So I've been trying to do pushups, and I can do a normal amount for me, and feel no pain or anything during the workout. However as soon as I stop, my shoulders and upper arms get a really painful sensation. It almost feels like it's in the bone or something, but it lasts for 2-3 minutes and I'm worried I'm causing damage to my shoulders. Any thoughts?
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Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread
- Thread starter Ninahaza
- Start date
after a year of unstructured work out and really just ignorance in terms of fitness, I'm starting p90x tomorrow. I gained a lot of muscle in the past year, but I guess it's not hard to get bigger when you start your journey looking like a pipe cleaner. will maybe post before and afters or something idk?? I've just plateaued doing stuff on my own and really lost motivation going to the gym when nothing is changing. Everyone I know who has done it, it really did good for them so I hope I'll be happy with the results.
Found out I have FAI....Google it if you don't know what it is. Basically it can be managed well with proper stretching but down the track I may need hip surgery. I'm not allowed to squat below parallel (haven't done legs in ages cause of hip flexor pain), play kicking sports and I'm not meant to even run - although I still play sport five days a week anyway. I'm not gonna let this stop me achieving my goals but this definitely fucking sucks.
This happens to me after shoulders sometimes too, if you're working out pain free it's most likely nothing to worry about but if you're still worried, you should get x-rays.
china is fucking stupid as far as exercise goes, there are no gyms in this entire city (pop. 1,000,000+) and the diet is:
breakfast: rice
dinner: rice
tea: rice
fml
i'm just using the next four months to tighten up some weak spots (wrists!) but i've become...tempted...by the idea of competing as a bodybuilder when I return to England.
i'm a short dude (5 foot 7) so i gather that could be an advantage with regards to weight classes as I'd appear much more muscular than a 6 foot dude of equivalent weight. Correct me if this is a naive or uninformed assumption.
i'm pretty strong, disciplined, experienced, commited...I think I have all the traits for it. Catch is that I am not prepared to quit competitive running. Can a runner be a bodybuilder or are they too much of a juxtaposition?
breakfast: rice
dinner: rice
tea: rice
fml
i'm just using the next four months to tighten up some weak spots (wrists!) but i've become...tempted...by the idea of competing as a bodybuilder when I return to England.
i'm a short dude (5 foot 7) so i gather that could be an advantage with regards to weight classes as I'd appear much more muscular than a 6 foot dude of equivalent weight. Correct me if this is a naive or uninformed assumption.
i'm pretty strong, disciplined, experienced, commited...I think I have all the traits for it. Catch is that I am not prepared to quit competitive running. Can a runner be a bodybuilder or are they too much of a juxtaposition?
the two aren't really compatible as far as i'm concerned, lee. you could probably do both at a lowish level or endeavour to do one at a higher level. i can't see it being possible to compete at both well at a decent level, unfortunately! would be cool if you proved me wrong though!
I don't really understand why people bulk up then cut. Wouldn't the end goal be better if one just stayed lean the whole time? Bulking up might be relatively easy, but cutting that excess fat--I think--would require more work than just gaining lean muscle. Maybe I'm not seeing something :x
@Yonko7
I went down that road a bit a few years ago, it's just a way to make it easier to gain muscle. Gaining muscle and losing / maintaining fat at the same time is really hard and you could just overkill both separately so you don't have to be strict tracking every single calorie.
@Lee
I think you've definitely got the stuff to be a bodybuilder, but if you're worried about it affecting running you could probably just wait until farther down the line when you feel like you've put your best work in running already. It seems like that's been your calling to me and I personally wouldn't wanna wonder what I could've done in my favorite thing.
I went down that road a bit a few years ago, it's just a way to make it easier to gain muscle. Gaining muscle and losing / maintaining fat at the same time is really hard and you could just overkill both separately so you don't have to be strict tracking every single calorie.
@Lee
I think you've definitely got the stuff to be a bodybuilder, but if you're worried about it affecting running you could probably just wait until farther down the line when you feel like you've put your best work in running already. It seems like that's been your calling to me and I personally wouldn't wanna wonder what I could've done in my favorite thing.
