All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[Antacular]

Smith machine?

[Ace]

Can't do a proper deadlift with a Smith Machine.

[Antacular]

Can use it for squats though. Hyperextensions are a good substitute for DL.

[Reggie20x6]

Squats and Oats, brochacho!

 

Then, after you've got three weeks of lifting under your belt, just jump right into the Smolov Squat program - This is an advanced weight lifting forum, after all!

[Antacular]

Oats??? Don't be ridiculous! You get all the complex carbs you need via eating the buckshot used to kill your own post-workout meal, muchacho.

[IHFP]

Smolov Squat is for weaklings Bulgarian Method is where it's at. 

[Control]

Bro, just walk on the treadmill. Best lower back exercise out there. In fact, you should stop what you're doing right now; walk to a squat bar or open area, and start squatting. Don't have enough weight - NBD, just grab the nearest desk or person and throw them on your back and squat. It's just that easy!

 

Don't worry about knee placement, bracing, how to position your chin/neck - just grab something and start ripping out the reps. In fact, the only thing you'll have to worry about is buying new clothes because you're going to be Quadzilla within a month or two, Brah.

 

 

And don't forget to buy protein powder, creatine and about 13 other pills. The more expensive the better - you're paying for the quality, Brother!

What did I do to deserve such shabby advice?

 

Anyway, I walk a lot and already do squats, so I guess I've got that covered.

[Gonzo]

Unfortunately my DDP DVDs have dropped off the face of the earth somewhere, but I just signed up with Planet Fitness ($10 startup fee and $20 per month for their "black card" so I can use all their locations, get assorted free goodies etc). Digging their vibe so far and actually looking forward to getting into a workout routine which I never would've thought possible previously.

 

Planet Fitness is awesome. The one I went to when I was stationed down south had this gigantic "cardio theater" where one of the walls was taken up by a gigantic screen. They'd show movies, football games, whatever. Great way to blow through an hour on the elliptical machine.

[CSC]

One week in and I am an absolute believer in DDP Yoga. 

 

It's insane the increased flexibility and overall reduction of stiffness and pain in such a short amount of time.  It's shocking to me how quickly his workouts (and I've only done the Diamond Dozen, Energy and now Wake up every morning) get me sweating and my heart rate up by doing so little.  And I don't feel totally beaten up like the start of pretty much every other workout program I've ever started.  I'm gonna have to try ramping up to some of the other workouts next week but from what I've heard from a few people is that those really start to kick your ass.

 

And cardio theater sounds horrible.  It's tough enough to find an open treadmill at my local 24 Hour Fitness, I'd go inane waiting as people walk at 3mph for hours to finish whatever terrible movie is on.

[Raziel]

Diamond Cutter is there, waiting for you.  Like the mid-way boss...

 

In Dark Souls.

 

 

 

Fat Burner is awesome and my most used though.  Stop it when you go into the pinfall routine at the end (about 5 minutes left) and kick Red Hot Core on for some awesome work.  And as your step up into Diamond Cutter.

[bink_winkleman]

DDP yoga question:

 

Is it worth it if you're already in good shape and relatively flexible but are looking for something low impact with high rewards?

 

I used to run marathons years ago, but never do more than a 10k these days.  I only go for maybe two or three or five mile runs a week these days, and I hit the weights three or four times per week for about 45 minutes at a time.  I also take a 90 minute yoga class once a week. 

 

I'm 32 and shit's just starting to take its toll.  Aches and pains and certain exercises like squats and deadlifts just don't cooperate with my back and knees anymore.  But I'm still in well above average, if not quite great, shape and need an intense workout to maintain.

[Raziel]

The answer to any question about DDP Yoga, is yes, its *always* worth it.

[Justin877]

After a great VHS purge, I came across a ton of Billy Blanks Tae Bo VHS workouts I have .  I think I might bust those out for some added fitness activities

[Craig H]

I just decided to hop on the DDP Yoga bandwagon, so I can't wait for the DVDs to arrive. I plan on doing DDP Yoga in the morning and then Power 90 after work.

[Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie]

Most yoga in general will be really good for you, but DDP Yoga's plans are pretty good.  A few friends have been trying it and they really love it.

[Tele-Viper]

Late to this thread but health and fitness has been my priority this past year. Turning 35, I realized I was midway between 20 and 50. At 20, I was in terrible health: out-of-shape, eating poorly, regularly plagued with nuisance health issues, and constantly stressed and anxious, etc. Between 30-35, I turned a serious corner in terms of eating, exercising, and mental health but still had some serious roadblocks. I'm 6'1, 140lbs and my goals are to gain muscle, gain flexibility, and kick my sugar cravings.

 

Here is my current regimen: 150min/wk of exercise, including swimming, yoga, tai chi, and free weights; 10-15min/day of mindfulness meditation; dietary overhaul to incorporate more pasture raised meat on the bone, bone broths, fermented food, fresh veggies, etc. while placing a massive downgrade on sugars, carbs, fried foods, etc.

 

Things that help are keeping a diet and fitness journal. I use Google Drive and share it with my wife, which helps keep me accountable. Another thing that helps massive is learning how to cook simple, nutrient dense meals with enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Cutting out lunches out has helped my diet and my wallet. I use the savings for acupuncture and massage, two things I felt I couldn't afford before.

