Well I did it (Fitness related)

Post by **DiscoDave** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 11:57 am

..I finally joined the gym lol.

Just wondering if some of the fitness fanatics on the boards can give me a few pointers. Im currently a uni student plus i have bad time management..So im wondering how many times a week I should go?

I was thinking of going Monday-Wednesday-Friday for a couple of hours each session.

I'll probably end up getting a fitness plan done for me but apart from that i need to sort out my diet.

Are there any particular things I need to avoid? I've already highlighted two main things i need to trim down on - Bread and Potatoes, plus i eat quite a lot of pasta.

I used to work on a cross trainer at home and if I remember correctly, i shouldn't really be loosing more than 2lbs a week, as past that it would be either loosing water or muscle mass. But im not too sure.

Would appreciate some input, thanks

David

Post by **mrd** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:09 pm

I don't see any reason why you'd wanna stop eating those, unless you eat all three of them every day or something. Pasta is a pretty good source of energy. Potatoes and bread are just kinda.. not really good for too much. Just filler hah. Are you going for cardio or weight lifting?

Post by **DiscoDave** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:11 pm

Well sometimes i eat pasta almost every other day

love the stuff.

I'm going cardio for now, will do some weights but it will mainly be cardio workouts until i can slim down.

Post by **mrd** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:13 pm

I wouldn't worry about the pasta too much. Just don't have oversized portions when you do eat it. At least if you're going for cardio training every 2nd day as well, you're putting it to good use. If you ate it that often and sat on your ass 24/7 then you might wanna think about cutting down. Once you start doing weight-lifting talk to tnf.. he's the resident weight lifting dude around here heh.

Post by **raw** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:21 pm

If you're trying to lose weight you can do that by just eating 3 square meals a day no more than 6 hours a part. As your parents probably told you as a kid "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Well, they were 100% right.

Working out isn't going to get you the results alone you want, you have to make a lifestyle change if you're looking to lose body fat.

Pasta is very starchy and eating that every day can't be good for you. You need to eat more protiens, less sugars, and avoid fatty foods. If you do that with three square meals; combined with working out and you should be ok.

One thing you need to do is develop a workout routine instead of just going to the gym and doing whatever you're in the mood for. I track all of my progress on a dry-erase board in my workout room and then transfer my gains, workout routine changes (add or take away weight or reps) on an excel spread sheet so I can track my progress.

Post by **phantasmagoria** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:41 pm

I gave up pasta, cheese and butter about a year ago and am three and a half stone lighter for it. I haven't changed my lifestyle at all, i've just stopped eating so much shit.

Giving up pasta is easy, just replace it with rice and the other two were just snack food anyway, butter can be replaced with olive oil spread and I've just given up cheese.

I also eat a tin of fish a day, whether or not omega3 is a placebo I dont know, but it's made be feel a hell of a lot better.

Post by **plained** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 4:42 pm

dont wear yourself out.

younger people feel less damage on themselves.

Post by **tnf** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:42 pm

yes, younger people tend to overwork things...

Post by **Fjoggs** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:43 pm

phantasmagoria wrote:I also eat a tin of fish a day, whether or not omega3 is a placebo I dont know, but it's made be feel a hell of a lot better.

The brain consists of 97% fat/omega3 or some, so it must be healthy ;]

Post by **mik0rs** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:48 pm

I'll probably get told I'm wrong for this now tnf's here

When I was cutting (losing weight, whatever the fuck you want to call it) and I was getting the best results I was lifting 3 nights and running 3 nights alternately. Eating 5 or 6 small meals a day helped as well because it kept me ticking over instead of loading it with calories in big chunks and starving between meals.

Anyhow I dropped 28lbs (it went up to 35 but that was after a big plateau.

Basically it was:

Monday: Chest/Triceps
Tuesday: Running (40 mins, 65-70% MHR)
Wednesday: Back/Biceps
Thursday: Running (same as Tues)
Friday: Legs (Squats, presses, extensions)
Saturday: Running (same as tues)
Sunday: Off

Depends what you can manage really, but this work really well for me and I didn't noticably drop an ounce of muscle.

And overworking will cause you to lose muscle if you're eating too little protein or hitting the cardio too hard IIRC, you'll always lose water but you get that back by drinking more, nothing to worry about on that score, the only problem that'll cause is if you weigh yourself in the morning and think you've lost more than you think if you're a bit dehyrated.

Post by **DiscoDave** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:10 pm

Thanks for all your comments so far.

Unfortunatly mik0rs I dont think I have the time go so so flat out, with uni work and such. But I will try and do a mixture of cardio and weights.

I used to work out on a cross trainer back home which made a big difference, so I will mainly concentrate on that. But i will still go and get a personal plan done with the trainers there.

I've always been intimidated by going to the gym, having this illusion of the place just being full of incredibly perfect bodied people with not a ounce of fat on them, but it wasn't too bad.

I'll also try and eat less, more frequently and see what happens. It takes me 20mins to walk to uni, 30mins to get into town so the walking should also help.

Cheers guys

Post by **[xeno]Julios** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:15 pm

ever considered buying a bicycle?

Post by **DiscoDave** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:17 pm

It'll get nicked round the part of town I live in

Post by **phantasmagoria** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:21 pm

For that very reason you can pick bikes up extremely cheaply from local auction rooms, every month or so the police sell loads off. You can get a kick ass bike for as little as £20

Post by **[xeno]Julios** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:21 pm

btw if u're looking to lose weight, try out HIIT

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

Post by **feedback** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:47 pm

Don't bother, you're going to stop going to the gym within 2 months anway.

Post by **bitWISE** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:52 pm

feedback wrote:Don't bother, you're going to stop going to the gym within 2 months anway.

yeah

Post by **mik0rs** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:17 pm

feedback wrote:Don't bother, you're going to stop going to the gym within 2 months anway.

That'd still better the idiots that that to turn up after Christmas at the other gyms I went to. "Oh my god that was a great workout, time to celebrate with a block of lard" *Never goes to the gym again* January is hell for people who really want to get fit i.e. me

Post by **DooMer** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:23 pm

You're gonna die some day. Nothing matters in the end. Use the time to masturbate.

Post by **Dark Metal** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:49 pm

DooMer wrote:You're gonna die some day. Nothing matters in the end. Use the time to masturbate.

lol

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:50 pm

feedback wrote:Don't bother, you're going to stop going to the gym within 2 months anway.

:icon14:

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:19 pm

[xeno]Julios wrote:btw if u're looking to lose weight, try out HIIT

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

Interesting, I'll try that in report back in about 8 weeks. I'm supposed to warm up and cool down too, right?

Post by **[xeno]Julios** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:47 pm

dunno - warmin up's never a bad idea though