Ash Borer
I've heard they're short of room in hell
No, what you say makes sense, but indeed you need to excess calories to gain muscle and exact calorie need and intake is mere estimation so youre probably going to put on a bit of fat if you want to maximize muscle gains. But no, you cant bull your body into putting on shitloads of muscle by eating 5000+ calories a day. so do nt do that
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
yee, Doesn't working out your obliques compromise your V shape? And I've heard that basic planks (not side) > crunches and sit ups
I've been doing full body workouts every other day for a couple of weeks now and have been getting good results so far. My goal is to get a lean, muscular body with a strong core. I'm 6'2 and weigh 191 lbs. It's raining a lot right now but I was wondering if there would be any harm in swimming on my rest days once it stops. I'm worried that it might prevent my muscles from getting enough rest and affect muscle development.
I've been doing full body workouts every other day for a couple of weeks now and have been getting good results so far. My goal is to get a lean, muscular body with a strong core. I'm 6'2 and weigh 191 lbs. It's raining a lot right now but I was wondering if there would be any harm in swimming on my rest days once it stops. I'm worried that it might prevent my muscles from getting enough rest and affect muscle development.
Yeah I'd agree it makes V shape less, but I'm not worried about cosmetics atm and just letting whatever happens there happen as long as I'm getting better at runs/swims. I definitely agree planks > bodyweight crunches / situps so I have been using a weight plate for crunches or just go the gym and use an ab machine, but yeah I'll have to mix in full planks at some point. Thanks for the tip!
I don't think swimming on rest days should hurt you as long as you keep high enough calories / protein coming in and take a day off after a heavy tricep / lat workout. I get most sore in the triceps actually but it goes away within a day and my chest / tricep area is the least developed group I have. Super competitive swimmers seem to go 6-7 times a week so 3-4 should give plenty of rest.
For pure strength core I'd just do long workouts that push for about 4-5 days off and if you want to keep everything else lean shorter stuff that only needs a day or two at most. If you need to get lean vegetables and water should help a lot because they have 0 calories and still contribute to feeling full / hydrated when fast food can easily take 1000-2000 at a time to get there. That being said Michael Phelps had a 12,000 calorie diet and that worked for him so you can clearly just leave a lot in the water. Good luck.
I don't think swimming on rest days should hurt you as long as you keep high enough calories / protein coming in and take a day off after a heavy tricep / lat workout. I get most sore in the triceps actually but it goes away within a day and my chest / tricep area is the least developed group I have. Super competitive swimmers seem to go 6-7 times a week so 3-4 should give plenty of rest.
For pure strength core I'd just do long workouts that push for about 4-5 days off and if you want to keep everything else lean shorter stuff that only needs a day or two at most. If you need to get lean vegetables and water should help a lot because they have 0 calories and still contribute to feeling full / hydrated when fast food can easily take 1000-2000 at a time to get there. That being said Michael Phelps had a 12,000 calorie diet and that worked for him so you can clearly just leave a lot in the water. Good luck.
Hints from my dad who is figure conscious and has lived in China for 6 months in 2007 for some business stuff.
If you are looking for gyms try out to find out if you have any five star hotels near you. Some of them have a gymnasium to cater to the guests and with a little bit of effort you can talk your way to some kind of a membership, (the one time use fees are ridiculous) the catch is it might still cost a pop even if you manage to snag a membership of some kind.
And since I come from a family where rice is a staple the best advice I can give is: curry
vegetable and meat curries you have with rice are the best nutritional supplements you can get without going out of your way to have a western diet. Fish curry for example is excellent in proteins. And try to have as little rice in the nights as possible. It's perfectly possible to maintain a rice diet and stay fit (though I cannot speak for body-building)
a bunch of fitness nerds in this thread so I might as well ask
ok I have been exercising recently to lose weight and slim down, basically I go on the elliptical for 30 minutes and walk around campus 1-3 times depending on how much free time I have (25 minutes each time around)
I believe that is fine, I think my problem is probably what I am eating, outside of breakfast (because I live for my egg sandwiches in the morning) what foods are best? I have been eating a lot of fish and soup as of late.
