best way to tone up?

[nkhera1]

Re: best way to tone up?

What is considered cardio excercise besides swimming, running, and walking?

[APOC]

Re: best way to tone up?

What is considered cardio excercise besides swimming, running, and walking?

Any exercise where you can possibly keep your heart-rate up for extended periods of time is considered cardio. But keep in mind, a good percent of people out there who do cardio, ruin it by unhealthy eating habits. Self discipline is something many people lack. Doing an hour of cardio a day, and then eating at some greasy fast food place just set you back a couple of days. And it's more than just fast food, there are a lot of things around the house even that you eat subconciously that are bad for you without ever knowing it.

[APOC]

Re: best way to tone up?

Alright, I guess I'll chime in here as well, because I'm in need of help. First and foremost... I cut out all regular soda's, and just drink diets on occassions. Are diet soda's just as bad? Basically, the only thing you can drink is water?

Diet soda's don't have nearly as much sugar, but they are still carbonated. Water is by far the best thing for your body. While it's important to drink several glasses of plain water daily, you don't have to meet 100% of your fluid needs with simply water. Juices, soups, skim milk, herbal tea, decaffeinated coffee are good choices too. Caffeine and alcohol have a diuretic effect on the body, which means they cause you to make more urine and lose more water.

A little background information, and what I'm looking for. I'm about 6'3" and weigh about 195. Granted, I'm not fat by any means, but I do have a small tire around my waist. I have the dreaded love handles as well.

My question, what kind of routine would be good for me? I'm a very pick eater, and don't eat a whole lot of variety. Chicken is always one of my top foods though. Burgers, Steaks, etc... are another weak spot. As is mashed potatoes, and rolls. Are those bad foods for me per se?

I'm 6'4", 207 lbs, with under 10% body fat at the moment. Our size's are somewhat comparable.

It's good to keep chicken on your dinner plans for three maybe even four days of the week. Burgers, steaks, and such? With hamburger meat, hot dogs, sausages, and luncheon meats, your looking at 15-20 grams of fat per 3-6 oz. total on a daily basis. That is not good and not healthy. One thing you have to do when starting a diet is discipline yourself to reject all fatty foods, period. And pay attention to food labels. If you can't do that, you will fail. Now there are three types of Food Fat:

Saturated, Polyunsaturated, Monounsaturated.

The difference between them is the amount of hydrogen ions attached. So, if a fat has all the hydrogens it can handle, it's considered saturated. If it lacks only one hydrogen, it's monounsaturated fat, and if it's missing several, than it's polyunsaturated. Being familar with these fats will help when reading food labels at the grocery store. People with high blood cholesterol should without a doubt learn more about them.

If and when I have to eat fast food, I always get the chicken tenders/nuggets rather than the burgers. Granted, I know that they are processed...

My advice to you, lay off the nuggets. If you absolutely have to eat fast food, which you should give up if you want results, simply get any kind of grilled chicken. Besides the chicken, the white flour used in the buns and the fat% in the sauce are not good. Wheat flour is the best way to go as far as bread.

I guess, what would be a good schedule for me? i have a bowflex, so if you know of any routines, that would be awesome.

Schedules vary from person to person. It all depends on what your trying to achieve. It sounds like you want a good set of ABs. Research is key. Go the bookstore and buy a book on ABs, that is the best single source of information. Books can do wonders for you.

Also, it's good that you have a Bow-Flex (though if the resistance isn't as tense as the day you bought it, your not going to get a good workout). If your looking for more than just great ABs, ditch the Flex and get a membership to a Gym if you don't have one already. The Gym offers so much more and there are so many things you can use to do your advantage.

Remember, self-discipline is the most important tool. Your mind is the greatest motivator of all. The power of your mind will allow you to push through your preconceived limits. To get to the next step (even if it's just ABs) you have to create a vision and work toward it every single day, unleashing your unused potential, and pushing yourself to places you never thought you could go.

[WTF]

Re: best way to tone up?

APOC, thanks for the reply. As far as joining a gym.. the closest gym to me is around 40 miles away, so it's not that easy for me to do. Thats the reason for the bowflex in the first place.

But yeah, my abs are what I want back. When I used to play basketball, I had great abs. Then my senior year, I went down with a knee injury, and that had its effect on me.

My freshman year of college, while I was rehabbing trying to get back into playing shape, I tore every ligament in my other knee requiring right knee reconstruction. After finally rehabbing my way back from that, I had one final injury, falling on my back onto a curb at work, herniating a couple of lower discs. Since then, my abs have been non existant.

I know that somehow I can get them back, but with my lack of food options (I'm extremely picky on eating), it's hard for me to cut out some foods. I know that burgers are not good for me, but are there any certain types of beef (Ground chuck, etc) that would be okay for me? If not, what would you suggest? Chicken is my staple food, whether it be breaded, or skinless.

Potatoes? French Fries I enjoy, but I can do without. But mashed potatoes, etc?

I guess I'm looking for a workout that will yeild results. I have lost quite a bit around my waist, but I still have that spare tire look, and I really want to get rid of that. Would you say that 200-210 is a good weight for 6'4" guys? I don't want to be huge, I want to be back to my athletic frame, with good abs.

[SidVish]

Re: best way to tone up?

Steer clear of alcohol? I would rather die.

Yeah! F that.

[Victor99]

Re: best way to tone up?

I'm by no means a fittness expert but I do know some proven methods.

