The Workout/Exercise thread

I know we have a recipes/cooking thread, but I'm looking for quick and easy low-carb healthy stuff to make. I hate fish, so I'm looking for beef and chicken stuff. I've looked at "allrecipes.com", but the stuff they have that is "low-carb" all seems to be loaded with fat.

Anybody have anything along those lines? I've been doing chicken breasts with different sauces, then wrapped in lettuce instead of bread for quick sandwiches and stuff. My goals are to gain muscle and all that, but I want to cut my body fat, too. I'm currently 6'3" 185, would like to get leaner and more muscular.

 

I thought low carb diets were designed such that you burn up your fat stores for energy, thus losing weight. I'm obviously no dietician, but wouldn't eating high fat items defeat the purpose?

 

No.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fats/

A quick google on good fats provided that link, which has some information about different fats. They have a bad reputation, but I think any athlete or body builder would tell you that good fats are an essential part of the diet. Things like avocados, nuts, certain fats in meat, olive oil, etc are cornerstones of a good diet. If you were eating low carb and low fat, you'd be eating all protein and thus have some serious issues.

 

The biggest issue I have with fat as a macro-nutrient is the name, if they just called them lipids instead they wouldn't have this awful stigma that they serve no other purpose than turning you into a fat ass.

 

Take a hunk of lean meat.
put it on your plate.
Surround it with leafy green vegetables and veggies of all colors of the rainbow.
Top with nuts and seeds.
Finish with some oil and maybe some vinegar if you'd like. Or try some hummus.
Eat it.
Repeat.

Protein had a face at one time. Or would have had one if allowed to grow into it.
Vegetables are your friends. Grains, gluten, and most dairy are not. Refined sugar is DEFINITELY not your friend.
Real food has an expiration date, usually within a week, and will treat you better than anything gimmicky or processed ever could.

 

Question for you wise individuals. I moved out to LA for the summer for some classes, and I want to use this time away from everyone I know to focus on working on my fitness, specifically weight loss. I've lost about 55 pounds since October, and I want to come back to college in late August down at least another 25 pounds. I have a good handle on a diet, but my question to you all regards my workout.

I'm not sure if I can gain access or a membership to a gym here, since I'm only here for two months and if I could, I'm not certain I could afford to pay the membership fees at this time. Assuming I couldn't get to a gym, do you guys have any suggestions on some at-home workouts that would be beneficial? I have the P90x DVDS (without the equipment, which I'm thinking about buying this week) and I'm on week 6 of the "one hundred pushups" program. So far, I've been doing a lot of body weight exercises, and I wanted to see if you guys had any advice on additional workouts.

 

Turn your bodyweight exercises into interval training to kick it up a notch. Bodyweight squats, pushups, planks, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, etc. (No sit-ups.)

Do as many reps as possible in 45 seconds (don't stop, even if you have to go slower to last the full time), then rest 15 seconds. Repeat 10-12 times, then rest 2 minutes. Repeat 3-4 times.

Or, you can do fixed reps with fixed rest period between sets. e.g. 50 jumping jacks, 15 seconds rest, 30 bodyweight squats, 15 seconds rest, 40 pushups, 1 minute plank, etc.

You can also do timed max sets, e.g. as many pushups as possible in 2 minutes, and try to beat your record.

End the workouts with something strenuous but low-interval, e.g. max pistol squats with plenty of rest between sets, handstand pushups, etc.

The key to bodyweight stuff is high reps, best achieved by keeping intensity high. Added value: Solid aerobic benefit as well.

EDIT: Google for "interval training timer" or "HIIT timer" and you can find a program that will automatically time each working period and resting period. The best value of this is that it avoids cheating (really easy to turn 15 seconds into 25 or 30 seconds, etc.).

 

Is there any solid documented link with rapid weight loss and decreased immune function? Or a solid, documented link with resistance based exercise and improved immune function?

