Following Eddie's question on who did track, I was curious to see what kind of physical activity people do, and how fit people saw themselves.
This is a general survey, so you can give as many or as few details as you like. Also remember that people are all different, in age, body type, and activity, and I'm not here to judge people for being unfit etc.
I'll give y'all an example: 20yo male, 5'11", 150lbs. I see myself as hyperactive in the extreme, and I exercise at least 15 minutes every day, especially when I'm bored or taking a break from something. I have several years' experience in martial arts (mainly tae-kwon-do and kung fu, but also capoeira), free-run and trick (acrobatics), breakdance with a crew for about two hours every week and do ballroom/latin another two hours per week.
im 15, about 6'2, weigh something like 200 pounds, havent checked in a while but that would be a good guess,somewhat stocky, but i never got really noticeable fat even tho i never exercise, mostly cuz i have too walk everywhere i go(school friends etc..) so i stay moderatly in shape.
I'm 6ft tall, weigh in at 265lbs. As far as activity goes Im fairly active. I ride a bike twice a day, five days a week for about 30 mins, I lift weights once a day, 5 days a week for around an hour or so. Thats about all I do for exercise. I try to get out and do things when Im not working, like hanging out with my girlfriend or go airsofting with my friend in his woods behind his house. Basically I'm a wall of muscle that can haul.
Lucky! ;-P It is so unfair, I love to eat, and my fiance could care less about food. He is trying to gain weight, I am trying to lose weight... If only our dietary needs were switched!
It's just to gain weight. More muscle is more weight.
Anybody got any recommendations, preferences etc.?
I've lifted weights for about 5 years now. I've trained under certified strength and conditioning coaches, and along side MMA fighters, and ex pro football players. In my experience it's best to start out with an intro cycle of light weight with mid reps (8-10) for about 6-8 weeks. Afterwards it's up to you where you want to take your lifting, if you want lift for size then you do a hypertrophy cycle.
Hypertrophy will make you huge in a short amount of time but it's not easy. In hypertrophy you do 6-7 reps with mid weight, but you lift to a 4-3 cadence. For example on bench press when you lower the weight down to your chest you count out one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three one thousand and by three the weight should be on your chest. When it comes time to press upwards you count out to four the same way. Basically the hardest part of the lift is the longer count. Do this for every lift and alternate between upper body one day and lower body the next.
If your looking for strength thats farily simple. Heavy weight at about 5-6 reps per set. The best way to gauge your increase in strength is to max between the first and second week of your strength cycle and then again at the end of the cylce, which is roughly 2 months.
Finally if your looking to increase your power it's the opposite of hypertrophy. Power is a combination of speed and strength so you'd lift quickly as opposed to slowly. For example lets say your doing back squats. You'll want a mid weight and you'll do around 1 set (7-8 reps) in under 6-7 seconds.
As always its up to you what you want to workout. If your looking to target something specific then work that part of your body to increase muscle mass and tone. I don't target anything specific, I just do an all around workout. One day is upper body the next day is lower body. I warm up usually by joging or light cardio rather than messing around with warm up sets. I start with the larger lifts first, mainly olympic lifts depending on upper body or lower body. From there I do the second biggest lift like bench press or back squats and work my way down until I'm doing curls or leg extensions. At the end of my work out I always do a cool down with is based on with work out Im doing. If it's upper body I'll work my forearms, if it's lower body I'll work my abs. That's about it really. Might be a lot to take in but once you get started it'll all fall into place and you'll start to see BIG changes.
i'm 6ft2 weigh around 180, i eat junk all day, i hardly ever workout till school sport'o swimming, yet still i am not overweight. i have a BMI of like 23 and am unbeatable in arm wrestling.
I try to work out 3 to 6 times a week. A few months ago I was lifting 5 times a week and doing about 1 to 2 mile runs 4 to 5 times a week. I ran a 5k (which is 5 thousand miles) its only like 3.1 miles. And I was on a diet that had you eat five smaller meals throughout the day. You would eat whole wheat bread and keep any type of starchy carbs in meals one through three. Two servings of fruit (about and orange and a grapefruit and a half) a day. Green vegetables with most meals and anywhere from 100g to 250g of protein a day. Also I'd eat a certain amount of "good" fats with every meal so 12 almonds lets say with every meal or whole milk(which counted as a protein and a fat). Now I just workout, I stopped doing the cardio and diet, but I want to get back on track.
Hypertrophy will make you huge in a short amount of time but it's not easy. In hypertrophy you do 6-7 reps with mid weight, but you lift to a 4-3 cadence.
I hate doing stuff like 4 - 3. Id say it usually only takes me like 2 seconds to lift the weight up and 1 second to let it down. Even when I try to slow it down to like a 4 - 3 I usually end up speeding you by the end of the set. I heard it really works well though.
