The Energon Pub

I have decided that a ripped guitarist >>> flabby guitarist.

Ok, I need a workout schedule, what exercises to do, and some sort of diet.

I mainly want to focus on my upper body (abs, arms, pecs, ect.)

I only have 5 and 10lb dumbbells at my disposal at the moment, I WILL get some 20s probably soon, so bear with me.

For a long time though, i have been doing basic arm workouts with the 10s, but for the past 6 or so months, i havent seen any difference in my arms.

Halp me Seibertron, you're my only hope.

Cardio works the abs. Crunches and sit ups don't work.

Curls, pull-ups, push-ups, and benching for the upper body.

See a personal trainer for a more detailed schedule than this: Upper body one day, cardio the next. Don't work the same muscle groups two days consecutively.

If you're light, run. If you can't run, jog. If you can't jog, walk. If you can't walk, then I expect you to get some extreme lipo. Once you get good, run with the dumbells.

How old are you? Go to your school's gym. Most of the weight machines suck, but they're free. As well, as you're working your arms and legs, don't forget to work your back on the side and keep a stiff posture-- don't bend to the weight. Otherwise, you're going to have some serious problems.

If you don't like running, just do sports. Football, basketball, soccer. I personally hate running. I've been suggested by my cyropracter not to run besides, since, at 6'1" and 250lbs, even though I'm reasonably fit by most standards, I'll kill my knees for later life if I go over 2 miles. Try doing different jumping exercises to work the lower body. Jump rope is great. Get a few jumping blocks and jump side-to-side and front-to-back about a good foot in the air. If you do it well enough, you shouldn't have to run.

That's about all I can think of.

KAMJIIN wrote:Cardio works the abs. Crunches and sit ups don't work.

Curls, pull-ups, push-ups, and benching for the upper body.

See a personal trainer for a more detailed schedule than this: Upper body one day, cardio the next. Don't work the same muscle groups two days consecutively.

While crunches and sit ups don't work to well for burning fat rapidly they are essential for building muscle in the stomach reagon so if you want to get "ripped" you will need to do them. I should also mention that situps and crunches are an excellent as well as essential preperation stretch.

I suppose I could stand to lose a few pounds.


What's better for burning extra fat quicker?


I already do sit-ups, chin-ups etc.

Eat six small meals a day. Make sure that you have a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrate along with fruits and vegetables. You can use things like protein shakes to fill in for meals. When you eat many meals a day your metabolism will rise and constantly burn calories. And remember that your diet is what really makes losing weight and maintaining it possible.

For workouts you can try running intervals. Walk for a minute, lightly jog for a minute, fast jog for a minute, run for a minute, repeat for 20 min. Interval training allows your body to continue burning calories for a longer period of time after your workout.

Since you have limited access to weights, use your body weight for exercising. Push ups and pull-ups are great. Or do a google search for exercises that you can do without weights, there are a lot to choose from.

Hope that helps some.

Geekee1 wrote:Eat six small meals a day. Make sure that you have a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrate along with fruits and vegetables. You can use things like protein shakes to fill in for meals. When you eat many meals a day your metabolism will rise and constantly burn calories. And remember that your diet is what really makes losing weight and maintaining it possible.

Da. I usually keep a few protien bars in my backpack to snack on between classes. It makes my lunch relatively light. I usually eats wraps for lunch, wich cuts fown on starch intake, and, after you get used to it, any small carbohydrate can actually become a source of massive energy.

As well, don't worry about pull ups so much at the moment-- most people above 150 shouldn't attempt it if they haven't had a lot of exercise. Even though I can bench a good 150lbs and squat about 225, I still cant manage a single pull up, while all of the guys on track and cross country, averaging in at about 140lb at the highest extreme, can all do it like nothing.

DesalationReborn wrote:

Geekee1 wrote:Eat six small meals a day. Make sure that you have a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrate along with fruits and vegetables. You can use things like protein shakes to fill in for meals. When you eat many meals a day your metabolism will rise and constantly burn calories. And remember that your diet is what really makes losing weight and maintaining it possible.

Da. I usually keep a few protien bars in my backpack to snack on between classes. It makes my lunch relatively light. I usually eats wraps for lunch, wich cuts fown on starch intake, and, after you get used to it, any small carbohydrate can actually become a source of massive energy.

As well, don't worry about pull ups so much at the moment-- most people above 150 shouldn't attempt it if they haven't had a lot of exercise. Even though I can bench a good 150lbs and squat about 225, I still cant manage a single pull up, while all of the guys on track and cross country, averaging in at about 140lb at the highest extreme, can all do it like nothing.

Agreed on the pull-ups. They can be very difficult or impossible for beginners, but they are great exercises because of the large amount of muscle groups that are required to complete them. I was just tossing out some ideas that didn't require weights.

Asmodae wrote:
While crunches and sit ups don't work to well for burning fat rapidly they are essential for building muscle in the stomach reagon so if you want to get "ripped" you will need to do them. I should also mention that situps and crunches are an excellent as well as essential preperation stretch.

Both of those statements have recently been debunked by fitness experts. Running/swimming (and most other cardio) gets you the six pack. Stretching actually increases your risk of injury during the workout. Light cardio is best for a warm-up.

KAMJIIN wrote:

Asmodae wrote:
While crunches and sit ups don't work to well for burning fat rapidly they are essential for building muscle in the stomach reagon so if you want to get "ripped" you will need to do them. I should also mention that situps and crunches are an excellent as well as essential preperation stretch.

Both of those statements have recently been debunked by fitness experts. Running/swimming (and most other cardio) gets you the six pack. Stretching actually increases your risk of injury during the workout. Light cardio is best for a warm-up.

