Getting fit with SwordsMaster

[SwordsMaster]

I was recovering from a training session a couple of weeks ago and my attention gravitated to the fact that the gym was unusually packed that day. And then I realized that summer was close and everyone rushed to the gym to get that sporty figure and look good in speedos ( ) or the diverse beach complements. Like it is going to happen in 3 weeks....

Anyway, I thought that I might somehow contribute to destroying some myths of fitness and become a myth myself, and maybe help people keep fit all year as opposed to the 3 weeks before summer and decided to post a big compilation of all the information I came across during my training career.

I'll try to update this thread as frequently and regularly as I can and of course I accept suggestions and comments.

Maybe this could be stickied for reference.

Today: Sleep

So what are the symptoms of sleep deprivation?

* Drowsiness
* Forgetfulness
* Weight gain
* Mood shifts ranging from depression to being irritable.
* Reduced immunity to disease
* Reduced ability to think logically and analyze new information
* Reduced vocabulary
* Reduced motor skills and coordination
* Decreased reaction time
* Decreased stamina and energy

- Now add all these up together and now imagine trying to break a plateau -

But what is the worst part about sleep deprivation?

After the first 3-4 hours of sleep your body releases 60-90% of your daily GH (Growth Hormone) amount. So short cutting sleep obviously spells your doom.

Growth Hormone is responsible for the growth of your bones and muscles. It also prepares fat for energy use and spares lean body mass. In regards to muscle growth it causes muscle cells to increase protein synthesis, decrease protein breakdown, increase amino acid uptake in muscular tissue, and divide. Basically it causes growth of muscle and bone tissue.

Is that it? No, decreased levels of GH indicate a drop in your body's ability to metabolize glucose, this means fat is not metabolized at it's peak rate; Your exercise capability is reduced as well as your muscle mass.

Another negative effect of decreased GH levels is a weakened immune system. GH stimulates bone marrow growth which boosts the immune system function. A lack of sleep will slow the growth and repair of this tissue; Studies have also indicated that a lack of sleep will reduce your white blood cell count down a good margin.

Finally sleep deprivation increases levels of cortisol in the body the next day. But what the hell is cortisol? It's the 'Stress Hormone', it's your opponent on the road to increased gains in your physical endeavors. Med definition is - The major adrenal glucocorticoid, stimulates conversion of proteins to carbohydrates, raises blood sugar levels and promotes glycogen storage in the liver. To make it simple for you cortisol causes hyper tension, stress, and synthesizes the amino acids in your muscles to fuel more vital organs (like lungs, heart, brain). In excessive amounts It can cause memory impairments, restrict tissue repair, and increase insulin resistance. It's nasty! Furthermore, elevated cortisol levels have been identified in patients with adrenal tumors. Cancer is not the sex.

More interesting facts I have stumbled upon -

* Athletes who only get 6-7 hours of sleep a night have to work twice as hard to process the same amount of fuel. This means less fat loss and less energy for your workouts.
* If you're not getting the right amount of sleep your body will be in a catabolic state all day long. How catabolic? Multiply it by two post workout
* We cannot adapt to less sleep, overtime a 'sleep debt' will start accumulating. Too little sleep will have a direct connection to a loss of intensity in your workouts
* 6 hours of un-broken sleep is better than getting 8 hours of broken sleep. The reason this is true is because if we cannot sleep without being awoken our bodies do not progress through the 5 cycles of sleep as it should.

There is always something you can be doing better, sleep is an easy one to start with. So how much sleep do you need? On average younger people between the ages of 12-25 need more than adults. We need between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep per night. Harder working athletes will require more than that! It's easy to figure out exactly how much sleep you need. Go to bed, and wake up! Figure out how many hours passed while you were asleep and 'voila', you now know how much sleep you should be getting each night.

(Thanks to Jujimufu at www.trickstutorials.com)

I hope this has been useful.

[Laridus Konivaich]

Neat info! I might have to consider some of it myself

[SwordsMaster]

Well, thanks to LAridus bumbing every single post in the Frontroom, Im going to update this soon : NOW .

Today: Breakfast

So, you get a good nights sleep, now what?

Breakfast, right.

Here are some common excuses people give for not eating breakfast, and my reasons for why these excuses are worthless.

1. I don't need it, because I'm not hungry.

Yes you are, you just don't know it! You just slept for god's sake you haven't eating in 8 or more hours! While you're asleep, your body feeds on liver glycogen stores, which is drained by morning. When the body runs lows on glycogen (fuel) the body synthesizes amino acids from your muscles to fuel the brain, nervous system, and other vital organs and tissues. This sends your body into negative nitrogen balance, which is when excreted nitrogen wastes exceed that from consumed nitrogen fuel (protein). Your metabolism has turned catabolic (breakdown of muscle tissue for energy metabolism). This means your metabolism not only slows down greatly, but it's using your own hard earned muscles as fuel. When you start moving your body needs fuel much more in contrast to when you slept because you're moving around and not laying like around like a log! So your metabolism is catabolic and slow when you wake, that explains why sometimes you aren't immediately hungry on rising. You need the food badly, here is a quick analogy for your understanding:

Body's metabolism is slow and catabolic upon rising. Skip breakfast // Stretches the period of catabolism and lose more and more muscle while feeling miserable with a low metabolism.

Body's metabolism is slow and catabolic upon rising. Eat a complete breakfast // Ends catabolism (Breakdown of own muscle tissue for fuel) and starts anabolism (Fueling/Growth/Preservation of muscle tissue). Metabolism takes a huge boost for healthy fat loss and you're energized for the day.

2. I have no time for breakfast.

The very minimum for breakfast can be a ready to drink (RTD) shake such as carnation good start or an instant protein beverage. Fruit is great as well for breakfast. How about a bowl of cereal? You have to be an idiot if it takes more then 1 minute to prepare a bowl (NO COOKING INVOLVED). You can even put cereal in a plastic bag and eat it on the way to work or school if you're in that much of a hurry. Oatmeal? Easy, takes 3 minutes for me to prepare and cook. Not only can breakfast be fast, it's easy and nutritious. Breakfast is also the prime meal for fitting important nutrients into your diet. Many foods eaten at breakfast contain significant amounts of Vitamins C and D, calcium, iron, and fiber. Milk/Grains/Orange juice? It's all healthy! You should make time for breakfast my young apprentice...

3. I'm on a diet, so I skip breakfast.

No wonder you're not losing weight! Read the first reason people give for skipping breakfast and the explanation on why you shouldn't skip breakfast. When you don't eat your body uses muscle as fuel before it uses fat. So you'll be processing muscle for fuel first. Is this a bright idea? No! Because the more muscle you have the more calories you need on a day to day basis. Such as monster body builders, they require ungodly amounts of food to maintain their body mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn, the more calories you can eat. The more calories you can eat, the more food you can eat! Eating a complete breakfast sends your metabolism into a state of anabolism. This means your muscle is preserved and is now fueled to burn off the fat you're trying to rid yourself of. Just by eating breakfast, containing all of the three main components (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) can raise your metabolism 60-100%. So for a quick analogy:

Eat a balanced and filling breakfast > Metabolism soars and sends you in a state of anabolism / Muscles are fuelled so you can kick ass, burn fat and are ready for a brave new day

Don't eat breakfast > Metabolism remains at a crawl and preserves your body weight. This keeps you in a catabolic state induced by sleep / Muscles are not fuelled, you burn more muscle then fat. You lose...

The myth: Exercising before breakfast promotes fat loss >
The fact: Exercising before breakfast promotes muscle loss >

Reason is simple! Basically when you slept, your body has used all it's fuel (glycogen) and is now catabolizing your muscle as fuel, sending you into negative nitrogen balance. Which means, you're pissing out your muscle! Go for a jog before you eat and you'll be pissing out more muscle cause as you run you're body will be using muscle as fuel!


Other breakfast related things:

Fat loss:

Studies show that eating breakfast regularly significantly lowers your body mass index, which is the ratio of your weight to your height. A lower BMI is an indicator of general good health. Skipping breakfast causes a mid-morning, low-sugar slump, which often results in your grabbing something lie a chocolate bar to eat. But high-sugar, high-fat foods only make you feel even worse then the food you ate, fatigued and hungry for more junk. Start off healthy to avoid the crash, and don't eat junk, it's not right.

