darkSpyro

Here we are again darkSpyro, and the idea is exactly the same as before!

With this topic I aim to help those in need of motivation and basic knowledge of strength training and cardiovascular exercise. Ever wanted to start working out but didn't know what to do? Now's your chance.
If I don't have the answers you seek, I'll direct you to a source where you can find them. Losing fat, gaining muscle, motivation, everything goes.
Also, If you're already into fitness or live with an active lifestyle, please share your experiences.

I'll start the same way I did last time. Tomorrow morning I'll make a post explaining some of the basics of both bodybuilding and cardiovascular exercise, trumping some myths, voicing some harsh truths and just generally answering any questions you might have. If you're interested at all just go ahead and post, that way I'll know that there are people listening.

Quote: Metallo

And you can get the full Samius workout for just $19.95, plus a FREE gift if you call now....


But yep, I'm interested


Here's my question: Since I starting lifting, I noticed I'm starting to get some pecs (<3) but my abs have lost some tone. My stomach isn't flabby, of course, I can still feel muscle when I touch it, but it's not as toned. What exactly does that mean? Is that a bad sign?

Also, what's the most important muscle group in your legs? Lately I've really only been working on my quads. What else should I do?

If I was in your situation I would not worry about definition yet. You're still making fast beginner gains, you're not yet lifting heavy weight, and what you should be focusing on is getting enough protein in your diet.
Though if you're worried that your abs are lagging we can check out your routine. Just list your workout plan whenever and I'll take a look at it.

As for your abs, the reason why they are losing definition is not that you're losing your abs, it's that you're gaining bodyfat. You've noticed that your appetite has grown from working out, am I right?
Even if you had really strong abs you will not see a sixpack unless your bodyfat percentage is somewhere around 17-15%. This is because your lower abdomen is the first place where unused energy will begin to store itself as fat, and it is the last place where it will come off when you lose fat.

And about working legs, quads are obviously the largest muscle group, so they require the most work, but do not forget about your hamstrings, glutes and calves.
I don't think you need to focus on isolating your muscle groups yet though. Rather do large compound movements like squats and deadlifts.

Quote: CAV

Always attentive.

Ah, I'm glad to see you here. How are your workouts going?

Quote: Metallo

Ah okay, thanks! I didn't know the deadlift could be that useful, what all does it work?

Quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, abs, obliques, upper traps, middle traps, the lower back.. and forearms (grip).

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Quote: Metallo

Okay, so I just tried it, and you're definitely right. I'm just worried about hurting my back, though.


Also, what about carbs? I know they won't do much for muscle mass, but can't they help with my endurance?

If your lower back is in pain, it might be difficult to discern whether it's simply DOMS, or your spine. To make sure that you don't receive any spinal injuries (or any injuries whatsoever), always do your warm-ups and use the correct form.
Deadlifting heavy weight with a crooked back is one of the most certain ways to get you a free ride to "Backsnap Central". And if you're just trying it out, you shouldn't do it with a heavy weight in the first place. Like with any other exercise you do in the gym, get a hang of the correct form and the range of motion before starting. The gym is a really accident-prone place for those who hurry.

Carbs are not essential for nutrition, they're basically just an energy source. High levels of carbohydrate are usually associated with highly processed foods like bread, breakfast cereals, soft drinks and sweets. Lower levels of carbohydrate are usually associated with unrefined foods like beans, rice, and fruit.
An example for a good source of carbs would be rolled oats. An example of a bad source would be white bread. Everybody eats bread, but it's basically just empty calories. Energy with no nutritional value.

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and add some basic info about bodybuilding on this topic later today. It will mostly just be copy pasted stuff from the last topic (since these facts don't exactly change over time), but it's good to have all the information in one place.

Quote: Metallo

Quote: AvatariDragon

I know I need to start exercising again, I haven't really been running since I stopped playing soccer like.. seven years ago. Sitting around and doing nothing all the time isn't good, and it literally only takes like five minutes to get to my school's gym and I walk by it all the time, but I have no motivation to actually go into the gym. I keep telling myself that I need to go but I just don't.

