(Sep. 18, 2011 12:51 AM)Shabalabadoo Wrote: [ -> ]Functional fitness.
One stop shops don't work.
Everything needs to be balanced on the teeter totter.
Strength training, cardio, stretching, and whatever you want or need all need to be equally focused. Cardio too much eats away muscle. Strength training too much leaves little time to clean out your system. Stretching too much, nothing bad will come, but it leaves less time for everything else, so you'll end up wasting your time as you put on body fat, lose muscle, and become more lethargic.
excuse me mr P90X2 coughs*treadclimer is better*coughs(JKXD)can you tell me what i should be doing because im 18 and im overweight O_O
(Sep. 18, 2011 1:09 AM)Shabalabadoo Wrote: [ -> ]akylus21, answer this question:
(Sep. 18, 2011 12:43 AM)Shabalabadoo Wrote: [ -> ]Why do humans walk?
Dude, that wasn't even remotely funny. I'm talking about walking from my house to the end of the subdivision which is actually pretty far for my standards but I think jogging a few miles will do more.
He wasn't trying to be funny.
I know what the answer is, to move around without vehicle-based transportation.
Hokie dokie. But like I said, there's only so much I can explain in words. Plus I don't want to be writing for days, just a couple of minutes (which might turn out be a lot more)
I'll try to make this as small as possible.
So first, scheduling.
What you'll want is called periodization training.
There's macro cycles and micro cycles. Micro cycles are your one week schedule, macro cycles are groups of micro cycles. Macro cycles can last as long as you want, but 3-5 is usually a good number for general fitness.
After each macro cycle, you need to go through a transition/recovery phase. What it is is 1-2 weeks where your intensity goes down a bit, and your workouts are geared towards recovering from the previous phase. Basically, if you're training chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs, then you do synergistic exercises where it's not a focus on one muscle group.
Just think recovery and you should be fine.
So, in your micro cycle, you obviously need workouts in it.
The most general I can give is strength 3 times a week, abs/core 2-3 cardio 2, stretch/yoga 2. You can change the frequency if you want, but I just put those numbers to give you an idea.
So strength. There's lots of things you can do as far as what you're working. The general ones would be:
Chest & Back
Shoulders & arms
Legs & back
Back & biceps
Chest, shoulders, & triceps.
Upper body
Lower body
Total body.
And individual muscle groups only.
There's 3 types of strength gains:
Endurance - more reps, usually 12-15+ per set. The point is to build muscles that can sustain long periods of use.
Strength- very few reps, usually 3/4-6 per set. The idea is obviously just to build brute strength
Mass- usually 6-8/8-10. The idea is to build larger muscle fibres, increasing size, and therefore more capable load capacity.
The workout can be done cardio wise (go through exercises one after another, and not: set. Wait. Set. Wait. Or however else you would otherwise do)
It can also be done the old fashioned weight training way: 3 sets of however many you choose. You can also do super sets, tri sets, giant sets, etc.
I won't go into strength training info because I've got more to write and I've already taken longer than i thought I would.
So cardio. I'll answer my own question. Humans walk in order to move. Not to exercise. OK so running is good? Yes and no. What is the motion of running though? It's the same thing over. And over. And over. And over. And over again for one hour, and multiple times in a month. Your body gets too used to it, and when that happens, it gets less and less effective. You run if you want to get better at running. You can include it in your schedule if you want, but make sure it isn't frequent.
I used to go to a Saturday morning spinning class, but after a while it started getting to be the same. You could include spinning.
Jumping rope is really good.
Those are all repetitive motions though.
In words, I can't explain individual exercises that would be good for cardio that aren't repetitive. Creativity is the most important thing.
Stretch and yoga, you'd have to go to a class or learn from someone personally, or dvd's, or whatever.
And don't do 10 000 sit-ups a day. It won't work.
I want to be able to combine endurance and upperbody strength, I have PLENTY of lower body strength ie, my kicking power is good.
Actually, doing lower body strength training increases testosterone levels (or something like that), resulting in bigger gains strength wise.
Do you want to train for sports?
Yeah, to be in soccer and be strong enough to take a punch because I feel a HUGE pain when I get punched plus if I get in a fight I have to have endurance and yes, for
(Sep. 18, 2011 1:51 AM)akylus21 Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, to be in soccer and be strong enough to take a punch because I feel a HUGE pain when I get punched plus if I get in a fight I have to have endurance and yes, for
Learning how to take a punch is not an issue of weight training or excercise of the physical sort. If you're interested in being Karate Kid, take up an organized martial art. Handling being hit takes experience, control, and mind over matter. Muscle does "pad" a hit, yes, but muscle also bruises - and considerably more easily than areas lacking it, in fact.
