)).

Some recommended websites.
Fred Hatfields site. One of the first guys to squat 1000lbs, and holds a doctorate in exercise research - so he's both been under the bar as well as having the academic knowledge. There are some fantastic articles in the articles section, like the Zig-Zag diet, an explanation of the force-curve, why it's important and what you can do to train it, or the importance of speed in developing force.
Elite fitness, the main dropping-off site for Westside barbell (other than Westsides own site, of course). Westside barbell has revolutionised modern powerlifting training. The articles and forums are superb.
The deepsquatter archives, loads of stuff on western periodisation.
Crossfit, already mentioned above. Fantastic for all-around fitness, as it addresses a wide range of capacities. Includes movements from powerlifting, olympiclifting, gymnastics, aerobics. If you don't know what a tabata squat is, then you owe it to yourself to come here.
Old-school training - a bit quiet these days, but if you want to train like the pre-roid guys, this is the place to come.
North American Strongman Association - you know you want to really!
Dan Johns lifting and throwing page.
JV Askems site.
Dragondoor.com, Paval Tsatouline's hangout. All you need to know about kettlebells, and good if you're interested in anaerobic- or strength-endurance.
The bodyweight board - train using your own bodyweight only.


Some recommended books.

The Science and Practice of Strength Training, by Vladimir Zatsiorsky.
You want Rate-of-force, or exposive-strength-deficit explained? You want to know why comparing lift / bodyweight is a pointless comparison? You want to know how to change your force curve? Read this - Zatsiorsky worked with the Russian olympic teams for many years, before moving to the US. This is the first text I would advise getting if you're into this kind of thing. It's not easy going, but it's incredibly informative.
Supertraining, Mel Siff.
Facts and Fallacies of fitness, Mel Siff.
Before his recent untimely death, probably one of the best researchers in this field in the world.

After having written all this - what is my actual advice? Well - firstly, educate yourself. If losing weight is all you want to do - then, come on, you know what you need to do! Otherwise, find what interests you and give it a go! The best exercise for anyone is the exercise they actually do - if you're not interested you'll give up, I guarantee it! And - to some degree it doesn't matter what training program you use - but you have to accept that you'll need to put effort in (another commmon mistake I see all the time). Personally, I would find a well-rounded base of activity to be involved in - something to do with body-control (yoga, particularly ashtanga; gymnastics; springboard diving; a martial art - all should also help with flexibility); something aerobic in nature (swimming, rowing, running, cycling, skipping, whatever); and something strength-based (whether it's just lifting for pleasure, an adjunct for a sport, or as a sport itself). That should just about cover all your bases!

And finally - get in the right mental groove. I hate the phrase 'working-out'. If you were doing a competitive sport would you be 'working-out'? No - you'd be training. Why is what you are doing any different? Get in the right mindset for your training is half the battle won.


Sorry for the length of post (and this is really just the tip of the iceberg) - but hope this helps someone!
Jim.

Jimprice, well my eye sockets have had a very good workout thanks to your post. :p

Anyways I'm not trying to become MR. World or anything like that.

To best explain my goals:
Weight Loss: 10 pounds by spring is my first goal,
This will do two things:
1. Lower my MBI to healthy.
2. By then my diet and exersice program will be set in stone.

How I plan to accomplish this:
Diet:
a. Elliminate putting suger in my Tea/Coffee/Cearal. Generaly I"ve done that over the weekend but have put equal in my Tea out of habbit.
b. Eliminate snacks such as browines, canndy, etc. Once the peice or so of cheesecake I still have in the fridge is gone I will no longer eat junk food. Unless of course I undercut my callories to much and need a tempory suplement until I can determine where and what best to add to my diet. *
c. Meals-
Breakfast-unsweetend Cereal w/ milk and tea w/milk
Lunch- Various depending on were I go, but will try to order healther food.
Dinner- Unkownn. Smaller portions make the most scence at the moment.

*Last year I did a bit of dieting however it became to expensive to continue and I ended up stoping. However I had less then 1000 callories a day and I ended up eating an icecream bar before work for a week.

Well I don't know why I wrote that all, but since I did I'm posting it. I'd write more but it is 10:30 and I need some sleep.

Any sugestions to how I should change my eating habbits? Also does anyone know of a good free online nutrician calculator? So I can see were I can best improve my diet. (if there is one on a site suggested, I havnt' gone in deapth with anyo of them and I appoligize.

Well I have a question, rather the opposite of this thread, but it fits...

I have a pretty good weight-training routine that I've stuck to for a bit now, but my problem is that I'm incredibly skinny. Does anyone have any tips both in bodybuilding and in diet that will dramatically increase my weight?

And by skinny, I mean I'm a giant at 6-4ish and a twig at 140-150 lbs.

I'll have a go at some of these questions, but they're largely nutrition based, which isn't precisely my area of expertise. Never-the-less...

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Anyways I'm not trying to become MR. World or anything like that.

Ahh, the old "I don't want to get too big" syndrome. My favorite (and even more laughable when you here it from a women, although for slightly different reasons).

You know what - there are plenty of people who would like to become Huge (capitalised for emphasis). Many of them probably train at the same gym you do. Any you know what - they aren't.

A common perception of people who lift weights is that presented in bodybuilding magazines - which primarily features the top fraction of a percentile - that is, those who are living a very controlled lifestyle, are likely to be roided to the gills, and are genetic freaks. I'd bet my last few cents that none of those apply to you. This is a more mainstream analogy of the 'muscle-bound' myth that perpetuated in sports training for many years (particularly in the West, where they looked on whilst Eastern-bloc athletes dominated strength related sports, using their weight-developed muscles).

