Tips for working out??

[CeltBhoy33]

Re: Tips for working out??

I've lost a little bit of weight this week...Went from 172.2 to 170.6 now. Decided I'll be running my first 10k in late march.

You shouldn't weigh yourself every week. More like every month is better to keep track. I used to do it every week and I would get like 190 one week then the next I would get 195 and I would feel amazed by that then I would shoot right down to 189 which didn't seem fair. So I do it by month now but to each there own.

[jnofx]

Re: Tips for working out??

OK, I have a question about a recurring problem I have when working out....

Yesterday, I played basketball for probably about 2.5 hours. First few games were half-court, not too taxing at all. Then we switched it up to full-court as we got a couple more guys in. So by the end of it all, I had developed a monster head-ache. This happens to me a lot when doing aerobics of any kind. When I got home, I was pretty much incapacitated due to my pounding head. I just tried to go to bed, and woke up at 230 AM, head still rockin, took a couple of Excedrin Migraine that were just laying around, and by the time I got up for work at 8 this morning, my head was much better.

I'm 24, and this has been kind of an ongoing thing for me for as long as I can remember. My brother has the same thing. Sometimes I take an Aleve or something before I even start to work out, but I was wondering what is going on. Is it a dietary problem? A hydration problem? Does it happen to everybody? Any answers or even theories would be appreciated.

[BurghFan]

Re: Tips for working out??

Sounds like you're either gettting dehydrated or your electrolytes are getting out of whack. Try drinking more water or perhaps even gatorade/pwoerade before and during the game.

[Matt10]

Re: Tips for working out??

Sounds like you're either gettting dehydrated or your electrolytes are getting out of whack. Try drinking more water or perhaps even gatorade/pwoerade before and during the game.

I second that - hydrate throughout the day. If you are drinking water at work, get a marker and for every cup you drink , write down "1", you should have 8 cups before the day is over.

I'm starting to do that, every cup I put water in, i mark "1", I got to only "5" today - but still, it's an improvement.

Hydrate during the day, then gatorade during sports/activities.

Pilates rocks btw! Today was the second day (we are doing it everyday for 2 months, then every other day after that), my abs are not sore to the point of hurting - but I can feel them being worked. I feel "taller" too for some reason, like my entire body is stretched out. Strange feeling, but I like it.

[jnofx]

Re: Tips for working out??

OK guys, I'll definitely try to hydrate better during my work day. I usually have like 1 big glass of water throughout the day, sometimes more. The glass is probably like 3-4 cups of water, which probably isn't enough, considering I'm on my feet the entire time I'm working. I drink a lot of water during my workout, but I suppose I should do better with it earlier on in the day. Not a huge gator/powerade fan during the workout. I like it after the workout, but I just prefer water during. I suppose I could try the sports drinks for the "electrolyte" factor, but electrolytes almost seem like a marketing gimmick to me anymore, lol.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Tips for working out??




But really, you should drink more water throughout the day. If you like to drink soft drinks and other crap like that don't drink them leading up to when you play. Just stick to water, it's the basic building block of life.

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Tips for working out??

OK guys, I'll definitely try to hydrate better during my work day. I usually have like 1 big glass of water throughout the day, sometimes more. The glass is probably like 3-4 cups of water, which probably isn't enough, considering I'm on my feet the entire time I'm working. I drink a lot of water during my workout, but I suppose I should do better with it earlier on in the day. Not a huge gator/powerade fan during the workout. I like it after the workout, but I just prefer water during. I suppose I could try the sports drinks for the "electrolyte" factor, but electrolytes almost seem like a marketing gimmick to me anymore, lol.

From what I know Powerade and Gatorade help you with hydration, but the sugar level is way to high. I keep atleast +5 protein on anything I eat or drink. If you are already fit it really cant hurt you, but if you are trying to lose weight and get healthier...Gatorade is close to worthless.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Tips for working out??

Someone wanna find me a video on the best way to do a proper crunch? I'm starting crunches and push ups to get a little work in, then I will move onto weights.

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Tips for working out??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDaXEI2SSU&feature=channel

I do these..Really burns your abs. Once you get stronger...Slowly increase in weight. Seen some nice results. Also dont be afraid to try new things. If it strains your back too much...Then you need to work on your core. Until then do some regular situps.</EMBED></EMBED>

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Tips for working out??

So what is a good weight regiment? I remember back in the HS days we would do something like 10 lifts at 60% of max weight, 8 at 70%, 6 at %80 and 4 at 90% (just guessing on these, it was that type of workout though)

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Tips for working out??

So what is a good weight regiment? I remember back in the HS days we would do something like 10 lifts at 60% of max weight, 8 at 70%, 6 at %80 and 4 at 90% (just guessing on these, it was that type of workout though)

I dont believe in percentages. What I do is for example:

Lets say curls

50 lbs: 14 reps
60 lbs: 12 reps
70 lbs: 10 reps
80 lbs: 8 reps
(If you feel any more energy move up in weights if you are done go back to your min. weight and do 10 reps of that.)

I go until I cannot go anymore on each and every part of my routine. But if you cannot lift anything accept it and lower your weights...There is no shame in it. I usually just go on to 90lbs with 6 reps if Im feeling pretty good.

Another tip is to have a good amount of the right nutrients and creatines in your system, because if you lift that hard...You will wear quickly.

If you guys ever hit a plateu (Which I did a week ago) it's time to get more intense with your diet and workout. Seeing extreme results in the past few days.

