assassin_696

Firstly, having a goal to work towards is a fantastic thing and can be very motivating, but I feel obliged to say that you shouldn't worry too much about how other people view your body image. If, after how many months you have only gained 20lbs instead of 25 don't think that this makes you any less of a man. As long as you train as hard as you can you should be proud of however you look. You're tall and lean, which are good physical qualities, and unless you're going to your prom topless visible ribs/collarbones aren't a problem. Your routine isn't bad for someone who I suspect is new to this kind of thing and given the equipment you have is probably the best you can manage. However if there's any possibility of you being able to squat with a proper bar and weights I'd take it. Simply put there is no single exercise that is a better promoter of weight gain than the deep barbell squat. It doesn't matter that it's mainly a leg exercise, lifting creates hormonal responses that promote mass gain throughout the body and the squat is particularly effective at this. If you can get access to this kind of equipment go for it and do a 5x5 program with squats/deadlifts/bench as the backbone with auxilliary exercises like the ones you're going to do now and again. This is most effective for weight gain. In terms of diet, eat like it's your job. I think the figures are something like you need a daily caloric excess of 500 calories to gain 1lb of lean muscle mass per week if you're working out. You'll probably want to have a higher excess than this though to be on the safe side. Here's where I'll probably differ from a lot of advice you read...don't worry too much about what you're eating. In general, 'clean' foods like wholegrain pastas, brown bread, lean meats are better for you but when you're eating to gain a lot of weight quickly it's hard to stick to that. You have a similar bodytype to a lot of teenagers in that you can probably eat a lot and not gain weight. So you need to eat even more and this requires calorie dense foods as well as clean foods. I'm not saying you're diet should be 3 big macs a day, but you're not bodybuilding you're just trying to bulk so eating these kinds of food will not hurt this goal. Anyway, enough rambling, some specifics. If you're serious, and I mean really serious about gaining weight then drink 1 gallon of whole milk a day. This seems massively excessive, and it is if you think of it as any kind of long term diet plan. But it's a short term thing designed to bulk you up faster than anything else. It works and it's relatively cheap compared to most foods. See this article: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Nutrition,_Supplements_and_Cardio . I couldn't quite manage a gallon, and instead did something like 4 pints a day over the summer, maybe a little less, and put on 5kg alongside a heavy weights program. Good luck

Huh, weren't we talking about rowing machines?

You sound fairly physically active with what you're doing and in reasonable shape, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. As with many of these things, it's probably better to go as a complete beginner and learn things correctly first time round than trying to learn things in advance and not getting them right.

We don't really do many 1k tests, it's all about the 2k (which is hell on earth), but I can pull a 3.20 for 1k. Most people in gyms don't use rowing machines correctly (including me up until I learnt to row) , but then again it's quite a technical sport to learn. By abs I suppose he means core strength, so keeping your head high and shoulders low, sitting up tall, which is good advice.

Intensity is far superior to duration though, and I think that's important to distinguish. You could do a relaxed jog for 60 minutes or sprint intervals for 20 mins and the sprint intervals would win everytime when it comes to developing explosive power, VO2 max, lactate threshold etc. Steady endurance work has it's role but I really do think the casual jogger would better spend their time doing scaled (down) CrossFit type workouts for general physical preparedness. Strength is an important component of fitness and you don't get it by jogging round the park. And FYI, if you want to burn calories fast get on a rowing machine.

Never Let Go - Tom Waits Jesus christ what lyrics and delivery!

The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

PLEASE READ THIS I do these fairly infrequently and can notice the difference in my abs without even aiming for a six pack, they're far superior to situps.

No doubt they're better, but if you can't stomach them they aren't going to be much use. I just mix it in with some milk/chocolate milk through out the day, you get protein from the milk AND you get the power, and it doesn't fill you the hell up. Also, make sure you're eating throughout the day instead of just breakfast, lunch, supper. Yeah but my point is if you can't stomach natural carbs then bulk powders generally are harder to stomach. Depends on the individual though of course, try it and see.

It's a pedant's point but vacuum point energy is different from probability waves in quantum mechanics. What (I think) you're describing is the fact that because all particles can also be described by waves you can only say where a particle is with some probability, i.e. there's an upper limit on your certainty of it's positon (Heisenberg Uncertainty). Vacuum point energy simply states that in vacuums localised energy fluctuations result in pairs of particles being created (particle/anti-particle) which then annihilate themselves in recombination a short time later (as an aside, this is the mechanism behind why black holes evaporate, but it's more complicated). The concept of nothingness in physics is truly meaningless because you always have this energy. Which is why I think the question "where did everything come from?" is a little naive because it assumes nothingness is and should be the default state. But no evidence supports this.

Are you bodybuilding? I think your mentioned starting strength in another thread, why don't you want to follow that anymore? I'm just curious, I used to do 3 day bodybuilding type splits but wouldn't go back now after discovering stuff like Bill Starr's 5x5. Although saying that i'm on a weird program at the moment for rowing.

I'd have thought after 14 months you're body should have adapted to the higher calorie diet. Are you eating enough fibre? That's often the cause of poor digestion. If you give us a typical days eating we might be able to help more. And contrary to the above poster I'd steer well clear of mass-gainers, natural carbs are generally better received by the stomach.

Yeah yeah let's not bring quantum mechanics "weirdness" into this. It's just a second order partial differential equation for Christ's sake. People have over-interpreted the hell out of it for way too long, yes it's weird but it doesn't invalidate Newton's or Einstein's laws, it just improves them in certain cases. Evolution is a completely different kettle of fish. Like warri0r said i'm all for skepticism when it's due but I don't even think i'm putting my neck out when I say that evolution by natural selection will never, ever be disproven. It might be modified, heaven knows it's come a long way since Darwin but the basic process is scientific fact. I'm almost getting a little tired of how pedantic scientists are willing to admit they are when it comes to these things. I know that technically evolution is still a "theory" in the scientific sense of the word but it's not helping its case when there is as much compelling evidence for it as gravity, or anything else we just know to be true.

Nutrition advice is sound but please ignore the crap about machines. Stick to free-weights, they're the kind of movements your body was designed to do. Everyone hurts after the first few sessions so take it easy until you know you have perfect form then don't be afraid to ramp up the weights. Starting strength is what you want, 5x5 of squats, deadlifts and bench will soon pack the muscle onto you whilst burning any fat you have.

Dry run for Queen's Ergs tomorrow (8x500m rowing machine relay). Pulled a 1.38 which is a PB. Had a tougher day yesterday, long rowing outing in the afternoon and a tough hockey match after that.

I had to write a few compositions for music GCSE, but they weren't very good. Technically I don't know the first thing about composing, I've forgotten most of the theory i've learnt. And lyrically I'm terrified of anything I would write, I'd just compare it to something by Sam Beam or Dylan and i'd weep. Luckily I have the ability to tell good music from bad music, and my music was bad so I stopped early. One day if I get a little more time maybe i'll learn some theory and give something a go.

Thunder On The Mountain - Bob Dylan

You won't really gain much muscle or effective strength like that. Starting strength is an excellent program that I would fully recommend. Combine it with light cardio (preferably rowing machines) once or twice a week but don't go mad on the cardio.

I've done a few CF workouts over the summer, I love the philosophy but since I was on a strength training program I preferred CrossFit Football since it incorporates more strength training. CF workouts can be ridiculously tough, although http://www.sealfit.com/ looks a little more extreme, but I've never tried one of their workouts.

I once did a CF workout that was simply "do 100 pullups as quickly as possible". By some force of will I managed 21 on my first set, but by the end was barely managing sets of 1. By the end my forearms were massively aching, but it's very grip intensive.

