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  1. #21
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    human nature........ it is often harder psychologically to do the things that you are weaker at

    i think that for your goals and what is probably your composition a series of exercises covering all muscle groups would be beneficial for you. this will help increase core strength and general muscle tone.

    you shouldnt need a spotter for these exercises, the aim isnt to push heavy weights, it is to work the whole body and stimulate the muscles.

    ive knocked up a program of weights below for you. a few elements are key imo,

    firstly workout intensity, try and keep the momentum up. keep the sweat up. keep the blood flowing. try not to pause more than 30 seconds between sets which means that if you are changing equipment you need to do it quickly.

    secondly focus. try and get a picture of the anatomy and visualize the muscle groups that will be used for each exercise. when you do your exercise concentrate on the contraction, squeeze the muscle, isolate the movement.

    thirdly technique. if you are struggling with any weight then drop it. it will save injury and be beneficial in the long run. trty not to compromise technique. in doing this it is helpful (essential imo) to know how each movement / exercise works, which muscle it works and what you shouldnt be doing (for example often when you see people doing biceps curls they swing with their shoulders to jerk the bar up - this is a complete waste of time imo).

    anyhow try this out, ive split it into main muscle groups.

    Chest
    Barbell bench press
    1 set x 10 reps
    Dumbell Flyes
    1 set x 10 reps

    Shoulders
    Seated Barbell shoulder press
    1 set x 10 reps
    Lateral dumbell raise
    1 set x 10 reps
    Front dumbell raise
    1 set x 10 reps

    Back
    Chin up or (cable pull down)
    1 set x 10 reps
    Barbell bent over row
    1 set x 10 reps

    Legs
    Barbell squats (good core exercise not just legs)
    1 set x 10 reps
    Barbell lunges
    1 set x 10 reps

    Arms
    Barbell curls
    1 set x 10 reps
    Triceps extensions
    1 set x 10 reps

    Abs
    2 sets x 20 reps crunches
    2 set x 10 reps leg raises

    Try and get this all done in half an hour max. I have worked on the assumption that you have access to a set of weights (a cheapo argos set will suffice tbh).

    If you dont have access to other sources, this site - http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html - can be quite helpful in showing you how an exercise is performed.

    Good luck

  2. #22
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Thanks zippey,

    that website looks informative and i really agree with what you are saying about understanding the workings of the body,

    i see loads of lads at the gym spending about half an hour doing two exercises with their form and movement all over the place always thinking in my head that i cant be doing anything for them as they stand around chatting for 15 mins in between each set!!

    will give that routine a blast tomorrow and let you know how i feel

    curt

  3. #23
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    no worries mate.

    i would consider taking a notepad with you and listing the exercises and the weight used and perhaps jotting notes on how you felt you did. this will give you an indication of how you are progressing.

    good luck mate

  4. #24
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    Roach-Rampino's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by gurucurt View Post
    also found bar in warehouse for chin ups (they are hard any tips?? manged 3 at a time :o( ) also did some hanging leg and knee raises.

    Love it! Great to see you are getting in every bit, it all helps! Chin ups, wide grip pull ups and lots of other exercises where you are pushing or lifting your own body weight aren't easy at first but I bet if you can do 3 one day, have a day off, you will do 4 the next, have a day off then do 6 the next...and so on until you are doing 20 no problem. Just keep at it.

  5. #25
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by Roach-Rampino View Post
    Love it! Great to see you are getting in every bit, it all helps! Chin ups, wide grip pull ups and lots of other exercises where you are pushing or lifting your own body weight aren't easy at first but I bet if you can do 3 one day, have a day off, you will do 4 the next, have a day off then do 6 the next...and so on until you are doing 20 no problem. Just keep at it.
    to be honest i was shocked at how few chin ups i could manage thought i would be able to blast 10 out easy, 3! 3! thought what a loser

    going to do 10 by the start of august!!

  6. #26
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by gurucurt View Post
    to be honest i was shocked at how few chin ups i could manage thought i would be able to blast 10 out easy, 3! 3! thought what a loser

    going to do 10 by the start of august!!
    You'd be surprised how quickly you will increase the amount you can do.

  7. #27
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by gurucurt View Post
    going to do 10 by the start of august!!
    i love this attitude !

  8. #28
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    wednesday 23rd july

    walked to work usual 1.2 miles

    breakfast : large bowl mixed berries muesli

    few pressups and hanging leg raises

    lunch : 2 bananas, muller rice, chicken sandwich

    evening : took dog for a blast around park kicking ball about chasing etc. prob covered 2 miles

    points : i am feeling really lethargic this morning ( thurs )
    my bodyfat has dropped from around 24-25% to 19-20% over the last month or so
    but wont drop any more any ideas on these two

  9. #29
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    i would put money on the fact that your body thinks it is in a starvation mode.

    the body either grows or shrinks, it is very difficult to lose fat whilst acruing muscle mass because of the complexitioes of getting the exact amount of each energy source and building block through food.

    if all you have eaten is listed above it doesnt sound like enough imo. many people confuse weight loss with fat loss and go on low calorie diets which isnt a good thing imo.

    if you want to lose fat i would suggest working out what your calorific requirements are for your level of exercise and bodystats and making your calorific intake 250 calories below your maintenance level. there are many BMR calculators online which can help you out on this. perhaps post up what your stats are and what you think you should be doing and we can have a look ?

    each pound of fat contains 3500 calories. so to lose one pound of weight a week you must be in calorific deficit by that amount. (it is slightly more complicated as you will probably lose some lean mass as well but this is normal). overshoot the calorific deficit, i.e. starve yourself and the body hangs on to its fat stores.

