your routine at the gym

I don't get why they're so fuckin expensive. I mean I guess they're basically cannonballs with handles, right?

Shipping is the worst part - I don't have anyone local selling KBs (except for a few GoFit lightweight ones) and that was $35 of the cost.

They come out about $2/pound, about the same as nicer dumbbells (the ones with knurled handles and coated ends) even though they're just painted iron, which I guess is a manufacturing cost thing - low demand, etc..

i got a foam roller

Can I just like--I really aint mean to be all braggin 09 style or w/e w/e but I was scrolling through some photos this evening and stumbled on Exhibit A taken at xmas 08 and Exhibit B immediately afterward which was taken a few days ago. V v pleasantly surprised and kinda proud of my progress.

ps can we all lol together at how ~~v serious~~ i am in exhibit B cause that's the only way i can forgive myself for showing it to ppl.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3790931503_3bfae6477c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3791632624_33aa4d0977.jpg

shirt off plz (j/k)

good goin! kiu

altho the 1st pic kinda makes comparison difficult, looks like ur face has def thinned out

lol did u cut your ex out of every pic?

every pic there has ever been

I'm so glad I found this thread, there's some really inspiring stuff on here.

Just over a month ago I started a routine because I'm in my mid-thirties and
really want/need to lose a ahit-ton of weight before life gets complicated.

Looking upthread I guess my aims are similar to S.Rose's initial aims.

Routine at the moment.

1. Stretching - 5 Mins (Calves, Upper Arms)
2. Bike - 20 Mins (Machine set to 'Hill', + 4 Min cooldown)
3. Cross Trainer - 25 Mins (Machine set to 'Hill' and upping the 'Level' setting for the last 4 Min or so)
4. More Stretching & Upper Body/Arms Pully-in thing (newly added)
5. Treadmill - Fast Walking 20 Mins + 6 Min Really Fast Power Walking (again set to 'Hill')

4 Days a week, combined with cutting out sugary shit and eating from a few healthy cookbooks.

So far I'm pretty happy, I have a long way to go but I've lost 28 pounds in one month. Obviously
the rate will slow down quite a bit, and I already have the fear that I will get in a rut, even
though I've been slowly tweaking up the level settings/durations on the machines. Also I've been
avoiding weights machines because it's all centred on cardio and weight-loss at the mo.

Any advice greatly welcomed.

28 lbs in a months is huge! Not to discourage you but that's really rapid loss, far beyond the normal rate -- careful as you go!

Add in weight training of some kind (even bodyweight stuff - pull-ups, pushups, squats) if you stop losing fat or get bored.

Thanks Elmo, I know it's a lot, I have a lot to get rid of. Someone mentioned that
you lose a lot of water weight in the first few weeks, then plateau for a bit before
a proper parity emerges. Also, even though I am a big framed guy and I'm quite
overweight, but it still bugs me that I weigh a such tremendous amount, really a
whole lot.
There are people who look like the arse end of a bus with legs attached on The
Biggest Loser who weight less, and I know I'm not quite as overweight as those
peeps. At least I hope not :)

Asked the doc about it and she couldn't really give me a clear answer, she just
talked about muscle weight etc: Got a dietician appointment tomorrow (ref from
my doctor), I have lots of questions.

Also, be interested to find out what peeps listen to at the gym, it's really pathetic
in a way, but agressive teenager music actually helps.

I don't listen to anything, wearing headphones bothers me too much when I'm working out. So I hear whatever Top 40 tunes are piped in by LA Fitness.

i am considering buying a new (smaller) ipod so i don't have to listen to anymore auto-tune garbage anymore.

when i saw this thread updated i was worried someone had posted a routine about the gym shooting or something!

xp I wouldn't go to a gym without a usable iPod (I won't go to a gym period now, but I definitely wouldn't even consider it without being able to drown out the crap music that gets played.)

I got the newest shuffle, it's super nice, almost lol zoolander-phone-level small though, like any smaller would be ridiculous, but i actually love it...nice thing is it will actually tell you the song title and artist in a robot voice if you hold down the remote button on your headphones...

I decided I didn't want to pay to go to a crossfit gym so I am going to do this Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout

http://www.mensfitness.com/fitness/workout_routines/312

yeah, there's no way i'd go to a gym without music. it drowns out the noise of other people which is far more crucial than drowning out the gym music imo. i've got a little hip pouch for my ipod and earbuds and they never get in the way. if i'm running, i'll just run the headphone cord under my shirt.

joined a small local gym several months ago. it's never crowded, cheap, no contract, close, etc. i lift in the mornings, muscle group a day for five days, about 15-18 sets each time. evenings i'll do intervals on the treadmill for fifteen minutes (short but fairly intense) or hike up this awesome trail for thirty minutes, better than climbing stairs and a lot more fun. since i've been doing that + adjusting my diet i've dropped ten pounds and feel great.

x-post i need to get a shuffle. i'm taking my big hd-based ipod along with me when i work out which i've heard is a bad idea...

ha, as far as music goes i have been blasting girl talk almost every time i get on a cardio machine -- frenetic pace helps me really crank it out & i only have to wait 30 seconds before the next psych-up hook -- it's helped but i've just about played out on it now

it's funny, i've been jogging consistently to 43-whatever by lcd soundsystem for like over a year, and i still haven't really burned out on it! drums entering at around 15 mins is sooooo croosh.

morbs! didn't see your comment at first. i am pleased to see u and flattered lol

i start doing a little air drumming while i'm on the treadmill and look a little freakish but i don't care, it's the perfect re-up x-post

Well done Hoos! And thanks for the rowing machine link; was able to go 20 minutes yesterday (resistance at 4) without feeling like I was never going to bend at the waist again.

