File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Ok, /fit/, I'm not going to lie to you. I need some advice and I think you guys are the best place to get it. You don't need to know much about me other than my size and stuff, I guess;

5'10 210lbs (though thats probably slighly, and I do mena slightly, more than I weigh right now).

This makes me a fat fuck, this I know.

Im not horribly unfit, and my goals are losing fat, gaining stamina and upper body strength in particular (I play 'soccer' and I need it as a defender) and as a byproduct of this defined muscles.

At the moment this is what I do to get to my goals'

5-a-side football (or soccer) 1 hour a week - this is like cardio, in general terms but quite intense.
11 a side football - usually 45 minutes - my lack of stamina means I dont get full games, hence my desire for more.

I also go to my local gym at least twice a week (usually in fact, very occasionaly I can make it 3) where I will do;

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>> Anonymous
Anyone?

Or am I doing ok?
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
...Man, I though I'd asked nicely and everything.
>> Anonymous
Use freeweights. Do all the exercise in Starting Strength, plus pull-ups. Your routine sucks and is imbalanced.
>> Anonymous
Can you explain why?

I didn't create it - I'm totally new to this whole thing so I just did what the guy told me to do.
>> Anonymous
>>265149
Starting Strength has added mass to tons of people. Just do it. "A guy" does not beat so many proven success stories.

Off hand, there is nothing there for the back. Neither the erector spinae nor the lats. You are backless with that shit program.
>> Anonymous
I concur with
>>265148
your routine does suck and I have comments for at least 2 parts:
>>10 minutes excersize bike (again, as much of a push as I can manage).
this is idiotic - you are going to dameage your knees
>>2200 calories a day.
This is too little food - if you have the right routine you can eat MUCH more than this and lose weight. I went from 185 down to 172, while eating 3500 cal a day. I am 6'2"
>>3 sets of 12 reps on various machines at the heighest weight I can actually do
not good
>>
5-a-side football (or soccer) 1 hour a week - this is like cardio, in general terms but quite intense.
If you think playing football with your pals is cardio, you should get trainer to teach you how intense real cardio is.
>> Anonymous
Also, imbalances between the quads (leg press) and hamstrings (not worked) can cause injury. It's bad.
>> Anonymous
Ok, thanks for the comments guys.

Can you suggest a routine that would make more sense for me then? Preferably using home stuff as much as possible.

3500 is a lot more than I thought I could eat, too.
>> Ian Curtis !f0VMpnwSCQ
>>265154
If he's playing real indoor/futsol it's fucking crazy intense, but if it is a kick around with the lads it's mickey mouse.
>>265157
Try Starting Strength's 5x5 program (look it up on /rs/) but add some pullups, dips and a thorough ab routine. You need the abs because that's how you develop strength in standing up to the fat guy who plays up front and backs into you, doing as many benches and curls won't help you a whole lot. Also, you are probably minging judging on the weight and the fact you can only play 45 minutes as a defender, nobody subs off defenders unless they are shit.
Also get Pavel's Naked Warrior into you and look up on beast skills various bodyweight exercises you can do.
>> Anonymous
Well... minging is probably a tad harsh mate. I dont start, so I usually come on in the second half for my sunday league side. I might well start if I was fitter though.

It is proper indoor 5 a side. We dont play head height, we use the height of the basketball nets that surround the court so there are even less breaks in play. Deffinatley not a kick around!

I will look that up, though, thanks for the advice.
>> Anonymous
>>265157
For food, first definitely stop having dessert.

Cutting down on carbs in general is the next step. Having a sandwich or 2 w/wheat bread a day won't hurt you, but cut out chips, crackers, and cereal if you can.

While we're on cereal, anything with a lot of sugar is not a good idea, so any kind of non-diet soda should be avoided, as should other sugar-heavy food stuffs.

Drink a lot of water, if you remain hydrated, you won't retain as much water. More pissing but it's worth it.

Try and spread out your meals. Rather than having three big meals, try having 4 or 5 smaller meals. Fill inbetween meals with little snacks like a bag of peanuts or a few slices of meat. That spacing can help give a boost to your metabolism.
>> Anonymous
>>265157
>>265211
Almost forgot, cut out any alcohol consumption completely if you haven't already.
>> Anonymous
>>265215

...I can but try.

I would like to go down the smaller meal route, as I know that makes a lot of sense.

My main problem is that I love the carbs, in any variety. I drink diet drinks or water, and I never drink coffee.

Typically, my weekday diet would be;

Porridge (made with water, a tea spoon of suger to taste)

2 Meat based sandwiches (ham or chicken, generally 3,4 wafer thin slices)
2 Apples

Chilli (homemade - very basic) roughly 250g beef and the same again rice.

