Sit-ups suck, but if you are military, they are an everyday focus. :sadg:
I think the APFT needs to be reworked to something other than redundant situps
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Sit-ups suck, but if you are military, they are an everyday focus. :sadg:
I think the APFT needs to be reworked to something other than redundant situps
I have very much let myself go. The sets of situps where at the end of a 2hr gym workout. Mind you as a contract gold explorer I had to be very fit, mainly in stamina. So I was doing a lot of cardio and reps until failure. I wasn't going for bulk or speed, but more endurance and raising my pain threshold. Yet even with all the workouts I would lose peak fitness compared with being on the job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Byzantine Prince
Nowadays as a server tech, I don't need that level of fitness to do my job. But I have overdone the lack of exercise. ~:eek: `
9x25 sets of crunches, 3 in each direction.
I can go on and on with sit-ups for a long long time. So I just stop when I have to do something else. I don't know what the most numbers of sit-ups I can do are.
Ah Dut:
Do sit-ups burn fat on your stomach? I have some excess I need to get rid of (It is not serious, but it could potentially put the brakes on the kind of moment I don't want to put the brakes on. "Oh... no wonder you wear loose shirts." :tongue:) If not, that is okay; I am also walking about an hour or more every day, so I should be rid of it in about a year. No rush. ~:cheers:
I do 50 in one sitting. I could do more, but I would throw up pretty soon afterwards.
Good question. I really don't know how many I could do, or even that I should. Turns out I've lost seven pounds since I started working at my latest job...one meal per day isn't cutting it, it seems.
Just for the sake of competition, as it is not that effective of a sit-up, I could do 75 in a minute back in the day (consistently 2-3 less than a buddy of mine, Oh I was soo gunna catch him!). Now I do 1 every morning, up, out of bed.~DQuote:
Originally Posted by SwordsMaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorba
I know the question isn't for me, but I just couldn't let it sit there... ~D
You don't spot-burn fat. Nor can you "convert" fat into muscle. You will have to build muscle, then lose fat, generally in that order too. Whatever exercise you do will burn fat in your body in general, more or less evenly. Men and women burn fat faster in some places (or, rather, they accumulate fat faster in specific areas), and some people have a faster metabolism which will help them burn fat too.
Just for the sake of mentioning it, the biggest muscles in your body are in your legs. Thats why people who earn a living with their legs tend to stay in shape. If you want to lose fat, do squats. Lots of them.
:jumping: I thought the best plan was to lose fat first, then put the weight back on in muscle. Then again, I'm not very informed on this... :jumping:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
See, when you are putting on muscle, you will put on fat too, because you will need to eat a lot more. Of course, if fat mechanically prevents you from eercising then you will have to lose the excess first.
200 per day, 50 to the left 50 to the right, and 100 regular, I also use 30-50 lbs. dumbells pressed against my chest... your learn these kinds of techniques when your best friend is a master fitness trainer within the 101st Airborne.
hey, I've been sorta overworked recently so sorry for the late reply and yes, you cannot spot burn fat. A 6 pack is made in the kitchen my friend~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by SwordsMaster
Well big squats build big muscles (over the legs and butt~;)) and your glutes are pretty damn big muscles lads~D
It's sort of silly to try and lose fat first then do weights. You might as well do just weights. Just doing weights will change your body composition (pretty much whatever crummy routine you do) so there's one thing. Then you can try and hack off some fat...also, you've got more muscles, so you'll burn more calories while doing your cardio etc...
Swordsmaster, Ah Dut, thank you for the clarification. Maybe I'll just start running a couple miles a day; that seemed to work well. I don't know why I stopped.
Running is all well and good but watch a few issues (expirience in my short little life)Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorba
watch how you run (bad technique does in your knees fast) and watch you got decent shoes (preferably not Jimmy Choo~;) ) just joking mate
Don't let your head roll around (not good for your neck)
Look forwards (believe it or not you run faster this way~D )
Eat enough and do enough upper body stuff to make sure you don't become a wimply jogger:bow: ~:cheers:
I have found that I can run for hours (on my treadmill) if I am playing Nintendo. Old school mindless games seem to work best, anything where I have to think or concentrate throws off my running.~:)
I got that down. But thank you anyway. And I don't jog- I run. :brood:Quote:
Originally Posted by ah_dut
Actually, are pushups good for your upper body? (I suspect they are... but are they?)