I've dropped 60 or 70 pounds since the start of march, but that's largely been through lifestyle change (increased incidental cardio exercise and diet change) rather than any substantial resistance based exercise, but I'm getting my ass kicked by every cold, flu and virus going through. I know my nutrition has room for improvement in terms of immune function - and I'm taking steps to correct that, and double fisting vitamins twice daily, but I'm still getting every fucking cold and flu going and the time away from work is killing me.

The more I read about the subject, the more I think we just have no fucking idea - and high fruit and leafy green vegetable diets and general good health through exercise are the only things we actually know help with immune system function. But apart from eating some more fresh fruit - I'd really like to find something to do to try and diminish how badly my immune system is getting fucked.

 

Just as an aside, yes I know that's much faster than is reasonable, but at this point I really am eating every time I feel hungry, and until I'm full, and not doing any deliberate exercise. I've switched from an undescribably awful diet to a mediocre one and just through some slightly changed circumstances have no choice but to walk more where I was previously incredibly sedentary. Short of getting myself a mobility scooter or deep frying more of my meals, I can't really do any less to lose weight than I'm currently doing. And yes, I've been for an AIDS test. The rate of loss is more reflective of how fat I was, and how much effort it takes to stay that fat, than any implication that I might be starving myself.

 

I feel like doing tabatas is probably an easier way to do things than 45 on 15 off. A tabata is 8 cycles of 20 seconds of hard work and 10 seconds of rest, i.e. 4 minute sessions. You can rest between these, or cycle from pushups to squats to whatever, then go through the cycle again. Tabatas are great.

 

Yeah, the specifics work/rest ratio is not too important (or maybe it is, but what I meant was my 45/15 was pretty arbitrary) as long as it is skewed in the direction of working and not resting. The important thing is to maintain a strong working tempo.

 

Are you overtraining or heavily restricting calories?
What does your nourishment look like? Is it balanced?
And finally, are you getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night?

 

Whole9 is good. Though almost food nazi'ish.
Look for Robb Wolfe, Mark's Daily Apple, Loren Cordain, etc.

 

There is no golf thread, and I don't really feel like bumping the General Sports thread from 2010.

Does anyone here golf? My wife and I are thinking about trying it out, but I'm wondering if I can buy some off the shelf clubs or if I need to be fitted for them. My wife is a perfectly normal built 5'3", but I am 6'3" with a 6'7" or 6'8" wingspan. I had some clubs when I was younger that I bought from a sporting goods store, but they were really uncomfortable for me.

 

Get fitted. Golf is all about swing plane and centripetal force, so having a shaft the correct length is important (that's what she said). Most golf clubs are built for 5'9"-6' guys so you would end up stooping over more than necessary, which takes away distance and accuracy.

 

I walked something like 100,000 steps last week (doing a pedometer challenge thing for work, normally wouldn't have any clue), but that's the extent of my exercise apart from a reasonably active sex. That's certainly up, and dramatically so from what it was for the 6 months between september and february, but it doesn't really seem like there's enough impact to see my general health level fall through the floor like it has.

My nutrition is something like 2000 to 2500 calories a day, and it's not ideal by any stretch, but it's not awful by any stretch. I'm actively trying to get another serve or two of fruit/vegetables per day - but I get . My cholesterol/blood pressure/etc were all in the healthy range when they were checked about 2 weeks ago.

Sleep sucks. I have sleep apnea and awesome insomnia. I get an average of about 6 hours I guess, but thats a lot of 5 hour nights and a few 12 hour exhaustion binges. But I've had sleep problems as long as I can remember, sleep apnea since I was 4 and insomnia/shift worker sleep patterns all of my adult life.

Missed another day of work today because I have another fucking cold/flu - averaging 2 or 3 a month since March I guess.

 

That's a lot of weight, especially for some kind of not-major changes in your lifestyle. That, combined with your new colds, makes me think that you should go see an MD to make sure that this isn't anything serious (if you haven't already). It is probably nothing, but there is enough there that you should get it checked out. All the bad things can be ruled out with a couple of blood tests, and then you can focus on your diet. (PS - I'm an MD, but not your MD. So probably go see one.)

 

I'm going to go with working on improving the quality of your rest and sleep. The questions Winterbike posted are good ones, and answering them will help resolve any issues, I think.