Life The Getting in Shape Thread

[blai]

Seriously? I had no idea! I'm not a Nike fan really. I'm more of an old Adidas fighter, been using 'em for as long as I can remember. Anyway, I really recommend it. There's a world ranking system that at least triggered me to start running more often. I'm currently on pos. 417'009!

EAT THAT NUMBER 417'010!

 

[thornofcarrion]

But I have special permission to call you baboy-chan, right?

Anyway, just wanted to point that for those of you who have androids/iPhones there are a sick app called "CardioTrainer" that is dope if you're a regular cardio exerciser. It has GPS, counts calories, awesome schedule for your work outs, intergrated media player, everything you need basically.

Just thought I'd share. Try it out if you have a compatible phone, it's dope! (and free )

Yes I have tried it on my Android. Its a handy app. And for Adidas fanboy. I had and still have Nike and Adidas trainers. Although Nike cost me more, but my Adidas trainers are way better. I am always been a fan of Adidas.

On topic, I have started rope skipping. Its really hard on my body since it has been ages when I done some physical exercise. Will add crunches, some push-ups as I build some stamina.

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

thornofcarrion
I think to build stamina a bit you should run five kilometers two times a day. That's a good way to get in a better shape.

Also during or after such runs you can actually do push-ups or a prison workout. That's really a great mixture.

 

[blai]

Five times two is a very rough start, if you're starting from scratch. If you manage 5x2 the first day you'd be very sore the next and probably not manage it the second, and if you do, you wouldn't last the third. Five kms a day would be a good way to start. Maybe five kms three days a week, and then gradually increase to five times two.

But in my opinion I think eight is enough per day. It's not easy finding time to run both in the morning and evening.

Prison workout is superb though, recommend it.

 

[Jorge D. Dragon]

I normally do two times five kilometers a day every spring and summer to get in shape. Last spring I began from three kilometers a day and then got up to one time-two times five kilometers a day depending on the spare time. On Saturday and Sunday usually got two times five kilometers. Together with push-ups, prison workout and training my press it was good program. I will get back to it this spring actually.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

It's not possible at all to give a set running distance for anyone. There are people fit enough to run ten kilometres right off the bat because they're in good shape already (allright, if they haven't trained in a while they'll feel the strain though ), and others are totally done for after five or even less.

It's all about challenging oneself. No matter if it's six or twelve kilometers, if there is no effort to it then there is no training, and if it's a huge effort then there will be improvement, too.
For a not extremely well trained person (e.g. like 90% of people) it's very hard to overcommit on training for a single day imo. Even if all muscles just give up, it will be fine. Although for the consecutive days it's important to neither train too many days nor rest for too long. Heavily training six days a week probably won't do much good for most people, three or four will be fine though.


Is there a set routine for prison workout, or does it just describe every kind of workout focussing on body weigth exercises (pushups, pullups, crunches and so on) which don't need space nor special tools?

 

[Truefan21]

I ran for an hour, after I was through I felt like I emptied my stomach. I ate like horse later.

 

[Zeltrax]

I'm fat, really fat.
I tried to lose weight twice in my life, as in, really and seriously tried.
Running around the stadium for 2 rounds almost everyday and eating lesser but eating more fruits,
and then somewhere there, I gave up.

Now, I'm going to try this for a third time and I'm going to put it out and be honest, I weight 110kg, 168cm in height and is it possible to drop to 80kg in 6 months?
I'm sick of my low-self-estemn and being fat, really really sick.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

Afaik it's more useful using a bike instead of running with that kind of weigth for the start, because it avoids putting strain on muscles and sinews.
What worked best for me:
Put the training first, and don't care for the food at all in this phase (just try not to eat more than usual! This is something happening to many people who start with serious training!). Training means not only stamina, but even more so muscles. If you can afford it, you might want to try going to a gym and making an excercise plan with a trainer there.

Then just do your training for a couple of weeks or better months, and reduce food later on. And not just a little, but rather drastical in that stage. Trying to aim for a small breakfast (like one or two slices of bread), a small snack in the forenoon (like a banana) and then a "normal" lunch - just eat whatever you usually eat for lunch (well, drop the most unhealthy things perhaps ^^), but try to reduce the amount as good as possible.
If you should get hungry before the evening, try to just eat something with really low calories like an apple or sth.

I believe it's problematic with starting by lowering food right off the bat. Simply because losing weigth means, that your muscles will struggle, too. A noteworthy percentage of lost weigth during a diet is actually no fat but muscle mass. So training comes first.
Also, stronger muscles will increase the energy consumption considerably, thus making the loosing weigth part easier.

