Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread

[Lee]

i'm not entirely sure what is being argued here? nos is saying eat whatever you want as long as it's within your caloric parameters whereas jesus is saying eat healthily within said parameters...is that right? i'd always advocate eating healthily on a weight loss program because healthy food tends to be higher in volume than the equivalent anount of calories in 'unhealthy' foods - when it comes to feeling full, volume is almost as important as calories, it's why an apple makes you feel fuller than a biscuit despite their calorie count being almost identical. also now is the best time for him to develop healthy eating patterns...keeping the weight off is half the battle, after all. that's without even going into the minefield of the importance of macros (which are crucial and directly linked to weight loss - haven't you ever heard of the Atkin's diet...perhaps the most famous diet of our generation, it worked on the principle of removing carbs from the diet to force the body to use fat as its primary energy source, there's also the relevance of protein which i mentioned in my post above this one) and micros.

 

[Nosferalto]

i actually advocate eating healthy but i'm saying it's not necessary to lose/gain weight

but then the dude comes in and talks to me about his life

 

[popemobile]

At the end of the day, calories in vs. calories out is all that really matters. However, there is way more that goes into it that you need to pay attention to in order to effectively lose weight. Things like the thermogenic effect of protein, fat and fiber having satiating effects on hunger, sucrose vs. HFCS (aka "healthy" sugar), cheat meals and their effect on the brain and dieting, getting enough vitamins, etc. I'm all for advocating calories in/calories out to keep it simple for people, but it's also important to not gloss over too many factors in dieting.

 

[Venom]

I've been training for four or so years, I have a blue belt by now. I'm not all that great in it, but I really enjoy doing it, and that is what counts most for me. I've had some aspirations to take my training to a higher level before (I train twice a week now), but decided against it because that would take away most of the fun, I think. Do you practice judo, too?

I do Jiu-Jitsu, it's pretty much born from Judo. Blue belt is tight though, it's a hard sport and it's nice to see you actually hanged in there. I'll eventually pick it up soon, it benefits Jiu-Jitsu with the throws and grips and makes the body stronger from what I heard. I'm a little more focused on Jiu-Jitsu for now though and it's hard to find time for Judo right now, or any other thing. It's pretty much consumed my life since I go 4-5 days a week. It's cool to see somebody else dedicated to martial arts though.

 

[Lee]

so we're just arguing for the sake of it then? neato.

update time I guess then - been pretty quiet on this front as I haven't done any upper body work since developing cycling-induced lower back pain in the first week of October last year. Physio thinks I'm progressing well, but feels like I'm still a few weeks away from even returning to basic calisthenics. fucking injuries are the bane of my life. my return to running went as well as could have been expected - by which I mean I hyperextended my groin, bruised my fifth metatarsal and fell off my bike, obliterating my good knee in the process. so progress has been bumpy and as of today, I've ran a mere three times this year.

so basically all i'm doing right now is trying to stem off that rapid and depressing deterioration of fitness that accompanies all long-term injuries, a deterioration that I am unfortunately all too familiar with. I attempted to eat well but Christmas sorta got in the way of that and everything is going to shit, whoooops. as of now though, I'm still in good shape so I won't pretend otherwise but doubts are starting to claw at me - there's a bit more loose skin than I'm happy with and my arms and pecs are shrinking - but overall, I don't feel as disappointed as I did the last time I was forced to take a few months out.

topless dude

primary goal is still to win a long distance race in the near future, preferably a fell-race (a race that involved the traversing and navigation of a mountain) but the jury is still out on how the bad knee holds up to incline. I'm also going on a 3 week trek to Mount Everest in November so I wanna keep building up my fitness for that lest I get humiliated by sherpas - a gal at work was telling me about a friend of hers who was some big 200+lb rugby player but couldn't lift a fraction of what the sherpas could when he was in Nepal. The effects of altitude on fitness are fascinating and something I can't wait to experiment with while I'm out there. and i'm incredibly tempted to pick up an altitude simulation mask, such as this one:

can apparently restrict breathing by up to 9x and that's a pretty exciting prospect and well worth looking like Bane from batman for the duration of my runs. will of course have to research just how safe they are - I imagine starving yourself of oxygen for extended periods could have potentially catastrophic consequences - but I'm just throwing this out here for now to see if anybody has any experiences with them.

 

[Ninahaza]

You should listen to what people are telling you, Nos.

i actually advocate eating healthy but i'm saying it's not necessary to lose/gain weight

But You know whats necessary for success in weight control (loss/healthy weight gain)? And more importantly, whats necessary for success in the long run? Habits. Good eating habits and good exercise habits. The difference between those who manage to keep the weight off, like myself, and those with short lived success stories is habits. This is why its still hard for me to process when I see you (or anyone else really) throwing out statements such as "calories in/out is everything" and "i actually advocate eating healthy but i'm saying it's not necessary to lose/gain weight".