Eat for your brain:

It's a known fact that people perform better on memory and attention tests after eating a good breakfast. Your brain relies on glucose for fuel and the typical breakfast is usable energy for the brain as all meals are. So if you're enrolled in school you can make better grades with breakfast. If you have a job, at least you will be sharp enough as to not get caught not working... Generally though, you will gain a mental edge if you fuel in the morning with breakfast.

And lastly a few ideas on food for breakfast:

Good sources of protein and ways to include them into your breakfast :

Your body requires 20 different amino acids and can only make 13 of them on it's own. It must obtain the rest through your diet. Protein sources with the amino acids your body can't produce must be obtained through the foods we eat. If a protein doesn't contain all the essential amino acids it won't be absorbed efficiently. Proteins with the full amino spectrum are called complete proteins.

Complete protein ideas:

* Whole eggs
* Egg whites
* Egg beaters
* Milk
* Yogurt
* Protein powders (whey, egg, milk, soy)
* RTD drinks (Such as carnation good start or met RX instant meal replacement)
* Tofu
* Cottage Cheese
* Meat (such as bacon or sausage, although this is high in saturated fats)
* Fat free american cheese (like.. scrambled eggs with cheese eh?)

If you combine an incomplete protein and a complete protein, you will still be getting the full amino spectrum. Eating an incomplete protein alone doesn't do much for you, but combining them with a complete will add a lot to your meal.

Incomplete protein ideas to combine with complete proteins:

Grains such as :
* Barley
* Oats
* Rice
* Pasta
* Rye
* Wheat

Legumes such as :
* Peanuts
* Soy beans

Nuts/Seeds such as :
* Sesame seeds
* Sunflower seeds

You can sprinkle nuts in your cereal or oatmeal for a crunch. Your oatmeal also contains incomplete proteins, cool huh?

Including a protein source will bring you into positive nitrogen balance, increase the metabolism through the digestion of the protein itself, and increase fat mobilization for fuel. Also including protein in an already carbohydrate rich breakfast will slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream, helping to keep your energy levels constant and consistent until your next meal.

Resources :

http://www.fitforsuccess.com.au/breakfast.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/zaino3.htm
Men's Fitness / May, 2001
http://www.bodybuilding.com/teen/brent16.htm
www.trickstutorials.com

Enjoy.

[Al Khalifah]

Good stuff SwordsMaster. Have recently returned to full exercise regime, from my usual occasional activities - yes partially because I'm going to Crete in a few weeks, my heart is in the right place.

I have always eaten a good healthy breakfast because when I was growing up my parents wouldn't have it any other way. They actually claimed that only homosexuals don't eat breakfast..... well they might have done it for the wrong reasons, but it did me good anyway.

I don't think I get enough sleep though. I don't feel tired as result, but in general I only get around 7 1/2 - 8 hours. I didn't realise there were such negative health consequences of this. Will have to improve this.

[Laridus Konivaich]

Well, thanks to LAridus bumbing every single post in the Frontroom, Im going to update this soon : NOW .

Not true! I only posted in 65 topics! That's not even the first two whole pages

[SwordsMaster]

I have always eaten a good healthy breakfast because when I was growing up my parents wouldn't have it any other way. They actually claimed that only homosexuals don't eat breakfast..... well they might have done it for the wrong reasons, but it did me good anyway.

I have to say thats the most curious argument for eating breakfast I've ever heard

I don't think I get enough sleep though. I don't feel tired as result, but in general I only get around 7 1/2 - 8 hours.

I know, I dont usually get more than that either, but before I started minding it I was getting 6-7 at most. Now that college is over I try to get at least 9 hrs every day (which yesterday meant skipping "The good, the bad and the ugly" )
But I do feel much better after I incorporated that into my habit.

Anyway, the amount of sleep you get is very personal. You should sleep until you wake up by yourself without the alarm ringing, and that would be the amount of hours your body needs.

Not true! I only posted in 65 topics! That's not even the first two whole pages

man, youre bored....

[Al Khalifah]

Should get more excercise Laridus

[The Wizard]

Interesting stuff. I always thought I needed eight hours of sleep regularly. Even with that in mind I sleep about 7 hours on weekdays (9 to 11 hours in the weekend). Might have to change that, come to think of it.

Tell me, is a sandwich or two of whole grains (brown bread etc) with plant oil-based (as opposed to cream-based) butter and various toppings (cheese, meat, pathé etc) enough for your wholesome breakfast?



~Wiz

[SwordsMaster]

Interesting stuff. I always thought I needed eight hours of sleep regularly. Even with that in mind I sleep about 7 hours on weekdays (9 to 11 hours in the weekend). Might have to change that, come to think of it.

Tell me, is a sandwich or two of whole grains (brown bread etc) with plant oil-based (as opposed to cream-based) butter and various toppings (cheese, meat, pathé etc) enough for your wholesome breakfast?



~Wiz

Not really. Even if you are getting some proteins, carbs and fat, you are getting saturated fat from the pathe or meat (unless its chicken or turkey) and not unsaturated fat which is preferrable. Also you are getting no vitamins and very little carbs. And brown bread is better than white bread but it is still not as good as a bowl of cereal.

I'll post an example of a good breakfast so that you can compare.

[The Wizard]

Hm. Expected as much. The problem is I have to take pills every morning which prohibit me from eating for another hour. I guess I'll have to take them later on in the day.



~Wiz

[SwordsMaster]

Example of a good breakfast


First, a glass of water before breakfast, then: two whole eggs, 1 piece of fat free cheese, 1 serving oatmeal, 1 banana, 1 glass of water, multivitamin, 1 scoop of whey protein. Two whole eggs have 16 grams of protein and have the 2nd highest quality protein you can eat (whey protein being the highest quality of protein available). 1 piece of cheese is 6 grams, and 1 scoop of whey is 20 grams of protein. That's 42 grams of protein. Add in an incomplete protein, oatmeal, and I now have 47 grams of protein for breakfast. If I made my oatmeal with milk I'd be getting even more. It's easy to get protein in your breakfast. Next a banana has awesome electrolytes and is good source of carbohydrates and fiber, while oatmeal is a great source of carbohydrates with lots of fiber. Natural oats also raise testosterone a bit (good for a guy again ) and lowers cholesterol. The multivitamin must be taken with food, and it goes well with this meal. 1 glass of water helps take care of water soluble vitamins.


This breakfast takes me 12-16 minutes to cook and eat.
If you dont feel like building muscle, then you could drop the whey and maybe substitute 1 glass of water with a glass of orange juice. If you are preparing your oatmeals with milk you can also skip the cheese if you want (again if you dont really need that much protein).

This will keep you going for 3-4 hours.

Enjoy



EDIT:

Hm. Expected as much. The problem is I have to take pills every morning which prohibit me from eating for another hour. I guess I'll have to take them later on in the day.



~Wiz

PS: You can always take your pills after breakfast.

[The Wizard]

Yes, I have to take them either one hour before or two hours after eating (excluding snacks; but I stopped such jokes a while ago).

About the sleeping part. What are the tabs on siestas? Say, you slept 6-7 hours. Does that mean a nap of 2.5-1.5 hours brings you to the right level of sleep needed? Does that have only have effect on exercises after the siesta?



~Wiz

[SwordsMaster]

Yes, I have to take them either one hour before or two hours after eating (excluding snacks; but I stopped such jokes a while ago).

About the sleeping part. What are the tabs on siestas? Say, you slept 6-7 hours. Does that mean a nap of 2.5-1.5 hours brings you to the right level of sleep needed? Does that have only have effect on exercises after the siesta?



~Wiz

It is important that you sleep is uninterrupted. Meaning that it is better to sleep 8 hours uninterrupted than to sleep 6 and then another 3. As I said before, the Growth Hormone is released and used during your sleep and reaches its maximum release after some 4 hours of sleep on average. Yeah, but then it has to be used. It is much better used in your sleep. Thats why sleeping has those "healing" properties, you are basically rebuilding damaged tissue.

If you take short naps during the day, it mught help your digestion but it will not serve the purpose of rebuilding damaged tissue as the GH hasnt had time to be released.

You could, say wake up for an hour and then go back to bed and resume sleeping without too much damage to your healing process (assuming you slept for more than 6 hours in the first place), but a nap after lunch will only serve to rest your muscles and provide a good digestion.

If you do intense weight training (which I will consider in further updates) then the amount of hours you sleep will go up and a 2 hour nap during the day coupled with the right supplements will help you train again in the afternoon. Anyway that applies if you are a professional bodybuilder or "World's strongest man" and hardly applies to human friendly levels of training.

Wow, the post is longer than I intended. Going back to study now.

[mercian billman]

I find having a morning routine helps a lot when it comes to health and fitness. When I wake up in the morning do a set of pushups, down a bottle of Aquafina do a set of pushups, go the bathroom and do another set of pushups.

After all this I breakfast comprised of only fruits. Usually a couple of apples, or bannanas, I should add that I usually do not mix fruit either. Fruit for breakfast is a great way to get yourself energized and filled up. It's also easy to prepare and there's no clean up.

[Kongamato]

I used to ride the exercise bike before breakfast. It would wake me up and get me going. The ride takes around 40 minutes. Right now, I'm doing the ride before dinner. This allows me to get more sleep, as I don't have to get up so early. What time of day is best for doing cardio work, if there is one?

[SwordsMaster]

I find having a morning routine helps a lot when it comes to health and fitness. When I wake up in the morning do a set of pushups, down a bottle of Aquafina do a set of pushups, go the bathroom and do another set of pushups.

After all this I breakfast comprised of only fruits. Usually a couple of apples, or bannanas, I should add that I usually do not mix fruit either. Fruit for breakfast is a great way to get yourself energized and filled up. It's also easy to prepare and there's no clean up.

3 series of pushups is not really a big workout, but I would still recommend having something beforehand, say a banana or an apple, just to get your methabolism going. And you are not getting any proteins from fruit.... So I would still go for a more complete breakfast....

I used to ride the exercise bike before breakfast. It would wake me up and get me going. The ride takes around 40 minutes. Right now, I'm doing the ride before dinner. This allows me to get more sleep, as I don't have to get up so early. What time of day is best for doing cardio work, if there is one?

Well, the time of the day isnt so important as your own state of readyness. I mean you should eat about 1-2 hours before exercising, you shouldnt be hungry, but you should feel light, drink a good amount of water about an hour before, and about a pint of water during your exercise.

You shouldnt take a big meal right afterwards but eat some fast absorbing sugars first (a banana, or a jam sandwich) and about an hour later you could have your dinner.

You can get good results doing cardio in the morning, but it doesnt mean you shouldnt have breakfast or do the cardio before breakfast. As I said before that is counterproductive. You will burn muscle and your fat will mostly remain where it was.

If you want to do cardio in the morning "before" breakfast you should wake up, drink a glass of water, a glass of orange juice, have a banana and a toast and 20 mins later you are ready to do your cardio. When you are back, though you must have a complete breakfast.

[Al Khalifah]

1 scoop of whey protein

What would you recommend for this?

[SwordsMaster]

What would you recommend for this?

`
Dont really understand the question. You can buy whey protein.

[Al Khalifah]

Yeah I know. I mean what brand / type would you recommend?

[SwordsMaster]

Oh, got you.

Higher Power Whey is cheap and good, ON tastes good even with water. You could just experiment with a few and see what you like most.

[SwordsMaster]

Today: Water


Water is a magic potion, I swear it. Also it's important because it's the preferred drink of HARDCORE people. Obviously being HARDCORE is a good thing. Note: The word HARDCORE must always be written in capital letters exclusively because it's very prestigious (Thats Jujimufu's theory). In this article I'm going to explain to you it's secrets and magic properties. Training yourself to drink water can be hard if you're spoiled on wimpy sugar drinks and equally fussy drinks. Soft drinks are not HARDCORE. Hell, they can't be if they have the word "Soft" in the name. They are for weak people. So I'll start by explaining the benefits of water and how it can aid in your athletic career. Then I'll share with you some ways to convert to a strict water consumer.


Let's start off with healthy fat loss. An active athlete will want to minimize his fat intake and body fat ratio for maximum performance. Fat is a great energy source of course, but we want to use that energy not store it. Stored fat adds useless weight, and if you have some rolls or paddy legs you're going to want to get rid of it for obvious reasons.