And thats pretty much it. Maybe a bag of crisps every now and then.

Like I say, I drink diet cola and water.

How can I change to the smaller meals approach? My work situation is quite ideally suited to it in all honesty as I get breaks where I can eat so I can easily have breakfast, meal, lunch, meal, dinner and so on.

Thanks for the advice guys.
>> Anonymous
>>265304
If you want to develop a proper lifting routine, that will later will give you proper options, then you need to change your routine. Right now you've been given the standard knock-off routine given to anyone who goes into the gym for a program and has real idea what they want.

With that in mind, the starting strength routine is a great one so long as you focus heavily on getting your form correct early on.

http://rapidshare.com/files/96508172/Starting_Strength.pdf.html

Tells you about everything you could ever want to know about most of the exercises you'll be doing, and www.stronglifts.com beginners 5x5 program is the generally recommended one for people on here.

Your routine should go something like this...
(put cardio where you want it)

Warm up (5~mins cardio), Dynamic stretching.
http://laurensfitness.com/2008/07/24/best-warm-up-ever/

Strong lifts 5x5 program (if you can get a friend who wants to gain strength with you then bring him along, it helps a lot to have someone there to spot you, for bench press if nothing else).

Then you can do some ab exercises, google around for better alternatives to crunches. I personally like combining reverse crunches with leg extensions for the abdominals, and also do a routine with a friend and a medicine ball. Also a bit of oblique work afterwards but I still haven't found anything that really does it for me with them.

Slot your cardio in where you want it. I wouldn't do more than 20 minutes before lifting, and you may want to do less, or even do barely any cardio on lifting days and have an off day for cardio.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/
>> Anonymous
>>265324(cont.)
As for weight loss. Doing cardio with intervals has been proven more effective [for weight loss ] than doing plain steady state cardio, noone is entirely sure why, but some Australian study found it.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatburn.htm
Read this.

Your diet doesn't sound particularly bad. If you can cut out the diet coke then do it, or cut it down as much as possible. Replace it with an occasional fruit juice or something (inb4 sugar). Also replace some of the apples with some variety, the whole point of "5 a day" is five different types of fruit+veg a day, not just 5 portions of the same. Variety will help balance your diet out nutrition wise.

Again stronglifts has alot of diet advice, particularly for the small and often meal approach.
>> Anonymous
>>265336
>>265324

Thanks!

I have spoken - briefly - to some friends of mine who are a bit more clued up on this and they suggested (perhaps kindly) that the routine I had (wich does actually have something for the back in it, I just forgot to add that) is a general one to get into condition.

Good to hear that my diet is not too bad, I had a feeling I was along the right lines at least.

My main concern about using free weights is that, while I'm sure they are better for a variety of reasons, I go to the gym on my own and the free weights areas are always thronged with massive guys and as I don't really know what I'm doing I tend to get in the way.

Can I do similar excersizes on machines until I feel more comfortable and then move onto free weights, or am I barking up the wrong tree?
>> Anonymous
>>265344
Nope. No machines, sorry. As long as you read the strong lifts article and http://rapidshare.com/files/96508172/Starting_Strength.pdf.html then you will have a better idea of what you're doing than most of the butch guys.

I know its pretty intimidating to start off with, especially when you're using puny weights. But stick with it, no one really cares. Just be aware that some people may come over and offer you stupid advice some times (like don't squat all the way down) and similar shite.

If you can, then go at quiet times as well, friday or saturday night are great times to go if you can (social life allowing). Also out of curiosity, as you're plainly English, whereabouts are you?
>> Anonymous
>>265374

In the awesomely cold North East.

OK, I guess I just need to man up. I suppose I can ask the staff for pointers on what does what combined with my reading.

Yeah, it is the puny weights that make you feel like a bit of a dork. But I suppose I don't really pay attention to what other people are doing so I why would they watch me.
>> Anonymous
>>265376
As long as you stick to the program it'll only take about 2 months before you start lifting respectable weight. 1 month and you will be lifting a reasonable amount as well.
>> Anonymous
>>265376
Oh, and be aware that the staff aren't necessarily going to be able to give you great advice on lifting, although its pretty dependant on the gym you go to. If you read ripptoes starting strength from that rapidshare link, and practise a bit in the mirror or whatever before you go just to get the principles of the squat and the deadlift (the rest are cake) then you should be fine for lifting technique. And the program itself is pretty comprehensive.
>> Anonymous
OK /fit/ thanks for your help.

I (probably) won't let you down.
>> Anonymous
>>265438
Stupid to have forgotten this, but sleep is also a factor. If you aren't getting enoguh sleep, your metabolism won't get into any kind of stable level. Try and get good, regular sleep.