Proof

And to honest I have been around athleats for a long time and I have thiss to say.

I have never seen anyone get a six pack soly from cardio

I have never seen anyone recive a stress related injury during a workout after stretching

I have seen people obtain such injuries during a workout without stretching prior

It's called personal experiance but then to tell the truth I have seen some wussies who claim to be experts call a cramp an injury. Problem is cramps are caused by depleating the muscle of fresh nutrients from the blood which is why your not suppost to work out right after eating (something else I have seen so called experts do)

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872851.html%20

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872851.html%20

http://www.besthealth.com/Health+Centers/Wellness+Center/wellness23.shtml

http://seniorliving.about.com/od/exercisefitnes1/a/diet_exercise.htm

http://www.doctorndtv.com/DoctorNDTV%20show/detailtopics.asp?id=12&heading=AllTopics

http://www.advocatehealth.com/system/info/library/articles/fitness/foodforthought/fitmyths.html

http://www.todaysparent.com/lifeasparent/yourhealth/article.jsp?content=20051006_100730_5156

need I continue?

KAMJIIN wrote:Cardio works the abs. Crunches and sit ups don't work.

Curls, pull-ups, push-ups, and benching for the upper body.

See a personal trainer for a more detailed schedule than this: Upper body one day, cardio the next. Don't work the same muscle groups two days consecutively.

That is part garbage advice sorry.

Sit ups do work - proper sit ups. I do a few hundred sit ups every night and my abs are becoming pretty solid.

You DO need to get rid of your fat first before you tone up, and cardio is the best thing for that.

When I was doing my weight loss part, I was running at least 10k a day.

Breakfast One - 2 slices of wholemeal bread toast, glass of orange juice.

Breakfast Two - Bowl of porage

Lunch - Soup and a few slices of wholemeal bread.

Dinner - Meat, Veg etc

Snack on whole foods such as nuts or seeds or anything else which releases energy slowly, and dont go for quick energy foods as they wont sustain you.

I worked on a routine where I did not cut my calorie intake, but rather used running to offset my calorie intake by burning it off.

Try and cut junk food out a bit at a time - dont go cold turkey - it will never work.

I also have a set of skipping ropes which I use if the weather doesn't allow me to go running.

.. once you have lost the flab, then you can start toning up. Look at using heavier weights if you actually want to properly bulk up, or more reps if you want to tone up.

To the original point. Sit ups work great on your abs if you learn how to do them properly.

Some additional pointers.

Try and not have 3 large meals, but rather break it up in more smaller meals - this will keep your metabolism ticking more.

Exercise in the morning if you can - again this also keeps your metabolism ticking faster during the day which will help.

Finally. Allow yourself a day in the week where you can eat what you want for being good during the week - this is a tried and tested method on the basis that if you were to eat a litre tub of ice cream on a sunday (just as an example), you would not absorb as many calories/fat as if you eat 1/7th of the tub every day of the week. I always allowed my sunday to be my junk day as a reward for hard work and not eating any crap during the week.

Lay off the beer, or try and drink lo carb beer if you can find any. Or better yet, leave it out altogether, and if you want to drink have a spirit with a diet mixer - not as good as beer of course, but its a sacrifice you need to make.

If I can think of anything else I will let you know.

Chris

KAMJIIN wrote:http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872851.html%20

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872851.html%20

http://www.besthealth.com/Health+Centers/Wellness+Center/wellness23.shtml

http://seniorliving.about.com/od/exercisefitnes1/a/diet_exercise.htm

http://www.doctorndtv.com/DoctorNDTV%20show/detailtopics.asp?id=12&heading=AllTopics

http://www.advocatehealth.com/system/info/library/articles/fitness/foodforthought/fitmyths.html

http://www.todaysparent.com/lifeasparent/yourhealth/article.jsp?content=20051006_100730_5156

need I continue?

Having read through those pages, they are just highlighting the fact that crunches and sit ups will not BURN FAT - this is true, HOWEVER this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that doing proper exercises on the muscles itself is the only way to build up the muscle itself.

He needs to burn the fat, and THEN build the muscle.

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I also use whey protein and creatine suplements to help build the muscles that I work out. Creatine being important to repair damage after a workout.

Yes, there is a big difference in burning fat and building muscle. Crunches will build the abdominal muscles and make them stronger, they will not burn fat. Though the increased muscle mass will help to burn fat. The cardio is for fat burning.

It is also important to remember that the more muscle mass that you have the more calories you burn.

Though, oddly enough, it should be noted that, if you're getting in shape, you may not actually lose much weight at first due to the weight of muscle vs. fat.

My weight tends to go in cycles when I've been away for a while-- it'll jump about 10lbs up, then slowly lower back to normal, jump up about 5lb again, then start climbing slowly down. Sometimes, it can all happen in about the span of a month.

When I was a freshman in high school I weighed 115 lbs.
So I started weight training and eating carbs like nobody's business in hopes of gaining some weight and no longer being a stringbean.
I graduated at 130 lbs. I was toned, but never looked like a bodybuilder.
I guess it really has more to do with your metabolism than anything else. You can tone the muscles you have, but you can't add muscle.

KAMJIIN wrote:When I was a freshman in high school I weighed 115 lbs.
So I started weight training and eating carbs like nobody's business in hopes of gaining some weight and no longer being a stringbean.
I graduated at 130 lbs. I was toned, but never looked like a bodybuilder.
I guess it really has more to do with your metabolism than anything else. You can tone the muscles you have, but you can't add muscle.

Did you eat a lot of protein too? Protein is what will build muscle mass.