Fitness And Nutrition General

Go ahead and give them a shot; just work with something you know you can clear.

It's really just the back jumps that get me since I go over the log and then backwards over it. And I'm holding two 15 lb dumbbells. You should be fine with just a forward jump and jumping off of the box back onto the floor

Not to mention it's the last station in an obstacle course that I run through (13 stations prior) running through it with no breaks. So if I mess up, yea it's generally at that station lol

Buy a bicycle. My legs could feed a starving family for the better part of a month and it's almost 100% a result of cycling. Ironically, I had to walk to my bike shop yesterday, a mere 2 miles, because I was buying a new bike and I complained the whole time because I literally hate walking that much. So sloooooooow...

Yup. Biking will get you huge calves.

>tfw 6,400 miles biked in 2013 and still have ***tier calves.

Got the ***end of the stick in anything not chest/lats in the genetics department

I'm a believer in the idea that we're dealt a certain genetic hand and we're stuck fighting against it or accepting it, but lots of people will argue differently.

For instance, I know that somatotyping is weak to non-existent science-wise and I know people have "overcome" their apparent build to achieve a different one (to a certain extent -- I don't think I've heard of anyone trying to achieve ectomorph status except a few actors starving themselves to play AIDS patients and similar), but it sure does seem that different people face challenges that roughly match their untrained somatotype. Whether its genetics or habits or a combination of both I couldn't say, though I'd hedge my bet on the latter.

I just know that although I put on muscle rather easily (whether I want to or not), my legs are and have been huge since I was a teenager. Taking 3-4 dance classes per week, running long distance for track, and bicycling everywhere are the causes and, moreover, proof that hardcore cardio and large muscles are not entirely at odds. It helps that I tend to overeat, I'm sure.

So... been a solid month of pretty much staying on track with the eating right, cardio 6 days a week, weights 3 days a week.

I have comfortably added 2 miles to my 20 minutes on the bike (doing 6 miles in 20 minutes, working on a steady 10 miles in 30 routine to just make an every morning thing), can run a mile in 8 minutes without feeling like I'm gonna puke (still *** exhausted though, so needs more work), added 20 to my bench, 10 to my curls, and have lost exactly... 0 pounds -.-;

Thinking I might start taking selfies every month just so I can -see- the changes for myself. I know I'm making gains and I feel better so I'm not exactly discouraged. But really, I only semi-cheated one *** day this month and had Chinese for dinner.

100% agree.

I can put size on my calves; it's just my calf insertion sucks *** from a straw. Really high insertion so while I can put on mass from my knee a couple inches down. From that point and lower it's practically impossible to add any mass. Even if I took roids, it'd just have an effect on where it's inserted. Not going to magically change my insertion point. *** on calves regardless of how I train

A lot of those numbers are quite good, even if they are on machines rather than the real world. No doubt you have put on a fair bit of muscle. Are your clothes fitting differently? They must be.

You may want to look into how scrupulous you're being with your calories. If you're really worried things aren't working, try cutting another 300-500 calories. Yes, that might leave things a bit severe, but sometimes things need a kick in the pants.

That said, I've been through what you're talking about. I made some huge changes to my life a year ago. People who say me in May and didn't see me again 'til September thought that I'd lost upwards of 30-40 lbs., but on the scale I'd shifted a maximum of 10 lbs. downward. I had to start digging out clothes I haven't worn since high school or freshman year of college (meaning stuff that was over a dozen years old!) just to avoid feeling like I was wearing a tent.

See what you can change diet-wise (feel free to post here, you know we'll provide feedback if we can) and keep at it. It sounds like you're in good shape regardless of what the scale implies. Also, snapping a photo of yourself isn't a terrible idea. I've been doing that for a month or so now and, if nothing else, it keeps me honest. If I feel like not stripping down to my undies (actually, I do it right out of the shower, so just after I've pulled them on), that's a sign that I've probably done something to feel guilty about. Rather than beat myself up, though, I just figure out what and why and how to avoid or mitigate in the future.

That got way longer than I thought it would, so broke it up into spoilers.

I'm not a big fan of spreading food out like that, but lots of people are. Either way, it doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong there. You must be putting on muscle. Were you essentially untrained (or, say, you were an athlete in high school but that was 6 years ago) when you started? 'cause beginner's gains can surpass what people generally expect.

You could try knocking your daily calories down to around 1700 (don't recall if you've mentioned weight and height), but I'd be really cautious of going much below that. I lost a bunch of weight many years ago on a 1,000 calorie-per-day diet, but I literally did nothing physical and, indeed, was glued to FFXI at home and a computer terminal at work, so I still looked like ***even when I was down 60 lbs. from my starting position (compare with how awful most Biggest Loser contestants look when not being prettified by the makeup team).

It does honestly sound like you're doing everything you should. Give the weights a try for some extra days. If you feel weaker or just plain exhausted, dial it back. Experiment a bit and treat a trainer's advice as just that: advice.

Also, you mentioned earlier about cheating. I find that even a little cheating tends to make my life hell, but some people do just fine with having a whole cheat day (i.e., eating almost twice as many calories as they normally budget). I think Tigerwoods has mentioned that cheating screws him up, too, so your mileage may vary.

I did football in highschool, was a lineman so always pretty big guy. But yeah... that was 10 years ago. I used to be able to bench 200 without bating an eye, but now I'm struggling with 120 with a real bench press (not dumbbells).

I have always worked physical jobs, either lots of walking or lots of lifting. I'm currently in my most sedentary job, but still walk a good mile or so a day just milling about the hospital being bored. That's one of the main reasons I'm trying to get up to 10 miles a day on a bike as a normal daily thing even after I'm "done" losing weight.

I'm currently 6'2" 245 pounds. I'm not exactly huge, but got some love chub going around middle. My legs are oddly in shape compared to my upper body.

Best I have ever been at was when I was 20ish, was 6'2" 215. Worst I have ever been was a couple of years ago at 270ish.

Edit to add: Forgot to mention, my pants and work shirts are indeed fitting a bit loose and I'm not minding that one bit.

Also, if I don't get like pizza or steak or chinese or something just 100% awful for you every once in a while, I'm pretty sure I would *** murder someone. I love food entirely too much to give up everything that tastes good. Alcohol has been shockingly easy to give up though.

Honest opinion, I don't think you look that bad. Certainly not worth of "Avert your eyes." It certainly looks like you've got muscle hiding under the pudge, too, which lends credence to the idea that you've been building or rebuilding it.

Recommend trying to get a consistent pose and position for the whole selfie thing. My personal goal is to eventually turn it into a slideshow/movie/gif whatever to show change over time and a big part of that is trying to capture the same image day after day. Your call, though.

You look kinda miserable, though, and the self-deprecating thing coupled with that makes me wonder if you aren't stressing yourself out. Cortisol is a nasty little *** that will slow down fat loss, so you might want to look into shifting your perspective and reducing some stress.

Also, pizza, steak, and Chinese food are neither awful nor something to deprive yourself of. If humanly possible, make them at home. My go-to meal these days is orange chicken made from scratch. Since I only tend to eat one meal a day, I basically saute/stir-fry(ish) a pound of chicken cubes, toss in a pound of steamed broccoli, and finish off with sauce. I'd feel worse about the sauce except that it's practically my only source of carbs some days and I certainly need them.

As someone who looks miserable in 98.7% of his pictures, I agree with Path, you don't look too happy

It's more of a concentration face than angry face.

I was thinking very very hard on not sucking in, but not stick out my gut so I could a more natural picture of what I look like.

As a consequence of being a trained dancer and a vain fool, I keep my abdominal muscles activated about 90% of the time when I am standing up and around other people. In light of that, I do the same for photos. I'm not sucking in (though doing so does show how much better I'll look once I'm finished), but definitely not letting my gut hang off me like a dead lemur the way so many fat guys seem content to do.

Will try to add that to cardio. Hey need advice about my buddy. I take him with me and he does my workout. He's too used to machines, he gets easily frustrated when he has trouble with an exercise as far as form.

Any suggestions?

Yes. Tell him to lose his ego first off, lower the weight and just work on repping the weight with perfect form. So bench press just the bar, squat just the bar, free lunges with no weights. It may seem elementary but form is my number one rule when training. after a good 20 reps,, slowly add weight, but have him concentrate on the muscle he is working out and not the movement. So for bench, instead of concentrating on pushing the weight, have him concentrate on contracting and tightening the chest proper breathing, etc. again, it may seem beginner 101, but when he's ready for weights, not only will he be safe, he'll improve his muscles much more effectively than using machines.