If you hate social pressure, I wouldn't recommend a gym. Heck, I only lift with the weight set in my garage. I also do all of my calisthenics at home and I live out in the country where there's ample space to run, but I mainly run on my school's track. A track is a lot better for your legs than rough terrain.


Anyway, just try doing some calisthenics in your dorm or wherever you live. If you want to run, your college more than likely has a track you can use. Once you start moving on to more serious workouts, then you can go to the gym.

I'm going to have to say disagree on that. Gym goers in general do not judge you if you join their gym. They're only there to do their workout and so are you. The level you're at doesn't matter at all, as long as you now the proper etiquette (clean your weights, etc.) you're not going to have problems from them.

Of course there are jerks too, but it's not just the gym. Those people are jerks wherever they go.

Ok, time for some more basic info! We'll start with debunking a couple of fitness-related myths.

Weightlifting stunts growth. It doesn't. If you're a teen you can safely lift weights or do a bodyweight routine, it will not harm the growth of your bones. Malnutrition and unnatural hormone levels due to use of steroids and certain supplements are what stunt growth.

Gaining muscle can be fast. It can not. Advertisers will talk your ear off about how fast the results from using their new, revolutionary techniques and patented fitness-gadgets are. Do not listen to their lies, they just want your money.
Muscle gain is a very slow process. If you're in your teens you're in luck, because your muscles also grow naturally in that time period and not just because of exercise (though this is considerably less with women). We'll talk about reasonable expectations later, but if any ad, exercise or program promises a visible change in a matter of days or weeks, it's bull****.
People have been deliberately trying to gain muscle mass through exercise from at least the time of the ancient Greeks. If there was some miraculous wonder-technique to change the human body in an instant we'd all know it by now.

Spot fat removal. It doesn't exist. You cannot remove fat from a single location of your body at a time, you can only reduce your overall bodyfat precentage. Think of a bucket filled with water that you punch a hole into, the water drains evenly from all around the bucket and not just from where you punched the hole.
If any ad, exercise or program claims to focus on removing fat from a single location (love handles, man-boobs, thighs), it's bull****.

Muscle turns into fat and vice versa. It doesn't. There's a common rumor that if you stop bodybuilding your muscle turns into fat. It's not true, it's the overeating from when you stop training and don't adjust your diet accordingly that makes you fat. The muscles will also not simply disappear, but they might visually "disappear" under the fat.
"Turn fat into muscle" is also a common phrase you hear in advertisements. You cannot do that. It is not possible for your body to rearrange the molecules in your fat cells to change them into muscle cells. If any ad, exercise or program claims to change fat into muscle or vice versa, it's bull****.

You can shape your muscles through exercise. You can't. You can only make your muscles bigger and smaller through exercise. Your genes are what determine their overall shape.

You create new muscles by exercising. You don't. This is a rather silly one, but many people seem to have the impression that you somehow create new muscles as you exercise. That is not true. You already have all the same muscles that a professional bodybuilder has, you do not lose or gain any. You simply make them bigger and more visible with exercise and dieting.

You can "tone" your muscles through exercise. You can't. "Toning" is just marketing slang, it means nothing. The only way to do anything close to what people usually think "toning" means, is to remove the fat covering your muscles by doing cardio and dieting. Your muscles do not get harder due to exercise.

You have to bulk to gain muscle. You don't. You might have heard about something bodybuilders often do, called "bulking" and "cutting". These mean periods of high caloric and protein intake to gain large amounts of muscle and fat, and then a period of dieting to leave the muscle and "cut" away the fat. It can sometimes help as it simplifies things a lot, and especially for a underweight person bulking can be a good thing, but you don't need to gain any fat to gain muscle. They are separate processes of your body. Do not be lazy with your diet. Don't get fat, gain muscle.

Women should lift weight less and do more cardio. This is not true, not really. It depends on your goals. There are very few differences in women's training as opposed to when men train. It's an illusion created by the mainstream media that women simply need to use stationary bicycles and treadmills in the gym. Most of it gets its roots from the fact that women usually go to the gym to lose weight, not to build muscle.
Lifting weights will also not change you into an amazon in the matter of a few days, a few weeks, a few months or even a few years. It is not physically possible for women to put on muscle as quickly and as much as it is for men.
You might have seen professional female bodybuilders on TV shows or in the internet somewhere, but this will not be you if you do weight training. Professional female bodybuilders use hormonal supplements, have been training for a decade or two and eat twice as much as you do. There is just no way any kind of physical change will happen "accidentally" as you train. It is just that slow. When women lift weights if will make them look better and healthier.

Next off is the basic info, but I'm not sure if I can fit it all in the same post so I'll do that one later.

Quote: Vincentkoopa

Okay now that the holidays are over time to go back to exercising!
What troubles me is that I can't think of a workout routine that can fit my needs. I'm planning on trying to burn fat while also gaining some muscle, the problem is that I don't have access to a gym, weights, or a proper running area. This is due to my parents restriction on me going outside of the house. So if you guys can help, can you recommend a home workout routine that doesn't require much equipment while also helping me burn fat and gain muscle?

Sure, I'll do what I can to help you out. I was just about to post some more basic stuff first.

Okay, so here are the basics about bodybuilding and cardiovascular exercise, as well as some info about dieting and some motivation/harsh truths to end with. Sorry for the multipost, but I'm mostly copying these points from the last topic, and I don't want to wait for people to post in between.

First off, what everyone should be aware of whether you are into fitness or not, is your own anatomy. It's just one of those bits of general knowledge that you should have. Here's a good muscle chart that shows pretty much all the muscle groups. You don't need to memorize it completely, just get the general idea what goes where and what muscle performs which function. You can google it or ask me if you can't figure it out.
Now, onto the info.



Bodybuilding is the act of gaining muscle mass and losing fat through lifting weights and dieting. There are two basic considerations in bodybuilding, and those include exercise and diet. Of these two, the diet is more important. Regardless of your metabolism, body composition, genetics, your body must obey the laws of physics and biological imperatives. You cannot get what you don't eat, and you will get what you do eat. We'll get into the diet-part later.
Strength training improves your posture, strengthens your muscles and your bones, and generally makes you more energetic and less injury prone.

Muscles grow by actually tearing apart a little when you use them, and then growing back bigger in the duration of about 3-7 days. During those 3-7 days it's important to remember to sleep and eat well to allow the muscles to grow. This also causes soreness a day or two after you exercise, but it's only a sign that you've been training hard for your muscles. This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS for short.
Joint pain is never good though, and you should always put safety first when strength training. If you have pain in your joints or bones, work more carefully with lighter weights. If you still feel pain, stop working out and rest.
That said, never stretch before an exercise. Warmups are essential to prevent injury, but stretching before a workout can actually harm your muscles.

When you're just starting out you should focus on "compound movements". This means exercises that train many muscle groups at once, like push-ups train the triceps and pecs, or pull-ups/chin-ups train your biceps and your lats.
Isolation exercises like bicep curls are useless in improving your overall strength, and you don't need to focus on single muscle groups so heavily yet because you improve very easily at first. You will notice yourself getting stronger much faster than you'll notice yourself getting bigger.
Also, your first objective should not be to make yourself look better, but to simply make yourself stronger so that you can safely work with heavier weights and more complicated exercises. A part of this is learning the correct form for every exercise that you do.

As for equipment, for starters you don't need anything except a place to do pull-ups, and a mat to lie on. If you have an access to a gym or own any weights, awesome, but you don't necessarily need any to start working out.

Here's some bodybuilding terminology:

Repetition (rep) - Doing an exercise one time.
Set - A group of repetitions. A set of 5 contains 5 reps.
Break - a break of time between your sets. Usually lasts from 20 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on the intensity of your training.
Intensity - The amount of effort you put into your training. High intensity workout can leave your muscles shaking and aching, while low intensity workout doesn't even feel like work. This is a combination of how much weight you lift, how many reps you do, and how long your breaks are between your sets.
Form - How correctly you are doing the exercise. Strict form is important to prevent injury and get the most benefit from the exercise. Bad form can cause injury, work different muscles than intended or will otherwise put your effort to waste.
Barbell - A long bar you put weights on, meant for two-handed exercises
Dumbbell - A short bar with weights on the ends, meant for one-handed exercises



Cardiovascular exercise, or cardio for short, is any activity where your heart rate stays elevated. Jogging, biking, swimming, football, basketball, boxing, anything goes if it makes your heart beat fast enough. Pick one that you like and stick to it, you don't necessarily need to go jogging if you hate it.

Health-wise, cardio is more important than bodybuilding. Physical endurance ultimately counts for a lot, and it can make a huge difference in your day to day life. Cardio promotes cardiovascular health and contributes to increased bone density. Additionally, it pretty much makes everything else function better: cardio helps stabilize hormone levels, improves endurance and recovery, helps with weight maintenance, generally keeps you healthy, and finally burns calories.
Daily cardio is the absolute number one healthy habit. A good diet is the second.

Something to mention here, if you're a teenager it's probably not in your best interest to lose weight right away. That is unless you're overweight. This is because teenager's bodies generally consume more calories than an adult person's body does because they're still growing. Cardio is still good for you, but don't start dieting to reduce your bodyfat percentage if you aren't overweight.

Also, if you're not growing in height anymore, consider yourself an adult in this case.



Ok, now you know a bit about cardio and bodybuilding. Here's a bit of info about what binds these all together. What you eat.

Let's get the simple stuff out of the way. Each day your body automatically consumes the amount of calories it needs to keep your internal organs working. For an average adult this is about 2500 calories. As I said earlier, with teens it's a little more than that because they're still growing up.
If you eat more calories than that, you gain fat. If you eat less calories than that, you lose fat. If you eat the same amount of calories, you retain your bodyfat percentage. This is pure mathematics. One pound of fat is about 6000 calories, now you just need to work out how much you spend daily and do the math. You can increase the amount of calories you use daily by adding cardio and strength training.

Healthy food is pretty much always low-fat, and high in fibers and protein. Muscles need protein to grow, and if you don't get enough you'll never see any progress. For a person who works out to add muscle about 1 gram of protein per 1 lb of bodyweight per day will suffice in most cases.

It goes without saying that the healthy stuff is usually green. Vegetables are a must in any healthy diet, and stuff like fast food, soda and cheese should be cut out completely. Soda has got zero nutritional value and a ridiculous amount of calories. In fact, probably the best way to lose fat without making any huge changes in your diet is to not drink your daily calories. Drink only water, and leave out all the juice, soda, coffee etc.
It's easier to make small changes to your diet at first and then learn to stick with them. Substitute sugar-frosted corn flakes with rolled oats, have some beans instead of fries, and eat tuna, salmon and chicken instead of red meat, barbecue or bacon. Some unhealthy food here and there won't hurt you, but this is not an excuse to eat them daily. Remember, if your diet is horrible, even small changes mean a lot.

Last but not least, since this part didn't fit into my last post:



There can be many mental and emotional barriers to getting in better shape. Some are pretty extreme and beyond what I can help you with, such as eating disorders, etc. However, the most common things people usually have trouble with are pretty simple to handle.

The most important aspect of working out is not the specifics of a program or the details of a diet (though they are obviously important), but your motivation. You need to eat, rest and work out correctly to see results, but you need self-discipline to do that consistently.
The biggest problem is that people usually have this weird, preconceived image of fitness. They end up failing not because working out is so hard, but because it seems hard due to their own, warped expectations.
You can't look at diet or workouts as short-term ordeals that end at some point when you aren't out of shape anymore. They must be seen as long-term lifestyle changes. That's the secret. When you start a diet or begin to exercise, you have to think that this is what you will be doing routinely from now on. I know that might sound kinda scary, but is actually not such a hard thing to do, given that you're not too hard on yourself.
On the positive side, this means that the changes you make to your lifestyle/diet do not have to be radical. Even small changes accumulate to form big results over a long period of time (which is how long you will be holding on to them if you want to see any big results).

