Fitness and Exercise

[Archangel]

...challenge fucking accepted >_>

Give me a couple of weeks

[Psyke]

Haha good luck I'm taking a trial test tomorrow so hopefully I can reach my goal

For those who are curious, there are 5 stations in the test: 2.4km run, chin ups, sit-ups, shuttle run (4 x 10m), and standing broad jump.

[Deadlift]

Ok before I start my Long and arduous fitness post I will give a break down of what I am talking about, the first section will be 5 basic weight free workouts and then the second half will be the *"5 rules of a weight-free workout" that will allow you to make the exercises harder as you progress. NOTE: THIS POST IS REALLY .. REALLY LONG so if you're scared of reading avoid it. Oh and this is a male oriented workout, for the few ladies out there I have a toning workout in a PDF document I can send you if you wish.

Workout Routine Instructions: Perform the first two exercises as an alternating set, that means do a set of exercise 1, rest 60 seconds, then do a set of exercise 2 and rest for another 60 seconds: thats"s one alternating set. Do 3-4 sets of Each exercise. Next, do exercises 3 and 4 as an alternating set (3-4 sets again). For the last exercise do 4 sets and rest 60 seconds after each one.

1: Bulgarian Split Squat
Stand with your right foot on a bench or chair behind you (extended leg), and keep your arms at your sides. Keeping your torso upright, lower your body until your left thigh is at least parallel to the floor. Pause, then push yourself back up. Do 12-15 repetitions per leg for 1 set.

2: Inverted Shoulder Press
Assume a push up position, but place your feet on a sturdy object that's about two feet high (bench or chair) and push your hips up so your torso is nearly perpendicular to the floor. Bend your elbows to lower your head toward the floor. Pause then press yourself back up. Do 12-15 Reps for 1 set.

3: Single Leg Deadlift
Stand on your left foot with your right foot raised behind you, arms at your sides. Allow your torso to lean slightly forward as you lower your body straight down until your hands touch the floor. Pause, then push back up to the starting position. Complete 10-12 reps on each leg for 1 set.

4: T-Pushup
Lower your body as you would in a normal pushup, but as you push up, lift one hand toward the ceiling and rotate your torso and hips in the same direction until you are facing sideways. Return to the starting position and repeat with your other arm. Complete 15-20 reps on each side for 1 set.

5:Plank
Assume a push up position, but with your forearms against the floor (arms should look like a capital L). Focus the tension on your core and keep your body straight from head to toe for 60 seconds, that's one set.

*the next section is the above stated rules of weight free workouts to help you progress as you improve.

Rule 1: The longer your body the weaker you become

- By increasing the distance between the point of force (your target muscles) and the end of the object you're trying to lift (your body), you decrease your mechanical advantage. Think of it this way: An empty barbell is easy to lift off the floor if you grab it in the middle, but try moving a few inches in one direction and it instantly becomes heavier- even though it's weight hasn;t changed. The same idea also applies to your body: lengthen it and every exercise you do becomes harder.

Rule 2: The farther you move the more muscle you work

-In physics "mechanical work" is equal to force (or weight) times distance. Since your muscles and bones function together as simple machines (they form class 1,2, and 3 levers) the same formula applies to your body. It's the most basic of principles: do more work, build more muscle. Of course, in a weight-free workout you can't increase force (unless you gain weight), but you can boost your work output by moving a greater distance during each repetition.

Rule 3: As Elastic energy decreases, muscle involvement increases.

-When you lower your body as you perform any exercise, you build up "elastic energy" in your muscles. Just like in a coiled spring, that elasticity allows you to "bounce" back to the starting position, reducing the work your muscles have to do. Eliminate the bounce and you'll force your body to recruit more muscle fibers to get you moving again. How? Pause for 4 seconds in the down position of an exercise. That's the amount of time it takes to discharge all the elastic energy of a muscle.

Rule 4: Moving in two directions is better than moving in one.

