The New Fitness thread

[Average Joe]

broke away from my routine to jump some rope today since it's 90+ here all week and i felt like sweating buckets outside

hadn't done it seriously since last summer and was surprised that i was actually better at it

think i might even look into it seriously and do all that crazy stuff you see the pros do

i can do a fair amount of double jumps and that side-to-side rope twist thing but it's far from fluid enough

 

[MilkManX]

broke away from my routine to jump some rope today since it's 90+ here all week and i felt like sweating buckets outside

hadn't done it seriously since last summer and was surprised that i was actually better at it

think i might even look into it seriously and do all that crazy stuff you see the pros do

i can do a fair amount of double jumps and that side-to-side rope twist thing but it's far from fluid enough

This DVD took my Jump Rope to new levels.

http://www.rosstraining.com/jumpropeconditioning.html

 

[Average Joe]

that's actually exactly what i was looking for

i remembered i had that bookmarked on my pc but that thing shit the bed and lost it

that guy is the man

learned some good stuff from his site

 

[cdamm]

 

[Spike Spiegel]

What's with the lederhosen?

 

[cdamm]

What's with the lederhosen?

just everyday knee support at the gym. on bad days i have athletic braces with fucking hinges.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

just everyday knee support at the gym. on bad days i have athletic braces with fucking hinges.

Wow, lame.

 

[2D_mastur]

To those with built-up abs:

This is the first area I gain weight, always been my problem area, it's not too bad as it is but I want to take a jump. What exercises can I do, that I don't need to use a machine, that'll tone me up? I want maximum efficiency here. What do you fitness nuts drink to hydrate yourself, besides water? I think my sugary drink habit needs to be axed. Right now I do sit-ups and vertical knee raises.

Don't be afraid to be harsh. I need the honesty.

 

[Cylotron]

To those with built-up abs:

This is the first area I gain weight, always been my problem area, it's not too bad as it is but I want to take a jump. What exercises can I do, that I don't need to use a machine, that'll tone me up? I want maximum efficiency here. What do you fitness nuts drink to hydrate yourself, besides water? I think my sugary drink habit needs to be axed. Right now I do sit-ups and vertical knee raises.

Don't be afraid to be harsh. I need the honesty.

i hear doing leg raises(while lying down) helps. i'll see some guys raise their legs up partially and hold for around 30 sec - 1 min at a time

 

[Spike Spiegel]

To those with built-up abs:

This is the first area I gain weight, always been my problem area, it's not too bad as it is but I want to take a jump. What exercises can I do, that I don't need to use a machine, that'll tone me up? I want maximum efficiency here. What do you fitness nuts drink to hydrate yourself, besides water? I think my sugary drink habit needs to be axed. Right now I do sit-ups and vertical knee raises.

Don't be afraid to be harsh. I need the honesty.

I'd like to think my abs are good enough to answer this one.

First and foremost: low ass body fat. Period.

With that said, you aren't some anomaly. Everyone gains fat there (and quads) first. It's the way god made us. Once you get below 12% body fat, you will start to see them come in. Exercises are many. This will piss you off to know: some guys rarely do abs at all, including myself. But if you must do strictly ab motions, weighted machines, ab wheel, hanging leg raises are a start. Many different things can be done for muscle development there. For me, I use my other compound lifts to develope them indirectly.

But again, body fat is your main enemy. And please don't assume you can spot reduce by doing situps to make belly fat go away. If anyone here believes that, please don't give advice in this thread.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

These abs are the result of many many hours of NOT doing direct ab exercises:

In other words, just lift hard in the gym, watch what you eat... and hope you have good genetics, because that also helps.

 

[hyper]

damn

 

[MilkManX]

I also don't do any direct ab work. I do lots of Military press though. That works your abs big time. So does Dead lifts. IMO Sit ups/Crunches are a good way to damage your Psoas muscles.

 

[Average Joe]

dedicated ab routines are pretty much an antiquated notion at this point

i remember making that mistake in the beginning

pretty sure all those crunches and sit-ups i used to do amounted to fuck all

edit: should add i'm a big fan of static gymnastic moves/holds for core work

plenty of kettlebell and clubbell work too, but man... those fucking v-sits

 

[hyper]

not necissarily, I do crunches on an excersize ball everyday. It strengthens your core.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

You know what I feel abs a lot doing? Tricep pushdowns with a rope. With the proper weight, you can't help but NOT tighten your core as you do them.

 

[NipRing]

Alright Steve, i've got a question. A few pages back you mention 10 sets of 10. I usually do 4 sets, 1st set 12 reps, 2nd 10, 3rd 8, and 4th (if i can muster it ) 6 reps. Each set i up the weight with the last set almost my max limit. I get so fatigued on that last set, that when i cant finish (i dont now nor have i ever had a workout partner btw) I feel pissed at myself for failing. Like a pathetic fucking little girl. I'm not joking, i feel embarrassed of myself. Its been like this on and off for 20 years. The only way i could see me doing 10 sets of 10 would be a way lower weight. What % of my max should i use?


I have a piece of advise for others. Over the years many times has the rest of my life bumped my fitness off the tracks. Just getting burned out with routine, or work, my house, my family, and honestly sometimes my other hobbies. Once its off, its hard to get back on, almost discouraging. But fight through that shit!


Long ago I came to realize, I'll never be Arnold, never. As a young man growing up in the 80's, muscle culture was a huge influence on me and when I learned the truth about my "heroes" taking drugs to look the way they did... I was kinda crushed. Fact is, now I know that when I look into the mirror, I'll honestly never too much more than I am right now. All I can strive for is to build the best me with what I got to work with.

Steve you are in awesome shape by the way. I hope to look that good myself one day.

Since we're showing pics...
Embarrassingly, here's one of me at my absolute worst (my wedding believe it or not) 14 years ago. Obviously my wife saw more in me (thank goodness)




Here's a couple recent shots



That last one was a kissy pic i sent to my wife lol

 

[ki_atsushi]

Alright Steve, i've got a question. A few pages back you mention 10 sets of 10. I usually do 4 sets, 1st set 12 reps, 2nd 10, 3rd 8, and 4th (if i can muster it ) 6 reps. Each set i up the weight with the last set almost my max limit. I get so fatigued on that last set, that when i cant finish (i dont now nor have i ever had a workout partner btw) I feel pissed at myself for failing. Like a pathetic fucking little girl. I'm not joking, i feel embarrassed of myself. Its been like this on and off for 20 years. The only way i could see me doing 10 sets of 10 would be a way lower weight. What % of my max should i use?


I have a piece of advise for others. Over the years many times has the rest of my life bumped my fitness off the tracks. Just getting burned out with routine, or work, my house, my family, and honestly sometimes my other hobbies. Once its off, its hard to get back on, almost discouraging. But fight through that shit!


Long ago I came to realize, I'll never be Arnold, never. As a young man growing up in the 80's, muscle culture was a huge influence on me and when I learned the truth about my "heroes" taking drugs to look the way they did... I was kinda crushed. Fact is, now I know that when I look into the mirror, I'll honestly never too much more than I am right now. All I can strive for is to build the best me with what I got to work with.

Steve you are in awesome shape by the way. I hope to look that good myself one day.

Since we're showing pics...
Embarrassingly, here's one of me at my absolute worst (my wedding believe it or not) 14 years ago. Obviously my wife saw more in me (thank goodness)




Here's a couple recent shots



That last one was a kissy pic i sent to my wife lol

Dude, you're in good shape, your upper body is pretty huge.


Me personally? I was in good shape for awhile during junior college due to me taking wight training classes. I'm 6'3" and got down to 218, but then I had a job injury (torn ACL + meniscus + bone damage), and I fell out of shape again. Once I had surgery and healed (as best I could), I got back into it a bit but never got in the shape I was before.

Now, about a year and a half ago, I suffered another work injury-- I tore by bicep tendon from the lower arm side. I had surgery and physical therapy, but I can't even lift more than 25 lbs. with the arm still. I've lost about half of the muscle due to atrophy. When they sew a tendon back to the muscle, it's impossible for all the muscle fibers to be re-attached and the ones that don't just shrivel up and die.

Oh, and my other elbow was fucked up from me breaking it at the age of 13 falling off a bike onto it. I never bothered me much in the past, but I think I'm either developing tendonitis or arthritis in it because it's hurting the hell out of me lately and it's stiff. I'm a mess...

What do you fitness guys think I can do for exercise safely? lol

 

[krautcroissant]

As mentioned somewhere before, this thread should not die!

Sorry I have not contributed at all.... but it is the looong school hols and I have been all over South East Asia and have really tried to stay away from a computer.
Training wise I have been surfing and have tried to do pull-ups and push-ups and on a regular basis, as well as making a lot of use of my home-made TRX.
As for abs and core strength, I recommend anyone to try out Suspension Strap Training, a la TRX. Like said, I made my own. There is plenty of info out there on how to make your own.

Downside of all this travelling is that I have slept poorly. Been out on the lash most nights, then up early to do shit and so on. I think I have put on some beef in the gut area... but maybe just paranoid lol.... anyway, the craziness is over now and it is now time for family visits: aka eating well, watching some TV for a change, training hard and sleeping loads! I will also have time to go through this thread properly and maybe will even be able to chip in with some personal experience and knowledge.

In the mean-time, I did take a couple of shots yesterday while in my mate's garden, doing pull-ups off his tree. Excuse me blocking the face out... just got my reasons

Keep training hard!

 

[Spike Spiegel]

@NipRing: You have a lot of muscle on you, great job. As for doing the 10x10, you'll have to do about 60% of your 1rm. I don't do it exclusively, I do all sort of things. I will do 5x5 with super heavy weight, and go extreme and do light weight with many reps/sets like the 10x10 (times 2) thing. I try to do all sorts of exercises to stimulate the muscles into growing.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Friend took this candid pic today at the gym. I was aware I probably made freaky faces while lifting, but seeing it still is even funnier.

 

[Average Joe]

 

[NipRing]

Alright, i almost stopped it when i saw "Bro Science", but that was pretty amusing. I can only assume his "guido" persona is a joke, but beneath ever joke is a little truth. I still lol'd

 

[Late]

The only way am I going to run is if I'm late to a bus.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

The only way am I going to run is if I'm late to a bus.

Bravo.