[Hova57]

Re: Tips for working out??

well weigh at WW was last nite doing good so far lost 3.4 so i'm down almost 10 in three weeks. started using weights last week and gonna try to use the in laws tread mill in combo with weights i hope i get the full ten off nex week. slow and steady but the excercise need to intensify for me.

[Money99]

Re: Tips for working out??

Working out is only half the battle, you have to make sure and eat right or you'll be wasting your time.

Eating right is about 90% of the battle.

Seriously, you can throw a dart at the thousands of programs out there but it won't me squat if your diet sucks.

To the OP, I'm sure your friend has some great workout advice.
The best thing you can do is watch your diet and don't cheat yourself during your workouts.
Go hard and don't miss too many workouts.

I read a stat once that claimed 50% of people who work out consistently for more than 6 months will continue to work out regularly for at least 3 years.
So get past that 6 month barrier and you're set.

P.S. When I've plateaued (most beginners won't know what this is like for 2+ years), I end up doing less.
I hit a wall last year and nothing I did got me through it. I would do super-sets, drop sets, more sets, more reps, thinking I should up my volume and intensity.
It did nothing.
But then I read some interesting stuff. I ended up taking 2 weeks off.
I did NOTHING.
When I got back, I was able to add 5 or 10 lbs to most of my exercises and blew through everything.
Remember, rest is what builds your muscles. Your muscles won't grow as you're working out. Only rest will do that.
Right now, I'm on a great program where I do less reps, sets and I rest more inbetween sets. I even take off an entire week every 8 weeks.
It's worked out great so far. I've increased my max bench by 30 lbs over a 3 month period.

There's lots of great programs out there and it's good to mix things up for variety.
But I've found that you shouldn't change your program drastically every 6-12 weeks. For me, I've found it's best to stay on a program for a minimum of 6 months. That's the only way you'll know if you're gaining properly.
Building muscle and strength is a slow process (unless you're on steroids).

But in the end, like I mentioned before, if you want to LOOK different in the sense of more cut, bulky, etc. diet controls that; not how many reps or sets you do.

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Tips for working out??

Eating right is about 90% of the battle.

Seriously, you can throw a dart at the thousands of programs out there but it won't me squat if your diet sucks.

To the OP, I'm sure your friend has some great workout advice.
The best thing you can do is watch your diet and don't cheat yourself during your workouts.
Go hard and don't miss too many workouts.

I read a stat once that claimed 50% of people who work out consistently for more than 6 months will continue to work out regularly for at least 3 years.
So get past that 6 month barrier and you're set.

P.S. When I've plateaued (most beginners won't know what this is like for 2+ years), I end up doing less.
I hit a wall last year and nothing I did got me through it. I would do super-sets, drop sets, more sets, more reps, thinking I should up my volume and intensity.
It did nothing.
But then I read some interesting stuff. I ended up taking 2 weeks off.
I did NOTHING.
When I got back, I was able to add 5 or 10 lbs to most of my exercises and blew through everything.
Remember, rest is what builds your muscles. Your muscles won't grow as you're working out. Only rest will do that.
Right now, I'm on a great program where I do less reps, sets and I rest more inbetween sets. I even take off an entire week every 8 weeks.
It's worked out great so far. I've increased my max bench by 30 lbs over a 3 month period.

There's lots of great programs out there and it's good to mix things up for variety.
But I've found that you shouldn't change your program drastically every 6-12 weeks. For me, I've found it's best to stay on a program for a minimum of 6 months. That's the only way you'll know if you're gaining properly.
Building muscle and strength is a slow process (unless you're on steroids).

But in the end, like I mentioned before, if you want to LOOK different in the sense of more cut, bulky, etc. diet controls that; not how many reps or sets you do.

As I agree eating right is definitely thee most important thing...Reps do infact make a difference. Along those lines of resting your muscles you are absolutely right. People tend to overwork muscles which infact destroys muscle tissue. For me I wait 48 hours before doing weights again.

This is what I usually do...

Sunday: Full body workout + cardio
Monday: Cardio
Tuesday: Arms and cardio
Wednesday: Legs and cardio
Thursday: off
Friday: cardio
Saturday: off

Needless to say I do hate sundays, but my muscles are always ready to go because I usually take it easy at the end of weekdays because of the hours I have at my job. I am trying this new thing where I changed my diet (Because I was not seeing results)

On run days I take in more carbs while on weight days I take in more protein. On my full body I try to keep my calories between 1900-2600 in a good balance chicken and vegetables and a few low sodium triscuits.

I feel more energetic than ever now...And the new routine does help. So keeping a routine for 6 months is not always the answer, because everyone is different. I was on basic stuff in the first 3 months...Now it's a little more hardcore and the results are definitely nice to see.

[Money99]

Re: Tips for working out??

^^^^

I should have said that amount of reps really doesn't do that much for change in body type.
At least for me.

If you do heavy weights and low reps, you'll gain crazy strength.
I know that a lot of people say that high reps, low weight equal increase in muscle size.
But I never saw that great of change when I'd switch to that rep scheme.

To me, I always noticed a change in my body type depending on my diet and amount of cardio I did per week.

So right now, I'm on Max-OT as I don't care about size as much as I used to. I want to have strength and raw power as I get older.
And if I want to gain size, I'll consume more protein and keep my caloric intake high with smart carbs.