  10. #30
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    I use this article as a guide :

    http://www.leehayward.com/calorie_calculator.htm

    I've also read that having a decent treat day every so often will trick your body into thinking the situation isn't as bad as it first thought.

    If you tot up my calories on a non-workout day I think myself that sometimes i'm a bit low but so far I have been getting away with it and I think this is because I'm not dramatically low and because it isn't sustained ie the day after I'll be on a workout day and will be having at least a tin of tuna and 300g cottage cheese extra.

  11. #31
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by LilacHarryQuinn View Post
    I've also read that having a decent treat day every so often will trick your body into thinking the situation isn't as bad as it first thought.
    yeah ive read the same, people on a cut sometimes have a 5000cal day to kick start the body out of starvation mode. As long as its not 5000cals of ice cream and chocolate

  12. #32
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by Zippeyrude View Post
    if all you have eaten is listed above it doesnt sound like enough imo. many people confuse weight loss with fat loss and go on low calorie diets which isnt a good thing imo.
    yesterday wasn't a typical day food intake wise if you look at previous days i do eat more than that perhaps this explains the lethargy?

    i think im perhaps caught in limbo as i would like to tone up rather than bulk as i am doing a half marathon in october and would rather be lean for that than carrying pounds of muscle or fat??

    in terms of stats what would help you?

  13. #33
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    One of my motivations to start all this was so that the next half I ran (was supposed to have been in June) I would be doing it lighter,and healthier and so I wouldn't worry about any thoughts of bulking etc other than in the way of putting on some muscle mass, because with the amounts you are eating and the routines you are doing you aren't going to suddenly jump to being say Mr Olympia's size and build.

    Just a thought, but it sounds a bit to me that you've just got a bit lost with what you want to do, and I don't mean that in any offensive way because before these online journals started I went through a similar 2 weeks where no routine felt right for me (I did a thread on it I think), and what I would say is take a step back, settle on a routine that's workable with the times and lifestyle you have (with impending fatherhood as well ! ) and then say to yourself "i'm sticking at this routine, food and exercise for 6 weeks".

  14. #34
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Just wondering if you are worried about any increase in size have you thought about just doing some core exercises to supplement your running rather than using weights ?

    There's some on this page : http://www.brianmac.co.uk/corestabex.htm and I know Roach already does some he could recommend.

  15. #35
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Quote Originally Posted by LilacHarryQuinn View Post
    One of my motivations to start all this was so that the next half I ran (was supposed to have been in June) I would be doing it lighter,and healthier and so I wouldn't worry about any thoughts of bulking etc other than in the way of putting on some muscle mass, because with the amounts you are eating and the routines you are doing you aren't going to suddenly jump to being say Mr Olympia's size and build.

    Just a thought, but it sounds a bit to me that you've just got a bit lost with what you want to do, and I don't mean that in any offensive way because before these online journals started I went through a similar 2 weeks where no routine felt right for me (I did a thread on it I think), and what I would say is take a step back, settle on a routine that's workable with the times and lifestyle you have (with impending fatherhood as well ! ) and then say to yourself "i'm sticking at this routine, food and exercise for 6 weeks".
    Quote Originally Posted by LilacHarryQuinn View Post
    Just wondering if you are worried about any increase in size have you thought about just doing some core exercises to supplement your running rather than using weights ?

    There's some on this page : http://www.brianmac.co.uk/corestabex.htm and I know Roach already does some he could recommend.
    Thanks for the interest in my thread

    in my head i know what i would like to acheive but i guess im probably a bit confused as to the best way to get there if that makes sense?!

    at the mo i would love a flat stomach not necessarily 6pack just flat and more definition in the chest but and its a big but at the mo i can run a sub 50 min 10k any day of the week and dont want to impair on this as i want to finish my october half in sub 1.50, and have been reading about strength training being inportant for distance running so have been hitting light weights??

  16. #36
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    in my head i know what i would like to acheive but i guess im probably a bit confused as to the best way to get there if that makes sense?!
    Makes perfect sense to me as I've often felt like that myself.

    When I first started running and aiming at half-marathons I always used Hal Higdon's guides as my rough outline to what ideally I should be doing as training : http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/index.htm

    I always fell way short of the training (my fault not the training plan) and so my PB as it stands is 1:54. When I got that I was lighter than usual (probably a couple of pounds over 13 stone) but I had been doing some strength training and situp type exercises (the half previous to that had been a bad 2:07 effort so I was determined to do better). The strength training was simple dumbell exercises with light weights but for me I honestly think it was more the weight drop and better training on the roads that knocked the 13 minutes off.

    So from personal experience I would say that I don't think any strength training would detract from your running goal as long as you do the training on the road that you will need to take XX off your previous time (if that sentence makes any sense!).

  17. #37
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    Roach-Rampino's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Personally I have found that a flatter stomach is achieved by a combination of things.

    1. By cutting bread, pasta, cereals, pastry and alcohol, it stops any bloating of the stomach and you fart less which I guess goes hand in hand with the gases produced by these foods?
    2. By cutting right down on fat, sugar and salt heavy foods coupled with regular exercise you will take on less fat and burn off more.
    3. By doing good regular ab and oblique exercises you will get a strong mid section which will hold your stomach in flat.

  18. #38
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Im taking on board everything you guys are saying im going to have a sit down tonight and fine tune everything i think i should be doing to acheive my goals, keeping the cardio buzzing but incorporating the strength and core work

    cheers peeps

  19. #39
    DF VIP Member $kint's Avatar
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    been out of the loop for two weeks as my baby daughter - iris - was born at 6.23am on the 28th july

    back at work now so routine will start again

    its fair to say food and training has been shocking for two weeks!!

  20. #40
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: gurucurt's progress journal

    Congratulations m8, hope mother and baby are both fine and well.

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