Help yourself - the great health thread.

[Futurama]

The reason i'm starting this thread is because when I was first getting into weight training I was doing EVERYTHING wrong and getting nowhere. A lot of the TIF members are in the stage (early-mid teens) where they start caring about their image, so here are ways to get yourself fitter and tougher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muscle Building - Diet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, fatty foods are not good for building muscle. Tucking into a McDonalds once a week won't do you much harm, so don't starve yourself of anything you love, but eat in moderation.

 

 

 

Eat a minimum of 1g of protein per lb of body weight for building muscle. If you weight 150lbs, eat at least 150g of protein. Meat is the best source of protein, eat LOTS of it.

 

 

 

Starchy foods are good for muscle gain, as to gain muscle, you have to gain weight. Bread, Potato, Paste, and Noodles are great.

 

 

 

Eat lots of dairy products too. Beans are also good - any kind.

 

 

 

Eat little but eat often. You're better to eat 5 or 6 meals during the day instead of 3 massive ones.

 

 

 

Be sure to consume more callories than you burn during the day. Your body is going to need the excess while you sleep, so don't go overkill otherwise you'll be gaining fat and muscle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.strengthcats.com/kilopoundconverter.htm <- Pound to Kilo Converter, By Request.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Types of Muscle Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strength Training - Strength training is no doubt what most of the tif members will want to do as it gets you strong. For strength training you should generally lift as heavy as you can, but lift small amounts too to tone your muscles.

 

 

 

Stamina Training - This is what most athletes do, and is based around keeping your current figure but building muscle around what you have. You should lift small amounts but lots of reps for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muscle Building - Exercises

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbells are generally used for few repetitions. You should have enough weight on your barbell so you can lift in no more than about 10 times before your arms collapse under you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbell - Curls

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Triceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start with the barbell near your pelvis. Lift the barbell to your chin with little or no upper arm movement. Repeat reps till you're tired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbell - Benchpress

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Pectorals, Biceps & Triceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lie on a bench/table/the floor/your bed. start as the guy does on the left and lift the barbell straight up. Hold for a few seconds and bring the barbell back down to your chest. This is a popular exercise because of the large amount of muscles it builds and probably the fact that you lie down when you do it 8) **WARNING : I RECOMMEND YOU DO THIS EXERCISE UNDER SUPERVISION OF ANOTHER PERSON, IT CAN AND MAY GO WRONG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbell - Military Press

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Triceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start as the guy does on the right, barbell at collarbone height, sitting comfortably but firmly. Lift barbell as high as you can and hold for a few seconds. Return to start position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbell - Shoulder Shrugs

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Traps (shoulders)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start as above, barbell at pelvis height. Keep your arms as still as possible, and bring your shoulders upwards towards your chin. Hold for a few seconds and release. This exercise isn't really nessacery to a good body, as it only builds the shoulder muscles, but if you are going all out on weight training then by all means do this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumbells

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumbells are used generally for more repitions with lower weight. You should have enough weight on there so you can do anywhere between 30 & 100 reps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumbells - Curls

 

 

 

Muslces Built : Triceps & Biceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start as above. Bring one or both arms to collarbone height moving your upper arm as little as possible. Return to start position and repeat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dumbells - Side Raises

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Biceps & Triceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start standing, hands by your hips. Slowly bring the weights up to the above position and hold, then release. Repeat as nessacery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sit Ups

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Abs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find somewhere to support your feet so they don't move easily. The gap under a door or your bed should suffice. Start lieing down and bring your upper body to position B without moving your feet or body. Many people use their hands in a cradle to bring their head up. This does NOT help you build abs. Instead, point 1/2 fingers at your temple, use your fingertips to touch your ears with palms on your cheeks or don't use anything hand wise at all. Another person to hold your feet is very useful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Push Ups

 

 

 

Muscles Built : Pectorals & Triceps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start as above, fully stretched with your hands at chest/collarbone height. Lower yourself so your head almost touches the floor and then raise back up. You should feel the strain pretty much straight away, so if you can't, you're doing it wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping Morale / Tips for Successful Exercising

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't let exercising bore you. Play music whilst you're doing it, or watch tv. Part of being healthy is feeling good!

 

 

 

Eat smart, but eat with yourself in mind. An extra burger every week isnt going to kill you, if anything it'll do you good, but eat out of a set diet in moderation.

 

 

 

Don't exercise too much in one go. I worked out once for 2 hours straight and had to take a day off school because I literally couldn't walk. It does you no good.

 

 

 

Remember to breathe often when you're exercising. Taking a 3 second break beats passing out.

 

 

 

Change your exercises from time to time (for example every 3 months) so that the muscles don't get too used to the excersises.

 

 

 

Always stretch before you work out, otherwise you won't last long and it'll hurt. I'll post some stretches later on.

 

 

 

And last of all, enjoy it! Exercising makes you feel good, so it shouldn't be a chore. I'll add more to this guide later, but seeing as its 2:30am, i've had enough for tonight :wink:

 

 

 

Feel free to correct me on any mistakes. This is just off the top of my head, so a lot is probably wrong, and im getting tired tonight.

[Rob_Gambino]

Dumb bell curls improve your biceps. Pushups and bench press help more your pectorals than your biceps, but they do work biceps a little bit. Like you said, they work your triceps quite a bit too.

[seangotgame]

#*clap clap clap#* Well done. I am a bit to busy for actual weight traing but i make up for it with the amount of other excersise i get from just jogging and playing sports. During summer i am thinking about starting on a lifting program so this was really helpful. good job

[ice_ring]

Thanks for the guide...I must start working out harder... :oops:

[Astralinre]

Nice guide you've got there. :) I was planning on doing more upper-body work after track season is over, and I'll definitely have to keep all those things in mind when I do.

[DragonFirenze]

Dont forget shoulder shrugs and lateral pulls. They are both really good for your shoudlers.

[____]

You'd be best to state:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eat 5 or 6 meals per day rather than 3.

 

 

 

Be sure to consume more callories than you burn during the day. Your body is going to need the excess while you sleep, so don't go overkill otherwise you'll be gaining fat and muscle :P

[Rob_Gambino]

Oh yeah, also remember to breathe while you lift, passing out while you're lifting is no fun.

[Schwarzenegger]

Gotta start going to the gym again.. haven't been in like 3 months :x . All these supplements going to waste in cabinet :x

[Exarch]

Yeah, as darkrick said it's better to eat many small meals than a few large ones, or at least thats what my humanities teacher says (he is a big bodybuilder) :P

[Dark_Tigra]

If you really stick with it, you start seeing results in like a week. At least I did. I used to be very muscular by genetics, but I got lazy and it kind of depleted, so I have to get it back now. :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently I eat 6 meals a day, lots of protein, uhhh...I add 5 pounds to the bar every other day when I bench press, it's really hard because it tears your muscles up because it's not really ready for that 5 extra pounds *already*, but that's what ya' gotta' do, so..:P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's so boring, though. :(

[NorthernHero]

Whoah nice to see that you took a time and write this quite long guide just to help fellow boarders . I could add some things if you don't mind.

 

 

 

1. Don't forget to do aerobic training (running, etc.) and steches too so that your body doesn't get unflexible and so that your lougnts (spelling?) and blood circulation gets better too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Change your exercises from time to time (for example every 3 months), so that the muchles don't get too used to the excersises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and how much is a pound as in kg:s? Anyways I think it's enought to get 1,5 g:s for every kg in your body. Some preofessionals eat 2x amount, thats ok but I wouldn't eat any more than that as the non used protein transforms into fat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also going to gym is far better option than doing exersises at home, as for exersise morale. Atleast that was the case with me. I used to do exercises with my dads old weights. They werent in the best condition and the carage was dusty and sometimes cold. So I had lots of time big breaks in my exercising and I wasn't really going anywhere. Around two months ago I started to going to gym it's definetely more fun and easier to do all the exersises.

[Futurama]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, i've added most to the guide. This guide was originally just for home exercising, but i'll probably add a gym exercising section over the weekend - but as it stands, it's friday, and you know what fridays mean 8)

[____]

I can think of 3. Two of which aren't exactly acceptable to post :P

[Bubsa]

This post is extremely beneficiary to those wanting to know and start out. Good job, the board needed something like this :)

[Forceape]

Fantastic topic! Lots of really good info..... :)