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Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger:The Fitness & Health Thread



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0
 07.11.2013 3:58am
 (Edited on 07.11.2013 at 4:09am)

SuperSquall
Shortening His Posts



Re: Volleyball and Rock climbing

I had a bit of a bad attitude towards Volleyball a little while ago but signed up for a team beach volleyball rec league with some coworkers and was really surprised by how much fun I had.  It's a great general workout and the sport itself is really enjoyable and positive.  Something about having the net in the way seems to keep things civil.  Rock Climbing also has lots of good options even if you are afraid of heights.  Most of the technical climbing is actually done via "bouldering", which is climbing horizontally without a rope, and usually with your feet no more than a few feet off the ground.  I actually enjoy that the most, as navigating around all of the contours sidways is really cool.  A lot of gyms will even mark out routes and specify with colored tape attached to the holds a pattern for your hands to follow to try out specific challenges (1L would mean the first hold on a route, and for your left hand, then it would be followed by 2R, etc...).  It's like a puzzle game for your whole body.

Also: I have been thinking of taking some scuba lessons and I imagine that would be a good general workout and not too hard on any part of your body.  Maybe that's an idea for you as well.

maximus asinus said:

@SuperSquall:
I find it sort of ironic that you are advocating organized sports over gym because of risk of injury. From my experience, if you're practicing proper form and general safety you're less likely to get hurt at the gym than during a competitive sport. Ignoring "freak" accidents like breaking bones, I would say you would have a more likely chance of tearing, pulling, or hyper extending doing something high intensity that you don't have complete control over. But this is me speaking from personal experience, so maybe I'm wrong on this one.
No, I think that's a completly fair point.  I've accumulated a lot of injuries from sports too, although the most long lasting one was joint damage I picked up from not having a properly diversified fitness routine in high school.  My main recommendation for sports over the gym was for more accountability (having a team you are part of along with the concept of wins and losses helps motivate, and there is nothing like competing against another human to keep your edge on).  But yeah I played hockey too so I think we both know it's more dangerous than the gym :p

Also from my research, protein is essential for muscle building. From personal experience I can tell you it is important. Protein powder might not be ideal for him, but I can tell you I put on about 5-8 lbs of additional muscle after I started using it. One serving of meat (20g of protein on average) will not cut it.
If your goal is quantity and to actually "put on pounds" of muscle then you are right.  For me feeling like I can *do* things is the most important part of fitness, and not letting my body weight get up too high is important to maintaining good foot speed (particularly the first step) and so on.  I try to stay at 180 myself.  I've been at 200 and still healthy, but my performance on the beep test would have been horrid - I couldn't change directions at speed to save my life.




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0
 07.11.2013 4:44pm


maximus asinus
Registered Member

@SuperSquall:

I guess you and I must be built differently, I struggled to stay at my ideal weight of 180 lbs while loading on protein. I guess it is a metabolism thing. But I guess that brings up a valid point concerning different body types and dieting.




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0
 07.11.2013 7:00pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



Mavilu said:

I don't go to the gym, I have everything I need right in this very room I am at the moment; it took a few years, but now I have weights in a few different sizes, as well as ankle weights, exercise mats, exercise balls, a stationary bike, my husband's ski machine, etc.

I tried going to the gym, but I prefer knowing that no one else has sweated over the equipment I'm using, besides, the mere idea of having to *go* to the gym is enough to make me want to slump in an easy chair instead, but if I have what I need at home, all I need is to change into confortable clothes in order to get a workout.

maximus asinus said:

@kirbenvost:

I am a generally modest guy but it is a great feeling being able to take your shirt off in public with that certain type of confidence.

As for the gym, I feel like the beginning everyone hates it because you don't know what you're doing and you're surrounded by people who have more experience than you. But when you bounce around there for a few weeks or a month you begin to feel more comfortable and it seems like less of a drag.

Always bring your own music though, it is a generally universal rule that all gym music sucks.

Luckily we have a gym in our apartment building, so it's just a matter of going downstairs. I can't really be too lazy for that. :D There's also usually no one there, which is nice, so I often don't have to worry about looking stupid in front of people who know what they're doing. Music's a non-issue because the only setup they have is an old CRT TV with basic cable. So it's pretty much news or my trusty mp3 player at the hours I'm there.

Yeah, I'm kind of modest too ...okay, a little vain, but not a showoff, lol... anyway, it would be nice to be able to go to the beach and not worry about sucking in my gut. Plus I know my girl likes a nice pair of arms so it would be great to have her a little more interested in my physique instead of the boring spindly arms I have now.

That horizontal rock climbing does sound pretty interesting, SuperSquall. I might check it out a bit, but as always my budget is very limiting.

Well I'm only going every second day because other responsibilities don't allow the time, but I've had 2 gym days and so far so good. I'm definitely feeling it in my arms.

I think I need some tips... I suck at crunches. I did like 50 of them yesterday in sets of 10 on one of those gym balls, and I hardly feel it today. I must be doing it wrong. I can't even do them on the floor. I feel like I'm either going up too far, or not 'curling' my abs enough, or something. I guess I need to get on youtube and look at some proper form.

Also, I did a bunch of bench presses on a machine and I feel it in my arms but not my chest today. At least, not much. Shouldn't there be a bit more soreness the next day? I'm doing about as much weight/reps as I can handle with my arms, maybe it's just a matter of needing to improve arm strength before I can increase the weight and work the chest more? Or maybe I'm doing it wrong.




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0
 07.11.2013 7:27pm


Colinp42
Registered Member

kirbenvost said:
I think I need some tips... I suck at crunches. I did like 50 of them yesterday in sets of 10 on one of those gym balls, and I hardly feel it today. I must be doing it wrong. I can't even do them on the floor. I feel like I'm either going up too far, or not 'curling' my abs enough, or something. I guess I need to get on youtube and look at some proper form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWjTnBmCHTY

I'm telling you, it really worked for me.  I could do much more ab stuff when there's "someone" directing me to do them for a specific length of time than just trying to set a goal for a certain number of reps.  And I think because I would usually do 8 minute arms after and had 10 lb weights ready, I actually would use one of them for extra resistance on some of the moves.

Just don't give up.  It won't take too long for them to be easier.  Yeah, if you're going from very low core strength you won't get very far off the ground at first, but it will get better.

You're very lucky to have a gym right there.  I've got to get up and drive there, and the prospect of that at 5:30 usually makes me just turn over and reset my alarm.








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0
 07.11.2013 8:15pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



I'm forced to go to the gym after work.  I hate it, because that's the last thing I want to do when I'm tired from work and biking home, but there's no way in hell I could do that in the morning when I already struggle with getting up and out of the house on time. 

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely be checking it out later when I have Youtube access. :)




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0
 07.11.2013 11:13pm


maximus asinus
Registered Member

If you're doing floor crunches you need to make sure you're keeping your ab muscles tight, you only need to come up about 60 degrees to engage your muscles. Also abs are a weird kind of muscle, you should be going with high reps and small breaks between sets.

You will need to do other core exercises to engage all your ab groups plus your obliques though, I recommend finding some compound exercises that work them all to save time.




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0
 07.12.2013 1:04am
 (Edited on 07.12.2013 at 1:11am)

Mavilu
Yep, still gaming



I adhere to what Maximus says, you don't need to make them sit-ups and you do have to engage your belly muscles; the tips that worked for me in the beginning: while you are getting the feel of what a proper crunch is, do them on the floor, not on a ball, tuck your chin in, engage you belly muscles by sinking your belly button (when you do it, you'll see what I'm saying), inhale and, trying to use nothing else but your stomach (keep that belly button sunken or you'll risk a hernia!) try to lift just your shoulders off the floor, you don't need to do much, especially at the beggining, after a while, you'll get it.

There's always the possibility that your stomach is too weak (hey, it's normal) and you can't do a proper crunch for the life of you, if that is the case, strengthening your abs enough in order to do crunches is possible, you do this: you lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet on the floor and while keeping the abs tight, you bring your legs towards your torso (as far as I remember, that's called a Reverse Crunch), if that is too easy for you, try it with your legs flat on the floor, but don't lift them straight up, only 45 degrees or so. You'll get the hang of it, we all do.




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0
 07.12.2013 4:18am


maximus asinus
Registered Member

You can also try the plank to help with core strength. It is tough physically but fairly easy to do form wise.

Also Kirben, the bench press is sort of a compound exercise, your arms are engaged so soreness in your biceps is normal. What kind of machine are you using?




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0
 07.12.2013 6:54pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



Mavilu said:

I adhere to what Maximus says, you don't need to make them sit-ups and you do have to engage your belly muscles; the tips that worked for me in the beginning: while you are getting the feel of what a proper crunch is, do them on the floor, not on a ball, tuck your chin in, engage you belly muscles by sinking your belly button (when you do it, you'll see what I'm saying), inhale and, trying to use nothing else but your stomach (keep that belly button sunken or you'll risk a hernia!) try to lift just your shoulders off the floor, you don't need to do much, especially at the beggining, after a while, you'll get it.

