The Get in Shape, Eat Healthy, Better Yourself, Stay Positive, etc...2012 Thread!!! :) :)

Started my diet on Jan 1st. 
This is my one month check in....
 
Scale today says I'm down 13 pounds. 
I'm going to call it 11, just to be safe :P
 
Still a very good month. Hit my goal (10 pounds) and feeling good. 
 
The goal for February is 5 pounds. I should be hitting a wall soon so I dont want to set myself up for failure. 5 pounds a month here on out gets me to my goal by mid-summer. I'll be happy with that ;)
 
 

I've already lost 13 lbs with 27 more to go!

I'm down about 5 lbs, my goal is to be down another 5 lbs this month, I'm also hoping to reach my goal for my birthday (June 14), another 20 lbs to go.
 
6'1" and 235 right now. Once I'm @ 215 I might have another goal, we'll see how I feel.

Trained Lower Body this morning.
 
Squats
Backward Lunges
Good Mornings
Superset: Leg Extensions/Seated Leg Curls
Standing Calf Raises
Seated Leg Press Calf Raises
 
 
About to go and destroy my arms! :)
 
It's my birthday tomorrow so the diet will go out the window. Need to train hard today to make up for it

On the agenda for today:
 
30 Degree Incline Bench w/chains -5x5
DB Bench 2x15
Lat Pulldown 4x8
AMRAP 15 Minutes:
3 Push Press @ 155
6 Ring Pushups
9 Knees to Elbows
 

Page 9????
 
C'mon guys pull your fingers out!
 
Had a great week this week - still trying to work around a little shoulder twinge though. Bit annoying as I haven't been able to go that heavy on Bench and just general push training.
 
Having the weekend off just for a spot of rest, then I will be hitting legs hard again on Monday morning!

spikelineus


Page 9????

C'mon guys pull your fingers out!

Had a great week this week - still trying to work around a little shoulder twinge though. Bit annoying as I haven't been able to go that heavy on Bench and just general push training.

Having the weekend off just for a spot of rest, then I will be hitting legs hard again on Monday morning!

Nothing more annoying than a nagging injury. 
 
Have you ever been to check out MOBILITY WOD? Great stuff on there. Slowly but surely, I can feel my shitty hips getting a bit better based on some of the stuff Kelly Starrett has on there. 
 
Had a great one yesterday:
Death by bench press @ bodyweight - 197lbs. On the 1st minute perform 1 rep, on the 2nd perform 2, 3rd min 3 reps, etc...got to seven before I started to struggle and called it a day on that since I just didn't feel like maxing out on that before:
Every minute on the minute for 10 Mins perform 5 Pullups w/ 20lb vest and 10 sledge slams. Felt good (horrible) after that. 
 
Today nothing special - 10 sets of submaximal hang cleans and some squats. Had a horrible sleep last night, so called it at that as I just didn't have it today. 

Glad that Lent is here
 
A bit of a kick up the rear to avoid snacks

thefunkygibbons


Glad that Lent is here

A bit of a kick up the rear to avoid snacks

Unfortunately I still work ice cream into my diet as a staple 
 
LOL! 
 
I'm off to train back now anyway - lets get it on.
 
And no Bort - I will check that out later on! Cheers.

I'm currently in the early stages of bulking up. I've never been able to stay over 60kgs due to my fast metabolism. Last week I went to my local nutrition store and ordered some mass gain powder. Tried it out today and it tasted fantastic compared to some I tried a few years ago. I don't have a strict plan in place, due to university and work commitments, but my main goal is to exercise when I can and make sure I stay well fed. Also for general fitness I ride around the local area and do 10km rides every other day. Any other tips for me to keep gaining? 

Helbaird - just make sure that you don't get too carried away with putting on size. When I went through my 'bulking' period a couple of years ago, I just got fat. Yeah, I had muscle mass and my strength went through the roof, but I was pretty over weight. 
 
As far as 'bulking' goes (hate that word!), you need to just be sensible. The best way of doing it, is to find out your maintenance calorie levels, and just start slowly adding to that - maybe start off with 300 calories, and if you don't get any success with that, move it up to 500 calories. I wouldn't go much more than 500-600 over your maintenance level though. 
 
Weight gainers work, but they have a ridiculous amount of calories in them. I used to use one called Mammoth 2500 - two shakes a day provided me with an extra 2500 calories! Looking back, it was ridiculous but at the time it seemed like a good idea! LOL! 
 
