Getting in shape

[all things through Christ]

This is a guideline for people who are interested. Mostly I wrote this for the supplements/nutritional factors!

First do natural exercises like running and jump roping to get warm and your heart beating. After getting warmed up start off doing about 60% of the weight you are comfortable with, do about 8 reps (no matter what muscle group you're working on). Then do a few sets of 8 reps. At the gym I use all the machines and do all the exercises, do what suits you best. For motivation you may want to go with a friend!

Whe you sweat a lot you lose a lot of electrolytes, so you need to get Alcer Electro Mix. Tropical fruit Cytomax has all the carbohydrates your body needs for energy to work out and for recovery. Natural flavor Designer whey is the best protein source. You might want to get a multi-vitamin pill bottle thingy if you don't already have one to make sure your body doesn't get micro-nutrient deficiencies. I don't recommend taking anything with sugar substitutes or steroids like creatine especially if you are young and still growing.

Don't work out too hard either. I've damaged my muscles in different ways from working too hard before. It's not fun, they take a long time to recover. Waming up and streching are good ways to get blood circulating and have your muscles be more flexible.

I went to the health place thingy today and got some tips from the guy that works there. For muscle recovery it is excellent to get a 5 pound bag of ice turn the cold water on in the bathtub and get in. It feels really good and helps relax muscles. Then get Batherapy (or some other mineral solution) and soak in hot water in the tub. This also helps a lot, athletes do it, so it works.

And it's always helpful to stay away from certain foods and eat good ones. Besides micro-nutrients (vitamins & minerals) and carbohydrates and proteins, your body needs fatty acids and water. There's stuff called TotalEFA and it has all the good fats your body needs. As for water, drinking it excessively will only make you pee a lot. You only need to make sure that you have enough of it. If you want the cleansing effect of drinking a lot of water (to clean intestines) cranberry juice with psyllium seeds is a good way.

There are some hot teas that are good for all around health. Green tea every morning can help you it has antioxidants and helpful chemicals.

I got some stuff from the store for vasular (vein & artery health; circulatory system) health. I think products for this are easy to find. It's made for people with spider and vericose veins. It's an herbal mix... I recommend it for anyone because if your circulatory system is not functioning optimally you cannot be at optimal health. It strengthens and reforms your circulatory system throughout your entire body! You can't do anything without your blood "the life is in the blood".

Take good care of your mind, too! Anxiety weights a person down but a good word cheers a person up. Any form of stress is horrible for your health. It wears a person out and messes up your chemical balance. The only true way of riding yourself from excessive stress is turning to God If your mind works well then you can use your body much more efficiently also. Like pushing your limits when you need to during a sports game.

Anyways I hope I haven't been writing something useless no one's going to read. Anyone interested can ask me for more tips and resources! And by the way I'd like to add that losing a lot of weight quickly is never a good idea. I lost 8 pounds in one day and almost died- it's definately not good LOL! But if you disregard everything else, keep your hope in Christ!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I tried to run regmentally but with work I became to busy. Also, I tried to eat healthy but learned the hard way I have low blood sugar problems and I get to the point of fainting. Oh well.

 

[all things through Christ]

Then you are working too much. I suggest decresing your hours and if that is not acceptable then quit your job. Consider what your priorities are. And it's always good to learn how to manage your finances to make each dollar go farther.

for your hypoglycemia, avoid sugar (personally I don't have a problem with this as I don't like sugar so you're not alone!) and starches, and have you tried Chromium Picolinate? My mom has had blood sugar problems and it helps to take the above (for her).

Above all, you need to find Jesus! What is life without God? Utterly meaningless and without purpose! But I suppose you won't realize that until you find ultimate purpose

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm not quitting my job. It's the best I could ask for right now.

Why stop taking sugar when when I do that it makes me sick?

I'm good on the last one. I'm happy in my life right now.

 

[Roark]

Sorry.. You can't just post one general workout formula for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to follow..

It depends on the person's goals.

 

[all things through Christ]

There are certain things every person has in common (as far as I know lol). (I think) everyone needs vitamins & minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, water and oxygen. If you know of a person who doesn't need one of those things, you should tell them that they can become famous for thei9r superhumanness ;-)

 

[all things through Christ]

And I forgive ya

 

[Wroth]

The alternative to sitting in the tub for some time is a Russian Shower. After your workout, jump in the shower and wash up like normal. Then turn the shower up as hot as you can stand it for 1 minute, then as cold as you can stand it for 1 minute and alternate a few times. I can't remember the physiology of it, but it promotes faster muscle recovery and less strain on them in the long run.