1-Water. Very important. You should be drinking a ton of it. At least 12 cups a day. A lot more if you are very active. Hydraytion is so very important to our bodies.

2-Six small meals a day as opposed to three large ones. This will increase your metabolism and energy level. By a small meal, I don't mean two big macs and supersize fries either. 350-500 calories would be a small meal. A turkey sandwich and a piece of fruit perhaps. Eat a small meal every 2 to 3 hours.

3-Cardio. Treadmill, stairstepper, elliptical machine, whatever. As long as your moving your body for around 30 minutes a day and getting your heart rate up for an extended period of time.

4- Resistance training. Very important as well. Cardio ain't enough alone. around 3 times a week. A personal trainer is reccommended if you are new to resistance training. Most gyms have them readily avaiable.

[WTF]

Re: best way to tone up?

Victor, with resistance training, can you get that with a BowFlex? If so, what would you suggest? What workouts? I'm too far away from a gym... so that's a no go.

[APOC]

Re: best way to tone up?

I'm by no means a fittness expert but I do know some proven methods.

1-Water. Very important. You should be drinking a ton of it. At least 12 cups a day. A lot more if you are very active. Hydraytion is so very important to our bodies.

2-Six small meals a day as opposed to three large ones. This will increase your metabolism and energy level. By a small meal, I don't mean two big macs and supersize fries either. 350-500 calories would be a small meal. A turkey sandwich and a piece of fruit perhaps. Eat a small meal every 2 to 3 hours.

3-Cardio. Treadmill, stairstepper, elliptical machine, whatever. As long as your moving your body for around 30 minutes a day and getting your heart rate up for an extended period of time.

4- Resistance training. Very important as well. Cardio ain't enough alone. around 3 times a week. A personal trainer is reccommended if you are new to resistance training. Most gyms have them readily avaiable.

Never get a personal trainer. Buy a book, they give you all the information you'll need for the best possible workout. PT's charge way too much and really depending on what type of people they are, may not give you your money's worth.

[Victor99]

Re: best way to tone up?

Victor, with resistance training, can you get that with a BowFlex? If so, what would you suggest? What workouts? I'm too far away from a gym... so that's a no go.

Sure, free weights, bowflex, weight stack machines, etc. All of those are resistance training, just different forms of it. Here would be a sample workout routine.

Day 1- Upper Body Training/Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps

Day 2- 30 Minute Cardio

Day 3- Lower Body Training/Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Abs

Day 4- 30 Minute Cardio

Day 5- Cycle Repeats

[Victor99]

Re: best way to tone up?

Never get a personal trainer. Buy a book, they give you all the information you'll need for the best possible workout. PT's charge way too much and really depending on what type of people they are, may not give you your money's worth.

It depends. If you are a member of a gym or health club the facility will usually provide them free of charge. Now, a home personal trainer, that's a different story.

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: best way to tone up?

thought I'd update progress here in the thread on my weight loss... Here's the updates so far.


Thursday January 26, 2006




Beginning Fitness Levels




Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 226
Biceps: 15”
Waist: 43”
Chest : 44”
Legs: 22”
Neck: 17.5”
Head: 23”



Thursday February 2, 2006



Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 224
Biceps: 14”
Waist: 40”
Chest: 41.8”
Legs: 22.7”
Neck: 17”
Head: 23.5”

Inches lost week 1: 5.5”
Total inches lost: 5.5

[WTF]

Re: best way to tone up?

Superstar, what kind of routine are you doing? And man, 3" off of the waist in a week? That's crazy. I just want to lose 2" period off of my waist, and I'm lost on how to do it. IN the past week, I've lost 2.5 lbs, but no inches. I just want that small section of fat gone again.

Somebody help me!

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: best way to tone up?

Superstar, what kind of routine are you doing? And man, 3" off of the waist in a week? That's crazy. I just want to lose 2" period off of my waist, and I'm lost on how to do it. IN the past week, I've lost 2.5 lbs, but no inches. I just want that small section of fat gone again.

Somebody help me!

I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that I'm horribly overweight.... I'm usually in the 180's not 220's! But what I do is go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.... Monday and Thursday is upper, and Tuesday, and Friday is lower body. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday I do 8.25 miles on a stationary bike due to my flat feet, that cause me problems while running. I work my abs really hard, lucky for me, we have a decent gym here at school and I take full advantage of it. Also I only drink water and beer. Not something I recommend, the beer part that is, but I drink a gallon of water a day. For abs I use a couple of pieces of equipment, but there's this thing where you lay flat on your stomach and you pick up a weight off the floor and you bring your body back up to horizontal position. I've become addicted to the weight room, I can't ever see myself not going now it's great!


BTW... I've been going about a month now, I just started to track progress last week.


Hope all this helps, and good luck!

[WTF]

Re: best way to tone up?

Congratulations on the transformation. I hope you can get down to your goal. It's extremely hard. I was around 215 when I ate out all of hte time, but now I'm back down to around 193... I'm still working on the midsection, but I'm getting there. Thanks for the tips.

[Victor99]

Re: best way to tone up?

The key to nutrition is moderation, moderation, and moderation. It's ok to eat pizza, but I don't eat it EVERYDAY. It's ok to eat ice cream, but I don't eat it EVERYDAY. If I splurge a little one day, I cut back the next day or two. Nutrition isn't complicated at all IMO, but some people make it out to be.