The general fitness thread

[Mor]

I hope that you keep up with your daily walks and staying fit, not falling with today trend:

Otherwise, find your self a fitness nazi 

[Walsingham]

Otherwise, find your self a fitness nazi 

 

This fatboy kills nazis.

[Orogun01]

 

Otherwise, find your self a fitness nazi 

 

This fatboy kills nazis.

 

Wals, whenever I picture you I imagine a classy British bulldog type. I'd be very disappointed if you didn't fit that image.

[Woldan]

Wals having a cigar: 

 

[Amentep]

Poster: “Sir, you are drunk.”

Walsingham: “Troll, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.”

 

Walsingham: "Writing a post is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public."

 

...yeah I can see it.

[kgambit]

Poster: “Sir, you are drunk.”

Walsingham: “Troll, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.”

 

Walsingham: "Writing a post is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public."

 

...yeah I can see it.

 

You win the internetz.   

 

Classic!

[Mor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFdnZDCKf3s

 

The great thing about situational comedy, it that it allows us to laugh at our self. Though hopefully after all the BS excuses about not caring or not having time that no one buys, we actually try to improve for our sake. Small steady steps...

 

Edited January 24, 2014 by Mor

[Walsingham]

 

 

Otherwise, find your self a fitness nazi 

 

This fatboy kills nazis.

 

Wals, whenever I picture you I imagine a classy British bulldog type. I'd be very disappointed if you didn't fit that image.

 

 

I'm closer to a half-dwarf half-hobbit.

[Woldan]

Bench pressed 132 kg  (290 lbs) 2 sets of 7 repetitions yesterday, on the flat bench, then I had to drop the weight a little. Time to move to 135 I guess. 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Woldan

[213374U]

 

Brushing your teeth is necessary to maintain health, but most people are turned off by a muscular roided giant screaming in your face that you should floss.

Like I said before:

Just a little thing to add, being fit =/= being "pumped". You don't need to be a jock, and spend hours each day in the gym. Just have some basic self respect/control. For example both of my parents in their late sixties and do 4km fast walk at least once a week.

So being fit is not about being anal with floss, its about not neglecting your self. This is nothing more than a standard advice that you would give any kid about self hygiene and seeing this as being yelled at speaks to some insecurity more than anything else.

 

It's way more than that—and the understatement showcases why obesity and generally poor health are so prevalent in the west today. Moderate, regular physical activity has been proven to have a dramatic effect on obesity, risk of suffering cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other modern day plagues of the developed world. This just can't be stressed enough. The only reason there isn't a stronger drive to tackle the lack of physical activity in the general population is that it's not a problem that can be medicalized—the medical-industrial complex cannot produce and profit from a "cure" in the traditional sense.

 

http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/prevention/

 

http://healthyamericans.org/reports/prevention08/

 

In addition, I estimate that's at least eleventy gajillion less dollars in the pockets of pharma fat cats (pun not intended), so fat chance (ahem) of actually ever seeing a serious push for widespread adoption of healthy physical activity practices.

 

 

 

 

What is she doing with her left hand.....? 

 

Anyway, that pic perfectly demonstrates why a man should exercise, you're not going to get a look like that with a beer belly and scrawny shoulders.

...or without some serious gear. Bodybuilding is fine, but it has done more harm than good to the public perception of what gyms are (or should be) about.

 

And then there's Michael Bay, too.

[Walsingham]

As someone who has 'porpoised' between fitness and unfitness, I have to agree with 213374U*. I'm also speaking as a coach of all sort sof teams, amateur and otherwise. 

 

The body beautiful is repellent as much as attractive to normal people who just don't want to spend hours in the gym. Conseuqently they refuse to spend 20 minutes in the gym, when they could and probably would otherwise.

 

Or to put it another way I'd echo the old military maxim: the worst enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.

 

The worst enemy of a healthy body is the dream of a perfect one.

 

 

*good to see you, btw

Edited January 25, 2014 by Walsingham

[Woldan]

...or without some serious gear.

All you need for serious strength training is some weights and a couple of dumbbell bars and one barbell / sz bar. I think I didn't spend more than 200 bucks on all the stuff I've been using for eight years now. Minus the optional bench.

Thats less than a yearly fee for a middle class gym. 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Woldan

[213374U]

 

...or without some serious gear.

All you need for serious strength training is some weights and a couple of dumbbell bars and one barbell / sz bar. I think I didn't spend more than 200 bucks on all the stuff I've been using for eight years now. Minus the optional bench.

 

 

The other kind of gear.  

[Woldan]

The other kind of gear.  

If you think you need this kind of gear for anything that goes beyond just doing some workout to stay healthy and fit you have no idea of fitness or the human body. There is natural bodybuilding and its getting really popular and hope one day it will totally diminish that sadly large group that consists of people roiding like there is no tomorrow. 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Woldan

[213374U]

As someone who has 'porpoised' between fitness and unfitness, I have to agree with 213374U*. I'm also speaking as a coach of all sort sof teams, amateur and otherwise. 

 

The body beautiful is repellent as much as attractive to normal people who just don't want to spend hours in the gym. Conseuqently they refuse to spend 20 minutes in the gym, when they could and probably would otherwise.

 

Or to put it another way I'd echo the old military maxim: the worst enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.

 

The worst enemy of a healthy body is the dream of a perfect one.

 

 

*good to see you, btw

 

Huh, I hadn't heard that one. But yeah, setting realistic and sensible goals is probably my #1 priority when I'm working to get somebody in shape. Dispelling myths shouldn't really be part of the job in a healthcare environment, but what are you gonna do...

 

*Thanks! It's good to be back.  (fun times trying to recover a password, turns out MS deletes Live accounts if they go unused for a year...)

 

 

 

 

The other kind of gear.   

If you think you need this kind of gear for anything that goes beyond just doing some workout to stay healthy and fit you have no idea of fitness or the human body. There is natural bodybuilding and its getting really popular.

 

That was in the context of the original picture... don't get your panties all in a bunch this early in the discussion.

Edited January 25, 2014 by 213374U

[Mor]

The body beautiful is repellent as much as attractive to normal people who just don't want to spend hours in the gym. Conseuqently they refuse to spend 20 minutes in the gym, when they could and probably would otherwise.

 

Or to put it another way I'd echo the old military maxim: the worst enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.

 

The worst enemy of a healthy body is the dream of a perfect one.

That is exactly the point i was trying to make before. That while I am familiar with all the medical recommendations, I also know that any exercise is better than no exercise and everyone have to start somewhere. I don't know when was the last time anyone here went to walk\jog outside, but here in the evenings the walkways are PACKED with young and old people, walking\jogging or using the machines around.

 

I hate to sound like a promotional pumplet, but go out there and stop make ridicules excuses for yourself.

 

 

[Raithe]

But exercise is 90% mental.

 

So I'm working on that 90% right now.. and I'll get to the physical at some point in the near future...

 

On a serious note, I find it hard these days to sort out time and money to get to a gym on any regular way. And frankly, if you can't make it a regular occurrence, it's pretty damn pointless.   As such, I try to blend in exercises I can do around the house and during my daily routines.  So while it might not make a great hour of cardio or anything..    Some walking briskly up and down the hills on extra long routes or circuits when going shopping.  Jumping jacks or some other type of basic physical exercise while waiting for the kettle to boil..  Getting out a 100 squats as I brush my teeth.  Having some weight near my computer so I can do shoulder raises or such like when I take a short breather from work while I'm sat there.

[213374U]

So due to planning reasons I had to reschedule leg day to monday. Figured I'd try something different for a change and went with time-volume training ("Zero brains required"? Sold!) for deadlifts and squats, 15 minute blocks each. It definitely allowed for a volume increase in the DL, but I had to lower the squat load to roughly 85% of the weight I would have worked with otherwise after a close call in the second set. "Central" fatigue was way more noticeable, but peripheral fatigue was more manageable throughout than with straight sets. Then did a 3-lap fitball hamstring circuit. Finished with some quad/hamstring machine work to hammer the point home, but in hindsight I'm not sure it was such a good idea.

 

I feel small and weak, and I have a feeling that the day after tomorrow taking a dump will be a task deserving of a medal of honor.

[Woldan]

I'm totally open to new ways of strength training though I doubt that this kind of exercise is such a great idea, granted, I've never tried it but the idea of normal lifting is to over strain the muscle not to make rests between unfinished sets and continue to do them forever, it sounds a lot more like endurance training to me. I also think the longer the set continues the more energy is lost which could have been used to curl heavier weights increasing your max weight.

 

I think a better way would be simple time proven drop sets, I love them. Do your usual 8-10 reps, when finished grab a 20% lighter weight and do another 8 reps. 
That way you are pushing your muscle to the limit AND beyond. Forced reps is also a  good idea when using dumbbells. 

[213374U]

Funny. I don't know if I agree with you or not. It does sound like endurance training, somewhat. However, the first 4 minutes or so work more like rest-pause or even tabata, but the similarity gets diluted as fatigue builds up and rest periods become longer. But it is a 15 minute-block after all, and no "normal" (for lack of a better word) strength training regime that I know of works like that. Impossible to judge results from a single session either. I guess I'll try for 2-3 more sessions and see if it actually does anything to break the plateau.

 

And yeah, I love (read: hate) drop sets. But training without a partner, they are out of the question for the big barbell lifts. Then again, I've never used dumbbells for those...

[Woldan]

Funny. I don't know if I agree with you or not. It does sound like endurance training, somewhat. However, the first 4 minutes or so work more like rest-pause or even tabata, but the similarity gets diluted as fatigue builds up and rest periods become longer. But it is a 15 minute-block after all, and no "normal" (for lack of a better word) strength training regime that I know of works like that. Impossible to judge results from a single session either. I guess I'll try for 2-3 more sessions and see if it actually does anything to break the plateau.

 

And yeah, I love (read: hate) drop sets. But training without a partner, they are out of the question for the big barbell lifts. Then again, I've never used dumbbells for those...

 

I'd appreciate it if you post results in a couple of weeks, I'm interested if and how it works out for you. 

 

And about the drop-sets, those work well with dumbbell exercises and especially well with seated Arnold shoulder presses, one-armed preacher curls (try drop sets AND forced reps at the end!). I wouldn't use them with big barbell lifts because form inevitably suffers a bit and that can lead to injuries when doing very heavy BB exercises like standing military's or bench pressing. Barbell bench pressing without a training parter is suicidal, drop sets or not and I hope you're not doing that.

 

Dumbbell bench pressing is more effective anyway because of better ROM, it works the stabilizers much harder, trains both sides of your body independently, allows a healthier grip and it can be safely performed without a partner. 

Edited January 28, 2014 by Woldan

[Raithe]

So Woldan, what do you think of that HIIT exercise regime that's been turning popular/trendy the last year or so?

 

Short bursts of high-intensity interval training several times a week rather then hour long training sessions and all of that...

[213374U]

 

Funny. I don't know if I agree with you or not. It does sound like endurance training, somewhat. However, the first 4 minutes or so work more like rest-pause or even tabata, but the similarity gets diluted as fatigue builds up and rest periods become longer. But it is a 15 minute-block after all, and no "normal" (for lack of a better word) strength training regime that I know of works like that. Impossible to judge results from a single session either. I guess I'll try for 2-3 more sessions and see if it actually does anything to break the plateau.

 

And yeah, I love (read: hate) drop sets. But training without a partner, they are out of the question for the big barbell lifts. Then again, I've never used dumbbells for those...

 

I'd appreciate it if you post results in a couple of weeks, I'm interested if and how it works out for you. 

 

And about the drop-sets, those work well with dumbbell exercises and especially well with seated Arnold shoulder presses, one-armed preacher curls (try drop sets AND forced reps at the end!). I wouldn't use them with big barbell lifts because form inevitably suffers a bit and that can lead to injuries when doing very heavy BB exercises like standing military's or bench pressing. Barbell bench pressing without a training parter is suicidal, drop sets or not and I hope you're not doing that.

 

Dumbbell bench pressing is more effective anyway because of better ROM, it works the stabilizers much harder, trains both sides of your body independently, allows a healthier grip and it can be safely performed without a partner. 

 

 

Will do. 

 

Solid advice on the bench press, too. I stopped doing it with a barbell some time ago due to the reasons you describe, and also the fact that my shoulder didn't agree with it... supraspinatus tendonitis is no fun at all. I'm mostly doing a combination of cable work, pushups and classic dumbbell exercise to substitute... and am not missing it.

[Walsingham]

So Woldan, what do you think of that HIIT exercise regime that's been turning popular/trendy the last year or so?

 

Short bursts of high-intensity interval training several times a week rather then hour long training sessions and all of that...

 

High intensity training is the best I've ever done. At least in terms of burning you out fast, and making you feel fitter.

[213374U]

Yeah, I'm going to butt in and add that HIIT is just not for everyone. A minimum level of fitness is required and due to how taxing it can be, a medical check up is in order before attempting it. Play it safe, folks.