The harsh truth is that you will need to be patient. If you want a great body in a year or so, I cannot help you, but the sooner you start the sooner you will see results.
If you are a teen, imagine being in great shape when you're 20 years-old. You can make that change, and it doesn't require a blood sacrifice. All it takes is some significant, but livable, improvements to your lifestyle over time, and building on that.

I'm glad to be able to help. I'll post more later when I have the time, but now I gotta go.

Quote: Metallo

Samius, how long does the "pump" effect usually last after a workout?

I've also heard that in some cases, fat can actually help during lifting because it gives more support to your joints, therefore making them stable. Is that true?

A couple of hours, give or take. It depends on how intense the workout is.

Some people have taken to using this wonder of nature to their advantage by doing (for example) bicep curls to achieve a bicep pump before going to parties, clubbing, etc.

And no, fat does nothing to support your joints, and high amounts of fat (obesity) only puts strain on your joints.
Muscles do provide support. If you go to a doctor because of knee problems, they will most likely tell you to lose weight if you're obese, and to add light, low-impact exercise to increase the muscle mass in your leg to support your knee.

Quote: Metallo

Finland must be much better than America, then. Over here it's all "LOL U WEAK ***ET DO U EVN LIFT ILL BEAT U AND UR MOM"

I think the difference is mostly where your gym is located, because it kinda dictates what kind of people go there. In the USA, the range is obviously wider because it's a bigger country with bigger differences in people's wealth and upbringing.

Quote: Metallo

^That's what I thought.

Btw, there's a guy in my JROTC unit (he's a member of leadership, technically making me his boss, and he's pretty close to me) who is in dreadful physical shape, despite being in the program for 3 years and therefore constantly doing PT.

I compared my body to his and I think I found his problem:

I'm 5'6'' and I weigh 130 lbs. He's at least 5'10" (probably closer to 6') and he has to weigh about 170 lbs, if not more.

I sound like I'm way smaller, but here's the deal: his arms and legs are about the same size as mine (mine might actually be bigger due to higher muscle composition), yet his torso is WAY bigger than mine and mostly fat. It's the equivalent of a tennis ball on toothpicks.

It's pretty obvious that his limbs can't support his weight , resulting in him having to take very short strides when running, and the fact that he can't even do a single push up in proper form.

I think that HAS to result from not being active enough. His diet probably doesn't help either, since he's notorious for drinking almost nothing but Dr. Pepper. We've tried so hard to motivate him, and he has made some progress, but he seems to be frozen where he's at. I wonder what would be the best workout for him.

It's pretty obvious that your friend has some weight problems, what he should be doing is cardio (swimming gets a special mention here because it's low-impact exercise that's easy on your joints, and that is very good for people who are overweight or have joint problems) and fixing his diet.
When he has that worked out, then strength training becomes more relevant as he is no longer living with a huge calorie surplus and gets the nutrients his body needs.

A good way to start (note: not an easy way) would be to get him to drink water instead of Dr. Pepper. Drinking water is great because it fills you up, making you feel satisfied with less calories, not even mentioning the high amount of calories in the form of sugary drinks that it replaces.
This will probably be a hard change for him, but the sugary drinks have to go. They really have no place in a healthy diet. It's almost impossible to lose weight in a healthy way without drinking any water, or drinking very little of it.
If this proves to be too hard for him, make a compromise and simply try to get him to drink more water at first.

Other than that, you should try to work with your friend to set him up with some concrete goals, that's always better than some loosely-defined "just lose some weight"-kinda plan.
Use a calorie calculator to determine how many calories his body burns up in a day, and form a calorie budget for him. Also, learn how to read nutritional labels, that is a must. This way you're going to set your friend up on a well-planned diet that will work if he sticks to it. Afterwards you just need to support and motivate him to keep up.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ Here is a link to a Calorie Calculator from Scooby's Workshop. It's simple to use, and will even suggest an example meal for you, based on the macros you set up (which basically mean how large a % of your calories will come from carbs, fat and protein).

http://scoobysworkshop.com/reading-nutritional-labels/ Here is a link to a guide to the mystical realm of nutritional labels, from the same site. As you can probably tell this place has a little bit of everything. I've learned most of what I know about health and bodybuilding from Scooby, it's worth checking out.

