Keeping Fit: Page 17 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Keeping Fit

arsedocmd

2xl to a medium and six pack abs in a year. Keep it up , great going. Do share what you do for the core.

Big Willie

Rex wrote:
Burnwinter wrote:
I think a lot of you blokes are far fitter than me (though I'm well within appropriate parameters etc, but I don't really lift or anything), but I'm going to put a word in for swimming.

Swimming laps regularly for the past couple of years has been a great addition to my life in terms of mood, overall health and sustainability.

Swim laps for half an hour or an hour and you don't get injured, you get the equivalent of a meditation session along with a decent whole body endurance workout, and you can listen to music while you're doing it.

Basically I used to love running, but I'd get injured once I was regularly cracking 10km, but even if I could go back to running injury free I'd probably stick with swimming now.

I totally concur about swimming. I love the mindfulness aspect of swimming, and I feel cleansed spiritually when getting out of the pool. Also an excellent, whole body, low impact way of exercising.

I agree and love swimming however am put off a lot of the time as people here here in the middle east have disgusting swimming habits and do not have any swimming pool etiquette.

These people come here and laze around in the pool going side to side while not moving out of the way when you are trying to do laps and the less I say about their levels of swimming hygeine and dos and do nots of swimming that they adhere to, the better.

Actually feel like I need a real thorough shower afterwards just to clean myself. Probably one of the main reasons why I haven't swum for over a year and a half.

Rex

arsedoc md wrote:
2xl to a medium and six pack abs in a year. Keep it up , great going. Do share what you do for the core.

Closer to a year and a half now but, yeah, I feel pretty damn good about it! 🙂

Rex

Youtube is a great source btw both for fitness and nutrition. However, you need to make sure you find good, reliable people! I'd say the hands down best fitness related channel I've found is AthleanX. Hours and hours of really good advice from someone who really knows his shit. Another channel I very much enjoy is James Grage - the muscle geek. When it comes to the science behind training then Eric Helms and Layne Norton are good places to start, and I also very much enjoy Jeff Nippard and his 'training explained' series. Check those channels out for core exercises for instance. Personally, I don't 'just' stick to the one routine for my core exercises, because I find it gets boring quite fast. Instead, I know which muscles I want to hit in any given training session, and then I use different exercises to target those muscles. Of course I find certain exercises that I like better for whatever reason, and those exercises I come back to more often.
When it comes to food ideas I very much like The Protein Chef. His channel gave me lots and lots of ideas a few months in when I started to struggle on my own with variety in my eating. I also very much enjoy Mind over Munch for the same reason.
My view on food that I have come to is that you need to stay away from a 'diet'. The whole idea is that you are 'on' a diet, and that then also means that eventually you will be 'off' that diet. Instead, I focused on finding a way to eat that is both healthy and that I actually enjoy. Not something to be 'on' for a limited time, but a way of eating that is sustainable for the long haul. I love chocolate for instance, so I've made sure I eat chocolate every single day. 🙂

speedy

goon wrote:
No issues that I know about. I have no issues playing football or even running at the gym but a little jog in the City streets feels very uncmfortable. The park is one option but it's a little far while I have an athletics track around 5 mins from me. Not sure how good it is.

Running the track seems like a good option. Other than that you could try a shorter step length on the road. You might be over striding and increasing the ground reaction forces back up through your skeleton.

speedy

Irish gunner wrote:
Anyone have any tips on easily increasing calories?

My master's degree has taken its toll over the last 12 months, I've had way too much work and I've been skipping meals with alarming frequency. I've dropped down to going to the gym only once per week instead of 3 (bench is down about 40kg too) and I've unintentionally lost 12kg in the last year.

Jam donuts, stap the squirty cream into the hole where the jam went. And fill them up until they're about to burst. Prediabetes, you won't regret it.

Rex

:gape: Honestly, that sounds like absolutely horrible advice. Especially coming from someone working with what you do!

QuincyAbeyie

Don't skip meals.

Gazza M

Rex wrote:
Gazza M wrote:
same here. doing 5-6 days a week, with a keto eating plan. trying to go for maximum leanness and explosion because i want to play outdoor football again in the summer

feels good to be the fastest in my saturday bootcamp. been working endlessly on hip flexor and other large lower muscle groups to get my footspeed back up to scratch

I'm still doing really well! I've lost 32 kg since January 2016 through regular training and proper nutrition. Since these past 18 months really is the first time in my life I've done weights seriously and regularly, I have through newbie gains in the meantime also managed to gain both strength and a significant amount of muscle despite being in a calorie deficit.