As for what you actually lift, just stick to big compound lifts like Bench, Squats, Deadlifts and Clean And Jerks. Doing that sort of routine with a solid diet will really help you pack on some serious muscle. 
 
If anyone tells you that you need to put on a load of fat in order to gain muscle then they are giving you the wrong information. Bulking up is bullshit. Just eating as many carbs and calories as you can swallow really is a stupid way of going about the whole process. You have to be sensible, and track your calories. Tracking your calories is the only way to really know what you are giving your body.
 
Myfitnesspal is a great tool - I use it everyday to track what I am eating. 
 
Happy lifting! 

Back in harness at the gym but taking it a day at a time as it depends on the beloved's schedule

thefunkygibbons


Back in harness at the gym but taking it a day at a time as it depends on the beloved's schedule

I think that as soon as you have a significant other, training routines generally get shafted. When I wake up on a Sunday morning, I would much prefer to lie in bed with my girlfriend that go and train. Having said that, I have only had to sacrifice a couple of sessions a week. Which I can deal with she appreciates just how much it means to me which is awesome.
 
Trained Chest and Hamstrings this morning, followed by Core and Calves this evening after work. Still have a slight shoulder niggle, but it is slowly getting better. I think Calves are actually my favorite muscle group to train at the moment.

Hey guys.  So I read the first page (sorry kind of tired atm) and decided to join in on the fun.  Today was the first day I worked out in about three months.  Over the summer I had a nice solid plan and with school it fell apart.  Also didn't help that people I went with are not around anymore.
 
Anyways I have a new person to go to the gym with.  My friend who has never been before.  Today we did the elliptical for about half an hour.  She ran 1.5 miles while I did 2.5.  I chose this since it'd 1)help get her into exercising and you can go at your own pace and 2) because I am getting over a cold and not at 100% yet.  Surprisingly this helped out with clearing my nose while at the gym and for an hour or so after.  I'm feeling much better since I've gone.
 
We also did some ab workouts (she wants to focus on cardio and abs) and a bit of leg training.  I didn't drain her, but she had a good work out.  Wish I did some leg curls, leg extentions, and squats before leaving but we were there for an hour or so and it was good way to get back into it and for her to get started.

Sounds good silentman.
 
Keep it up.

So I've now gone three times since last friday and about to go again tomorrow.  I've been taking it easy and not pushing myself too hard.  To get back into it.  But I did some weight lifting with my upper body two days ago and I really took a beating.  Been sore ever since.  Not a bad sore but just still a bit achy since i haven't done it in a while.  I was just curious if  anyone has a good routine or particular exercises to do.
 
I'm trying to do
Day 1)Lower Body
Day 2)Upper Body
Day 3) Cardio
 
Each of those days have a bit of cardio built in since its my prime focus.  For days when I'm looking to focus on lifting I do about five minutes of running to get the heart rate up a bit and then some more at the end before doing my finishing stretches as a cool down type of thing.  Tomorrow is lower body again.

Took Little Funky to the gym last night for a trial
 
The one area he owns me is chin ups, which is can do due to low weight and good upper body strength

Silentman1994, you can't go wrong with Starting Strength or StrongLifts.  Also, you say cardio is your main focus...how come?  What are your goals?

Progator


I'm down about 5 lbs, my goal is to be down another 5 lbs this month, I'm also hoping to reach my goal for my birthday (June 14), another 20 lbs to go.

6'1" and 235 right now. Once I'm @ 215 I might have another goal, we'll see how I feel.

 
Well Down to 230 as of this morning so hit the 5lb mark right on the nose, I'm aiming for another 5 lbs this month!
 
Oh and another thing, on Phase 2 of the P90X2 program. This is the strength phase, and to my big surprise I was able to do about 7 4-medicine ball pushups. So you're 4 limbs are on balls

I've been doing those moves in the One on One discs for over a year now.  I can bang out about 35-40 4-ball pushups and 10-15 impossible pushups on a good day.  Great for the stabilizing muscles and core.

JasonB


Silentman1994, you can't go wrong with Starting Strength or StrongLifts.  Also, you say cardio is your main focus...how come?  What are your goals?

Well cardio is my main focus mostly because I'm starting to get involved with more 5Ks.  My first one during Halloween weekend was cancelled due to snow and shortly after that I realized that I couldn't run more than about 5 minutes without being winded. 
 
I really like lifting though.  I mean I enjoy doing that and makes me feel accomplished.  I like the the soreness you get when you are gaining muscles.  It just makes me feel like I've been doing a hard days work.
 
