Markus

The chunky boy, ie; me , needs some advice.

"Advice about what?" I hear you ask.

Well, bottom line is that I'm a lazy sod, and do bugger all excercise and my diet is not the best in the world, in fact, Junk Food King would probably be a good nickname for me.

It's about time I did a bit of excercise. <hears sound of friends falling over in shock> I'd say I'm 'cuddly' but being honest, I'm probably 'too cuddly' though friends say I'm not, but they are probably too nice to say I'm a fat chuffer, then again, I'm 6ft 4in, so does not exactly show, but it does to me (I know, I sound vain)

I don't want to really go to a gym, a) I've never been before, b) cash is a rather tight. And I don't really want to get some home gym thing, again, cash is the big factor here, then space n stuff. And I'd prefer not to have to purchase any equipment, tight? moi? maybe

So what I'm after are some excercises I can do at home to get rid of the belly and tone it up a bit, I'd love a six pack (got the full keg right now!) but I think that'll never happy TBH, but losing a few stone and getting a little toned up would be good.

Can anyone offer any good excercises that might help here?

Oh, and if someone mentions diet, well, forget that, I will change my diet, but I won't go on a diet, I am not your stereotypical yank blob, if I was then i'd consider it, I will change what I eat, have done that before, just got out of habbit.

So, suggestions please.

gregh

start walking and build up to jogging.
or skipping?

Markus

Ah, forgot to add that the reason I want in house excercises is due to it being winter, at the moment it is a balmy -3C, but looks set to be a slightly warm -8C later on, and can go as low as -15 without the windchill, thus doing things outside is not exactly appealing, especially when paths are not cleared of snow and ice.

Good idea about walking or jogging, but I've always hated jogging, dunno why. If I had a bike and it was summer, yeah, I'd do that, but can't really cycle in the snow and can't afford a bike.

Skipping is interesting, don't care if someone calls me a girl, I'll simply garotte them with the rope , but doing it indoors might annoy the neighbours. Imagine living below an elephant who skips! lol

Oh, and before smart ***** mention a certain good excercise, requiring a partner, I'll say I'm currently single, so can't use that idea!

corradoboy

I lost 4 1/2 stones in 4 months using the Atkins plan. Still on it (sort of) and will be for life. Once you're over the 1st two weeks with the headaches and stuff, it settles down to a superb, never hungry, eat loads, loose weight quickly, easily and painlessly diet. I did virtually no exercise for the 1st 3 months, and now just do hiking. Will re-introduce mountain biking in the spring and might slip back onto the weight loss plan (as opposed to the maintenence plan) for a few weeks to shed another stone for the summer.

Get the book, read, understand, apply well and never look back. Just don't listen to all the "only eat meat" ****. Get plenty of green veg and salad leaves. Ditch the bread, pasta, rice, potatos and sugar.

Scooby96

X country skiing, downhill skiing, a bloody good long walk in deep snow.

Weights bench <read clothes bench>

Swimming - provided you have a local pool (pref. indoor!)

craigdaaavid

la fitness is only £25 a month at the mo

Markus

Atkins diet, not for me I'm afraid. I don't do diets, and I do know others that have tried this and it works, but I also know others who is has not worked for. Freind of mine knows a few things about microbioligy and I'm told it works because the body does not exactly know what to do with itself, so it starts breaking down the store of carbs. Am told this also releases keytones (sp?) which tend to cause bad breath. Plus headaches? sorry, that just does not sound like a good thing from a health perspective.

Thanks for the advice though, not having a go, seems to be working for you, but I'm not open to it.

Oh, and I do NOT want this thread turning into some Atkins debate, if it goes that way I'll either get the comments removed, or the thread locked.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Bit far to travel from Canada though

milo

hi

unless you fix your diet.. you will NEVER get a visible six pack. sorry but that's just the way it is. you dont HAVE to "go on a diet"... you can just eat different foods... you'd probably end up consuming MORE calories. it WILL be a lifestyle change more than anything.

it never cost me a penny to do chin-ups and push-ups. when i first started training, i squatted with logs on my back, jogged with logs on my back, did chin-ups on tree branches, deadlifting concrete blocks, mil. pressing beer kegs. it built a great deal of strength... real world strength... and the carry-over to powerlifting lifts was tremendous. i was a kid at the time tho.

you dont need to go that far.. but if you're adamant that you won't join a gym (they can be as cheap as £15/month btw), some basic bodyweight exercises 3 times a week could be okay (chin-up bars are cheap... dips from a chair... push-ups)... just make sure you're progressively loading.

face it that you may have to change your diet depending on your goals.. no amount of working out can make up for a crappy diet... i GUARANTEE you can get a visible six pack if your diet is perfect without even visiting a gym. there reverse (visiting a gym lots with no diet) does NOT hold true.

it depends how far you want to go.

i really would suggest joining a gym. a decent high intensity weights workout can be more aerobic than aerobics... as well as it being anabolic. this can be done in 2-3 workouts a week of about 20-30 mins each.

as for cardio.. its fine for your overall conditioning.. but i wouldn't rely on it for fat loss. think weights

Markus

mr david = you might want to add 200 - 400 quid onto that, as I'm living in Canada at the moment! plus as said, cash is tight, and gyms out here tend to me more expensive than the UK, so it's not really an option.

Scooby - Skiing, umm, no hills here but could do x-country, but would need to buy the skis but no cash, plus I've never skied and I can already hear the sound of bones crunching bit of a balance problem you see

Weights bench, what to use for weights? small child? dog? hoover? sorry, being silly now

Swimming, ah, now, I do like swimming (am a shark :d hahahhahaha) not sure where local pool is, but will find out.

milo

almost... in the absense of carbs, your body depletes its glycogen stores. once its done with that, the body will turn to alternative sources for fuel. if you feed yourself almost exclusively on fat (with proteins making up the rest), your body will find this fat as a source.

the transition between carb fuel and fat fuel is what causes the headaches. there occur only during the transition (your brain is essentially adjusting to the new fuel). for atkins users thats once. for people on ckd, that's once a week.

a side-effect to using fat as fuel is that your liver MAY produce excess ketones... which are excreted in your urine and possibly your breath.

in a (very simplified) nutshell, that's how it works.

ketogenic diets are not intended as a long-term solution. take them for what they are - a cutting diet.

Scooby96

Walk then - get yourself out in the cold as that will raise your metabolic rate immediately as your body will have to work harder to keep you warm.

Above all make sure you get at least 8 hours sleep - anything below this and your metabolic rate will slow toi compensate for the extra hours you are awake.

If it doesnt make much of a difference at least it costs nothing, and gets you some fresh air!

Markus

milo,
thanks for that, my six pack comment was made as I know without a bit of a lifestyle change it aint going to happen, I'm not one of these fools that thinks that taking excercise will turn you into some kind of adonis, I know it'll take effort and a change of diet, but not going *on* a diet.

I shall look into gym membership, but a friend did look into it, and it is silly money over here, and we were trying to work out why.

Chinup bar I could get. So, squats? press-ups? situps? that'll help, right?

I did used to be fit, well, ish, honest! from 12 - 16 I had a paper round, 5 mile ride every day, did keep me fit, plus from 16 - 18 I used to walk to college and back, and that helped, plus cycling at the weekend, from 19 onwards, well, I've kinda let it slide, did get back into things two years ago, went swimming with my brother once a week for a few hours, and did like it, but stopped doing that, silly boy I know. The last year has been interesting, what with the move to canada and other stuff, so not really been settled to do anything, but it's a new year and time to get fit, I'm going to be 30 in a few months and feel that I should be a heck of a lot fitter than I am.

Trust me, I am very very unfit.

Markus

Scooby - ok, you come over here and you walk in the cold! lol good idea and I do live right on the lakeshore so it is damn pretty out there, plus I'm near Humber Bay park, so got plently of places to walk, so might give it a shot. If you see a picture on the news about a frozen brit, it'll be me

Sleep, oh, that's no problem, always get at least 8 hours sleep.

