sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Well I need to exercise more as the pounds are pilling on at the moment, infact I cant remember when I saw my feet last

So I am going to buy some exercise equipment, what is the best one to go for? space is limited as well so it needs to be compact or preferably fold up.

Suggestions please

andrewdelvard

I wouldn't buy anything except a pair of trainers, and maybe an mp3 player! Go for some nice walks, look at your diet and cut down on the alcohol. Ebay is full of exercise machines btw....

milo

depends on your goals

if its to lose fat, just clean up your diet. exercise is pointless here in a sense.

if its to improve cardiovascular fitness, do sprints and interval training combined with some lower intensity endurance training (e.g. brisk walking, hiking, jogging).

if its to increase lean mass join a good gym... unless u have room for a power rack and olympic weights.

why, what did u have in mind regarding the exercise equipment?

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the replies, I do not have the time to go to a Gym as whilst I work 8-5 I rarely get home till 6.30 or 7 hence why I want something for the house so I can still be there with the family.

The diet is a good idea, I only eat twice a day at lunch and dinner but I am a very fussy eater what sort of food should I be looking at?

I need to loose some weight as to be honest its depressing me a bit
Thanks again

milo

u need to eat WAY more than twice a day. the fact that you're missing breakfast is killing your metabolism before you've even started. try to up it to around 5 smaller meals, spaced out thru the day. that alone will set your metabolic rate on fire.

as for foods.. the way i see it there are two viable diet options that work for 90% of people. ckd and 40/40/20. suggest u try 40/40/20 first as it *probably* is the "healthier" diet and works long-term (ckd is more of a cutting diet for bb'ers). i would suggest chicken, brown rice (in moderation), oily fish etc. if u want specific calorie recommendations, post or pm me your stats (height, weight, bf% if known etc) and i'll advise. basically avoid anything that will cause insulin spikes (e.g. simple sugars), avoid all trans fats and avoid high carb meals late at night. essentially it depends what you're hoping to achieve and how far you're willing to go to get there.

milo

also.. what you're saying there is u dont have time for your health

can u not get to a gym at lunch times or before work (or at the weekend)? 2-3x a week of resistance training has huge benefits. alternatively maybe your family members could go to the gym or out for a run with u in the evenings or at the weekend? just some ideas.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Milo thanks for this I will pm you shortly

scoobydooooo

a concept 2 rowing machine , the dogs if you ask me , i've had one for 4 years and hav'nt put on a pound in weight . it also folds up after if you need to store it a great exercise to boot

Cupramax

As above really, I've done the "gym" bit to death to the extent of going 5 times a week, tons of cardio plus weights sessions but at the end of the day my diet was sh1te. I couldn't have done any more exercise if I tried, regular eating helped me a lot as I was like you, 2 meals a day.

In the end a big change in diet (not Atkins) and I lost over a stone and a half and now do less excercise but as soon as I slip back to my old ways the pounds pile on.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

How exactly did you change the diet?

Cupramax

Ermm... where to start. I like cakes, crisps, fast food, junk McD's etc etc infact I have the mother of all sweet tooth's, that was my failure.

Basically cut all this crap out, no sugar in drinks, loads of water, now stick to pasta, rice, white meats and veg with the odd treat thrown in to stop me going bonkers with sugar cravings. I wasn't mega over weight (13.5 stone- 5ft11) but enough to make me unhappy with the way I looked. Now around 12 stone and look + feel a whole lot better.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

hmmm I very rarely eat chocolate or anything sweet, I hate butter and cream so thats not a prob either, but I do have a Mcds or equivelant once or week.

At the moment i'm having a bloody sandwiches every day for lunch and its beginning to **** me off

Cant do the pasta thing because I hate it and i'm not a lover of vegetables either.

I'm 5'11" as well and @25 5 years ago I was 14 stone but not fat looking now i'm just over 17 stone and in need of a wider mirror

Cupramax

Hmm, bread was a problem with me. I've virtually eliminated it from my diet now. Only have a sandwich or bread roll now once a week at the weekend. This alone seemed to make a huge difference with me. There may be something in processed bread that slowed my metabolism or I have an intolerance for.

G00ner

Lol Sammy, skinny sod

Wait till you get to my size

fatherpierre

I'd go with the rowing machine if you have space to keep it. Concept 2 every time. Fantastic machine. 15 mins per day on level 10 (2x 2000m) will have you fighting fit and in a couple of months.

You need to do some fat burning stuff too, and of course sort your diet out.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

If you were thinner mate BT would be able attach a line to your head

Tiggs

concept rowers are sooooo boring....i used to sue them to warm up on for a back session but thats it, go for a run anyday.

T

ps- my party trick/claim to fame was being able to get under 6mins on a 2k row...still a boring bit of kit though!

fatherpierre

All machines are boring, Tiggs. But the C2 is one of the best machines there is for the money.

On What level did you break the 2k?

Tiggs

hence my point about a jog!

if you have little kids get them in a buggy....big kids get them a bike to keep up!

T

ps- level? you mean the lever on the side? if so i always used it on 9....no science though....just like number 9!

Chip

Tiggs,
You think jogging is exciting huh!

Chip

Tiggs

no! but at least you can take in the scenery!

ozzy

Gym's are boring as hell.

An hours running on a treadmill will have you climbing the walls. God forbid you'd actually enjoy 30 mins on a stationary bike or rowing machine.

My best advice is to find some sport you enjoy and do that 3-4 times per week. Join a club or the local sports centre rather than wasting money on home gym equipment. The length and breadth of the country has garages full of unused equipment.

Jogging isn't that exciting either, but at least if your outside there's loads of things to keep your mind occupied. If I run indoors on a treadmill, I'm constantly clock watching whereas out in the fresh air, time just fly's by. You'll get a much better workout, you'll do your lungs better if you get out in the fresh air (unless you're unlucky enough to live in a large city) and you'll probably enjoy it a whole lot more.

You also don't need any fancy equipment either to get fit. Stick to basic body-weight exercises like press-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc.. Do circuit training 3 times per week and combine this with some jogging and you'll do yourself a power of good.

At the end of the day you either want to do it (and will put in the effort regardless) or you'll need some encouragement to keep you motivated. That's when doing some form of sport is great. You get the fitness benefits, but it's far more enjoyable and you'll tend to work yourself harder if there's an element of competition involved.

An hour of squash, for example, appeals more to me than sat for 30mins on a stationary bike bored out your head. Of course, when it's cold, wet and pitch black outside a warm cosy garage does have it's appeal. Although, once I'm out the door I do find it satisfying running through muddy fields in the pouring rain

Stefan

hades

Owning a fairly decent rowing mchine - but not concept 2 - I'm a fan of such things. Where I believe the benefit of these is:
1 - Gives you a whole body workout
2 - works in any weathers
3 - low impact. When I used treadmills a lot, it calcified some tendons in my lower leg due to the high impact

Regards boring - I put the rower in my bedroom near a TV and row for e.g. an episode of Friends or the Simpsons (or pick any other programme you like). Healthier than watching it on the sofa, but no less boring. Nowadays, if the weather suits, I spend a few hours going up and around the local Cotswolds at weekends too, but that's as much for enjoying it as just keeping fit.

Other bit of advice, get a cheap heart rate monitor. For £30 you can see how hard you are actually working, and pace yourself accordingly. I tend to go for a sustained 155-160 bpm average over 20 minutes, plus afew minutes warm up / warm down (warm down - I row gently until heart rate is below 120)

Can't say that everything I do is super scientific, but I'm 30, 6' and 12 stone, and approaching 10 years in employment without ever having had a day off sick, so I assume I'm doing something right. This is despite doing similar to you, and only eating 2 meals a day - a roll or sandwhich for lunch and something a bit more for dinner.

Also, it's been said already, but drink lots of water. When I was stopping in hotels for months on end, I put on some weight. Lost some of it again by just substituting water for fizzy drinks. I always drink a litre of water with my lunch nowadays, for example.

fatherpierre

9 is good, 10 would be better, Tiggs.

Your time is better than S Redgrave's over the same distance 7 years ago when he was around/in his peak???????

Scoobydick

I use a blow up sheep to work up a sweat 4 times a week. It is keeping me quite trim, well I have to or it might stop fancying me

imlach

Oh dear - the old Concept2 misconception!!!

The setting of the lever on the Concept2 makes no difference to your total effort - it is the same whether on 1 or 10 - ie, work exerted is exactly the same.

On 1, you row fast as it is seemingly easy
On 10, you row slowly but have to seemingly pull harder

Total energy output is the same for both. It's just a gear. It's like riding a bicycle in 1st gear or 24th gear at the same speed - one seems easy, one seems hard. Total energy output is the same.

Love the numpties in the gyms that think they're "better" as they have it on 10!

FYI, the pro-rowers (Redgrave, Pinsent, etc) do not row on 10! You'll find them on 5 or 6 I believe.

It comes down to what you are comfortable with - if you want to pull hard & slow, then fine, stick to 10. It doesn't make you "better" though.....

Tiggs

i found little difference between 9 and 10.....the lower the number the easier the tug but less distance covered.

i used 9 on 2k's but 10 on sprints for 500m's and stuff.

T

ps- redgrave's a *****

fatherpierre

No ****, Imlach. I bow to your perceived 'better' knowledge.

I was merrely meaning that 10 is the harder to pull and made no reference to Mr Redgrave's level at which he scored his time.

If you're going to try to be a clever **** at least get the facts correct.

Tiggs

ahhh...while i was posting someone gave a much better explanation of the rowers "gears".

rowers dont use 9-10 because its like rowing in treacle so not like rowing on water.

imlach

fatherpierre - Redgrave/Pinsent are/were in the 5m40s -> 5m50s range.

Tiggs is saying he was around 6m.

You get plenty of people who can do around 6m for the 2k sprint - it's a strength exercise. I've seen gym gimps who've never seen water, nor have any interest in rowing do 6m 2k's. Their technique was terrible however, but they could still pull 6 minutes.

Put them in a boat, and it'd sink immediately with all the rocking about!