Getting in shape?

[un_person]

So, I've been listening to Dead Prez lately and they've really gotten me in the mood to get in better shape. I was just wondering if any of you can suggest any good sites or workout routines to get in better shape for the revolution. Thanks for any help.

[Sadena Meti]

Well if you want to lose weight fast, I recommend my method. Get arrested, get sent to a shitty jail, get locked in your cell 24/7, and then go on a hunger strike for 20 days. I went from 160 to 125 in 20 days with no organ damage or muscle loss.

[manic expression]

My completely un-professional advice: Pushups, situps and dips are important for developing upper-body strength. You can find specific info on those (and others) online. For endurance, running is good enough...you can either jog long-distance or do sprint exercises (sprint 100/200 meters, jog 100 meters, repeat) or both. All that shouldn't cost a thing after running shoes (a good pair is essential, don't cut corners on that). Playing a sport is also a fun way to help build endurance. You can also swim, bike, hike, cross-country ski, etc. to build endurance and get in shape.

Make sure you hydrate yourself. Make sure you always stretch; stretch your arms before and after pushups and dips, stretch your legs and groin before and after running/other activity. Eat right with veggies and fruits and sufficient protein. A google search should tell you more about all that than I can. Best of luck!

[Bitter Ashes]

British Army Basic Personal Fitness is 2 minutes of pressups, 2 minutes of situps and a mile and a half run each day. That's all you'll ever need. Be persistant with it and it'll start paying off within a few weeks.

[The Idler]

one hundred push ups (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhundredpushups.com%2F&ei=5wmBTfDCIsuXhQf_4rSpBw&usg=AFQjCNFd_ngLJq47WdMzFfq6ShbHTEAJ8g&sig2=a75M0LLnpv4x97iKn2RiCw)

two hundred sit-ups (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twohundredsitups.com%2F&ei=-wmBTf-aHce6hAfIn6CpBw&usg=AFQjCNHIOev6mmIn_UdklcXs3tTH4WCtXg&sig2=kCkpyR4j83uD8AJu4qnWYg)

[Niccolò Rossi]

British Army Basic Personal Fitness is 2 minutes of pressups, 2 minutes of situps and a mile and a half run each day. That's all you'll ever need.

Sadly this is very untrue.

For one, this kind of routine is not sport specific. So if you participate in or inted to participate in any kind of competive sport, it's obvious not 'all you'll ever need'. Of course, you can argue I'm being unfair or unrealistic, but I'm only paying by the rules - this kind of claim is also unfair and unrealistic.

Of course it's not just sport specificity that is the problem with prescribing this kind of program to everyone and anyone. With such a limited excercise regime you are totally ignoring large portions of your body's muscle mass. For example, this kind of excercise program totally ignores the entire posterior chain (low back, hips, glutes, hamstrings), the most vital musculature for all and any daily activity, much less athletic performance! This kind of program also involves no upper back or leg work (and no running doesn't count - the next person to tell me that they run and therefore don't need resistance training of their legs, I'll rip their throat out). If this kind of excercise program was employed consistently and exclusively it would result in severe musclar imbalances (shoulder impingement, a weak, rounded back due to overdominate abdominals, etc.) So basically, unless you want to look like Quasimodo, this probably isn't your best bet.

Nic.

[Niccolò Rossi]

Well if you want to lose weight fast, I recommend my method. Get arrested, get sent to a shitty jail, get locked in your cell 24/7, and then go on a hunger strike for 20 days. I went from 160 to 125 in 20 days with no organ damage or muscle loss.

I think you are joking. In case you aren't this is terrible, terrible advice.

Nic.

[Niccolò Rossi]

So, I've been listening to Dead Prez lately and they've really gotten me in the mood to get in better shape. I was just wondering if any of you can suggest any good sites or workout routines to get in better shape for the revolution. Thanks for any help.

If 'the revolution' is your motivation to improve your athletic performance or physique, you probably won't get far. Be prepared for this.

Before any useful advice can be given, can you please give us some more info.

What are your goals? (Athletic performace - if so, what?; physique and body recomposition - if so, what?; etc.)
Are you male or female?
How old are you?
How tall are you?
How much do you weigh?
What is your previous experience with excercise (have you played sport at any time, etc.)?
What is your currunt level of physical conditioning? (This might include stuff like how active you are, what kind of work you do, whether you regard yourself a fit and healthy or not, etc.)
What is your current diet like?
What are your resources like? (for example, do you own any excercise equipment, do you have a gym membership, what is your budget like?)

Nic.

[Decolonize The Left]

In a nutshell, there are two basic forms of exercise: aerobic and anaerobic.

Aerobic exercise works your heart and lungs: walking, running, jogging, biking, swimming, etc...

Anaerobic exercise targets a specific muscle set: sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, dips, etc...

