Oh yea, what do you guys think about eggs? I eat about 2 or 3 eggs almost every morning along with some buttered toast. Is this good bulk up food?
Damn, Lynus - you're turning into a health Nazi! I'm still smoke free. Started riding (bike) again, a 5 mile course daily. See you in basic, healthfreak... And I'll be dangling McDonald's french fries whenever we're on weekend leave... (mouth watering, feeling Homerish, only-get-to-eat-real-food-once-a-month-Basic...)
Stone Cold -- How do you do this exercise?? Instructions pleeze... Rocket Kid -- Someone more knowledgable than me ought to be able to better answer your questions about eggs, but I'll tell you what I know: Eggs are an excellent sourse of protein, which is probably the most important thing in weight training. They can be unhealthy as far as chlorestoral and all that, but in my understanding, as long as you have an otherwise healthy diet, eggs should be okay. A good friend and former workout partner of mine didn't like eggs, but in the mornings he ate 3 eggs strictly for the protein. Actually, what he did was remove the yolk from two of them, so it was one full egg with two additional egg whites. I can't remember his reasoning; something like the whites have most of the protein in an egg, and the yolk has protein and maybe something else good for you, but that the yolk is primarily where all the "bad stuff" is in an egg. I guess I ought to admit something here: I'm not in shape anywhere near where I'd like to be. I did learn an awful lot about it through the guy I mentioned the above egg paragraph. He and I were workout buddies in college for about 6 months. Right about the time when I started seeing good results, he went off and graduated. The b*stard. I swear he was my only motivation. Once he left, I went to the gym with my girlfriend, and we gradually stopped going, and then I graduated, and it went all to hell at that point.
Eggs are high in cholesterol, and if you're eating them fried, it's worse. Scrammy eggs (anyone get the reference?) are the way to go. I still wouldn't be eating them more than 3-4 times a week, though. The butter ain't good for you either. (I'm a butter freak though) I've found Country Crock with calcium spread to be about the "least bad for you" margarine there is. It's actually better than the yogurt health crap my wife tried to get me to use. Good lean muscle building foods: Turkey Fish Beans & Rice Spaghetti In my diet I'm still struggling to eliminate (or reduce) the amount of cheese I eat. I can't seem to force myself to leave off that slice of cheese on my 98% fat free turkey breast, Light Miracle Whip sandwiches. It's a weakness I tell ya'. I also only eat WOW Doritos (1/3 the calories and 1 gram of fat) or pretzels (great semi-junk/health food). I'm still also trying to reduce butter... I love buttery stuff.
yeah well.....piss off. (btw treeman, check your email) Actually, I have an ulterior motive for eating healthy. Heart disease runs in my family. My dad died when I was 17 from heart failure; he was only in his mid-50's. He had about 3-4 heart attacks in my lifetime, and he was never really in good health throughout my entire life. As I've gotten older (25 now, 26 next month), I've really taken an interest in living healthy and longer. Granted, my dad had a steady diet of meat and potatos his whole life (until he started getting sick, that is), and I've without a doubt eaten better than he ever did, so I ought to be a LOT better than he ever was. Regardless, I've definitely taken an interest in eating healthier and living healthier. If I ever have any kids, I'd like to live to see them graduate from high school. Like I said in an earlier post, I crave stuff like salads and fruit. Guess I'm weird.
Lynus302, Be very careful. The Clean and press and/or clean and jerk exercises are very advanced weight training lifts requiring the highest level of form. The combination of joint movements, muscle groups used, and speed greatly raise the injury possibility. I would say it is the only lift where form is more important than squats, and that's saying a lot. I used to absolutely love doing clean and jerk, but ever since HS I haven't found a place with the proper area, mats, and willingness to have their equipment slammed around as back in my old football gym. It is a great lift, but if you don't know how to do it, don't try it without someone there to first show you how and then to help you get the form down.
How do you do this one? I've got a bad back as well and I've been looking for a way to work out my back muscles at home. Do you just stand straight with the weights in your hands and bend over at the waist? I thought that that was bad for your back to bend like that when holding weight?
