***The official health and fitness thread***

[Mumorn]

My shoulders don't get bigger or stronger no matter how much I try... Started of doing 10kg on the shoulder press machine (nothing I know but my shoulders are VERY weak!) got up to 17.5kg eventually and now they don't seem to want to get any stronger. Very frustrating but will hopefully improve next week when I finally switch from resistance machines to free weights.

eat a lot and lift heavy.

Less reps of a heavy weight would be better for you than loads of reps of a weight youre comfortable doing. Just make sure you eat a lot, that's the most important.

 

[Roy1983]

Worked on chest today. Lots of incline and declines pushing 10-25k each side. First strength exercise I've done in a while so I started off doing 10 reps at 25k, then 8 reps at 20k and, finally, 6 reps at 15k. Once I'm back in a good routine ill then start going back the other way too.

 

[Flannerz]

My shoulders don't get bigger or stronger no matter how much I try... Started of doing 10kg on the shoulder press machine (nothing I know but my shoulders are VERY weak!) got up to 17.5kg eventually and now they don't seem to want to get any stronger. Very frustrating but will hopefully improve next week when I finally switch from resistance machines to free weights.

Try doing free weights instead of machines. Do the military press for a few weeks

 

[PochettinoPochettinoPochettino]

All Im doing is running, cycling and chin ups at the moment. Chin ups are the nuts. Can do 10 in a row with ease now, and try to do about 30-40 in the evening and about 15 in the morning. Combined with oats for breakfast, apples in between lunch, wholewheat pasta and tuna for lunch, apples/bananas in afternoon with a protein shake and then chicken salad for dinner. Can definitely feel the difference.

might start my weights up too. Im 5ft 7 (tiny) and 11.5 stone, probably a bit too heavy for my height so need to do more CV at the moment.

 

[Kenyan Spur]

I am 6 ft tall and weighed 110 kg about 2 years ago. GROSS

I love my lager and meats. Had NO intention to give these up - and haven't. Also I hate gyms and exercise. Apart from going to the beach with my German Shepard.

Fortunately almost all of the fresh vegetables and meats in rural areas in Kenya are organic.

Did a lot of research and made the following changes to diet.

- Never eat any fast food.
- No chips - only baked, boiled or roast potatoes
- Eat fresh green salad with my main meal- but stopped using brand named salad dressings. I make my own. There are a lot of healthy recipes available.
- Take the skin off any chicken I cook.
- Take the bad fat off my favorite T-Bone and sirloin steaks before you cook them.
- Replace lamb with goat. It is 10 time healthier and tastes great.
- Eat fish at least twice a week. I am lucky as I stay on the beachfront and have abundant supply.
- I only use olive oil.
- Eat lots of fresh fruits.
- Be careful with your food portions. Eat to live - not live to eat.

Well I have dropped from 110 kg to 85 kg. I still drink the same and eat the same stuff.

My fighting weight is actually 80 kg.

I will get there as I am about to start making my own fermented vegetables and fresh Kefir.

Happy, healthy living.

 

[El Guepardo]

Completed a 10k today, evil!! Still, happy to have completed it, the course was one strewn with hills, in fact it felt like there were hills on top of the hills!!

Another one booked up in 2 weeks time. I ran the course in 51 minutes today, hopefully quicker next time. Today was my first 10k run.

 

[WestBerkshire]

@ldnmuscle top boys

 

[Roy1983]

Downloaded myfitnesspal today. Pretty good to be honest anyone else use it?

 

[El Guepardo]

Not that app. I use MapMyRun for my running but that's it.

 

[El Guepardo]

Today marks my next 10k. I'm just hoping that my calf holds out today, suffered cramp with it last weekend and its only just recovering from the associated muscle pains. Used Nurofen gel, hope that's enough to push me over the line!

For that reason, I'll be happy with any time sub 50 minutes, If the time is over 50 minutes then I'll be happy simply if I'm not in too much pain. Earlier this week, I was struggling to walk normally with the pain.

Oh and fusing 2 threads but think I'm going to have my second dump of the day very soon and third within 18 hours!!

 

[raboner]

I am pretty skinny/lean and six foot tall.. I have never been big into gym, mainly because I hate the vibe and have a quick metabolism, so have never really needed to worry about it. (i do aerobic fitness, cycling, tennis etc)

I have reached the age of 25 and the metabolism is slowing down a bit, I am feeling the need to start going to gym to maintain my fine figure.. I don't really want to put on mass (think meat heads look utterly ridiculous) but i wouldn't mind getting a bit of tone and definition.

Skinny-ripped? Is that a word?

Anyway, how do I do it?

Thanks!

 

[El Guepardo]

Today marks my next 10k. I'm just hoping that my calf holds out today, suffered cramp with it last weekend and its only just recovering from the associated muscle pains. Used Nurofen gel, hope that's enough to push me over the line!

For that reason, I'll be happy with any time sub 50 minutes, If the time is over 50 minutes then I'll be happy simply if I'm not in too much pain. Earlier this week, I was struggling to walk normally with the pain.

Oh and fusing 2 threads but think I'm going to have my second dump of the day very soon and third within 18 hours!!

Well, that was painful!! Ended up doing a mixture of jogging & walking, even stopping for moments, to record a time of 55 minutes. My calf decided after 2 and a half miles that it didn't want to run and deteriorated from there to the point that it was painful to climb stairs and walk last night.