Edit: People have been asking for info about bodyweight exercises that you can do at home and that require no equipment. I've been trying to make a list of what I can find. I'll post it later today or tomorrow.

Quote: AvatariDragon

So a couple of my friends and I decided that we're gonna try going to the gym soon. I'm pretty excited~

That's good to hear, do you have any sort or plans for what you're going to do there?

Ok, if I don't get around making this list now, I'll probably forget about it completely. Here's some bodyweight exercises you can do at home, with no equipment whatsoever.

These are a bit tricky, as you can only really do pushing exercises of many kinds without any equipment. All pulling exercises require at least some equipment. This means that your back can get neglected quite easily.

Core
- Abdominal crunches
- Oblique crunches/side crunch
- Sit ups
- Plank
- Side plank

Chest
- Wide push ups
- (push ups in general)

Triceps
- Diamond push ups
- (normal push ups are good here too)

Deltoids
- Handstand pushups (requires some skill and strength, don't hurt yourself)
- (Pushups also work front delts)

Lower back
- "Good mornings"
- "Supermans"

Quads
- Bodyweight squats
- Pistol squats

Calves
- Bodyweight calf raises

Glutes
- Abdominal bridges
- Bodyweight Squats

There's a list of some basic bodyweight exercises that you can do at home without any sort of equipment. These exercises are simple and are safe when done without any added weight. A simple Google search will probably reveal most of what I can explain about them.
Not a huge list, I know, but if you have any sort of equipment at home (dumbells, pull-up bar, etc.) you can already do a lot more. Let me know what you have available so that I might work something out.

A lot of these exercises can also be very lightweight when done with no added weights (for example, calf raises and squats), so to maximize the intensity of the workout you will need to do them slowly and with a lot of reps.

What would you like to know about next? Ask me questions and I'll give you answers.

Quote: AvatariDragon

Not really sure yet, we haven't worked out all of the details. Our school is surrounded by mountains so the campus can be quite hilly and we always seem to run out of breath going up these hills so I guess we'll just be working on cardio exercises or something. But if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them :3

Ok, well do you have any goals set in your mind that you'd want to work towards?

Quote: AvatariDragon

Quote: Samius

Ok, well do you have any goals set in your mind that you'd want to work towards?

I mostly just want to get into enough shape where I won't be so tired just from running and walking. I know that part of it is the asthma but not all of it.
I'm also kinda hoping to get rid of a little tummy and leg fat.

ok, so you want to lose bodyfat and gain endurance. Then it's cardio for you. Do what ever keeps your heart rate elevated, and try to keep doing it about 20-40 minutes a every day. You don't necessarily even need the gym, but still, go with your friends and check it out. There might be something that catches your interest.

Also, take a look at your diet. You're definitely not overweight so you don't need to make any drastic changes, but little changes accumulate over time and turn into bigger ones.

Quote: StriderSwag

God I really need to get back into shape. Luckily I live in the pits of hell so winter is about over for me. Now should I start slow with some cardio for a week or two or just go headfirst back into my old routine?

Three months isn't huge, but I'd recommend taking at least two or three workouts to evaluate your current level and get back up to speed. Never hurry when it comes to exercising.

Quote: Samius

Ok, if I don't get around making this list now, I'll probably forget about it completely. Here's some bodyweight exercises you can do at home, with no equipment whatsoever.

These are a bit tricky, as you can only really do pushing exercises of many kinds without any equipment. All pulling exercises require at least some equipment. This means that your back can get neglected quite easily.