For me, this journey started with my back completely failing me. The help I got through that was the kick in the behind I needed to get back to the sounder lifestyle I led while still playing football. I lift weights 3 times a week, which is what I consider my real training, and I do a mobility routine 3 to 4 times a week before I go to bed. That's where my mindfulness need is met, and it improves both my mobility and the quality of my sleep. I wanted to do yoga really, which is excellent, but I struggle to fit it into my life on a regular basis. This is the compromise. I also do some cardio a couple of times a week. I started out 'just' swimming, but over time I have drifted away from that to doing more HIIT training. Swimming essentially presents the same problems as yoga in regards to being able to fit it into my life, but HIIT training sort of solves that.

Since my core was, and is, at the center of my fitness issues, I do core work every training session. As a result of all this I have gone from a 2XL to a medium, and due to all my core work I now have sixpack abs. Not bad for a 43 year old geezer if I may say so myself. 🙂

I've learnt so much throughout this regarding nutrition and resistance training. When playing football, which is most of my life, I never really liked going to the gym. I did it, when I had to, as a means to improve me as a footballer, but I never, ever liked it. I was very surprised to find that I actually LIKE doing this when you track your lifts and see progress. It is immensely satisfying actually, and lifting weights and nutrition has now become proper interests of mine. It is nerdy as fuck, but who cares? Gives me a lot of joy.

happened to me too. burnsy mentioned he had some back issues as well.

i had a prolapsed disc and it was some of the worst pain i've ever experienced. ever since then i've been paranoid about core strength, and made it a big focus area

Rex

Yeah, I didn't appreciate just how important a functioning back is until I no longer had one. I have a few degenerated discs in my low back. It means I am always in pain and always will be. It is basically, for me, just a matter of what I can do to have as little pain as possible.

One of the most important changes for me is how I view my pain. Before, I tried to avoid things which I knew would make my back hurt more, which is quite natural IMO, but it also meant I was even more inactive than I really wanted to be. That's bad of course, and led to added weight gain, less mobility, more pain, even less activity and so on. A vicious cycle. The eye opener was when a physical therapist asked the simple question 'why' when I explained to him why I avoided doing certain things. Led to a lot of thinking on my part, and the commitment of NOT avoiding things for this reason. Game changer for me, and I manage my pain a lot better these days. I'm also in a lot less pain today as a result, so that's a positive.

speedy

Rex wrote:
:gape: Honestly, that sounds like absolutely horrible advice. Especially coming from someone working with what you do!

Its clearly not sound medical advice. The guy knows putting on fat is pointless.

Run a 200kcal per day surplus and train 5sets of 5 reps on compound muscle groups. Push, pull and legs day and one general day. And you'll bulk back up.

speedy

Gazza M wrote:
Rex wrote:
I'm still doing really well! I've lost 32 kg since January 2016 through regular training and proper nutrition. Since these past 18 months really is the first time in my life I've done weights seriously and regularly, I have through newbie gains in the meantime also managed to gain both strength and a significant amount of muscle despite being in a calorie deficit.

For me, this journey started with my back completely failing me. The help I got through that was the kick in the behind I needed to get back to the sounder lifestyle I led while still playing football. I lift weights 3 times a week, which is what I consider my real training, and I do a mobility routine 3 to 4 times a week before I go to bed. That's where my mindfulness need is met, and it improves both my mobility and the quality of my sleep. I wanted to do yoga really, which is excellent, but I struggle to fit it into my life on a regular basis. This is the compromise. I also do some cardio a couple of times a week. I started out 'just' swimming, but over time I have drifted away from that to doing more HIIT training. Swimming essentially presents the same problems as yoga in regards to being able to fit it into my life, but HIIT training sort of solves that.

