BG Fitness Fanatics II: We Work Out

[Botosi]

Ahh makes sense.

[Cream Soda]

Bodyweight exercises plateau rather easily.

Now, when it comes to pull ups and dips? I don't consider them body weight exercises because it's easy to throw on a dip belt, and add weight (or wear a backpack, fill it up with books) and it becomes a gym exercise like any other.

A bunch of sit ups though really don't do much at all when compared w/ what you can do in the gym.

[thetruepandagod]

Get these
https://www.amazon.com/Limm-Resistan...sistance+bands

This and body weight would do you pretty well as long as you are consistent.

[Yabby]

Insanity MAX30 did a really good job on toning without weights or other tools, just download it if you can't afford to buy. That will at least get you going and get your body used to working hard. And don't worry about getting big, the amount of work that takes (and other things) for a woman to get big is beyond most females. When the time comes don't be afraid to hit the weight hard, you won't blow up like you are thinking. You will just get sexy curves.

[Elizara]

Thanks guys. I'll look into that; I'm just looking to get started right now with what I have, and worry about gym later if things get better.

I think there is one Creme, but part of my problem is transportation at the moment as well. My town is in the process of getting mass transit (Tho you'd better believe I've seen some Not In My Backyard stuff about the little van-buses they are planning on bringing into Douglasville; I do not get why people are throwing fits when I can see the county's reasoning; it's needed.) and I don't drive. I do have a bike like you got, but I haven't serious ridden in so long I need to work on strength FIRST, especially since we got crazy drivers and the hills here in GA are killer. I've been in a few accidents that you can relate to, including one time where I got a MAJOR scrape on one side that was made worse by the sweater I was wearing; I have no desire to get into any more.

Hopefully by the time I NEED to go to weights things will be better. And thanks for the vote of confidence Yabby; I'll check Insanity MAX30 out.

[Yabby]

If you are having trouble finding it, let me know... I can... help you out.... >.>

Edit: that sounded creep after i posted... i just don't want to promote breaking the law. I wouldn't do that on BG, nope.

[RKenshin]

I need that 19 min stretching routine brah

I'm laid up with bicep tendonitis atm, my mobility is terrible and I need to make a serious effort to stretch more

Sorry I missed this!

First, I'd grab an interval timer app of your choice. It's the easiest & best way to zone out and make stretching slightly less terrible and boring; counting to 30+ twenty-five times is a quick way to drive yourself nuts. I set the intervals for 35 seconds on / 5 seconds off, and typically tune out otherwise (listen to music, or a book, or watch TV).

As far as the specific stretches, there's no particular science to it for me other than favoring ones that feel the typically feel the best. It's a bit hard to go into the specifics, as I don't know all the official names... so I'll try to describe the ones I'm unsure about.

My typical full routine 99% of the time looks like this:

- Using stretch cables or a bar for resistance, all upper body:

1. Grab bar/cable with both hands, sit in a half-squat, allow shoulders to collapse forward as I pull my upper body away to stretch back & lats. Sometimes I alternate leaning slightly left to right to get a little more stretch in each lat.
2. Grab bar/cable with one hand, rotate externally twisting body away from it to feel stretch across chest & shoulder. Lean into it to increase stretch.
3. Reverse of #2 - rotating internally, towards your arm - which is basically an arm-bar stretch. (arm will be across chest)
4. #2 with the other arm.
5. #3 with the other arm.
6. Either in a doorway or using cables, stretching both arms in similar fashion to #2 by pushing both arms back and your chest forward. (like your Rose flying on the Titanic)

- The rest just need a flat surface, and are mostly lower body.

1. One leg crossed over the other, keep the leg under straight, and lean over as far as you can (shins, toes, palms to floor, or whatever)
2. #1 with legs switched.
3. Calf stretch, using a wall or stationary object to get a 45' from heel to toe. Lean into it through leg.
4. #3 with other calf.
5. Downward facing dog pose, stretching upper shoulders & hamstrings.
6. Pigeon pose, stretching glutes & hip.
7. Pigeon pose with other leg.
8. Butterfly stretch for hip flexors (though I do it from a squat, I don't sit)
9. From the position of the above, I bring my knees infront of me, point them towards the floor, and lean back as far as I can for a quad & slight hip stretch.
10. Sitting flat with legs straight infront of me, I grab legs/feet for a stretch but also pull myself forward while arching my back & chest upward, for a hamstring & lower back stretch.
11. Side lunge hip flexor stretch, with body squared forward.
12. Transition from the previous to body squared towards the extended leg, for a combined hip & hamstring stretch.
13. Repeat #11, with the other leg.
14. Repeat #12, with the other leg.
15. Side split stretch with both legs, as low as you can go (after years of doing this, I still can't go much further than mid-way lol)
16. Sitting on pointed toes w/the tops of my feet flat to the floor, and knees together and forward (stretches ankle flexion & shin area; typical sore sport from soccer).
17. Front lunge hip flexor stretch, with knee off the ground and as long of a stride as I can manage.
18. Remain in lunge, but drop knee to ground, and push hip forward while leaning upper body away from the downed knee & back for a deeper stretch. Helps to bring arms overhead to increase the lean.
19. Transition from above to sitting back on the leg that was on the ground, simultaneously straightening the other leg on the ground infront of you. This brings you to a seated position with one leg folded partly under you, and the other leg extended straight infront; lean over the forward leg & try to flatten hips to stretch all the things at once.
20. #17 with other leg.
21. #18 with other leg.
22. #19 with other leg.

Entire thing takes a little less than 19 minutes, hits almost everything at least a little bit, and feels pretty great. A few in particular are my for my own personal benefit, with most of the first 6 focusing around shoulder mobility, and a lot of the leg portion focusing on hip flexion (old injury).

I'd say the real key is just having an app and being consistent. Stretch choice should mostly reflect what works best for your own mobility strengths/weaknesses, problem areas, and/or injuries.

Hope that helps!

[Fondue]

thanks for that! incorporated most of these and a few more shoulder stretches, but some good ideas with the timing apps too

I regret neglecting this for so long but I already feel better

[Yuri-G]

finally got back to the gym after about 3 weeks~month off. you know how it goes - you miss a few days and then you keep telling yourself you'll go back tomorrow. finally decided I had enough of that; I was gaining weight and feeling awful.

nothing else to really say, just feels so good. proud of myself for pushing through the early morning fuck-its and just going. honestly the body is secondary; with all my mental shit I really can't afford to not exercise

[Gustave]

Decided to finally do the home gym. I need another set of 45s for DL. I have sets of 1,1.5, and 2 pood KBs and some dbs off to the side.

It'll go in the garage once I move and it pays for itself pretty quickly.

[Yabby]

Looking really good, guessing you have some dumbbells which would be all you need for building up. I started making a home gym, but changed my mind when i realized I'm a lazy piece of shit when it comes to cardio. I need those bootcamp/HIIT classes or I end up not doing anything or stopping WAY before i should.


Edit: On a side note, hit one of my big long term goals of getting under 15% BF



Now I want to try to hit 12% before i do my 1st real bulk.

[Moss]

Looking really good, guessing you have some dumbbells which would be all you need for building up. I started making a home gym, but changed my mind when i realized I'm a lazy piece of shit when it comes to cardio. I need those bootcamp/HIIT classes or I end up not doing anything or stopping WAY before i should.


Edit: On a side note, hit one of my big long term goals of getting under 15% BF



Now I want to try to hit 12% before i do my 1st real bulk.

Dang you must be tall. I'm up to 185 at 6'1" and the Navy estimate has me at 24%

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[Yabby]

6'4

[Moss]

Lol you must be pretty muscular too then. Good on you.

I started finding some better programming a few months ago and got back to better bulking eating habits so I've had pretty rapid gainzzz, almost like newbie gains even though I've been lifting on and off for 10 years.

Hoping to get to about Yabby's numbers really, I think I'll look best around 200 with low bf

For those familiar with Alan Thrall, I went by his gym for a form check. Awesome dude. Only time I've ever felt starstruck in my life

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[Milkster]

Forgot about this thread. Here's a progress pic from a few weeks ago. 6'4" 244 in that pic.

[Moss]

Forgot about this thread. Here's a progress pic from a few weeks ago. 6'4" 244 in that pic.

You might not remember this but I have a mea culpa for you. We had some argument about lifting your toes off the ground when you squat and I was reallllly wrong. My bad.

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[Milkster]

It's all good. I don't remember it at all.

[Moss]

Nice job with the gains, you look like a professional athlete

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[Yabby]

Dude is killing it. I'm just looking forward to hitting my cutting goal so i can really focus on putting on some good weight. I don't feel like i look bad now, but the chest and bi's are lacking IMO. Legs and back look good i think, but they come naturally for me, unlike the chest. I even have to cut back on leg days because they were getting to big for my waist size. It was making it hard to find pants that fit, and i go through security checkpoints a lot, so i HATE wearing belts.

[Salodin]

You might not remember this but I have a mea culpa for you. We had some argument about lifting your toes off the ground when you squat and I was reallllly wrong. My bad.

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So are you supposed to lift your toes or not?!

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