your routine at the gym

Turns out my ongoing insomnia is caused by creatine. So I'm totally off it for the time being and possibly forever.

last time i'll do this, cauz fuck, it's annoying even to me:

march 2008:

weight: 176
body fat percentage: 22 (38.72 lbs)
lean body mass: 130 lbs

july 2008:

weight: 160
body fat percentage 12 (19.2 lbs)
lean body mass: 140 lbs

weekly average:

100 miles on bike and run about 20 miles.

http://thegrandnarrative.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/old-fat-jiggling-machine.jpg

Jesus remy, that's excellent.

disastrous year

My trainers are shit. They do my measurements and reliably LOSE them, so I've little idea how I've progressed this year; they promise me programmes and don't follow through (but not without a barrage of excuses); I've been trying to get one of them on the phone for paid PT sessions for two weeks and he just doesn't ever get back to me. Fuck. Them.

Meanwhile I'm withering away wicked-witch-out-of-Wizard-of-Oz style.

Back on the cardio. Didn't realise how cardiovascularly (?) unfit I am. Vague pedalling for a few minutes chucks my heart rate up to 130 bpm ffs.

your trainers sound awful. mine let me down on our very first appointment so i sacked them off - no point dealing with someone who has no pride in their work.

im having the problem (again!) where im feeling & looking too bulky, esp on my arms. i did a lot of weights initially because of the whole 'muscles constantly burn calories' thing but it has led to chunky arms and a broad chest. so now my plan is to completely stop doing all weights that develop my arms and chest and just do ab crunches and leg ones and mostly cardio. how long does it take for muscles to waste away? i won't be left with flappy weirdy skin will i?

what's the best way of keeping toned and lithe rather than building up muscle?

1. Walk in
2. Walk out and go to Hardees and have a Monster burger

You won't have flappy weirdy skin, unless you were quite large for quite a long time (q.v. The Biggest Loser).

Staying toned? Probably just stick to cardio. I really don't know, to be honest.

i have been cranking the heart rate lately: today i got to 183 bpm on the rowing machine and kept it there for a good ten minutes.

I was all ready to go for a run/cycle this morning and woke up with a cold.

183 is a bit risky, isn't it?

i've been working up to it. i like to go as heavy as i can for five or ten minutes once or twice / week. if i start to feel faint / dizzy, i back waaay down. but 185ish feels great, so far.

Wow, okay.

quoth my EMT manual:

"In the normal adult, the heartbeat may range from 50 to 180 beats/min, depending on the level of activity. [...] During vigorous activity, the heart rate may rise normally to as fast as 180 beats/min."

...in other words, i wouldn't worry about it.

Fair enough.

Anyone familiar with CrossFit? http://www.crossfit.com

cf http://www.gymjones.com and http://mtnathlete.com

...these sorts of programs are appealing to me, lately, but I've no experience with weights. But all my climbing buddies that have made the jump (from just climbing/running) have reported incredible results. I just need to figure out (a) how to do all the exercises and (b) where to fit such a program into my schedule.

been starting to use the erg when i go to the gym. awesome!

My new trainer is awesome.

My roommate gave me a 12-day pass to her gym that ended tonight.

This was my routine.

M: work late/no gym
T: yoga class
W: pilates class
Th: yoga class
F: rest
S: rest
Su: yoga class

If I arrive to class early I will ride the bike/do the elliptical/ or that thing that's sort of like a stairmaster. I played around with the weight machines at the beginning, but I didn't know what I was doing and got bored.

Does Pilates really work? I enjoy yoga much more, but the Wednesday pilates class fits in my schedule.

So what is a good thing to do for LOWER abs? I pretty much am okay with my upper/mid ones, and have sort of a "4-pack," but it's the stubborn lower ones that are hard to carve out. I basically just do the normal sit-ups/push-ups/crunches/leg lift type things at home. I'm not trying to get "big" but "cut" like the 4th post on this thread differetiated

I also don't really have an appetite and am 5'7" and weigh like under 130 pounds, and I'm a late 20s male. So yeah, maybe advice for me is individualized. I'm glad I don't really like food and eating just naturally!

differeNtiated

Gawd, lower abs. I had one and I've forgotten it. There are a couple of great ones. I'll go through my notes in the next couple of weeks.

My new trainer is smashing me the fuck to pieces. We just started a cardio programme to lose the fat the other guy said I should put on in order to gain muscle mass. I still don't know if that worked because of all the fat (currently just below 15%).

