Getting fit with SwordsMaster

[Beirut]

I'm asking for advice about which trainings i could do at home (without buying equipment) to increase my chest and arm muscles.

Pushups. If you need more resistance, put on a backpack with books in it.

[mercian billman]

I'm asking for advice about which trainings i could do at home (without buying equipment) to increase my chest and arm muscles.

Like everyone else I would advise you to do push-ups and dips, also there's a lot of different variations you can use to push-ups. For instance there's close grip, wide grip, chinese push-ups etc. In addition you could use the deck of cards routine, basicly turn over a card and do the face value of the cards. Try doing 5 cards between commercials and gradually increase the number of cards as time goes by.

[SwordsMaster]

I'm asking for advice about which trainings i could do at home (without buying equipment) to increase my chest and arm muscles.

All the equipment I have at home is a chinup bar. If I can't make it to a gym, I do pushups, pullups, upside down crunches, and a shoulder exercise which is based on rotating your legs over your head while hanging, touching the floor and then rotating back.

Works great. I'd do about 50 pullups and 300 pushups a day. in 5 sets

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I just finished putting on muscle for now, problem is I'm about 70 pounds heavier and my cardiovascular ability has gone down the drain. I've started up sprinting and finding it tough going, does anyone have a good progression? I'm not training for any event in particular just trying to get back in shape.

[SwordsMaster]

I just finished putting on muscle for now, problem is I'm about 70 pounds heavier and my cardiovascular ability has gone down the drain. I've started up sprinting and finding it tough going, does anyone have a good progression? I'm not training for any event in particular just trying to get back in shape.

Actually i would recommend 8x 10 second sprints set, with 20 sec in between sprints. Evolving into 8x20 second, with 10 sec in between.

[SwordsMaster]

Aha! You though the lion was dead because you couldn't hear him roar? (With apologies to Bismark)

I'm back with some more facts, advice, and a cardio program for those of you who want to get in good shape before clogging up your arteries again with Christmas turkey or Halloween pumkin.

Facts:

Building muscle: Tests on rats in the UK have shown that they will grow muscle mass, if that muscle has been under stress for 160 seconds or more in one "session". Therefore, if it takes you 3 seconds to do one rep, and you are doing 4 sets, how many reps should you do in 1 set? I'll leave you to do this one so you develop your numeracity as well as your guns.

Advice:

If you are lifting heavy, do more sets, with less reps and at least 90 sec rest in between.

If you are lifting light, do not do more than, say 15 reps per set, do less sets (2-3) and rest some 30 secs in between sets.


And here is the cardio program:


Warm up with focus on your legs, hamstrings, quads, glutes and calfs are going to suffer. Also if you are prone to shinsplints take extra precaution, stretch.

1.- Cross (Eliptical) trainer:

3 min at 60% pace, 20 % resistance
3 min at 60% pace 80% resistance
4 min at 80% pace 20% resistance
2 min at 60% pace 60% resistance

These are to be done in one go. You can rest between the stations, but not between the "sets".

2.- Rower: 10 minutes

Your aim is to do 2.5 km or 2500m in 10 minutes. If you can't, do 2000m in 8 min the first 3 sessions. If you can't do that either, start with 2000m in 10 min and work up from there.

3.- Threadmill: here is where the pain starts:
2 min, 1% incline, 7.3mph
2 min, 4% incline, 7.3 mph
1 min, 6% incline, 7.3 mph
1 min, 8% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 10% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 8% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 6% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 4% incline, 7 mph
3 min, 2% incline, 6.5 mph

Now, the speeds are orientative, you can adjust depending on your condition, but the inclinations are strict, and if you are not puking by the end of this, you are not pushing yourself hard enough. This is a 13 min run. Don't tell me you can't make time.

4a.- Bike: Personally I prefer 4b, but it's up to you. This makes another 10 min.

90 sec, 95% speed
90 sec, 40% speed
60 sec, 95% speed
60 sec, 40% speed
30 sec, 95% speed
30 sec, 40% speed
4 min 70% speed

4b. - The pain continues. 25m (30 yards?) sprints.Do 6 sprints in 30 seconds. Sprint for 25m, touch the ground, turn, sprint back, touch, turn, etc, 6 times.

Rest 30 sec between sets.

Repeat 6 times.

It takes 6 minutes to get through, and again if there is no blood in your lungs, you ain't trying hard enough.

Well, get fit ladies, what'cha waiting for?