 

[Zeltrax]

Afaik it's more useful using a bike instead of running with that kind of weigth for the start, because it avoids putting strain on muscles and sinews.[/s]

Will a stationary bike work? Or those kinds at the gyms..(what do you call them again?)

What worked best for me:
Put the training first, and don't care for the food at all in this phase (just try not to eat more than usual! This is something happening to many people who start with serious training!). Training means not only stamina, but even more so muscles. If you can afford it, you might want to try going to a gym and making an excercise plan with a trainer there.

Sadly, I can't afford the time nowadays, and I don't think I can do it regularly in the future 6 months. Will doing dumbbells at home work? I'm thinking of exercising at home( situps, a lot of situps, some pushups, more situps ) because it's fast and convenient but then..the results might not be as efficient. I didn't know about the food part . I always have the mindset that dieting+exercising should start together.

Then just do your training for a couple of weeks or better months, and reduce food later on. And not just a little, but rather drastical in that stage. Trying to aim for a small breakfast (like one or two slices of bread), a small snack in the forenoon (like a banana) and then a "normal" lunch - just eat whatever you usually eat for lunch (well, drop the most unhealthy things perhaps ^^), but try to reduce the amount as good as possible.
If you should get hungry before the evening, try to just eat something with really low calories like an apple or sth.

What about the 6 meals thingy? About how it will raise your metabolism or something like that..and I usually have three meals per day and they are not anywhere near little. I will try to replace my breakfast with just sandwiches for a start and maybe just cook my own noodles(I heard about shiratake noodles) for lunch.

I believe it's problematic with starting by lowering food right off the bat. Simply because losing weigth means, that your muscles will struggle, too. A noteworthy percentage of lost weigth during a diet is actually no fat but muscle mass. So training comes first.
Also, stronger muscles will increase the energy consumption considerably, thus making the loosing weigth part easier.

Muscles will be a good plus and will make me a lot healthier.
But then..it is hard to develop muscles without losing down the weight first right?

 

[blai]

Just to clarify one thing: Getting in shape is not always equal to loosing weight, but often the opposite.

Muscles weight more than fat. As in you look bigger with 20kgs of fat than you do with 20kgs of muscles, therefore, loosing weight isn't your top priority. Instead you should focus on building stamina, getting rid of the "waste" while converting a proportion of your body fat to muscles until you're down to 10-12% body fat or so, and when you're finished you're most likely weigh 80kg+ but you'll look, and you'll be, very fit.


The thing about six meals a day (minor meals) is to make your metabolism work all day. When you have three (or less) meals á day your metabolism stops and, sometimes, if you wait too long between your meals, your body will think you're starving and next time you eat it will store more fat than usually. Basically, the metabolism will burn more energy if it's active all day rather than a third of it, and it'll also help increasing building muscle-mass.

The "hunger" a person feels is your body wanting food, and if you don't eat, you'll enter "starvation mode" without knowing it. If you eat every third hour (healthy ofc) you'll never be hungry, and your body will use up the energy quicker.

To make it simpler to understand.

If you eat six times a day, your body won't need to worry about the "future" so it doesn't have to store as much fat as it usually does as a safety net.



About the training, I'd say something similar to a prison work out. The best work out is not sit-ups or dumbbells as many people believe. The best work out is where you burn stamina whilst building muscles at the same time, when you do a work out that strains your whole body. I'd like to use the insanity work out as a reference as it consists basically of 45minutes of stamina/muscle exercises. Some globe jumps, suicide jumps, suicide drills, switch kicks, power jacks (etc). and this is the type of work out that is the most efficient regardless of your body type.

I would very much not prefer it if you did a lot of sit-ups in your condition as it isn't as efficient as you'd think for two reasons. 1) You can't "target-burn" fat from one part of your body. If you burn fat, you can't decide from which body part you'll burn. 2) sit-ups burns very little fat and is not efficient until you get a little slimmer body

 

[Zeltrax]

Just to clarify one thing: Getting in shape is not always equal to loosing weight, but often the opposite.

Muscles weight more than fat. As in you look bigger with 20kgs of fat than you do with 20kgs of muscles, therefore, loosing weight isn't your top priority. Instead you should focus on building stamina, getting rid of the "waste" while converting a proportion of your body fat to muscles until you're down to 10-12% body fat or so, and when you're finished you're most likely weigh 80kg+ but you'll look, and you'll be, very fit.

Converting body fat => muscles should be my top priority? Weighting 80kg+ and looking fit sounds really awesome but how do I do the conversion and how do I build my stamina? What about dieting, should I do that? I'm a bit unsure if it'll really work out, all I have in my body now is mostly fats ( I should use the word all) , so I'm not sure if I can convert them to muscles..It seems really hard for someone fat to become muscular over the course of six months.

The thing about six meals a day (minor meals) is to make your metabolism work all day. When you have three (or less) meals á day your metabolism stops and, sometimes, if you wait too long between your meals, your body will think you're starving and next time you eat it will store more fat than usually. Basically, the metabolism will burn more energy if it's active all day rather than a third of it, and it'll also help increasing building muscle-mass.

The "hunger" a person feels is your body wanting food, and if you don't eat, you'll enter "starvation mode" without knowing it. If you eat every third hour (healthy ofc) you'll never be hungry, and your body will use up the energy quicker.

To make it simpler to understand.

If you eat six times a day, your body won't need to worry about the "future" so it doesn't have to store as much fat as it usually does as a safety net.

About this..I only tried it once and it wasn't consistent to be honest. I find myself eating less than eating more(6 times) in small proportions. So I'm still indecisive, whether or not to go ahead with it. Do you recommend this solution? I also heard about drinking water before you eat and that water helps alot.

About the training, I'd say something similar to a prison work out. The best work out is not sit-ups or dumbbells as many people believe. The best work out is where you burn stamina whilst building muscles at the same time, when you do a work out that strains your whole body. I'd like to use the insanity work out as a reference as it consists basically of 45minutes of stamina/muscle exercises. Some globe jumps, suicide jumps, suicide drills, switch kicks, power jacks (etc). and this is the type of work out that is the most efficient regardless of your body type.

I would very much not prefer it if you did a lot of sit-ups in your condition as it isn't as efficient as you'd think for two reasons. 1) You can't "target-burn" fat from one part of your body. If you burn fat, you can't decide from which body part you'll burn. 2) sit-ups burns very little fat and is not efficient until you get a little slimmer body

I uh..I'm really sorry to disappoint. I've never heard of the things that I bolded so I went to google it, stumbled on a youtube video and..

I need a lot of confidence and stamina to keep that up for 45 minutes..I think I should set a shorter time, and imo my body type doesn't really show me as 110kg, more like 85 to 90, but I can't deny the manboobs.
I never knew that about situps too, pretty much a newbie about this..
So it is not efficient as I thought and
dumbbells won't work either?
the bolded exercises burns all part of my body right? I really know what I should do to start off first.. I don't think it's possible for me to accomplish those exercises.

 

[blai]

Converting body fat => muscles should be my top priority? Weighting 80kg+ and looking fit sounds really awesome but how do I do the conversion and how do I build my stamina? What about dieting, should I do that? I'm a bit unsure if it'll really work out, all I have in my body now is mostly fats ( I should use the word all) , so I'm not sure if I can convert them to muscles..It seems really hard for someone fat to become muscular over the course of six months.

The conversion and stamina building comes with cardio and interval training. When it comes to dieting you should make sure to eat "quick" carbohydrates such as pasta etc, drink a lot of cold water (important that it's cold as cold water burns more energy than normal-tempered water) and all fat can be converted to muscles and you will not be slim and muscular in six months, but you'll be in the best shape of your life and I think that it should be enough.

About this..I only tried it once and it wasn't consistent to be honest. I find myself eating less than eating more(6 times) in small proportions. So I'm still indecisive, whether or not to go ahead with it. Do you recommend this solution? I also heard about drinking water before you eat and that water helps alot.

This is, I'm confident, the best plan. I do recommend you a six meal diet but not without planning in beforehand. In the end it all comes down to eat a little less calories, burn a little more calories. If you eat too little you will burn muscles instead of fat, and if you eat too much, you'll gain fat. A balance of -300cal or something should do the trick. That, along with the work outs. Drinking water before you eat helps a lot yes, especially cold water (as I mentioned above) as cold water forces your body to heat it up which takes energy.
(Basic physic law. When a cold object meets a warmer object the two will reach the same temperature. Which temperature they reach depends on the mass of the objects. So basically your body heats up the water to the correct "temperature" after you've drunk it and that burns energy).

Anyway, I have a copy of a splendid nutrition plan and I could email it to you so that you can read more, learn a little and get the basic idea of how it works.

I uh..I'm really sorry to disappoint. I've never heard of the things that I bolded so I went to google it, stumbled on a youtube video and..

I need a lot of confidence and stamina to keep that up for 45 minutes..I think I should set a shorter time, and imo my body type doesn't really show me as 110kg, more like 85 to 90, but I can't deny the manboobs.
I never knew that about situps too, pretty much a newbie about this..
So it is not efficient as I thought and
dumbbells won't work either?
the bolded exercises burns all part of my body right? I really know what I should do to start off first.. I don't think it's possible for me to accomplish those exercises.