So if you are wanting to lose weight or use fat more efficiently for energy, water can do this. Water helps the body metabolize fat, but how? The kidneys can't function properly without enough water to filter them clean. They don't work to their full capacity when dirty or overloaded. Now, when the kidneys cannot finish all their work some of that load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to burn off stored fat into useable energy. The liver is one bad-ass organ, appreciate the fact that you have one. Anyway, when the liver has it's job and some of the kidney's job then it can't do this to the full extent and operate at full capacity. So overall you metabolize less fat and weight loss stops if you don't get enough pure water. Another useful thing to know -Water naturally suppresses the appetite - You will not be as hungry for un-needed food if you drink ample amounts of it.


Water also helps you use energy more efficiently as I've said. The way it does this is because water is PURE! It can help push substances such as waste and chemicals out of your system. Out with the old, in with the new! Also water can help your body absorb vitamins or nutrients more efficiently. Ever hear of the term "Water soluble vitamin?" Some vitamins can only be absorbed in your body with the aid of water. Any form of liquid can do this but water does this the best because it's pure as pure can be. Vitamin C for example is a water soluble vitamin.


Water helps your body stay cool when you work out. You sweat a lot when you work out; If you don't keep your body clean and cool you will become weak, dizzy, or dehydrated. Dehydration, if it grows to moderate or severe levels, can cause the following: Low blood pressure, fainting, convulsions, bloated stomach, fast and weak pulse, skin's loss of firmness, and heart failure. All that shit sucks, heart failure isn't cool. So when you workout you will have to drink a nice supply of fluids. The best bet is to combine water with an energy drink when you workout. Also, pour it all over yourself so you're all slick...


Water helps the body remove toxins. It's pure so it can absorb the junk inside your body and flush it out! Then you feel fresh and clean!

Water helps you fight colds and other viruses. Combine water with an insane amount of antioxidants, laughter, and rest and you will totally ELIMINATE the disease in your body. It's also good for preventive measures!


Friends have told me that drinking a load of water can help curb cravings for cigarettes! This is a really cool tip to try if you're trying to quit smoking.


Water will reduce overall water retention and bloat. For instance, your body always needs a balance of sodium and fluids. If you don't get enough sodium you will faint or feel incredibly dizzy. If you don't get enough water your skin retains the rare amounts of water it has making you "Look" and "Feel" thick and heavy, wearing you down and decreasing oxygen exchange in the lungs. So if you drink plenty of "pure" water, your system will regulate this back to normal; Making you feel slimmer, faster, and cleaner.


Lack of water is the #1 cause of daytime fatigue, causing you too feel sluggish and not ready to train.

Increased water intake hydrates your skin keeping it firm and healthy, transforming you into a stunning figure!

A 2% drop in body water can trigger short-term memory loss which will make you stupid. You forget little things like your car keys, a date, or maybe you'll forget it's raining outside. Drink more and you will remember more, you'll be more focused and it will make you smarter.


Water drops cancer rates! Drinking just 5 glasses a day (8 ounces is one glass) decreases your risk of colon cancer by 45%, breast cancer by 79%, and cuts the risk of bladder cancer by 50%!


Water is a catabolic substance, meaning it actually takes your body energy to digest it and let it go through your system. You lose fat just from drinking it. A cool fact is the colder the water the more calories it burns. To keep your body in homeostasis (balanced function) it actually takes energy to keep your body warm as the cold water goes into your system. You burn 150 calories extra a day just from drinking 1 gallon of icy water. Then again you might get a cold so use at your own discretion...

Water lubricates your joints. Joint pain can decrease with increased water intake.

Among the health benefits I have stated it's also less expensive and will save you money! It can be very cheap and can make all the difference in the world when you convert. A soda or Sobe beverage costs E1 or more for 20 ounces. Water is free! Just go out and drink from the hose in your backyard. Drinking from the hose is HARDCORE.




Lets look at the how:



Basically the best way to train yourself to like it is to start working out really hard. If you train hard I guarantee that taste won't matter to you much when you're gasping for air and collapsing on the ground from fatigue in whatever training you're doing. You lose liquids from intense activity, and trust me when you're this tired your body won't care what form of liquid you put in it.