So my goal is to get up my stamina with cardio.  My friend that I'm going with has never worked out a day in her life but she wants to be able to get up a flight of stairs without being winded.  She is such a small girl too so we basically have the same basic goal.
 
I also want to lose between 10-20 pounds.  Last time I weighed myself I weighed around 190.  Not bad but thats 10 pounds heavier than I've weighed in the last 3 years.  I usually flux between 175-180 so I'd like to get down to 170 and stay there.  Though weight isn't my biggest concern as I'm also doing weight training and muscle is heavier than fat.  I just want to get rid of some extra fat.  If I can get down to 180 like I have been at and seem leaner with more muscle then I will be happy.
 
I also believe in a balanced work out.  I wouldn't only go and lift for upper body I'd also do lower body (not of the same day of course) but I also would not go just for cardio unless I was marathon training.  So as my main focus is cardio which I may lean to do a bit more of than lifting, once I feel I'm getting a longer stamina I may switch up my goals or at least focus less on it.

Oh ok, it definitely makes sense to focus a good bit on cardio if you're training for a 5K.  I'd just focus on compound movements with a program like Starting Strength or StrongLifts.  Both of them focus on the tried-and-true strength-building movements of barbell squat, barbell bench press, overhead barbell shoulder press, and barbell deadlift.  SS has you doing powercleans and SL has you doing barbell rows.
 
Since you're going to be spending a lot of time running, it'll also be good to not spend forever at the gym, and both of these programs have you doing three exercises a session, three days a week.  You'll be done lifting in 45 mins or so and you'll get a good bang for your buck.  You need to make sure you have a solid strength training program if you're dropping weight to ensure that the weight you lose is mostly fat instead of muscle.  Without a proper lifting regimen, a pear-shaped person will just become a smaller pear as they lose weight, so it's important to take your weight training seriously (not that you look like a pear, lol).  And eat a crapload of protein.
 
It should be noted that both of these programs have you squatting three times a week, and you might have to adjust the program accordingly if the you have an unusual amount of soreness in your legs, since you'll also be doing so much running.  Everyone is different when it comes to DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), so you'll have to feel it out.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll look into it.
 
I totally get the fact that strength training is very important part of working out.  I try to do about an hour or so of lifting when I go.  Right now its been crappy weather out so I am sticking mostly to the gym for cardio as well.  There is a nice reservoir to run around practically right next door when its nice enough out.  Though the good thing about treadmills and such is I can track how far I've run while outside its just an estimation.  I still prefer to be outside to run.
 
Also I prefer my gym back in Vermont and go there as often as possible.  Its a bit smaller but offers much more equipment that makes it easier to do bar bell training at.  Plus the people I go with there can actually spot me well.  My friend that I've been going with has zero muscle so part of what I'm doing with her is trying to build her strength some.  Her schedule isn't as open as mine so she does whatever I do when we go.
 

So my left shoulder is busted - taking a week off upper body and just focusing on lower body training. I love training LB so it's not too much of a big deal - I just seem to have strain after strain these days. Real pain in the ass.
 
Quads in the morning and Hammies in the PM.

Running the NYC half-marathon on Sunday. Gonna try to keep up with some of the Kenyans. Well, for the first half-mile anyway.

Here ya go Firewings! :)

Holy crap! Welcome back thread.. and since my ankle sprain 6 weeks ago.. I feel off the bandwagon a bit, 233 this morning though, just 3 lbs more then 6 weeks ago with all the crap I ate.
 
Time to face the music, I got 18 lbs to lose before my birthday,  June 14th.
 
How's everyone else doing? C'mon guys!!  Failing is not an option

Ran 10 miles today...man, them were some hills...calves are burning....but my training all through winter has left me with a solid base...need to get my weekly long run up to around 20-25ish miles over the next two months while keeping up with my cross training.
 
I spent all winter really hitting my upper body and doing tons of core work...which I plan to continue...wanna get my max set pushup count to over 60...then eventually 100...so those are my short term goals...
 
I have been dabbling with being a vegetarian and have cut a ton of things out of my diet and started taking glucosamine as well...so I can honestly say I feel better in the morning than I have in 5 or 6 years.

Thanks Scherz!!
 
Won't copy my other post here but I do need to remember to weigh myself.  I'm not in this necessarily to lose weight, but rather burn fat->get muscle and look built.  Looking good so far... need to buy a scale this week.

Back/calves/abs workout tonight for the first time in a couple weeks... can't wait!

Working on my Core tonight, yesterday worked on my Chest and Back
 
Diet is dialed in, this is great!