As for the water thing, the point where you've consumed too much needs A LOT of water to do so. I will drink liters of it a day for multiple reasons - healthier than juice or pop or whatever, I sweat a lot at my work (in the sun all day), and ya, it cleanses your body. Never hurts to keep drinking it until you gotta pee, then drinking some more. And the added benifit of helping to keep your stomach full so you avoid hunger pains and it lessens the cravings for food. I still eat A LOT, but because I drink so much water, I have less cravings at work for snack food and candy so it really helps cut out the sugar consumption.

And cardio - major factor in losing weight and getting in shape. Without stamina, it's a bit pointless doing all the workout and everything. If you get burned out after running for 5 minutes, you should spend less time in the machines and weights and more on the track. Cardio helps burn calories at a much faster rate than the average weight lifting workout would. And the whole idea behind trying to lose weight is getting a caloric deficiency where you burn more than you consume.

My last point is avoid machines if there are alternative ways to do the exercise - a shoulder press machine... why? I understand if you have a damaged shoulder, but if your muscles are in decent condition, then I strongly suggest free weight shoulder presses. With machines you tend to overdevelop the major muscle and ignore the supporting muscles. The analogy I was once given was simply a 500hp engine with a tiny little driveshaft trying to support all that power. It just doesn't - it breaks. That's why a lot of people who workout religiously on machines get hurt a lot more than those who work out with freeweights and plyometrics, etc... The supporting and surrounding muscles cannot deal with the stress being put on them by the major muscle.

People like to say that free weights are more dangerous... well... ya, they are... if you jump from a 100lb machine shoulder press to a 100lb free-weight shoulder press. Of course you'll rip apart muscles in your shoulder... it's common sense, they've never had to stabilize that load. They just run on a track when you're using a machine.

That's why I say you should use free weights and plyometrics when possible - if you start training with them and always do, your muscles grow in proportion to each other - major and supporting at the same rate - and you drop your risk of injury.

 

[all things through Christ]

yeah, he's right guys. never use a machine when you can do the job with free waits. the russian shower thing is good, I always do that in the shower except not the hottest it goes because my water heater is on the full setting and it is boiling at full temp and not for one minute usually just 10 seconds. Getting your muscles cold and hot increases circulation, it's like making a (blood) pump. It loosens them up because the cold makes them dense up a bit and the hot makes them expand a bit.

three years ago (last time I played) i was in decent shape I was strong for my age/size and I had a six pack now I have some fluffiness covering it up. but i'm not trying to get a caloric deficiency, as long as i don't have rolls or anything ...
i'm mostly trying to build up more muscle, making sure I have plenty of resources for my body, especially after exercise. That's what I did 3 years ago and I wound up losing all my fat (slowly but it all went away in a few weeks). and in general guys (including women), [personally I would never max out I think it's very foolish, lifting slowly isn't good (except for just a little bit)] 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions is a good practice.

my coach who played college football told me one of the best thing to do is jump rope 5 minutes a day at least. and that especially during the season i should lift lightly and work mostly on muscle tone. and i would not take creatine which is a steroid unless i knew more about it does anyone have a resourceful website about facts of creatine? i think that long term side effects arent well known because its popularity is relatively new. thanks and bye.

 

[Wroth]

Creatine is not a steroid. It is a supplement, which is different. As for facts, just type creatine facts into google and you should find something. Or check out the first site here.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/creatine myths and_facts.htm
http://www.femalemuscle.com/library/weekly/aa091799.htm
http://philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/creatine.htm (search/find steroid in the page, it's a big article)

Lifting heavy has it's purposes - namely, adding mass. High reps with a light weight becomes almost an aerobic exercise instead of a mass building exercise. If you are lifting heavy weights for lower reps, you will add size. If you want to add muscle, for example, for football, then you will have to lift heavy on some of the main/major muscle groups to encourage growth - chest, back, legs namely.

 

[all things through Christ]

thanks for the links (what else to say?)

 

[all things through Christ]

As for water consumption, I have drank over 40 cups of water in a 15 minute time period. I just peed a lot.

