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***The official health and fitness thread***

Nigeyman said:
Well After much thunking I reckon I will be happier converting my garage into my own little fitness room once im back from honeymoon...I have looked at the stuff on Argos and am a little unsure....got some questions for you :)

1 - Floor guards are essential I take it? any recommendations?
2 - Best Bench & squat stand & weight set any recommendations?
3 - Do I need a 7 inch barbell?
4 - do I need a weights belt for the heavy lifting?
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1-I wouldn't say essential, it depends on what material the floor of your garage is made out of. Most important thing is that it is a flat surface with no give (concrete for example). You won't be dropping the weights on it, unless you decide to drop your powercleans from the rack position once they get heavy but even then you could just buy bumper plates.

2- If you can afford a power rack buy one of them and just a flat bench. That way you can do everything else straight out of the power rack and put the bench underneath it and lift from the rack pins when you want to bench. The advantage of a power rack is the safety pins which stop you from crushing yourself to death when squats get heavy ;)

3- You need a decent quality Olympic barbell and weight plates. When I was training at home I picked up a barbell and 100kg worth of weights for about 100 quid. Shop around. Just google olympic barbell

4- It's not essential in the early stages. I don't use one yet and my lifts are currently heavier still than they were in my post above.

Nigeyman said:
Basically I have an idea to pad out the concrete floor with guards, buy a rowing machine (as a warm up for the heavy lifting to follow) Buy a decent bench & squat stand possibly so I can add attachments....and on the argos website is a decent dip stand for about £60 atm...I already have an iron gym for the doorframe to do pull ups, might also buy one of those abs bench for sit-ups.
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You don't need a dip stand at the moment. All you need for now is a power rack, a bench, an olympic barbell and weights, plus the pull up thing you already have. The rower is a good idea though.

Nigeyman said:
On another note...very interesting what you said about training alternate days mon,wed,fri, the dangers of overtraining. Read a book by Mark Little all about Mike Mentzer a very accomplished bodybuilder along with Arnie in his heyday... the book basically states its much more effective to do short intense workouts always working the muscles to the point of failure and then getting adaquate rest in order for the body to compensate for the work done and build the extra layer of muscle due to the stress put on said muscle (basically workout no longer than 40-45 minutes but absolutley punish yourself to the point of exhaustion.

he likens muscle growth similar to the bodys reaction to the sun....when you sunbathe your skin goes red (initial shock) the skin pigments & strengthens (tan) but to much exposure to the sun and we blister and the sunlight causes damage to the skin.....he says its the same with weight training in that too much damages the bodys reserves and will lead to muscle loss.
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The mistake you are making here is that you are likening the training program of a very advanced bodybuilder to one that you think would be suitable for someone who's never lifted weights before. This guy has already done the getting strong part. Once you do the getting strong bit you can starting getting a bit more complex with your training (training to failure, drop sets etc etc) if you want to. As I said before anything will work for a novice in the beginning, so what he's suggested will work to an extent, it's just not optimal for a novice.

Nigeyman said:
I have plenty to think about and im definitly set to get my own garage sorted into my own gym...I just want to make sure I get decent equipment and whether or not the rowing machine is a good idea as a warm up to the free weights programme to follow?

Thanks for the excellent advice to date and hopefully you can give this novice some more answers to his impertinent questions.
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Rowing machine is a good idea, but only use it for a warm up for now.
 
Millsy_Yiddo said:
1-I wouldn't say essential, it depends on what material the floor of your garage is made out of. Most important thing is that it is a flat surface with no give (concrete for example). You won't be dropping the weights on it, unless you decide to drop your powercleans from the rack position once they get heavy but even then you could just buy bumper plates.

2- If you can afford a power rack buy one of them and just a flat bench. That way you can do everything else straight out of the power rack and put the bench underneath it and lift from the rack pins when you want to bench. The advantage of a power rack is the safety pins which stop you from crushing yourself to death when squats get heavy ;)

3- You need a decent quality Olympic barbell and weight plates. When I was training at home I picked up a barbell and 100kg worth of weights for about 100 quid. Shop around. Just google olympic barbell

4- It's not essential in the early stages. I don't use one yet and my lifts are currently heavier still than they were in my post above.



You don't need a dip stand at the moment. All you need for now is a power rack, a bench, an olympic barbell and weights, plus the pull up thing you already have. The rower is a good idea though.



The mistake you are making here is that you are likening the training program of a very advanced bodybuilder to one that you think would be suitable for someone who's never lifted weights before. This guy has already done the getting strong part. Once you do the getting strong bit you can starting getting a bit more complex with your training (training to failure, drop sets etc etc) if you want to. As I said before anything will work for a novice in the beginning, so what he's suggested will work to an extent, it's just not optimal for a novice.



Rowing machine is a good idea, but only use it for a warm up for now.
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Well Millsy have started clearing my garage of s**t...bought some floor guards and some electronic scales that measure bodyfat/musclemass/water, cant buy anymore now until after the honeymoon....Im warming to the idea of a nice power rack and bench, olymic barbell and weights with the rowing machine to deck out my garage.

Once I get all these I will take your advice and focus on the big compound movements....

I am 172cm tall..(or short :) I weigh 65kg and am just over 30......results came in as 14.9% of me is bodyfat, 59% was my hydration level with a whopping 43.6% of me pure muscle \o/

All these readings with the aid of the booklet tell me that I am in the healthy range....

Regarding one of your earlier posts....you reckon I should strive to bench 1.5x my weight (about 87kg) and deadlift 2.0x my weight (about 130kg) ???? bit worried thats gonna kill me???. Results from the scales are fairly pleasing and means i Have made some progress in shifting some podge and turning it into muscle...as im sure a month and a half ago my fat percentage would be much higher...

Gotta admit Im a little dubious as to what I will be able to lift (as you can see by my physical specifications im not the biggest unit)....Still Im looking forward to getting the garage sorted and getting started with the heavy stuff..... the tricky part will be quitting smoking....Im not a big drinker so thats one thing I spose..
 
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Nigeyman said:
Well Millsy have started clearing my garage of s**t...bought some floor guards and some electronic scales that measure bodyfat/musclemass/water, cant buy anymore now until after the honeymoon....Im warming to the idea of a nice power rack and bench, olymic barbell and weights with the rowing machine to deck out my garage.

Once I get all these I will take your advice and focus on the big compound movements....

I am 172cm tall..(or short :) I weigh 65kg and am just over 30......results came in as 14.9% of me is bodyfat, 59% was my hydration level with a whopping 43.6% of me pure muscle \o/

All these readings with the aid of the booklet tell me that I am in the healthy range....
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I hopefully don't burst your bubble with this, but 90% of the time those scales are a load of sh1te! Calipers done by a professional who is trained in their use is pretty much the only feasible way to measure body fat %. You'll get massive varied results on that thing dependent on your hydration levels, time of day etc etc.

Nigeyman said:
Regarding one of your earlier posts....you reckon I should strive to bench 1.5x my weight (about 87kg) and deadlift 2.0x my weight (about 130kg) ???? bit worried thats gonna kill me???. Results from the scales are fairly pleasing and means i Have made some progress in shifting some podge and turning it into muscle...as im sure a month and a half ago my fat percentage would be much higher...

Gotta admit Im a little dubious as to what I will be able to lift (as you can see by my physical specifications im not the biggest unit)....Still Im looking forward to getting the garage sorted and getting started with the heavy stuff..... the tricky part will be quitting smoking....Im not a big drinker so thats one thing I spose..
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You should strive to whatever you want to strive to. But the standard 'I'm a stronger than average guy' measure for general athleticness is a 1x body weight bench, 1.5 x bodyweight squat and 2 x body weight dead lift.

Start lighter than you need to. On your first workout (Squat, Bench, Dead, Chins) start with the bar on each exercise, do 5 reps, then add 5kg for deads/squats and 2.5kg to bench. Do another 5 reps, continue to do this until the speed you can move the bar at slows (even the slightest little bit), go back a step (take 5kg or 2.5kg off) then do your 3 x 5 (or 1 x 5 for dead) working sets with that weight.

These are your starting weights. The will be very light. If you eat enough, you will add 15kg per week to your squat, 15kg every 2 weeks to your dead and 7.5kg every week to your bench and OH press. That soon adds up. The fact that it's done incrementally (i.e per workout) and you are in a position to recovery quickly because you are a novice means that you'll be very surprised how strong you can get.

By the way, you didn't turn any podge into muscle, that's physically and biologically impossible. What you have done is gained some muscle whilst you've lost some fat. The reason why you were able to do this is because you are a novice, and doing absolutely anything involving lifting any weight at all and making yourself sweat will give you results. The results just wont be optimal (depending on what your goals are) and won't last very long in the grand scheme of things.
 
