Evilbore official Exercise and Fitness Q&A thread!

[Fatghost28]

Post fitness or work out questions here.

[MrAngryFace]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTIONS QUESTION MASTER.

So I started drinking 8 glasses of water a day and I pee a lot. I also bought an exercise bike which I ride 30 a day and I do 30 situps when I wake up and go to bed. On weekends im usually too out of it to do these things, but weekdays im ace.

Peeing a lot sux tho, jesus. If my body is expelling all this water id think its a hint I dont need it.

[BlueTsunami]

All that water is takeing impurities in your body with it, so its definately good that your pissing so much

[The Miles Trahan Burger Experiment]

In before some asshole's "I'm a gamer I'm supposed to be a fat loser lol lol lol how do I get more chicks?" post...

[Fatghost28]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTIONS QUESTION MASTER.

So I started drinking 8 glasses of water a day and I pee a lot. I also bought an exercise bike which I ride 30 a day and I do 30 situps when I wake up and go to bed. On weekends im usually too out of it to do these things, but weekdays im ace.

Peeing a lot sux tho, jesus. If my body is expelling all this water id think its a hint I dont need it.

Drinking water:

How long have you been doing it?  What happens at first is you pee more frequently, but after a while you start peeing less, but peeing more in one go.

However:  8 glasses of water a day is a recommendation based on a bit of a misinterpretation.  8 glasses of water was originally 8 glasses of fluid, as a basic rule of thumb.  Larger people will need more liquid, smaller people will need less.  Hot days will require more.  Colder days may require less.  Exercises may need more.  If you're already drinking 8 glasses of OJ a day for example, another 8 glasses of water is probably over kill.  Aim for 8 drinks a day, if you're having alcohol or caffeine, add a half a glass of water for each drink of alcohol or soft drink or coffee.  Again, it's just a rule of thumb though. 

Riding the exercise bike:  Good stuff!  Make sure to increase the difficulty regularly to continue to improve your progress.  Either do harder or do longer, or do a bit of both.  Fitness only improves when the body is subjected to an increase in absolute intensity - if you do the same difficulty, you'll plateau, from a fitness perspective.  From a weight loss perspective, you'll only lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat.  It's quite possible to get thinner without getting fitter. 

Sit ups:  I think sit ups are a waste of time, personally.  The abdominals are a tiny muscle and the amount of energy burned during a whack of sit ups is pretty small.  You'd get better results taking that time and adding it to your bike routine, or even switching from sit ups to push ups.  At least push ups involve a greater amount of muscle mass. 

[MrAngryFace]

Lies! Im pissing away my SOUL! THE ONE GOD GAVE ME TO CHERISH FOR ALL TIME! ETERNALLY! FOREVER!~

I do sit ups cause I only really gain weight at the waist.

[Christopher]

I'm in pretty good shape I'll answer with experience answers rather than scientific textbook answers.

[Fatghost28]

Lies! Im pissing away my SOUL! THE ONE GOD GAVE ME TO CHERISH FOR ALL TIME! ETERNALLY! FOREVER!~

I do sit ups cause I only really gain weight at the waist.

Well, try drinking 5 glasses of water and see how that feels.  If you feel better with less water then who's to say that's wrong?

Sit ups won't help you lose weight around your waist.  All sit ups can do is build the abdominal muscle, and they do a pretty crappy job even of that.  To lose fat on your stomach, the only thing that works is to burn more calories in a day than you eat.  So diet and calorie burning exercise.  So the bike is a good step, and if you can add in a quality weight lifting program that will work even better.

[MrAngryFace]

Well I fucked up my metabolism a long time ago cause there are days ill eat like, almost no calories.

Horribly bored with food if im not eating WITH people

[Christopher]

MAF are you tring to loose fat or gain muscle?

[MrAngryFace]

lose fat, im not fat, 175-180, but all my fat goes to my waist. My arms, my legs, my face, and even MOST of my upper torso lack fat, but around the waist. Since its so centralized even tho im not heavy I feel overweight.

[Fatghost28]

Well I fucked up my metabolism a long time ago cause there are days ill eat like, almost no calories.