As for creatine: "Current studies indicate that short-term creatine supplementation is safe" but not long-term. From what I've read, creatine is not necessary and doesn't help very much. And it's not definitely safe. I have no good reasons to try it. The links provided didn't have many useful facts by the way. I read it all and it was somewhat helpful though. Some of my friends have used it, and it didn't help them very much. They're a little bigger than me, but that is mostly from me not exercising (and other small factors like me being sick right now). I'm still growing and I know that if my body is anything like it was 3 and 4 years ago I can gain 20 pounds in a few months from working in the gym.

Also I have a question about growth (in height). Is there any good way (perhaps an online calculator) to predict if and how much I'll grow? I know I haven't fully developed yet because things like my mustache (it's tiny) and I'm still very young. I don't think I want to grow any taller though. Is there any healthful way to prevent growing taller? I'm 180cm (5'11") and 80kg by the way (I lost a lot of weight from fasting and getting sick so I'm actually way under my normal weight, I usually gain it back quickly though. At least I didn't lose all muscle, but some fat also).

Right now I'm really looking foward to not being sick, forget gaining mass! I ate a lot of honey, had some tea, lemon juice, saltwater gargle, etc. and it's made me feel better than I did this morning. But not fully well yet.

People, never take for granite your health, and be grateful for toilets (you'll miss them on camping trips).

 

[all things through Christ]

Creatine is not a steroid. It is a supplement, which is different. As for facts, just type creatine facts into google and you should find something. Or check out the first site here.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/creatine%20myths%20and_facts.htm
http://www.femalemuscle.com/library/weekly/aa091799.htm
http://philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/creatine.htm (search/find steroid in the page, it's a big article)

Lifting heavy has it's purposes - namely, adding mass. High reps with a light weight becomes almost an aerobic exercise instead of a mass building exercise. If you are lifting heavy weights for lower reps, you will add size. If you want to add muscle, for example, for football, then you will have to lift heavy on some of the main/major muscle groups to encourage growth - chest, back, legs namely.

yes, lifting heavy is good, say something you can only lift two to four times. But I don't think maxing out is good. If I actually did my true max I would completely tear my muscles, I know that for a fact. And I know that most people want to push their limits. Maxing out can damage your muscles easier.

I suppose when I have more tone and strength and a feel for my limits I'd do a weight that I can only rep once, but not my absolute max.

 

[Roark]

yes, lifting heavy is good, say something you can only lift two to four times. But I don't think maxing out is good. If I actually did my true max I would completely tear my muscles, I know that for a fact. And I know that most people want to push their limits. Maxing out can damage your muscles easier.

I suppose when I have more tone and strength and a feel for my limits I'd do a weight that I can only rep once, but not my absolute max.

I think it depends on the person's goals. If a person's goal is to get a bigger bench, he/she needs to max out on bench. Maxing out is generally not considered to be dangerous or necessarily bad for one (so long as it is not done too frequently). However, this may be the case for someone with joint problems.

 

[thisreallyworks]

I've found it easier to workout with a partner,
it helps drive you to work harder to achieve your goals

 

[Wroth]

I've found it easier to workout with a partner,
it helps drive you to work harder to achieve your goals

Ya, definately. The thing you need to be careful about working out with a partner is pride and ego though. I know sometimes competiton in the gym is a good thing, but for exercises involving lower back... BAD thing. My partner squats at over 300lbs, but I can't go much heavier than 150lbs for fear of messing up my slowly healing back again. But for bench press, his max was about 35lbs heavier than mine when we started training together. 3 months later, when we were testing with our team, my max was higher than his, simply from sometimes tellin' him to leave his weights on when we switched back and forth on the bench and just givin' er.

 

[Storygirl394]

Wow, guys! Impressive!

Now, where are all the girls in this section? Aren't any of the ladies interested in getting in shape?

 

[all things through Christ]

I think it depends on the person's goals. If a person's goal is to get a bigger bench, he/she needs to max out on bench. Maxing out is generally not considered to be dangerous or necessarily bad for one (so long as it is not done too frequently). However, this may be the case for someone with joint problems.

Heavier weights work on fast twitch muscles more. So if you want to run faster for example, or have a lot of power (for a small amount of time) you know what to do!

For a marathon person it's just the opposite. They need endurance, so they should work on slow twitches.