So start training hard and drinking some water in combination with an energy drink during your training. When you've gotten used to that start adding water into some meals here and there. That's all there is to it! If you keep at it and stop drinking other stuff such as soda or high GI drinks on a normal basis your body will accustom itself to the blander liquid. Not to say those other formulations don't have their place in your diet, cause obviously you need a high glycemic carbohydrate drink post workout with fast proteinsas I probably said in some other post, but you should almost exclusively drink water overall. It even enhances the taste of a meal. Those other beverages are just sugar garbage that spoils your sense of taste with corruption. Definitely not HARDCORE...



Lastly how much water should you drink? Experts have for years stated that 8 glasses a day is enough for the standard individual. 8 glasses is 64 ounces. However, the average individual is not HARDCORE. HARDCORE people need a helluva lot more water! If you are one of those average people you can get your daily supply by drinking 4 (16) ounce bottles. If you're HARDCORE though you'll need to down the bottles down like crazy because you'll be losing precious fluids tearing open street gang members with your bare hands on a daily basis. I hope you realize water intake can vary between the activity levels of individuals.



Once you convert you'll never go back. The feel is as incredible as the money you save! Drink WATER!



Resources :


www.trickstutorials.com
http://www.fijiwater.com/site/health_benefits.html

[English assassin]

Good thread. That info on breakfast was interesting, I knew breakfast was important but I always thought something like two bits of toast with marmite was enough to kick things off. Obviously its not.

This inspires me to get a bit more organised with my gym work again too.

[SwordsMaster]

Before going into actual strength or weights training I thought stretching and flexibility would be in place. Everyone could use some more flexibility. So:

Today: Working towards the splits

Basically there are 2 main areas of flexibility: legs, and back.

To increase them both this is a nice and handy program that you can do in about 30 mins. about 40 including the warmup.

First, to get out of bed in the morning do a bridge, hold for 15-20 secs doing your best, then relax and follow your usual morning routine, do the bridge again before going to bed.

The following program is aiming at doing splits. Yes, you can. Try it and then tell me if it works.


It's much like weight lifting. To get gains you have to work very hard. But to maintain you don't have to do quite as much.

Do a stretch until you begin to feel main. Breath in through your nose out through your mouth and relax. Wait until it does not hurt and then push out a little farther. Repeat. Do it as long as you want. The longer you spend the faster you will see results. I don't like spending much time on stretching so I prefer to get people flexible quickly and then help them to maintain it.

There is nothing special about stretching.


THE PROGRAM:

First it is important to follow some simple rules if you want to increase flexibility.

1. Stretch after working out to improve flexibility.
2. All movements should be done slowly while stretching.
3. Never Bounce "balistic stretching" you will get gains but it will increase the risk of injury dramatically.
4. Do not force a muscle to go beyond its range of motion.
5. Expect pain but it should not be extreme.
6. If you suffer a pulled or strained muscle rest a few days before attempting to stretch for flexability again.
7. as for times to hold stretch. minimum of 60 sec. unless you get stabbing type pain then stop the stretch or relax it a bit. Hold the stretch as long as is necessary. If you start it and it is hard for you hold for a minute and see if you can increase the stretch, keep trying hold, stretch, hold stretch to work your way down. once you feel you have made sufficient progress for the day you can stop. I'd say 1 to 5 minutes as a guildline but you have to learn to listen to your own body.
8. Breath deeply when stretching, Breath out as you go down into the stretch and continue to breath deeply.


First stretch
Sit on the floor with both legs directly in front of you both feet should be touching. Pull your self down to your knees using your arms. (if this is difficult wrap a rope or belt around your feet and use that to pull down.) Hold position for 5 minutes or until pain subsides. Then pull down until chest is against the knees (or as close as you can). Try not to arch your back. continue this for as long as you want up to about 30 minutes DO not bend knees

Second stretch
Stand place legs together. place left leg behind right and pull yourself down to touch your toes. then switch legs and repeat.
Do not bend knees any more than necessary.

Third stretch
Sit on your feet in the kneeling position. and simply lie back until you are lying on the floor. Do this very slowly until you are sure you can do this with out injury. Hold position until pain subsides and go further down. Hold for 1 to 5 minutes once you are able to lie all the way down on the floor. (if you have knee problems be very careful with this stretch) This stretch have -when hold long enough- a VERY relaxing effect on your entire body.

fourth stretch.
Sit and place both soles of your feet together. pull the feet towards you and push down on your knees until they touch the floor. Then try to put your nose to the floor.

fifth stretch
Sit on the floor put legs as far apart as possible. Place left arm behind you palm flat on the floor put right arm in front palm on floor. Lift yourself and slide your left heel straight out as far as you can. Hold position and place both hands behind palms flat.
Keep back straight and lower down to the middle until chest is flat to floor then go down over the left and right legs. Hold for 5 minutes or until pain subsides. Then swith hands left hand in front right hand behind. Lift and slide the right heel out straight.
Make sure to keep the other leg stationary. Repeat above.

NOTE: after you are done stretching pull yourself backwards and let your legs come together then use your hands to lift them up at the knees and shake them a bit to warm them up before standing.
Do not bend knees DO NOT BOUNCE!!!!!

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Interesting. Maybe getting 3hrs of sleep a night and never eating breakfast is making me so sickly and stupid all of a sudden? Hrm...I need more sleep. Gah I cant wait till summer.

[DemonArchangel]

I wish I could hire you to be my personal trainer SwordsMaster.

Meanwhile, I wish I could flaunt my six pack to boast of my perfect figure to the .org to make you all jealous.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Stickied, as I quite like the sentiment behind the thread.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

I wish I could hire you to be my personal trainer SwordsMaster.

Meanwhile, I wish I could flaunt my six pack to boast of my perfect figure to the .org to make you all jealous.

And I wish I could flaunt my extremly disgusting back hair do gross you all into submission!

[DemonArchangel]

*Uggg..*

[ichi]

As we approach summer in the desert here I try very hard to focus on staying hydrated.

Drinking lots of water is so important, for your kidneys, liver, skin, it aids in digestion and helps prevent muscle cramps.

When your working out or just having fun, hydratin is essential to maintaining good health.

ichi

[SwordsMaster]

You think, ok. Im more flexible than before, I sleep well, I have good breakfast but Im NOT fit. What I want to do is to get fit.

Ok, you wanted it soldier, get in line.

*Puts on Green Beret sargent uniform*

I'll get you fit like real men! Now you got 30 seconds to get dressed to sweat and get back in line. Move!

Today: Fit for service

- Ok, you lazy bums. I dont know how you got here, but I'll make sure your mom is not ashamed of you when you go back to your insignificant lives after you've served your countries. -

Here is a 7 week program that will get you fit for service as an average infantryman. If you served in the army before you'll probably remember some of it. I compiled this info from some of the armies' bulletins, and after you've finished it you will pass your army access with no prob .

Later on I'll get into the tough army training, I've compiled from special units. Namely Royal Marines, Green Berets and SEALS. So be very afraid *evil grin*. You wont survive a day of the other training if you cant complete this one, so be warned.

Running :

Week 1-2: 2 miles/day no more than 8.30 mins/mile (5 min/km) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Week 3-4: 3miles/day, 8.30/mile, M/W/F
Week 5-6: 2,3,4,2 miles 8,00/mile (4'45 min/km), M/Tu/Th/F
Week 7 and successive: 4/4/4 miles 8.00/mile, M/W/F

Conditioning:
All M/W/F: recommended before the running.

Week1: 4sets x 20 pushups
3x40 situps (no longer than 1 min each set)
You can do 2 sets of normal ones, and another 2 for the obliques (one hand by your side, and go to the opposite knee)
3x5 pullups (if you cant do 5, start with 3)
3x50 squats (normal squats, straight back, hands in front)

Week 2: 5x25 pushups
4x45 situps (or 3 normal ones and 2 oblique)
3x6 pullups
3x70 squats
2x5 planche pushups (lie on the floor facing down with your nads at your hips' level. Lift yourself off the ground. Hard huh? Now as you get better at this you should lift your feet off the ground too and basically hold your whole body with your arms)

Week 3: 5x30 pushups
4x50 situps (or the obliques alternative)
3x 8 pullups
3x100 squats
3x5 planche pushups

Week 4:
5x40 pushups
4x60 situps
3x10 pullups
2x200 squats
3x7 planche pushups

If you made it here, congratulations. You have to couple this with good stretching to avoid soreness, etc. after a workout drink water and eat something that releases fast energy (a banana or a toast with jam).

Dismissed!
*/Green Beret uniform*