Well, your metabolism is more resilient than you think.  Your body isn't immune from the laws of physics, you have to use energy to live.  Your brain and kidneys and the rest of you are still burning as much energy today as they would have a few years ago.

What you could have done is fucked up your insulin sensitivity with bad diet, which is a different thing.  Insulin sensitivity can be improved through diet and exercise.  A diet high in protein and quality fat and low in carbs and an exercise routine based on intense weight lifting and moderate amounts of cardio can quickly improve insulin sensitivity. 

Having poor insulin sensitivity leads to higher amounts of insulin in your blood which will make you hungrier, have less energy, feel tired, and make it more likely you'll store energy as fat then packed into muscle.

[Christopher]

If you don't feel like reading his scientific answers here is some real advice and it works as I too was once a oinker.

drink TONS of water...sometimes your going to want to not even drink it anymore...throw some Cyrstal Light or Sugar Free Kool-Aid in it...it takes the water a long way. 

What I also did was a bit unhealthy at the time but I just really didn't eat that much...I'd have maybe a salad and some chicken a day but that's it.  I also rode my bike and ran like a motherfucker.  However like I said that's really unhealthy and I lost an ungoldy amount of weight in a month ...lol I remember people asking me if I had cancer.

However I got into the groove of eating healthy...just don't over do it in anything and always stick to lean meats.  The George Foreman grill has become my best friend, I usually grill the meats I need for the week in it and then eat them accoridngly.

[Fatghost28]

lose fat, im not fat, 175-180, but all my fat goes to my waist. My arms, my legs, my face, and even MOST of my upper torso lack fat, but around the waist. Since its so centralized even tho im not heavy I feel overweight.

That sounds typical of someone with impaired insulin sensitivity.  Could also be related to elevated cortisol levels too.  How old are you?

[Christopher]

Also never ever ever ever EVER eat out at a fastfood chain EVER.  Those places are beyond shit.

[MrAngryFace]

Fat:
Im 26, 175-180, like 5,9?
Well thats the thing, I didnt eat because I was bored with food but after a while, I just wasnt that hungry. Diabetes is in my family tho and I might be doing more harm than good. Cutting carbs is so evil. I already eat barely anything but feel like im gaining! NOES!

Chris: Im trying to stick with the 8 glasses thing to start. I think now that im a desk jockey gravity is imposing its will upon me.

[Fatghost28]

If you don't feel like reading his scientific answers here is some real advice and it works as I too was once a oinker.

Why do you hate freedom?  Er, I mean science?

[Fatghost28]

Fat:

Well thats the thing, I didnt eat because I was bored with food but after a while, I just wasnt that hungry. Diabetes is in my family tho and I might be doing more harm than good. Cutting carbs is so evil. I already eat barely anything but feel like im gaining! NOES!

Chris: Im trying to stick with the 8 glasses thing to start. I think now that im a desk jockey gravity is imposing its will upon me.

I hate cutting carbs too, and I'm a diabetic myself! 

What size pants do you wear?   

[MrAngryFace]

32x32? relaxed I can do 30x32

[Christopher]

Chris: Im trying to stick with the 8 glasses thing to start. I think now that im a desk jockey gravity is imposing its will upon me.

erm at least it's SOMETHING though...that's the first step.  Don't just drink your 8 glasses and then decide to have some soda...no that will retain all of the water that you kept during the day more.  Just use water as a substitute and watch how much weight you'll start to shed.  That's a big factor.

Also if you know it's junk food don't eat it...and you know what junk food is :p

Fat, I don't hate science it's just that when your giving advice it's better to speak from the heart/experience rather than to throw facts at people...no one likes that and usually never listens accordingly.  Like I remember you saying that running in the morning isn't effective, yet from me and all my gym rat buddies we live by this rule.

[Christopher]

32x32? relaxed I can do 30x32

wait what the hell?   That's not a fat size at all...

[Nick]

Fatghost: do you know anything about skin, and any ways to improve the texture and look?  I hear taking glutamine can improve the elasticity, but I'm not quite sure how to improve the overall look.

Any suggesstions?

[Fatghost28]

32x32? relaxed I can do 30x32

Yeah, ok. You're not fat then.  But you've got a belly happening.  But it's not HUGE, since you're still wearing 32's, which are pretty small as far as waists go.

You just want to tone up.  You need to hit the weights.  You can still eat carbs!  Just throw some beef in with them.  And hit the weights.  Weights are gonna get you where you want to go.  The bike and the sit ups won't. 

[MrAngryFace]

No no my weight is around the back sorta, love handles or spare tire they call it

[Christopher]

Fatghost: do you know anything about skin, and any ways to improve the texture and look?  I hear taking glutamine can improve the elasticity, but I'm not quite sure how to improve the overall look.

Any suggesstions?

Water.

[Fatghost28]

Fat, I don't hate science it's just that when your giving advice it's better to speak from the heart/experience rather than to throw facts at people...no one likes that and usually never listens accordingly.  Like I remember you saying that running in the morning isn't effective, yet from me and all my gym rat buddies we live by this rule.

I never said it wasn't effective, I just said it's no more effective than doing it at any other time...and that the only time that is most effective is the time when that particular person is able to do their best run. 

I like going by the science.  Because there is so much individual variation between each person, anecdotal evidence about what works for me may not work for you and vice versa.  I encourage everyone to try everything and do what works for them anyway, but if I can help people stay away from the stuff that is known to be a myth or stuff that might waste their time and money I've done my good deed for the day. 

Fatghost: do you know anything about skin, and any ways to improve the texture and look?  I hear taking glutamine can improve the elasticity, but I'm not quite sure how to improve the overall look.

Any suggesstions?

The glutamine thing might be related to the L-glutamine study that was done on burn victims.  I never noticed any skin improvement when i used to take glutamine, and I never noticed my skin getting worse when I stopped taking it.  Try it and see - if it works, let us know.   

[Fatghost28]

No no my weight is around the back sorta, love handles or spare tire they call it

OK, everything I wrote still applies.

You don't need to lose weight, just improve your body composition.  You want more muscle, less fat. 

If you lifted weights properly, consistently, and with enough effort for 6 months, I promise you that you'd be really really happy with the results.

[Vagabond]

MAF is probably a stringbean by genetics. I'm a size 35 waist.

[Fatghost28]

MAF is probably a stringbean by genetics. I'm a size 35 waist.

I've been fat, skinny, and everything in between.  When I was 16, I was 278 pounds, and very very fat.  I wore size 48 pants.

When I was 19, I was 129 pounds, and wore size 28 pants.

When I was 21, I was 225 pounds, wore size 33 pants, and could deadlift well over 600 lbs.

Today I'm 198 pounds, and 7 weeks into getting back into shape after taking over two years off from any exercise and eating nothing but McDonalds and working 20 hour days. 

I'm thinking I have the craziest genes of all. 

[Vagabond]

Yoyo-ing between fat and skinny is much more of a health risk than just being fat or-alternatively-being skinny all your life... be careful. You're a little more at risk of a heart attack than a fat man.

[Fatghost28]

Yoyo-ing between fat and skinny is much more of a health risk than just being fat or-alternatively-being skinny all your life... be careful. You're a little more at risk of a heart attack than a fat man.

So they say, but there isn't any conclusive evidence of that either!  No one's done any studies about the effects of significant changes in body mass and longevity or heart attack.  In fact, the evidence we have on longevity is done by observational studies of population trends, and the data actually suggests fat people live a little longer - this is because smokers tend to be thinner (and they die earlier) and people with serious illnesses tend to get thin before they die as well. 

I was fat for most of my childhood, and then being tired of being fat, I went through the whole fitness thing, getting skinny because I didn't know any better, then getting very strong when I did know better, then letting my life get in the way of training, to now coming back in a more mature way. 

What I find interesting is the question:  did I do what I did because I could (because of genetics), or did I do what I could because I made myself do it?  It was always hard work - losing 150 odd pounds was the result of a year of very hard diet and hours of daily exercise.  Building that strength took years of heavy lifting and intense dedication in the gym.  But then, how many people have the ability to stick it out and keep working at that threshold for years and years? 