Also I don't eat snacks really, so I tend to overeat meals so I don't get hungry also. Dinner closes at 6:30 pm and I don't eat again until 8:00 am sometimes. Lately I have substituted fruits as late night snacks so I can eat less for dinner. Is this a good thing or no?
ok I have been exercising recently to lose weight and slim down, basically I go on the elliptical for 30 minutes and walk around campus 1-3 times depending on how much free time I have (25 minutes each time around)
I believe that is fine, I think my problem is probably what I am eating, outside of breakfast (because I live for my egg sandwiches in the morning) what foods are best? I have been eating a lot of fish and soup as of late.
Also I don't eat snacks really, so I tend to overeat meals so I don't get hungry also. Dinner closes at 6:30 pm and I don't eat again until 8:00 am sometimes. Lately I have substituted fruits as late night snacks so I can eat less for dinner. Is this a good thing or no?
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
It's not about what to eat, what's more important is what you should avoid. Fried stuff, any kind of sweets/chocolates/desserts (anything with sugar in it, basically), potato, pork/bacon, white bread or anything made with white flour. And try to eat as much spicy food as possible as it increases your metabolism. Never eat till you're completely full because it takes some time for your brain to get a message from the stomach; try to find that spot between "starving" and "absolutely stuffed". Whether or not drinking soup is fine depends on it's ingredients.
wait potatoes are bad for you
yea they're the bad type of carbs. along with processed grains like most cereal (think coco crunch but not weetbix), white rice, white bread, all that shit.
the importance of diet:health is severely underestimated by people who don't take an active interest in bodybuilding / nutrition. basically if you're only concerned about losing weight adjust your diet to 1. meet a certain caloric intake that is below what your body needs to maintain a weight 2. fit your nutrition needs and flavour wants (can't afford to be too picky in the latter category if you have a mess hall).
i currently have a cafeteria / whatever the fuck you want to call it situation and legit just lose weight naturally because the food is too shit, so i end up undereating a lot of the time. fine by me tbh
if you wanted to be more serious about attaining fitness / physique then this advice is fairly introductory but i figure 'lose weight and slim down' mean this is the kind of thing you're gunning for.
edit: lee definitely knows more than i do so listen to him about potatoes
the importance of diet:health is severely underestimated by people who don't take an active interest in bodybuilding / nutrition. basically if you're only concerned about losing weight adjust your diet to 1. meet a certain caloric intake that is below what your body needs to maintain a weight 2. fit your nutrition needs and flavour wants (can't afford to be too picky in the latter category if you have a mess hall).
i currently have a cafeteria / whatever the fuck you want to call it situation and legit just lose weight naturally because the food is too shit, so i end up undereating a lot of the time. fine by me tbh
if you wanted to be more serious about attaining fitness / physique then this advice is fairly introductory but i figure 'lose weight and slim down' mean this is the kind of thing you're gunning for.
edit: lee definitely knows more than i do so listen to him about potatoes
Last edited:
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
People tend to underestimate the importance of a healthy diet. Weight loss/fitness is 80% healthy diet + 20% exercise. You can lose more weight by making your diet healthy and not exercising at all than by working out very hard every single day and eating anything you want. I learned that the hard way :(
potatoes are absolutely packed with nutritional value and should never be listed alongside the likes of white rice and white bread (empty-calorie foods).
A baked potato has 60% of your RDA for Vitamin D, 45% for Vitamin C and has noteworthy levels of thiamin, niacin, magnesium and iron.
A baked potato has 60% of your RDA for Vitamin D, 45% for Vitamin C and has noteworthy levels of thiamin, niacin, magnesium and iron.
Recently discovered this thread so thought I might share my achievements.
Currently I am a Junior in high school, in a nice suburban town in Massachusetts (4th healthiest state I think?). I'm relatively short for a guy, and incredibly skinny. I'm 5'7" and 106 pounds. I have no idea what my %Body fat is but I can assure you it's incredibly low.
I've been doing endurance training ever since the end of elementary school in the form of swimming. I was never any good at it, considering I was tiny, and didn't have anything close to a growth spurt until 8th grade. However it did prepare me for other endurance training, and developed my body early on, which I am grateful for. I do the occasional swim now and then but it can't be considered part of my regime. Through the fall and winter of my freshman year, I did run a little, like an average of 2 miles a day, which was quite a feat for a freshman not involved in any particular sport at that time. In the spring, I took up track, which was easily one of the turning points in my life. I started training for distance, and found that with my background it was incredibly easy, so I just sort of skipped the beginner level of running. My first official mile time was 6:13, and by the end of Spring track, it was 5:45. I was pretty proud of my self. I continued to run over the summer notching 300 miles in a hundred days. Sophomore year I took up cross country. I sucked. I suddenly found myself doing 2 more miles on an average day than before, practices were longer, the weather was brutal, but I pulled through. My first 5k was 22:48. By the end of that season I had broken 20 and hit mid 19's. The longest run I did that season was 10 miles. I did 7 or 8 about once a week. I also continued with the acceleration runs, and found myself doing a highly effective routine involving my core which I'll get into later. Spring track my sophomore year, I almost broke 5 with a 5:02 mile. I was disappointed but still made districts where 5:03 was the qualifying time. I think I came in like third to last. Now here is where the real stuff starts. This summer I clocked 560 miles, which is 5.6 miles a day on average. 70 of those were done in one week, where I spent in Colorado for a cross country camp. The high altitude training does help, so if you're looking for a way to get some endurance in, and enjoy yourself at the same time, then I highly suggest hiking mountains, or mountain biking, or simply visiting a high altitude area and get some miles in. I have had experience with this since I was a little, considering I'm from Armenia where it's very mountainous. The village my relatives live in is about 6000 ft above sea level. This cross country season isn't done yet but so far my fastest time is 18:11 on our home course which is more than a minute improvement from last year. I continue to improve as well.
So that's my story, and I guess I'll give some tips.
Tips: Obviously running is a great thing to do if you're trying to lose weight, building endurance, or simply enjoying nature. DO NOT RUN ON A TREADMILL. However tempting it is to stay in your cozy basement instead of running in the cold, running on a treadmill is much more tiring and boring. If you're planning on running more than 2 miles, do it outside. Running in packs or with a friend is much easier and helps motivate oneself. There's more energy when running in a pack, and it's much easier to keep a certain pace and run with it. I am speaking with experience. If I'm running by myself 7 miles is the most I can do, but when running with a pack at a good pace, I could keep it up for a solid 15 miles, which is the longest I've run so far.
Body Weight Exercises: If you're looking for a solid core workout then I recommend the following. 90 seconds front plank, 75 seconds side plank (each side), 20 abductions (each side), 20 adductions (each side), 20 push ups, 20 crunches, and then as many pull-ups as you can do to top it off. If you're feeling good do two sets of all of them. You don't necessarily need to start off that long with the planks. It's something you build up to.
Hope I helped!
Currently I am a Junior in high school, in a nice suburban town in Massachusetts (4th healthiest state I think?). I'm relatively short for a guy, and incredibly skinny. I'm 5'7" and 106 pounds. I have no idea what my %Body fat is but I can assure you it's incredibly low.
I've been doing endurance training ever since the end of elementary school in the form of swimming. I was never any good at it, considering I was tiny, and didn't have anything close to a growth spurt until 8th grade. However it did prepare me for other endurance training, and developed my body early on, which I am grateful for. I do the occasional swim now and then but it can't be considered part of my regime. Through the fall and winter of my freshman year, I did run a little, like an average of 2 miles a day, which was quite a feat for a freshman not involved in any particular sport at that time. In the spring, I took up track, which was easily one of the turning points in my life. I started training for distance, and found that with my background it was incredibly easy, so I just sort of skipped the beginner level of running. My first official mile time was 6:13, and by the end of Spring track, it was 5:45. I was pretty proud of my self. I continued to run over the summer notching 300 miles in a hundred days. Sophomore year I took up cross country. I sucked. I suddenly found myself doing 2 more miles on an average day than before, practices were longer, the weather was brutal, but I pulled through. My first 5k was 22:48. By the end of that season I had broken 20 and hit mid 19's. The longest run I did that season was 10 miles. I did 7 or 8 about once a week. I also continued with the acceleration runs, and found myself doing a highly effective routine involving my core which I'll get into later. Spring track my sophomore year, I almost broke 5 with a 5:02 mile. I was disappointed but still made districts where 5:03 was the qualifying time. I think I came in like third to last. Now here is where the real stuff starts. This summer I clocked 560 miles, which is 5.6 miles a day on average. 70 of those were done in one week, where I spent in Colorado for a cross country camp. The high altitude training does help, so if you're looking for a way to get some endurance in, and enjoy yourself at the same time, then I highly suggest hiking mountains, or mountain biking, or simply visiting a high altitude area and get some miles in. I have had experience with this since I was a little, considering I'm from Armenia where it's very mountainous. The village my relatives live in is about 6000 ft above sea level. This cross country season isn't done yet but so far my fastest time is 18:11 on our home course which is more than a minute improvement from last year. I continue to improve as well.
