P3te Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Lost a load of weight a few years ago and have managed to put it all back on through increased workload and more time in the office sitting in front of a computer. Getting back into going to the gym while the weather is bad though, but mostly using it for cardio and slowly building back up. Last week was just treadmill for an hour a night four times walking at about 6.5km/h (I'm 6'5 so have long legs making that less ridiculous than it sounds). I strongly dislike running on treadmills though, my foot consistently clips the front or side and throws me off balance, so I don't really want to go down that route. Once the weather improves I'll spend a few weeks getting back up to running 5k non-stop (not much, I know, but I'm quite out of shape), and then go from there But it feels like a bit of a waste using the gym just for the treadmill and bike (which I'll be starting back on tonight). There's circuit of 9 cable machines that apparently works out most of the muscle groups, but are those things actually worth doing? Had a few people telling me that free weights are the only thing worth bothering with. Anyone shed any light on cable machines based on personal experience? Aim here is to lose weight quickly, which I've got a pretty solid record of doing (the problem is stopping exercise and continuing to eat like I'm doing 25-30km a day which I used to do) Edited January 22, 2014 by P3te Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 22, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 22, 2014 Cable machines have their purpose, and they're better than nothing. But yes, free weights are wayyyyyy better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Would it be worth getting a personal trainer for a session to show proper form etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) As Stevo says, better than machines, but not as good as free weights. From what i've noticed, they tend to get used for isolation exercises quite a lot, for which they can be useful, but if you're trying to lose weight then sticking to compound exercises will be the better way forward (E.g. Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Rows & Shoulder Press). Edited January 22, 2014 by Shillzz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 I'm reading a book called 'Fast Exercise'. It's written by Dr Michael Mosley, and it draws on the findings of tonnes of scientific research, peer reviewed journals and the like. It's very interesting stuff, but the basic premise is that people spend wayyyyy too long plodding on exercise bikes/treadmills/rowers. It's all about very short, but very intense, bursts of activity. It looks at it from different perspectives such as weight loss, VO2 Max, appetite suppression and glucose disruption. It's nothing new - Tabata training and whatnot has been around for ages - but he puts it into a modern context, and brings those early ideas upto date with fresh research. It goes hand in hand with a form of resistance training called Time Under Load/Time Under Tension. I highly recommend the book for someone wanting to change the way they exercise. I seriously think we'll look back in a decade or two and think that some of the training methods employed today were **** retarded. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 22, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 22, 2014 I'm reading a book called 'Fast Exercise'. It's written by Dr Michael Mosley, and it draws on the findings of tonnes of scientific research, peer reviewed journals and the like. It's very interesting stuff, but the basic premise is that people spend wayyyyy too long plodding on exercise bikes/treadmills/rowers. It's all about very short, but very intense, bursts of activity. It looks at it from different perspectives such as weight loss, VO2 Max, appetite suppression and glucose disruption. It's nothing new - Tabata training and whatnot has been around for ages - but he puts it into a modern context, and brings those early ideas upto date with fresh research. It goes hand in hand with a form of resistance training called Time Under Load/Time Under Tension. I highly recommend the book for someone wanting to change the way they exercise. I seriously think we'll look back in a decade or two and think that some of the training methods employed today were **** retarded. High Intensity Interval Training, basically. It's the cardio for choice for a lot of bodybuilders. It's shorter, more intense and has the added bonus that Sprinting actually compliments muscle building whereas longer endurance based cardio has the opposite effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 22, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Would it be worth getting a personal trainer for a session to show proper form etc? Possibly, but without trying to sound like a dick, a lot of PTs will waste your time. I'd research it. Look for programmes like Stronglifts or Starting Strength. Or go to a site such as Muscle and Strength and look at their beginner workouts. All their workouts are rated, most of the designers are members of the site so you can ask them about it, and the majority of the exercises have videos to show you the proper form. I'd always recommend research before working out to people, both for routines and diet. It can save you bags of time in the long run because you don't end up doing stuff that doesn't work. Edited January 22, 2014 by Stevo985 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 High Intensity Interval Training, basically. It's the cardio for choice for a lot of bodybuilders. It's shorter, more intense and has the added bonus that Sprinting actually compliments muscle building whereas longer endurance based cardio has the opposite effect. Basically, yeah. As you know, it's been around for ages, but he presents it with the help of modern research; and some of the lesser known physiological benefits he talks about are quite interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yep HIIT is awesome. It's worth reading anything by Martin Rooney, who's a great writer and a massive proponent of sprinting over long-distance steady-state. His book 'Warrior Cardio' is fantastic. Agree with Stevo about looking at programmes like Starting Strength (and checking out the book by Mark Rippetoe). Even if you've been training for a number of years but not seeing great results, it would be worth a look as I'd wager that most beginners waste loads of time in the gym on isolation exercises, when they should focus on getting big and strong on the compound lifts. With regards to PTs, it's like any profession - you get awesome ones and really, really shit ones. When it comes to choosing one, I would look for one with some sort of strength and conditioning qualification. A good trainer would assess and teach movement patterns and mobility and ensure correct form on your lifts, whether it going to appropriate depth on squats, grooving the hip hinge for dead lifts and so on. I actually recently decided to get certified myself (and have got my UKSCA Foundation course booked for the summer) and I'm going to try and start training some people on the side and see if takes off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 23, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 23, 2014 There's a PT at my gym. he's huge and ripped, so he must know what he's doing. He always gets his clients to do proper lifts, squats, deads etc. But their form is always appalling. He had this guy doing squats the other day and he had his head down, leaning forwards, half squats with his legs facing forward and practically together. Basically everything he could do wrong. Maybe he was easing him in and he'd correct form later, but it looked awful to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 So i'm trying to come up with a way of staying in shape while I go travelling in a few weeks. Some areas of the body are fairly easy to exercise without weights, but it's virtually impossible to exercise your back without some kind of equipment. With this in mind, I'm thinking of buying a heavy loading resistance band to take with me. Does anyone have any experience of these? Or alternative ways to workout without weights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yep HIIT is awesome. It's worth reading anything by Martin Rooney, who's a great writer and a massive proponent of sprinting over long-distance steady-state. His book 'Warrior Cardio' is fantastic. Out of interest, how did you hear about Martin Rooney? Is he a name outside of MMA/BJJ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 There's a PT at my gym. he's huge and ripped, so he must know what he's doing. He always gets his clients to do proper lifts, squats, deads etc. But their form is always appalling. He had this guy doing squats the other day and he had his head down, leaning forwards, half squats with his legs facing forward and practically together. Basically everything he could do wrong. Maybe he was easing him in and he'd correct form later, but it looked awful to me. Yeah that sounds familiar. Without wanting to sound like a dick and generalise too much (and I'm an aspiring trainer), the type of people that can be attracted to the fitness industry aren't necessarily the brightest or most selfless of people... Certainly in my experience, anyway. Some don't really give a shit about the clients. They know how to train themselves for their own goals but can't adapt. I know how to get myself bigger, leaner and stronger but the same approach wouldn't be appropriate/work for a middle-aged woman or a beginner. I've seen loads of trainers put clients on bodybuilding splits immediately and beast them with HIIT in their first session and others prescribe ridiculously complicated exercises to overweight clients, as if novelty value makes exercises more effective. I think there's a lot of dodgy information out there and if they don't make an effort (or care) to get educated it's easy to blindly follow it. That said, everybody makes mistakes and learns from them. It can be beneficial not to 'over-teach' beginners and just get them doing things naturally without overloading them with coaching cues and then fixing stuff as they get more comfortable with an exercise. There are also loads of awesome trainers about but finding them can be a bit tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yep HIIT is awesome. It's worth reading anything by Martin Rooney, who's a great writer and a massive proponent of sprinting over long-distance steady-state. His book 'Warrior Cardio' is fantastic. Out of interest, how did you hear about Martin Rooney? Is he a name outside of MMA/BJJ? To be honest, I can't remember! It would probably either have been via his articles on T-Nation, the Fitcast or a video another trainer did with him. Yeah, I'd say he's a pretty massive name. I think I'd normally find someone like him quite cheesy but he's actually awesome. He cuts through a lot of bullshit with regards to training and most of his inspirational writing is very, well, inspirational! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I never knew that. He was in Birmingham a few years ago and I agree his motivational stuff was (surprisingly enough) very motivating. I took about 10 pages of notes from him as well and then completely forgot almost all of it. I'll have to try and find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 24, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 24, 2014 170kg x 2 on Deadlifts last night. New PB. Heaviest thing I've lifted in any lift. Especially pleased as I faile don my first rep because I hadn't set myself right, so had to have a second attempt. Not so long ago I'd have just given up after the first fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Buzzing about my upper body session tonight... Managed to bench press the 65kg dumbbells for a comfortable 8 reps! Did not expect that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 There's a PT at my gym. he's huge and ripped, so he must know what he's doing. He always gets his clients to do proper lifts, squats, deads etc. But their form is always appalling. He had this guy doing squats the other day and he had his head down, leaning forwards, half squats with his legs facing forward and practically together. Basically everything he could do wrong. Maybe he was easing him in and he'd correct form later, but it looked awful to me. Makes no sense to 'ease' someone in with bad form, to be honest, form is the most paramount thing with the major lifts, any good trainer would have their client doing them with proper form from day 1. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 26, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 26, 2014 Buzzing about my upper body session tonight... Managed to bench press the 65kg dumbbells for a comfortable 8 reps! Did not expect that! Shiiiiit 65kg DBs?! That is some heavy shit There's a PT at my gym. he's huge and ripped, so he must know what he's doing. He always gets his clients to do proper lifts, squats, deads etc. But their form is always appalling. He had this guy doing squats the other day and he had his head down, leaning forwards, half squats with his legs facing forward and practically together. Basically everything he could do wrong. Maybe he was easing him in and he'd correct form later, but it looked awful to me. Makes no sense to 'ease' someone in with bad form, to be honest, form is the most paramount thing with the major lifts, any good trainer would have their client doing them with proper form from day 1. Aye that's what I thought. And saw the trainer there on Saturday with the same client. Still shoddy form 150kg x 5 on squats yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted January 27, 2014 Moderator Share Posted January 27, 2014 I've finally FINALLY(!!!) put the deadlift back into my routine (yay). It's now the compound lift for my day 2 routine which, co-incidentally, is today Starting it off slowly just to get the technique right. I watched Rippetoe again and it's scary how many of the little things I'd forgotten from previously. The things that would be the difference between tweaking your back and not tweaking it. I also had someone come over and point out the error of my ways with the lat pulldown (I 'taught' myself and had it all wrong. It's actually easier now than I was doing it). So day 2 is coming together now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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