Valor, before I start you should know that I agree with the vast majority of what you're saying. I just want to chip in my own opinions and clarify a few things. I don't quite understand this point, are you saying CrossFit is a high rep program? It's not, it's varied. I.e. one day might be deadlift 7x1RM and another might be a high rep routine. Yeah, I should have said I certainly wouldn't recommend starting with the CrossFit Workout of the Day's as they are written, they'd be far too intense and just lead to overtraining. But this forum (http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums/viewforum/16/) scales each workout to levels appropriate to every level. I'd recommend starting at the lowest level, seeing how you feel (particularly with the heavy lifts, if you're not used to them your muscles will be sore afterwards, but your body soons adapts to this). Whilst I agree on the importance of proper nutrition, from my own experience I find it very difficult to eat "properly" when I haven't done any exercise for a while. Case in point, when I came to university I couldn't get into the gym for the first few weeks and none of the sport had really started. I generally went off my food, didn't feel well and lost weight (probably muscle, I don't have much fat). As soon as I started exercising again I felt much better and could eat properly again. This might just be me, but I wouldn't worry too much about sorting your diet out before going to the gym. As long as you know how to lift safely and correctly (and the Crossfitters are sticklers for good form, see their forum) then you should be okay. Absolutely agree. I think this is slightly extreme advice. See this article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89323934) about the myths of the need for high water intake. Basically, be fully aware of dehyrdration and make sure you drink plenty during and after a workout. But you don't have to overdo it. I agree on the point of more small meals, but the specific advice (I.e. no coca cola etc) seems to be more akin to what a professional athelete or bodybuilder might follow. Again, I think this is a little extreme for someone who is starting from scratch. Essentially, moderation is king, and it depends on your goals. Since I'd imagine the OP just wants a broadly healthy physique then the occasional coke or chocolate bar really won't hurt. You seem to contradict yourself a bit here. You rightly highlight the importance of compound lifts (squats, deadlifts etc) but then suggest a split part single muscle group per day routine that bodybuilders might use. I have a very low opinion of such programs, real world situations rarely require something that simulates a bicep curl or lateral raise, but would require something like a deadlift or the explosive power that a clean will give you. Over the summer I squatted heavy three times a week, that's not isolation, but it worked far better than any of the programs for bodybuilders I followed years ago. But as Valor regarding his post, these are just my opinions. I've been going to the gym for about three years now and since I've never had a personal trainer or personal training session in my life i've had to read a lot and try out a lot to see what works best. I think I now know a fair bit about fitness and what works. There is a wealth of information on the CrossFit website about technique, training philosophy, metabolism, diet and everything else that is worth reading even if you don't follow the program. Personally, I don't follow the program myself. Over the summer I was doing a 5x5 strength program and then progressed/changed to a strength orientated version of CrossFit called CrossFit Football. Now that i'm at uni and rowing four times a week I have less time in the gym, so tend to focus on heavy compound movements when I'm in there. So do as much research as you can, take everything we say with a pinch of salt and form your own opinions. Good luck!

It was linked to (and mentioned a lot) on a strength training website I used, so I checked it out over the summer. A lot of military/policeman/fireman types use it because it's simply the best GPP (general physical preparedness) program out there. Their philosophy is basically: specialistion is for insects, be quite good at endurance events, interval training, power lifting, strength lifting, gymnastics and you'll be the ideal all round athlete. The problem with training "programs" for military types is that you can't simulate the demands of combat in one program and just repeat it, because they vary. It's better to be conditioned for lots of eventualities which you can't predict, which is what CrossFit does. To give a concrete example, a lot of armies train by doing long jogs together, which might be fine for discipline and pretty good for fitness but it doesn't prepare you for the time you have to sprint 400m, climb a wall, kick a door down, jump a gap, run 4000m and do it all again.

http://www.crossfit.com/ Read as much of the site as you can, it's exactly what you're looking for.

I'm finding it's actually pretty cheap to eat healthily in reasonable quantities. Pasta, tuna, fruit, milk and supermarket own brand stuff is all quite cheap and filling. First week or so I lost quite a lot of weight because I wasn't exercising and was really quite ill, but now that i'm back into sport my diet is back to normal. I cycle to lectures but none of them are more than 5 mins away so that's not much exercise.

I have quite a few playlists depending on my mood. Stuff like "Feel Good", "Tear Jerkers", "Smooth" (classic Frank Sinatra type stuff), "Love Songs" etc. I rarely listen to them all the way through, instead because I have quite a lot of music i'd probably forget all the songs that fit under those categories if I wanted to listen to something like that. So instead of having to think what a "Feel Good" song is I can just pick one off the playlist. I have a Spotify playlist with my best friend which we haven't updated in ages, I just put random stuff there I like every now and again, and one with my girlfriend but she's not using Spotify much whilst she's out of the country so that doesn't get changed much.