You still do not see the full picture. I mean, unless you do see the full picture, but your E-cock is much more bigger than I could have ever hoped to predict. Yes thats it. why else would someone make claims of advocating for something but then turn around and fight me so adamantly against that very same thing. Brah, your e-cock must be massive.

On the off chance that your mentality is as fucking bad as I think it is and you really do not see the full picture, then I'll add this (and pay attention here, HBK).
Do you help people, Nos, because if you do then please stop, take a very long break to re-evaluate A LOT of things. If you care about the success and especially the long term success of anyone you help, then you'll have to severely change the way you think. Learn the importance of building good habits and building them as early in people as possible. It scares me that phrases like "i actually advocate eating healthy but i'm saying it's not necessary to lose/gain weight" and "calories in vs calories out is everything" even come out of your mouth

 

[Delta 2777]

Ugh stop arguing
I'm pretty sure you guys are in total agreement, the only difference is that ninahiza is saying eating healthy is essential for maintaining long term health (which it is for the most part) while Xhizors is saying if all you're concerned about is weight gain/loss then only calories in vs calories out matter (which is also true for the most part). There is really nothing to dispute here.

If anyone wants some more words on the subject Layne Norton did a video log on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[popemobile]

It scares me that phrases like "i actually advocate eating healthy but i'm saying it's not necessary to lose/gain weight" and "calories in vs calories out is everything" even come out of your mouth

these are both completely true statements though.

Basically what delta said

 

[HBK]

Is exercising in the morning any different from doing so at any other hour of the day? A friend of mine said that you burn more fat if you work out within one hour of waking up in the morning.

 

[SqueakyGuy]

Sounds like bro science to me, HBK.

I squat 240 for 3x5 today. While no colossal feat, my numbers are still going up from November when I started, even though I don't post all that much.

This thread got me interested, and I seem to be sticking to working out, so thanks all.

 

[NinjaGeki]

Sounds like bro science to me, HBK.

I squat 240 for 3x5 today. While no colossal feat, my numbers are still going up from November when I started, even though I don't post all that much.

This thread got me interested, and I seem to be sticking to working out, so thanks all.

Good for you! I just hit 275 x 1 the other day, woohoo! Today is back/shoulders so I'm off to the gym before class to do some Deads.

edit: pulled 315 twice :)

 

[Lee]

so that's a no on the altitude thing? thought sone of the fighters might have had an input as i know altitude masks are quite common within MMA training for whatever reason.

 

[Delta 2777]

so that's a no on the altitude thing? thought sone of the fighters might have had an input as i know altitude masks are quite common within MMA training for whatever reason.

I'm no expert but I think it can be highly effective. Lots of olympic athletes train at the olympic training center which is located at a very high altitude for this particular reason. I'd just make sure that restricting the ease of breathing is equivalent to inhaling air with less oxygen in it (which is what I believe air is at high altitudes).

 

[alamaster]

Is exercising in the morning any different from doing so at any other hour of the day? A friend of mine said that you burn more fat if you work out within one hour of waking up in the morning.

I don't think it makes much of a difference, but it'll definitely jumpstart your day if you work out in the morning. I usually work out at night (like 10pm or later) so I can get home, down a protein shake and just crash and get a great nights sleep.

 

[Stathakis]

I don't think it makes much of a difference, but it'll definitely jumpstart your day if you work out in the morning. I usually work out at night (like 10pm or later) so I can get home, down a protein shake and just crash and get a great nights sleep.

I do this as well. nothing rounds out a hard-studied day like kickin' it in the gym, engaging a completely different body system than you've been using all day, then guzzling some tasty protein (srs, if your shakes don't taste great you're doing it wrong) and passing the fuck out.

I imagine it's also really good for recovery to get protein and sleep right after you work out.

 

[yee]

Is exercising in the morning any different from doing so at any other hour of the day? A friend of mine said that you burn more fat if you work out within one hour of waking up in the morning.

For cardio, there's no right answer for everyone and I feel like the grain of truth in saying you can burn more fat in the morning is not significant as long as you can feel good doing it everyday. I think once you get to a point where you're as capable as you've ever been and every daily jog or whatever you're doing is pushing you that little bit higher to the best shape of your life, you'll pay less attention to losing weight, it'll become a secondary thing and extra fat should just end up burnt away.