[Beirut]

Glad to see you back.

You'll be happy to know I've been doing lots of lifting and carrying the past while. I have the sore knees, hips, back, wrists, and neck to prove it.

[SwordsMaster]

Glad to see you back.

You'll be happy to know I've been doing lots of lifting and carrying the past while. I have the sore knees, hips, back, wrists, and neck to prove it.

Peanut butter and fish oil should help if it is a tendon-joint kind of sore. For your back I recommend a sensual massage delivered by the females of your choosing.

[Blodrast]

Good to have you back, SwordsMaster.
Btw, where do I get fish oil from ? Also, how do you eat that, I'd imagine it'd be kinda disgusting just swallowing it by itself ?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I bet you can get it in pill form.

[Beirut]

SwordsMaster,

I take 2 to 4 cod liver oil pills every day. The kids get one with breakfast. We call them "fish eggs". When I had pneumonia a few years back, a fellow up here who is an herb doctor on an Indian reserve nearby told me, "cod liver oil, very good for the lungs!" Since then I've been taking them almost every day.

As for peanut butter... also every day.

As for the massage, well, that was last night. Maybe tonight again if I do the dishes.

[Blodrast]

@Beirut: you're tired , that was for me, not for SwordsMaster.
@Beirut, Sasaki: pills sounds pretty good. Thank you to both of you. I have problems with my shoulders, and recently somehow messed up some tendons in my right leg as well... If they also help with the lungs, that's a bonus, since I also have crappy lungs

[SwordsMaster]

@Beirut: you're tired , that was for me, not for SwordsMaster.
@Beirut, Sasaki: pills sounds pretty good. Thank you to both of you. I have problems with my shoulders, and recently somehow messed up some tendons in my right leg as well... If they also help with the lungs, that's a bonus, since I also have crappy lungs

Well, if you messed up your tendons, just eating fish oil pills is not going to heal you... It helps, but you still need rest, stretching and if it is very bad - medical advice.

To get your cardio back on stage, try the program I wrote up above for 6 weeks.

Beirut, there is always a price to pay...

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

I do WeightLifghitng,and Treadmill, including Sit ups. You want huge muscles then, I say do push ups,weights,etc.....

[Vladimir]

Good to see you posting again, but, uh...

.- Cross (Eliptical) trainer:

3 min at 60% pace, 20 % resistance
3 min at 60% pace 80% resistance
4 min at 80% pace 20% resistance
2 min at 60% pace 60% resistance

2.- Rower: 10 minutes

3.- Threadmill: here is where the pain starts:

2 min, 1% incline, 7.3mph
2 min, 4% incline, 7.3 mph
1 min, 6% incline, 7.3 mph
1 min, 8% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 10% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 8% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 6% incline, 7 mph
1 min, 4% incline, 7 mph
3 min, 2% incline, 6.5 mph

4a.- Bike: Personally I prefer 4b, but it's up to you. This makes another 10 min.

90 sec, 95% speed
90 sec, 40% speed
60 sec, 95% speed
60 sec, 40% speed
30 sec, 95% speed
30 sec, 40% speed
4 min 70% speed

I don't think that I'm going to be pushing that many buttons every ~90 seconds. I'd have to take a notebook with me just to remember all that.

[SwordsMaster]

90 sec is an awful long time when you're pedalling at 95% of your capacity. it's only 2 buttons anyway. Speed up and speed down.

Try it before complaining. And I carry a notebook with me anyway....

[Vladimir]

90 sec is an awful long time when you're pedalling at 95% of your capacity. it's only 2 buttons anyway. Speed up and speed down.

Try it before complaining. And I carry a notebook with me anyway....

Well I guess that's the difference between master and apprentice.

[Craterus]

I eat a lot of carbs. Is this a problem if I don't do that much exercise?

Bear in mind that I'm still young and very slim. I was just beginning to think that I can't use the "growing boy" excuse forever, cos one day it won't be valid and I'll be a fattie.

[Blodrast]

Well, if you messed up your tendons, just eating fish oil pills is not going to heal you... It helps, but you still need rest, stretching and if it is very bad - medical advice.

To get your cardio back on stage, try the program I wrote up above for 6 weeks.

Beirut, there is always a price to pay...

ok, I'm back. No, my tendons are not too bad - it's a light thing, and I can't do much of the cardio thing, because it's my ankle tendons. So I can't really run. I think it'll go away in a few days... not sure what stretching to do for it though.

