Need Tips for Getting in SERIOUS Shape!

What are you trying to do? Bulk up or get cut? You said you did not want to buy a gym membership, you should look for a used cage system. Not just a bench put something with a lat pull down bar. Sounds expensive but you can get one used for around $100. Cheaper then paying for gym member ship every month. If you do not want to use wights then google calastetics. Heavy wight=bulk light wight=cut.

If you want to bulk up, you got to go to the gym.

If you're trying to lose weight, run. Also check out juicing as an alternative to eating meals. It doesn't have to be a 100% juicing diet. For the past month and a half, I've been trying to drink 32oz of vegetable juice and 16oz of fruit juice a day, but along with that, I still eat things like apples, bananas, protein fortified yogurt, nuts, and one normal meal. I've lost 20 pounds so far, trying to go for 30 more. If you do juice, try putting in a leafy green in each juice serving. Because juicing is a bit more expensive than regular food, I'd suggest using spinach for your leafy green as I've found it yeilds more juice than kale, mustard greens and turnip greens. A bunch of spinach yeilds between 1/2 cup and 1 cup of juice, other greens can't do that. If you can, sip your juice a little at a time as well as eat your food in small portions throughout the day. This will give your stomach the chance to shrink.

Originally posted by wWizard

Originally posted by Death_Kron
Plus no carbs after 18:00PM

There is 6:00 PM and there is 1800, but there is no 1800 PM

Clever clogs

reply to post by satron


I have a juicer and drinking juice always made me feel full.
I need to lose 50 lbs. and drinking juice would help.
My juice...apples,carrots,cucumbers,pears, oranges and celery.
Thanks for reminding me about juicing.

A person must first be willing to make a commitment to a lifestyle choice. Once that has been accepted, then diet and exercise can be managed according to the individual. Having said that, I'm partial to the cross-fit philosophy (P90X has been mentioned) there is also this concept, CrossFit which appears rather hard-core, but you get the idea... Incorporating a Martial Art is also an excellent option and highly encouraged. Bottom line: if you don't like it or it doesn't fit your life, you won't do it, so whatever mix of routines you choose, make sure it's one that will fit you.

reply to post by mamabeth


Oranges and apples? Do you normally like eating those foods? If so, why do you juice what you already like eating? I juice fruits and vegetables that I don't normally eat. Even though it's still healthy, it's better to eat foods whole when given the chance. There is benefits in the pulp that are left out of the juice, mainly fiber.

Paleo diet for the win! It's simple, yet difficult. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no potatoes, no tortillas. That's it. Nothing made of grain. I don't know about the quinoa, that sounds like a good exception.

It's hard to just leave these things out unless you make the food yourself. But if you can do it, and get into ketosis, that is fat burning mode, you will become lean and mean.

Of course you have to exercise, but pretty much anything is good, as long as you do it EVERY DAY. Swimming is probably the best overall, but bike, run, yoga, weightlifting, martial arts, it's all good. Just do it regularly. The more the better, but you have to work your way up. And not many people that are not in jail or pro athletes have the time to be working out all day. Me, I take a run and swim in the morning(I live at the beach) and alternate days lifting weights and kickboxing in the afternoons. But whatever floats your boat is good. If you like doing it, it's much easier to keep it up. Windsurfing or kiteboarding or kayaking every day would be a great workout by itself. That's just what I'm into, tennis or whatever is just as good.

But the diet is actually more important than the workout. Well, they go hand in hand. You cannot do one and not the other, or your results will be negligible, and you will give up in disgust. But once you get used to a healthy diet, you will wonder how you used to even eat that crap. If I eat something like mcdonalds I feel like I've swallowed a rock.

reply to post by nh_ee


Bruce lee used alot of electro stimulation to make muscles.
he would put the paddles on and just sit there while the paddles stimulated him.
watch the bruce lee movie.

reply to post by JibbyJedi


Well when I say breakfast I mean a healthy one.
egg whites or other protien, whole grains, fruits. Things of that nature.

I ued to do egg whites and home made salsa for breakfast with a side of oatmeal and some strawberries thrown in to give the oatmeal some taste.

You just have to get in your mind that you need to have lean meats, whole grains, fruits and veggies in your diet.
And if you can eat small portions throughout the day even better.
Portion control is important for those trying to lose wieght along with eating more so you don't feel like your starving throughout the day is important.

reply to post by satron


I like the juice and my juicer saves the pulp.I have even baked
some of the pulp into cookies.I have made jam from juice and
pulp too.I haven't made juice for awhile and I need to get back
to it!

This is ridiculous. And it's exactly why you should never ask for health/training advice on a conspiracy website. How anybody can begin to offer advice to this guy/girl when you have no idea what he/she is eating, how physically active he/she is, what kind of physical activity is being done, weight/body composition, etc.

To the OP: Without knowing any real details...I would say PALEO. Search paleo diet and lifestyle online and you'll find a community of bloggers that range from people with no formal education or training to people with PhDs and MDs...all of them sharing the paleo lifestyle from their own perspective.

If you wanna provide some details about what you're doing now and what you want to achieve and in what time frame...I'd be more than happy to share some advice.

reply to post by grey580


Unfortunately, you're a little behind...

