Fitness And Strength Questions

[Niue]

Just suggestions after a few years of training..! so if this stuff is obvious or covered already, please forgive me.

First of all, the running... If you're doing some serious miles, then stay off the roads, as the camber of the roads can really stuff up the knees and IT tendons. A friend of mine goes to a local grassy park, and does some serious interval training there, you know, walking, jogging, then running, and finally sprinting, which he repeats 6 times across and back.

The weights will do the business for strength. For variation, take a look at Mens Health Workout Bible - it's great for suggestions of a much varied workout. Build up slowly, gradually increasing the weights, and working on a different set of muscles each day, so that you aren't constantly working on the same muscle group.

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for weight or number of reps. I tend towards the reps, because, obviously the weight is going to feel so much heavier towards the end of a session!

What you're doing sounds plenty, as long as you're going for it hard for at least 30 minutes to 40. Maybe go for a "super" session, with little to no break between exercises to really get the blood moving.

Personally, I go for a stack of protein, and take protein supplements to aid the muscle growth. I've been back in training after a little time off and within a few weeks I've really noticed a difference in myself both in general fitness and in muscle tone.

The cardio work may well take away a lot of the fat, but if you need it off quickly, again there are plenty of supplements out there which can help.

Sorry again, if the above is rubbish, but it's the best I can come up with.

Good luck with the training, mate.

 

[Caledfwlch]

Ok now heres an update on the calf thing. I see a little growth after 2 weeks and 2 short workouts. Did one last week and i recovered in 2 days, no more muscle fatigue. Did one again last sunday. and no its thursday and its still aching like day one, in fact, even more! is there something wrong?

 

[chinwaggler]

If it feels cramped up just give it a break. If it feels like it's been ripped or pulled then go see a doctor.

When you are back to normal just keep going with the heavy weights and low reps. Remember the calfs have three areas you need to work for best growth.

 

[DC]

Ok now heres an update on the calf thing. I see a little growth after 2 weeks and 2 short workouts. Did one last week and i recovered in 2 days, no more muscle fatigue. Did one again last sunday. and no its thursday and its still aching like day one, in fact, even more! is there something wrong? [/b]

Make sure you stretch them, heres what i do for calves:

Tues, Thurs, Sat:
Calf Raise Weighted
Reps 12 - 75 lbs 10 - 90 lbs 8 - 105lbs
Calf Raise Unweighted
Set 1 - 20 Reps
Set 2 - 20 Reps
Set 3 - 20 Reps

and thats it for me.

 

[Caledfwlch]

I think I'll move on to raises with weights once I'm done with projects and when my mates are done with the A levels and waiting to be enlisted. I'm currently gunning for MsAlister-esque calves. Pure dream I know haha.

 

[chinwaggler]

I don't think un-weighted calf raises are very useful for increasing size as they're too easy. I can easily do 70-100. How do you make 20 reps that difficult?

And who's MsAlister

Anyway back to calves.

I mentioned one of these before but I'll go into detail.
There are three parts of your 'calf' muscles. The first is the most visible one which is what makes the upside down heart shape just below knee-cap level. The second is a muscle underneath this and the third is the muscle on the other side of the shin bone (though you may not consider this your calf, it makes that part of your leg look better if you develop it).

In order to develop the up-side down heart shape or diamond, do calf raises. Whatever you do just try to keep it at around 6 reps ideally. If you can do more than eight, increase the load. You can do more reps but there's no point if your goal is growth. This will make your diamond more pronounced and make it stick out a bit (sorta out to your backward facing direction and bit to the inside of your leg).

In order to develop the muscle underneath that, you should do what I said earlier, sit down, put a load above your knees (sorta at the lower part of your quads) and just go on tip toes whilst staying sat down, so only your legs move. This will increase the width of your calfs. You know some people have definition but no width and some people just have massive calfs in every aspect.

In order to develop the third muscle try this: find a stable object, maybe a table leg or something really heavy, get some elastic rope, put your foot under it and pull it back towards your face. If you get what I mean, basically the opposite of calf raises. This will make the front of your calfs look better.

Hope this helps.