That being said, there is a standard reason there are a lot of morning runners that I think everyone can understand. The morning runners will generally say something about how it helps them start their day and evade the half asleep feeling. Waking up to an alarm and dragging yourself somewhere won't wake you up and exercise will. There are other reasons like the weather being cooler and watching the sunrise but that seems to be the main one. The downside is you probably didn't eat anything if you're doing it within an hour of waking up, and I've never felt right doing anything without some sort of meal before.

I usually wait till sometime later in the day when I'm fully awake so I can push myself nearer to my limit instead of using exercise as a wake up.

You'll probably prefer exercise in the morning because it's easy to believe your metabolism is speeding up and burning fat when that early burst is waking you up immediately. I think the time of exercise is just nitpicking, as long as you put some work in everyday you'll get a lot out of it.

 

[Lee]

just as a hark back to the steroid discussion and, in an attempt to explore safer alternatives, does anybody have any experiences/knowledge of testosterone boosters?

 

[Nosferalto]

just as a hark back to the steroid discussion and, in an attempt to explore safer alternatives, does anybody have any experiences/knowledge of testosterone boosters?

If you are a natural bodybuilder, i definitely wouldn't recommend it. I just finished using this:

ingredients are:
Chrysin, Tribulus Terrestris, Saw Palmetto Extract, Nettle Root Extract, Avena Sativa Extract, Indole-3-Carbinol, Daidzein, Hawthorn Extract, Cucurbita Pepo Extract, Alpha Lipoic Acid.

My friend (who is on gear btw) gave it to me for free. He mainly used it as support during his cycles since it blocks estrogen production, has tribulus which supposedly raises testosterone production and has stuff like hawthorn berry extract to help out your liver.

When I used it, i gained strength but I wouldn't say it was because of the test booster because i was training on a strength program and eating at a surplus.

The only thing it did was increase my libido (a lot of guys mistaken this for increased test production, it's part of the scam imo). So again, i don't think test boosters are worth the money for a natural bodybuilder.

 

[Lee]

hmm thanks Nos, I appreciate it. that's pretty much reinforced what i had veened from my limited research thus far but i'm still going to go ahead and try it out, albeit with slightly lowered expectations. any trouble with oily skin/pimples or hair loss while you were on it?

 

[Nosferalto]

hmm thanks Nos, I appreciate it. that's pretty much reinforced what i had veened from my limited research thus far but i'm still going to go ahead and try it out, albeit with slightly lowered expectations. any trouble with oily skin/pimples or hair loss while you were on it?

try it out, i might be wrong about it not being responsable of the strength gains.

and yes, i got some acne on my upper back but nothing major.

 

[Lee]

is the acne not a sign that your testosterone levels were boosted though? correct me if i'm wrong but part of the reason teenagers have trouble with acne is because testosterone levels are so high during puberty and also, isn't acne a side effect of steroid-use for similar reasons?

 

[Nosferalto]

is the acne not a sign that your testosterone levels were boosted though? correct me if i'm wrong but part of the reason teenagers have trouble with acne is because testosterone levels are so high during puberty and also, isn't acne a side effect of steroid-use for similar reasons?

yes there is a correlation between hormones imbalances (like testosterone) and acne. my acne was pretty mild and i was already a greasy mofo so i wouldn't take it as a definitive sign that the test booster is actually working.

warning broscience:

Hide

my guess would be that my testosterone levels were raised but the excess was converted to dht (dihydrotestosterone, which has been linked a lot with acne)

 

[SqueakyGuy]

To add, I have gotten much more bacne since I started my strength training my program. I take lots of food, milk, and whey protein. So I wouldn't take increased acne to mean that the supplement alone is raising your test levels

 

[kaps]

Why hello there everyone. As you can see, I'm generally new (in terms of total activity, not age of account) here. I've been wanting to be active here in the interests of getting better at pokemon, but alas I've never been able to find a topic I felt I was truly interested in and actually had some credibility to post about (not to mention real life always gets in the way)

I hope that that has changed with me discovering this thread

I'm a freshmen in college, and very concerned with my health and fitness. I eat as healthy as I can and exercise almost daily, only stopping on rest days. Heck, I've even gone gluten free in the pursuit of nutrition, and while that's not what I want to ask about right now I will say it's gone surprisingly well!