Lean meats and egg whites and whole grains and tons of fruits and vegetables....blah blah blah. Low-fat diets don't do much...except maybe some harm. Egg yolks and fatty meats are quite healthy. Whole grains...I really shouldn't get started on gluten and lectins.

reply to post by wWizard


Okay, sit down, shut up, and listen up.

If you want to get in good physical shape overall, you need to maximize three areas of your lifestyle.

Number one is your diet. Go through the list of foods that you like, and the ones that you can tolerate. Look up the nutrition facts for each one. Now choose only the foods that provide the highest amounts of nutrients, with the lowest amounts of calories. Generally speaking carbohydrates will give you energy, protein will build muscle, and healthy fats will increase your endurance. You need all of these in the proper amounts, along with calcium, and various vitamins and minerals. You may need to do some trial and error to maintain your weight. Since you are slender to begin with, you need to make sure not to slip below your current body weight too much. Losing weight and too much body fat? Look over your diet again. You can attempt to "map out" your entire needs, but that takes way too long and is very inaccurate. Carbohydrates and protein that are not used in activity will turn into fat. So make sure to actually use what you eat. One more thing for this section. Do not eat any processed food. Eat real meat (lean meat), real veggies, and real fruit. Whole grain bread is perfectly fine, just don't eat too much of it (has a lot of carbs).

Second change you need to make is to include basic weight lifting into your weekly schedule. You want to do this for more than just brute strength. Since you are a man, I assume, you will have the best amount of overall fitness from a body building routine that will strengthen all three types of muscle tissues. I recommend that before you do any weight lifting, you get on google and learn what types of muscle tissue your body has, and how to properly exercise each type. This will make you strong at doing something that's very difficult (bench pressing), for a short time, doing something that's moderately difficult for a moderate amount of time (lifting a couch out the door to a truck), and doing something that's relatively easy (holding your arms out in front of you until you can't hold them up any longer), for an extended period of time. Having the capability to lift a heavy amount of weight is only one dimension of strength. If you want to see how the various muscle tissue conditioning can change the perception of strength, youtube "Bill Kazmaier vs Ron Paul". The body builder (overall conditioned muscles) beat the power lifter (brute power) in a legendary face off of strength athletics. The better conditioned your muscles are, the more calories will be burned, and the more oxygen will be required, in a given time of cardiovascular exercise. Inverse to that, smaller muscles burn less calories and can go longer, and faster (theoretically).

The third change you need to make is doing cardiovascular training. This will increase cardiovascular endurance greatly, and burn body fat that you don't need. You can choose to do whatever you want, use whatever machine you want, or whatever method you want. If you want to be a fast distance runner, then do distance running. If you want to be a fast sprinter, then try a power walk/run approach to your cardio. If you want to be fast on a bike, ride a bike. You can also cross train with things like running/biking or biking/swimming. There's a lot of information available about it, and many combinations of cardio cross training that will benefit your entire body, rather than only making you better at one aspect.

Those are the three areas of improvement that need to be changed to change your fitness. The attitude of "oh well I can eat this if I just run a little more next session" will not help. Not lifting weights at your full capacity, or when you're feeling tired and run down, will not help. Cutting out calories because you're tired of running will not help. You get what you put into it. Put a lot into all three areas, and you will look awesome in 6 months to a year. I recommend that you do some quality research about each area and learn how to do it right. I could tell you, but it would be easier for you to find it yourself.

It's generally accepted as truth that you can't bulk up and do cardio at the same time. It's not entirely true, your body can gain muscle while doing cardio, it just does it a lot slower and in smaller amounts (usually).

Lastly, remember to make sure that you're challenging yourself, not trying to keep up with someone that's already way ahead of you. Doing that will result in burn out or health issues. Staying in shape is 50% will power, and probably 50% knowledge. The majority of people have no idea what to do to stay in shape, which is why personal trainers offer amazing results. They know how to stay in shape.

p.s. The paleo diet sounds like a low or no carb diet. That's great for losing large amounts of body fat quickly, but for a dude that's 160 lbs and 5'8", not the best idea. It will just result in his energy levels going to the basement, and his workouts will suck because of it.

I love how the dude ways 160 lbs and everyone is giving weight loss tips. The best thing you could do if you are looking to gain weight is to go out and buy a couple of Bodybuilding Magazines. Reps! Magazine is probably the best one out there I have found. They will give you diet tips, exercise tips with instruction. everything you need to know can b found in these. Follow the weight lifting routines to the t. Avoid the high priced supplements in the ads though. And you gonna have to eat a lot . If your serious about gaining size. I would say at least 2.5 grams of protein per lb of your body weight everyday. And divide meals into 6 smaller meals throughout the day.

Also. You can replicate most and weight lifting exercise with a set of dumbells. gyms and expensive benches are not necassary.

double post! sorry

reply to post by Thestargateisreal


Don't be silly. There is currently a very healthy debate in the Paleo community regarding the subject of low-carb vs. high-carb. As far as energy during workouts....come on. Low-carb diets can provide sufficient glucose to glycogen stores in the liver and muscles.

reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd


You can debate anything, doesn't mean you're actually going to prove anything.