It is just like touching your toes.. only you do it while holding weights. I HIGHLY recommend you start by simply touching your toes with no weight. Start with like three sets and 10 reps. Your back (in many people's cases) doesn't get worked often and will be sore. If you're like me, you won't even be able to touch your toes at first. I think the combination of stretching and strengthening has done wonders for my back. I can touch the floor with my fists no problem now. Slowly increase the number of reps until you can do 3X50 with no weights and no soreness. Only then can you even entertain the thought of adding (only the lightest of) weight. When I do the lift I keep the weights very close to my body, but yes it is a risky lift, and I don't recommend using two 50lb dumbbells until you are absolutely sure you can handle it. There's no "maxing out" on this exercise, that's for sure. One of the main reasons I started doing this exercise was to keep my back strong for when I start doing squats again.
Unbelievable. I'm actually reading a thread on how best to touch my toes... (BTW, thanks DoD) I think I'll stick to my 5-mile ride, followed by a 50/50 rep pushup/situp session. Of course, my fat recently quittin-smokin ass can't do 50 in a row... yet. But I am not going to stop eating Filet-O-Fish Meals (#8 @ McD's). That's as healthy as I'm going to get without the Army telling me what to do.
Lynus -- As DREAMer stated above, you're best served learning clean and press through demonstration -- it requires a rediculous amount of control and form. Basically you begin with the straight bar on the floor, your body in deadlift position. You clean the bar up onto your chest, moving it in vertical line and then press it up over your head. Bring down, repeat. A couple Key Points: -- Keep you head up -- it straightens your back. This true for any full motion exercise. -- Move the bar in a straight vertical line -- DON'T SWING. The quickest way to jack up your back is to swing the bar up onto your chest. -- Keep a spotter around to critique your motions. Form is everything and if you can spot the little things early, thats one less thing to worry about later on, when you're wondering why you're not advancing weight. I'm sure I butchered the explanation, but thats the jist of the exercise. Defintely have somebody demonstrate it for you. It'll work wonders for you as long as you're careful.
Nothing wrong with taking it a little slow at first. If it's no fun, you won't stick with it. Don't ignore your abs and back, you want your trunk to be strong too. Some situps, crunches or bicycle exercises will help your abs. There are many different back exercises, with and without weights. Again, inform yourself by reading and checking out websites. I am sure some other posters will have some ideas about back exercises and some good websites (besides this one ) to check out.
What are some good exercises to increase my waist size? I have the most pathetic body anyone can imagine.
DREAMer:4X10 hammer curls (50lb dumb bells) + 1X10 curl bar (100lbs) 3X10 tricep extension (100lbs) Damn am I weak... I couldn't do 4x10 with 25s
INCREASE your waist size?? Whatever...work your obliques to increase your waist size. They respond fairly quickly.
tozai, Dude, I outweigh you by about 100lbs... I better be lifting more than you. Just keep at it. I still remember the first time I bench pressed 100lbs.
Well. Had another nice workout last night, however, I was not at all sore today. Is that an indication that I didn't work enough and it's time to beef up the routine?
Congratulations, you've improved! The first time I ever lifted weights, I was all over the place. My body simply did not know how to properly handle the weight. The bar would sway one way and the other, trying to find the 'sweet spot' of proper balance. The next day, man did I hurt. After two or three workouts, muscle memory kicked in: The balance was there, which helped me simply to lift properly. I'm willing to bet that this is what happened to you. What is important is that you can still 'feel it.' You ought to be at least a little sore, but you've shouldn't always feel as though you've benched your car 10,000 times like you said earlier. As long as you feel like you've worked out, then you're good. However, you're muscle memory may have kicked in, which will allow you to lift a little more weight. Thats what happened to me. My workout weight increased at about the third trip to the gym by 20lbs, not because I got miraculously stronger in just a few days, but because of muscle memory working for learned balance. Did you feel like you were more balanced when you were lifting? If so, and you feel like you could handle a bit more weight, then go for it. Don't over-do it, just add 5-10lbs. After a few more workouts, increase your weight again.
Thanks Lynus, you've been a HUGE guide to me. Well, of course I "felt" like I had worked out for about 5 minutes after I had finished. I went to take a shower, and I felt like I didn't even work out after I got out. Also, I feel fairly balanced. I sway a little in the beggining, but once I get going, it goes ok. So I guess I'll add more weights next time. Thanks again!
