I got the *insert expletive of choice* kicked outta me today...

Captain's log- 18, 2009.

My workout routine is finally starting to get back into order following winter break. There is less kicking, though there is still exertion abound. Diet is somewhat inconsistent due to MLK holiday and frigid weather. Still relatively healthy intake, however. Feeling extraordinarily good after workouts. Walking back from the gym was great, due to the incredibly balmy 23 degree Farenheit weather.

keep going man....
just make sure to stay on the diet... its the hardest part....

How many times a week are you working out by the way?

Goal is 5 times per week. Tuesday's are just completely jammed in terms of scheduling, and muscles need a chance to rest. Last week, however, I only got three in.

Originally Posted by seireikhaan

Goal is 5 times per week. Tuesday's are just completely jammed in terms of scheduling, and muscles need a chance to rest. Last week, however, I only got three in.

Sounds good. Just remember though you might want to use 2 days a week for cardio if your not already and then use the other 3 for muscles.

3 days a week is pretty much tops for working your muscles as they really do need time to rest and build.

Good to see your keeping at it, keep it up and you'll be a pillar of fitness in no time!

About a week ago I bought a dumbell set at a bargain price. I tried going to workout places, but they're either too expensive here for my budget/liking, or to inconvenient for me to reach. Plus as far as sport goes it's boring frankly. Instead I swim about twice per week now.

Captain's Log- 21, 2009.

Workout today was disappointing. Fatigue really set in on my last reps, and I ended up not getting finished properly. I still got my cardio and *most* of the planned lifting in.

I am very fit due to my dedication to the horse, and the styles of riding I like to employ - but I will soon be forced into an urban lifestyle and I am worried for my fitness there.

For although I am known for my strength and fitness - and I am considered by no-one to be ugly in face or figure - I am certainly not trusted in matters of nutrition or diet. My health is ignored! Ha ha ha!

But whenever I might see a weakness in my knowledge I am always eager to remedy it.

I believe my greatest issue is my diet - this is largely due to the fact that I do not always have control over what I eat, (I live at home - newly 17), and a lifelong habit of eating only when hungry has made my efforts to construct a healthy meal-schedule very futile.

Would anyone of authority in this thread be willing to lend advice on diet?

If seireikhaan does not believe that to be off-topic.

I firmly believe that Glenn may be King Henry V in disguise.

Originally Posted by Glenn

I am very fit due to my dedication to the horse, and the styles of riding I like to employ - but I will soon be forced into an urban lifestyle and I am worried for my fitness there.

For although I am known for my strength and fitness - and I am considered by no-one to be ugly in face or figure - I am certainly not trusted in matters of nutrition or diet. My health is ignored! Ha ha ha!

But whenever I might see a weakness in my knowledge I am always eager to remedy it.

I believe my greatest issue is my diet - this is largely due to the fact that I do not always have control over what I eat, (I live at home - newly 17), and a lifelong habit of eating only when hungry has made my efforts to construct a healthy meal-schedule very futile.

Would anyone of authority in this thread be willing to lend advice on diet?

If seireikhaan does not believe that to be off-topic.

Well what are your goals? Are looking to lose weight? gain weight? build muscle? I have no idea on the physical benefits of horse riding.

I am athletic in build, lean but of good proportion - I am approximately 178cm in height, I turned 17 in November last year. I weigh 66 kg, which I believe to be probably too little.
Since I am very fit, I have good strength and can carry a high workload, I imagine that my only problem truly is that I have yet to completely mature,(I consider myself a late physical bloomer! Ha ha ha!) and, 'fill out', as seems to be the natural order of growth.
But I can not help scolding myself and wondering if my diet is to blame.

Generally I had been pushing myself to the three specific mealtimes of each day, and ensuring that I ate slightly over my fill - which difficulty I began to remedy by making sure I did enough work that I held a raging hunger by mealtime.

And, as an exercise of stamina, strength and endurance I would leave my little office at 11 a.m. when the temperature was circa 38 degrees celsius and do 150 push-ups and 100 sit-ups on the stony ground near my garden,
then sprint to the extremity of my rocky, uneven paddock (200m or so on hilly ground - by sprinting I mean moving one's legs as fast as is possible with minimum caution),
run back, do 40 chinups from the rafters in my garage, sprint again, run back,
and do 20 hanging sit-ups from the same rafters.

Instead of increasing the number of.. (reps?) I did this routine thrice daily, in addition to 3-4 hours of strenuous riding (Javelin practice, vaulting etc..).
I truly exhausted myself, but my routine was broken by a short holiday, after which I now wonder if I was causing myself any benefit.
For the first few days I was certainly close to sleeping with my nose firmly in my old deutsch books!