Anyway, got'em cod liver oil pills, thanks for the tip, but I have a question: does it matter which fish it is ? 'cause they had halibut liver oil, salmon liver oil, ...

Also, Beirut, the pharmacist told me that the only counter-indications are that I shouldn't be taking anything else that has too much vitamin A together with these. I'm just pointing that out, since you said you're taking quite a few of these, and if you're also taking other vitamins or multivitamins, well... Just a heads-up, nothing more.

Again, thanks for the tip, fellas.

[SwordsMaster]

I eat a lot of carbs. Is this a problem if I don't do that much exercise?

Bear in mind that I'm still young and very slim. I was just beginning to think that I can't use the "growing boy" excuse forever, cos one day it won't be valid and I'll be a fattie.

Yeah. You should eat carbs, of course, but try eating more complex carbs, fibre.

Blodrast:

There are planty of ankle stretches in the internet, or you can ask your coach or gym instructor.

Fish oil is usually some kind of cod oil, but it is all good. If it has several, you get more kinds of good fats.

[Blodrast]

okay, thanks, SwordsMaster.

[Craterus]

Hmm. I'm playing basketball again now anyway. I should work any excess/unnecessary extra carbs off.

Thanks anyway.

[Masy]

Howdy. I am 19 years of age, and weigh a 13 stone (at height 6 ft 1). I play a lot of rugby, and am in fairly good shape. However, I would like to bulk up some more (I play as a flanker, if that means anything to anyone), and my main problem with the tips given in the thread is this:

Drink a lot of water and sleep a lot...don't do much cardio at all...

Drink and sleep I would do happily. But sadly I do a LOT of cardio (3 CV sessions a week plus a match a week). I find that no matter how much I eat (3 sausages and a steak yesterday!), and although I have been lifting free weights for the past 2 years, I never seem to put on a significant mass. I am reasonably lean, with adequate strength (I was always taught to do lots of reps with low weights)

I want to keep an athletic shape, as I need to sprint around the pitch (not Arnie style build then), but I find that the more I run, the more this counters my bulking efforts.

Any thoughts on a meal plan and workout routine to resolve this? I would really appreciate any help.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Well you can keep the cardio...you will just have to eat a LOT more. Find a calorie calculator online and see how much you are really eating. I remember I had to eat over 5000 to gain weight. Its really a pain.

[Masy]

Right, for the weight I want, taking into account the activity of my lyfestyle, I need over 3700 a day...poo. Time to start downing the eggs I guess.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Dense is good to keep from feeling full. I went for chocolate milk...not the most healthy option but it got the job done. And it tastes good lol.

[Masy]

Chocolate eh? Doesn't sound too bad

I will prob find it hard to fit in enough sausages into my day though, so does any one have any protein supplement reccomendations. Some guy I knew took a whole load of creatine and it made him ill, so I would rather not go down that path. In fact, I would rather keep it as natural as possible. Chocolate milk, eggs, steak...anything else?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Cottage cheese is good protein...so is string cheese. I never saw the point of most of those protein supplement things. What do they do that regular food doesn't?

[Blodrast]

Whey protein.
@Sasaki: higher concentration of whatever you're looking for. You'd need to eat 4 eggs a day to get the same protein intake as some equivalent Whey Protein powders, or Egg Protein powders. That's just to get some 25 grams of protein. During a day, you may need anywhere between 80-120 grams of protein, or more, depending on your weight, and the intensity of your training.

The most efficient (i.e., concentration of protein per unit of weight) way to get protein is from eggs, but you'd have to eat a whole lot of eggs for that...

Obviously, this is inconvenient, I don't wanna eat 4+ eggs/day, every friggin day.
Whereas a powder that you dissolve in water/milk is a lot easier to drink.
From what I know, whey protein powders are among the few ones that are pretty safe to take. The only thing is not to take more than one serving every x hours (don't remember exactly how many, sorry), because in the long run it might affect your liver. But otherwise, it's "natural".
Of course, excess of anything will eventually have negative side-effects...

If you can go with a lot of eggs every day, do it, by all means.

Also, I'll try to find the links for the calculator I had when I get home tonight.
5000 calories sounds ridiculous to me, unless you're a pro weightlifter weighing 300 lbs already... for instance, I'd need some 2700 calories to grow, where I weigh about 130 lbs and am some 5'11" tall.

Also, don't take my word as gospel, of course. I'm saying what I've read, I'm not certified or anything.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I was 200+ and fairly active at the time.