Official Giant Bomb Fitness Thread

For some fitness humour, here's the latest 'innovation' in working out: the GOGA machine. My fucking sides.

Some inspiring reads in here, thanks for that and keep up the good work.

Personally I have a rough history with my weight. Back in 2000 I peaked at 120 kg (~264 lb) which is pretty serious for a guys who's only 172 cm (~5.8 feet). Luckily (though it didn't feel like it at the time) I got an extremely physical job after I finished school. I stuck to it and the pounds melted away fast.

I'm 31 years now and have an office job but I try to get some exercise every weekday. I can't seem to ever haul my ass to the gym so I'm focused on running and a workout routine at home using The Ultimate Sandbag (no, not a punching bag). Yeah, stupid name, but it's a really diverse and exhausting strength workout.

Right now I'm at 77 kg (~170 lb) which is still a bit overweight for my length, but acceptable. I'll also admit that I have problems with loose skin and scarring after all that weight loss. Nothing extreme but I might consider surgically tighten the skin some day. It might sound vain to some, but I would actually like to see the difference some day, and not just feel it.

Anyways. Keep it up duders!

So I'm down to 215 lbs. now. The last time I posted, 1 week and 2 days ago, I was 217 and started at 250 about 7 months ago. So since high school I've been around 230 lbs. and have never really been fit. I'm getting more fit now though and I'm noticing things. Some cool things. My chest and arms are more defined, my stomach is flattening, and my overall upper body is simply getting narrower. Some odd things are that I'm having blood vessels showing all over the place. Especially my hands (most notably the tops of my hands). But really I'm showing blood vessels all over and I'm not totally sure what that means. I'm assuming it's not a bad thing. It probably means I'm just losing a lot of surface fat (cutaneous I think?). The bad things include a lot of loose skin that I'm worried is going to stick around as the fat goes away and the stretch marks that I'm sure were there all along are much more visible now. They are pretty faint compared to the stretch marks I've seen online but it still sort of bums me out. I also have a lump on the bottom part of my stomach and I have no fucking idea what it is but I think as my stomach gets flatter it'll eventually go away.

...anyway, fitness dudes.

Just joined the GB Fitocracy group.

I've been using Myfitnesspal to keep track of meals and workouts but I log most of my workouts with Fitocracy too. I've always played sports (Basketball and Cricket mainly the last few years, Rugby League before that) but I've also eaten terribly so have never really lost weight. Down from 117kg (I have no idea what that is in pounds) to 112kg over the last few weeks. Aiming to get to 100kg realistically, 95kg optimum. I'm around 6'2 so I think that'd be right. Hopefully I can keep motivation up which has always been my issue.

Im focusing in simple and easy. Same as last year.

Avoid - Soft Drink, Chips and Carbs in general where possible.

Dinner especially, no carbs. Just Protein (meat) and veges.

Play Rugby and go to both trainings per week, + go to gym.

I havent lost weight, but I have lost fat and put on a little but of muscle which is great. im 80KG's and like that weight. Just want to lose the bit of a belly really at this stage. Get some bigger arms and Chest. But also not forgetting my leg strength :P

I'm at 213 lbs now. That means I've lost 37 lbs in just over 7 months. I'm pretty happy with that. 33 more lbs. to go.

211 lbs. So 39 lbs down and 31 to go.

Nice duder, I have been cutting too, I went from 222 down to 205 in about 5 weeks, now I am just maintaining.

I think I will cut down another few pounds when summer rolls around, then bulk up again. I was afraid I would lose strength with this, but I can still benchpress, and squat about the same as before so WOHO!

@mrmuscle said:

Low carb diets are extremely dumb. Your body and more importantly, your brain needs them to function.

@big_jon:

I might actually have 41 pounds to go. I'm not sure if I should go down to 180 or 170. I'm in a weird spot because I've never really been this successful exercising and eating healthy. Usually I fall flat well before this point. I don't know man. I'm going to keep trying to add miles to my run and improving my weight training but I'm sort of in uncharted territory. Fitness and exercise is fucking weird dude.

Argg. I hate this topic. It's making me all restless...I really want into get back to running. Fucking Canadian winter. An exercise bike is not the same thing as running around in the great outdoors.

All of you guys talking make me want to get into strength training, but I know that isn't a reasonable goal for me right now. My weight isn't a concern anymore, I went from 240 to 160 (I'm 5"8), however, I still have a diet that would make most cringe. I only eat singular meals, as in, one big portion of one thing. I don't know how to cook so everything I eat comes from a box of some sort and the only protein I get is from like...peanut butter. I'm trying to get better and learn how to cook, but it's hard when you're an idiot who can't even boil water without fucking it up.