Fresh air, pah, that's overrated lol, no, good plan though, and might give it a go. hmm, maybe I should get a weimeraner puppy? she'd run and play and walk with me, hmm (this is a joke, I'm not responsible enough to look after weimy)

milo

sure thing... imo bodyweight exercises are the best you can do (and dont forget dips). anything that involves you moving your body around a point is far more anabolic and releases more gh than moving the same amount of weight around yourself. you'll find it is more aerobic too (burns more calories).

bear in mind tho, that with things like chins, push-ups and squats.. you will soon be able to do so many bodyweight reps (if u cant already) it will end up being a pointless exercise. for chins (and push-ups) you can put something heavy in a rucksack... but it becomes rather more expensive for squats ( = bar, weights, squat rack, safety bars etc as you'll outgrow the rucksack for that way too fast).

ozzy

Agree wholeheartedly with Milo. You can't obtain a 6-pack without a good diet.

The problem these days is that we eat too much high-calorie food and don't do enough exercise to burn off the extra calories. We also consume far too much sugar (myself included) and that has the adverse effect of making your body store more fat.

So, my advice is look very carefully at your existing diet. Take a week and note down everything you stuff in your gob. Look for sugary food and start cutting back on that. If you take two spoonfuls of sugar in your tea, try cutting it back to one for example.

Then start introducing some general conditioning exercises. Simple bodyweight stuff like press-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc.. Look on the net for some Circuit Training info and start doing that 3 times per week. I do a simple 10 min circuit morning and night everyday. Try 1- press-ups, 10 sit-ups and 2 pull-ups (you can use anything that'll take your weight). Do the whole circuit without any rest, then catch your breath and repeat a further 2 times. Should only take you 10 mins max. Every week add a few press-ups or sit-ups - whatever you feel comfortable with.

It's a very simple, but effective way of toning and strenghtening your upper body without expensive weights.

As for your heart, lungs and legs then start walking (or if you feel up to it) light jogging. Concentrate on building up on the time spent exercising and not on how fast or how far. You want to do at least 20-30mins 3 times per week for it to be effective. You should run/jog at a pace where you can hold a conversation with someone (even if it's yourself ).

The British Armed Forces have some of the fittest people in the world and they don't use any expensive or fancy gym equipment. You can simulate any weighted exercise through bodyweight circuit training and build the strongest heart and lungs through running. Both don't have to cost you a single penny.

If you want to go further, then you can always buy a cheap rucksac and fill it with stones to add some extra resistance or even better find some hills and lug your *** up them. You don't need to do squats to build strong legs. Trying running up a steep hill for an hour with 50lbs on your back and you'll see what I mean.

Oh, and don't be put off with the weather. Personally I love running in cold, deep snow. Your lungs will be buring afterwards and the soft snow is great as it reduces all the stresses when running/jogging. If you can find some deep snow, even better as it'll work your leg muscles more. Just make sure you wrap up well and wear a hat to minimise the heat loss. Wear layers so you can take them off (or put them back on) to keep your body temperature stable.

So there's no excuses, get your big @ss out the door and wave goodbye to the beer belly

Stefan

Markus

It's not beer belly, more like many years of curry and junk food belly lol

Think I shall start on a walking type deal, throw in the odd push up and stuff and see how I go.


Thanks to everyone for their advice so far. I do feel somewhat ashamed I've left it this long to do something about it. Why am I doing it now? just feel like I want to, partly to feel good in myself, and partly to help the ol self confidence when it comes to the ladies, though saying that, I've not actually had any of my girlfriends say I'm a total lard ****, but maybe they were just being nice lol. But hey, I'm a good looking chap, so being a bit fitter will make me all the more attractive (yeah right! lol )

ozzy

You've been off exercise for a long, so take it easy. Remember you're not 18 again and your bodies had a decade to adapt to an easy lifestyle. There's no reason why you can't be as fit (or fitter) than you were at 18, so don't let anyone tell you age is an issue, but you'll just have to work harder at it as your body doesn't respond as quickly as some teenagers who's still growing.

