Man, my metabolism is slooooooooooowed downnnnnnnn. I get really full eating a max of like 1900 calories per day, so pulling off the zigzag method is gonna be tough. The book I'm reading suggests a zigzag of 1960 calories for 3 days and then 2520 calories for 1 day. I think doing that in conjunction with my daily cardio/crunches/pushups and my Tues./Thurs./Sun. weightlifting, I can get it back up enough to drop the last 9 or so lbs. I have left. Kinda annoying though, I mean I can feel my abdominal muscles & obliques below my remaining stomach fat and its enough for me to drive extra hard to get to where I want to get to. Got 5 and a half months left to pull it off, so that's very little per week, but my metabolism has come to such a screeching halt that the fat loss is harder to come by now. It was about two pounds in January, bringing me to a total loss of 25 in two months. By no means is it bad, but at the rate I'm going it'll take me a lot more time before I get to actually work on bulking up the muscles moreso than losing the small remaining fat. Gotta go big though I suppose.

Wish me luck, eh?

*returns to reading 340-page book*

After being a lazy arse and not exercising for ages - partly due to my brother moving back in and never leaving my fucking room - I'm forcing myself to get back into a routine.

Now I remember VL said ages ago, in the first few pages of this club, that if you're looking for tone, theres no point doing weights, as the fat will just be hidding the muscle.

So, using that idea, I'm just doing an hour of cardio everyday.
Should I be throwing some weights in there, or is there no point? I'm only looking to lower body fat afterall.
Will some weights help? And if so, what?

At 2/8/07 11:36 AM, Nev wrote:
So, using that idea, I'm just doing an hour of cardio everyday.
Should I be throwing some weights in there, or is there no point? I'm only looking to lower body fat afterall.
Will some weights help? And if so, what?

Body Fat means percentage of fat in your body. Now base on this; if you increase your level of muscle how do you think your BF will react?! That's right, it will be reduced. You also have to know that someone with a high level of muscle will burn much more calories daily; so life will be much easier if he wants to tone up and cut down those extra pounds of fat.
From the way you sound; I would recommend 30 min of work out with weights after a warm-up and between 45 to 60min of moderate Cardio to burn as much calories as possible.

hey guys!

question: creatine

effects? should I take it? any inputs on it? just ordered 'CYTOGAINER' not sure on whether or not to take it... :-\ help please! :D

another question: gaining weight

I am not a skinny kid, but a bit underweight for my height. I'm a junior in highschool and im 6 foot 5 and 165 pounds... yeah skinny... I eat a CRAPLOAD yet can't seem to gain ANY weight! i stopped running a usual of 5 miles every day or every 2 days. stopped sprints for lacrosse etc. etc....

is there a way to gain weight faster??? any top notch protein bars? mixes to put in drinks/shakes? I'll try ANYTHING i'm that desperate. anything to slow down my metabolism(would that actually make me gain wait faster)?

I'm sure this has been asked I'm sorry for not scanning threw but gotta go to watch a school basketball game so just want to get these posted for when I get back in a few hours hopefully there will be some replies!!!!

Thank you for whoever answers either of my questions!!!!

Don't slow down your metabolism, crank up your calorie intake. Just eat a whole bunch of food.

Something like whole wheat pasta would be good to eat regularly, as it's healthy and it's easy to eat a lot of it.

At 2/8/07 06:06 PM, Trypper wrote: Being "toned" doesn't mean shit, it will never have anything on me. Strength and speed is what you need.

So you're telling me to make my own decisions on what I want...
Then telling me how what I want is wrong....
And then telling me what you want for yourself, is right for me?

Hmmm.. contradiction?

Damn I'm getting fat again

I'll have to start back training!

Did some abs today ^^

At 2/8/07 07:29 PM, Trypper wrote: Not hardly, I told you to do more research, since you obviously ill-equipped in the department of anatomical developement, or how you like to say, "toning".

Hence the reason I asked in this place.
Instead of flying off the handle you could of pointed me in the right direction and given assistance instead of being an arse.

Also, what is your height and weight, and bf% if you know it?

6'0"
172Ibs
Don't know bf%

So today I went to a gym for the first time time. I did some weights and ran on the tredmill and such. The only problem is that I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I need some advice as to what I should do at the gym, and how long I should do it.

Also, I don't have a gym membership, I'm using a private gym with a friend of mine because his mum has membership there (But I hope to get my own membership sometime in the future). The problem with this is that I can't just go there whenever I want. I can only go when my friend has the key. Because of this, I would also like to know of some excercises I can do at home, that don't require weights and fancy equiptment.