Anyways, what I did want to ask about was fitness. I currently exercise 6 days a week: swimming one day, biking one day, lifting twice, and playing ultimate frisbee twice (can't change the last at least for the rest of the semester; I plan on getting good use out of my purchased jersey). With these workouts, I used to just always do more endurance related exercises. Long runs, long swims, and light weights with many reps dominated my activities. However, I've increasingly come across articles talking about how shorter, intense workouts are far better for building muscle and burning fat. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, I suppose it's pretty easy to figure out what to do with my cardio exercises (shorter distances with greater speed), but how would I go across weightlifting with 'more intensity'? I generally stay in the preferred rep ranges (8-12) with three sets per exercise, and I'm not interested in building large amounts of muscle mass. I just want to rebuild muscle inevitably lost during cardio and improve overall strength. Similarly, is it better to use dumbbells when lifting or the weight machines? I've read that complex, multi-jointed exercises are better for building strength, but I'm not sure what that entails. What kinds of weight exercises would be considered as such?

Any help would be appreciated, and if more info is needed I'd be happy to oblige!

 

[Delta 2777]

Why hello there everyone. As you can see, I'm generally new (in terms of total activity, not age of account) here. I've been wanting to be active here in the interests of getting better at pokemon, but alas I've never been able to find a topic I felt I was truly interested in and actually had some credibility to post about (not to mention real life always gets in the way)

I hope that that has changed with me discovering this thread

I'm a freshmen in college, and very concerned with my health and fitness. I eat as healthy as I can and exercise almost daily, only stopping on rest days. Heck, I've even gone gluten free in the pursuit of nutrition, and while that's not what I want to ask about right now I will say it's gone surprisingly well!

Anyways, what I did want to ask about was fitness. I currently exercise 6 days a week: swimming one day, biking one day, lifting twice, and playing ultimate frisbee twice (can't change the last at least for the rest of the semester; I plan on getting good use out of my purchased jersey). With these workouts, I used to just always do more endurance related exercises. Long runs, long swims, and light weights with many reps dominated my activities. However, I've increasingly come across articles talking about how shorter, intense workouts are far better for building muscle and burning fat. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, I suppose it's pretty easy to figure out what to do with my cardio exercises (shorter distances with greater speed), but how would I go across weightlifting with 'more intensity'? I generally stay in the preferred rep ranges (8-12) with three sets per exercise, and I'm not interested in building large amounts of muscle mass. I just want to rebuild muscle inevitably lost during cardio and improve overall strength. Similarly, is it better to use dumbbells when lifting or the weight machines? I've read that complex, multi-jointed exercises are better for building strength, but I'm not sure what that entails. What kinds of weight exercises would be considered as such?

Any help would be appreciated, and if more info is needed I'd be happy to oblige!

Short, high intensity exercises when it comes to cardiovascular health are not strictly "better" but many people including myself would agree that they are more efficient (you will build up similar endurance and speed capabilities in a shorter amount of time). Keep in mind that doing sprints will probably increase your top speed more so than your distance running ability, while long runs will have an inverse effect, so if your goal is overall fitness then it would be recommended to incorporate both forms of cardio into your routine (both High Intensity Interval Training and Low Intensity Steady State). Here's an article about the two.

In terms of weightlifting, if you want to be as well-rounded as possible you should try to incorporate all major muscle groups, and try to utilize all major muscle fibers. What I mean by the muscle fiber comment is this: your body utilizes several different kinds of muscle fibers, and depending on how you exercise determines which fibers are used more and thus determine whether you experience myofibrillar or sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Myofibrillar hypertrophy is when the muscle fibers responsible for strength are trained, whereas sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is typically a result of mid-high repetition exercises which are primarily responsible for the enlargement of the muscle. Here's a brief outline of them:

Myofibrillar Hypertrophy

• Small/moderate increase in muscle size
• Moderate/high increase in muscle strength
• Typical repetition range: 3-5 repetitions per set

Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy

• Moderate/high increase in muscle size
• Small/moderate increase in muscle strength
• Typical repetition range: 8-12 repetitions per set

99% of the time, dumbbells and barbells are the superior choice to machines; the only exception might be when you have sustained an injury and therefore are limited by what you can do with free weights. The best exercises to do here are definitely squats, bench press, deadlifts, overhead presses, and rows or pull-ups. There are other exercises worth doing as well, but these are your bread and butter as they are compound exercises; this term means that they are exercises which train multiple muscle groups at once. For example: the squat works your quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings (as well as your lower back and abs to a lesser extent). The bench press works your chest and your triceps (and your shoulders to a lesser extent). The list goes on. I would recommend following something like Starting Strength once you get the exercise form down (google "Starting Strength" for the routine, I'm sure you'll find it). It may be difficult to follow this routine given your hectic schedule, but if you ever want to shift your focus from cardio to weight training, this would be the best way to do it.

Let me know if you have any other questions!