There's always the possibility that your stomach is too weak (hey, it's normal) and you can't do a proper crunch for the life of you, if that is the case, strengthening your abs enough in order to do crunches is possible, you do this: you lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet on the floor and while keeping the abs tight, you bring your legs towards your torso (as far as I remember, that's called a Reverse Crunch), if that is too easy for you, try it with your legs flat on the floor, but don't lift them straight up, only 45 degrees or so. You'll get the hang of it, we all do.

maximus asinus said:

If you're doing floor crunches you need to make sure you're keeping your ab muscles tight, you only need to come up about 60 degrees to engage your muscles. Also abs are a weird kind of muscle, you should be going with high reps and small breaks between sets.

You will need to do other core exercises to engage all your ab groups plus your obliques though, I recommend finding some compound exercises that work them all to save time.

Thanks for the tips. :)  I have enough strength to do crunches, just poor form. The pointers should definitely help.  I was doing some back lifts as well to try and balance out the crunches.  Do you have any suggestions for compound exercises?  I hardly know anything other than the basic exercises most people know about.

maximus asinus said:

Also Kirben, the bench press is sort of a compound exercise, your arms are engaged so soreness in your biceps is normal. What kind of machine are you using?

I figured the pain was normal but I wondered why I didn't feel it so much in my chest.  I think I did a bit but the arm soreness was more distracting.  I was using one of those multi-exercise gym machines where I'm in an incline seated position, pushing straight outwards from my chest.




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0
 07.12.2013 7:18pm


Crono
Crono can cross dimensions too!



The way you do your bench presses can affect what muscle group gets worked more and/or sore.  I find a wider grip works my chest more.

One thing I like to do (especially with bench presses) is if I'm aiming for sets of 5 and only hit 4 to decrease the weight around 10 pounds and add a rep to the next set.  So I might have 130 on the bar and if I only hit 4 of my reps I'd bump it to either 120 or 125 (gotta love actually having 2.5's at my gym).  

But then again, taking weight lifting advice from me probably isn't the best thing in the world since I'm cardio crazy.  I'm a lot stronger than I look but I've never wanted to put on any bulk.  Hell, I can do more consecutive pullups (20) than any of my buddies that are dedicated weight lifters so I'm fine with that, haha.



Currently Playing: Dark Cloud 2: 3 hours.
Also Playing: CT, FF VI, Solatorobo, Secret of Mana, Halo 4.
Just Finished: Fable II: 7 hours.




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0
 07.12.2013 8:09pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



Since I'm usually in the gym alone I probably won't be doing bench presses with free weights, but maybe I can figure out a way to do a wider grip. Despite being old the machines are pretty adjustable so there's a lot I can do with them.




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0
 07.16.2013 3:42pm


Colinp42
Registered Member

How are your abs doing?  Are you getting the form at all?

Did gym both Sunday and Monday this week!  Sunday was weird because it was the first time in I don't know how many years that I worked out after eating (not right after, just normally I go first thing when I get out).  It was odd - I felt like I had more energy, but even though it had been over an hour I still felt sloshy while running.

This morning it was my off day, but I did 8 minute abs anyway (which burned since I had only been doing mild ab exercise).  I'm conflicted.  The general consensus is though you CAN work out your abs every day, you probably shouldn't.  Maybe I'll take ab work out of my gym routine now and then.




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0
 07.16.2013 7:06pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



I think I'm doing better with it. I didn't stay on the floor but tried the ball again and I could definitely feel the burn yesterday. Some soreness today but not like I over-exerted myself so I think I've got it. I'm also doing back extensions to try and even it out.

I had a banana before the workout and some peanut butter after, I think it helped during the workout but I felt really exhausted after. That's probably more because got way too much sun over the weekend, combined with alcohol. Even though I've been drinking a lot of water, several hours baking in the sun and drinking is probably not good for anyone.




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0
 07.17.2013 5:10pm


maximus asinus
Registered Member

I am not sure what you have for equipment so I am not sure what you can do for ab workouts. I know you have a ball so I will mention one of my old workouts: the ball pass crunch. It was good for upper and lower ab muscles and it worked fairly well. Without a machine you can also do twist crunches while doing normal crunches to work your obliques.

Before I switched to a few machines my ab workout consisted of 3 sets of 30 crunches, followed by 3 sets of 30 bicycle crunches, finishing with a 2 minute plank. Maybe something you can try out.




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0
 07.17.2013 6:44pm
Thread Creator

kirbenvost
Give Life Back To Music



Unless I'm just not figuring it out, I don't think we have machines for crunches.

Damn, that's a lot of crunches.  Hah, I've been doing like 50 total.  Thanks for the tips on different types, I'll try some of those.




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