Re: FitTavern
 

Thanks much. I shall try to follow this.

Re: FitTavern
 

Ok, just did day 2. Hardest setting, it's going fine so far. But when I did the second day, I still wasn't fully recovered from day 1... which was 2 days earlier.

Maybe I shouldn't do my curls after the pushups...

Re: FitTavern
 

Gah..I'm one pound from hitting 220 and 2lbs from being below it for the first time in quite awhile..Must..push..harder >.>

Re: FitTavern
 

Curls are fine, just make sure you're taking in plenty of protein to help you recover on your days off. :)

Jonbo: You should start spitting in to a bucket every time you have water in your mouth. Apparently it helps you lose 1-2 pounds before you weigh up. It's an old boxing trick, but I learned it off of Kenny Vs. Spenny, hahaha.

Re: FitTavern
 

I just got to slightly under 170 in the last couple of days, down from 207. I'm only 5 pounds from my original goal of 165 which I should get to before we start touring in September. It's weird being this close and feeling this good when I felt so out of shape and overweight just in March.

Everyone trying to lose weight, I don't know what to say other than to just keep it up! Exercise makes you feel good and I don't think I've ever felt/looked better in my life and it's very rewarding. Though I worry a bit when I think about going on tour because I won't be able to keep up my routine. Plus, I'll be drinking a lot more beer, haha.

Re: FitTavern
 

I'm not concerned with "trickery" because then it feels like I didn't truly do it ;) I'm content weighing myself in the mornings after waking up and hitting the pisser because its the most "stable" part of the day to do so.

Now granted, if it was a Biggest Loser type competition, hell yeah I'd be all over that 'trick'. But unfortunately I left the job that did it twice while there. First one really helped me initially finally get off my ass, join a gym, and at least try and did well even though I gained back most (not all thankfully) but second time around, I'm doing ALOT better.

One of these times I will have to email the person who did it because it was her who truly got me to start thinking about what I was eating and whatnot by doing the 'competition' (plus, the prize money was I believe $500 plus money put in the pot which honestly was worth trying for since it was only $5 to enter in the pot)

Re: FitTavern
 

Ok, I finished the first week. Not bad so far, I'm still in the hardest column. Today I had to finish with a max of at least 15. I did 19. Then I almost collapsed. :p

Re: FitTavern
 

Pushed hard and didn't starve myself like some people do (not referring to anyone on GT if it came across that way) and I finally hit 219 today. Now on to 209....

Re: FitTavern
 

Im into week 4 now. Still going pretty strong, although its not a total cakewalk like it was in weeks 1 and 2...

Re: FitTavern
 

Yeah, I just finished week 4 and my exhaustion test came in at 51. I'm going to have a hell of a time in this final column again, but I know I might be able to do 100 pushups. :) I don't look forward to 8 levels of it all, though, what the heck. :(

Re: FitTavern
 

Do you think this program would work for situps? I can already do about 40 successive of those, but I think my abs could use a boost.

My arms really look much better btw... of course I had already started using weights half a year ago.

Re: FitTavern
 

Yeah, I think Joeiss is using it for situps too.

You definitely notice a difference in your arms and everywhere else. It's almost a full upper-body workout. Sooo good.

I just did 8 freaking levels in week 5 day 2. That's just insane. That's what I get for doing 51 on my exhaustion test.. :( My arms actually hurt for once, but that might be because I also had a really good MMA workout tonight too. :D

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Ok, I'll do the situps too. I guess it's best to start in week 1?

Just finished day 3 of week 2. The last 5 extra pushups were hard, but I'm keeping up the extra 5.

Re: FitTavern
 

Did the test after week 2. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to column 3... I did 30 pushups, which is more than 25, so yay!

But seriously, I went from 20 to 30 in 2 weeks. How do they want me to go from 30 to 100 in 4 weeks???

Re: FitTavern
 

yea, looking at this, the pacing is kinda strange...

that being said, I just did the exhaustion test after week 4, and managed 49.

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I found Xantar on youtube:

Re: FitTavern
 

That looked a lot like low-class gymnastics, haha.

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:( Week 3, day 1. First day I didn't meet my quotum.

Did the 25, 17, 17.... then couldn't get to 15 but had to stop at 12. Now they want me to finish with at least 25... impossible.

I'll finish the week as well as I can and I'll start this week over again.

Re: FitTavern
 

I've started jogging a bit again...have run 1 mile 3 times per week for the past couple weeks. It's tough for us big guys but worth it...

Re: FitTavern
 

I've just started slowing down my running. I was doing 45 miles a week consistently and now I'm down to 25-30 a week over the last few. I'm also not trying to lose 2 pounds a week like before either, so it makes sense. Plus my left hip started to hurt a lot. But I still ran 7.5 today, and my weight is down to 168, almost 40 pounds down...

Re: FitTavern
 

I never noticed this thread before. To me, the biggest tip I can give you guys is to slow down the eating. I know some people may disagree or downplay it, but calorie count is everything... seriously. It doesn't matter what you eat, it just matters what it adds up to in calories at the end of the day.

Now, what you eat is going to affect how you feel a lot more, and how healthy you are... but honestly as far as raw weight gain/loss its the biggest thing. Now if you want to lose weight and find a decently toned body under the fat, then yes working out helps too. Or if you can't just help but eat way too much, then you'll have to account for it with burning way too man calories working out.

I used to be an athlete, now I'm in a desk job where I sit on my ass 8 hours a day.. And I started off eating the same as if I was still running laps every day. I had put on quite a few pounds after about 6 months of being here, but then turned around and lost it all and more.

