How's your new years resolution, fatties?
polycounter lvl 18
December 2004 = 225lbs
March 2005 = 205lbs
If everything continues as it has been, I'll be down to my target of 180-ish by the summertime
Since I'm lazy and don't want to worry about counting carbs, etc.. I have a slimfast shake for breakfast & lunch and some sort of health food tv dinner for dinner. I usually have an apple or a bannana as a snack during the day. I've been doing the exercise bike for about 30min a day, 5 days a week too.
So, how many polycounters stuck with their new years diets?
March 2005 = 205lbs
If everything continues as it has been, I'll be down to my target of 180-ish by the summertime
Since I'm lazy and don't want to worry about counting carbs, etc.. I have a slimfast shake for breakfast & lunch and some sort of health food tv dinner for dinner. I usually have an apple or a bannana as a snack during the day. I've been doing the exercise bike for about 30min a day, 5 days a week too.
So, how many polycounters stuck with their new years diets?
Replies
I also only believe in physical fitness from a "use your own body weight" point of view, I don't wanna be no muscle head.
March- 192lbs
target- 175-180 by fall.
I just started getting serious about it. I guess I just got to a point where I was feeling fed up, heh. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it, for once.
I was thinking of outlining of my current training system and what my goals are for the year here, but I'm afraid I'd be ostracized from the community here! I set a new personal record for deadlifts on Tuesday, just so y'all know
personally i don't make new years resolutions.. but just about any time that there's a goal that needs setting i'll do it. i've now gotten into the habit of walking a couple of miles a day, which is very nice. maybe i'll pick up the hawken routine one of these days, too--if he can do it can't very tough, now can it?
I do talk the talk a bit, but I really am into physical training. In a way, it almost pains me to see people who could make themselves feel so much better by exerting a little effort choose not to make that effort. Even worse are people who do put the energy into it, but do it wrong, get discouraging results and quit. I think what Hawken does is nearly ideal for most healthy people, regular bodyweight exercises to maintain fitness (though I'd say his training needs more diversification). I was just tweaking him for describing weightlifters as 'muscleheads.' Iron has a lot it can teach you, if you're willing to learn.
Since I am goofing on people here a bit, I will get into my details briefly so others have a fair shot at laying into me: I'm in a cutting phase right now, looking to peak around late July. I do energy systems work each morning for 45 minutes, 8.5 miles on a stationary bike. I lift in the gym on Monday, Wendesday and Friday. I spend no more than three hours a week lifting, focusing on compound power and Olympic lifts (bench presses, squats, deadlifts) and supplement with other heavy, non-isometric work (pulldowns, dips, military presses, a gamut of curls and flies), all using low reps and heavy weights when possible. Tuesday and Saturday are devoted to ab work and forearms.
My cutting diet would drive most people off a cliff - currently I'm getting about 190g of protein a day, 50g of carbs (100g on days I lift) and I supplement the rest of my calories in healthy fats. I never mix carb meals with fats and I never eat carbs alone, etc etc, all of the basic meal structure goals, in getting fed 6 times a day. That likely sounds awful, and I admit I'm no fan of it, but bulking diets (when you aim to put more muscle on) are a lot more enjoyable, and I plan for that about a third of the year. I also take every Sunday afternoon-evening as a 'cheat' day, so I can throw down a few cheeseburgers if the mood takes me. Very few people can eat 100% clean 100% of the time (don't know why you'd want to), so I am for 90% clean, 90% of the time (more or less). Keeps you sane bewteen all the protein shakes and fish oil tablets the rest of the week.
I don't look anything like a professional bodybuilder, in case anyone was wondering
1280x960, as always.
Motivation is simple once you start doing it every day. No equipment required, and you can do it practically anywhere!
About the exercises, though, Hawken - by doing the same thing, in the same quantity, every day, you're never giving your body more than 24 hours to get stronger and you're only training it to do exactly that same amount of work. This is what I mentioned about diversity. What us muscleheads would do is take a day or two off minimum between days working our muscles, so they get some time to recover and grow. Also, we'd mix it up a bit. One day, do maybe 4 sets of 10 instead of 30 straight through. Another day, change your form a bit, so you're hitting the muscle at a different angle. You need to change the stimulus and provide recovery time in order to improve strength or endurance. Even small, fast recovering muscles like abdominals don't need to be worked more than two or three times a week to show improvement. I used to do abs every day, but it was just overtraining - I found I did just as well by hitting them every other day. That's a musclehead telling you to exercise less, mate!
Jody
I'm patient I'll lose all the weight eventually. I'm not that interested in gaining muscle because my legs are screwed up in a way that most of the muscles are unable to do any work so I'd just end up having a big upper body and twig legs.
March of 2005 - 165 lbs 14% body fat
Six pack just starting to show...but I'm not really looking to drop the body fat much lower, because I still like to eat normally(though no fast food, very little fried).
My resolution?
1280x960, as always.