--- Thank you for your interest, I am intrigued and wish to hear an outside opinion..

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

Well what are your goals? Are looking to lose weight? gain weight? build muscle? I have no idea on the physical benefits of horse riding.

A large bum, if you're a woman.

Originally Posted by Glenn

I am athletic in build, lean but of good proportion - I am approximately 178cm in height, I turned 17 in November last year. I weigh 66 kg, which I believe to be probably too little.
Since I am very fit, I have good strength and can carry a high workload, I imagine that my only problem truly is that I have yet to completely mature,(I consider myself a late physical bloomer! Ha ha ha!) and, 'fill out', as seems to be the natural order of growth.
But I can not help scolding myself and wondering if my diet is to blame.

Generally I had been pushing myself to the three specific mealtimes of each day, and ensuring that I ate slightly over my fill - which difficulty I began to remedy by making sure I did enough work that I held a raging hunger by mealtime.

And, as an exercise of stamina, strength and endurance I would leave my little office at 11 a.m. when the temperature was circa 38 degrees celsius and do 150 push-ups and 100 sit-ups on the stony ground near my garden,
then sprint to the extremity of my rocky, uneven paddock (200m or so on hilly ground - by sprinting I mean moving one's legs as fast as is possible with minimum caution),
run back, do 40 chinups from the rafters in my garage, sprint again, run back,
and do 20 hanging sit-ups from the same rafters.

Instead of increasing the number of.. (reps?) I did this routine thrice daily, in addition to 3-4 hours of strenuous riding (Javelin practice, vaulting etc..).
I truly exhausted myself, but my routine was broken by a short holiday, after which I now wonder if I was causing myself any benefit.
For the first few days I was certainly close to sleeping with my nose firmly in my old deutsch books!


--- Thank you for your interest, I am intrigued and wish to hear an outside opinion..

OK. I looked up horse riding and it "claimed" to be as strenuous as aerobic swimming. I'm going to use that as a benchmark, feel free to correct.

You are 5'10 145lbs that is very little, and I think I can see why. If you are doing 3 to 4 hours of excersise that is like swimming you are burning an ungodly amount of calories.

If you want to gain weight you need to eat more and I really think you need to cut out some of the horse riding because frankly you would need to shovel down ALLOT of calories to make up for the deficit you are creating by doing that.

I'm not saying it can't be done but it is highly doubtful. Gaining weight is very simple, Calories in needs to be more than calories out. And right now your body is very much in a hole.

Now if you are serious about the horse riding, Peanut butter and olive oil are fixin to become your best friends, very calorie dense also at 145 lbs I would utilize cheap fast food from time to time. Now obviously this shouldn't be a staple but it is calorie dense and cheap. This is going to help you out allot.

Now if this Urban lifestyle is about to tear you away from the riding I suggest you hit the gym and start doing weights. This is nothing better for gaining weight and muscle.

I would also say your push ups and chins need to be weighted. If you are honestly to do 40 chinups at 3 different times a day thats impressive. Even more so if you are doing this 5 or more times a week but that also means they have stopped being effective if you can knock them out like that consistently.

From a weight gaining perspective this routine is utterly useless, I'm surprised you haven't been losing weight.

Some Calorie dense foods
-PB
-Olive Oil
-Walnuts
-whole milk
-Peanuts
-Starches
-Steak
-Yougurt
-cottage cheese

Eat every 2-3 hours. This "make sure Im really hungry till mealtime" isnt working. Keep shoveling food down throughout the day.

You are going to have to eat more than ever just remember that.


Also water. Drink about 3 hours before you go to bed and when you wake up to relive yourself. Go in the kitchen and eat. That will help you reach your caloric goal.

Write down what you eat, keep track.

~

Captain's log- 28, 2009.

After two days of no cardio due to time crunch, I got back into the swing of thing with another half hour. Continued on with half of my weight routine(I alternate days to let muscles rest). I'm back to fitting into size 38's quite comfortably, something I haven't achieved since my sophomore year of high school. Currently weighing in at 213 pounds.



Glenn-- By all accounts, you seem to be incredibly fit. A combination of cardio exercise and weight training is usually best. One of the best exercises you can do is hard-core swimming-- look at olympic swimmers and the kind of shape they're in. Granted, the average person isn't going to be training specifically for it, but its an indication of the kind of work it gives the body. If you're looking to put on muscle, I would advise you to look for some whey protein powders to add to the diet, in addition to keeping a healthy intake of calories and vitamins. I believe Strike could probably help you out best for finding good calorie-dense foods for muscle growth better than I.

Originally Posted by seireikhaan

~

Captain's log- 28, 2009.

