Fitness/Exercise

[Dee]

I want to work out to tone, not necessarily lose weight. As a girl, I've no idea what exercises I need to do in order to keep my weight within a healthy frame but slim a bit in some certain areas (tummy, thighs, backside). I'm definitely a beginner, so that doesn't help either. I don't even know where to begin! Any suggestions?

[Mercurial]

It's all about burning more than you take in so you could try eating less, but not always a great idea.

[Pojodin]

Walk up to a punching bag and be all like: WATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA Wah-TAAA!!! (Hokuto Hyakuretsu-ken*)

*Omae wa mo shindeiru

 

Alternately, you could try some light cardio (running, biking, swimming, or any exercise which focuses on raising and maintaining a given heart rate). Presumably this would within the range of about 220 - (your age) * 60% to %70. You could also work in some ab related excises, preferably a couple exercises that would target lower abs and a couple for upper abs. Just note that, while exercising certainly helps, the real key tends to be on the food consumption side of things. Eating the right stuff at the right times tends to play the biggest role in determining physique. Depending on how casual or serious you go about doing things, you can notice quite a few changes simply from modifying your diet and adding in a just a bit of exercise here and there.

[TheRevanchist]

Toning muscles is actually a bit harder than losing weight. When you tone, the muscle is more firm during times of rest. Hence, you have to work out each muscle group in order to tone those areas. The easiest way is to join a local fitness class. Most gyms have them for beginners that focus on showing you basic exercises. Once you get the basics down, you can do more on your own and customize your own workout to best suit your needs.

 

The thing about exercise for most is that it is a lifestyle change. You have to commit. And, if you have a friend to help you commit, you can usually stay focused on the prize.

[TheMightyEthan]

There's no way to control which part of your body you burn fat off of, but like Revanchist said you can tone specific muscle groups by focusing on exercises that work them.

[Dee]

Welp. I'm screwed.

[Little Pirate]

When exercising be sure to know your limits and not over exert yourself. Otherwise you'll have a moment of pain and stupid like me today. Got over excited to a kickboxing video and sprained my knee. I seem to be pretty accident prone these last couple months...

[Little Pirate]

Dee, I would highly recommend yoga videos to start. They've got different varieties and skill levels so you can start with something easy then gradually get into more complicated things. It's great for keeping slim and tone. I would also say nab yourself a pair of dumbbells and start figuring a good routine for toning. I can start posting more videos on here for that, too.

[Waldorf and Statler]

I consider I am in a healthy weight right now. Healthier than earlier in the semester when I was a relative fatass compared to my slim and strong sophomore self. I'm not even in a diet right now, I've just been drinking a breakfast shake for the morning, and relatively normal sized lunch and dinner, also doing a lot of exercise. I played volleyball for 2-3 hours for 3 days straight, and you gotta walk everywhere in the coast. Later on I'll find a gym to sign up in here and if not I guess I'll be doing abdominals/crunches and push ups while I'm here.

[Little Pirate]

I feel and probably look like sweaty death right now... Going up those hills on a humid morning takes a lot out of you. It's been half an hour since I've been home and I still can't feel my legs. Sometimes fitness aches like a bitch.

[MasterDex]

I feel and probably look like sweaty death right now... Going up those hills on a humid morning takes a lot out of you. It's been half an hour since I've been home and I still can't feel my legs. Sometimes fitness aches like a bitch.

 

As masochistic as this sounds, I like the muscle aches of fitness. I don't particularly like the pain of it but compared to other pain, it's like your body is telling you "You're getting stronger" instead of the "HOTHOTHOT! GET SOME WATER ON THAT BURN, DUMBASS!"

[danielpholt]

Had a little shock this morning. I went on the wii fit for only the second time. Apparently based on my BMI I'm technically overweight. Now I known BMI is a bit of a shitty way to work that out, but there's no way I'm overweight.

 

Regardless of the fact that I don't believe it, I do know I've got lazy this last year. Since moving in with my girlfriend my meals have been less healthy, and I'm not going to the gym anymore. I'm going to make a few changes.

 

I work at the local supermarket, on the fresh produce dept. it's probably the most physically demanding job in the store. Constantly pulling 7ft tall pallet boards full of £1000s worth of stuff, lifting heavy crates onto shelves and running around like a mad man for 8 hours a night. I've also started To bike the 5 miles to and from work again. So I figured it'll only take a small change to my diet to get me back to where I want to be.

 

I can't afford to sign up to a gym membership, so I've been thinking about buying a treadmill. I hate running in the street so that's not really an option, unless I go out very early.

 

What's the opinion on the fitbit / Nike+. Would this help me in anyway or should I nail down the diet first? And what's the best way to go about tracking calorie intake?

 

 

[TheFlyingGerbil]

you can often get free exercise equipment on freecycle or similar sites, or very cheap through ebay/classifieds as people don't use them and don't like them sitting there taking up a lot of space/making them feel guilty.

 

There are a few people at work who have an app on their smartphone that has all the different foods/drinks and their fat/sugar/cals etc. and you can put them in as you eat them throughout the day. Apparently it works well cos if you wait until the end of the day to work it out you tend to forget/under-report what you've eaten.

[danielpholt]

Tried my first real salad for lunch today. I enjoyed it, up to a point. I don't know if i was full or if i had just eaten to much salad, but my stomach started to reject what i was feeding it. I'm thinking in future, maybe i should mix it up a little. Maybe have half as much Salad, and something a little less watery.

 

A Beef Burger for example?

[MasterDex]

I don't know if i was full or if i had just eaten to much salad, but my stomach started to reject what i was feeding it.

 

That's pretty much how my stomach deals with most veg. Makes dieting a bastard.

 

As for mixing it up a bit, rather than a burger, go for a steak, you can cut the excess fat offf and overall, it'll be healthier than a burger.

[Little Pirate]

@BigDan

There's plenty of ways to get exercise without spending money. If you have Netflix there's a ton of good videos you can dig through and figure which one suits you best. If you like running, getting up early in the morning and sticking to safe streets is your best bet. I had to really kick myself to get out of bed at 5:30 to get a jog at 6 AM in. Sometimes it's hard to push yourself to do it, but in the end it's the best thing for you. You could also see if there are nearby parks that have tracks or outdoor equipment and drive down there. Cemetary lots also make great (and safe) jogging areas. Treadmills can be ridiculously expensive. A gym I guess will make you feel like you HAVE to go down there because you're paying a monthly fee.

 

And my friend's Wii was rather mean when I first started. It's a picky little machine. I was estatic the day it told me I was normal. It's a good feeling.

[Little Pirate]

Speaking of Netflix, Dee, I found a pretty decent yoga instructor. It's great for getting your abs in particular. The other Crunch videos aren't so great in my opinion, but they also haved dance and even some kickboxing videos.

[excel_excel]

So I'm back into the gym for a good few months now but haven't been going as much as I should do. I go like 3 times a week, sometimes 4 if its a good week. I think its partly because I just feel so hot all the time. Literally most of my evenings round here I have the windows open and no top on, not to mention I just feel tired all the time. Really have to push myself.

[Thursday Next]

Not quite got to the point where I am gymming yet, but I have started jogging (or running not sure where the threshold is) 2miles to work and back every day. Monday was horrific. I was figuratively dying.

 

This morning was much better. Settled into a sensible pace that I can maintain for the full distance with a little bit spare for a crowd-pleasing flourish at the end.

 

Diet wise, I think I eat fairly sensibly most of the time. I tend to cook from scratch so fresh meat, veg and some taters / rice / pasta is the norm. With a pizza thrown in on days where I am feeling especially lazy, but I really don't consciously eat healthily. I eat what I want when I want.

[fuchikoma]

Thank you for not saying "literally" to mean "figuratively."

 

I'm kind of in an aware but undisciplined thing: I ride my mountain bike around when I can, and like tackling big hills and dirt trails. Never was one to run long distances though... I like being able to coast a bit and recover on the go when I'm tired. (This summer's been really hot, so a few times I've stopped for a break and lost the air flow and just roasted - it actually got dangerous once!)

 

As for eating, I've never had much faith in temporary diets, but I've started looking at the nutritional value of what I eat, and sometimes tracking it with MyFitnessPal on iPhone, at least for the meals where it's easily done. To me, this is "gamification" - getting quick concise feedback that naturally makes me lean toward having the ideal numbers. I still eat what I want, but I find knowing what I'm eating in more detail makes me want food that is better for me. I'll still buy junk food, pop and desserts but it's getting rarer now and I'm gradually getting in better shape for it.

[Little Pirate]

Been spending a lot of time on my bike, and since I bought lights for them I've been hitting forest trails later in the night. I think I prefer biking the forest trails at night because it's cooler, quieter, and you get a pretty damned good view of the night sky when you hit the clearing. Not to mention it's aaaaaall uphill. My legs hurt so bad when I get home.

[Thursday Next]

Not to mention it's aaaaaall uphill.

 

Are you biking in an Escher painting?

[TheMightyEthan]

Speaking of Netflix, Dee, I found a pretty decent yoga instructor. It's great for getting your abs in particular. The other Crunch videos aren't so great in my opinion, but they also haved dance and even some kickboxing videos.

 

 

Apparently these are no longer on Netflix. My wife was super pissed when she went to do a workout and all of her workout videos were gone. It has us seriously considering canceling the subscription because that was easily the thing we used it most for.

[excel_excel]

I've been getting into the gym a lot more often the last 2 months. I'm feeling a lot better, I get in about 4 to 5 days a week, and although I still have get hot a lot its more managable.

I basically do 40 to 50 minutes of different cardio each workout and then focus on a muscle group. I have trouble eating a proper lunch though, I always seem to eat something that sits in my stomach, like tuna in a sandwich and soup.

[Little Pirate]

Yeah I was pretty angry when I found out my Crunch videos were gone, so here's some Wii Fit yoga videos, I'll try and find more: