i am fat

mrk

mrk

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Gyms down here seem to be ~£35 pm so that's what £400 ish a year? A half decent bike is about a grand but will last forever.

Nobody ever needs to buy a £1000 bike just in order to cycle for general fitness and health! Those that do are simply owning more money than sense!

Plus your local youth will probably nick it anyway :D

I said it before and I'll say it again because it's worth saying again, Calisthenics costs next to nothing, can be done anywhere and will help you not only lose weight, but gain muscle mass and get a lean physique once the body fat percentage is lowered. It's also a lot more fun than using static machines at the gym, also more difficult/rewarding. You will end up with greater functional strength and mobility than someone who just does machines and weights.
 
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Nobody ever needs to buy a £1000 bike just in order to cycle for general fitness and health! Those that do are simply owning more money than sense!

Plus your local youth will probably nick it anyway :D

I said it before and I'll say it again because it's worth saying again, Calisthenics costs next to nothing, can be done anywhere and will help you not only lose weight, but gain muscle mass and get a lean physique once the body fat percentage is lowered. It's also a lot more fun than using static machines at the gym, also more difficult/rewarding. You will end up with greater functional strength and mobility than someone who just does machines and weights.
I always assumed that was a chick thing, like Yoga.

But I've been wrong before... any good places to start reading up on it that you'd recommend?
 

mrk

mrk

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I always assumed that was a chick thing, like Yoga.

But I've been wrong before... any good places to start reading up on it that you'd recommend?

It's been growing over the last few years thanks to Youtube and Instagram but has been popular with street workout folks in the USA since at least the 80s. Calisthenics itself was part of Spartan training and is still part of training for military forces around the world. Loads of videos on youtube showing US soldiers doing front levers, planche in uniform and so on whilst carrying heavy weaponry and backpacks.



There are endless sites and videos to start right from scratch if you've never done a proper pull or pushup before. No age is too old either, look at this 53 year old smash out muscle-ups:


Fitness FAQs, Calisthenics Family, Official ThenX, Calisthenicmovement, Austin Dunham, Abnormal_Beings are all good places on youtube to subscribe to.
 
Caporegime
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What's a good amount of calories to do during cardio in the gym?

I did 779 yesterday and 755 on Monday. Thats about 60-70 minutes of actual machine time.

37 year old
5' 10"
95kg

I was in the gym recently though and a quite fat guy did 1000 calories on the Vario in 30 minutes!

1,000 calories in 30 minutes is virtually impossible, the machines gives false estimates of calorie expenditure, often including the amount of calories you would have burned just by sitting around doing nothing!
 
Caporegime
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He was on level 25 the whole time, and I imagine it factors in your weight? I found it amazing that he kept going.

30 minutes + at max level. I was right next to him.

In 30 minutes I do approx 400 calories at level 11
 
Soldato
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1,000 calories in 30 minutes is virtually impossible, the machines gives false estimates of calorie expenditure, often including the amount of calories you would have burned just by sitting around doing nothing!

Indeed - I always compare what the machine says I burnt with what my Fitbit says (assuming since it has heart-rate tracking the FitBit is likely more accurate). The machines seem to fairly consistently over-estimate the amount burned (for me at least)
 
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I was 21st 8lbs on March 10th. I'm generally a big guy and most people would say I wasn't fat, but then I saw a video of myself hunched over and realised how much of a belly I now had. I started cycling, 5 times a week (did 84 miles last week). I still go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week, but I cycle the long way there and the long way back. I started using MyFitnessPal and limited myself to 1,900 calories, which I stick to most days. This morning I was 18st 1lb, so 3½ stone in 3½ months.

I do generally feel better, although I'm almost always a little hungry and often my legs feel tired due to all the cycling and not many calories! Some clothes no longer fit properly and I can get into some clothes that were a bit tighter before too.

As has been said, it's very simple. Eat less, move more. It just takes will power and determination to actually do.
 
Soldato
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I always assumed that was a chick thing, like Yoga.

But I've been wrong before... any good places to start reading up on it that you'd recommend?


At the point he did this video 5 years ago, Frank Medrano was doing almost all calisthenics and also on a vegan diet, some of the moves he does in the video are insanely hard but he makes it look easy. Just don't look at his legs :D
 
Soldato
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Might as well jump on this. Decided to do something about my weight and calorie intake this year as i'd just let things slide over time.

Started out at 17st11 in Jan and have now shed 3st 8lbs to get to just under 14st4, made all the more difficult by breaking my foot at the end of Jan. No fad diets or anything, just will power, watching calorie intake and making an effort to be more active.
 
Soldato
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Might as well jump on this. Decided to do something about my weight and calorie intake this year as i'd just let things slide over time.

Started out at 17st11 in Jan and have now shed 3st 8lbs to get to just under 14st4, made all the more difficult by breaking my foot at the end of Jan. No fad diets or anything, just will power, watching calorie intake and making an effort to be more active.
Well done, especially when there was a little adversity with the foot!!
 
Soldato
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Indeed - I always compare what the machine says I burnt with what my Fitbit says (assuming since it has heart-rate tracking the FitBit is likely more accurate). The machines seem to fairly consistently over-estimate the amount burned (for me at least)

I've posted in the running thread previously about this, but i'm always dubious about the calorie readings on Strava from using my apple watch. In theory i assume it should be fairly accurate since it knows my height/weight/heart rate and activity, but it seems to result in around 1200 cal/hr which seems high.
 
Soldato
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I've posted in the running thread previously about this, but i'm always dubious about the calorie readings on Strava from using my apple watch. In theory i assume it should be fairly accurate since it knows my height/weight/heart rate and activity, but it seems to result in around 1200 cal/hr which seems high.

I assumed the same, but haven't really thought about it too much... I normally start a Gym session with a 20 minute hiit-training warmup session on a bike, looking at the Fitbit stats afterwards it usually reads as fairly intense heart-rate through most of it - I think I usually go about 11.5k (no idea if that is "good" or not in that time... or how accurate it is) and it generally suggests that was about 300 cal (which would be 900 cal/hr)... it seems kind of high but then again I'm usually pretty sweaty and tired after 20 minutes so I can believe if I carried on at the same rate going ~35k it would probably amount to quite a bit...

Off to the Gym after work tonight, going to start trying to work on this belly, but still unsure of the most efficient thing to do... I guess maybe a little more cardio and a little less weights? Does exercising your abs on a captain's chair or similar actually help you get rid of fat there? (or does it just tone the muscles underneath!?)
 
Soldato
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Off to the Gym after work tonight, going to start trying to work on this belly, but still unsure of the most efficient thing to do... I guess maybe a little more cardio and a little less weights? Does exercising your abs on a captain's chair or similar actually help you get rid of fat there? (or does it just tone the muscles underneath!?)

I agree, my HR is usually around 160bpm and i'm around 110kg and 6ft3 so hauling my fat ass around for 6 miles must burn quite a lot!

No way to spot target fat unfortunately. You'll just end up with muscular abs under your fat :p

I believe it's actually better to do heavy weights for less reps for fat loss.
 
Soldato
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No way to spot target fat unfortunately. You'll just end up with muscular abs under your fat :p

I believe it's actually better to do heavy weights for less reps for fat loss.

Damnit, I figured that would be the case! Luckily I don't think I have much fat anywhere else, but it'd be typical if I increase cardio or start calorie counting I'll just end up eating away the muscle I've put on...

Heavy low reps is fine though, pretty much what I do (according to the Fitbit my heart rate stays in at least the "fat burn" zone for the entire hour or so that I'm on the weights after the warmup)... and then I also go for a brisk(ish) 20 minute walk most lunchtimes (mostly for the fresh air, but every little helps)
 
Caporegime
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I agree, my HR is usually around 160bpm and i'm around 110kg and 6ft3 so hauling my fat ass around for 6 miles must burn quite a lot!

No way to spot target fat unfortunately. You'll just end up with muscular abs under your fat :p

I believe it's actually better to do heavy weights for less reps for fat loss.

How many? I do 2x sets of 12 on the machines and I've no idea if that is too many or too few.

By the end of my second sets I am struggling but still just about able.
 
Soldato
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Personally (and obviously I'm not an expert, most of this is based on advice from my Dad who is a bit of a Gym buff)...

I usually start off on any given machine with a weight I know I can do comfortably (not easily, comfortably) because by not totally straining on the first set it acts as a bit of additional preparatory stretching... do 10 reps...

Then I whack up the weight a bit, based on how easy it was (anything from an extra 2.5 to an extra 10kgs)... aim for another 10 but ideally I'll be struggling by 7 and stop at 7...

Increase the weight again (not by as drastic a step)... aim for 7 but ideally hit 5 and be gasping

If that first 5 was really tough I stop at that weight and do another 2 sets of 5 (totalling just over 30 reps)... but if the next set isn't as hard as I thought it'd be I sometimes increase it a bit more (and usually still end on 2 repeat sets of 5 at the "top" weight)

By the very end it should feel borderline impossible to keep going (but you shouldn't ever feel like you're totally out of control of the weights/machine, you don't want to hurt yourself because you let your wrist twist up or something... that's just a "know your limits" kind of thing I guess)

Edit: I should have noted though - the above is advice for building muscle not really for losing fat, I've no idea if this approach is good for that or not!!!
 
Soldato
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For weights, basic sets should look something like 5x5, 8x4 or 12x4. Whatever your rep range is make sure your last set or 2 is hard to complete, if it isn't then you need to lift more. Try and do more than you did last week, write down how much weight you're using on each exercise and do more next week if you completed all your sets. You should be having 2-3 minutes between sets, otherwise you'll just be failing to lift weight because you haven't had adequate recovery, the goal isn't for your muscles to burn, the goal is to break down muscle fibers by lifting heavy weights and use progressive overload to get stronger.

Edit: I should have noted though - the above is advice for building muscle not really for losing fat, I've no idea if this approach is good for that or not!!!

By building muscle you're essentially increasing the size of your engine, you'll burn more calories each day to maintain your body mass even if you do nothing, your metabolism becomes faster. If you combine this with a calorie controlled diet then you'll lose weight, and when you lose weight you'll also look better because you'll have a more defined physique from the muscle you built.
 
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Soldato
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How many? I do 2x sets of 12 on the machines and I've no idea if that is too many or too few.

By the end of my second sets I am struggling but still just about able.

Apologies if my post made me sound like i was an expert. It's just something i've read recently. I don't really do weights. I'd be more tempted to do 3x6 though of something heavier.
 
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