OcUK Health Seekers: Post your progress pics

krisboats · 9 May 2009 at 15:34

I think i was about 14.5-15kg in the first picture. Just tipping over the 17stone line now.

Chest is definitely something i'm going to work on as i can't help but think it's somewhat disproportionate. I haven't bothered with the legs at all. My housemate has some bench thing that has a leg training section where you do forward and behind lifts but i can't physically get any more weights on the damn thing to make it challenging. With the amount of leg power involved in the biking they're probably the strongest part of me.

I know this is going to sound stupid but if i'm wanting to sort out the chest/traps/shoulders... what can i do with just dumbells, barbell a zig zag shape bar and some weird oval thing with vertical handles in the middle?

I can't afford gym membership and kind of like the idea that i've never bothered with one so for the mean time, i'm not signing up for anything. Like wise with the powders and shakes and stuff... i'm going to forget and not bother etc.

Cristian · 9 May 2009 at 15:41

you don't really need supplements if you've got a good diet.
for traps there's just a simple yet effective exercise, that needs a lot of weight though.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/TrapeziusUpper/DBShrug.html

for chest:
db presses, the fly and pullovers.
and for shoulders:
front raises, dumbbell military presses, etc.
look in here.
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ChestWt.html#anchor165455
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ShouldWt.html

krisboats · 9 May 2009 at 15:47

Oh wow, cheers dude. Nice and simple layout... just what i need.

Freefaller · 9 May 2009 at 16:19

Sorry dude, but cycling or not you need to train legs with lots of weights. Though there are bodyweight exercises you can do, but you do need to train your legs.

Cristian · 9 May 2009 at 16:44

you get lots of endurance, but not that much strength.
1 leg squat is quite effective yet available to anyone.

krisboats · 9 May 2009 at 16:51

Freefaller said:
Sorry dude, but cycling or not you need to train legs with lots of weights. Though there are bodyweight exercises you can do, but you do need to train your legs.

Howcome?

Morba · 9 May 2009 at 16:57

Because you build muscle by progressive intensity.

doing your upper body but not your legs will leave you looking stupid and leave you open to injury due to imbalances in your body.

krisboats · 9 May 2009 at 17:47

I'm not saying they're not getting done, but with the amount of riding i'm doing they're already the biggest part of me. It's not traditional cycling where you peddle round, it's this stuff. It takes a lot of strength to throw yourself and your bike up stuff... especially if it's as heavy as mine

For now, the legs are okay and they always handle everything i've thrown at them. They look more like someone has strapped a brick to the back of my shin

georges · 9 May 2009 at 17:54

cristi what gym do you use in colchester? Leisure world or another?
I use it but for free weights it's a little crowded and they don't have everything I'd like..

Cheers.

Cristian · 9 May 2009 at 18:08

krisboats said:
this stuff

is there a /set gravity off command that I don't know of?

georges I'm a student so I use the uni gym because it's cheap and close.
They only have one set of dumbbells that goes to 50kg in increments of 2kg( as in 2x10, 2x12s etc until 2x50) and when it's crowded it's a pain in the butt to find the right weight. But apart from that it's got everything I need and heck for £70 a year I'm happy with it.

Simon · 10 May 2009 at 00:59

Freefaller said:
Sorry dude, but cycling or not you need to train legs with lots of weights. Though there are bodyweight exercises you can do, but you do need to train your legs.

Ive only just started going to the gym, and have always had big legs from my younger days cycling lots. My mates have been very surprised how strong they are for a gym newbie - I think the bit about body balance is probably why in only a month I have started seeing improvements in upper body strength.

Freefaller · 10 May 2009 at 11:01

Simon said:
Ive only just started going to the gym, and have always had big legs from my younger days cycling lots. My mates have been very surprised how strong they are for a gym newbie - I think the bit about body balance is probably why in only a month I have started seeing improvements in upper body strength.

It depends what you're after. You body doesn't like or respond to asymmetry. i.e. you'll only develop to a certain extent if you neglect other parts of your body. If you're after strength/power then you still need to push your legs to beyond what they're capable of to enable them to develop. For size, it's the same story again but with some very heavy and high volume compound exercises.

Your legs are used all the time and as such have built up a high resistance and a high recovery to what you throw at them on a daily basis - to improve them both in terms of size and strength you need to push them beyond their usual punishment.

Paramount · 10 May 2009 at 11:36

Freefaller said:
It depends what you're after. You body doesn't like or respond to asymmetry. i.e. you'll only develop to a certain extent if you neglect other parts of your body. If you're after strength/power then you still need to push your legs to beyond what they're capable of to enable them to develop. For size, it's the same story again but with some very heavy and high volume compound exercises.