As for music- almost exclusively mixes. Having the whole thing set out keeps me from constantly fiddling with the ipod, and it's great to have something with a lot of variety that stays uptempo with no interruptions or ddowntime. Aside from podcasts, lately it's been the Justine D cd for RVNG, Prins Thomas at Robert Johnson, the Murphy/Mahoney Fabric cd, and the Glimmers mix for Eskimo. Been listening on a full-size current gen ipod touch, which is fine for treadmill and elliptical but kind of a pain in the ass when rowing.

i have been known to seriously groove out like a nerd while on cardio equipment, yeah. i have trouble listening to music if i can't match my own rhythm to the beat tbh.

ladyhawke is great for dancing on the elliptical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaj0fzuRpaA

Since I'm still doing exclusively bodyweight stuff at home I have the pleasure of putting on whatever I want. I've gotten tired of the ~exercise~ playlist (lots of metal & wu-tang etc) and today just put on an old Rinse FM mix.

Hey, sit ups are boring. Can we all agree on that?

I like leg lifts.

Hanging leg lifts, I mean.

btw dudes: i got kinda amped that i now have the ability to do a full set of pullups (been rockin the chinups for a while now but pullups had proved too much for me), and i think i overdid it on saturday. i felt something tear and i was like hey that's the sensation of muscle fiber tearing to rebuild but now i just think i pulled something cause the left shoulder still hurts. bursitis.

chinups still fine! but i'm gonna hold off on the overenthusiastic pullups for a while til the pain rolls off.

What's the longest duration you kept up with your routine without stopping? Mine is six months, and that was ten years ago, lol. Now I can't seem to last more than a month or two without a long break in-between.

wait hoos, what's the difference between pull-ups and chin-ups?

overhand v underhand i think?

yeah chinups being
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cline/exer/ChinUps.gif

and pullups being
http://www.mensfitness.com/images/mf/209065/9482.jpg

the latter being the one that fucked up my left shoulder

chinups being an arm thing, pullups being a whole shoulder/back thing

ah gotcha

Chinups activate more of your back muscle, that's why they're easier.

I thought it was because chin-ups use yr biceps too, instead of only back like pull-ups. Whatevs. Everything I have read involving bodyweight training suggests changing your grips around frequently to hit all the different groups in your back/shoulders/arms.

Know what's really fucking brutal? Muscle-ups.

it's kinda weird...but like okay i'm usually like a "normal" person in terms of sweating...but lately when i work out (been about 5-6 weeks into serious working out again) i seriously start POURING sweat after about 10 minutes of hard working out...when i'm done my shirt is like sly stallone's in some old rocky movie...is that normal???

it's kinda gross. :/

(thankfully though it only seems to be when i'm working out)

that is a good thing, matt

4 weeks in uganda has made me soft soft soft. i need to start back into a routine of rigorous self-improvement, bigtime.

and yeah, grooving out on the cardio equipment (which for me is only ever my bike) is the best. i was swerving and bobbing my head like a dork this morning on the way across town, feelies live, so crucial

apparently a friend of a friend is building a home climbing gym in his garage only a few blocks from me, which is fantastic news. i really want to get strong again for the fall climbing season

Chinups activate more of your back muscle, that's why they're easier.

You have that backwards. Chinups activate your biceps more, pullups activate your back more.

that seems intuitively correct to me, but pullups are usually much more difficult for most people initially. which would suggest that they don't recruit your back muscles (which are lol hueg compared to your arms) as much

why do i suck at this so bad :(

gbx unless you are me, i.e. the backless wonder

i've been at a long plateau in my weight loss over the past year plus and i definitely need to supplement the cardio training with some resistance work to continue progress but my functional strength, especially in my upper body, is so minimal that it's completely discouraging. i know i need to start somewhere but it's hard to psych myself up for it when i feel so goddamn weak every time i try.

i need a trainer, or at least a peer helper or something. :(

o mann my knee has been all fucked up w/tendinitis the last week or so - starting to get a lil better but gaaaaaah

i'm eating like a billion meals a day for calorie intake

the gf is pushing food at me in order to "eat vicariously"

this is the last week of the "gold medal workout" i posted upthread and i stupidly haven't been tracking my results at all, but i start this scary fucker next week.

who am i