No more exercise EVER! (kind of)

[Itchy]

After 6 months of daily exercise running 4 miles(really really running) , general work de-stress of attacking my punch bag for about 30 minutes , loose weights , 4 miles on a stationary bike and 2 miles on a rower and various crunches pressups etc every single day for 6 months.

I have noticed ZERO improvement , I'm not stronger , I'm not faster and I still get out of breath easily and weigh more than when I started and get tired at exactly the same points as I do when I
first started all that has happened is I feel a bit worn out before bed, but can't fall asleep easily due to insomnia.My resting heart rate is almost exactly as it was before.The only difference I've noticed is my hands are not a steady as before.

My diet has not changed at all (lots of meat some veg)

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong? I don't stop when I get out of breath or anything I just grind on and on , or should I just sit back and forget about it? , because I've tried and nothing has come of it and people who constantly do something for no reward are called fools.
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[G]

Have you read up on 'proper' methods.

I don't really know an awful lot, but I know stuff like exercising at the right heart rate can make a big difference.


I didn't notice a big difference in going to the gym until the day after a race weekend - wasn't nearly as knackered or achey as I normally would be.

Lost it all now though, gotta sort it out for next year.

[anders]

I haven't got time to go into it in detail as its late.

I started some years ago and as you saw no difference, went to the gym etc...

After this I felt "down", a friend introduced me to a personal trainer who sorted me, gave me a shedule, instructed me what to eat and when, and "tought" me how to train correctly. I am now built nicely and happy, I am fit, much stronger and never have any breathing problems. It changed my life to the better, all those people who think gym and training is a waste DO NOT listen to them. I work hard at it and you must keep going.

Get a personal trainer, a program and you WILL see changes.

Good luck.
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[killa]

This is worrying....

I've started going to the gym every Tuesday, wednesday, Thursday, swimming on Friday and i've noticed difference in a few weeks.
It isnt a great deal but my arms are more toned, i feel more alive than i did before and i'm sure i've lost a little from my waist.

I can't see how having that routine everyday for 6 months you've achieved nothing. What is your current build?

The punch bag is a brilliant work out, as is the rower and running, are you telling us the whole truth? I don't want to offend you there, just asking....


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[cqueen]

Cut down on your meat intake (unless you are body building?).

[craigie b]

Itchy, your either lying through your teeth, in respects to stating you have noticed zero difference or (which I suspect to be the case) you are not really pushing as hard as you make out.


For example, how fast is the four miles you run? And when you finish are you fucking wrecked? Do you batter the punch bag solidly till your arms burn and you feel nauseaous? Do you increase the weights on the free weights?

A common myth is if you train dialy you will continue to reap fitness benefits. This is bullshit. A set routine, performed daily will achieve notable results for maybe four weeks. At which point your body adjusts to compensate for the new work load and learns how to optimally use calories. The net result is you see zero results from your effort. However (and bear this in mind) it will maintain your current level of fitness.

To improve on your fitness you need to up the ante every time you find it easier. Increase your running speed, add in sprints, up the rower, increase the weights. Progress comes only comes through two methods.....increasing the intensity of the training or changing the routine regulary so the body doesnot have a chance to adapt. I like a mixture of the two.

[killa]

Itchy’s right, also you have to note that you are doing these exercises at your will, you have no set goals.

Like I said, I’ve been going 3 times a week to gym and if I can, swimming as well, I’ve been set a few goals and I can certainly notice the difference. I’m not up for a marathon and I can’t lift huge weights but that’s not my aim.
Doing running and punch bag alone will increase your stamina by a noticeable amount if done correctly.

Cardio work is achieve by running & cycling at a high heart rate, 160-170bpm.
To fat burn you need to keep your heart rate quite low, around 140-155bpm
This depends on your age, I’m 22 so this applies to me.

A good routine to tone and gain stamina is as follows

10 minutes on the treadmill, doing the calorie burn setting.
The 2000 setting on the rower (you’ll know what this is if you use one)
Then do some weights, pec machine, leg machine.
Stomach crunches now your body is in full swing
Then if you can stomach it, a further 10 minutes on cross trainer and/or exercise bike
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[bazza]

[Arfdog]

lol bazza, every time I see your avatar, I think of my mother in law.
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[bazza]

[Bigeds]

[Arfdog]

[fast_tzr]

Sorry to hi-jack here, but this thread has reminded me of something I've wondered for a while, I do weights every day, as in biceps until I can barely even lift the weight, pecks the same, sit-ups the same etc. just generally until I'm totally knackered. This only takes about 15 minutes, 5 to 7 days a week. Is this a shite routine? Should I only do weights around 3 or 4 days a week and do it for longer?