So that's my story, and I guess I'll give some tips.
Tips: Obviously running is a great thing to do if you're trying to lose weight, building endurance, or simply enjoying nature. DO NOT RUN ON A TREADMILL. However tempting it is to stay in your cozy basement instead of running in the cold, running on a treadmill is much more tiring and boring. If you're planning on running more than 2 miles, do it outside. Running in packs or with a friend is much easier and helps motivate oneself. There's more energy when running in a pack, and it's much easier to keep a certain pace and run with it. I am speaking with experience. If I'm running by myself 7 miles is the most I can do, but when running with a pack at a good pace, I could keep it up for a solid 15 miles, which is the longest I've run so far.
Body Weight Exercises: If you're looking for a solid core workout then I recommend the following. 90 seconds front plank, 75 seconds side plank (each side), 20 abductions (each side), 20 adductions (each side), 20 push ups, 20 crunches, and then as many pull-ups as you can do to top it off. If you're feeling good do two sets of all of them. You don't necessarily need to start off that long with the planks. It's something you build up to.
Hope I helped!
Apparently my leg that struggled all summer is responding well to all the rest and therapy, because my running is improving at a sick rate right now. One week ago today I did 2.5 miles in an indoor track in 18:54 and I'm already down to 18:35. Only 3 other 2.5 mile runs in between. Patience pays off and I'll never be afraid to take some time off again. I've even heard of a burnt out track runner straight up resting a week and doing personal bests right away. Anyone who is struggling to start should know the body responds crazy fast to undertraining at first and tracking results makes it too encouraging to stop.
And down to 17:35 just one day later- did I mention eating a big meal loaded with carbs, taking a nap, then warming up mostly as normal is in general really good for these endurance things?
And down to 17:35 just one day later- did I mention eating a big meal loaded with carbs, taking a nap, then warming up mostly as normal is in general really good for these endurance things?
Last edited:
Have a Photoshoot on december 11th that requires me being shirtless. I'm at about 13% body fat atm (can see the top abs but not bottom ones), so this is awesome motivation for me to get in the best shape of my life. Talked with a PT and we've decided to add 3 HIIT days into my routine in addition to the 4 days of training a week I've already been doing. Shits gonna get intense.
PS I've been back into deadlifting and squatting for the last few weeks. Feelsgoodman.jpg
PS I've been back into deadlifting and squatting for the last few weeks. Feelsgoodman.jpg
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
I'm 6'2 and weigh 181 pounds(82 kgs) with 20% body fat. I want to get a lean muscular body with good abs.
My current workout:
6-7 mins. of jogging to warm up
Concentration curls for both hands
Hammer curls for both hands
Tricep extensions for both hands
Push ups
Lateral raise
Shrugs
Overhead Press
Lunges
Squats
All exercises are performed @ 3 sets of 12 reps with 30 sec. rest interval between sets
Suggestions and tips, especially those of Lee, would be greatly appreciated.
My current workout:
6-7 mins. of jogging to warm up
Concentration curls for both hands
Hammer curls for both hands
Tricep extensions for both hands
Push ups
Lateral raise
Shrugs
Overhead Press
Lunges
Squats
All exercises are performed @ 3 sets of 12 reps with 30 sec. rest interval between sets
Suggestions and tips, especially those of Lee, would be greatly appreciated.