-Human movements occur on three geometric planes: Sagittal (front to back and up to down), Frontal (side to side), Traverse (rotational). Most lifting exercises occur on the Sagittal (not sure if this is how its spelled,but bear with me) plane (such as bench press, squat, chin-up, or curl), most balance exercises are on the frontal plane (such as lateral lunges and side bends). This is relevant because it means most men rarely train their bodies on the traverse plane despite using constant rotation in everyday life. Case in point: walking. It's subtle,but your hips rotate with every step; in fact, watch a sprinter from behind and you'll see that his hips rotate almost 90 degrees. So by adding a rotational component to any exercise, you'll automatically work more muscle - since you'll fully engage your core as well as the original target muscles - and simultaneously build a better performing body.

Rule 5: The Less contact your body has with the floor, the more your muscles must compensate.

- The smaller the percentage of an object's surface area that's touching a solid base, the less stable that object is. Thankfully for human beings we have a built in stabilizer:muscles. And by forcing that stabilization system to kick in - by making your body less stable - you'll make any exercise harder, while activating more muscles. And for this very reason free-weight or weight free workouts garner far superior results compared to machines (in my opinion).

Ok .. I'm done hope this helps .. that is if you read this far

[Archangel]

Bodyweight exercises are for pussies, i'm just sayin...

[Deadlift]

Bodyweight exercises are for pussies, i'm just sayin...

I agree, but the original post asked for a weight free routine, so I gave one for the sake of relevance. My personal routine involves weights, I do a 3 day rotation, 2 muscle groups per day, and on my rest day I do cardio and abs.

Day 1: Chest&Back (SS=a superset, doing 1 set of each exercise before taking a break)

a) SS: Dumbbell Chest Press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Dumbbell Pec Flys, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

B) SS: Seated Rowing, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
V-Handle Lat Pull-downs, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

C) Incline Barbell Press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

D) Incline Cable Flys, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

E) SS: Chin-ups, 3 sets till exhaustion
Chest Dips, 3 sets till exhaustion

F) Dumbbell Shrugs, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

G) Decline Dumbbell Press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

Day 2: Biceps&Triceps

A) SS: Dumbbell Curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Hammer Curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

B) SS: Close-grip bench press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
French Press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

C) SS: EZ-bar preacher curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
EZ-bar reverse curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

D) SS: Overhead Tricep extensions(cable), 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Cable Pull-down extensions, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

E) Overhead Cable Curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

F) Wrist Curls, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

Day 3: Shoulders&Legs

A) Hang-Clean and Press, 4 sets, reps: 6, 6, 5, 4

B) Deadlift, 4 sets, reps: 6, 6, 5, 4

C) Arnold Shoulder Press, 4 sets, reps: 6, 6, 5, 4

D) Squats, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

E) SS: Lateral Dumbbell Raises, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6
Front Dumbbell Raises, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

F) Thigh abductors, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

G) Upright Cable Rows, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

H) Dumbbell Calf Raises, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

I) Rocky Press, 4 sets, reps: 12, 10, 8, 6

Day 4 (rest-day): I do cardio and abs on this day but it can be used as an off day


A) 20-30 minutes of carido (cycling or jogging, ect.)

B) Captains chair knee lifts: 20, 15, 15, 10

C) Incline Sit ups: 20, 15, 15, 10

D) Incline Leg lifts: 15, 15, 10, 10

*C) Medicine Ball Oblique twists: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

* do with a partner where one person does ten twists and tosses the medicine ball to their partner while maintaining a v-sit up position, the partner then does 10 and passes it back, progress in this manner until you reach 1

It is not a perfect routine but it works for me

[XanBcoo]

It's weird that days one and two are an odd mix of push-pull exercises, rather than just push and just pull.

Also the first post was made about 5 years ago. You can ignore everything before around 2010.

[Deadlift]

It's weird that days one and two are an odd mix of push-pull exercises, rather than just push and just pull.

Also the first post was made about 5 years ago. You can ignore everything before around 2010.

The reason the exercises seem so mixed up in terms of push and pull is that day two incorporates triceps which granted are used in a lot of chest exercises, but the main reason is I try to target every aspect of the muscle, by incorporating a variety of exercises you keep your body guessing so to speak that way you don't plateau as easily and can use the routine for a longer period of time. Ideally you should change your routine every 6 weeks, otherwise your body becomes acclimatized to the exercises and your gains will be stifled, thus by using a variety of push and pull compound exercises the muscle gets a more complete workout.

Another reason I chose a lot of these exercises is they are simplistic, I try and avoid anything too complex because then I spend more time worrying about my form and not hurting myself than getting a quality workout. A majority of the chest routine was taken from Gregg Plitt's regiment, he's the fitness model whose body they used for Dr.Manhattan in the movie Watchmen, where as most of the shoulders and back exercises I took from Arnold Schwarzenegger's documentary "Pumping Iron" the only difference is I modified the set/rep ratio for a lower weight and higher reps because I prefer to build lean muscle mass over size.

[Raven]

It might be a bit TL;DR, but I'm hoping you guys can critique this article for me, as this is pretty much my goal:

http://au.askmen.com/feeder/askmenRS....php?ID=914950

Parts that confuse me:
- Post-workout - "Fruit sugars (fructose) take much longer to be absorbed by the body and should be avoided." I thought fruit was very quick-release and thus is very good for post-workout. I'll need to re-asses what I'm doing, or get a specific post-workout shake.
- Morning cardio on an empty stomach - shouldn't all cardio be pre-fueled, regardless of body type and/or intensity?

Anyway, the exercises listed make sense to me, more reps at a faster pace with a lighter weight as opposed to heavier weight with less reps.

[Archangel]

>Chest and Back in the same day

And just like that this workout plan is already retarded. It's funny though, when you talked about your goal i instantly thought of Brad Pitt in Fight club.

- Not really, what you want in your post workout meal is fast digesting carbs and proteins. Fruit has slow digesting carbs and it isn't that good a source for protein, not to mention it's usually pretty high on sugar. I usually have a whey milkshake, it's fairly cheap and much less of an hassle to carry around to the gym.

- Like i posted before there has been some interesting research regarding fasted training but honestly i wouldn't do it. The premise is that you'll activate your metabolism with some light cardio in the morning and then eat a high protein meal afterwards thus sustaining you till lunch with no calories left unburned but training in an empty stomach is fucking torture and takes too much time getting used to. Keep in mind this is simply my personal opinion though.

Whatever plan you do is pretty irrelevant Raven as long as it targets all the muscles in an intelligent order. Usually a 3 day split will be chest/triceps, back/biceps and shoulders/legs though Bis and Tris can be switched around. After that it's all about nutrition, with your goal in mind you should keep a high protein diet low on sugar, transfats and all that other shit you know is bad for you but eat anyway. Cardio around off days would probably also be a smart choice, either jogging or swimming.

[Raven]

Cheers dude. I'll sit down and reassess what I'm doing. I'll still need to cut a bit more I think.

I'm actually used to doing cardio on an empty stomach; it was only recently someone advised me that might be a bad idea. Hmm.

[Archangel]

Oh and protip, drink lots of water.

[Deadlift]

Thinking about starting a new routine (I try and mix it up every 6 weeks) got the idea from the fitness model Greg Plitt, his body was used for Dr.Manhattan in Watchmen, and he suggests doing a 6 day routine with one target muscle grouping per day and then by the time your done the cycle your muscle-group from day 1 will have had enough time to heal that you could just start over, basically going seven days a week. Anyone tried anything like this before, I'm curious if it's worth pursuing, I need something new in my regime I'm starting to plateau on the weight I can lift.

[Archangel]

I don't think there's any added value in a 5 or 6 day split for the beginner to intermediate lifter in comparison to a 3 day a week workout plan.

[Deadlift]

I suppose but, I've just been looking for a new approach to keep my workouts fresh, and having been working out for a dedicated 2 years the routines get old fast

I don't think there's any added value in a 5 or 6 day split for the beginner to intermediate lifter in comparison to a 3 day a week workout plan.

[Archangel]

Well why not try a crossfit or a kettlebell oriented program just for fun? You could also try some swimming or resistance training to drop your bf%.

I'm just opposed to a 6 day program because i feel it would only lead to poor lean mass gains and possibly overtraining exhaustion.

[Deadlift]

I might try the kettlebells Andy Whitfield from Spartacus did a good article on mens health magazine on a few kettlebell routine I could try. I love the swimming idea, but I hate pools and being as I`m from Canada swimming weather is only around 2-3 months of the year

Anybody use supplements to go with their workouts?

I`m not that into them myself I prefer to go with the natural method (there is way too many negative aspects to things such as creatine ect.), but I found a pretty good one, called vegegreens its a few servings of vegetables in a powder, tastes like the sandman crapped in your cup, but it helped supplement my diet which pretty much consists of meat, dairy, fruit and nuts and not too many green veggies.

[Buffalobiian]

I hate swimming for the sole reason that it dries out my skin. Same reason I try to time my activities so I only need to shower once daily, though that can change with summer and myself starting to go to the gym again soon.

Anybody recommend a workout for beginners for just an overall weightloss + balanced building (until I feel like halting the growth anyway)?

The whole rotation thing seems... annoying. You guys seem to either be switching on a weekly, or 6-weekly basis.. Is there anything wrong with switching between certain programs?

(eg 6-weeks program#1, 6-weeks program#2, 6weeks program#3, 6-weeks program#1)

[Animeniax]

I think it's mostly to prevent boredom and to change things up for your muscles which supposedly helps them grow faster. This is the basis behind programs like P90X where the new moves and non-standard workout routines result in faster muscle gains.

[Deadlift]

I hate swimming for the sole reason that it dries out my skin. Same reason I try to time my activities so I only need to shower once daily, though that can change with summer and myself starting to go to the gym again soon.

Anybody recommend a workout for beginners for just an overall weightloss + balanced building (until I feel like halting the growth anyway)?

The whole rotation thing seems... annoying. You guys seem to either be switching on a weekly, or 6-weekly basis.. Is there anything wrong with switching between certain programs?

(eg 6-weeks program#1, 6-weeks program#2, 6weeks program#3, 6-weeks program#1)

a no matter how good a routine is your body gets used to it at about 6 weeks, so its important to switch the routine for the sake of progressing in strength, that being said it is important to stick to a routine for at least a few weeks, that way you can steadily progress in those exercises by targeting the same muscle and it makes it alot easier to track. As for a beginners workout either of the formats posted by me or archangel (see a few posts above) are acceptable the difference between a beginner and someone more experienced doing those exercises is purely the weights you are lifting, start with low weights, doing high repetitions (good for burning fat and staying lean), and pay close attention to your form, doing an exercise properly will get you better results than the guys you see at the gym trying to lift more than they should and not maintaining proper form. If you are not familiar with any of the exercises I posted check this site out http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/ it has an exercise directory with written as well as video instruction for form and safe lifting practices. Another thing I would recommend is something called compound exercises: workouts that utilize multiple muscle groups, not only will this make your workouts more efficient, it will also give your body a well rounded workout and this is essential to losing fat. Diet is important too, not in terms of counting calories so much as making sure you have the fuel your body needs to heal and grow lean muscle mass, make sure you get lots of protein in your diet, avoid salty foods, and drink lots of water. There are a few good ways to stay motivated as well consider writing a journal, tracking the weights you lifted, how many reps you did, and as the weeks go by you can track how much more you can lift its an easy way to see the progress you've made even if it isn't apparent on your body immediately.

as to the whole dry skin - one shower a day thing you could always workout in the morning, wake up an hour earlier eat breakfast hit the gym then get ready for work or school. another possibility is later in the evening that way at least your shower would be spaced out so your skin wouldn't dry out too much, though I'm sure moisturizing would be a quick fix for that.

[XanBcoo]

Anybody recommend a workout for beginners for just an overall weightloss + balanced building (until I feel like halting the growth anyway)?

First: Your workout has nothing to do with your weightloss or mass gains. That's almost entirely up to your diet.

Second: Rippetoe's Starting Strength

It's mid-volume, high-intensity using several important compound lifts. Tried and true. Do it.

As for showering, I had the same issue. Solved it by shifting my entire day back a few hours. Wake up at 2:45 am, gym, shower, work, bed by 8:00pm. Early to bed, early to rise.

But I'm certainly not fucking wealthy.