Well, the thing is, that you're not doing it for 45mins straight ofc. That work out is supposed to be one minute work, thirty seconds rest, repeat. And the goal is to keep up for 45minutes. I can barely do it myself and there are very few who can. The goal with that type of work out is to - regardless of how fit you are - push yourself to your own limit. Which means that when you start such a work out, maybe you'll last only 25minutes. But as you do it every day, you'll gradually increase. I saw myself improve, for example, from 40 to 65 suicide jumps in two weeks (along with various different results and improvements). And yes, those exercises burns all part of your body.

I do, honestly, believe that it's possible for you to accomplish those exercises. Maybe not for as long, or as many as the ones on the video, but it's all about attitude, digging deep and finding the will and strength to push yourself to the limit.

I can send you a program with various different work outs and you can see for yourself, read up a little, and try out the ones you want.

It. Is. All. About. Attitude.

 

[Zeltrax]

The conversion and stamina building comes with cardio and interval training. When it comes to dieting you should make sure to eat "quick" carbohydrates such as pasta etc, drink a lot of cold water (important that it's cold as cold water burns more energy than normal-tempered water) and all fat can be converted to muscles and you will not be slim and muscular in six months, but you'll be in the best shape of your life and I think that it should be enough.

Will do! Pasta..huh? I was thinking of noodles at first but I can switch between them and pasta
I'll stop drinking soft drinks/any kind of sugared drinks and only plain water, I started 2 days ago and still progressing well with the plain water and ofc, I make sure that it is cold.
Yeah, I think being in shape should be more important and from there I can start becoming more muscular and slim.

This is, I'm confident, the best plan. I do recommend you a six meal diet but not without planning in beforehand. In the end it all comes down to eat a little less calories, burn a little more calories. If you eat too little you will burn muscles instead of fat, and if you eat too much, you'll gain fat. A balance of -300cal or something should do the trick. That, along with the work outs. Drinking water before you eat helps a lot yes, especially cold water (as I mentioned above) as cold water forces your body to heat it up which takes energy.
(Basic physic law. When a cold object meets a warmer object the two will reach the same temperature. Which temperature they reach depends on the mass of the objects. So basically your body heats up the water to the correct "temperature" after you've drunk it and that burns energy).

Anyway, I have a copy of a splendid nutrition plan and I could email it to you so that you can read more, learn a little and get the basic idea of how it works.

Hmm..will sandwiches do? But then 6 of them daily will be going overboard, maybe I'll try to come up with something.
I'll keep the -300cal in mind and I'll try to stable how much I eat. I'm not sure if there's any muscles to even burn in me though..

A nutrition plan, a splendid one , I would really love that and I think it will help me alot, I will really like that and I have to thank you alot! True, I need a basic idea of how it works, this is going to be consistent and I think consistency is one of the hardest thing.

Well, the thing is, that you're not doing it for 45mins straight ofc. That work out is supposed to be one minute work, thirty seconds rest, repeat. And the goal is to keep up for 45minutes. I can barely do it myself and there are very few who can. The goal with that type of work out is to - regardless of how fit you are - push yourself to your own limit. Which means that when you start such a work out, maybe you'll last only 25minutes. But as you do it every day, you'll gradually increase. I saw myself improve, for example, from 40 to 65 suicide jumps in two weeks (along with various different results and improvements). And yes, those exercises burns all part of your body.

I do, honestly, believe that it's possible for you to accomplish those exercises. Maybe not for as long, or as many as the ones on the video, but it's all about attitude, digging deep and finding the will and strength to push yourself to the limit.

I can send you a program with various different work outs and you can see for yourself, read up a little, and try out the ones you want.

I know the feeling of pushing myself to the limit but that's been almost a year ago, when I run around the stadium for up to 4 laps without stopping and reached that limit, but kept going until I finished the 4th lap because I promised myself that I'll finish it, and so I did.
If that's what you're talking about then I'll accept all that and will make sure that I'll get to it, this is, afterall the third time I'm going to try losing my weight.

I do believe I can do it, and like you said, not for long and with breaks but still, I should be able to pull it off
I will really love to look at the program and I thank you for the advice on the exercises(that i never heard of) and how it works. Somehow, I think I can do it. Thank you for that !

It. Is. All. About. Attitude.

Pretty much the reason why I failed twice and the reason why I started twice.
I'll be honest, when I start, I really start and go all out but then I lost to the pampers and temptations in life somewhere there, and that's it.
So here I go, starting again!

