For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[BerenTebogo]

I know, sorry wasn't trying to pin it all on you and make you the bad guy. Just trying to highlight the my counter-points.

You're right, 100% that someone should not just seek to get juiced arms and whatever but that's one of the first places people lacking info go. I just didn't want people who may read either side of the argument to get the wrong idea.

Gyms are filled with people going in 3-4 times a week and only working their upper body (mainly arms / chest), it's like a plague these days.

[Atreides]

Gyms are filled with people going in 3-4 times a week and only working their upper body (mainly arms / chest), it's like a plague these days.

Yeah lol, although this is kinda a good thing for me. I'm literally the only person who ever uses the squat cage at my gym when I go, I hate waiting to use equipment.

[Zoolander]

Damn, really appreciate all the comments guys. A lot of great info that I was really looking for, will help me out a lot. Don't worry, I wont be one of those guys just doing bench presses lol.

[Tyche]

There's just too many people working out right now. I hate this this time of year. GTFO off my treadmill fatty. I've ran on that one for the past 8 months.

[BerenTebogo]

Since this topic is being paid attention to today I might as well throw this out there:

I don't run very much since I injured my knees in high school. To compound that I also have pretty much flat feet. I try to stay away from treadmills and free running since it's high-impact and I really have very little desire to further injure myself.

Problem I face is that this leaves very little room for endurance training. I like to use elipticals when I can (easier on my knees) but I don't have very convenient access to one since I use the gym at my school and they don't have one. I could find access to a pool, but embarrassingly enough I can't do anything but doggy paddle (gtfo I never learned )

Because of this my endurance, which has never been super great (I did 100 to 400m events in track only) is getting even worse and I really don't know what I can do to combat it. I figure since a lot of people who post here are runners you guys might know of something I can do that's either low-impact or will counter the lack of support my knees are getting from my feet.

I'm open to anything really, been bugging me for a while now.

[Atreides]

do you have a bike?

[Tyche]

I'm sure your school has bikes for spinning. You can even study and workout at the same time.

[Lbelle]

this is why I like my workouts, I can just do it in my room and the only one I have to yell at to get out of my way is the dog!

[BerenTebogo]

do you have a bike?

I don't have a bike and where I live isn't exactly a place I'd like to bike around. Are the exercise bikes actually effective? Everytime I've used one it feels like I'm not getting anything done :\

[Tyche]

Was you using a spinning bike or a regular exercise bike?

[BerenTebogo]

Was you using a spinning bike or a regular exercise bike?

These words mean nothing to me. It had a display panel on it, pedals, and a seat.

[Tyche]

Exercise bike:
http://www.robbinssports.com/sportin...rcise-Bike.jpg

Spinning bike:
http://admin.ironman.com/thumbs.php?...1087485460.jpg

[sephir]

Talking about bikes!? Bingo I'm your man.

Cycling is one of the best sports in the world for building endurance. It is very low impact, as (if you are doing it right) each pedal stroke should only contain 10-30lbs of pressure. Like you I have flat feet, and my family history suggests arthritis in the knees (I get sharp pains if I put too much pressure or anything).

I highly endorse that you pick up a road or mountain bike and join a local club. Any bike store will have a beginner riding session in which they will teach you the basics and help you work your way up to your goals. In all honesty there is NOTHING I find more motivating than climbing a big hill and feeling like I'm about the give up but knowing that I can do it. Within a few years this sport has become my drug of choice, as even during the off season I am averaging about 2 hours a day on the trainer and one hour at the gym doing a spinning class.

Also where do you live? I can guarantee you that within 3-4 miles you will have some sort of mountain bike or road course that will get you addicted.

[Atreides]

other than that I'd imagine that you could probably learn the breaststroke pretty easily

[BerenTebogo]

Talking about bikes!? Bingo I'm your man.

Cycling is one of the best sports in the world for building endurance. It is very low impact, as (if you are doing it right) each pedal stroke should only contain 10-30lbs of pressure. Like you I have flat feet, and my family history suggests arthritis in the knees (I get sharp pains if I put too much pressure or anything).

I highly endorse that you pick up a road or mountain bike and join a local club. Any bike store will have a beginner riding session in which they will teach you the basics and help you work your way up to your goals. In all honesty there is NOTHING I find more motivating than climbing a big hill and feeling like I'm about the give up but knowing that I can do it. Within a few years this sport has become my drug of choice, as even during the off season I am averaging about 2 hours a day on the trainer and one hour at the gym doing a spinning class.

Also where do you live? I can guarantee you that within 3-4 miles you will have some sort of mountain bike or road course that will get you addicted.

I live in New Bedford, MA. My options are A) ride around here or fall river and get shot B) learn to ride a bike in the atlantic ocean C) look into state parks or something.

To be honest I probably wont ever take up outside biking. As if the other problems weren't bad enough I also have pretty terrible allergies. I'd be interested in doing it on an exercise or spinning bike though - if someone could tell me the differences between them and benefits of each.

[Tyche]

As opposed to regular exercise bikes, spinning bikes use an entirely mechanical flywheel system. The flywheel is fairly heavy, and when you stop pedaling, the flywheel will continue to spin, as will the pedals. This promotes a faster cadence which will stress your cardio system more.

[BerenTebogo]

Cool, I'll give it a shot when classes start back up

[Meat]

There's pretty much 2 end game scenarios for a naturally skinny person who wants to weight train and exercise in order to build muscle. I'm going to use somewhat exaggerated examples of both of these to convey my point:

Type 1: Heavy weights, protein, intent to build muscle mass

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...da78fbda87.jpg

Type 2: High rep, smaller increases in weight, intent to tone and strengthen existing muscle with smaller amounts of muscle gain

http://www.siamfoundation.org/wellwo...Tony-Jaa-1.jpg

Both are fit, toned, and muscular. The difference is in the type of training. Both can make you stronger, healthier, and happier with your appearance.

Each person is going to want something different out of weight training. I, for one, don't like bulking up. I much prefer to strengthen and tone.

higher reps(with lighter weight) does not equal smaller muscles\ a more "tone" look, that's something entirely up to nutrition

[Meat]

Rather than make my own thread, figured I would just put a question here:

I am naturally a pretty small guy (5'11 155 lbs), but I run a lot and don't really wish to stop, however I also realize it would be nice to add a little bit of bulk and muscle. Nothing crazy, since my body isn't really made for that...but my arms are pathetic lol. Obviously running isn't conducive to this, but I don't have a great understanding of the science/mechanics behind it all.

If I alternate running one day and doing weights another, is that far enough apart to at least get some muscle growth? Or even possible to work out early or late in the day and run way before or after I work out?

Also...I am really curious about protein. I know everyone says to do like a protein shake immediately after working out, but I am wondering about protein from something like tuna, how long does that shit stick around for the benefit of feeding muscles? Like if I ate 50 grams of tuna protein at lunch, would that help me out at all if I worked out later at night?

Just trying to understand this a little bit, thanks for any insight.

you need to change the way you approach running then, have you even seen a buff marathon runner? not compare that to a sprinter like Michale Johnson.

Start doing high intensity interval running(hiit), or windsprints. short busts of sprints to keep your heart rate up without the long necessary catabloic properties of longer distance running.

[richardd]

sorry to bump, but i been trying those wind sprints res mentioned the post above. and i seem to be getting adjusted to it, but my endurance for it, is straight up ass lol

is there anything i can eat or take that would give me more of a boost in that area? it seems the foods that i eat are just helping me with my resistance training most of the time, when im trying to get a good balance of both