In general, you want a balance of the two.
You want to do enough aerobic exercise to elevate your heart-rate and condition yourself. You can choose which type of aerobic exercise is best for you (for example: me, I bicycle everywhere in town, everyday).

You want to do your anaerobic exercise to target the muscle sets which you want to work and hence develop. The most crucial for fitness is your torso (abs, pecs, lats, back). Push-ups will strengthen your pecs, shoulders, and back. Sit-ups will strengthen your abs and lats (depending on the form). Pull-ups will strengthen your shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms and back (depending on the form).

I recommend a combination of all three. Start small and easy and don't overwork yourself. Also, answering NR's questions in the post above will help.

- August

[Sadena Meti]

I think you are joking. In case you aren't this is terrible, terrible advice.

Nic.

No, I really did that.

[PhoenixAsh]

No, I really did that.

I bet you really didn't just do that for the work out and weight loss ;)

(don't wanna know....)

[PhoenixAsh]

If you have acces so weights:

At the very least:

Squats
Deadlifts
Bench
Press
Bent over rows

These are excersises which target the largest parts of the body muscles and built power and mass. Both squat and bench also increase testosterone levels a little....which help in muscle building. They are also great for cardio vascular workout....meaning your heart and bloodvessels will benefit from them.

Unlike cardio however...they do not really add much to stamina/dureability (or whatever you call it in English).

[Rooster]

If you have acces so weights:

At the very least:

Squats
Deadlifts
Bench Press


I would advise against the bent over rows. You do these three if you want to build a lot of muscle. But you spread them out over a long time. Like, Squats every ten days, Bench every week, deadlifts alternating with squats.

My advice would be to just run. Or go hiking.

[PhoenixAsh]

I would advise against the bent over rows. You do these three if you want to build a lot of muscle. But you spread them out over a long time. Like, Squats every ten days, Bench every week, deadlifts alternating with squats.

My advice would be to just run. Or go hiking.


You could change them with a rowing excersise...


I used the follwing schedule for 2 months on an alternate with one rest day in between:


A
bench 5x5
squats 5x5
BOR 5x5

chins 10x10
dips 10x10

B
deads 5x5
squats 5x5
press 5x5

chins 10x10
dips 10x10


increase of weight every week.

[Rooster]

You could change them with a rowing excersise...


I used the follwing schedule for 2 months on an alternate with one rest day in between:


A
bench 5x5
squats 5x5
BOR 5x5

chins 10x10
dips 10x10

B
deads 5x5
squats 5x5
press 5x5

chins 10x10
dips 10x10


increase of weight every week.

Rowing is a good exercise, yeah. But I don't think he'd need it if he was doing a powerlift instead of a deadlift. I think your routine might be very hard going over the long term. But I would think that doing one of them alternating each week would work with a lot of cardio thrown in on the off days or maybe some heavy bag work.

EDIT: Ah, I didn't see that you just did that for 2 months. Yeah, I guess that might be fine. I still think it's a little heavy though.

[Fulanito de Tal]

I was in the military and I have competed in endurance sports for several years.

What ever you choose to do, here is some advice. This is mostly directed at endurance training (aerobic), but much of it works for anaerobic exercise as well.

1. Make a training plan in advance and STICK TO IT!!! Don't come up with any reasons to skip a day or make it shorter. This can be be significantly damaging as once it starts, it tends to increase.

2. Keep a journal of your training. This will help you see what works for you and what doesn't. Also, it would be a nice memory of the effort you have put in.

3. Do not increase duration or magnitude more than 10% each week. This rule can be broken initially as your body adjusts fairly quickly to your new routine, but once you're going, stick to this rule.

4. Schedule in recovery (rest) days. These are important. Don't skip them either.

5. Eat healthy. Proper nutrition is as important to exercise as the training itself. I'm not just saying this. Your body need glucose to function at optimum levels. It is stored in your muscles and liver. You have about .5 - 1hrs worth of glucose (depending on exercise type and your body) when doing exercise. Once you run out (also called bonking), your body uses fat and muscle to provide energy which sucks physically and psychologically. You can tell once you bonked when you're in shape because the minutes all of a sudden seem much longer than before. This also leads to muscle entropy.

Also, if you don't already know, learn about calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins b6 and b12. Look up calorie calculators online and see an estimation of how much energy you are using daily.

6. Get enough sleep. 8 hours a day is best. If you're not getting enough sleep, people will let you know because you're mood will become more annoying.

7. Find a partner. This one I have notice is a significant factor. The time will come when you will want to give up on yourself. Your partner will be there to stop you from giving up.

8. Join a club or team if possible. Getting into a group of people into the same thing will provide you with much social, motivational and informational support.

9. Enjoy your training. Start off easy. This will greatly increase your dedication and reduce your stress outside of training.


For more information and motivation, go to a library and check out a book on an exercise or sport you are interested in.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Niccolò Rossi]

I would advise against the bent over rows. You do these three if you want to build a lot of muscle. But you spread them out over a long time. Like, Squats every ten days, Bench every week, deadlifts alternating with squats.

I'm not sure what any of this means?

Why no bent over rows?
Why spread out your squats?
Why only bench once a week?

Of course, avoding bent rows, spreading out your squats and benching only once a week might be, and is, good advice in certain situations. But is this one of them? I don't think so.

Nic.

[Niccolò Rossi]

Rowing is a good exercise, yeah. But I don't think he'd need it if he was doing a powerlift instead of a deadlift.

Pulling movements are vital to include in any strength training program, not only for strenghtening the upper back but also for shoulder health (balancing pressing and pulling movements will help you avoid the epidemic of shoulder impingment chronic amongst gym rats across the nation).

Also, not sure what you mean by 'powerlift instead of a deadlift'. The deadlift is one of the powerlifts (the other two being the squat and the bench press).


I think your routine might be very hard going over the long term.

When adding weight to each of the lifts progressively every session, this program is definitely not viable in the long term. Linear progression of any sort is not viable in the long term. When the trainee has delevoped a sufficient strength base that the stress imposed by each workout is unable to adequately recovered from in 48-72hrs, we can say that the trainee has reached an 'intermediate' level. Intermediate, advanced and elite trainees require more sophisticated training programming. In the mean time, simple is always best and the principle of progressive overload must serve as the foundation of any strength training program.


I still think it's a little heavy though.

It is. Luckily, if you are a novice lifter who is putting a concerting effort into recovery (this means eating like a horse and sleeping like a log!), then you will see progress.

Getting bigger, getting stronger, getting better is hard work believe it or not!

Nic.

[the last donut of the night]

So, I've been listening to Dead Prez lately and they've really gotten me in the mood to get in better shape. I was just wondering if any of you can suggest any good sites or workout routines to get in better shape for the revolution. Thanks for any help.

"be healthy", great song

[MarxistMan]

How many lbs. do you have to lose. In order to find a perfect routine and program for you have to provide more information about your body weight, and if your metabolism is fast or slow. Because if you have a slow metabolism a ketogenic low-carb diet would be good for you

.



So, I've been listening to Dead Prez lately and they've really gotten me in the mood to get in better shape. I was just wondering if any of you can suggest any good sites or workout routines to get in better shape for the revolution. Thanks for any help.

[Niccolò Rossi]

if your metabolism is fast or slow

Every second fat guy and every second skinny guy will tell you "Oh my metabolism is so slow/fast, I can't loose/gain any weight!" They are lying to you and they are lying to themselves. 'Metabolism' is not an excuse.

Nic.

[PhoenixAsh]

metabolism can be altered through diet, exercise and rest.


what is also important...if you eat below your maintenance amount of calories a lot for a prolonged period of time...your body will actually start to burn proteine from your muscle tissue and store part of what you eat as fat under influence of cortisol. Its starvation mode. DO NOT confuse this mode with a stop of weight loss.

not eating enough....aswell as eating too much both hamper efficient metabolism.

[un_person]

What are your goals? -My main goal is to just get in better shape and get more muscle tone and get rid of the small belly I'm starting to develope.
Are you male or female? -Male.
How old are you? -21
How tall are you? -about Five, five. Or there about.
How much do you weigh? -between 130 and 140.
What is your previous experience with excercise (have you played sport at any time, etc.)? -None really. Just hiking and walking in the summer.
What is your currunt level of physical conditioning? -I work in a dishroom so I'm use to carrying around heavy pots and pans. I can lift pretty heavy amounts that's really about it.
What is your current diet like? -Vegetarian.
What are your resources like? -I have a membership to my college gym included in the tuition.

[Brah Brah Bro]

I would recommend some real hatha yoga but if yer in school then hit up the rec if you want to learn the basics of lifting free weights they most likely have group excercise classes or someone to help you with technique. I would focus on squats (proper form is really important so you don't hurt your back) and bodyweight stuff like push ups and pull ups when youre getting started

If you ever have the opportunity check out Bikram yoga it is pretty pricey and full new age yuppies but the yoga itself is by far the best workout i've ever had and really causes you to change your diet and lifestyle for the better. you also burn a ton of calories and workout your abs literally the whole 90 mins.

[Niccolò Rossi]

What is your current diet like? -Vegetarian.

What are your resources like? -I have a membership to my college gym included in the tuition.

These two are the really important ones!

Firstly, the fact that you have a gym membership, especially to the college gym is brilliant! These places are usually fantastic because they are designed to be used by athletes and not just overweight officeworkers who want to walk on a treadmill like most commercial gyms.

Being a vegetarian on the other hand makes your life more difficult however. That's not to say it's the end of the world, but it will make things harder. I should clarify here, are you a vegetarian for any social or religious reasons? Is it ethically motivated? Or do you just not eat meat regularly because of cost or lifestyle for example?

Also, are you an ovo-lacto vegetarian or are you a vegan? If it's the former, there are very simple solutions!

Ok, now the stuff you've been waiting for.

I recommend weight training 3 times a week. Conditioning (high intensity cardio) stuff can be done 1-3 times a week (2 is a happy medium if you're recovering well, 3 will likely take a big tole). Lastly, low intensity cardio (walking) can be done daily and low-intensity bodyweight excercises (pushups and chins/pull ups) can be done most days.

Weight training sessions should involve primarily barbell work. Squats, deadlifts, bench pressing, overhead pressing, power cleans, bent-over rows, china/pull ups, dips, barbell curls - this covers pretty much everything you need in the forseeable future. You don't need any fancy machines, you don't need any fancy equipment (leave the gloves at home!). Just effort and willingness to learn proper form. Weight training sessions will not to take longer than an hour if you put in the intensity.

Conditioning sessions will take up even less time. Again, intensity is the name of the game. These sessions should test your mental strength and your physical ability. Keep them no longer than 15mins.

Walking and other low intensity cardio is a given. It's not something you need to structure. You walk between classes, around the house, out with friends. Easy peasy.

Body weight stuff can be done to help improve your muscular endurance and ability to perform body weight excercises. For example, want to get better at push ups - do push ups. The secret is to do them so they don't interfere with your training. A way to do this is to do high-frequency, low-intensity bodyweight excercises. Say you can do 20 push ups. Start by doing 10, 6 times a day. Do it on the weekdays, rest on the weekend. Over the course of the week this will result in a huge amount of volume, in this example 300 reps. Next week do sets of 11. Next week 12, etc. etc. Keep progressing. Most important thing is not to let it interfere with your weight training. Keep the intensity low.

These methods will, provided adequate diet and rest, not only put muscle on you but will also inprove your overall conditioning and athleticism.

For more details on the weight training component, including detailed information on proper form and training routine, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a PDF.

For more details on the overall method of weight training, conditioning work and bodyweight training, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you another PDF.

Nic.

[agnixie]

metabolism can be altered through diet, exercise and rest.



That one's pretty true. Also, eating more small meals than fewer big meals will generally speed it up iirc - as will not being dehydrated.

[ellipsis]

i wrote a blog post (http://therevolutionscript.blogspot.com/2010/02/physical-training-pt-for-free.html) about some ideas on physical training for free, w/o a gym.

Getting and staying in combat-ready or near combat-ready physical condition is not the easiest task, especially if you are doing it alone or can't afford a gym membership. But there are some ways to do effective PT for free.

•If you live near clean water, swim a lot. It is great cardiovascular exercise and works on all of your muscle groups. Also I have found ocean water to be very healing in terms of cleaning up dirty, scabbed over wounds. Also strong swimming skills have their combat potential.

•Don't drive, walk/run or bike. If at all possible walk or bike everywhere. You can do it anywhere and you can easily incorporate it into your daily life. I have found biking to be much quicker than public transport. And when you walk you find lots of cool places that you wouldn't have found otherwise and will find cool stuff on the ground or left for curbside pick up. Also you can load up your patrol pack to make the walk that much more effective.

•A lot of cities have bars and platforms in their parks that you can do all sorts of exercises on. Push ups and sit ups can be done anywhere but they don't work all of your muscle groups. One park I have been to even have a suggested regiment posted near each station with detailed instructions on how to use the equipment.

Even if you don't become super fit right away, a little PT and preparedness will go a long way when the time comes to run for the hills.

[Sun at Eight]

For the aerobic side, check out couch to 5k (google it). It's an intervals program (i.e. you run and walk, with increased amounts of running) to gradually get you to running 5k in half an hour in 9 weeks. You can download mp3s to listen to as you run that have different beats per minute and tell you when to speed up and slow down. A really good set of those mp3s is by "DJ Beatsmith". You're supposed to run three times a week with this program. Also, it's very important to remember to stretch afterwards.

[Invader Zim]

I run four times a week, minimum distance 5 miles.

[StalinFanboy]

It's important that people have concrete, reasonable goals. Saying "i want more muscle tone" doesn't mean anything. But saying "I weigh 145 pounds right now, and I would like to put on 10 to 15 pounds of muscle" does mean something, and it's something you can measure and strive for. And when you actually get there, you have something accomplished. Otherwise you'll get burnt out easily or not have any real direction to what you're doing.

And it's possible (and some swear by it) to never have to go to a gym or use equipment. You can use your own bodyweight to become incredibly strong and fit.

EDIT: If people are interested in practical strength, rather than working out to look good, doing short sets of really intense body workouts is going to yield better results that many or long sets of low intensity workouts.