I was completely unfit 3yrs ago, then I joined the RM's and I'm a whole lot fitter than I've ever been in my life. Even in my late 20's can still out last plenty of 17/18 yr olds. Having said that the lad who got me into HIll Running (in his late 50's) can still beat me, so there's loads of improvement yet. If I'm have as fit as him at that age, I'll be well chuffed

Stefan

Markus

I know to take it easy, found out the hard way in the summer, when back in the UK I decided to take a bike ride, my old 15 mile route, kinda nearly killed me! silly boy, should have taken it way easier! learnt my lesson though.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

1. Walk
2. The Atkins diet is good. You can eat a lot of stuff on it
3. The best simple free exercise you can do are pressups.

Do it by time not by amount.
Press ups for 1 minute - Imediately followed by
Situps for 2 minutes.
then find a flight of stairs/hill and jog down it and then sprint up it say 3 times

Only 5mins and this will make turn you into one fit kiddy
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Steve

Brendan Hughes

Markus, I've got a book on extreme sports where the mad trainer decides to take the mad trainee on a snowshoeing run around the local mountains. But I suggest you save that for Stage 2 (or 3, or, erm, 15...)

I didn't like situps, they wore the skin off my spine, so I always do leg-lifts; lie on the floor on your back, straight legs with heels 4in off the ground, lift to 45 degrees, down again, repeat WITHOUT touching the floor. I currently roll out of bed and do 50 of them and pushups before even emptying bladder (though wifey will confirm that there is some gas escape during the process).

One other lifestyle tip which might affect you as a working single guy - don't have a huge meal late at night and then go straight to bed. It won't help you at all. (If fitness/diet gurus want to prove me wrong, I bow to their superior wisdom).

Good luck.

Markus

Bob, you just hit the nail on the head there. I don't have the hunger thing, but the physical shape thing is the same with me, I got bigger **** than some girls I know :d lol, and I feel how you do about the whole shirt thing off.

V5

Brendan, that wouldn't happen to be Over The Edge, by Michael Bane would it?? That's a fecking superb book! Even helped me with my swimming - "Iain blowing bubbles" when I was getting back into swimming.

Anyone who hasn't read the book should do so!!

Markus - I second the PT method (press-ups, sit-ups, etc). A good and cheap method, and there are plenty of suggested workouts available. I would mix in some cardio as well, though.

Iain

Markus

Good good, lots of advice coming on.

Think I'll borrow a weim and go walking, double purpose, a) getting fit, b) girlies love weims, cos they are so cute, bwahahaha.

Seriously though, going to start on the new regime this weekend, and I'm not dreading it!

weapon69

PHOOOWWWWOAR!! not embarassing


Eat more fruit and veg!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Markus

one hope's if you're being sarcastic you are out of his range! lol!

weapon69

hehe, not sarcastic he's lovely

But diet needs improving before he moans his tummy isn't a 6-pack lol

I moan that im a bit chubby here and there, but i know that if i cut down on the junk, ate smaller portions then i'd lose weight before stepping out the door. Guess the same applies for you if gym is a no-no.

Brendan Hughes

Over the Edge is the very book - loved it. Once Markus is back up to fitness, we'll recommend him The List (...evil cackle...)

Markus, if you borrow a weim and end up with a girlie, your fitness options just got a bit wider mate

Markus

Stop that cackling there Brendan!

Very good point there. If I was far less responsible than I am, and did not love the breed, I'd ask someone very nicely if I could have a puppy from the (hopefully) forthcoming litter, but alas, I am sensible enough to know how much attention a weim pup craves, and how destructive the ever so adorable little grey things can wreak that I shall have to settle for just getting a girlie, which is something I am working on, however:

"Hi, I'm a bit unfit and in need of some excercise, fancy helping me out "

would probably not get the desired effect, well, maybe it would, when I'm running for my life from some nutjob or her build like a brick outhouse brother/boyfriend/pimp