[quote name='ShakeZuma' date='Tuesday, April 1st, 2008, 3:40 AM' post='2539001']
you know, I hadn't thought about the dip part being kinda far apart, but now that I look at it I see what you mean. I mainly want it for leg raises and pull ups, but the dips are good too. you think there is any way to easily modify the one you have? if not, are there any ones out there that are adjustable at a reasonable price?

I went for a slightly more expensive one that is made from square tube, the arms unbolt from the main upright. I'm going to drill them and make bolt on dip handles that sit inside the originals. I have a welder and drill press at work so it will only cost me a bit for materials and a couple of hours of my time.

I haven't seen one that is adjustable but there may be some where the dip handles are closer together.

10 days in a row now. 204.5 (gained 0.5, cheesesteak last night, sigh). Down 6.5 overall.

20 bike, 10 ski, 30 treadmill, and I actually jogged for 5 of the 30 without feeling like complete crap. Felt strong throughout, actually.

Weights tonight after work.

One of those nights I really don't feel like going to the gym after work. I'm going anyway. Thank you, gym thread.

How'd it go?

Went well. I was nodding off at my desk when I made that last post but I just reminded myself that tomorrow is a rest day so I should stop being a bitch and get to the gym.

Treadmill, 3.2 miles.


You make it the past two nights?

I've been hitting this local gym off and on since I moved here (8 months ago), but I really want to start taking it seriously. One of my problems is I tend to get "lost" working out, not really having a clear goal or a clear idea of which exercises to target.

If Jeff or someone doesn't mind, could I get a hold of that workout that was PM'd around?

My plan is to to stick to that (or another workout), and post about it in this thread just like everyone else. Good times.

this damn show The Ultimate Fighter is going to be tough on me. on one hand, it really gets me in the mindset to want to work out hard, but on the other hand its on at freaking 10 at night till 11, pretty much making it impossible for me to get up on time the next morning to get a workout in. it would be sweet if I had tivo or dvr or something.

I know what you mean. I forgot about the show, and missed the live UFC Fight Night from 7-10, but I got home from weights in time to see most of the first episode. Wnet to bed right after, and crawled out of bed at 5 this morning to hit the gym.

203.5 this morning, down 7.5 from 211. 11 Straight days.

Weights last night were good, felt strong, except my biceps are crappy.

20 min random hill on the bike this morning, level 8, 7.5 miles.
10 min ski machine level 8. No clue how far, but I was drenched.
30 min treadmill, 4.0mph, 2.0 incline. Every 5th minute I jogged at 5.0mph, for a total of 5 minutes jogging. 4.2 mph at 3.0 incline for last 2 minutes.

I get tonight off. Tomorrow is 5am cardio and weights after work.

Didn't go yesterday - planned rest day. Drank beer and ate badly instead, but I'm ok with that. Back tonight.

pm me your email addy or post it here.



Great hook to open this season. Rampage is a much cooler guy than i thought...very funny, doesn't seem to take himself too seriously..really seems to get it. I'm now a fan.

I hooked him up already, fyi.

excellent

I'm a dedicated bodybuilder and would love to answer questions on getting fit/eating right/training/weightlifting if you have any.

yeah I think its going to be really entertaining. rampage and forrest are pretty much the two funniest guys in the UFC right now, so as far as entertainment, it should be the tops.


oh I can TOTALLY bench more than you.

From you this was the only appropriate response.

MUSCLE MILK

14 straight. still 203.5. Shot up to 205 Friday morning, ate dinner very late Thursday. Just bumping because you can actually go to the gym on weekends.

Throwing a day or two of rest in there every once in a while isn't a bad thing.

Ran Friday and Saturday. Nothing on Sunday because it's a day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't pick up the phone, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit don't go to the fucking gym.

So you're one of those religious types...


General Question: For those who got the El Guapo workout from me or tim or sean, how's it going? Feeling anything?

Phone's ringing, Dude.

Shomer fucking shabbos.

Back at it today, after a week of family drama, some family death, etc. I am going to have some hours to myslef to work out.

On a positive note, even though I had about a week and a half break from working out, I did go walking/joggin a couple times and did some pretty strenuous physaical activity in the yard at my house and my parents, including digging 4 huge holes in solid clay to plant some pretty big trees.

Damn...I don't want to tell you guys how long it's been since i've been at the gym...and tomorrow is unlikely...


Looks like Wednesday before I can get back on track.

Yeah, not that I'm a couple of weeks in I'm going from 10 workouts a week to 7, just doing it every morning. Monday, Wednesday, Friday is weights plus light cardio, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday is hard cardio.

Had a setback on Sunday with the eating right, as we were out early to the Taj. Wife talked me into Mcdonald's for breakfast in the car (2 sausage biscuits), Sbarro for lunch (2 slices with stuff on em), Italian for dinner (ziti and meatballs), and then a pint of Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch for desert before bed.

Went from 203.5 Sunday morning to 210 Monday morning! Holy crap!

That taught me a good lesson. No more binging like that for quite some time.

Anyway, 208.0 this morning, 16 straight days. They say 21 days of something makes it a new habit, right? Belt is down a notch, and I'm seeing/feeling some muscle underneath my flab now.

This morning: 20 min bike random hill lvl 8, 10 min ski machine lvl8, 30 min treadmill 4.0mph 2.0 incline. Hoping to add some jogging in next week, 1 min out of 5 or some such to start.

Yesterday: planned this week- 1 warmup set@16reps, 1 heavy set@12 reps, still finding my weight limits.
10 min warmup on the bike
Chest Press machine, Warmup set 20lbsx16, set 1 80lbsx12, set 2 (cause set one felt easy) 100lbsx12
Seated Row machine, WU 20lbsx16, Set 1 80lbsx13, set 2 100lbsx10
Shoulder Press mach, WU 20lbsx16, set 1 60lbsx13 (shoulders are crappy weak)
Arm Curl machine, WU 20lbsx16, set 1 50lbsx11, set 2 40lbsx13
Tricep extension, WU 20lbsx16, set 1 50lbsx13
Leg extension, WU 30lbsx16, set 1 80lbsx14, set 2 90lbsx14
Leg curl (hamstrings) WU 30lbsx16, set 1 70lbsx12
Seated calf raises, WU 40lbsx12, set 1 120lbsx13

Trying to find a good form peak weight this week to move to a second heavy set next week on each exercise. Sorry it was long, but helps to keep track.

Get back in there, champ.

Don't they say weighing yourself everyday is bad? I though I'd heard/read that somwhere to do once a week, twice a week at most.

Anyone?

yes it is. it causes you to focus on those little fluctuations like he's talking about.


tortuga, my advice:

1) stop weighing yourself so often. do it maybe once a month, twice a month at the most. first of all, your actually weight shouldn't really matter. what should matter is fat loss and muscle gain. if you're doing it right, you'll lose a little weight and then gain some back (lose fat, gain muscle). if you're concentrating on the specific pounds, it could get frustrating when you see yourself "stagnating." but the thing is, you aren't. pay attention to pant sizes. that is a good indicator of how you're doing fat loss wise.

2) you should probably be scheduling in more breaks into your routine. 7 days a week is not really good for you. your body needs to rest, and if you're constantly pushing it hard, it isn't going to have a chance to rebuild muscle. plus, if you go that hardcore, its a whole lot easier to get burned out and quit for good after you plateau (which will happen).

I work out twice a day on mondays, tuesdays, wednesdays, and thursdays, and once on fridays, but its only for 30 minutes at a time. short, intense workouts (cardio or weights, either one) are the best way to burn fat.

Very good points.

Shut the fuck up, Donny.

My workout yesterday was filling two truck loads of brick from the side of my house. I am beat today, that was a good 2 hours workout!

FINALLY got back to the gym today. had to drop it back a plate on most of the workouts, but it felt good to get back at it.

Nice job!

Cardio sucked this morning. Got it done, though.

I must have been walking more than normal at work this week because I've got shin splints and my calves have been super overworked. I haven't been able to get a real cardio workout this week which sucks. hopefully it will heal so I can bust it out better next week because I'm still very very fat. I've been doing some really good lifting though, so thats good. it always helps when you switch up your routine because it makes it harder, but more interesting.

Good to hear. Get back on track.


I've encountered a unique problem at the gym. I listen to my iPod while I run and I just use the regular ear buds that come with it (which I hate and will be replacing). For some reason, they fit better into my right ear than my left. I guess I have a deformed left ear. Anyway, I constantly have to adjust the one in my left ear, which is annoying. That's only part of the problem, though. Apparently my ears sweat like madness because after about 10-15 minutes or so the bud in my left ear shorts out and is barely audible - I'm assuming that has something to do with the inordinate amount of ear sweat I produce. It sucks.

Mine fit differently too. Also hate the sweat factor.

I got some of the noice canceling earbuds, but they kinda make my ear hurt... they were cheaper ones, cause i tried someone's once and they said they were super cheap, but i forgot the brand.

apparently i have two misshapen ears because buds have NEVER stayed in mine, no matter what. I use the behind the neck earphones now.

I think I'm gonna get some of the noise canceling types with "soft silicone tips" that come in different sizes. About $20 or so.

Yeah, those are what I got, but I think the tips on these are too soft, and if they're in too far they echo a bit, it's kinda strange.

Bump

Didn't go over the weekend, but back at it this evening.

I've seen this thread around and always ignored it. Now it's exam time and I'm hardcore procrastinating so i decided to take a look inside.
This is like a little support group and it awesome guys, good works boys.

I've been in university for 4 years now and I have cut almost all physical activity out of my life. I'm a tall dude with a solid build, 6'3 and I must have gained at least 40 pounds since I started university which puts up somewhere above 250 now probably. I don't think I should be above 220 and 200 would be excellent. Back in high school when I played lots of hockey i was at 185 i think, thats like 6 years ago. I take my bike out sometimes, i play a little tennis and I snowboard in the winter, but lately i've been feeling out of shape and my physique isn't what I would want it to be. I drink alot of beer, not like a drinking problem a lot, but when I party I can down alot of beer and i can easily casually drink 3 beers a night on any random week night, and thats just bad habbit. I don't eat especially bad or especially well, I could easiily improve that because I love to cook but hardly do anymore ( cheap university lifestyle eating has taken over).

Anyways point is, I was talking with my buddy just the other day about health and fitness and I said I really should get back into shpae, but yads yada i don't have the time. He's like dude, there is always a way to find time, and he's right. There is a lot of time I waste watching either a TV online, or surfing the web or stayingup for nothing until 4-5 am, so finding a hour or 2 to workout would be easy. Then I said, but going to the gym blows, which is true too, but theres a huge upside to working out obviously. So I want to get back into shape. There is a cheap gym, at my school I think I can sign up too for the summer. It sucks going inside to work out during the summer but it'll be worth it, and I have to take control of my body and lifestyle again. I made few attitude adjustments over the past year related to school and studying and smoking weed, and I'm in a pretty good place right now so I should keep up the good things i have going. Oh and i got to ge my body inshape for beach volleyball this summer, I played a bit last year and I love that sport but playing with a gut is less than attractive.

First step was posting in here. I have exams until next week then registration should be open at the gym. I'll look into it this week and get my membership.

Now theres you guys here to keep me honest, so good for me, weeeeeeeeeeeee.

no back to studying.

later

First step is the hardest, sir.

good luck

agreed.

I bought a membership at that gym in September for 1 semester and I never stepped foot in the gym.
Money down the drain, lol.

Okay..maybe the second step is the hardest.

I would bet there are far more people that pay for gym memberships that never go than people who pay and do. I'd almost bet that this is actually how gyms make their money: from customers who don't actually use (and subsequently wear out) their equipment.

I'm 47 and an alchoholic. If I can do it anyone can.

A few years back I got really into fitness for the first time after reading Body for Life. I went to the Gym everyday for about a year and a half and did an amazing job re-creating my physique. I hurt my leg and had to stop, then the gym closed and one thing led to another and I just got away from it. I used to be a fanatic taking supplements eating healthy and studying exercises etc.

Lately the old lady has been getting on a health kick and kinda hinting I should as well.

So 2 weeks ago I started and this is my routine.

MWFSun I do 20 minutes of cardio on a treadmill. I have sequence I go through that works very well which i'll share if anyone wants to try it.

When I say levels, it simply means your level of health and stamina. A level one is like walking normal, a level ten would be trying to lift a building.

I start at a level 2 for 2 minutes to warm up.
Then in one minute intervals I increase to a level 5. Then I go back to level 3 and repeat up to a level 6, and go back to a level 3 and repeat twice more ending with a level 7 then cooling off at level 2 for 2 minutes. This takes 20 minutes total and at the end I'm winded and pretty shakey. This will improve over time but the goal is to get the heart rate up and constantly increase my stamina.

On the in between days I alternate between lower body and upper body with weights, though I did just buy a home gym to do most of the exercises. Barbells do just fine if you can't afford a gym membership though and they're are more than enough exercises to get in shape.

I also do the exercises the same as the cardio e.g. curls. I start at a low weight and do 12 reps, increase the weight and do 10, increase and do 8, then increase and do 6. Then I lower back to the weight I used at 8 reps and do 10. I cool off one minute in between reps. Each workout takes about 40 minutes doing all the muscle groups. I plan on switching exercises monthly.

I haven't drastically changed my diet yet but plan on at least doing better. Vitamins but no supplements.

Do it.

A big thank you to Fryer for sending me the workout that has been circulating around in here. I finally got started today. I had been doing cardio once or twice a week, but El Guapo's workout is awesome. It took only 40 minutes, and I had a pretty solid sweat going on.

Some background: The usual. I was very active as a teenager, remained active through hockey and soccer until semi recently. I never watch what I eat, although I have never eaten a lot of junk food. I have started to get some serious love handles going, and I just generally feel out of shape. Hopefully this program can turn things around.

This might explain my rambling from yesterday better. This cardio program really works and is good for anyone.

20-Minute Aerobics Solution™ — The Official Body-for-LIFE Cardio Plan



Warm up the first 2 minutes at Intensity Level 5
Minutes 2-3 move from Intensity Level 5 to 6
Minutes 4-5, 6-10 and 11-14 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 9, maintain for one minute.
Minutes 15-19 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 10 (High Point at Level 10), maintain for one minute.
Minute 20 cool down to Intensity Level 5 for one minute.
Alternate weight-training and cardio workouts for six consecutive days and rest on the seventh day.

Just started to go back on Monday
1) Overweight obv. - weigh-in today b4 workout - 182 lbs, im 5'9
2) 33 min Eliptical
3) 20 min stairmaster

I would love to jog outside now that the weather is starting to turn, but I used to log in 80-100 miles a week in H.S., now I have bad knees.

Today:
1) No weigh-in figured once a week is good
2) 33 min Elip.
3) 27 min bike

Im trying to eat healthy but its so damn hard...gl all and I'll let you know when I start to lose wt.

I'd like to get down to 170, with a big goal of 165 and beyond...

Treadmill last night for 3.0 miles. There was also a girl riding a bike right in front of me. Fryer would have appreciated her assets.