Lets all Diet & get in shape

[PrinzII]

Accumulator, is it ok to practice at home with no weight to get the technique right?

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by PrinzII
Accumulator, is it ok to practice at home with no weight to get the technique right?

It's more than OK, it's a good idea. ESPECIALLY when getting into the swing of going down to/below parallel. Most people are a LOT less flexible than they think and find it VERY hard to go down low without leaning/bending forward excessively. If it seems really tough, try doing them while leaning against a wall/door frame/pole etc. That's how I had my late father start, and he found the "wall squats" quite demanding. Even after he started lifting heavier at a gym, he kept doing them on his "off" days at home. He liked doing three sets of (up to) 20, holding the "down position" on the last rep of each set for a loooong time. He did that twice a week. After that gets too easy, step away from the wall.

Watching yourself (especially from the side) in a mirror will help you check your form. Or have someone else tell you what you're doing.

Note that when you DO start using weight, it will have a different feel, so there will be a SLIGHT backtrack on the learning curve. But working without weights is still a good starting point. A good next step would be to do them while holding a pair of light dumbbells.

Similarly, you can work up to Romanian deadlifts by simply practicing bending over to touch your toes without bending your knees. DON'T BOUNCE, don't strain. Imagine a string or something pulling your butt back and up. Stretch those hamstrings! Then try it while holding some light dumbbells. Go down as far as you can, then pull up smoothly and try to really TENSE your glutes and hamstrings at the top. The stronger your hamstrings are, the healthier your knees will be.

[PrinzII]

<<<< is going to get this exercise thing licked yet.

[PrinzII]

Accumulator, what's your take on pilates? I would like to try that in addition to my normal "regimen."

[Accumulator]

PrinzII- Aha, finally a topic I DON'T have an opinion on I honestly don't have anything to offer on it. I gave it a cursory glance to see if it might be of interest to me, decided it wasn't. I DO, however, encourage you to give it a try. I think you oughta try ANYTHING that seems like it might appeal to you and pilates is something with little, if any, potential downside.

BTW, how're the workouts going? This thread has been rather quiet recently...I like that you think of it as a "regimen", to me, that implies something rather permanent.

[PrinzII]

I am looking at giving the pilates a try

This is like the ultimate marathon thread.............I read pg 1 and came right to the end....
Anyway, I dont know if its been said, but if theres any of you that have access to a pool at a fitness center, I highly encourage it.....I use to do that stuff to the left, in my avatar, but with three kids, homework/ bein a dad, blah blah blah.....It seems i no longer have the time to do it....But i swear, swimming is the ultimate toning, aerobic, cardio work out known to man....its awesome !!! Plus ya dont sweat, at least think your sweating....I was never in better shape, than b4 i got out of shape !!!!

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Patrick
This is like the ultimate marathon thread.............I read pg 1 and came right to the end....

That must've seemed like a workout in itself!

It seems like NO ONE can stick with swimming! That's NOT meant to sound critical, BTW. I've known so many people who swam, some for YEARS, but then things come up...Maybe it's because you need a pool/body of water It occurs to me that people with serious joint problems REALLY oughta consider swimming.

[Jeremy]

I haven't been reading the site much lately, so I'm not up to date on this thread. So, forgive me if this was already posted somewhere.

This little plan appeals to me and I started using it this week. I'm going to see how it turns out.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

[Accumulator]

Jeremy- I checked out the link to the Hacker's Diet. What I saw was more about the format of the material than its content. What is the basic premise upon which the diet is based?

[Accumulator]

Gee, no action on this thread. ANYBODY have anything to report on their workouts/diets?

I'm still trying to eat enough to build more muscle, or at least maintain what I have. At my last body composition test I'd lost nearly 3 (!) pounds. I was leaner, back below 8%, but that's not what I'm after. My previous 175 at 8.4% was MUCH more like it. So I'm trying to get in some extra MetRx's and eat more nuts. It really IS hard to eat "clean foods" all the time. I don't want to cut back on the cardio, I'm only doing up to 25 minutes at a time, maybe three times a week, as it is. So all I can do is try to eat more. I'm only lifting enough to get sore each time, so it's not like I'm overdoing THAT. Meanwhile Accumulatorette is either losing fat or gaining muscle every week (she's getting tested every week, I'm doing it every month or so).

Note that we're coming up on the mid-point of the year. I'm wondering how all those resolutions are holding up and hoping that everyone's doing well.

[Jeremy]

Originally posted by Accumulator
Jeremy- I checked out the link to the Hacker's Diet. What I saw was more about the format of the material than its content. What is the basic premise upon which the diet is based?

Well, his idea basically boils down to calorie counting. I like his outlook on it which appeals to an engineering mindset. I also like the excel files he has which you put your daily weights into and they spit out a moving average. It softens the blow of the up/down of weighting everyday.

It calculates how many calories per day you're over/under and you can graph it to show your progess.

I've been on the diet since June 1st, and have lost about 6-7 pounds. The calculator says I'm cutting 1200 calories/day for a loss of about 2.5 pounds/week.