[Lonestar]

Any advice on the standard bench press?  I haven't done that specific exercise in awhile forgoing it because of the needle in my chest, but I've talked to the doctors and they're cool with starting bench presses again provided I keep my ears open in the event the needle rubs up against the back of the port.  I literally haven't done a bench press in over two years.  What's a good way to start and how should I progress on weights?  As for the rest of my routine, it's working out rather well.  I'm just itching to start back bench pressing again and I have to admit, I'm a little timid about it...  I shouldn't be, but it's been awhile. 

[Vagabond]

I would start off with vertical bench press (On a cable machine) before going horizontal. That's what I did at least...

It's safer, and of course it's way less tiring, but strengthens sort of the same way. Lets me hit high reps on heavy weights.

Only thing is the cable machine doesnt scale as high, but its a very good start.

[Fatghost28]

Any advice on the standard bench press?  I haven't done that specific exercise in awhile forgoing it because of the needle in my chest, but I've talked to the doctors and they're cool with starting bench presses again provided I keep my ears open in the event the needle rubs up against the back of the port.  I literally haven't done a bench press in over two years.  What's a good way to start and how should I progress on weights?  As for the rest of my routine, it's working out rather well.  I'm just itching to start back bench pressing again and I have to admit, I'm a little timid about it...  I shouldn't be, but it's been awhile. 

I stopped doing bench press because I hated having to get a spotter to go heavy.  I do weighted dips instead, and in your case, this might be a good alternative too.

But if you must bench press (and it is a LOT of fun):

The bar should come down to the lower chest (in line with your nipples).  Your back should be tight and your feet driving into the ground (glutes are tight too).  Remember:  the bar touches your chest at the bottom.  (Although in your case you may have an excuse to do partial reps).  Your elbows should be pointed down.   

[Christopher]

I bet my kidney is alreading dieing from the creatine .

[MrAngryFace]

So there's no way to target that area? I cant just burn off the tire? Do I need to change my diet, im confused. How would lifting weights affect the area around my waist.

Not being smartass, just dont know.

[Vagabond]

the most you can do by spot exercising is putting muscle under the fat, helping it distribute more evenly and take shape. It takes off a little bit of fat, but you'd do better just to integrate that with an all-over workout and some cardio.

[MrAngryFace]

So keep peddlin I guess.

[Fatghost28]

I bet my kidney is alreading dieing from the creatine .

I doubt it. 

So there's no way to target that area? I cant just burn off the tire? Do I need to change my diet, im confused. How would lifting weights affect the area around my waist.

Not being smartass, just dont know.

Your body burns fat evenly through out your body.  But lifting weights will do a two things.  Lifting will make your shoulders, back, arms, chest and legs bigger improve your proportions that way and Lifting will help you burn fat faster. 

[APF]

Any advice on the standard bench press?  I haven't done that specific exercise in awhile forgoing it because of the needle in my chest, but I've talked to the doctors and they're cool with starting bench presses again provided I keep my ears open in the event the needle rubs up against the back of the port.  I literally haven't done a bench press in over two years.  What's a good way to start and how should I progress on weights?  As for the rest of my routine, it's working out rather well.  I'm just itching to start back bench pressing again and I have to admit, I'm a little timid about it...  I shouldn't be, but it's been awhile. 

One good way to concentrate on form is to do many brief sets of moderate weight, but not even approaching fatigue/failure--like, do 5-8 sets of 3 reps with ~80% of your 1rm, with 3-4 minutes rest between sets.  Since you don't know your 1rm at this point (and even if you do, it's likely not very well developed since you haven't benched in a while), pick a weight you would be comfortable trying for sets of 8-10 reps (if my phrasing makes sense here).  The point here isn't to fatigue the muscles, but to increase your skill/ability lifting a (relatively) high-intensity load.