A thorough workout, featuring both upper and lower body, will bolster hormone levels in your body more quickly, and more actively. This will give you more energy, and in the long run, help you shape up faster than if you just did top or just did bottom.
I know these things, and say these things, despite being a lump~
You'd want to be doing some plyometrics then. Plyometrics is jump training. It may not seem suitable to soccer, but it's perfect for every sport.
It increases lateral and vertical stability and motion, it helps with explosiveness and power, it helps with agility, it helps with power in your legs.
It's another thing that's tough to explain in words, but basically, mix squats and lunges with jumping, and just jumping in ways that will improve your jumping. If you know someone that can show you some moves, then ask them, because it's really beneficial for all areas of fitness and physical activity.
Trust me, if you do ask a friend or anyone, they will be extremely happy you asked him/her.
As for the punches. I'm no fighter, but other than learning martial arts, general functional fitness should help.
Yay! I'm almost not overweight anymore! BMI of 25, here comes TITAN!
I've always been fat. I think it's partially because of a thyroid condition, partially because I used to eat Little Debbies all the time.
(Sep. 18, 2011 1:58 AM)Shabalabadoo Wrote: [ -> ]You'd want to be doing some plyometrics then. Plyometrics is jump training. It may not seem suitable to soccer, but it's perfect for every sport.
It increases lateral and vertical stability and motion, it helps with explosiveness and power, it helps with agility, it helps with power in your legs.
It's another thing that's tough to explain in words, but basically, mix squats and lunges with jumping, and just jumping in ways that will improve your jumping. If you know someone that can show you some moves, then ask them, because it's really beneficial for all areas of fitness and physical activity.
Trust me, if you do ask a friend or anyone, they will be extremely happy you asked him/her.
As for the punches. I'm no fighter, but other than learning martial arts, general functional fitness should help.
Thanks man. That will help, also I was kidding about the taking a punch thing
.
What are some good tips on increasing leg strength? Or balance?
A general strength routine.
There's so many things you can do with legs, even though we think squats, lunges, and leg extensions, the amount of variations is incredible.
You could jump from squat to lung. You can do lateral jumps with a one legged squat at each side (ouch!). Creativity makes it more enjoyable and more effective.
Also, plyometrics like I told akylus21.
Yoga is incredible for leg strength and stability. Balance as well. As your leg strength increases, you're bound to gain balance, as long as you have variety.
You can do squats on bosu balls, jumping lunges on bosu balls, there's so much.
It's incredibly tough to give advice on moves that aren't the most basic form in words, though.
If you're in school, you should just ask some PE teachers, friends, relatives, anyone to show you some cool moves. Even people in the school weight room. After a while you'll have this huge pool of some really incredible exercises that you can use to create your own.
Words are too tough for me though, haha.
But just so you know, the biggest cause of injury in fitness is muscular imbalance. Keep it functional.
Can we discuss habits or mental ticks here?
I have a confession to make: I am a chronic nail-biter. I know a ton of kids are going to giggle over something less serious than I dunno eating YOUR HAIR. But right now ignoring the consequences involuntarily- I had suffered paronychia (think of getting a sore in your mouth from a minor abrasion, only on the finger) in three fingers so far. Or Whitlow/Felons, whatever. The leftmost ring-finger has a calloused and retracted section of the cuticle now.
Well, that sounds very painful. I, on the other hand, have talons. I'll cut 'em, but the grow back in a day or two! I think it's weird when someone has nubs.
I must be more accurate here, I also bite the curvatures of around the corner of my nails, which is the weirder part of it all.
You know what I notice is the number one cause of people not sticking with exercise and nutrition and healthy living? They don't know why. Their reason for exercising is poor.
"Oh, nice legs, I should start working out"
"I'm getting a little soft around the belly, maybe i should start working out"
Stuff like that is the wrong reason. All that leads to is dissapointment, quiting, and the same rut later on.
A kid today who I've been friends with for 3 years said to me "I heard you've done P90X like, 4 times. You're ripped right?". That is what i dislike. I'm naturally a skinny person. The person has specifically told me I'm a skinny dude (which i have no problem with), and now with the fact that he knows I do P90X, i'm "Jacked".(even though when he said I was skinny, I had already done P90X several times).
Is it a coincidence that people who are top notch fit are not in it to look good or impress? Tell me one professional athlete or health and fitness enthousiast that exercise to show their worth?
Is it a coincidence that when someone finds out i like fitness, the most asked question I get is "Do you have a 6 pack?" and "what should I do to lose this fat?".
Oh, and you know the one thing that annoys me? When I know that I know something, and someone tells me I'm wrong. Specifically with exercise and nutrition. Lose some weigt then tell me how to exercise. No rudeness intended.
some steam
There is some truth to that.
I went from 200 to 140 (to now 155)
My original reason was because I was unhappy being fat. I wanted to become skinnier. TBH being healthier only became reason enough once I achieved my initial goal. People can get results with different intentions, but tbh the most satisfying way to maintain is if you are willing to do so to pursue a healthy lifestyle
Is there a way to increase my stamina? (Swimming)
(Sep. 24, 2011 9:33 PM)Khel Wrote: [ -> ]My original reason was because I was unhappy being fat. I wanted to become skinnier. TBH being healthier only became reason enough once I achieved my initial goal. People can get results with different intentions, but tbh the most satisfying way to maintain is if you are willing to do so to pursue a healthy lifestyle
Because you were unhappy being fat. That's the more important part.
Tell me, you knew that you being 200 lbs was not good, and you were just plain unsatisfied with the health you were at, correct? You wanted to become skinnier. Why? To look good for others, or because you didn't want what you already had?
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Cookies^^, with functional fitness. I've written multiple times that it doesn't work that way. You can't just focus on one specific area.
Oh, sorry about that. Also, what happens when you lift the same size of weights for a while? is it bad? if so, how do you know when to switch?
(Sep. 25, 2011 3:31 AM)Cookies^^ Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, sorry about that. Also, what happens when you lift the same size of weights for a while? is it bad? if so, how do you know when to switch?
I am not an expert, but what I was told is that basically you stop developping your muscles when you remain at the same level. You are supposed to know that it is time to put more weight when you get the impression that you are really not forcing enough or as much as when you started, because it needs to essentially be an endless cycle going from "having a lot of difficulty" to "finding the weight OK but not easy", with different weights for every cycle. Otherwise, if you exercise on a very regular basis such as three times a week, supposedly you should add weight every two weeks or something like that.
(Sep. 25, 2011 3:31 AM)Cookies^^ Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, sorry about that. Also, what happens when you lift the same size of weights for a while? is it bad? if so, how do you know when to switch?
Nothing bad will come, you just won't progress.
There's several rep ranges you need to know, if you want muscular strength, 4-6 reps is best. If you want muscle mass, 6-10 is where you shoot for. if you want muscular endurance then 12+ reps is what you want.
So say you're doing muscular strength. When you get to about 8 reps, you'll be able to move up 5 pounds and still maintain proper form.
Say you're going for muscular mass. When you get to 12 reps, you'll be able to move up 5 pounds an maintain proper form.
Say you're going for muscular endurance. When you get to 17-20 reps, you'll definitely be able to move up.
Proper form is really important.
Also, here's some general numbers to keep in mind:
Big muscle groups I'm referring to = Chest Back and Shoulders.
Small muscle groups I'm referring to = Biceps, triceps, traps, forearms.
(this is for upper body)
For muscular mass, 9-20 sets per week of big muscle groups, and 6-16 sets per week for small muscle groups.
For muscular strength, 9-16 sets per week of big muscle groups, and 6-12 sets per week of small muscle groups
For muscular endurance, 12-20 sets per week of big muscle groups, and 9-16 sets per week of smaller muscle groups.
Kai-V, that's what's called progressional overload. In the simplest way I could explain, it's basically what I wrote about when to switch to higher weights. If you or anyone wants me to go into more details, just ask.
(Sep. 25, 2011 3:06 AM)Shabalabadoo Wrote: [ -> ] (Sep. 24, 2011 9:33 PM)Khel Wrote: [ -> ]My original reason was because I was unhappy being fat. I wanted to become skinnier. TBH being healthier only became reason enough once I achieved my initial goal. People can get results with different intentions, but tbh the most satisfying way to maintain is if you are willing to do so to pursue a healthy lifestyle
Because you were unhappy being fat. That's the more important part.
Tell me, you knew that you being 200 lbs was not good, and you were just plain unsatisfied with the health you were at, correct? You wanted to become skinnier. Why? To look good for others, or because you didn't want what you already had?
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Cookies^^, with functional fitness. I've written multiple times that it doesn't work that way. You can't just focus on one specific area.
I was unhappy with the way I looked. It was purely aesthetic reasons. Health aspects really only came in later.
Quite frankly it was one of the best things I ever did. I'm in the best shape of my life, and other problems I used to have (like back problems) have been reduced significantly.