Before I got this FUCKING VIRUS that has me sleeping 17 hours a day I was doing so well on my abs :( they still looked rub but they felt a lot harder.

My body fat's at 11% and apparently that's "low" given that I'm trying to get a bit more muscular. Eh, who knows..

Yeah. In order to bulk you have to develop a doughnut.

What are good ladies' gym shoes? I got Adidas Duramo on the advice of the saleslady, but I'm not sure I made the right decision.

She said they were cross-trainers, but I think they are actually running shoes. Does it make a difference? Maybe they'll get me on the treadmill.

http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?gen=w&pcid=110842

Running is adequate for gym. Cross-trainers are for some specific thing which I can't remember at the moment.

Completely out the fucking window.

I hate the gym :(

Why?

I have reached the point where I know I'm getting better but I'm not seeing any visible signs of it which is demotivating.

What should I be doing if I weigh like 132 and want to get better at basketball? I do like, squats and stuff atm - it's not very directed. I sort of want to bulk up for general vanity reasons but weight really doesn't stay on - I went through a phase of drinking protein shakes and juggling with specially made weight-lifting balls, which 100% worked and was fun and gave me really bulgy biceps but they sort of melted away when I forgot for a month.

"What should I be doing if I weigh like 132 and want to get better at basketball?"

You should probably play more basketball. Preferably with Junior High kids if you want a sense of accomplishment and a fair physical matchup.

Assuming 132 lbs, what he said. Assuming 132 kg, lose some weight then do what he said.

edwardo, you will probably change in a few weeks. I meanwhile am disappearing.

-20 min interval cardio on whatever machine I haven't used that week

-Crunches
-Oblique Lifts
-Bridge
-Push ups
-Squats
-Upright row
-Triceps pushdown
-Bicep curl-to-military press

Repeat circuit for second set

Had a big plan to be low in body fat and moderately buffed this summer, and here it is late January and I'm still 14% fat. Soooooooo upset.

I'm gonna change my program. Gah,I am a LOT fitter than I was a year ago and I'm still very active, jogging in the morning, playing squash twice a week... is it SO WRONG to ask for a program that will work the... er.. vanity areas? Chest, shoulder, arms and maybe also thighs.

DOO EET

My plan is summat like this:

1. lose all this bloody fat
2. bulk like fuck

My current trainer is torturing me and I'm getting in with this nutritionist bloke soon, so it all should happen this year. Too late for summer though obv.

Nutritionist is unreal so far. I showed him photos of what I'm aiming for and he said 'oh right okay well you need to do this and this and this and this.' He's going to speak to my trainer, too. Unbelievably excited.

Fourth day of the new diet and I'm about to pass out. Prrrrrobably needs fine-tuning.

the gym at my work is about to start a 'biggest loser' boot camp styles thing. I don't really need to lose weight (although maybe 1 or 2 kg would be nice) but i would love to ramp up my fitness. I'm vacillating between yay or nay. I don't want some hyped up trainer screaming at me and humiliating me in a group environment, i think that's my biggest fear.

just got this in the mail

http://www.velogear.com/images/vp_tri3.jpg

now we'll see about actually using it :-/

tbh dunno if you can you fit a triathalon in with all the farting and being crazy

respect tho: that dude looks pretty crazy, and i am having mad lolz imagining him farting in that getup

"I don't want some hyped up trainer screaming at me and humiliating me in a group environment, i think that's my biggest fear."

I doubt there'll be much screaming and humiliating. They don't want to stop you from coming after all.

muscleman dude at work gave me his program:

(3 sets of 10 reps for everything, much weight as i can lift)

day one:

bench press
incline press
decline press
flys
cable pulldown
sitting row
bench row
dead lifts
reverse flys

day 2:

preacher curl
incline curls
hammer curls
"21s" (basically a bar, doing 7 full curls, 7 from the bottom to halfway, and 7 from halfway to the top)

cable pushdown
"skullcrushers" (lol name, but laying on the bench with a bar held above your head and lower it to your forhead by bending elbows)
dips on bench (can't do full dips yet)
underhand pulldown (one arm)
overhand pull down (one arm)

day three:

lunges
squat machine
leg curls
calf raises

sitting shoulder press
front raises
side raises
shrugs with dumbells

in between days:
fast walking/alternating running on treadmill

rest days:

qui gong