Got my 3rd blood test on friday to check my B12 levels as they are a bit low, would explain my tiredness and lethagy over the past few weeks
 
I officially crossed the line of 30 lbs lost since November 2013 yesterday. My eating habits have modified yet further, and my work outs have changed (I mean, they change often enough BUT I've added some stuff I wasn't doing before)...footy's better than ever...going to keep going to shift another 20 by Xmas.
 
thfcsteff said:
Good luck mate, keep up on that BN12 for sure...hope all is well.
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When I had Crohn's beefore I used to have to have B12 injections, they made me feel like superman hahaha, in remission now and have been for about 14 years but ill never asorb nutrients as good as others due to the Crohn's, a little top up is more than likely what is needed
 
thfcsteff said:
I officially crossed the line of 30 lbs lost since November 2013 yesterday. My eating habits have modified yet further, and my work outs have changed (I mean, they change often enough BUT I've added some stuff I wasn't doing before)...footy's better than ever...going to keep going to shift another 20 by Xmas.
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Good work mate! I know it's not easy to shift weight, in spite of all those who just say 'eat less & exercise more' like we didn't know that! But, keep going and hopefully you'll get those extra 20lbs off soon!
 
El Guepardo said:
Good work mate! I know it's not easy to shift weight, in spite of all those who just say 'eat less & exercise more' like we didn't know that! But, keep going and hopefully you'll get those extra 20lbs off soon!
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Thanks mate…happy to see it take another 6 months…this is lifestyle versus short-term so it's the direction I'm going as much as the destination which is important!
;-)
 
Millsy_Yiddo said:
For Nigeyman (and anyone else thinking of building a home gym).

http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2014/05/15/you-only-need-these-6-things-for-a-world-class-home-gym/
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thanks for that.....

garage is mostly cleared of crap - have layed down some york floor guards and have some motivational Arnie/Rocky style posters on the way to tack to the walls.

Only thing is im skint after honeymoon and have my heart set on a cage & barbell set (145kg) 800 smackers and a top class rower for 650 big ones....I really want the cage....mainly for safety reasons so I can train to failure safely.....just wondering now whether I should just get a decent bench & rack and save money....

life is funny sometimes....had all this money saved up and never wanted anything.....blown it all on a trip to barbados and now I desperately want the cage & rower and havent enough dollar!
 
WhoopWhoop said:
How the **** does one deadlift? Any good tutorials?
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Youtube some good ones on there.

I suggest if you do go gym that you just meet a personal trainer for a session or two to help with form then its a matter of practice making perfect. Take a while to use the correct muscles during the exercise. Took a while for me to feel working my lats when doing lat pull downs for example. I used to just work my arms which was just nonsensical and a waste of time for me.
 
DHSF said:
Youtube some good ones on there.

I suggest if you do go gym that you just meet a personal trainer for a session or two to help with form then its a matter of practice making perfect. Take a while to use the correct muscles during the exercise. Took a while for me to feel working my lats when doing lat pull downs for example. I used to just work my arms which was just nonsensical and a waste of time for me.
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Whatever you do, do not go to one of your standard globo-gym/local leisure center trainers. 90% of them do not have a clue about the big lifts, and are likely to tell you some complete nonsense like 'heavy deadlifts are bad for you back, you should be doing light weight high repetitions'.

My advice, if you want to learn how to deadlift through a personal trainer is find someone who has spent a lot of time with a bar (they don't actually have to be a qualified PT) in their hands actually doing deadlifts. These people will be fairly easy to find, because they will dead lift a weight which makes you think 'that is a lot of weight'. Anyone that is dead lifting x2 body weigth should suffice.

Failing that, buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe (there's a book and a DVD). Turn to the dead lift section and read it from start to finish.

It's a very easy lift to learn. But also a very easy lift to hurt yourself with if you don't learn it correctly. It's all in the set up/addressing of the bar to be honest.
 
I stated a strength and conditioning course, stone me does it make you realise what you don't do in the gym and how little you push yourself...well in my case anyway.
 
Kingdawson said:
3 weeks to lose half a stone...is it possible? and how? fastest way....
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In all seriousness, google rapid fat loss diet by Lyle McDonald. Essentially its a protein sparing modified fast, so it tries to force your body to hold on to muscle whilst dropping fat very quickly. This is roughly translated as you'll spend 3 weeks eating nothing but chicken and broccoli for breakfast, lunch, dinner and every snack in between, but it works. You'll need to be lifting whilst doing it, but don't do anything else. You'll also need to buy multivitamins, fish oil etc.

Failing that, heroin.
 
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