2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

[Feared]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Day off from work today, but no day off from working out. Ripped up the abs with some weighted sit-ups (25 lb plate on my chest) Bicycle kicks, and hanging oblique twists on a pull up bar.. then went for a pretty intense run.

Now sipping on my BCAA drink, and eating a Banana.

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I'm off work, as well... going to get after it later, tonight.

[Lava]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Just got P90X in the mail so I'm getting ready to start that. Do you guys have any supplements you recommend as far as vitamins/protein etc.? Any other tips? Goal is to get started now and finish just in time for Thanksgiving.

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Just got P90X in the mail so I'm getting ready to start that. Do you guys have any supplements you recommend as far as vitamins/protein etc.? Any other tips? Goal is to get started now and finish just in time for Thanksgiving.

What are you looking to accomplish ?

It really depends on if you're looking to bulk up, cut up, or burn fat.

My favorite protein has always been Syntha-6. It's the best tasting protein I've tried (only tried a handful), but it's also got some extra stuff that really isn't best if you're looking to cut calories and burn fat. It has some added vitamins and amino acids too.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

So fatty here, 6'3" 254 at the start. My wife joins a gym, I feel it's a waste if I DON'T join (bonus family points!) and after five months I'm down to 237. I'm stronger (just doing balanced weight training, some basketball cardio along with walking the dog, and swimming) but the problem I'm finding is that my muscles push out my fat. So while I'm slimmer, my tits are much more prominent. WTF!?

I will say the key is going low-ish carb and high protein. No more two slices of bread with peanut butter for breakfast...now I have bacon/sausage/veggie patties with fruit, and that's it. Low carb wrap for lunch with lunchmeat and cheese with a salad, and a regular dinner (can't screw over my child...he must know the joys of rice and pasta!).

[Lava]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

What are you looking to accomplish ?

It really depends on if you're looking to bulk up, cut up, or burn fat.

My favorite protein has always been Syntha-6. It's the best tasting protein I've tried (only tried a handful), but it's also got some extra stuff that really isn't best if you're looking to cut calories and burn fat. It has some added vitamins and amino acids too.

I'm 6'2", about 178 lbs. so mostly I'm looking to bulk and cut. I have gotten a little bit of fat around the belly (nothing crazy, obviously) since last fall when I weighed 165 which is part of what got me motivated to finally do P90X. Appreciate the suggestion.

[cubsfan203]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I'm 6'2", about 178 lbs. so mostly I'm looking to bulk and cut. I have gotten a little bit of fat around the belly (nothing crazy, obviously) since last fall when I weighed 165 which is part of what got me motivated to finally do P90X. Appreciate the suggestion.

I don't know that I would do P90X unless you are trying to lose a significant amount of weight. Otherwise you will wind up losing more than you want if you don't eat a crazy amount of calories. Bulking and cutting at the same time is pretty much impossible, your best bet would be a "clean" bulk.

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I don't know that I would do P90X unless you are trying to lose a significant amount of weight. Otherwise you will wind up losing more than you want if you don't eat a crazy amount of calories. Bulking and cutting at the same time is pretty much impossible, your best bet would be a "clean" bulk.

I found this to be true, also.

I spent a few months building more mass and once I got to my ideal size, I've been cutting ever since. If you're looking to get bigger first, Syntha wouldn't be a bad protein. I just never suggest it for anyone who's trying to shred fat.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Yeah I haven't really messed with many supplements right now as the majority I see seem to be geared to bulking up, while I have the muscle for my size there I just want to cut the fat then get more cut.

[duke776]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I'm officially all over the place with my weight. A month and a half ago I was about 183 trying to get to 185 before school started. That's also when I started working again and very odd hours that change week to week. I didn't have a lot of time between lifting, working and I usually spend 2-3 hours a day working on something baseball related.

Not trying to make excuses, I don't have the desire to down the ~3500 calories I need to add weight right now. Which isn't such a bad thing because I still get in the gym everyday and my motivation hasn't gone down, just my motivation to stuff my face has. But I am okay with that for right now.

I need about 2800-3000 calories to maintain my weight at 180 which I've learned through a lot of trial and error. But I haven't even been getting that since starting work, I've only been eating 2500 a day.

I now stand at 6'3 174. I've done it without losing any noticeable muscle mass. My brother mention to me the other day that he could tell I leaned up a little in the past month or two. I didn't have much fat on me when I was at 183 (I was maybe 12% body fat) but he was like you have your pre-"bulk" abs back. I don't know what exact body fat percentage I'm at now but maybe 9 or 10ish area.

My goal isn't to be the biggest guy out there (and I won't kid myself thinking I am), but it's to mainly to get stronger. Even though I'm back at the weight I was at the beginning of this year, I have made strength gains and that's what matters most to me. I am also glad I have a little size on me now-a-days, before I ever started lifting (about June '11) I was 6'3 155 and a complete stick. Now I am a decent size, nothing amazing, but I am very happy with where I'm at.

I also finally learned how to squat correctly. It only took me forever lol, but I had tried on and off for a while now but I was very determined to get it down so I just repped it out on low weight until I got the form down about two months ago. I still don't do lots of weight, but hey everyone's gotta start somewhere. I don't like comparing myself to others because there's always gonna be someone stronger/bigger than myself.

[Lava]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Feared]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Well my goal coming into this summer was to develop bigger arms, and all things considered I think I'm on the right track. Nothing amazing, but consider this time last year it would be hard to distinguish my arms from pencils... I've come a long way. Yes I was that pathetically skinny.



PS. Yes I know I'm cheating by pressing my arms against myself, and this is directly after a Tricep workout so I still have some of that post-workout pump effect going. But I need all the help I can get.

Still can't get satisfied, I think my real opportunity areas are still Chest, Lats, Shoulders.. So I'm really going to focus upcoming workouts on hitting those areas hard, and I really need to put more leg work in. I think my end of the year goals for this winter are to Bulk as much as possible, and try to cut by next summer. Hopefully tack on another 10-15 lbs of lean mass.

Kind of crazy but between my busy work schedule, and working out I never actually made it to the Beach this summer. Literally every day off was chores, and tasks or I was busy fitting work outs in. I promise by next summer I will make it out to the Beach..


Also would like to give a big thanks to Rules, for making this thread and also all the the active posters in this thread. You guys have been real motivators for me. I love reading about your trials, and success stories, and it helps me when I have down days to come on this thread read about how you guys are progressing and it reminds me of why I started working out in the first place. Kudos, and keep up your fitness goals!

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Man it's so good to be home. I've been away from home for a few months with a work related training program that made it hard to do anything (I also had limited Internet access other than on my old crappy phone so I hadn't been posting much). I still did bodyweight exercises and watched what I ate and kept dropping weight but I wasn't working out like I was before and have definitely lost some strength and muscle size. I've been following the progress here and you guys have been doing some good stuff.

Been home properly for two days now and first day I did a nice 40 minute full body weight lifting session to ease back into it and this morning i did 30 minutes boxing on the heavy bag. Really looking to finish the year off well fitness wise!

[l3ulvl]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Question for you fitness dudes: how bad is it to exercise while drunk?

[cubsfan203]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Don't see how it could be bad unless you were drunk to the point where you might hurt yourself. Would just have to make sure and drink tons of water to keep yourself hydrated.