Fitness

[Rosie]

Come on children calm down

it must just be a man thing, this is the way most threads go you end up arguing about basically nothing

John I hate hill sprints as they hurt like hell and I've got muscly calves as it is (think how hard it is buying high boots for muscly legs- nightmare!), I'll just carry on running as I am & I'll try the lampost running thing

 

[mikey601]

well believe what you will john, but from watching my mother train and running it 2 commonwealth games i would have to disagree (but im no expert on the situation)

ok enough of ruining rosies thread with us 2 not seeing eye to eye

 

[john251282]

I am sorry I did get a bit carried away but I hear things that are not true, when athletes I work with come out with them I just explain as calmly as I can why it is wrong and then prove it to them with results I can give them but when self proclaimed "gurus" do it, it just bugs me!!!!

Anyway you don't have to do hills but don't just do flats for your exercise if you have easy access to a pool then sprints in the pool are great, don't bother with breast stoke always do front crawl as it tends to be a much for powerful movement and will use up more energy.

 

[john251282]

All credit to your mum but what distance did she run?

 

[mikey601]

Originally posted by john251282
if you have easy access to a pool then sprints in the pool are great

By this he doesnt mean running in the pool

 

[Syltiz]

Originally posted by Rosie
I'm 17 so apparently that's 183

I don't want any more muscle!
I work in a farm shop so I really just want to be more toned, I don't need anymore muscle I've already got man-arms from carrying all those 25kg sacks of potatoes

we've bought a cheap rowing machine as well so i could work that in after the run maybe

I hate hill runs but I'll have a go at them

So, to now answer your initial post - get yourself a heart rate monitor (Polar, Nike etc) and some Accu-Measure skin calipres (ebay).

Check your fat % to determine how much you want to lose to get to the lean range (which will mean you look and be toned). Then do cardio within the upper limits of your heart rate (80 to 90% of 203) x number of times per week depending on how much you want to lose. Focus on excercises that require speedy accelerations (Like others have mentioned).

Then incorporate some stretching and light weights to keep you flexible and help toning. You wont put on significant muscle mass if you keep the weights light and dont work the muscles to exhaustion.

The above all assumes that you keep your eating constant and that it is a good well-balanced diet.

 

[PKNUTZ]

bah you dont have to be fit to play paintball, eat at mcdonalds everyday and watch in amazement as you become a true paintball athlete! and always, always supersize.

 

[john251282]

Heart rate monitors are great, Polar seem to have the most best at the moment but the differences are very small. Using skin calipers without proper traing leads to widely inaccuarate results and calipers can also be very easily effected by things like hydration status or the subject, for the general public they are a luxury that is normally not needed.

Toning is probably one of the most annoying things I can think off. Basically it was invented by Hollywood because all it means is losing fat so that muslces are more visible but trainers did not want to say that basically their client was fat so they called it toning. You cannot "tone" a muscle all you can do is have less fat around that area so you can see it better.

But yes stretching and weights are all good, to help with flexiblity and muscular development. And light weights don't always mean you can't build muscles. For example I have seen Paula Radcliffe work out using some pretty impressive weights given her size and she is hardly Arnie.

 

[Syltiz]

John, how would you recommend keeping track of weight loss without calipres? Surely pure reliance on the scale is extremely misleading for the same reasons you mention for the calipres and more? Every other method is too expensive or unweildy for home use. I find that as long as you keep everything as consistent as possible the calipres are fine. ie. measure at the same time of day, at the same spot, before excercise while keeping proper hydration (which you should be doing anyway). I would argue that they are needed if you are to properly record what is happening to your body.

I concede on the toning issue, but if you consider that it's impossible to lose fat without losing some muscle mass along with it, keeping the muscles active will combat this effect.

I think the main point about the weights is that in this case you dont want to be 3-setting to muscle failure every 2nd day - but rather a light "grooming" can I say?, with light weights to just work the body over and not bulk it up.

 

[john251282]

As you have said whatever do keep it consistent. I find the best way for most people is a simple tape measure. If you are trying to lose fat then you waist/belly is a good spot. If you are trying to gain muscle then your arms and your chest if a man. This method is really simple(i.e. none of the equations that have to be done with calipers or other methods) and most people already have a tape measure in the house so they don't need to buy anything new. While I am on this note the weight scales that have intergrate body fat % can be wildly off so don't pay to much attention to them.

It is perfectly possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time if you know the right techniques.

I won't get into the numerous weight training techniques at the moment. The "grooming" tactic as you have called it is normally prefered by girls because they don't have to get all sweaty because it is not that hard. I am not sure exactly what you mean by 3-setting failure on alternate days but if you mean what I think you mean then that is almost certainly too much for you are you could do more damage than good.