Keep Fit Club - ALL exercise types!

[charlesr]

Cheers! Also 40% off at maxifuel! http://www.maxishop.com/maxifuel?gcl...FQ7LtAodyxUAKA

[Super Grover]

I'll be doing the annual Boxing Day Round The Walls run in Chester tomorrow.

I predict I will get wet!

http://www.westcheshireac.co.uk/roadracing/RoundtheWalls

[ETC]

Boxing Day stroll to Durham. It's a start I guess

[S_rank]

I've started to cut all the junk out of my diet so no more crap I have swapped crisp?s my weakness to twiglets as they are a lot more healthy but make sure only have a few and a few nuts you need a little treat now and again sweets, chocolate ,cakes and biscuits have all been discarded altogether if I need something sweet I will have fruit or a slice of bread with jam .

My plan is to get a six pack and a bit more definition to my upper body by doing exercise at home so i will need to lose a little bit of weight to see the results. Once stage one is done and I have a six pack and slight upper body definition i will proceed to stage 2 of my plan which will be to bulk up in the gym not get supermassive just enough so it look like i am built up.

I have worked out that I eat about 90 grams of protien a day and about 2800 calories i am about 12 stone and about 5 foot 8 inches should i be cutting my calories down futher .

[charlesr]

90 isn't very much.

[S_rank]

Should i be eating more at the moment then I'm not really trying to bulk up massively at the moment just get a six pack and a little upper body definition .

What is the cheapest form of protein in the uk if I need more ?

I'm not knowledgeable at all on the subject so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[PeteJ]

I just drink lots of milk, dont bother with protein shakes or recovery gel etc. Seems to work but charles can give better advice on the matter!

[charlesr]

Chicken breasts. Tuna tins. Easy tasty protein. Protein shakes should only be additional content when bulking up - not base content. Shakes are only base content if you are dieting to lose weight, i.e. using them as a meal replacement - eating a chcken breast on its own isn't great fun whereas milkshakes are easy on the palate.

Your best investment would be a fat measuring set of scales and use them first thing in the morning every 3 days - ideally your weight would go up gradually and your bodyfat would drop gradually at the same time (muscles weigh more than fat). If your fat goes up and your weight goes down you are eating too much and not exercising enough.

To lose fat by increasing muscle mass alone (rather than including cardio sessions) you have to start some SERIOUS weight training regime. Dave and co will be able to advise in this area far better than I. Although when you say "at home" do you mean also going for a run? Or just home strength training?

By the way, I got a 6pack by doing marathon training - I have such a low body fat now that there is no option but for my meagre tummy muscles to appear! It doesn't matter how intense your core and surface tummy muscles exercises are - the 6 pack won't appear if there is a layer of fat on top.

If it was me - I'd try cutting 400cal off your daily to see how it feels and to see if you can still exercise hard enough to feel awesome at the end rather than trashed and drained. If you feel wasted for too long after the session, maybe you need more per day. Eat a little straight after (no more than 30 mins) an exercise session (protein and carbs) to ensure your muscles are stocked up for the next day. If you feel ravenous after exercise eat more, but make sure it's not just lack of fluids which can also give a message that seems like "I'm hungry". Light straw coloured wee (not dark) is your aim.

[PeteJ]

Did a 15k sesh on the rowing machine the other day, what utter misery! I was on my own and didn't turn the music up loud enough so it was more a mental challenge than anything! Think it was about an hour and 5 of rowing. Ugh.

Got a PB on the 5k (rowing) yesterday, 20 minutes 9 seconds. I know I can beat the 20 minute mark now as I slacked off between 3rd and 4th k. Had a couple of attempts at beating my 2k time but still can't top it, got another race coming up soon too


Brother bought me some Torq Bands (http://www.torqfitness.co.uk/acatalo...equipment.html), they seem pretty good so far. Certainly take up less space than weights!

[charlesr]

Yeah, I like those bands. I have tonnes of the stuff in different strengths on reels. Great for shoulder press (under knees), and then pretty much everything else around a door handle. I need to get back into upper body now I'm riding again.

Did a DH mtb race last weekend. I need a new bike - my 100mm hardtail XC bike cannot keep up, although did beat a few youngsters who were on full DH rigs. I've pretty much cleared it with the wife. Just haven't told her the price apart from "it's quite expensive". Since my last one was ?1300, I'm wondering what she is thinking I mean. nervous laugh.....

[Kieran76]

There are always ways to justify expensive purchases. It will save money in the long run, won't need anything doing to it, it is safer. Any combo of these done at the right time will get the job done. It's all in the timing.

[Adam Stone]

Things are looking good :-)

Been keeping to running between 10-15 miles every other day and weights in the garden to keep my bulk. If i run with my friend i tend to take it easier, i run mostly at his pace while we chat, and then sprint off here and there to get my heart pumping. There are some steep hills on our route, so i tend to sprint up those.

When i go on my own i've been trying to get my speed quicker, I'm finding that i'm able to sprint during my routes a lot more often without breaking my breathing - which im pleased with. The last run where I timed myself was a couple months back - I hit 58mins for 9.4miles - but i'm pretty sure im quicker than that now - I imagine down in the 50-55mark but im not too fussed about the time though. Maybe i'll time my 10mile route sometime, we'll see....

Anyhoo, a few months back i remember typing a little facebook message saying i was fed up with feeling achey and old, weak, unfit - so decided to go back to my previous traning routines and literally just force my body to give in and accept it. Charles here was the only one who actually supported that - and i'm bloody pleased he did! Gave me the boost I needed and now im feeling great!

Now my overall fitness is back up i'm going to start focusing on my weight training. I dont want to get all bulky - havent got the time to do that anymore, but i do want to get my strength up. In the past I could chest bench 120Kg 8 reps. Now my max is 90KG (my weights in the garden are incredibly rusty though!! so maybe a little more, haha). So may plan is to boost that to 3 sets of 8 100KG and i'll be happy. Those 120KG days are long gone i think, which is fine.

Anyhoo! Its all fun and games! Definitely enjoying feeling more confident :-)

EDIT:

As for my diet - Haha! My diet is ****. I need to sort that out... I drink too much, eat too much bread and meat, dont drink enough water. But bugger that - i'm happy. Will get to that later in the year :-)

[charlesr]

i've put on 5 lb since the marathon. Xmas...

[Adam Stone]

Haha - that's probably a good thing! :-D

[DaytimeDreamer]

Started dieting on the first of January. Diet ends mid of June. Plan is to get below 7% body fat.

Currently 188cm , 93kg around 13-15% bf