 

Two of the best health books I've ever read are Deep Nutrition by Dr. Cate Shanahan and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky. They'll blow your mind.

[Craig H]

After 2 weeks and 2 consecutive weekends of cheating on the diet, I have learned that South Beach Diet just isn't very feasible anymore.

[Cliff Hanger]

Haven't posted anything in a while because I'm pretty much stalled.  Been bobbing between 203-206 for a good six weeks, my legs are really coming along but I still don't have much muscle tone in my upper body and I'm carrying around too much fat per my scale's measurement.  I think I've pretty much hit the extent of what I can manage in my apartment complex gym without supervision, so the next step is to scrape together enough money for a Gold's membership (the $35/month isn't the problem, it's the startup fee since I missed the New Year's window) and three sessions with a trainer to put together a real workout plan.  In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I'm doing as it's better than nothing.

[Red is Dead]

Have had to miss the past week of c25k due to feeling like the north side of a south facing horse.

 

so, back on it tomorrow evening. dont know whether to go back to week one for one shot, then up to week two, or go straight back to week 2.

[Reggie20x6]

After 2 weeks and 2 consecutive weekends of cheating on the diet, I have learned that South Beach Diet just isn't very feasible anymore.

 

I tried a ton of different diets from 2002-2010. At this point, I've been doing the same thing for the last four years (fasting diet - eat all of my calories in a 3-4 hour window at night), but it's still constantly evolving. The key to success is finding a plan that you like and can stick to.

 

I was a psychotic dieter from 2002-2010, before I met my wife and she introduced me to the world of Mexican restaurants. Now I eat more junk than since before I started working out, but I always plan it so that I work out before I eat "junk." That's not going to be possible for everyone, which is why "dieting" is such an individualized thing. No one will know how your body is going to respond better than you do through tinkering with different plans, and finding something that makes you happy. Right now I'm combining parts of four different diets, which I've tried over years and years, and I have my ideal physique - so I'm happy. If I didn't like how I looked, or what I was eating - I would fail.

 

The thing that no one in the fitness industry wants to acknowledge is that there is no quick fix. It takes years to figure out what to eat, how to train and how to avoid injury. That takes time, and no one is interested in investing time when they want results NOW!

[Craig H]

Ok, so here's a somewhat embarrassing question: How do you get rid of love handles? Even at my lowest weight, when I was in the best shape of my life, I still had love handles. No matter how much cardio I did and no matter how many crunches I did and no matter how many side bends I did over the course of a year could I rid myself of this menace. Now I'm seeing that cardio won't get rid of them and neither will crunches or side bends. So how the hell do you work on getting rid of them, or have dumb Polish genetics doomed me to a life of compression tank tops/undershirts?

[Chaos]

To me (although they require a lot of discipline), I think either Eating Clean (there's also a diet called the Eat Clean Diet, which more or less is the same thing) and the Paleo diet seem to be the way to go and seem to be the least gimmicky.  

 

My biggest issue is most good diets require me to implement stuff that I just haven't developed a taste for (i.e. most vegetables (but steamed veggies seem to be helping there), Seafood, Eggs, and Peanut Butter). 

[CSC]

Yea, getting ride of love handles is all diet.  It doesn't matter how many ab exercises you do if you're not eating healthy enough to burn that last little bit of fat (which I have pretty much given up on doing, because I just don't care to diet that religiously for long periods of time). 

 

My diet now is pretty much all veggies and protein.  Eggs or yogurt in the morning, mid morning snack of some kind of fruit, something carby for lunch (usually something small like half a sandwich) and a bunch of raw veggies, nuts mid afternoon and a hunk of protein with roasted veggies (it's amazing how crispy, roasted broccoli can satisfy a craving for salty snack foods) for dinner.  I do this all week and then eat pretty much whatever I want on weekends (sensibly).  It's created a yo-yo effect where I'll lose about 5-6 pounds throughout the week, then rebound up 2-3 with weekend eating which leaves me at about 2-3 pounds lost per week, which I'm totally happy with.  It's certainly not the most efficient diet, but it keeps me feeling relatively healthy and stops me from the eventual binging on a whole pizza because I'm craving it so badly.

[Tele-Viper]

The easiest way to ditch your love handles and align your body's metabolism towards consistent fat-burning and muscle building is to eat paleo-ish. You don't have to go all in but you have to clean out the junk and reduce your sugar/carb intake to 100-150 grams per day while consistently eating healthy fats and protein while exercising/remaining active.

 

The easiest path to follow is Dr. Cate Shanahan's Food Rules:

CSC is on the right path, though I don't recommend taking weekends off.  I guess it depends on a person's sensible level of control and overall health issues. For me personally, one or two slip ups in a row has me spiraling out of control. As well, the longer I eat this way, the less I want to eat otherwise (if that makes sense).

[Tele-Viper]

For me personally, I always misunderstood and misapplied the sequence necessary to get and be fit. Most people start with exercise and maybe make a few lifestyle and diet modifications but it really has to be the other way around: diet and lifestyle first then exercise. Failure rates are high because people bite off more than they can chew physically and also aren't eating appropriately enough to consolidate any gains made.

 

Clean up your diet, modify your lifestyle to include more recovery and stress-management, and then start a gradual and consistent build-up to physical fitness through exercise. Once I did that, rather than the other way around, I made consistent gains and maintained them.