Fitness Thread

Quote: Lemony_Zester

Quote: Paddy_Irishman

Quote: Squirrell_of_Doom

I've done a bit of research into the science behind exercise and how it affects the body over the past few months - apparently the first 20-25 minutes of exercise burn off glucose reserves before you even begin to start burning fat, so you're meant to do 20-25 minutes of resistance exercise before you hit the cardio. So i'll probably do weights and stretches for half an hour before starting doing any cycling or running.

Whats resistance training? When I started in the gym the trainer put me on a program to lose weight. It was 10 minutes on the rowing machine, then some stretching, then 15 minutes treadmill, 15 minutes cross trainer, 10 minutes cycling, 5 minutes cool down using the big rubber ball thing, then some stretching to finish. Although I no longer do the treadmill cos it really hurt my legs, even just walking. Apparantly I walk wrong but I dont know why. So I do a few weights instead of the treadmill. Anyone whos smarted than me tell me if this is a good routine? Aside from the healthy eating and stuff

Do your legs hurt when you wear your trainers apart from the gym? I found that with one pair of mine, they were slightly too big and the wrong shape and this meant the arch of my foot wasn't supported and caused a lot of pain.
I think if your feet aren't supported properly you can get pains elsewhere too, though am not certain.

Aye it's true. If your arches collapse when you stand it throws off your posture and can cause a lot of aches and pains, especially in the lower back and knees.
People with low, weak or very high arches should wear orthotics for support even if their arches haven't fallen, too.

Also my physio said today it takes six weeks to build muscle, thought I might add that to the discussion.

Quote: farmer_jack

Came home, went out. Had a few pints. Then had a KFC.

Don't be too disheartened, mate. KFC is a well known antidote in the field of beer belly prevention. Plus, if you just make sure you stick to nothing but healthy food tomorrow, it'll balance itself out anyway.

I feel I should probably join in on this, if a bit late. So, currently I'm 5"3 and not entirely sure of my weight (it likes to fluctuate anywhere between 9 and 10 stone), but according to wii fit I have a BMI of 23.5. I'd like to get that down. However, I would like to think that some of the weight is muscle as I weighed less before I went to America last year and I had a LOT of university fat on me then, while last year I didn't put on as much weight and could notice I was stronger and fitter from kickboxing.

Unfortunately, for the next two weeks I'm not going to be able to get to a gym as I'm interning in London, so if anyone has any ideas for exercises that can be done in a small room to get me working before university that would be good.

When back at university I will return to kickboxing at least twice a week, and try and get myself to the more hardcore Friday session as much as possible. I will also get round to checking out Maindy pool and, seeing as I have about five hours of contact time a week now, I WILL make time to go and use it. Apparently you have to go three times a week for it to become a habit, so I will attempt this. John likes swimming, so I might try and persuade him to come with me- I work better when I have someone to make me go/work.

I also need to cut down on the junk I eat. Work has been really bad because I get there early and don't get lunch for hours, so get really hungry but the only food we have lying around are biscuits. We also have too ready a supply of Ben & Jerry's/chocolate in the house, so I don't have to work to fight cravings/ignore them like I would at university, but instead can easily give into them. Hopefully interning will get me back on track of not being able to snack whenever, and so long as Grandma doesn't make dessert every night, I won't have that option either. I will also stop making meals with my housemates as half the time they prefer to buy stuff you shove in the oven, which is high in salt and fat and stuff, and I will save money specifically so I can afford to eat better/healthier.

Mum has just discovered she is close to having a dangerously high blood pressure, which is heridatory through her side of the family. (Her grandma died at 56 from a heart attack, and her Mum/my Nan has been on medication since she was my Mum's age). Obviously it's not a concern yet- my blood pressure is definitly healthy, it gets checked regularly when I get the pill- but getting into a healthy lifestyle now, eating right, etc, could help me prevent ending up like that when I'm older, so any other tips for what I could be doing would help?

Oh, and the main area I want to lose weight from is my stomach. What exercise is best for this, because kickboxing just seems to maintain my weight and build up fitness/strength rather than help lose any.

Blending cans of tuna up and drinking them; that's where the protein hit is at

Quote: illusiveshadow

I feel I should probably join in on this, if a bit late. So, currently I'm 5"3 and not entirely sure of my weight (it likes to fluctuate anywhere between 9 and 10 stone), but according to wii fit I have a BMI of 23.5. I'd like to get that down. However, I would like to think that some of the weight is muscle as I weighed less before I went to America last year and I had a LOT of university fat on me then, while last year I didn't put on as much weight and could notice I was stronger and fitter from kickboxing.

Unfortunately, for the next two weeks I'm not going to be able to get to a gym as I'm interning in London, so if anyone has any ideas for exercises that can be done in a small room to get me working before university that would be good.

When back at university I will return to kickboxing at least twice a week, and try and get myself to the more hardcore Friday session as much as possible. I will also get round to checking out Maindy pool and, seeing as I have about five hours of contact time a week now, I WILL make time to go and use it. Apparently you have to go three times a week for it to become a habit, so I will attempt this. John likes swimming, so I might try and persuade him to come with me- I work better when I have someone to make me go/work.

I also need to cut down on the junk I eat. Work has been really bad because I get there early and don't get lunch for hours, so get really hungry but the only food we have lying around are biscuits. We also have too ready a supply of Ben & Jerry's/chocolate in the house, so I don't have to work to fight cravings/ignore them like I would at university, but instead can easily give into them. Hopefully interning will get me back on track of not being able to snack whenever, and so long as Grandma doesn't make dessert every night, I won't have that option either. I will also stop making meals with my housemates as half the time they prefer to buy stuff you shove in the oven, which is high in salt and fat and stuff, and I will save money specifically so I can afford to eat better/healthier.

Mum has just discovered she is close to having a dangerously high blood pressure, which is heridatory through her side of the family. (Her grandma died at 56 from a heart attack, and her Mum/my Nan has been on medication since she was my Mum's age). Obviously it's not a concern yet- my blood pressure is definitly healthy, it gets checked regularly when I get the pill- but getting into a healthy lifestyle now, eating right, etc, could help me prevent ending up like that when I'm older, so any other tips for what I could be doing would help?

Oh, and the main area I want to lose weight from is my stomach. What exercise is best for this, because kickboxing just seems to maintain my weight and build up fitness/strength rather than help lose any.

You can't spot-reduce fat. You can tone the area, but I think somebody else would be better to give advice than myself.

That's not a bad idea.
I think there might be one knocking about at my parents' house that I'll have to try and dig out. I found today, stepping up the intensity, my breath felt quite short, like my lungs weren't expanding to their full potential.

6 days cold turkey on the smoking now, which is annoying considering they reckon it takes 9 months to a year for your lung capacity to fully recover.

I've been at the gym today (and will be every day this week + weekend) but my main focus is eating plenty of calories, although not too much saturated fat. I tend to eat quite a lot anyway, but these extra calories the last few days are starting to make me a bit sluggish.

Sounds like a good system to me, Dan. My cardio consists of football once a fortnight, and walking to the gym. I burn my calories through doing the weights, but some extra cardio wouldn't do me any harm.

I have no problem motivating myself to lift weights; but getting me on the treadmill is a different matter entirely.

Quote: TheUnitedTruth

Are sit-ups the only way to get a toned stomach?

You can do all the sit-ups you want, but they won't do much without the relevant cardio exercise to show the toning. It'll still be hidden under flesh and body fat stores.

Apparently the most effective way to get them is to buy one of those large exercise balls and do them on that with your feet on the ground. Make sure you're tensing them when you're doing the exercise on the ball though.

Quote: TheUnitedTruth

ooooh another question does trampolining actually count as "exercise"

Yes, it can be used to tone up your legs but isn't as effective as 'proper' exercise.

You should; stick at it as well, you'll be glad you did.

I don't own a camera

The Dan doesn't own a camera.

Hammered the gym again today. Hit the weights hard. Best thing of all is that I felt I could have done more, but unfortunately I had to go to Sainsbury's so I only did an hour. I reckon I could have done another 30 minutes easy.