Just keep going till you are happy with your fitness level and how you look. I mean, I think that I had figured at 205 I would look leaner than I do, but I was a little disappointed to realize 200 might be better. So I think working out toward a look is better than working out toward a weight, sometimes.

Also, don't over do it and burn yourself out of exercise, adding intensity is cool, but not when it makes you start dreading the gym, or leading to injury. I hurt my shoulder about 6 months ago overhead pressing 85's, I now am afraid to do any pressing, dumbell exercises because of it, it sucks ass.

For sure, maybe not the right wording in my post. I wouldnt really call my eating habits a diet. I dont diet essentially. Dieting is strict and only eating xyz or eating to a program.I avoid stuff like white bread, pasta and potato, especially at dinner time. If i have bread, its wholegrain. I get the required carbs from the veges and fruit I eat. So i avoid 'refined' carbs where possible.

But that said, its not like ill never eat a potato! Last night we had mash with dinner. However I make sure to limit it (it was 1 potato between 2 of us). When I lived at home with mum, I probably ate 1.5 potatoes of mash myself on top of whatever else was for dinner. With mum at home we probably had big servings of potato several times a week all through winter. Now I am conscious that its way over kill in the carbs department. Especially when your just sleeping in a few hours!

Carbs during breakfast and lunch are not as bad. You will use that energy during the day. So yeah, when I saw low carb, i dont mean celeb diet low carb. I just mean im reducing refined carbs i used to eat without knowlege i guess. Eating high carb cereal and then 2 rounds of white sugar/carb bread for lunch and then potatos and bread for dinner is so much carb overkill its not funny.

That is different than what you said before. That sounds like a very "body building" approach. The carbs for breakfast and lunch and only from veggies at dinner. I personally, can't do that. I get way too hungry. Potatoes aren't as bad as you think though, especially sweet potatoes and yams, which are good sources of starchy carbs. A lot of what you said is true, since most of those carbs turn right to sugar. But a reduction in carbs isn't necessarily going to help. You really need them directly after a workout or playing Rugby, in your case. I would say you should just count your calories and macros for a few days with something like My Fitness Pal and compare your eating habits to your goals.

Good topic! I have a back injury that caused never damage so I can't do a lot of impact cardio. I recently got back on track after months off. I'm 5'9" 190lbs, my daily workout is typically 4 sets of 100lbs bench press, two sets of 15 push ups, two sets of 15 bench dips, two sets of 35lbs dumbbells curls x 10 reps, two sets of 20lbs dumbbell deltoid lift x 10 reps, and about four to six sets of pull ups x 5 - 10 reps.

I went in the other day to try my max bench, my goal is 315, I am still stuck at 300. It really blows, I have been stuck for months.

I can't wait to hit my goal so I can finally do the blog post about it that I have had planned for like a year.

Just joined the Giant Bomb Fitocracy group. I prefer to exercise outside, so I'm stuck doing menial bullshit until the damn snow goes away...

"I mostly do compound movements"

"meaning workouts that provide detail in the body"

and then you posted a split.

Lol, you have absolutely no idea what "compound" means.

You quoted the wrong guy, @prapin. That was @epicsteve, not me.

You've inspired me you crazy people - signed up to the group for weight loss and gaming chats.

I've been floating 2/3 stone overweight for the past 6 years. I train every week and can run & lift a decent amount but I still gots the man boobs of hell. Getting married in August and taking part in an 11 mile obstacle course (Tough Mudders) at the start of May so I've been back boxing recently. Hoping the Fitocracy group helps me keep focus. I just really love beer and pizza.

Still training for my third marathon which is next month. I am running 24 miles tomorrow and have been doing really well. I am starting to think I might be able to do it in less than 3 hours which would be awesome!

You are a crazy person. 8km is hell for me.

Compound just means an exercise the uses more than one muscle group or joint.

Bench press, squat, dead lift, and so on.

Also, don't be a dick.

@epicsteve 1 gram per pound of lean body mass is the general rule set by protein powder companies, but really, you don't need that much when training a pretty normal routine, that is just them wanting you to buy more Whey. At about 180lbs of lean body mass I do fine with 140 grams of protein a day along side effective training. I don't have exact numbers but I made my arms go from 15.5 inches to 16.75 inches in 14 months doing this. This was at the same body weight and it takes about 8 to 10 lbs of muscle to put on an inch to you arms so.

That's just me though, everyone is different.

I go to the gym 90 minutes every day. If the gym is closed because of holiday, I run up the Montreal mountain. The trick to staying motivated is to do new exercises every day. If you're not switching it up and doing the same old routine every day, you're going to get bored, which leads to demotivation.

