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Toning up my boyfried - Tips

U

UberMac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 5, 2005
332
0
England
Ok guys (and gals),

I know there are some fit, healthy, young strapping men on here. We (me and my BF) need your help.

I'm trying to tone up my BF for the summer. He's a slim guy, but hell, I thought it would be awesome if he had a hot (;)) body for the summer.

At the moment he runs about a mile everyday and does 100 sit ups (crunches - whatever you call them) everyday as well. We want some tips to get him a six pack (plus the chest) for the summer. It's not just me who thinks this - he thinks it'll be good too!

So any tips for toning up?

Uber
 
If I were you I would have him get a plan at a local gym. Also I'm not sure what it is called but they have these things for sit ups that are great for quick six packs.
 
I'm certainly not a physical trainer, but for the chest, you would be surprised by what happens after doing 50-75 pushups a night for two weeks. If you don't want to go for the gym, and are just working out with no equipment, just keep doing what you're (or he's) doing and add the pushups. Make sure you do them 100% correctly though...
 
hmm, some people would take a gym membership as an insult.

Also, depending on age, its hard to just get a six pack. muscles wrap at different ages, seems if he's doing that many crunches then it must be a metabolism thing.

I have pretty defined abs (not body builder like) but ok, and I don't do that much to get them. I would say when I was younger nothing I did would put any weight on me, seriously, they develop as they develop.

Tip: do ab excercises that work your abs diagonally (lay on side and try to do regular crunches)

This will give you the 'v' shape, really, if he has a small(ish) waist, and does those, he'll look a lot more muscular than he may be. Also, a nice tan works wonders. It makes shadows that make you look more built also ;) Believe me, after this many years I've learned all the secrets :eek:
 
What I'd give for him to tan well ... *druel* It's the UK anyway so not gonna happen :eek:

Well I'll get him on push ups too...and the sideways crunches :eek: I'll have to wait and see what happens!

Uber
 
Some people just find it incredibly hard to get a six pack. My mate was born with one (and obviously still has it), he's shorter though and I think its easier if your shorter. I used to work out all the time back at school but I could never get a six pack. Even now when I'm really unfit I can easily do ~200 sit ups in a row. I used to do 250 a day to no avail.
The biggest problem is that everyone has a six pack that's stuck under fat. To get a six pack you don't need to do sit ups and crunches as much as burn that fat off. If you're a big (read broad and tall) guy like myself then this is a nightmare. If you're small you obviously have much less fat to burn off. I can't really explain it much better but a small guy's stomach has say an area of 10x10 inches and a depth of fat of 0.5 inches. A big guy's stomach has say an area of 15x15 inches and a depth of again 0,5 inches. The big guy therefore has 2.25 times as much fat to burn. Make sense?
 
Makes sense? Check.

Getting rid of a thin layer of fat - how? More running...diet (oooh errr)...

Uber

EDIT: He is quite a small guy - 5'7" - 9st - ~30" waist
 
UberMac said:
He is quite a small guy - 5'7" - 9st - ~30" waist
Click to expand...

9 stone?!! Lucky bugger. Ok, so he doesn't have to worry too much about losing much weight. I'd recommend running or swimming. If you want him to have a big chest then swimming's the way to go. If he's that weight then no diet for him, he doesn't need to *lose* weight, he needs to gain muscle and lose fat. So lots of ab workouts, weights etc mixed with lots of cardio. If you can get him to run to the pool (if there's one nearby), swim for 45 minutes (not paddling, swimming, front crawel, then run back and then do some ab workouts then you'll be laughing.

I just wish I had the determination!!! :rolleyes:
 
Get him into some yoga classes for sinewy strength and suppleness. Has other advantages as well for you... ;)
 
Although cardio is a healthy thing to do, it's not gonna help a skinny guy (same boat as me btw) put on any bulk or tone. Stop wasting time with that and get down the gym and do weight training, it's the only way. Maybe not free wights, but do weights with the resistance machines. Do the max weight possible even if it's not for many reps/sets. Don't expect a whole hell of a lot to happen for this summer though, keep it up and next summer you'll be pleased as punch...maybe...on his behalf, of course ;)
 
Wow, now I feel self conscious about being a shape (circle :p), anyways, get him a gym membership and (if you cook the meals) start adding a lot of low carb foods and veggies, and make sure he does some sort of physical activity every day for over an hr.

(Most of that advice is straight from my dietitian.)
 