This is coming from a guy who started out not being able to bench the bar without it tilting over, and I'm not kidding. I see so much sloppy lifting now a days, its kind of a hazard and hinders your growth. So encourage lighter weight, but to acclimate himself with the movements before tacking on weight.

I was use to machines a week ago and it doesnt take long to get allocated to free weights and he will feel the difference quickly just encourage him to give it a shot and everything buukki said. I just did squats for the first time last week, and it was akward but the soreness felt so good the next day. I just started bench pressing this week instead of using only dumbells. so i can see where hes coming from. Maybe find a time you two can go with no one else is there? i prefer opening time @ 6 AM cause no one there for me to look stupid to while im learning.

Side question i kinda asked once before i think. Im working on my chest muscles, and as far as i read its split into upper and lower. It seems like no matter how hard i focus on upper, i only feel soreness in my lower pecs the next day, is that normal? and sorry long post.

Yes, workout every other day if you can, because you're already indirectly hitting those other muscles in some way. Especially your core. No matter what workout you do, you're using your core. And your back and legs play a vital role in a lot of workouts.

Then again, if you feel really amped and strong, I would say make good use of that energy. But if you're hitting those workouts nice and hard, probably every other day (or 2 on 1 off etc kind of schedule) would prove beneficial

gratuitous arm shot after the 5k I ran this morning. 4 blocks from the finish the clueless girl that had one job, hold the sign with an arrow on it and point it left at the corner, tells a whole group of us to go straight turning our 5k into like a 6k and ruining all of our times. Sucked too especially because I already used my kick that I was saving for the end.

You can get angry or you can say, "Well, I did an extra kilometer." For my own part, I'd rather the excuse to go a little further provided there isn't some particular reason to do otherwise. I presume there was no prize for coming in first or similar.

Nope. A 5k is pushing it for me after a long winter of only using the treadmill. The road is so much tougher and I've only been out probably three times all 2014. It was just very disheartening knowing that it all got messed up after I pretty much emptied my tank for what I thought was the upcoming finish.

Had no plans to win, but I just wanted to do my best to see where I'm at. It was a fundraiser for a school. No matter how small the 5K, serious runners always show up, real runners. I don't even entertain the thought of trying to keep up with them. After comfortable start I usually just start focusing on one person at a time to pick off one by one. It's fun. I am not a natural distance runner but I enjoy the suffering and pushing through it.

I don't think anyone is a natural distance runner. Not compared to H. erectus, anyhow.

But, and I'm not saying you're guilty of this, I always kinda roll my eyes at people who do things like spend 5 minutes looking for a parking spot close to the store or getting on the bus to ride 3 blocks. I prefer to take an uncharacteristically positive view of extra exercise regardless of the circumstance that caused it. It's just about the only way I can tolerate doing my job.

I just mean I have always been a sprinter. It's just how I'm built. I always get worn out distance running; fast twitch muscle fibers or something.

He should have started with the bar anyway. It's probably mobility related so he wouldn't be able to do 1 perfect rep let alone 20. The most effective approach would be to hire a good barbell coach for a few sessions.

Do a tough mudder and you'll pretty much hate your life afterwards. Running id Not my strong point. I'm sure onorgul is a much better distance runner

Brother-in-law has been trying to talk me into doing a Spartan run. Looks like kind of the same thing but I don't think it's for me.

Its about 7 miles shorter than tough mudder. But same obstacles.

Dunno if you're being sarcastic or not, but I don't run. I ran distance in high school and it caused me no end of problems, not least because I was a dancer and it basically destroyed all of my dance training for the better part of 6-8 months.

I'm a cyclist. I'll probably get myself killed doing that, so it's not exactly a risk-free alternative to the progressive joint damage of running, but, given a choice, I'd never walk further than 100' and would far rather put rubber to road.

Actually, just got a new bike, so here's the new baby and the reliable old hybrid that'll be my commuter. Neither are spectacular, but I like 'em. Picture sucks 'cause my phone sucks, etc.

Wasn't being sarcastic at all dude. I just thought you were heavy into cardio, but now I see it us biking specific