I believe this and it's always what I tell people who don't do their legs. Though I still always see the biggest guys ever with the tiniest stick legs, perhaps it only applies once you get to the very peak of your capability?

Morba · 10 May 2009 at 12:23

Paramount said:
I believe this and it's always what I tell people who don't do their legs. Though I still always see the biggest guys ever with the tiniest stick legs, perhaps it only applies once you get to the very peak of your capability?

what FF said was strength and power, what you are saying is size.
2 completely different things that require different types of training.

shadowcreaper · 10 May 2009 at 12:57

i think the best example of this leg/upper body is military and how the exercise programme is done there.

for example, you will see many amcericans having huge upper body then tiny legs while in british forces the common build is lean.

most men focus on legs though running and circuit training, with small/medium wieghts not heavy at all!.

main area where people fall sort of upper body thus doing press-ups and pull ups builds this.

it purely comes down to this:

do you want to look good, big muscles, but be quite useless in the forces.

OR

Have good all round balance with muscles not insanely huge but just good at doing what needs to be done.

Bassically running/swimming/cycling are some of the best exercises around with no neeed for gym memberships.

simple exercises like press-ups and pullups and lunges along with good simple citcuit training can give you just as good fitness you will ever need.

tbh it all comes back to what i said earlyer what do you want to be:

big muscle man..

or just a super fit guy?

personally id rather be a nice 11-12 stone guy with muscles working 100% and able to do 100 pressups/20 pulls ups ect and able to run 7 mins mile or less than able to lift crazy wieghts and need special drinks to get the most out of my body..

big muscle men never get into the forces they just need to much food... dont see rambo in the marines do you..or arnie..

decide what sort of shape/fitness you want then set goals. that the most important thing.

Liefrich · 10 May 2009 at 13:10

shadowcreaper said:
i think the best example of this leg/upper body is military and how the exercise programme is done there.

for example, you will see many amcericans having huge upper body then tiny legs while in british forces the common build is lean.

most men focus on legs though running and circuit training, with small/medium wieghts not heavy at all!.

main area where people fall sort of upper body thus doing press-ups and pull ups builds this.

it purely comes down to this:

do you want to look good, big muscles, but be quite useless in the forces.

OR

Have good all round balance with muscles not insanely huge but just good at doing what needs to be done.

Bassically running/swimming/cycling are some of the best exercises around with no neeed for gym memberships.

simple exercises like press-ups and pullups and lunges along with good simple citcuit training can give you just as good fitness you will ever need.

tbh it all comes back to what i said earlyer what do you want to be:

big muscle man..

or just a super fit guy?

personally id rather be a nice 11-12 stone guy with muscles working 100% and able to do 100 pressups/20 pulls ups ect and able to run 7 mins mile or less than able to lift crazy wieghts and need special drinks to get the most out of my body..

big muscle men never get into the forces they just need to much food... dont see rambo in the marines do you..or arnie..

decide what sort of shape/fitness you want then set goals. that the most important thing.

This thread is not about the "forces" though, it's about body builders, so your arguements are kind of wasted.

shadowcreaper · 10 May 2009 at 13:22

it wasnt about the forces but purely to compare the body structure,

i seen many "bodybuilders" and having been around a few myself i know that many forget the simple fact of why they are bodybuilding ie to maintain a fitness level or just to "look" good.

there is a big differance between "looking" good and "actually being fit".

unless you can decide if you looking to be fit or purely in it for the body shape there are differant things you need to consider this is why i posted this.

Freefaller · 10 May 2009 at 13:25

The 2 are not mutually exclusive.

Morba · 10 May 2009 at 13:31

shadowcreaper said:
it wasnt about the forces but purely to compare the body structure,

i seen many "bodybuilders" and having been around a few myself i know that many forget the simple fact of why they are bodybuilding ie to maintain a fitness level or just to "look" good.

there is a big differance between "looking" good and "actually being fit".

unless you can decide if you looking to be fit or purely in it for the body shape there are differant things you need to consider this is why i posted this.

Sorry but i am really struggling to understand what you are trying to say.

Cosmic182 · 10 May 2009 at 13:33

hello

Im not sure where to start, but looking at all your pics makes me

!!! i went from around 24 stone down to 14.5-15 stone now, and tbh i lost a fair bit of muscle in this progress, whilst my life has been so so much better since this, theres still part of me that feels failure, I honestly have no idea/how to gain a bit of muscle just to tone up areas, Biceps, thighs and abs, Idk what to do, im completly lost.

At the same time ive read some info, but i dont want to bulk eat a lot as id be scared of getting back in to old habbits and becoming heavy again, id just like to gain a bit of muscle and tone up a few areas.

Any help would be very greatly appreciated.

i can post before and after pics if anyone wants to see