I basically just want to get a bit fitter and get my muscles going a bit more.

My info:
18 years old
Aprox. 5'8"
Aprox. 72 kg (158.4 lbs)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

by the way, I know this thread is full of advice, but I really want some more personal advice.

At 2/12/07 07:36 AM, Insert-Pie wrote:

I basically just want to get a bit fitter and get my muscles going a bit more.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

by the way, I know this thread is full of advice, but I really want some more personal advice.

ask and you shall receive :D.

ummm, basically after lacrosse season ( 4 months or so) and I want to get back to working out at the gym I first start out with arms and benching. First day I take it reallllly easy, just to get the motion down, don't go hardcore in order to get fit the first week, it takes time and progression, patience = larger muscles. Try just benching and running. The next day just run again. After that work on biceps and triceps. you can do this with a friend ( the best workout i've found by far) doing buddy-bi's. which is basically you and your friend each have seperate weights... You rep once with a straight bar, curl it once. then your friend goes once, you increment all the way up to 10 then work your way back again. this is how it should go....
you - 1
friend - 1
you - 2
friend - 2
......
you - 9
friend - 9
you - 10
friend - 10
you - 9
friend - 9
and work your way back down again.

If you have a good weight going you should feel the burn around 7 on your way back down. This will give you the best bicep workout I could think of. I have had a trainer and he gives me other things to do, but I feel buddy bi's with a friend are the best way to go. First week I curled 50 then the next week 50 then the following week ( with other workouts ) I was doing 60, now i'm up to 70. staying at that for a bit since lacrosse is getting close.

After that work on tri's there should be machines around.

After a week or so of warming up getting a feel for the gym start doing squats. they work wonders on your body, if you don't know how to do it 100% ASK SOMEONE! you can SERIOUSLY hurt yourself doing squats lots can go wrong if you don't do it correctly.

Just keep running on the treadmill like a said get the cardio up, it will take longer to see results but you'll feel amazing. Also drink lots of water and peanut butter and banana sandwhiches :D.

That's just my opinion on how to get back into shape faster, which is what I do after season, which I'm in great shape running wise, but not muscle tone and lifting wise.

I'm only 17 tho so... :-\ I don't know how old you are and what you're going for so hopefully senior members of the NG Gym can give their overview on what to do.

( i left a ton more stuff on what to do if you want to work different parts of your body so just PM me or repost a question )

Man, I really need gloves for weightlifting. My callouses turn different colors and tear & such when I lift or deadlift. :\

At 2/13/07 10:33 PM, Buddhist wrote: Man, I really need gloves for weightlifting. My callouses turn different colors and tear & such when I lift or deadlift. :\

They stop tearing eventually.

Do more grip work.

I wouldn't recomend gloves for anything really, I've always just though work your grip, thoughen your hands. I came 4th in a strongman competition, because of how far i went in the even involving grip. I'll even make fun of people if i see them wearing those gloves and doing simple movments or things that you really dont need them for.

oh yeah i forgot to say, basically, don't get gloves, you're 15, the problem you're having will soon go away.

Kwl idea =)

you're 15 and you need gloves... don't do that you look like such a queer, in our gym people get made fun for them because they are SO unnescesary.

Basically what Elfer is trying to say is that you look like a big puss with em :) Suck it up and don't use gloves!

WTF are you doing that is tearing your hands? I have NEVER had that problem, maybe I built up the resistence like Elfer did....

damnit. Ment to say popeofdope not Elfer.....

damn scary fists made me mix up the names sorry about that. subsitute Elfers name for pope's in my post right above this :D ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

At 2/8/07 11:36 AM, Nev wrote: After being a lazy arse and not exercising for ages - partly due to my brother moving back in and never leaving my fucking room - I'm forcing myself to get back into a routine.

Now I remember VL said ages ago, in the first few pages of this club, that if you're looking for tone, theres no point doing weights, as the fat will just be hidding the muscle.

No, do weights. Doing the weights will build muscle, Muscle burns calories 15X then fat. Hence if you have more muscle you will find its easier to tone up, shed fat etc etc

Sorry I havent been around much but I'm rarely at a computer these days. Far to much drink and debautry to partake in.

K.

I posted here a while back, with completely bullshit info (forgive me), let me start over here.

Here's my Info:

HEIGHT- 5'9
WEIGHT- 150
BF- 18%

I started working out in the summer of '06, doing literally everything wrong, so that was a wash. Then school came and i just stopped completely. I just got back into it around early December of last year. I'm still VERY weak. I got a Bowflex type machine for Christmas, and thats helped a lot in the Pecs/Legs/, but none in the Biceps. I use a free-weight for those, and thats the only thing that does it for me.

I currently do the following, not all on one day, of course.

ARMS- 3 Sets of 10 curls with a 20 pound weight
ABS- Usually, its 3 Sets of 15 of an exercise whose name escapes me right now (I go up like I'm about to do a sit-up, then twist my torso to the left then to the right, lower, and repeat). Then, 2 sets of 30 Bicycles. After that, I do 1 set of Oblique Crunches.
PECS- 3 Sets of 10 Butterflies.
BACK- I do nothing for this. I need to know which exercises will help me with the back.
LEGS- Two sets of 10 Leg presses at 30 lbs.

How can I improve that, I know its shaky, at best.

I want to do Deadlifts and Squats, but I have no Barbell. Isn't there a variation of both of these that uses Dumbbells? I have a set of 10 - 50lbs on those.

Thank you, and I hope to hear back soon.

Anybody know any good leg exercises, like anything targeting the glutes, thighs, or calves? Preferably ones I could do at home, and if they include dumbbells that's fine. I don't have too many I can do, I usually do leg curls and a lot of vertical leaping and slalom leaping, but that's about it.

As for my arms, they're developing pretty well but I still can't get any tone. I'm guessing because I still have a pretty high BF% overall (I'm not sure what, but I'd guess like 12% or something, even though I'm 155 lbs), the tone isn't really there. I think I still have about 5lbs of stomach fat, but I dunno. They say trans fats cause fat to go under the abdominals that's harder to lose, so I suppose that could be a cause. I dunno.

It goes the same way for my abs. Despite how hard they are when i flex them, there's no tone because I still have a gut despite all the weight loss. It sucks, but even the 3.5+ miles a day running plus the weights and stretches doesn't do much. I suppose it takes time or whatever, and I don't really have the genetics that are favorable for nice, toned abs, arms & legs, but hell if I'm not gonna exert myself as best I can to reach as close as I can to being toned.

At 2/19/07 01:56 AM, Buddhist wrote: I'm guessing because I still have a pretty high BF% overall (I'm not sure what, but I'd guess like 12% or something, even though I'm 155 lbs)

Actually, a rough estimate from here states I'm about 16.8% body fat. :'(

It says I have roughly 26.35 lbs of body fat. Now how much of that is essential, and how much could I stand to lose? I dunno how accurate this is, because as I grow an inch and keep around the same weight the BF% on there drops drastically (someone who's 5'9" and 155lbs like me has 16.8% BF, but someone who's 5'11" and 155lbs has like 9% body fat...).

At 2/18/07 08:13 PM, Ethereal wrote:

I currently do the following, not all on one day, of course.

ARMS- 3 Sets of 10 curls with a 20 pound weight
ABS- Usually, its 3 Sets of 15 of an exercise whose name escapes me right now (I go up like I'm about to do a sit-up, then twist my torso to the left then to the right, lower, and repeat). Then, 2 sets of 30 Bicycles. After that, I do 1 set of Oblique Crunches.
PECS- 3 Sets of 10 Butterflies.
BACK- I do nothing for this. I need to know which exercises will help me with the back.
LEGS- Two sets of 10 Leg presses at 30 lbs.

How can I improve that, I know its shaky, at best.

I want to do Deadlifts and Squats, but I have no Barbell. Isn't there a variation of both of these that uses Dumbbells? I have a set of 10 - 50lbs on those.

Ok first off, I don't do anything ment solely for BACK. I find it pointless and always get tight in that area and extremely uncomfortable for days. Back will slowly progress with squats/legs you'll see.

no barbell eh? ok you need a straight bar. straight bar = like a flat bar you curl usually made for biceps. judging by the weight you are using try a 50 or 60 pound STRAIGHT bar. one excersize you can do which will increase your chest/back and benching skills is hold it inbetween your neck and tits :D yes tits. collar bone to be exact. then going straight up suspend the bar above your head as high as you can, hold it for 5 seconds and then bring it back down and immeaditely shoot back up. Do this 15 times 3 times. rest in between don't speed with these.

For squatting... again use the straight bar ( the one you curl with NOT THE BAR YOU MAY BENCH WITH ( this is a little less then half the size of the bench bar) hold it up on your shoulders BEHIND your head. exactly like squats letting it rest.

you may ask... what is the correct form of a squat since I am new? Go here!

UGH. i almost threw up seeing what you do to your arms! I have to go take a shower but i'll tell you what to fix for your arms when I get back! sheeesh!!!

Buddhist i'll help you in a few you secksey bish! :)

ok for arms. this should go for both of you!

This is what I do and what I find to work AMAZINGLY!

ok Buddhist you wanted "tone". This is how you get your biceps, or arms to get that BULLET like look.

ok you all know the standard way when using a straightbar for curling when you want to work on your biceps. looks like this....

0 = ends of bars
X = hands

0----X---middle---X----0
*that diagram is for working on gaining strength in your biceps*

0X-------middle-------X0
*this diagram gives you a bicep workout but not as strong, and tightens your muscles to get them to begin to get that bullet like look. yes your hands go right on each side. This will feel extremely awkward at first and your shoulders may hurt. keep pushing! after 3 weeks it will feel great and you WILL SEE RESULTS! ( not necessarily in strength but in look ).

I recommend mixing both of these.

do the wide grip 3 times(12 reps) and the regular 3 times(10 reps).

Any other questions you want me to attempt to answer? that's just for biceps.

Ok also, I HATE all that workout at home crapola. It's pointless unless you don't have time to go to the gym. I suggest getting a gym membership and going to the gym, poke around a bit, watch the seasoned vets ( you can tell right away ) and get a general feel. Possibly, if you have the extra money get your own fitness trainer ( HIGHLY RECCOMENDED FOR BEGINNER AND INTERMEDIATE LIFTERS ).

*Also Buddhist, for legs, I do no weights except squats and the workout of your calves ( stand straight go on your tippy toes as high as you can then back down, do this 3 times(50 reps). Also run on the treadmill, or just run outside your house, sprint for 30 seconds take a 30 second rest, sprint, rest, sprint rest, do 15-25 sprints, whatever you can handle. in training for lacrosse season I am doing 50 but that's insane running lol.

Did I help either of you at all? further questions?

Should I do wide-grip for just barbell curls or could I do it for benching?

At 2/20/07 09:25 AM, Trypper wrote:

At 2/20/07 02:00 AM, Buddhist wrote: Should I do wide-grip for just barbell curls or could I do it for benching?

Do it for both, since it works completely different parts of your muscles. Don't forget close grip aswell, it is just as important.

Alright, I did 3 sets of close-grip and 3 sets of wide-grip bench presses, and then 3 sets of wide-grip barbell curls and 1 or 2 sets of close-grip barbell curls. Then I did some tricep pulldowns, dumbbell curls, dumbbell bench presses, calf presses, leg presses, leg curls, weighted crunches on a decline bench and an extreme decline bench (5x of 25lb weight on decline, 10x of 10lb weight on extreme decline), some ab curls, and 2 minutes of cooldown on an elliptical. I didn't get to do my daily 3 miles of running today, so I'll go to 4.5 miles running tomorrow to make up for it slightly. Gotta say, I wanted to pass out completely once I got home but after two meals my strength has been pretty much regained, so I'm going to finish my arm exercises later.

Long time no post, here atleast. I haven't been banging out the reps like I wanted to here lately, but that has not stopped me from regaining my strength. My deadlift is going up again, aswell as every other lift I'm doing, which is alot. New deadlift stats are as follows, 215x10 for 3 sets. The 1RM calculator says my 1RM should be around 287 now, higher than it was before I got sick and had to refrain from lifting. I won't be maxing for atleast another 2 weeks, so the rep work will continue. My bench has gone up significantly since I've started doing DB presses, aswell as inclines and getting my form down for flat bench. I've gained a little weight too, went from 125 back in December, to 145 now. I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but I that will not stop me, now, nor ever. I hope you guys haven't stopped lifting. :P

At 2/19/07 02:05 AM, Buddhist wrote: Actually, a rough estimate from here states I'm about 16.8% body fat. :'(

Yeah, well, according to that site, I have -4.1% body fat, and my lean body mass exceeds my total weight.

It all depends on your frame and lean mass. Just go until you're happy with how you feel and look.

At 3/3/07 04:14 PM, Musician wrote: I just got a bench and I want to start weight training on my chest, back and arms. Can somebody recommend what exercises I should do to begin with and how many reps I should do. Basically if someone could tell me a feasable upper body workout program that would be great.

Do 100 push ups a day.
Do 10 Dips a day
Do bench pressing.

Man, those widegrips really kill my shoulder.

I can't do more than like, 50lbs & bar on widegrip, which is like a 1/3 of my max on a regular-grip bench press.