[Fatghost28]

Any advice on the standard bench press?  I haven't done that specific exercise in awhile forgoing it because of the needle in my chest, but I've talked to the doctors and they're cool with starting bench presses again provided I keep my ears open in the event the needle rubs up against the back of the port.  I literally haven't done a bench press in over two years.  What's a good way to start and how should I progress on weights?  As for the rest of my routine, it's working out rather well.  I'm just itching to start back bench pressing again and I have to admit, I'm a little timid about it...  I shouldn't be, but it's been awhile. 

One good way to concentrate on form is to do many brief sets of moderate weight, but not even approaching fatigue/failure--like, do 5-8 sets of 3 reps with ~80% of your 1rm, with 3-4 minutes rest between sets.  Since you don't know your 1rm at this point (and even if you do, it's likely not very well developed since you haven't benched in a while), pick a weight you would be comfortable trying for sets of 8-10 reps (if my phrasing makes sense here).  The point here isn't to fatigue the muscles, but to increase your skill/ability lifting a (relatively) high-intensity load.

That's great advice.  Weight lifting is both an exercise and a skill.  Developing the skill will help you lift heavier and harder and that in turn will ultimately improve your fitness, health and appearance.

[Christopher]

hey fatghost do you think I should cut back on water if I'm trying to get bigger...I currently, literally, drink a gallon per day.

[Flannel Boy]

Deleted by user

[Christopher]

I know that, trust me I know pretty much all there is I'm just asking if maybe I'm drinking a bit toooo much as I want to break out of my lean shell and get more into a body builder boyd.

[Flannel Boy]

Deleted by user

[Fatghost28]

hey fatghost do you think I should cut back on water if I'm trying to get bigger...I currently, literally, drink a gallon per day.

1 gallon is about 4 litres which is about 16 glasses, right?


Won't do anything bad for you. 

[APF]

Yeah, it's just water... the worst that can happen is your bladder will explode during squats or deadlifts or something, that would suck.  Or you'd be going to the bathroom so much you'll never have time to eat.

[APF]

Ooh.. here's a serious one though--if you drink too much too close to bedtime you may not have a full/restful sleep, for obvious reasons.

[LiuKangBakingAPie]

So there's no way to target that area?

I know this is an old post, but lol @ spot reducing coming up again and again and again in these threads. I always figured it was common knowledge that it can't be done because I knew that shit before I ever lifted a weight, but Internet forums have shown me I'm just too fucking smart.

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm sort of like MAF. My arms/legs/etc aren't fatty at all, but I have a slight potbelly. I've started drinking more money, but I'm not anywhere near 8 glasses a day yet. I'm drinking a big ass glass of icewater right now though.

Since September when I started school, I've been walking to classes. Tues. and Thurs. I walk around 10-15min to class.

Should I start doing push ups before going to the gym?

I'm 6'3, around 178lbs

[MrAngryFace]

fun fact, its harder to drink a lot of cold water than it is a lot of cool water.

[Vizzys]

I've started drinking more money, but I'm not anywhere near 8 glasses a day yet.

Theres your problem...

[Fatghost28]

PD:

You can do push ups if you want, but you'd be better off going to the gym and doing barbell bench press and bent rows, or weighted dips and weighted chin ups.

[Mupepe]

I'm sort of like MAF. My arms/legs/etc aren't fatty at all, but I have a slight potbelly. I've started drinking more money, but I'm not anywhere near 8 glasses a day yet. I'm drinking a big ass glass of icewater right now though.

Since September when I started school, I've been walking to classes. Tues. and Thurs. I walk around 10-15min to class.

Should I start doing push ups before going to the gym?

I'm 6'3, around 178lbs

Have you cut out sodas, buddy?  I hope so.  Cutting out sodas will make you drink a lot more water and will go a long with in getting rid of that pot belly.

And you can do push ups before you start going to the gym, but you're better off just using some of the equipment there, like a barbell, to get the same effects.

Are you wanting to get cut, slim down or bulk up?

[Christopher]

fucking just drink water only anyway so many advantages, my skin was a mess in high school until I only started to drink water and then it cleared up as well as it's an easy way too drain out your body of crap.

[morphix]

I hear drinking nothing but Worcestershire sauce will make you ripped.