Since my core was, and is, at the center of my fitness issues, I do core work every training session. As a result of all this I have gone from a 2XL to a medium, and due to all my core work I now have sixpack abs. Not bad for a 43 year old geezer if I may say so myself. 🙂

I've learnt so much throughout this regarding nutrition and resistance training. When playing football, which is most of my life, I never really liked going to the gym. I did it, when I had to, as a means to improve me as a footballer, but I never, ever liked it. I was very surprised to find that I actually LIKE doing this when you track your lifts and see progress. It is immensely satisfying actually, and lifting weights and nutrition has now become proper interests of mine. It is nerdy as fuck, but who cares? Gives me a lot of joy.

happened to me too. burnsy mentioned he had some back issues as well.

i had a prolapsed disc and it was some of the worst pain i've ever experienced. ever since then i've been paranoid about core strength, and made it a big focus area

The worse the prolapse the better they heal. Its minor injures you back doesn't realise it needs to repair.

Should be good after 7 months.

Rex

I think you missed the part where he said he needed something easy. What you are suggesting now is no doubt sound advice, although 5 sets of 5 is fairly ineffective, but it also means tracking your macros and a proper meal plan. Nothing easy about that. 🙂

speedy

Rex wrote:
Yeah, I didn't appreciate just how important a functioning back is until I no longer had one. I have a few degenerated discs in my low back. It means I am always in pain and always will be. It is basically, for me, just a matter of what I can do to have as little pain as possible.

One of the most important changes for me is how I view my pain. Before, I tried to avoid things which I knew would make my back hurt more, which is quite natural IMO, but it also meant I was even more inactive than I really wanted to be. That's bad of course, and led to added weight gain, less mobility, more pain, even less activity and so on. A vicious cycle. The eye opener was when a physical therapist asked the simple question 'why' when I explained to him why I avoided doing certain things. Led to a lot of thinking on my part, and the commitment of NOT avoiding things for this reason. Game changer for me, and I manage my pain a lot better these days. I'm also in a lot less pain today as a result, so that's a positive.

There's no things you can't do. Degenerative disc disease isn't real according the the best back experts. Degenerative discs are just like wrinkles on your face. Its normal to have them at 43.

Discs ache from to much flexion, and that pain only really happens between the ages of 35-65. Then it goes away. If it was degenerative it would continue getting worse throughout life like an arthritic knee.

The 6pac is worrying to be honest its the least important muscle in your core and actually training for a 6pac is often the cause of prolonged disc pain.

Exercise is better than no exercise and the right exercises are better again. If your not adverse to reading here's a decent book for that kind of pain written for the average Joe.

Amazon book Dr[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=medium]. Stuart McGill[/size][/font][/size]
[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=large]Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill [/size][/font][/size]

speedy

Rex wrote:
I think you missed the part where he said he needed something easy. What you are suggesting now is no doubt sound advice, although 5 sets of 5 is fairly ineffective, but it also means tracking your macros and a proper meal plan. Nothing easy about that. 🙂

5 Sets of 5 isn't ineffective at all. It's excellent advice. Tracking macros comes in the 200kcal surplus.

He was "Big" before he lost it through inactivity so I didn't give him fitness advice he has done it before so he knows what to do.

Rex

speedy wrote:
Rex wrote:
Yeah, I didn't appreciate just how important a functioning back is until I no longer had one. I have a few degenerated discs in my low back. It means I am always in pain and always will be. It is basically, for me, just a matter of what I can do to have as little pain as possible.

One of the most important changes for me is how I view my pain. Before, I tried to avoid things which I knew would make my back hurt more, which is quite natural IMO, but it also meant I was even more inactive than I really wanted to be. That's bad of course, and led to added weight gain, less mobility, more pain, even less activity and so on. A vicious cycle. The eye opener was when a physical therapist asked the simple question 'why' when I explained to him why I avoided doing certain things. Led to a lot of thinking on my part, and the commitment of NOT avoiding things for this reason. Game changer for me, and I manage my pain a lot better these days. I'm also in a lot less pain today as a result, so that's a positive.

There's no things you can't do. Degenerative disc disease isn't real according the the best back experts. Degenerative discs are just like wrinkles on your face. Its normal to have them at 43.

Discs ache from to much flexion, and that pain only really happens between the ages of 35-65. Then it goes away. If it was degenerative it would continue getting worse throughout life like an arthritic knee.

The 6pac is worrying to be honest its the least important muscle in your core and actually training for a 6pac is often the cause of prolonged disc pain.

Exercise is better than no exercise and the right exercises are better again. If your not adverse to reading here's a decent book for that kind of pain written for the average Joe.

Amazon book Dr[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=medium]. Stuart McGill[/size][/font][/size]
[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=large]Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill [/size][/font][/size]

I don't train for abs; I train to strengthen my core to better protect my spine, I've lost weight, and visible abs are just a byproduct. I also don't 'just' train my core. It is just a part of my routine which covers the whole body. Unlike other muscle groups though, I do exercises for my core every gym session. I would also imagine that my mobility exercises are just as big a factor when it comes to my back being better as my added core strength.
As for degenerative discs, it doesn't help me whether it is normal or not, does it? I have them, I cope with it. I just wrote a long post about how the biggest change for me was getting in the mindset of NOT avoiding things, man! 🙂

Rex

As for 5 sets of 5, there are plenty of studies made which show that it is easier to hit plateaus with a program set up that way, and especially so if you are NOT a beginner. It is a difficult set up to progress within after a while.
Having said that, this isn't rocket science. You push or pull heavy shit - you put it down. Use good form to not fuck yourself up, be consistent, work with intensity. You do that, have your nutrition not be completely crap, and you will see results. How you go about it differs though, and 5 sets of 5 just doesn't seem to be the most effective way to do it.

speedy

Rex wrote:
speedy wrote:
There's no things you can't do. Degenerative disc disease isn't real according the the best back experts. Degenerative discs are just like wrinkles on your face. Its normal to have them at 43.

Discs ache from to much flexion, and that pain only really happens between the ages of 35-65. Then it goes away. If it was degenerative it would continue getting worse throughout life like an arthritic knee.

The 6pac is worrying to be honest its the least important muscle in your core and actually training for a 6pac is often the cause of prolonged disc pain.

Exercise is better than no exercise and the right exercises are better again. If your not adverse to reading here's a decent book for that kind of pain written for the average Joe.

Amazon book Dr[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=medium]. Stuart McGill[/size][/font][/size]
[size=x-small][font='Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif][size=large]Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill [/size][/font][/size]

I don't train for abs; I train to strengthen my core to better protect my spine, I've lost weight, and visible abs are just a byproduct. I also don't 'just' train my core. It is just a part of my routine which covers the whole body. Unlike other muscle groups though, I do exercises for my core every gym session. I would also imagine that my mobility exercises are just as big a factor when it comes to my back being better as my added core strength.
As for degenerative discs, it doesn't help me whether it is normal or not, does it? I have them, I cope with it. I just wrote a long post about how the biggest change for me was getting in the mindset of NOT avoiding things, man! 🙂

It does help, in that having degenerative discs doesn't mean you'll always be in pain. Most of the pain free people you see walking down the street have the same degenerative discs you do. Initially the pain is from the injury. long term it's very complicated. But pain isn't a sense (like hearing or sight), your pain signals go through lots of different parts of your brain and if you believe that "your disc has slipped or you have degenerative disc disease" your mind flags that as important and your way more likely to experience long term back pain. This has been shown loads of times. Even showing people the normal wear and tear on their discs from an MRI considerably lengthens the average recovery times of those patients. Because the pain is now real and flagged important. I was encouraging a healthier mindset which helps reduce the long term pain.

And like I said you can do everything, exercise is good and if you want to take another step towards a pain free back that book will help.

5x5 programs are brilliant. Lots of studies have shown that. Like with any program you need periodization. And any periodization is better than no periodization.

Rex

There are more issues with my back after a traffic incident I was in about 15 years ago. Thanks for the tips though! I've researched this pretty damn thoroughly since I'm invested in this, and I may pick up that book anyway. 🙂

Change of topic! What do you do yourself to keep in shape? I'm curious.

speedy

I run 5km twice a week. Lift weights 2-3 times a week. I used to teach pilates but I'm just to busy to prep the class and text people ect. Probably work 65hours minimum per week already.

I used to play football. Gaelic. Played rugby for 6 seasons 5 as scrum half. And martial Arts at a pretty high level. I don't compete in any sports or time myself on runs or anything training is very much my relax time now. I train hard and relatively heavy but never any bad reps.
I'd a lot of injuries I've ripped my cruciate ligaments in my knee, 3 shoulder dislocations (1 rugby, 1 MMA, 1 weightlifting). Torn cartilage in my other knee. Torn cartilage in left hip. All rehabed non operatively. I got into physio because most physios I went to were rubbish and I need to get myself back together. And help other people the same way.

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