Gym/running advice thread

If you are thinking of doing a few sessions a day then best of using a recovery shake rather than a pure protien or groth one.

For a shake like promax to work properly then you really need to watch your diet and check your carb intake a lotor you will get bigger but at the same time get more flab as well due to carbs not being burnt up.

The best shake if you like that i have found is the SiS Rego recovery. It i sa well ballanced shake which has enough in to help muscle growth but not high in carbs to hinder weight loss. I take one after my first session if i am doing two a day.

As for your routine, when in the Gym why waste your time on a rower or running machine, do a weight session designed to tone and all over strength instead. Save your CV for running outside. you will benifit a lot more than using a pontless machine.

+1 on the dont run in Gym, it's a waste. The only cardio I do is swimming in the gym for obvious reasons.

My cycling mate and I have discovered some absolute beautifull places. Off footpaths/canals/B-roads. Really enjoyable - thats the best way to train. As we enjoy it we will be out for hours on a Saturday

Originally Posted by flymo

phoar! look at those beauties

Thats it, now you don't get my phone number...

Originally Posted by Noble Ox

Eat lots of veg. Carbs in the morning. Don't go 4 times a week, I'd say 3 times a week, and vary your muscle work. I.e Chest and biceps one day. Back shoulders another. Abs and Triceps on third day. Go every other day. Do cardio on the day you dont go gym. If you do both cardio and weights on same day, do cardio first. If your doing cardio, you wont need to work your legs in the gym. Swimming is great for cutting down. But I reckon your best bet would be to turn it all to muscle.

If you do this you wont have to cut back on your food. Maybe even eat more. Fish and chicken are especially good. By the sounds of things you'd build muscle quite easy, as the mass is there already. I.e its way hard for a really naturally skinny guy (me) to get hench.

If you want to build muscle though, working your legs (biggest muscles in your bodies) releases lots of hormones for muscle growth. Cycling is good for this. Join the gym and do a spin class - God it's tough!

If your serious there's loads of supplements to take. Amino acids, protien shakes etc. but I'm not that clue'd up on it all.

Aran

Right then, no intentions of insulting anyone, but some of the advice on here is fairly appalling. For some more well-informed advice, check out the Mens Health Forums, they have a Beginner's FAQ section

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/chatroom/topic/310453

It answers pretty much all your questions, if you can be bothered to read it all, which I suggest you do!

I'm no expert, but have turned to these guys for advice on gym & diet info a few times, and they are very knowledgeable.

Statements like ''dont go 4 times a week'' and ''If you do both cardio and weights on same day, do cardio first. If your doing cardio, you wont need to work your legs in the gym'' are ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!

Seriously, doing cardio first is an absolute no-no. Your body uses explosive movements and huge amounts of energy in lifting weights, why tire it out with cardio first? You'll just compromise your lifting abilities.

And the thing about not needing to do legs if you do cardio is a joke

Again, I don't mean to offend people, but you shouldn't offer advice if you're not 100% sure yourself.

Cheers Rob I shall check out that website.

I'm looking for peoples personal experiences, I'm not worried if their not exactly perfect for me, i'm just curious about what works for certain people, although thanks for pointing out that one about cardio and weights on the same day, I see your point.

My personal experience is that lugging big lumps of metal about (weightlifting) tends to give better results than pounding away on the road/treadmill for hours on end.

Another benefit is that weightlifting stokes your metabolism, meaning that your body continues to burn calories in an effort to rebuild the torn muscle for hours after exercise, which doesnt happen to the same degree with cardio stuff.

The advice I hear repeated over and over is that if you are new to training, you should concentrate on working the large muscle groups (back, chest, legs etc) rather than worry about training specific parts like biceps (disco arms )

The best way to do this is to do a full-body workout a few times a week, consisting of compound exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, pull ups, bench press etc.

This will help to build a solid core, from which you can build further.

Most importantly, and as you have no doubt found out yourself, is your diet. No point wasting hours in the gym if you're not feeding your body what it needs

Originally Posted by Roberrrrt

Right then, no intentions of insulting anyone, but some of the advice on here is fairly appalling. For some more well-informed advice, check out the Mens Health Forums, they have a Beginner's FAQ section

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/chatroom/topic/310453

It answers pretty much all your questions, if you can be bothered to read it all, which I suggest you do!

I'm no expert, but have turned to these guys for advice on gym & diet info a few times, and they are very knowledgeable.

Statements like ''dont go 4 times a week'' and ''If you do both cardio and weights on same day, do cardio first. If your doing cardio, you wont need to work your legs in the gym'' are ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!

Seriously, doing cardio first is an absolute no-no. Your body uses explosive movements and huge amounts of energy in lifting weights, why tire it out with cardio first? You'll just compromise your lifting abilities.

And the thing about not needing to do legs if you do cardio is a joke

Again, I don't mean to offend people, but you shouldn't offer advice if you're not 100% sure yourself.

Jeez!

Sorry I did write it all quite bluntly, as I wrote it in a rush (im at work apparently!) so I can see why you interpreted it how you did....

It was a personnel suggestion to the OP not to go 4 times a week as he is new. I'm not trying to say never ever go to the gym as much as 4 times a week or as little as 2 times a week, it MUST be 3 times a week else all will fail and the world will come to an end!.... But I can see that the 'don't go 4 times a week' may suggest this.

I find that as I run/cycle/swim at least one of these everyday, I don't need to wieght train my legs.

As for the cardio before wieghts - I was told this by a PT at my gym, just passing on what I've heard.


Sorry I will never try and pass friendly advice/suggestion again

Originally Posted by Noble Ox

Jeez!

Sorry I did write it all quite bluntly, as I wrote it in a rush (im at work apparently!) so I can see why you interpreted it how you did....

It was a personnel suggestion to the OP not to go 4 times a week as he is new. I'm not trying to say never ever go to the gym as much as 4 times a week or as little as 2 times a week, it MUST be 3 times a week else all will fail and the world will come to an end!.... But I can see that the 'don't go 4 times a week' may suggest this.

I find that as I run/cycle/swim at least one of these everyday, I don't need to wieght train my legs.

As for the cardio before wieghts - I was told this by a PT at my gym, just passing on what I've heard.


Sorry I will never try and pass friendly advice/suggestion again

Haha great comment

I'm at work too, bit stressed, like having outlets for my rants

Hell, at least the OP and yourself make an effort to exercise, there are a lot of NHS-sapping fatties out there....

Oh, and take what the PT's at the gym say with a pinch of salt, a lot of them tend to have interesting ideas...

Ok, this is gonna take more work than I expected, just ran 1.3km in 13mins dead on