If you lift weights, do some aerobic activity and eat a normal, but healthy, diet, your physique will improve, more importantly your health will improve, and you will run zero chance of becoming Mr World.

Right, that's that out of the way.

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Weight Loss: 10 pounds by spring is my first goal. This will do two things: 1. Lower my MBI to healthy.

I know where you're coming from - it's the old numbers game. Firstly - how do you know you have 10 pounds to lose? Do you know what percentage bodyfat you are? I'm reasonably sure that if you lost 10lbs of lean tissue, you'd both look worse and be less healthy. Scales do have a place, but other considerations are also important - one of the most useful (and dare I say this as a non-narcissistic strength athlete) is the mirror. If you aren't too young, and are really worried about health considerations, I'd also see about getting your bloodwork done - tracking cholesterol (HDL and LDL) and triglycerides (and blood pressure) can be a useful marker to health. Sorry - wandering a bit off topic - but the point is, don't obsess about numbers.

And as for BMI - well, it's a useful marker of health for the general population, but it's of a lot less use for athletes. If you carry any larger degree of muscle mass, your BMI is going to increase, despite the fact you are still ostensibly healthy. Muscle is denser that fat - another reason for not worrying about losing 10lbs - if you lose 10lbs of fat and gain 10lbs of muscle, I think you'd be surprised at your appearance, even though you'd have no change in weight.

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2. By then my diet and exersice program will be set in stone.

Your first mantra of weightlifting : Everything works, but nothing works forever. We can discuss Western peridodisation versus Westside, HIT versus Russian Bear, Old School versus Escalating Density Training - and pretty much everyone will have some response to each of these different stimuli. However, you do need to make changes as you go along - one of the base principles of training, coined by a guy called Hans Selye, is Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. Basically what this means is that in order to make yourself adapt, you need to provide a stimulus - and once that stimulus has been adapted to, it will no longer force adaptations.

The other thing you'll find is that a)you'll learn more about how you react to differing forms of training as your training history increases and b)you'll get injured at some point. Westside powerlifting has really addressed (a) in recent years; a key tenet of their training philosophy is to find and then address weak points. Once you've eradicated that weak point, find the next one and work on that. This, and enforced changes due to injury (or change in personal circumstances) means that you must be able to change your training - if it's set in stone, and you can't do it, you'll just quit. This is another reason to continually keep learning.

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How I plan to accomplish this: Diet: stuff

Yup, you've got the right general idea. If your self-assessment of the changes in body-composition you require are accurate (and self-assessment rarely is!), then you've not got to much to lose. Just by removing the crap from your diet (and you don't need me to tell you what crap is) you'll change your calorie balance in the required direction. Even if you have more weight to lose, then the steps you're taking are probably what I'd recommend as a first step; no point making some radical changes on day 1, and then reverting to old habits on day 3 just because you've gone cold turkey. Cut the crap from your diet, increase your activity level and monitor. Once you've seen how you're adapting (over the course of a few weeks) you can start to tweak.

Quote:

*Last year I did a bit of dieting however it became to expensive to continue and I ended up stoping. However I had less then 1000 callories a day and I ended up eating an icecream bar before work for a week.

Urgh. When you reduce calories radically (and unless you're a midget - and no offence if you are - that's a radical reduction), your body goes into starvation mode. Basically it starts to try and conserve glycogen stores (because they're powering your brain for one thing) and get easily accessible energy wherever it can - and the easiest method is eating into your muscles. This is not what you want - see the comments about lean tissue above. Even worse is then having a high sugar / high fat food. Your body is now ever more responsive to sugars, and therefore produces more insulin, and therefore slams the fat you're eating straight into your fat cells. Won't work. You'll probably still lose weight, but not in a good way. The zig-zag diet linked above goes some way to address this (it provides higher calorie days to prevent the onset of starvation mode), and is a feature of several bodybuilding diets I've read.

Having said all that : some dietary recommendations from the sites I've linked:

This is the testosterone.net diet archive - you'll need to dredge through, but there are some summary pages in there.
This is the Meat, Leaves and Berries diet, from Dan John (also in the Links above). This is the one that probably most subscribes to my own thoughts on dieting. It's basically Atkins (ie high protein), without the stupdity (ie not living off cheese, bacon and cream) and with some common-sense (yes you can eat fruit).
And the Zig-zag diet is already linked above.

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Also does anyone know of a good free online nutrician calculator?

I assume Toxic Hippos links above are suitable.

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I have a pretty good weight-training routine that I've stuck to for a bit now, but my problem is that I'm incredibly skinny. Does anyone have any tips both in bodybuilding and in diet that will dramatically increase my weight?

Have a look at the testosterone diet links above - there's loads for people in your situation. The simple answer, however, is going to be eat! Get your protein, get your complex carbs, and get some (healthy) fats - olive oil, fish oil, avocados, you know the drill.

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And by skinny, I mean I'm a giant at 6-4ish and a twig at 140-150 lbs.

You're an inch taller than me. My last year of competitive swimming I was about 180 pounds. A few years later, and discovering weights, I'm now 250, although I'm a little overweight now (got sucked into the lifting bigger at any cost school of thought). Coming back down to 225 now - within a hairs breadth (and a sauna) of allowing me to fight and powerlift at 220, lets me get into the 105kg category for weightlifting and comfortably squeeze into the North American Strongman Association lightweight category. Where else can you be 225 and be a lightweight?

Anyway, my point is : pay your dues, eat your food, and you'll get results.

Jim.

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Original post by Oluseyi Quote: Original post by gamegod3001 Do to... *Due to...

[smile]

Go for a run and don't stop until you pass out.