I have has a sports massage, almost immediately afterwards. I didn't realise that massages were meant to hurt like that. The masseuse found the knotted area in the calf and kept plying it. She told me to raise my hand if the pain was too intense. I instead screwed my hand in to a ball and held it tight when those painful moments occurred, trusting that the massage would bring benefit to make it worth survivng the pain.

I've typed this laying in bed, here's hoping that its ok to walk on now.

 

[raboner]

I am pretty skinny/lean and six foot tall.. I have never been big into gym, mainly because I hate the vibe and have a quick metabolism, so have never really needed to worry about it. (i do aerobic fitness, cycling, tennis etc)

I have reached the age of 25 and the metabolism is slowing down a bit, I am feeling the need to start going to gym to maintain my fine figure.. I don't really want to put on mass (think meat heads look utterly ridiculous) but i wouldn't mind getting a bit of tone and definition.

Skinny-ripped? Is that a word?

Anyway, how do I do it?

Thanks!

GG fitness freaks? Where art thou? 8-[

 

[Millsy_Yiddo]

GG fitness freaks? Where art thou? 8-[

Being 'toned' as people say is just having some muscle and a low body fat %.

When you say you want to be 'toned' what are your goals? As in specific goals, six pack?

An any case, being 'toned' or 'ripped' or whatever you want to call it is down to nutrition as much and possibly more than it is to training.

 

[RHULSpur]

Being 'toned' as people say is just having some muscle and a low body fat %.

When you say you want to be 'toned' what are your goals? As in specific goals, six pack?

An any case, being 'toned' or 'ripped' or whatever you want to call it is down to nutrition as much and possibly more than it is to training.

Agree, if you want to look lean and ripped you need to maintain a low calorie, high protein diet and combine that with cardio and weights. It's a bit of a balancing act because if you don't get the protein/do the weights you risk losing the existing muscle mass and though you'll lose some weight, you'll actually look flabbier. However as you don't want to get big you need to maintain a caloric deficit which is achieved most easily by combining diet and cardio.

At the end of the day, what you need to look 'skinny-ripped' is, as Millsy says, a low body fat percentage. So to get towards acheiving that:

Diet: Lean meats like turkey and venison. Don't cut out carbs but instead eat 'better' carbs like quinoa, brown rice/pasta etc. Eat as much fruit and veg as you like, the more colours the better, except bananas (eat bananas before/after cardio or if you're really struggling with hunger throughout the day). Don't underestimate the power of breakfast, a high fibre breakfast is great for the metabolism and keeps you full until lunch. If you feel hungry throughout the day - eat! Hunger is your body's way of saying you don't have enough energy so why wait 45 minutes until 'dinner time' to get that energy, a few nuts or an apple will tide you over until your meal. Further to that try to eat BEFORE you get hungry, it sounds like a strange concept but keeping yourself fuelled encourages your body to burn off the fat reserves as it knows it's going to be getting the fuel in a timely manner. If you want to take supplements, a whey based protein is best. I personally recommend Sci-MX Build and Trim Whey Protein, does what it says on the trim and tastes great!

Cardio: At least 1 hour, 3 times a week. Try and exert yourself while doing this. Sure going for an hours walk is better than sitting on the sofa, but if you want to make significant fat losses you need to get your heart really going and burn some calories. It's best to find an activity you enjoy, don't force yourself to go for a run if you think you'll find cycling or swimming more enjoyable; it'll make it much easier to carry on with. Try and find a friend/group of friends to do it with, again this makes it easier to carry on.

Weights: A different routine 3 times a week. Try and look up/come up with routines that work different groups of muscles, this helps your overall strength, but will also help ensure you don't get too big. Find your one rep max and then do reps 3 sets 6-10 reps with between 35-60% of your one rep max. It's not about building mass, but ensuring no muscle loss.

It sounds like a lot of work and to begin with it is, but you get used to it pretty quickly, just try to maintain a routine, find what works for you and I'm sure you'll notice a difference pretty soon.

 

[raboner]

Thanks man! Just what i was looking for.

 

[Roy1983]

Ive Lost 3 stone between the Sunderland last game of the season and the palace game on Sunday. Summer full of training, eating clean foods and staying of this site my main contributors!!

Eaten no brick and off the booze for 3 months. Feel fantastic! What you lot been eating over the summer??

 

[Mumorn]

Ive Lost 3 stone between the Sunderland last game of the season and the palace game on Sunday. Summer full of training, eating clean foods and staying of this site my main contributors!!

Eaten no brick and off the booze for 3 months. Feel fantastic! What you lot been eating over the summer??

PARMO!

Resigning up to gym again end of the month, going back down the bodybuilding route.

 

[Roy1983]

PARMO!

Resigning up to gym again end of the month, going back down the bodybuilding route.

Yep me too. Now I've lost the majority of the weight I wanted I'm now going down that road too. I'm not interested in steroids whatsoever just natural growth but I'm a big guy anyway so a few months of heavy lifting will make a lot of difference.

 

[Mumorn]

Yep me too. Now I've lost the majority of the weight I wanted I'm now going down that road too. I'm not interested in steroids whatsoever just natural growth but I'm a big guy anyway so a few months of heavy lifting will make a lot of difference.

Yeah, not going to be doing any steroid stuff but the local gym is run by an ex-bodybuilder called eddie ellwood and have been talking to him about it all. Can't wait.