P.S. fitness is wickd sois strength - your body is a temple

 

[ljdougall]

RE: building up your calves. They are about the hardest muscle in the body to get decent growth in. That's cos ever since you learnt to walk they've been getting a workout, just standing still they're under some tension. And I can tell you Mcallister has those calves long before he ever touched a weight. Quads, shoulders, chest etc are easy to build up because for many people they've never really used these muscles much. Calf size is much more determined by genetics, we all know someone who has massive calves for no apparent reason.

If I were you I'd listen to the people who have said to base your workouts around the deadlift, squat and bench. For tackling, scrummaging, driving etc, it's all about the posterior chain so heavy deadlifts and squats are the most important. If you do these exercises hard and heavy(obviously not too heavy straight away), you will notice growth all over your body. Once your technique in squats and deadlifts is sound I wouldn't do more than 5 reps in a set, perhaps 5x5. Also these exercises will allow you to shift the most weight, and it's good for confidence when you know you can squat or deadlift 50kg more than your heaviest opponent weighs. Doing bicep curls, while giving you nice guns, doesn't give you the feeling of being powerful like having a really strong back and legs. For this reason you should leave your "little muscle" exercises like bicep curls till last.

Dougie

 

[zoomdoo]

Sorry I'm not contributing into this budding calves discussion, but I was wondering about the basic gym lifts.

Basically, what would be good numbers to have (ie: absolute strength levels) before beginning to play Rugby on a more than casual basis?

As for benching, to use it as an example, I've heard nuts stuff, like Andrew Sheridan bench pressing for one rep 200+ kgs and Percy Montgomery (!!) benching around 150+ kgs... so yeah just wondering if you guys had any input for a beginner!

 

[jawmalawm24]

Never start on really heavy weights even thou for strength you do need to stress your muscles but you don't want to do it to the point that you can't move for a week. I found out the hard way my very 1st workout I tried benching 80kgs thinking I was tuff I only managed 2 lifts still thinking I was the man but because I had never worked out before I didn't know that you don't feel the pain straight away it comes about a day after when your muscles are trying to recover.

I couldn't walk properly and my chest,shoulders and arms were shattered so workout hard but be very cautious to not take it too far especially if your just starting off. Have confidence in what your doing but don't go overboard or your body might breakdown and you'll end up losing muscle instead of gaining it.

 

[chinwaggler]

You don't need to be too strong it obviously depends on where you play and how un-casual it is.

For example, I can bench bout 60 x 10 and squat about 80 x 10 but I only play for my school. Don't forget Sheridan and Montgomery play for their country. That's their life. Unless you want to play for your country don't worry too much. Just do what feels right for you and keep working up on that. You don't need a target. It also depends on how tall you are.

And your body should ache the first times you start doing weights. When your body gets used to it, you'll still ache if you've given yourself a good workout just not as much. Pain is good. Unless you snap a tendon. It is a bit of a ***** when it hurts to get up from a chair but it's all for the greater good.

 

[milky185]

bloody hell what is your time off period

 

[BOKean]

stick to compound explosive exercises

bench press
deadlift
squat
power clean
shoulder press

are the big five

you will find if you hit all the big muscle groups everything will grow.

strength standards can be found here: http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/...thStandards.htm
start at untrained level and progressively you will find yourself getting stronger and stronger

 

[chinwaggler]

bloody hell what is your time off period
[/b]

if you were asking me i do weights wednesday and friday. sometimes on tuesday/thursday. i don't really have a time off period i just go to the gym when i feel i want to. i don't usually do it two days in a row though.. and if i do i don't do the same muscles. one day is all the time off you need

 

[fmarques25]

i didn't do a search so don't kill if it's already mention but i'm getting in a farly good shape by following this site www.crossfit.com.
The workouts look simple but thrust me they will kill you

 

[Beardy]

Never start on really heavy weights even thou for strength you do need to stress your muscles but you don't want to do it to the point that you can't move for a week. I found out the hard way my very 1st workout I tried benching 80kgs thinking I was tuff I only managed 2 lifts still thinking I was the man but because I had never worked out before I didn't know that you don't feel the pain straight away it comes about a day after when your muscles are trying to recover.

I couldn't walk properly and my chest,shoulders and arms were shattered so workout hard but be very cautious to not take it too far especially if your just starting off. Have confidence in what your doing but don't go overboard or your body might breakdown and you'll end up losing muscle instead of gaining it.

[/b]

Learn to stretch... :cheers: