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Physical Fitness Routines

A

aaronlow5000

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 30, 2006
19
0
Hi all,
I was wondering what everyone here does to keep fit. Personally, I played sports all througout school and did lots of hiking. I played hockey and rugby and practiced sambo through high school and entered university at 5'6 and 145 lbs - none of it fat. After 4 years of undergrad and not doing much except for Karate twice a week and doing a lot of running during the summers between school years, I weighed in at 145 lbs....a lot of it fat. In the year after undergrad, I decided to get back into shape and ran 10km every other day (and a 15 km once a week) in hilly terrain. At the end of that year, if I'm pushing myself, I can do a 10 km in 32:15 and I weigh in at 123 lbs....the catch is I've lost any muscle mass I ever had and my 53 year old father is stronger than I am - it's quite sad to get choked out by your old man. I'd like to gain some muscle mass back and do have a Bowflex machine in the house. What I'd appreciate advice on is are running the distances that I'm running and building muscle incompatible? Furthermore, is the Bowflex a credible machine for weight training? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!
 
With running, you'll probably wanna do sprinting (or at least middle distance) if you wanna build muscle. I run about 5km every second day, in two sessions with five or ten minutes in between to stretch. I run it pretty fast though. Maybe look into doing shorter distances, with more speed. It'll certainly build up your legs and torso. Your arms may need something extra like swimming or weights though.
 
Sprinting is a good idea. Some HIIT will work, maybe three times a week. Just sprint 20 yards, then walk back to starting line, and then sprint again. Repeat for 10-15 times. A bowflex is fine, but not really ideal. If you have one, use it, but I wouldn't go out and buy one. If your intention is to gain some mass, you'll have to eat more protein and calories in general. Running that much will burn alot of calories and put you in a deficit. Make sure you are eating more than you are burning in order to gain muscle mass. If you are using the bowflex, keep the reps low, 6-8, and do 3-5 sets of compound movements. Focus on rows, overhead presses, bench, and if the bowflex allows, squats. Try to do all of those 2-3 days a week. Go sprint afterwards.

Running distances and gaining mass is not impossible, but it will be hard. Make sure you are eating enough.
 
Holy crap...5'6" and 123 lbs?

You must be skinny as a rail!

How you train will depend on whether or not you want to merely bulk up or if you want to gain strength. There's a distinct difference between lifting, training, and eating for bulk versus strength.

One good way to build up strength without stressing your body too much is ploymetrics, including push-ups, etc. Using your own body as resistance is better when you're trying to gain back muscle mass and strength. Push-ups alone won't help to build mass, but it'll help you gain back strength so you can start on weights again.
 
Well, I've tried to gain mass with no success. I'm skinny, and I'd like if I had a little bit more muscle. I used to play soccer, go to the gym and a bunch of other stuff, but while I had overall well defined muscles, there was no gain in mass. Any exercises you reccomend?
 
Do the basics for your upper body - pushups and situps. You'll be surprised how quickly you begin to build. I don't know how quickly you want to build and where you are now, but pyramids are great (the numbers you use will be the variation.
 
32 min for a 10k is pretty good....but like others said, you gotta cut back the distance if you want to get bigger.

you can use the boxflex, but you just have to be consistant. depending on how much effort you want to put into it, you could workout your chest and triceps on monday, bicceps and back/shoulders on tuesday, legs on wed, then chest and triceps on thursday, bicceps and back/shoulders again on friday

that's what i try to do if i can. i still run a lot cuz i'm on the track team, but i'm probably the strongest guy on the team. (i can bench press 210 pounds)

i'm 5'11 and weigh between 145-150 so i'm still pretty skinny also. and i'm stronger than my dad :)

you can do it, you just gotta stick with the system you put in place, and stay consistant. protein shakes and stuff are good, i usually just try to eat as much as i can....sometimes i do some shakes....
 
Muscular Strength - low reps, high weight

Muscular Endurance - high reps, low weight

I swim 2 miles every two day for an hour. Run only 1.5 miles onces a week.

When I'm at home - pushups, situps, pullups (I got a pull-up bar from Wally World), dips and "stair steps".

At the gym I work on large muscle groups first, then small muscle groups.

I know this isn't spectacular but I'm at 6.1% body fat, 5'9". I weigh less than I look though. I eat anything I can (but watch the trans/saturated fat, sodium, sugar and cholesterol) but I can't gain anything over 145. It's like I'm stuck there...
 
phungy said:
Muscular Strength - low reps, high weight

Muscular Endurance - high reps, low weight
Click to expand...