Down to 207 lbs from 250 lbs about 7 months ago. I'm still aiming for 180 by New Years. I'm jogging about 10 miles, walking eight miles, and sprinting a mile a week. I'm stilling weight-training every other day but have added a few leg workouts to my routine. I'm also eating a little less and have switched up my diet just slightly because I was stuck at 213 lbs for a long time. I switched the diet around about 2-3 weeks ago and have started losing weight again.

Great work duder.

I'm incredibly unfit and have never stuck to any kind of exercise routine in my life before, but I've started going to Zumba every week. I know hard core gym junkies will scoff, just like my brother who keeps arguing with me that it's pointless and does absolutely nothing, but I feel like it's a good workout! I can barely stand by the end of it!

I went to a few spin classes, but they were absolute hell for me, my legs were visibly shaking after 15 minutes or so. So right now I'm thinking of going to Zumba once a week and maybe try Pilates once a week, too. Just try to build up any form of strength and stamina at all.

No motivation to get fit, so this thread isn't for me. I'm glad to see though that people are exercising to make themselves feel better about themselves.

I weighed 230 when I decided I wanted to slim down and get in shape. Cutting out soda and candy out of my diet resulted me dropping to about 200 in a month or so. Pleased with that changed I decided to take it easy before jumping into a serious diet and exercise plan. Last week I decided to pick up Tim Ferris' Four Hour Body and use that as my guideline for dropping weight. I followed the diet so far and lost 6 pounds. The diet sucks, mostly because I hate beans, but oh well it is getting results so far.

I have a manual labor intensive job so I'm hesitant to go to the gym since my job kicks my ass five days a week. I'm going to institute some more cardio in the mornings and throw in some yoga to become more limber and we shall see how that goes.

Awesome to see fellow duders getting on this fitness train. Choo! Choo! Next stop Gameland, population a bunch of geek hotties with the bodies.

The seemingly consistent starts and stops of losing weight is probably the most obnoxious part of losing weight for me. I've gotten over the hump of working out consistently. Now it's the patience to see it out and wait for results. Even though I've seen results I guess I'm just impatient.

When I first starting exercising almost a year ago I could barely walk a mile which I imagine a lot of people would scoff at. But you have got to start somewhere. I suppose the rule of thumb I kept was that if I was tired when I was done then I had done a good days exercise. If that is what Zumba does for you then that's a perfect exercise for you. Plus that with Pilates would be a great workout because I have heard nothing but good things about Pilates.

Yea it is all about working your way up the milage chain. This year it has been fairly easy training wise since I have done this before, but it is definitely hard the first time training for a marathon.

@jasonr86: I mean a lot of it at first is water weight, so at first it is really fast then turns into a slow burn, but it also means that later on is when you really start to see the results.

Two months ago I was about 222, I was in the gym a lot as I typically am, but my diet was pretty big because I had chosen to bulk for long while, to pack on some muscle with the fat. So two months ago I was starting to realize that I had gotten a bit fat figured I was done with that BS, cut out all the junk, measured my calories, decided I'd cut down to 210, 4 weeks later at 210 I was like what the hell, 205. now 8 weeks later I am at 203 and going to cut to 200, I really feel great, I was worried I'd feel skinny but and weak, but most of my lifts have actually gone up, and I feel really agile, look more defined, and I now find body weight exercises at total breeze.

I am so happy to feel lean for the summer for once, feels great, and as I'm sure you know having lost 43lbs it is so worth it!

I'm turning 30 in 2 weeks, i should probably get around to exercising more than once every couple months... Not that i'm obese or anything. Maybe slightly overweight. I certainly don't meet the first rule of Zombieland though.

I fell off the wagon hard at the end of 2011. 2012 was a busy, busy year for me and since the beginning of 2013, I'm basically living alone now which has further deteriorated my fitness. I lost about 35 pounds in about 3-4 months in 2011 (I was on Fitocracy and the whole nine). After a year and a couple months off, I think I've gained back 20. BUT, hopefully this month I'm gonna get back down to it and get to my original goal of 135 pounds. It's gonna be hell those first couple of weeks with the soreness and shit though.

I feel like I'm looking to move in the opposite direction form most people here.

I'm 5'9"/10" and currently weighing in at about 142 (after a meal). Two months ago I was mid 130s. Currently my goal is to be high 140s / low 150s, with most of the gains coming from muscle. I'm already pretty lean, but I've been starting to feel like I'm too skinny, and have been getting similar comments form others. While I haven't been making time to go to a gym, but I've been exercising at home doing pushup/sit up sets a few times throughout the day. I'd also like to get back to taking bjj classes regularly which are a great workout.

I haven't been to well-informed on what to do in order to gain muscle when you're skinny. I would assume that exercises that emphases endurance would be a bad idea. So long runs probably wouldn't work. But sprints would. Also weight training with heavy weights with a low number of reps. And a lot of protein in your diet.

BUT, I would see if you could hook up with a trainer at a gym to see what he/she says first. It's a weird predicament your in for my brain though. Best of luck.

Yeah, it seems like the process is more or less what you said. I don't do any runs, but bjj is a lot of cardio if I get heavily back into that.

The gains that I have made so far are mostly from diet. Eating a lot more protein, while still eating relatively clean overall. It's turned into a lot of salad with avocado and chick/tuna. I need to expand my food horizons. But when I work out at home I've been trying to focus on less endurance and more explosive movements, like doing clapping pushups instead of standard ones (although FAR fewer - those things are hard!).

Make sure to follow fellow Bombers and get involved in things like our year long challenge! The more you get involved, the more support you have to keep exercising :)

@altngr: Just so you know, that is about 2.5 years of hard work ahead of you, and cardio, though it is good to do is very counter to putting on 20 lbs of muscle. Just don't over do it and you will be fine as long as you eat a lot for your size. Try to eat like 200 or 300 calories over what you burn each day.

My advice is to start off by trying to get around 100 grams of protein a day, and hit the gym enough to hit every major muscle group at least once a week. Do heavy compound lifts like bench press, squats, deadlifts, and so on to add over all size combined with isolation exercises like Bicep curls and triceps extensions to add size to your arms. Try to shoot for around 4 or 5 exercises per muscle group 2 or 3 sets per exercise and shoot for sets of 8 to 12 reps.

If you do this, you will get bigger, it will take time and effort though. Sorry for the dump, not sure if you're even interested, just trying to help, but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

@kill said:

Thanks mate, good advice. Adding a few now, if anybody wants to return the flavour: https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/dannyodwyer/

Just ran 5 miles and then realised the train station at my destination was closed so I ran back too. I'm wrecked but it was fun - the first sun we've had in London all year.

Followed on fito! Looking forward to following your progress.

Something interesting for people who enjoy working out. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/radiate/radiate-athletics-the-future-of-sports-apparel
May not be your thing, but they plan on retailing for 60+ in 2014.

Ok about a year and a half ago I was at 205 pounds, then I slowly went down to 195, then I got really sick and went down to 180, and now I'm sitting at about 175. The truth is I'm devastated, I'm 6 foot 2 so I didn't look that big at 205 pounds, I'm naturally very skinny and it took me a couple years to go from 165 to 205. I haven't really been going t the gym for the past 6 months, and I feel super weak. So my goal is to get back up to 195 in the next few months. It won't be easy but I know a lot more now than I did the first time.

So I got bad news dudes; loose skin. Loose skin is a fucking bitch as I've found since losing weight. Though it's kind of neat, and a little terrifying, to see how far my skin had stretched in spots.

Does it gradually unstretch?

Eventually it's supposed to. I don't recall the exact reason why it does go back to normal but basically, because human skin is dynamic and elastic, it can adapt to changes in body weight by stretching and collapsing. I was so overweight that my skin had stretched out quite a bit and had stayed there for a long time. Because I've lost as much weight as I have my skin hasn't had enough time to adapt yet. I have noticed in a few spots, like around my ribs and the sides of my chest, the skin has tightened up. The big areas for me that have a ton of loose skin are my inner thighs, triceps, and stomach.

There's also another thing that happens; stretch marks that weren't really apparent start to become more apparent as one loses weight. Or at least since I've lost weight. On my back, sides of my chest, and stomach especially but kind of randomly everywhere else I've seen more stretch marks then I had seen when I was 40+ pounds heavier. Apparently, like with the loose skin, this is due to my skin trying to adapt to the weight loss. Eventually these stretch marks are supposed to either lighten to a degree that I can barely see them or go away entirely. Right now they sure are there.

Note: All of these things I'm seeing with be dependent on age and weight. Not everyone will have loose skin or stretch marks and not everyone's skin will react to weight loss the same way. Also, though I'm not too stoked about these things, 1) they'll go away or lessen eventually and 2) the benefits of the weight loss are worth these little, temporary issues.

That was a long-winded answer.

Let's see... 2013 progress - I've been taking it pretty easy compared to some of you other guys. I'm concentrating on overall fitness with the aim of being good enough to enter the Air Force in July-September

I need to lose 6 more kilos and up my run speed from 5mph continuous to 7.5mph by then, so I'll be increasing it by degrees to see how I go.

Good luck to everyone else on this quest - it's proven a very interesting one.

But an adequate one.

Some Fitocracy news! I've created a new group dedicated to monthly challenges. I'll be beginning the first challenge possibly at the beginning of May and keep it up throughout the year. If any of you are interested, feel free to join and let me know if you have any suggestions for challenges you'd like to try out!