After two days of no cardio due to time crunch, I got back into the swing of thing with another half hour. Continued on with half of my weight routine(I alternate days to let muscles rest). I'm back to fitting into size 38's quite comfortably, something I haven't achieved since my sophomore year of high school. Currently weighing in at 213 pounds.

ATTA BOY! See results already. 38s? Drop another size!!!!

Out of curiosity what does your weight training regimen look like.

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

ATTA BOY! See results already. 38s? Drop another size!!!!

Out of curiosity what does your weight training regimen look like.

Dumb bells for bicep curls. Also used for calf pushes(holding bells at sides, push up onto toes with calves). Bench Press, of course. For triceps, I do dips. I use two of the machines for my hamstrings and quads. Box squat as well. For upper back, I do push ups with my knees on a chair. For abs, I sit back on on a bench, horizontally, grab the end, and slowly lift my knees up to my chest and then extend my legs vertically into the air. For side abs, there's an ab machine that I sorta twist from its original function to make it do the side abs instead of front.

So basically, a conglomeration of stuff, I guess.

EDIT: It should be pointed out, I only do half this stuff each time I work out, so I can keep working out most days but still give muscles time to rest.

Captain's log- 35, 2009

I was disappointed mightily today. I arrived at the gymnasium today at 2:50 PM, unaware that there was a mid-day class and that the gym wouldn't open publicly until 3:00. T'was no problem, however. Or so it would seem. Bizarrely, a giant line had been formulating for who knows how long, and I took my place, albeit a tad puzzled. When the clock struck 3:00, the line began moving, in a fairly orderly fashion. However, when I got to the weight room, it was already chock full, leading me to be quite puzzled as to how this many people had possibly gotten in at such blinding speed. Now, of course, being a sensible person, I began my stretching routine. Keep in mind, my routine is not long- 5 minutes on average. By the time I was finished, everything was being used. My expression promptly took a facade of being something along these lines:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

However, I tried to regain my composure, and decided to go see if cardio would be possibly open in any way. I get to the track and there are a preponderance of people who apparently decided to simply hop right onto the track and neglected to do any stretching. To have run onto that track would have risked stampede, and I felt that would be hardly beneficial to my health. So, I decide to see if there's any cardio machines open- ellipticals, bikes, ANYTHING. Again, totally full except for a single stair climber, a machine I will never use. Why would I need a machine to emulate stairs when I have a perfectly good, 5 story dorm room? So, finally, I decide to go last resort- the workout machines. These are relatively open, thankfully, so I can get something in without having to sit around for a half hour. After a half hour of working my upper body, something strikes my nerves again- nobody had an ounce of gym ettiquete. I personally would do a set of 10 reps, move to a second machine, do a set of 10 reps, then the first one, then back to the second. I figure this was a more efficient use of machines, as opposed to the method used by everyone else, which was to do 10(or so) reps, and sit there on the same machine for 10 minutes before finally doing another set. This lack of courtesy by people frankly grated my nerves quite a bit.

So, in summary, I left the gym with a half-finished workout, and feeling rather like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Originally Posted by seireikhaan

Captain's log- 35, 2009
d. I figure this was a more efficient use of machines, as opposed to the method used by everyone else, which was to do 10(or so) reps, and sit there on the same machine for 10 minutes before finally doing another set. This lack of courtesy by people frankly grated my nerves quite a bit.

This is the exact reason I cancelled my gym membership and invested the money in a set of weights going up to 100KG and a bench for home use. The only reasonably priced gym near me was small, crammed and you could never utilize your work out effectively.

It used to really get on my nerves how people would take a long rest between reps without understanding that by doing that they were just avoiding doing any real work and not working there muscles properly. Now that I simply do my workout in the comfort of my own home with out any distractions I find the results are a lot better and I actually feel myself getting a good workout.

So yer, I can relate to your gym pain.

Captain's Log- 36, 2009

Well, after yesterday's shenanigans, I was determined to get back to the gym and get a proper workout in. Arriving at about 6:30 PM, I found fortune. The gym was far less busy, and people were less in my way than usual. Unfortunately, having had 3 days of no real cardio(Monday and Tuesday are packed, schedule-wise) resulted in me being perhaps the grosses, sweatiest looking gorilla in memory. However, according to the elliptical, I burned 500 calories during cardio, and supposedly my heart rate reached 189 at peak. I'm honestly not sure if that's dangerous or not, but it sure felt like it nearly killed me. However, I got my 33 minutes of cardio in, got my weight routine in, and I feel like a champ.

Heat wave today. The snow began to melt, which made me think of tennis, which made me think of how out of shape I'm in

current height: 5'8''
current weight: 125 lbs.

goal weight: 135 lbs...ish

Other goals: Improved straight line speed, improve lateral movement, improve endurance. These goals are more important than the gaining of muscle weight.

