Getting into shape.

[Dontrike]

In the world of cardio, such as swimming, it is a well known fact for it to be an aerodynamic sport. The drag that you mentioned should make things even better for you since it's causing you resistance to work against; which in turn will help you bike faster in the long run. If anything, just make sure you'll always pushing yourself to out compete yourself. Continue to keep track of your efforts.

Oh I definitely keep track by putting it into Fitocracy. Right now I am working for distance more so than speed. I put my bike seat higher as I had it as low as it can go and I think that was causing some of my leg pain, so a little higher should help me get more power out of each pedal. I should really see how far I can go on a stationary bike, just to see the difference between the two.

 

[Dontrike]

Good job man, dumbbells can be great for the chest, just make sure if possible to keep on progressively adding weight onto your lifts. Lifting heavy and intense cardio will slim you down fast. When you go on your bike rides, are you biking at a fast pace?

Forgot about the weight.

My barbell can go up to 100 lbs. total, but my dumbbells can only go 20/20 or 30/10 because of how it came. I should probably look into different dumbbells at some point, but for now they will do.

 

[Dontrike]

No cycling today because of rain and increased the weight of all of my barbell exercises by 11 lbs. Nothing the last 3 days as I was not home.


Barbell Bench Press:
82.2 lb x 15 reps (+57 pts)
82.2 lb x 10 reps (+54 pts)
82.2 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
About time I increase the weight.
Crunch:
90 reps (+45 pts)
Bicycle (abs):
29 reps (+11 pts)
Barbell Squat:
82.2 lb x 15 reps (+57 pts)
82.2 lb x 10 reps (+54 pts)
82.2 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
Dumbbell Bicep Curl:
20 lb x 20 reps (+30 pts)
20 lb x 15 reps (+28 pts)
20 lb x 10 reps (+26 pts)
20 lb x 5 reps (+22 pts)
Dumbbell Bench Press:
20 lb x 20 reps (+45 pts)
20 lb x 15 reps (+43 pts)
20 lb x 10 reps (+41 pts)
20 lb x 5 reps (+34 pts)
Barbell Curl:
82.2 lb x 10 reps (+20 pts)
82.2 lb x 5 reps (+17 pts)
Dumbbell Lunges:
20 lb x 15 reps (+68 pts)
20 lb x 10 reps (+64 pts)
20 lb x 5 reps (+54 pts)

 

[Dontrike]

Today definitely wasn't the best. My left shoulder and wrist felt odd while lifting the barbell. May have pulled something minor in my groin as it hurt today while I was doing my lunges. I am also getting worried about the cycling, seems like I am not improving, legs tired quickly today. Maybe it was the crazy amount of humidity that made it feel 10 degrees higher than it was. I was setting buckets by the time I went even 3 miles and it seemed like the sweat just wanted to keep getting in my eye.


Cycling:
0:46:00 || 10.2 mi (+264 pts)
Barbell Bench Press:
82.2 lb x 16 reps (+58 pts)
82.2 lb x 11 reps (+55 pts)
82.2 lb x 6 reps (+49 pts)
Crunch:
100 reps (+50 pts)
Bicycle (abs):
30 reps (+12 pts)
Barbell Squat:
82.2 lb x 16 reps (+58 pts)
82.2 lb x 11 reps (+55 pts)
82.2 lb x 6 reps (+49 pts)
Barbell Curl:
82.2 lb x 11 reps (+20 pts)
82.2 lb x 6 reps (+18 pts)
Dumbbell Bench Press:
20 lb x 21 reps (+46 pts)
20 lb x 16 reps (+44 pts)
20 lb x 11 reps (+41 pts)
20 lb x 6 reps (+37 pts)
Dumbbell Bicep Curl:
20 lb x 21 reps (+30 pts)
20 lb x 16 reps (+28 pts)
20 lb x 11 reps (+27 pts)
20 lb x 6 reps (+24 pts)
Dumbbell Lunges:
20 lb x 16 reps (+69 pts)
20 lb x 11 reps (+65 pts)
20 lb x 6 reps (+58 pts)

 

[purple999]

Have you looked at 'scoobys' website, he has a lot of videos on youtube and info on his site, he doe's it all for free.

One thing he says, is if you can do more than 16 reps you should move up in weight, he says if I was to give you $100 dollars to do one more rep and you could, you have not worked out properly (this is for getting bigger), he doe's say always use the correct form on exercises, he reckons you should aim for failure on every set.