[/ QUOTE ]
1280x1024 here. I'm fat
Actually I've been trying to gain weight since the new year. I was starting to get an edge until I got sent to the hospital (unrelated) and went 39 hours without eating (not by choice), followed by a week of mush. Not only did I lose everything but actually ended up worse than I started.
I've gotten back maybe 5-10 pounds since. I have the sort of body that could lose 10 pounds a week if I had anything to lose.
erm.
gauss, if you have any questions or anything, I'd be glad to help you out if I can. I was chatting with PaK for a bit about his training routine, so you ask him for testimonials as to my mad fitness training knowledge!
Also, Irritant, those are some great numbers - nice transformation adding all that lean mass. I'm glad just to see someone doing bodyfat composition measurements. Documenting your progress like that can be excellent motivation.
I had lost 30 pounds since I started jogging this past summer so I went from 235 lbs to 205 and so I told myself I would quit smoking because I thought if I gain any weight... it won't be all the weight I lost. But I gained 40 lbs. even tho I still haven't stopped jogging
After a while I got pretty addicted to it. It's great seeing you body getting better along the way. Soon if I went to the gym less than 3 times a week I'd get really upset with my self.:)
I agree with most of Vermillion says. Except for the power lifting. I got fairly big and I never power lifted and I never weighed myself -ever- I personalty didn't care about my weight I was all about health and appearance. If you are going down that route of ubermench then ok PL but for the common don't. Never try to lift anything out of your range. You will not help or grow your muscles and you will probably injure yourself -then your fucked. Pulls take a very long time to heal. Your are way better off lifting x for 10 reps than x+40 for 4.
One thing that I did that worked very well is 'rallying down':
say you are doing bi's
do 10 reps at the 50lbs bar
then immediately without stopping pick up the 40lb for 10reps.
then the 30lb for 10.
30 may sounds pussyass but after the doing the first two bars you will be cryn' by rep 6.
If it hurts the next day then you pushed yourself properly.
Being at the gym resting between sets I have come up with some of my best ideas. I guess it is all the blood flowing. I think having gyms inside game houses is a great idea. I wouldn't mind working 10h shifts... well...
Food:
One thing my trainer said that is very important 'if you are going to workout regularly, you must eat' -true. Don't diet. Yes, that's right do not diet. But don't eat junk. No fast food - I cut that out 98% I used to go to McDs 2~5 time a week, now once a month, no snacks, no sides (kiss the potato good-eye) no beans, rice, cole slaw, beer(switch to hard liquor/pop) and no pop
Get an iPod or similar.
It will be hard at first. Some days you will be sayn' 'fuck this I'm tired and I'm not seeing any results and...and..' So many times I've pulled up to the gym feeling like shit and having no desire to do it. But when I drove out I felt great and so glad that I endured. Keep at it. After awhile I could raise my self off the car seat but flexing my ass. You know that's gotta be good. Oh ya, you will tuck your shirt in, feel better about yourself and get laid more.*
*not an guaranty
It's especially tough for me at my age. Most of you younger guys will get quicker results than me.
sal
That said, and I don't mean this as a personal criticism, but your training techniques are a bit old-fashioned. Intensity is superior to volume for building strength; that's not my opinion, there's a lot of science behind it. People will grow by lifting higher reps, you've seen it yourself, but higher weight will get you there faster. Additionally, I don't train myself to fatigue. Doing an exercise for thirty straight reps through three drop sets is burning the glycogen out of your muscle tissue, but not really challenging the actual muscle fiber to grow. There's nothing special about 10-rep sets, though most people start there - I generally do four sets at an 8/6/4/2 split, shooting to go up in weight but maintain perfect form through each set.
Also, I think the concern about injury from lifting heavy is exaggerated and shouldn't keep people from pushing themselves. Pulls and strains generally come from bad technique or screwing around - if you are in proper form for a heavy lift and concentrate on your technique, the rest of your body muscles will tighten appropriately to protect themselves. In nearly eleven years of weight lifting, I've endured just one muscle pull, and it came while handing someone else a barbell from an awkward position rather than an actual lift. Of course, people need to use common sense about things - if you've never bench pressed more than 200 pounds, you can't throw 250 on the bar and expect anything but a hospital visit. However, if your 1RM on the flat bench is 200, you'll challenge your muscle fibers to grow more effectively by lifting 180 for six reps with a spot than burning through 160 for ten reps. Fatigue isn't the goal, and one of the best strenght trainers I've ever read actually advocates a 10x3 system for optimal growth, using your 6RM weight. That's pretty radical, and I haven't given it a go yet, but the guy's resume is unimpeachable in terms of knowledge and results.
All that said, you're dead right about making yourself do it. Personal preference aside, the best training plan is the one that you'll actually do. Too often, people don't get results fast enough or give in to the infinite number of lazy temptations and start skipping workouts until they hit the point they're not going at all. Fitness takes time. While goals are good, I think it's best to stop worrying about what you want to be in six months or in six weeks or whatever. Just concentrate on today - you know what you need to eat, you know how you need to exercise. Worry about meeting those goals every day and you can have one success right after another. Looking great in the summer won't happen if you aren't working towards it *today*.
It took a lot of effort but I am finally getting the sort of weight I feel comfortable at.
Later on tonight I shall probably have a chinese takeaway( probably sweet and sour dish)
Loosing weight and getting in better condition helps and worths all costs: I have the hottest and best woman of all women by now. I showed her a picture of me how i looked like one year ago. She said, "Ohhh your soooo sweet, but my teddy is also sweet." I answerd "But you wont have sex with your Teddy huh?" "Hahaha, yeah you got the point".
So, keep on going guys. Lets make yourself a proud man
Really, it's entirely a matter of how hard you're willing to work at it. I've known people who got up at 5:30 to hit the gym, the only time they could arrange in a busy day. I'm on a sort of 'jumpstart' system now, eating one solid meal and five protein shakes a day for my nutrition - I hate it, but I want what it will bring me. You have to want it bad enough, too, bad enough to do something about it permanently and not look at it like a problem that needs a short-term solution. Hopping through random diet plans, dropping your calories too low and getting no exercise is certain to defeat you - you're turning your body into a fat-storing machine that way. You need to kick your own ass with science! Build a training program, research your nutrition! Study how to change your life - you *know* what you're doing to yourself is terrible, so stop doing it. It's hard, it's work, but it's better than dragging an extra 65 pounds of fat around.
Sounds like your in a bad sprial Downsizer (even your nic is a bummer
the good news is that being active will help with any depression you are experiancing.
[/ QUOTE ] Any activity will help, walking, bicycling, skating, karate, dance, swimming, sex
I got lucky...my peak time for exercise is in the am and I can go to the gym before I go to work. I've been at it since Oct. and I don't even feel the desire to stop. I can't wait for the weather to get nice so I can go out on my bike and skates. Good luck man, hang in...you can do it!!
<ul type="square">[*]Rotate working each body part on a different day, so that each body part gets worked with a fresh store of energy and thus get maximal stimulation.
[*]Work each body part very intensly once a week, then give a full week to recover in order to maximise healing time for both muscles and joints.
[*]Use a variety of high volume exercises with lighter weights and always good technique to achieve an intense, well-rounded workout without injury.
[*]Do cardio after your short term energy has been spent on weights to maximise daily fat burn.
[*]Work out every day to keep metabolism and androgen levels high.
[*]EDIT: Generall eat good foods (but not obsessively healthy) and get plenty of sleep, so that the body has time and resources with which to heal itself.
[/list]
Right now, I'm back on a weekly cycle, involving 30min of weight training, followed by about a minute of abs, followed by 30 min of cardiovascular training each weekday. All weights will be done at 3 sets of 12 reps with the goal of muscle failure in the last set. Dumbell exercises are preferred over bar or machine exercises, as maintaining form in a dumbell lift is good for stimulating the supporting and stableizing muscles. Cardio is basicly whichever machine out of {treadmill, ellipse, bike} is free that day, or running outside once the snow melts. And post-workout stretching to assist bloodflow to the muscles.
<ul type="square">[*]Monday - bench, incline bench, flys, overhead tricep press, tricep kickbacks
[*]Tuesday - lat pulldowns, seated rows, reverse flys, curls, preacher curls
[*]Wednesday - military press, front dumbell raise, side dumbell raise, various rotator cuff lifts
[*]Thursday - squats, leg extension, leg curl, good mornings, calf raise
[*]Friday - misc (neck, wrist, hip flexor, etc.)
[/list]
One week in and presently 185lbs, out of shape, and hobbling around like an old man after my last leg workout. People should definitly post updates sometime later in the spring - I'm interested to hear how people are faring!
I've had my car broken into, stereo stolen, lost a job, lost a fiance of 4 years, then lost my car in an accident yesterday with 4100$ worth of damage, cooncidently my insurance wont cover it, and I'm being sued because the woman who does'nt even speak english is claiming back injury for a 20mph crash. Did I mention that no damage was done to her SUV at all, and I drive a little GEO metro.
I had saved up 15k to move to indiana, this will destroy my savings and I'll be stuck in this town another year. I'm lucky that I want to still breathe, let alone get rid of this weight. The GOOD news is that the depression has lessened my appitite. I hav'nt been able to finish a meal in about a month. I've lost 5 lbs.
One week in and presently 185lbs, out of shape, and hobbling around like an old man after my last leg workout.
[/ QUOTE ]
Haha - heck yeah, those first days back are a bitch. My first day back under the squat rack after my last layoff nearly killed me, I was feeling it going up stairs four days later.
I gave up coffee!!! No more 15 cups a day, the headaches and withdrawals were incredible though. And back itno doing skins for UT2003,04.
and 2048x1536 @85mhz by work mode
my monitor is in very good shape