 

[baboysai]

well, right now I weigh 48 kg with a height of 160 cm. The heaviest I got was 63 kg.

I really couldn't stand jogging when I was that heavy. So I started slow, zeltrax. I walked an hour a day, without fail. But that was also accompanied with proper diet (vegetables, fruits, less starch, less sugars, more liquids, etc.). Eventually I could walk increasing distances.

Changing eating habits is really hard. But what pulled me through that was because my {ex}boyfriend did the same thing. It's hard when the people around you are eating other things because you get tempted. But if you have people who eat the same stuff as you, it's a lot easier.

---

It also helps if you prepare your own food. That way you know what you're putting in the food. I would make my own lunches to prevent eating out and get forced to eat overportioned food, or starches that I didn't want like fries and greasy stuff. I made my own sandwiches, salads, soups... start small with those.

AND. drop the alcohol. I know it's sad, but a single ml is 7 calories, and not the type that can be burned by running the next day. So as much as possible, avoid the alcohol.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

Just to clarify one thing: Getting in shape is not always equal to loosing weight, but often the opposite.

For the specific case of Zeltrax, it definitly is. 110kg for a 168cm really is a lot. I mean, what does a 180cm tall bodybuilder weigth with his abstruse amount of muscles and doping? Like 120kg afaik. And that's a totally impossible ideal for the "average" person who just wants to get in shape.
For 168 cm 70kg can be quite fine imo even with a good muscle mass, so in this case there's definitly a lot of weigth to lose.

I'm quite sceptical about nutrition plans. I think common sense, a little maths and basic knowledge about food is absolutely sufficient. But as an example it's probably good to have one.

I still think that it's easiest to build up a mix of training and good nutrition step by step.
Stamina-> Stamina & Muscles -> Stamina & Muscles & Nutrition
Stamina first, because it's good to have some before starting on the muscles - but there doesn't have to be much delay until the next step. Muscle training next, but without changing nutrition so much right away - it's hard enough to stick to one of these things for starters.
Nutrition last, because at that point a better physical shape of stamina and muscles will make burning fat much easier. And when one is used to the physical strain already, it makes it easier to cope with the change of foods.

For myself I found that a certain balance of food is kinda important. I couldn't control it properly anymore when I ate too few for breakfast, I'ld always search for more food then and ultimately gain more calories then I'ld have gotten with a more normal breakfast.
However, I also started thinking that the type of food really is overrated and only the amount bothers. An example:
When I only ate a yoghurt for breakfast (150kcal) and dropped food during break exept for one of these watery cocoas from a vending machine (like 200kcal), I'ld always get hungry during work. Since we could eat the chocolate we produced (yayy, great job ) I obviously couldn't keep my hands from it. But even if chocolate has a lot of kcal, very little already helps a lot when eaten in the right moment (really improves the momentarily shape when one is low on blood sugar). 10g of most types are around 40-50kcal only, but can be totally sufficient and a great boost from 12:30 until work ends at 14:00.
That makes ~400kcal for the morning including work, so a lunch of 800kcal still leaves a lot of daily requirements open (around 50%).

Now obviously this isn't anywhere near healthy for long term, but reduces the time for cutting weigth considerably. When body is in a good shape beforehand, it's simply the fastest way. That's why I said that training comes first and nutrition comes in a second stage.

 

[blai]

Yes I do know this, I just wanted to clarify that the two parameters doesn't equal each other "Size & Weight" since it's a common mistake.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

Yes I do know this, I just wanted to clarify that the two parameters doesn't equal each other "Size & Weight" since it's a common mistake.

Ah allright, but I guess most people can seperate muscle mass and body fat percentage already

 

[blai]

Well most people can't, hence why a lot stop eating when they work out etc. They "loose weight" by eating too little, or working out too much, which results in a loss of muscles, and when you loose muscles, you loose more weight than you would do with the same equivalent of fat. Therefore they believe they're doing the right thing when they're not. It's basically common diet knowledge and I simply wanted to clarify it before I gave my view on the six meals theory which has worked for me, and for my friends who tried it.

 

[baboysai]

I knew a friend who really lost weight because he counted his calorie intake and burning. wow, what devotion.

When I'm hungry I eat. And I always used to look for junk food ((chips for breakfast, lunch, dinner)- hence I got salt crystals in my kidney which wounded my urinary tract and caused me to pee blood for a time.

I curbed that by replacing junk with seeds (watermelon, pumpkin) and nuts, until eventually I don't look for it too much because it's too much of a hassle to eat seeds sometimes. -_-

Yakult (cultured milk) and yogurt really help in weight management and overall internal health since it keeps your digestive system in optimum performing capacity.