[Rob]

Diet is the most important thing. People think they can go to the gym without changing their diet, you really need a radical change to start seeing a difference. If you are eating loads of meat it really wont help to cut down your body fat (unless its lots of fish!).

As was mentioned earlier in the thread, if you want to build muscle mass then load up the carbs and work out until you can't move! But if fitness and a lean fit body are your goals you gotta diet (eat sensibly) and work out together. (Obviously not at the same time!)
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[octane]

[killa]

Just wanted to mention, because before i hadn't noticed anything, i've lost weight, toned and feel great.

Or at least a lot better than i did before.

I've been going to the gym 3 times a week, swimming on a Friday, for about a month and a half.

My routine is as follows....

10 minutes on tredmill, do a 3-4 minute warm up jog before going to a decent running pace, not sprinting.

The pec-fly (i think) the one which you use to tone and build triceps and biceps. I do about 40 sets of 10.

Rowing for about 5minutes, hard.

Then onto the ab toner (situps), i do as many sets of 15 as possible for me.

Then back on to pec-fly

Free weights then, i go from about 8-10kg doing vertical lifts (boths arms above head), then progress down to 5 Kg where i do just reps of 10 (just pulls, im not sure of the term).

Finally get down to 2k's and do as much shadow boxing in the mirror as possible (no one is in there usually). That is bloody good.

Finish off with either the cross trainer or the bike, doing 5 or more minutes on a medium level.

Im usually wasted by this time but i was doing nothing near this when i first joined. Feels good!

As for my diet, i've been pretty good, no junk except the weekend , not as much beer. More spirits.

I've got a lot of things i make for the week and dinners that are quick, PM me if you want me to give you all of them.
I've been making a fruit salad most Sundays for the week.
Add what you like, we've got, strawberries, melon, pinapple, orange.
Add a big splash of tripcal juice (keeps it from going off for longer).
You'll need Tuperware boxes.

Hope this helps some of you out....
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[SoulRider]

Do you do this 7 days a week, same thing every day?

You need to rest muscles for them to grow and improve/repair. If you do the same thing everyday your just pumping away mindlessly and are not going to make any gains, if anything you will cause yourself more injuries and gains (know this from personal experiance when i started out).

Try to alternate what you do every day, work out say 4 days out of 7 and make everyday hit different muscles groups, however if your interrested in just the cardio side split up your cardio training into different groups and dont do the same every day.

For example say you work out on mon, tue, thur and fri (what my old workout used to be, did make loads of gains but then stopped as couldnt afford gym and was so packed after work its untrue).

On the monday do a 4 miles run, remembering stretches before and after (need a cool down not good idea just to stop). Then maybe try rowing or another mild excersize (can be cardio). Sit ups, push-ups and pull ups are also a good idea.

Tuesday do X miles on bike with stretches and then another mild excersize for a cool down (could even do a mile jog, or gentle run).

Thursday do the 4 miles run but rather than doing just the same 4 mile run push for a faster time or increase the distance (if you do the run twice a week make every other time a chance to push yourself for the next goal) then again another relativly mild excersize for a cool down. Rembere settings goals is a good way to make gains.

Friday use this to do a new excersize, try swimming its great excersize for all cardio aspects and does amazing things for your body, then when you get home rehydrate yourself and go for the punch bag.

Most important thing is to not drink crap, drink litres of water daily or as much as possible. As you can probably tell i was really into my work out routine and will get myself back into it soon, just gotta join a gym and find the will power to get there at silly o'clock in the morning. Need gym with swimming pool as well expensive
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[SoulRider]

[killa]

[SoulRider]

[Reevo8]

[Clanger]

Change...do a class in body pump or something, works with weights but in a different routine to which your body has got used to.
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[Louise]

You need to work different parts everyother day.
Other wise, doing the same stuff over and over again is just tireing your body, and you will see NO improvement what so ever.
Protein is good if your wanted to gain muscle mass.
Also, are you just doing set weights at a set level?
I do (ie) 10 reps (of what ever) at 5kg, 10 reps at 15, ten reps at 20. do this. You will get stronger.

[Blunet600]

you should do an extreme work out every 3 days, so say on monday, do your excercise etc, then do it again on wednesday, this way the muscles get to time to recover and expand, to when you next excericise it will be alittle tougher but wiht bigger improvement. Also if you weigh more, this could be a good thing, muslce in heavier than fat! so look at it on the plus side.