UberMac said:
Ok guys (and gals),

I know there are some fit, healthy, young strapping men on here. We (me and my BF) need your help.

I'm trying to tone up my BF for the summer. He's a slim guy, but hell, I thought it would be awesome if he had a hot (;)) body for the summer.

At the moment he runs about a mile everyday and does 100 sit ups (crunches - whatever you call them) everyday as well. We want some tips to get him a six pack (plus the chest) for the summer. It's not just me who thinks this - he thinks it'll be good too!

So any tips for toning up?

Uber
Click to expand...

Let's attack this in phases:

1) He needs to do more cardio. One mile isn't very far. He already has toned and defined abs; we all do. The problem is they're under a layer of fat.

For men, fat concentrates around the belly first, and it is absorbed from around the belly last. That's how the body naturally distributes it. He can do extensive weight training and 1000 crunches a day and his abs will be powerful. They will also be invisible unless his body fat percentage is somewhere around 5%.

2) You need to stop worrying about it so much unless you want your boyfriend to train like an Olympian. We're talking around 2-3 hours per day, 6-7 days a week. So the question is whether you want him to live his life getting to 5% bodyfat so you can enjoy him as a bauble, or if you want him to live his life with you and enjoy him as a person.

Sorry if I sound a little harsh.
 
haha, they measure in stone there. That's cute. I found out I'm 10 stone and quite happy with the round number. :D
 
yeah ... the first thing that I noticed is the light cardio ... I mean how long is he spending doing that mile ... 6-8 minutes probably ... he should probably aim to do about three times that but if he was at the gym he could add some variety to the cardio agenda. If he's already running a mile a day he's already doing the hardest part for the majority of the population .. actually startin!
 
What pseudobrit said.

More cardio = more visible abs. Just because you can see them doesn't mean they are that strong. Likewise, the inverse is also true. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean that they aren't strong (or already there.)

More cardio = more time. No way around it. Forget doing sets of 100 crunches, etc. He's going to be really really sore if he's starting from scratch.

Just get him on a road bike, or running or swimming and the rest will take care of itself. You'd be surprised how beneficial cardio is for definition.

I'm not very big (6'4" 185lbs.) but with running and swimming I have a pretty defined upper and lower body.

edit: you need to figure out what you want. defined muscles that may not be very strong. or. strength without the definition.
 
D34th said:
I'm certainly not a physical trainer, but for the chest, you would be surprised by what happens after doing 50-75 pushups a night for two weeks. If you don't want to go for the gym, and are just working out with no equipment, just keep doing what you're (or he's) doing and add the pushups. Make sure you do them 100% correctly though...
Click to expand...
50-75 a night? I can barely get to 25 :eek:
 
Re pushups: It can help to do them initially in managable sets (i.e. 10 to 15) to hit your target goal for the day. Take a short break in between each set, but make sure it's the same.

It's easier to slowly buildup to something than to dive right in hit 50 and then be too sore to do any the next day or the day after.

Also, try triangle pushups in between sets of normal pushups, that way you work the tris while giving your biceps a moderate break.
 
joepunk said:
50-75 a night? I can barely get to 25 :eek:
Click to expand...

I can do 50 without too many issues. Its very true what they say about definition or strength. I'm pretty darned strong and the few times I can be bothered to go the gym I always have to use the machines at a pretty high setting. If only I enjoyed cardio. Even a little bit. I can't stand the stuff!! Running makes my throat tighten up making it hard to breathe (because its usually quite chilly around here), swimming gets wayyy too boring after a few times and the pool here charges us a fortune just to use it and cycling... well I've got a bike but I just plain can't be arsed. :rolleyes:
 
I used to be able to get over 30 push-ups and 80 sit-ups in highschool. Running was never my thing and my throat would also tighten and breathing was hard. Anyway, I get my excersize through badmitten (sp?).
 
joepunk said:
I used to be able to get over 30 push-ups and 80 sit-ups in highschool. Running was never my thing and my throat would also tighten and breathing was hard. Anyway, I get my excersize through badmitten (sp?).
Click to expand...

Badminton. I get my exercise through typing. Lots.

Nah, I do have plans to get myself into better shape once my exams are over.
 
joepunk said:
Anyway, I get my excersize through badmitten (sp?).
Click to expand...

Oh my GOD ... really?

I'm so going to find "a profane existence" and then go there and then school you at badminton.

Second greatest sport ever. (It's not like it's bowling) ...
 
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