Fitness Thread III - We're here to pump you up!!

New Thread.

I have a local half-marathon tomorrow and was hoping to set a PR since it is a very flat out and back course. But the weather looks like it will be crappy (chance of rain) and a good headwind on the return leg. Oh well. I'm now looking forward to the good beer afterwards! There are some boozers in the running club!

Good luck w/ your race! Does anybody know about spinning classes? I'm getting bored of my usual elliptical and treadmill workout, but don't know if spinning is as good of a workout. Have any of you been to a class, my gym offers one in the pm usually when i'm there and i'm tempted to give it a shot.

Kinda was a bum with cardio during my unemployment. Was hitting the crossfit gym to get me out of bed in the morning and running, but it got cold. I've been in the pool once a week the last few weeks, need to go three times a week! Did get 15 muscle ups yesterday, in sets of 3, and strung together more than one in a row for the first time ever. I've put on some weight since the marathon, but I think most of it has been muscle. I think once I start working again I'll get back to eating better because I won't be stuck at home with a house full of food.

The race went well last weekend. There was a 25 mph headwind on the return leg, but it was actually mostly cross-wise at the turn and then we had some shelter from homes on a good portion of the leg. But it started raining at mile 10 and went head on into the wind around mile 11. Ugh. Somehow I managed a PR though! 2:04. Happy with that for sure!

Now I need to keep up the miles (as well as can be done over the holidays!) so I'm ready for next year. Still thinking about a full marathon in the spring.

Go for the full marathon!

upping this, playing basketball again heavily strapped up and gyming, thinking of using a program recommended to me in the last thread! hope everyones still running/swimming

I ran the marathon just so I can say i ran it. But, I think long distance runs are ineffective to getting the optimal result.

Got three leagues coming up, workout/bike the off days, and lift about twice a week.

Is anyone dieting at the moment? I'm actually into my 2nd month of p90x and it's actually working quite well. I got really desperate because in my 2nd year out of high school I've packed on a good 30 pounds! Shocking, I know. I just had some questions on dieting and how any if any of you mix it up? I've always been really capable of cutting weight by working out hard because of my soccer background but dieting is new. I'm not eating fast foods, anything processed and I've cut my sugar intake dramatically. I'm taking whey protein and eating fruits, and veggies as well as a few other things. So far it's working but like I said I just want somebody with more knowledge to share their experience. My goal is not really to be ripped as p90x promises but get lean and fit. So far so good. Well, thanks!

Instead of eating large portion meals, try to eat small portions throughout the day--it will help increase your metabolism. Also, since your goal is to get lean, moderation is the key. It doesn't matter if your on a fat-free or low-carbs diet--if you eat too much, your going to gain weight. Set a limit for daily calorie-intake, and don't exceed it. Diet is really difficult and requires a lot of discipline; however, if you keep with your goals, your going to see results.

Overall, the simple equation is Calories burned> Calories eaten= lose weight.

Congrats on the 2nd month of P90x. It's a really great program for losing weight. Also, you might want to try Insanity and Insanity- Asylum since those two are more cardio-orientated. Good luck!

Actually, this is incorrect. There's not much you can do to increase or decrease your metabolism, since it simply the sum of the processes that keep you alive. A sustained low calorie diet can cause metabolic adaptations that lower your metabolism for a short while, but that has to do with overall caloric intake and not frequency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

There are a ton of scientific studies out there that show there's no difference in fat loss between a higher number of meals or a low number of meals, all calories being equal. If you eat just a couple of times during the day, energy needs will be covered by burning fat (which has been contributed to by the food previously eaten). If you eat many times per day, you don't dip into fat stores, but the food you eat doesn't have time to convert to fat (again, provided you're in a caloric deficit; if you're eat well above maintenance, it's going to be stored as fat, regardless of how many times you eat).

Spot on!

Personally, when I'm cutting down, I do one protein shake, and 6 cups of cottage cheese (fat free) with 4 cups of pineapple. That gives me plenty of protein for the day and enough carbs to sustain my exercise habits. That ends up to be about 1500 per day, which is about 300 calories below maintenance for me. Add in the exercise, and you can shed weight like crazy without losing too much muscle in the process.

The reason why I mentioned it is because it works for me. Perhaps, it don't increase metabolism, but it does maintain its rate. I trained with many people who do the same thing, and there are many stuff online about eating small meals a day. Even the people at bodybuilding.com suggest I do it. But the most important thing is the calories- quota.

Also, if you guys wanna see Blake Grifftin's workout back in the day(look below) I heard this guy eats like 12,000 calories a day, but he is a athlete.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rhg10_Ptkc&feature=player_embedded"]A day in the life of Blake Griffin/ Insane workout - YouTube[/ame]

I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm simply saying that it's unnecessary. I know lots of people recommend it, but it has never been backed up by hard science, nor has the claim that it increases satiety. Even if you eat every hour on the hour, if you're significantly under your basal metabolic rate for an extremely long time, your metabolism will still slow down. But, that takes quite a few weeks of a sustained deficit, whether you eat all at once or 18 meals a day.

I used to do the 6 meals a day thing, but it's a pain in the ass. Since I switched to 2-3, my life got a lot less complicated and I was able to spend a lot less time planning when I was going to eat and worrying about it if I missed a meal. It's very freeing!

I actually eat 3 meals and 3 snacks. So 6 total. I'm not as busy as you are so it isn't a hassle for me. I eat in moderation, especially considering that I used to eat a ton and only managed to get away with it in high school because I was constantly training. I watch the fat intake and carbs. I only eat chicken breast, ground turkey, salmon sometimes as far as meats go. I eat only brown whole grain rice and that's only a few times a week. I make sure I eat salads, like spinach and that. I usually eat eggs whites in the morning with turkey bacon because the p90x says so. So far I'm starting week 7 today, I've definitely lost fat and gained muscle but I'm going to take it up a notch and start doing doubles a couple times a week. I'm also on whey protein, creatine and a pre workout supplement that makes me jump off walls.

I typically eat about 1500-1900 calories a day.

Good stuff.

I took the plunge and signed up for a marathon mid-April in Dallas. It will be my first one. Training has been going OK, but as I've gotten into longer distances, I've needed a bit more time to recover, which then impacts training runs during the week.

Ran a slow 18 miler on Sunday. I have a "step-back" week this weekend, then a 20 miler before my taper.

My goal for this race is to finish. We'll see after that if I want to go again!

Last years , I decided to run the L.A. Marathon two months before the actual event. I was only able to get in around 13.5 miles before the race. Gotta admit I was scared, but i was able to finish in around 4 hours. The last six miles was the hardest and I thought my hamstrings was gonna snap haha Once I was able to see the actual finish line, I just hauled ass. Not to mentioned it was raining the whole day, and I was not prepare for that either.

played football tonight, 6 months on from my horrific ankle dislocation! scored too and had some bergkamp esque passes while rocking my 08 home top

BAWSS

That's a great speed for 13+ miles. Did you train for it?