Yes Pushups are like doing a bench press upside down... they build up pecs and lats depending on what kind of pushup you do... chest development good enough that it helps fight asthma... by allowing the chest muscles to constrict harder forcing out more air and hence reversing the main problem with asthma of not being able to exhale fully.
Hey Zorba, I said watch how you run mate
And yes as Pape said pushups are good, though you do need to move onto harder ones if you want to continue making gains in strength after a while. It's not all about mindlessly cranking out reps. I'm stronger now then I was and I can do 40 less (down from 140) so I fail to see how anything bad's happened.
I can exhale with no problem, it's inhaling that I have trouble with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Papewaio
Generally with asthma you cannot inhale because you cannot fully exhale... you are limited to only a portion of your lungs, by being able to more fully compress my lungs I find that I can inhale more and minimise the problems with asthma faster.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorba
pushups are good. But If you want full homemade set of exercises, try, pushups, pullups and dips. Those tree work every muscle in the upper body to some degree.
substitute dips for handstand pushups every now and then for some decent shoulder growth
You should be careful doing situps. They can wreck your back. I used to do a lot of situps and that's what it got me. If I do a few situps now my back will be stiff as a board for days afterwards.
You should be particularly careful about any sort of situp where you are hooking your feet under something to get momentum. That's a great way to screw up your back quick.
Unfortunately I've never found an adequate substiture for situps - at least, one I liked. I do crunches now but I hate doing crunches. Maybe I'll try doing the butterflies that someone else mentioned. But running will get the excess pounds off if you do it regularly.
One little known method of burning fat and toning the stomach is meditation. When I meditate, I usually get spontaneous abdominal contractions, that can last for minutes at a time, and it's quite effortless because as I said it is spontaneous, just something your body does by itself. Also, Westerners in general tend to overestimate the effectiveness of muscle contractions and under estimate that of muscle stretches. I see a lot of guys who obviously spend a lot of time in the gym who have big muscles but who otherwise look stiff and unhealthy.
You should balance out your muscle building with muscle stretching exercises such as you find in Yoga or Pilates. Increased flexibility will improve your sense of wellbeing and your overall level of fitness and health far more than just body building alone. Yoga can also give you a good workout. It's not as passive an activity as it might look.
Believe it or not, the abroller actually works very well. the vid that came with it has 5 minute and 12 minute programs (and a nice-looking, if a bit ditsy blonde demonstrating) that cover upper, mid, lower abs, and obliques well. If you need more workout, repeat the programs, or add some weight to the abroller for additional resistance. When used correctly, the device relieves the pressure on your neck and back well. Do follow the recommended program though; if you just go up and down you won't get very good results.
I used one regularly over two summers, three years ago (12 minutes, morning and night, everyday) while swimming laps 4-5 days a week, and was looking better than I did when I was in my 20s--6-pack definition and all. Wish I had it here now ... .
Hmm, I've read some negative things about the ab roller. They're not easy to find these days either.
This looks like it might be useful though:
http://www.bestabs.com/Resources/Exe...n=1&exercise=2
Toga, it was probably the swimming rather than the ab roller what made you look better...
I can tell you that an Ab Wheel for jacknifes absolutely terrorises your abs from a standing position, same goes for dragon flags.
I think both contributed to my results. I was not able to swim during the Fall, Winter, and early Spring between these summers, but I managed to maintain my abs through the use of the abroller exclusively. I did work out with dumbells and a curl bar, and doing calisthenics, but none of these worked my abs to any great degree. I'd also reached the ripe mid-age of 40 ....Quote:
Originally Posted by SwordsMaster
I know there is a tendency to be skeptical of these modern-day gadgets--I am generally skeptical too. However, I have direct experience with this one, and have achieved results with it, without any negative side effects. So, I thought I'd share that, for what it's worth ....
I was also taking protein supplements over these two years (powdered, in milk), and managed my diet carefully.
That is exactly what it is. If you can see your abs, it is probably earned in the kitchen...
You don't have to work your abs to see them. You just have to get rid of the fat on top. Which is usually a lot more effective if your diet is appropriate.
Recent studies have shown that a high protein diet can help naturally reduce weight because foods with high protein makes your body think you are full when you are really not, solving a problem of overeating.
High protein and low carb diet works for me, but I'm hardly one to lose weight, as I am just 140.