For crunches I have started using a 5 kg plate behind my head, and this is helping a lot.

Not completely sure on your goals, but thought this info maybe of use to you (You may already know all this, or decided another way is better)

Cheers Lee.

 

[Dontrike]

I am not trying to get bigger, just lose some weight. Unfortunately, I found out that my barbell will only go up to 88.2 lbs because it won't allow me to put more weight on it. Looks like I will have to buy a new one that will allow me to put more weight on it, buy more weight, and it won't be from 20 years ago.

 

[purple999]

Cool, yeah still check out his site if you want, he has stuff on weight loss to.

One chap before said for most people 70% of how your body shape is, is to do with diet, I have read this a lot, some people believe its even more.

I have just lost 18 lbs over the last 8 months, I know that doesn't sound a lot, but I haven't in the true sense been on a diet.
I swapped over to whole grains, brown bread, brown rice, apparently there is a chemical in these which helps to stop you craving sugar, seems to work for me. Also has more vitamins in it, and digests slower so keeps you full longer.
Salt and fizzy drinks make your body hold excess water, so I cut out fizzy drinks and lowered my salt intake.
I looked at all the meals I eat and substituted whatever i could for healthier ingredients, I eat enough beef in my currys so in my mince type meals I used turkey mince (10% fat), supermarkets lie about how much fat is in there beef mince (Some use red colouring to), I never eat mayonnaise now either its mainly vegetable oil, you can use greek yogurt instead, or mustard for sandwiches, you get the idea.
I don't eat any less than I did before, I just went through all my normal meals and swapped whatever i could, its a bit slower to work than normal dieting, but i am happy to do this for the rest of my life.

Again you might already know all this, but thought it wouldn't hurt to write this down.

Cheers Lee.

 

[Dontrike]

I have been trying to substitute things in my house as well, but unfortunately I live at home and getting others to eat healthier is harder.

 

[purple999]

At home means with your parents I take it ? Nothing wrong in that, if you can't cook your own meals, your gonna have a hard time till you move out.

Sorry about that, Lee.

 

[Dontrike]

I can cook my own, except I only really know how to cook simple breakfast foods, hamburgers, and noodle foods. I have no idea how to cook anything in the oven or flavor food at all. I have always wanted to learn more, but no one to really teach me those things.

Anyways, my family isn't really all that healthy and it is already hard for everyone to eat what is made, because someone usually doesn't like one part or even the whole meal.

Right now my step-dad is trying to eat healthier, and we are getting whole wheat bread and more vegetables in the house, but it is still a struggle to get him to get multi-grain pasta and brown rice. I don't have a job currently so I can't afford it either.

 

[purple999]

No thats cool, my diet changed over many months, not all on the first month, and yes I have it much easier than you in I can change what I like, I had a high metabolism when I was younger and at home so was lucky.

You sound very bright, so just do what you can for now, and when your situation changes you already know how to eat healthy.

The Internet is great for learning how to cook, thats how I learned, but cooking a meal for 4 in the oven with only you eating it is not always practical I understand that.

With cooking just learn how to cook one new meal a month thats all I did, if it comes out well keep the recipe if its not that good try another. Cooking isn't that hard, it just takes a bit of time when you start off, also costs money to get the right dishes etc if you haven't got them, I usually cook meals in a batch then freeze the rest for the microwave, I just cook fresh rice etc on those days.

Keep your motivation up, and i am sure you will get there !!!

Lee.

 

[sandiego27]

I can cook my own, except I only really know how to cook simple breakfast foods, hamburgers, and noodle foods. I have no idea how to cook anything in the oven or flavor food at all. I have always wanted to learn more, but no one to really teach me those things.

Anyways, my family isn't really all that healthy and it is already hard for everyone to eat what is made, because someone usually doesn't like one part or even the whole meal.

Right now my step-dad is trying to eat healthier, and we are getting whole wheat bread and more vegetables in the house, but it is still a struggle to get him to get multi-grain pasta and brown rice. I don't have a job currently so I can't afford it either.

Dude, when it comes to cooking, "get cooking" as they say. My mother (bless her heart) was not the best cook if you know what I mean. Aside from a dish here or their, it was very bland and boring and I have since learned so much just on my own.

I love foodnetwork.com, they have some of my favorite recipes for things. Just sort the recipe your looking for by votes/ratings. If it's got hundreds of 5 stars, it's probably BOMB!

But you really learn the most through trial and error. Get some spices like Onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, tumeric, cayan pepper, basil, lemmon pepper seasonings, ect... And just experiment!

One thing I've learned however, is that if you want to eat healthy, it's gonna cost you. It's very difficult to eat a low-carb high-protein diet with not much $ to spend. When I diet on the cheap, I eat lots of canned Tuna, Eggs, Chicken and salad. All those things are relatively cheap, but it can get boring eating the same things day after day.

Since your broke you gotta rely on what the parents re buying you. Just tell em to get you lots of chicken/tuna/ect.. If they are supportive of your weight loss, they will help you out.

 

[Dontrike]

I have been interested in cooking recently and have had ideas on just random meals.

I will definitely be keeping this up, although biking will be harder in the winter. It is definitely starting to look like I will need to do my bike trip both there and back, which means 90 miles. I have somewhere I can stop about 65-70 miles into that I can rest, but there back home it is mostly down hill.

This is normally where I make a joke about me betting if I will pass out or die during it, but then I would get the attention of the mods.

 

[mojave]

I would look into stocking up on chicken breast and fish, start eating that a lot. So 8oz of Chicken, baked potato/brown rice for a meal and try to do smaller portions 6 times a day to keep your body constantly fed. I would also look into getting some whey protein such as Scivation whey or syntha-6 and drink that bad boy during your bike ride, both pack with BCAAs and will help on your bike ride for sure and with recovery after. If you are wanting to loose weight and need some help just shoot me a PM, I do fitness modeling and have to stay around 5% bf for shoots so I am used to dieting all the time and also am a personal trainer and can help you with some customized diet plans, workouts, etc if you want.

 

[Dontrike]

Thanks for the offer Mojave. Only reason I feel like saying no to it is that I don't really have a whole lot of money to get much nor a lot of space or equipment to do some exercises.

My main goal is losing weight, last time I checked my weight, 3 months ago, I was 301 lbs. and I am trying to get down to 220 lbs. at some point. The other goal is being prepared for my 90 mile bike ride.

 

[purple999]

Cheers guys, for adding I didn't want to sound to hard.

Another point, when I was 16-18 i used to wash pots in kitchens for a temp agency, it wasn't great but you sweat a lot doing it trust me, i always got my pick of the dinners they served, chicken, vedge etc.
I don't know if their are many opportunity for jobs where you are, and i must note my parents pretty much pushed me to get a job, but the upside employers love that sort of stuff, it shows you are active,, if you then decide to move on to a better job, you've got a reference and people know you turn up on time and are a good worker, we all sometimes need to start somewhere.

You're path maybe harder than mine, but if you do it you'll be so proud of yourself.

And i would ask mojave for some help !!! I might 5% is mad

Cheers Lee.

 

[Dontrike]

My parents want me to get a job and while my mother's Multiple Sclerosis does make getting a job difficult, as no one wants to hear "I could be absent on any random day, at any random time, and may even need to go home for any number of emergencies. Oh and my youngest brother has seizures too, so there is that possibility as well. Can I haz job?" Joking about that very last sentence. Not many are willing to hire someone that is anchored to a home life and only worked at Wendy's as a minion and a drug store as a stock clerk.

I did have a job two months ago as a stock clerk, but I had a mental break down and was close to killing myself one day at work because of the things I was going through. I quit because I knew it would be awkward and I didn't want people looking at me every time I went to use a box cutter. It was just something you don't recover from, so I felt it best to quit. I definitely enjoyed the job, definitely more than my first job, as it kept me moving and helped me lose weight in the beginning.

I do want another job, and after this bike trip I am going to start looking again, but my options are limited as I don't own my own car, one is not readily available, and I only have places I can walk to or I can get to by bus, at least during the winter, which is coming quick over here in Ohio.

 

[purple999]

Ok, sounds sad, just take one day at a time I guess, not qualified to give advice on this, so won't.

Perhaps a part time job in the evening cleaning/hoovering when your step dads home ?

Cheers Lee

 

[Dontrike]

For now it will probably be as I described. There is a new and bigger Wal-Mart being built, so I will try and get a job there, plus I do have a mall that the buses go to and they post job openings every so often for anyone hiring.

 

[purple999]

Ok, keep up your journal here please.
Would like to see how your exercising/progress goes.

Lee.