I ended up putting on 25 pounds, and dropped 30. Though to be honest I gained back close to 10 now lol. When I started back running it didn't make a difference cause I was eating too much still. I went on a very basic diet (Stu could probably use this since we're the same height and I have a large frame too)

Day to day I ate 2,200-2,400 calories. Completly took fast food out of my diet, took out sugar/sweets/pastries, and took out any liquid calories like Gatorade, soda, and juice. I didn't eat many veggies, cause I live alone and don't know how to cook any good :P Though I did get a decent amount of protien, and took my vitamans every day. I spread what I ate out to 4 meals.

In losing weight, my workout actually went down from going to the gym and lifting weights every day and jogging on the tred mill, to just spending 30 minutes a day at home on my bike. Pounds fell off way faster when I wasn't working as hard and wasn't eating as much.

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I barely had any motivation left after I 'failed' last time. But this morning (half a day late) I did the program anyway. I stuck with what I should have done last time. I managed alright. :) So I did an extra level.

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Updates anyone? I just decided to give this a try, and I wonder how you guys did in the final weeks.

Initial Test: 21

Week 1, Day 1: Finished with 12
Week 1, Day 2: (today)

I also started some of the interval training that someone mentioned here. I'm starting off slow, with only about 30 seconds of as-fast-as-I-can running, and then 60 seconds of jogging or walking about four or five times in a row. I've done two days of that, and my body wanted to kill me. But the first few days of getting into a workout are always the hardest, so I'll keep it going, and hopefully be able to switch to 60 seconds hard running, 30 seconds jogging.

P.S. Xantar is fucking insane! Is that legit? He'd be a killer rock climber.

Re: FitTavern
 

That's not really Xantar, you silly. :D Although he apparently is very strong and muscled. Oh and I bet that movie is real... but: you never see more than 5 or so chin-ups. Maybe the guy does 5 of those, rests for 2 days, does a few more, etc. And he just made it look like it's all in one training.

Edit:
Xantar zegt:
manasecret believed that I would post a video of myself?
Xantar zegt:
and actually, rock climbers mostly have strong forearms, not pull up muscles.

Last week saw myself in the mirror and suddenly thought: "I don't want to get any beefier." I like the way I look now. Well, the arms and chest. I plan to work on the abs and maybe back.

So..... I quit the training. :) I'll still do the exercises once in a while, to stay in shape, but I don't have to be stronger.

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Hahaha well, how would I know if it's Xantar or not? Unless I completely missed the joke somewhere in the thread.

As for rock climbers, yeah strong forearms are key, but pull up muscles are essential as well, plus the thousand or so other muscles that non-Xantar guy uses in that video are very very helpful. The holding the legs in the L form, pulling up, and holding in that position is just one good rock climbing exercise.

Climbing uses tons of muscles due to all the contortions of your body that you have to do. It's a great full body exercise. Fun, too.

Re: FitTavern
 

I finally failed week 6. It seemed like week 6 all of a sudden got a lot harder. Im going to take a week off, maybe do some lighter stuff on my total gym, then give week 6 a try again next week.

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You're planning on sprinting 60/90 seconds? You're insane. First of all, very few people can run at even 80% for 60 seconds straight. That would be 400+ meters of sprinting. Not to mention do it multiple times. You could do it "running" but I highly doubt you'll be able to sprint for that long. But if you're able to do it, more power to you. I tried running 200m the other day, running at about 90%, and was absolutely gassed. I'm estimating it took me 32-34 seconds. Now, admittedly I'm not in very good shape. I ran about a mile and a half today...starting to go a little further each time. Hopefully before the snow starts to fall I'll be able to go 2.5+ miles.

Re: FitTavern
 

Bah, I used to run the 200 in like 28 seconds in 8th grade...

er, I think it was 28 seconds...

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Isn't that what someone was saying they did earlier on in this thread? 60 seconds running, 30 seconds of rest, several times in a row? I think I need to go back and reread the thread..

Re: FitTavern
 

Running is one thing "Sprinting" is another.

"I'm starting off slow, with only about 30 seconds of as-fast-as-I-can running"

I got the same impression stu got. Speeding up and slowing down the pace is good, but you should probably be at the faster speed 1/3 or 1/4 of the workout. And it shouldn't be a hard sprint, just running at a bit faster pace.

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Running does not = sprinting. Running is a fast jog. You can try it yourself...try sprinting for 60 seconds. It's virtually impossible. If you're able to do it, rest 30 seconds and do it again. I probably won't be able to make your funeral.

And to Jason: First and foremost, 28 seconds I would imagine is a very impressive 200m time for an 8th grader. Secondly...265 pounds. Find another regular guy like me who looks like me and I'll be glad to take him on in a sprint. Finally, it was an estimate. I wasn't timing myself. It could have been less, could have been more.

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I think I'm a born sprinter. I always one of the (2, maybe 3) fastest kids at school.
It's just a shame that I never sprint anymore. I don't even run (I think I might have weak knees or something).

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Guess I misunderstood the interval training :)

100 hundreds pushups update:

Initial Test: 21

Week 1: 3rd column
Week 1, Day 1: Finished with 12
Week 1, Day 2: Finished (just barely) with 10

Re: FitTavern
 

Damn, I haven't worked out for a week and a half now. :( I was going to start this week and I got sick.

As for the hundred pushups, yeah, in week 6 it becomes a clusterfuck of pushups. I'm going to redo week 5 with excellent form to ready myself.