Core
- Abdominal crunches
- Oblique crunches/side crunch
- Sit ups
- Plank
- Side plank

Chest
- Wide push ups
- (push ups in general)

Triceps
- Diamond push ups
- (normal push ups are good here too)

Deltoids
- Handstand pushups (requires some skill and strength, don't hurt yourself)
- (Pushups also work front delts)

Lower back
- "Good mornings"
- "Supermans"

Quads
- Bodyweight squats
- Pistol squats

Calves
- Bodyweight calf raises

Glutes
- Abdominal bridges
- Bodyweight Squats

There's a list of some basic bodyweight exercises that you can do at home without any sort of equipment. These exercises are simple and are safe when done without any added weight. A simple Google search will probably reveal most of what I can explain about them.
Not a huge list, I know, but if you have any sort of equipment at home (dumbells, pull-up bar, etc.) you can already do a lot more. Let me know what you have available so that I might work something out.

A lot of these exercises can also be very lightweight when done with no added weights (for example, calf raises and squats), so to maximize the intensity of the workout you will need to do them slowly and with a lot of reps.

Hhhh thank you

I need to start exercising again though at the moment I don't have access to a gym and I can only really exercise inside my home.
It's a little too cold at the moment to do anything in my backyard plus my parents won't let me go running / jogging at the nearby park or even in my own neighbourhood whenever I want to.

The only equipment that's at my house are 90-ish pound (40 kilos ???) kettlebells which are way too heavy for me at the moment ;

I'll be getting some exercise when tennis season starts but that's a month or so away. It's only really with jogging too.

Quote: Iceclaw

Hhhh thank you

I need to start exercising again though at the moment I don't have access to a gym and I can only really exercise inside my home.
It's a little too cold at the moment to do anything in my backyard plus my parents won't let me go running / jogging at the nearby park or even in my own neighbourhood whenever I want to.

The only equipment that's at my house are 90-ish pound (40 kilos ???) kettlebells which are way too heavy for me at the moment ;

I'll be getting some exercise when tennis season starts but that's a month or so away. It's only really with jogging too.

Well, you work with what you have. Of course you could ask your parents to maybe buy a set of dumbells, they can also be used ones. Your muscles can't tell whether you're lifting new, shiny, chromed weights, or old, rusty weights.

I had a proper workout for the first time in a month today, after being sick for a couple of weeks. It feels good to be back.

If there's anything fitness-related that you want to know more about, just ask. That is what this topic is for.

Quote: Coocie2

I JUST SAW THIS TOPIC SAMIUS YOU'VE ANSWERED MY PRAYERS

I've been keeping a regular gym routine circulating between weights and cardio and It's been working pretty okay so far! Although it's getting a bit annoying not being able to walk up the stairs because I'm always so sore

go hard or go home right

Pretty much. The effort you put into training correctly and intensely pays off. If you half-ass it, you get half-assed results.

Quote: StriderSwag

So uh...
I tried boxing the other day...
Didn't really do well, especially considering my arms still ache.

Did you hurt yourself, or was it just the soreness from training?

Quote: Metallo

Okay, so I've moved on to some slightly heavier weight (increased my bench press by 20 lbs, plus increased my normal rep count by 5 in each exercise I do), so I don't lift daily anymore; Tuesday and Thursday are my rest days.
Should I do some more cardio on those days, then? What do you think?

No, I don't think you should. Daily cardio is important, you also need to take the rest days seriously.

Edit: So, how is everyone doing with their workouts? I'm still willing to help you with your routines if you need them checked.

It's not bumping when you're on topic.

I'll do my best to help, but I need you to answer some questions first. First off, have you eve had an exercise routine before? And second, what equipment do you have available?

Quote: xXBeavcoonXx

Quote: Samius

It's not bumping when you're on topic.

I'll do my best to help, but I need you to answer some questions first. First off, have you eve had an exercise routine before? And second, what equipment do you have available?

No. I have 2 8 pound weights and a 10 pound medicine ball... I COULD try to go to the gym Mondays ir Fridays

The gym would be a great advantage, because you would have access to basic equipment that's also safe.
It'll take some time to whip up a basic routine because I've got a lot of other stuff to do right now. I'm online just to keep an eye on the reports.
I'll try to post something later today or tomorrow!