You're heading the right direction with your advise. I mean, it has to do with low weight&high reps, and high weight&low reps
I'm studying all this in my free time.
In three weeks period I will be out of my exam pressure& I could give you(aaronlow5000) a more personalized advise .
In the meantime, does anybody know any alive bioengineering R&D site?
I would appreciate if you post me the link.
 
nbs2 said:
Do the basics for your upper body - pushups and situps. You'll be surprised how quickly you begin to build. I don't know how quickly you want to build and where you are now, but pyramids are great (the numbers you use will be the variation.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm really rusty right now, as I haven't done exercise in a while. I can maybe do 20 pushups and 60-70 situps in a row. I'll keep a personal blog of my progress
 
phungy said:
Muscular Strength - low reps, high weight

Muscular Endurance - high reps, low weight

I swim 2 miles every two day for an hour. Run only 1.5 miles onces a week.

When I'm at home - pushups, situps, pullups (I got a pull-up bar from Wally World), dips and "stair steps".

At the gym I work on large muscle groups first, then small muscle groups.

I know this isn't spectacular but I'm at 6.1% body fat, 5'9". I weigh less than I look though. I eat anything I can (but watch the trans/saturated fat, sodium, sugar and cholesterol) but I can't gain anything over 145. It's like I'm stuck there...
Click to expand...

yeah, i like pullups and dips. especially dips if you want to work your chest and triceps...
 
How do you calculate body fat?

I just set up my daily routine for the next month :) I'll start tonight! I'm planning on taking before and after pics... This will sure be a treat to my gf on her birthday! ;)
 
dllavaneras said:
How do you calculate body fat?

I just set up my daily routine for the next month :) I'll start tonight! I'm planning on taking before and after pics... This will sure be a treat to my gf on her birthday! ;)
Click to expand...

I get mine tested at the fitness center. There's various ways but mine was skin fold test.

Priceless birthday present! You can DO it! :cool:
 
I do wieghts in a gym walking distance from my house. I am 5'9'' and at 150 pounds (small framed). I've always been an athletic guy i play everything from tennis to track to basket to soccer etc. Tenis bieng my strongest.

High protien diet and heavy wieghts is the best way to build muscle.
 
dllavaneras said:
How do you calculate body fat?

I just set up my daily routine for the next month :) I'll start tonight! I'm planning on taking before and after pics... This will sure be a treat to my gf on her birthday! ;)
Click to expand...

I have some pretty funy before and after pics... trust me it makes you feel pretty good.
 
i eat a chcololate chip muffin on weekend and sweets 24/7 and i'm skinny..no joke you should see what i eat :rolleyes:
I used to play a hockey once a week plus a practice, then a 20 min conditioning thing (power skating) for 20 mins once a week, but since college i stopped :mad: i would love to play hockey again
 
twoodcc said:
my roommate has a really nice weight scale that calculates it for you....but i don't think it's that accurate though....
Click to expand...

I've read about how those scales determine your body fat but its definitely not accurate though. Even skin fold tests are off by 2%. So in actuality I could be either 4.1% to 8.1%.
 
phungy said:
I've read about how those scales determine your body fat but its definitely not accurate though. Even skin fold tests are off by 2%. So in actuality I could be either 4.1% to 8.1%.
Click to expand...

yeah, i'd imagine that the scale is off by more than 2%.....probably 5-10% if i had to guess....
 
it's all about the core these days.

work and strengthen that, then worry about muscle mass. proper nutrition is the absolute key. if you don't eat right and work out a ton, it won't matter one iota what you do.

lots of protein, low on sugars, lots of veggies.

i do this program:

www.grecoleanandfit.com

there is a video at the bottom. never the same the exercises so it doesn't get 'routine' like a gym, great cardio, great core and overall body workout. everything gets worked. find something that like and make it part of your daily/weekly routine.

and congrats for taking the time to get it started!!! you won't regret it.
 
Gee you all make me feel fat. I'm 5"3 and 138 but I have a fairly large frame and I would say I am pretty strong for a girl. 3x a week 1 hour cardio x weights 1x a week personal trainer or spinning class keeps me pretty in shape. I'm by no means thin but fit and over 50 pounds thinner than I used to be!
 
Keebler said:
it's all about the core these days.

work and strengthen that, then worry about muscle mass. proper nutrition is the absolute key. if you don't eat right and work out a ton, it won't matter one iota what you do.

lots of protein, low on sugars, lots of veggies.
Click to expand...

Yes! Core is very important, I forgot to state that. I should be thankful that I have fast metabolism so I can eat basically anything I want...I do try my best to eat healthy though. :)
 
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