The Health and Fitness Thread

[Mr_Danger]

Bodybuilding.com is a good site for exercise databases with video instructions. Don't blindly follow every article that's posted on there though and the forums can be hilariously petty.

 

Counting calories does work for some people and 1500 might be fine for you. The main thing is you eat well and don't get hungry. Pre planned small meals 6-8 times a day is ideal for me but others have better discipline and just eat when they're hungry. I'm a bit of a junk food junky so tend to try and not ever be hungry.

[CavemanLynn]

Take the duration of your workout and split it into a ratio of 3:2:1 weights:cardio:core. Basic weights exercises (a bench press variant, a squat, an overhead press, and back exercise like deadlift or row). That way, you'll encourage your body to add some metabolism-raising muscle, make any fat look better sooner, and burn your initial energy reserves so you're fatburning by the time you hit the cardio machines. Choose core moves that engage your whole body like timed planks or carries. That should be easy on your joints and get you the most bang for your buck in the gym.

Edited March 30, 2016 by CavemanLynn

[DeanoTheGame]

Figured this was the best place for advice;

 

I'm 25. Been skinny all my life, except for the past few years where I'm skinny all over except for having a massive beer belly. I get bloated easily so after pretty much every meal or beer it starts sticking out and makes me look like the Yellow bastard from Sin City. I'm not really arsed about bulking up or getting a Seth Rollins physique, I just want to drop the podge and genererally get into better shape. Anybody got any advice on the best way to start?

 

I don't get much exercise (around 60-90 mins of 5-a-side a week) and my diet isn't great (I work in a city centre surrounded by chippies and pork-bap shops, and I'm easily tempted) so that's an obvious change I need to make. Regarding exercise, I was planning on just doing cardio at first to drop the beer belly but my mate reckons weight lifting would be better for me as it would strengthen my core. Is he right that I should focus entirely on weights or should I be looking at a combination of weights and cardio?

 

As you can probably tell I'm clueless when it comes to anything that involves breaking a sweat, so any help would be much appreciated.

[CavemanLynn]

If you're getting bloated after every meal, you might have some kind of intolerance. I'm sure you can get this checked out at your doc's, or just look at what you eat, identify the common factor, and try dropping that foodstuff for a week or two to see if that sorts. I had a similar problem, but I ditched bread, lactose and fizzy pop and not had issues since.

 

I'd always recommend weight training being the bulk of your exercise. You won't wake up one day and be depressed you've suddenly turned into Arnie. Adding muscle boosts your base metabolism, meaning it's easier to shift the fat, plus free weights are much more calorie-burning than cardio, especially post-exercise (ie you'll keep burning fat after stopping longer than if you were doing cardio, as your body recovers and rebuilds). You'll also look better faster. Most guys I know with belly fat were exacerbating it with shitty posture. Smart free weight training straightened them up, and they typically lost an inch off their waist just by standing up properly!

 

If you want to stick with no equipment to start, pushups, squats and planks are your bread-and-butter exercises.

[DeanoTheGame]

Thanks for that, great help. I have been meaning to go to the docs about the bloating - I've completely got rid of bread and lactose from my diet around a month back but there hasn't been much difference. I'll knock the fizzy drink on the head and give it a week eating healthily and if I'm still having those problems I'll get it checked out.

[Keith Houchen]

I downloaded an app called daily yoga as I thought it would be a nice and easy intro to actually doing something good for myself. It's just a ten minute session per day but after two days I feel like I've been stretched like a catholic conspirator after the gunpowder plot. And that's just beginner stuff!

 

Made me realise how much I've neglected myself. I've lost loads of weight and do fuck all (long story involving going mental). The thing is though, I feel really good. I'm going to stick to it as it is only ten minutes a day and it really helps my mental health. I'm a one lunged cripple but the breathing exercises have made me feel that I can actually do more and not rely on the I've got one lung excuse that I've used for years.

[Bus Surfer]

I downloaded an app called daily yoga as I thought it would be a nice and easy intro to actually doing something good for myself. It's just a ten minute session per day but after two days I feel like I've been stretched like a catholic conspirator after the gunpowder plot. And that's just beginner stuff!

 

Made me realise how much I've neglected myself. I've lost loads of weight and do fuck all (long story involving going mental). The thing is though, I feel really good. I'm going to stick to it as it is only ten minutes a day and it really helps my mental health. I'm a one lunged cripple but the breathing exercises have made me feel that I can actually do more and not rely on the I've got one lung excuse that I've used for years.

 

 

What app is that man? I'm wanting to look at other stuff that can be done in quick little intervals.

[Keith Houchen]

It's called Daily Yoga, type that into the search and it's the first result. At least it is on iPhone.

[Bus Surfer]

Had I read your post properly, I would have noticed that!

 

I'm on Android too, so probably not the same thing. I'll check it though. Thanks!

[ColinBollocks]

The benefits of yoga are incredible. My back was a shambles a few years ago, but regularly doing yoga quickly made the pain vanish and what not. It went so well that I got complacent late last year and my back started playing up; never again. An hour session and I feel like a god, rather than the old chunk of coal that I am.

[Stunner]

Could really do with some advice actually.

 

I started trying to lose weight in early February. 30 minutes per day - mostly jogging but other stuff too. I then gradually started sorting my diet out . Within a month I was half a stone down. So far so good.

 

Around that point I noticed an ache in my ankles (especially my left) after each session. Then it became quite painful in the evenings after I finished. I tried to work through it, until both ankles and my back were hurting almost as soon as I started. Time for a couple of days' break, I thought.

 

After two days, I was in genuine pain, could barely walk up and down the stairs, and had not inconsiderable swelling. I was in at the doctor for weight loss advice anyway, so I mentioned it. She said it was simple overuse - keep off my feet for a few days, and eventually as my ankles strengthen and my weight goes down it'll sort itself out. My back and right ankle did quickly sort themselves out, but my left was stubborn. Eventually it healed, I decided I'll carry on the following day, but a chest infection delayed my return to exercise for a further two weeks.

 

Finally, I start again, and just as I get back into the swing of things, my ankles (again, primarily the left) start playing up. I quickly take a break rather than keep on them, but I've been laid up for over a week again, this time in even more pain than the last. I actually broke my (right) ankle a couple of years back and the pain of that was nothing on this.

 

I've just got back from a 20 minute walk to Asda and back, and while in the shop my ankle started giving way, as if it was incapable of even walking. I feel like my weight is slowly creeping back up. My right ankle is again stubbornly refusing to heal. It seems the only manner of easing this ankle is by laying on my arse even more than I was before.

 

Getting fed up now. Anyone have any advice on what I can do in the meantime, and how I can ease it and keep it from seizing up again? If this keeps up I'll be in an endless cycle of just losing the weight I gained whilst recuperating my ankle, before being laid up again.

 

(Sorry for the long post)

Edited April 7, 2016 by Stunner

[Arch Stanton]

Go back to the doctors and don't let them fob you off with a 'simple overuse' answer this time. From what you are describing, it sounds like there is a larger problem at hand. Explain that being inactive is hindering your weight loss efforts and getting you down. They might send you for an X-ray.

 

If you are heavy, jogging probably isn't a great idea though. Running on hard ground will only give your joints grief. You might get on with yoga, which you can do at home with zero impact on your bones.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Arch Stanton

[bAzTNM#1]

You'll never get painkillers off these doctors now, so they'll always fop you off with the "overuse" excuse. I get it all the time with my back problems.

 

Walk for a few hours, if you can. I find that takes the weight off me faster than running, which is bloody agony to me.

Edited April 8, 2016 by bAzTNM#1

[Tommy!]

Is there somewhere I can get a full MOT without much cost?

 

I'm curious to know what state I'm in.

[Stunner]

Cheers Arch and Baz... managed to get a five-minute appointment today and I have indeed been sent for an x-ray. I'm hoping it's nothing serious, but at the same time hoping it's something so it can get sorted and I can carry on!

 

Yoga's not a bad idea... I've even been thinking of having a go at DDP Yoga which appears to work wonders, though I'm always sceptical, especially when the "proof" of its success are all DDP's wrestling mates. Still, getting active is never a bad thing so we'll see.