Any Fitness Gurus Out There

[chrisis200]

Hi guys me yet again, I've found myself with alot of free time in the evenings so started to look to exercise to fill my time as I'm starting to let myself go abit eek & it can only be good for me.. :shutit:

Just started doing some light dumbbell weights doing basic bicep curls to make myself feel better, I have no muscles at all in my arms. Not looking to be muscle man or anything just to tone up a tad so will sort myself there ;)

I'm not a huge fan of gyms although never given it a chance, just dont want to be in a contract at the mo when i maybe moving soon.

But what I really want to work on is the abs, this is where I need any tips. I just do good old crunches on the floor at the mo, I can feel them so they must be working. :P But I want to know if anyone has tried these sort of machines to speed up the process or help out Slender Tone are they good, bad, just waste of money & stick to my crunches & give it more than the week I've been doing lol...

Now you may say you need to do Cardio as well & I quite enjoy running, but I currently can't do much cardio due to an issue with my knee that I got to have scanned soon & op'ed on, then hopefully throw some running into balance everything.

Look forward to your replys guys :)

[aaronabbott]

tbh nearly all of these revolutionary machines to improve your abs are crap,so stick with your crunches or use a gym ball to help with your core exercises,as with anything in fitness eating right is 80-90% of the battle.

you can eat clean and do no gym exercise at all and still get ripped (believe it or not).

if runnings a problem at the minute theres always a stationary bike/cross trainer that you can use.

if your doing everything here you should start seeing results in 4-6 weeks and in a couple of years you'll be looking like arnie (or may be not) :D

[Rob's Lexx]

crunches, planks, roll-outs - all of those will help develop ur core. medicine ball twists or oblique raises on a gym ball are great for the oblique muscles also!!

if ur just wanting to keep things simple with ur arms mate, instead of a straight forward bicep curl, try out some hammer curls - where you twist through the motion. that exercise hits both the long and short heads of the biceps and also hits the brachioradialis muscle so will strengthen ur forearms nicely.

[redz_UK]

the only training i can do is brain training!!

i did buy a bike for some exercise.. was a right work out gettin in the car and back out again but its not really doing much for me sat in the garage!

[chrisis200]

Thanks guys I will try them Rob, I prob need to visit a gym at one stage just to make sure I'm doing it all correctly. Like I said I'm not a fitness freak, just want to try an be healthy before I get out of control and it becomes really hardwork. Shall be doing them during our favorite time, 10pm Big Brother time while watching ;)

[aaronabbott]

i did buy a bike for some exercise.. was a right work out gettin in the car and back out again but its not really doing much for me sat in the garage!

PMSL

[chrisis200]

crunches, planks, roll-outs - all of those will help develop ur core. medicine ball twists or oblique raises on a gym ball are great for the oblique muscles also!!

if ur just wanting to keep things simple with ur arms mate, instead of a straight forward bicep curl, try out some hammer curls - where you twist through the motion. that exercise hits both the long and short heads of the biceps and also hits the brachioradialis muscle so will strengthen ur forearms nicely.

What are planks & roll-outs I feel so silly but having never done anything really before I'd have no idea, I will most likely look it up on youtube :winky:

[Rob's Lexx]

plank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ar2iRusnnc

roll out:

enjoy!!!!

[chrisis200]

Thanks mate I will have a look tonight when i get home

[rayaans]

On 6/8/2009 at 8:04 PM, chrisis200 said:

Hi guys me yet again, I've found myself with alot of free time in the evenings so started to look to exercise to fill my time as I'm starting to let myself go abit eek & it can only be good for me.. :shutit:

Just started doing some light dumbbell weights doing basic bicep curls to make myself feel better, I have no muscles at all in my arms. Not looking to be muscle man or anything just to tone up a tad so will sort myself there 😉

I'm not a huge fan of gyms although never given it a chance, just dont want to be in a contract at the mo when i maybe moving soon.

But what I really want to work on is the abs, this is where I need any tips. I just do good old crunches on the floor at the mo, I can feel them so they must be working. 😛 But I want to know if anyone has tried these sort of machines to speed up the process or help out Slender Tone are they good, bad, just waste of money & stick to my crunches & give it more than the week I've been doing lol...

Now you may say you need to do Cardio as well & I quite enjoy running, but I currently can't do much cardio due to an issue with my knee that I got to have scanned soon & op'ed on, then hopefully throw some running into balance everything.

Look forward to your replys guys 🙂

Do 2-3 days a week to start and aim for 4-5/week

Usually my routine is chest, biceps and cardio on Mondays - (3 sets of 8-12 reps for each of these - raised leg pushups, dumbell bicep curls, incline bench press, isolation bicep curls, standard bench press, hammer curls and finishing off with standard pushups). Follow with cardio - either running or bicycle. This shouldn't take you more than 1 hour a day. You should be able to get the weights done in 30-40mins. 

Tuesday - Triceps and Back (3 sets of 8-12 for each again - lat pull downs, tricep kickbacks, dumbell row, tricep dips, shrugs, narrow grip pull ups and finishing off with weighted rows). I dont do dead lifts as they tend to do more harm than good. Cardio again afterwards.

Wed - Rest day

Thurs - Shoulders and abs - (3 sets of 8-12 for front and lateral dumbell raises, shoulder press, crunches and 3 sets of 8-12 30s planks. Cardio afterwards

Friday - Leg day - squats, hamstring raises, calf raises etc etc. This is the one that usually knackers me out so Im out of the gym in 40 mins as I dont do cardio on this day.

Slender tone works but only really for shaping. If you have a layer of fat over the abs, it won't make any visual difference. 

In terms of contracts, Puregym do rolling 1 month contracts and they can be moved to another site, for example if you move to another part of the country. Mostly, I prefer to go to the backstreet gyms which are cash for 1 month and end of.