I had a monthly goal plan for myself last year but I gave up on it by the end of February because I didn't get cast as the character I wanted in a play. This year my goals are purely tennis oriented.

I'm going to start off slowly with med ball, abs, and elliptical machine exercises. I'll see if I can get into my school's weight room next week. I'll add in lateral speed exercises and tennis games once the ground dries.

Captain's Log- 52, 2009.

FEEEEEL THE BURRRRRRRN!!!!




EDIT: I am down to 210 lbs.

Kudos on keeping up with it khaan. Whenever I've kept up with working out for a significant time it's payed off greatly...after a certain point I fell off the wagon though. Guess I'm not a perfectionist. Always something to derail the habit.

Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

Kudos on keeping up with it khaan. Whenever I've kept up with working out for a significant time it's payed off greatly...after a certain point I fell off the wagon though. Guess I'm not a perfectionist. Always something to derail the habit.

I'm actually a bit of the opposite at times- I often want something so "super-perfect" that its not even possible to fulfill the expectations. My weight hasn't usually been the target of this, however, in the past. Maybe its just having gone off to college and seeing all the pretties around campus that's gotten the hormones going...

The Vuk is currently getting his donkey handed to him in Hungary. :P I am doing Taekwondo, Taijichuan, and Wing Tsung Gong Fu 4 days a week, 2 hours a day. I got Taekwondo from 4-5:50, Wing Tsung from 6-7:50, and Taijichuan from 8-10. :P So I spend about an hour stretching a day, over an hour doing strength building exercises, and about 3 hours going through my various forms and combinations. :P It is really tough crap (esp the Wing Tsung, I have never done it before, and it is wooping me). They are a lot harder here than in the states, but they are not taught as well. They push you faster and harder, but you do not generally learn as much. Then on Saturday I am going to TRY to add in wall climbing and Iceskating (while I still can :P). I am also take an hour walk/run every morning. :P
I have been used to hard work my whole life, but this is kicking my butt. :P Currently I am at 6' 4" 270lbs, and a little flabby. If I was to lose the flab and not gain muscle, I would probably be at somewhere around 250-260lbs. I am gonna see if I cannot lose the flab and maintain my weight. :P
I am not used to the food out here, and am still experimenting, so I do not really have a steady diet yet. I am starting to learn what I do and don't like though.

Captain's Log- 55, 2009.

I dunno if it was because I was working out late tonight, or if it was the beef jerky pizza, but I really had to give myself a mental kicking to get through the workout.

Originally Posted by seireikhaan

I'm actually a bit of the opposite at times- I often want something so "super-perfect" that its not even possible to fulfill the expectations. My weight hasn't usually been the target of this, however, in the past. Maybe its just having gone off to college and seeing all the pretties around campus that's gotten the hormones going...

I was just thinking about that today.

Edit:

That actually may have to do with elevated levels of testosterone in your body from working out. Usually after i hit the gym, all the ladies walking around campus seem to look even better.

It's because yall are freaking alphas, like me.

Well, I got slowed down by midterms and spring break for a couple weeks, but I'm finally over them. I'm at 207 lbs right now; my goal now is to get to 195 by the end of the semester.

Originally Posted by Shinseikhaan

Well, I got slowed down by midterms and spring break for a couple weeks, but I'm finally over them. I'm at 207 lbs right now; my goal now is to get to 195 by the end of the semester.

Keep at it! How many weeks until semester ends?

Off-topic: I started working out and eating more two weeks ago, trying to build up some upper body strength for Football (soccer). I started weighing just over 120lbs and I'm 5'10", so I'm pretty skinny in terms of my upper body. My goals are to reach a weight in the range of 140-150lbs, and build muscle and strength, without sacrificing too much speed which is important for Football. My average calorie intake is 3000-3500 calories a day. At the moment I'm doing weights Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, alternating the areas I'm targeting. Thursday is Football practice, which involves mostly sprinting and long distance running; games start soon on Saturdays, which means approx 8-10kms of running in 90mins. So I'm not worried about cardio and/or general endurance. So far I've dropped .5% body fat to 8.5% and sitting pretty at 128lbs. I need to improve the amount of sleep I get though, and I've been trying to increase my calorie intake to 3500-4000 calories on the days I do exercise.

Edit: Just looked at Glenn's post, what's with us Aussies weighing so little?!

4000 might be a bit much at 128. Although you do get a lot of exercise. Best is to find the amount you used to ate that kept you the same weight, then add 800 plus more for whatever sprinting. I eat 3500 at 190 to gain weight...up from 175 in december btw