Exercising without a gym

[Chickenbackside]

i'm not a nutrionist and i will avoid the discussion on high-carbs vs high-fat - but based on my meagre understanding, i agree that carbs are generally unhealthy, be it simple or complex. i used to be on a no-carb diet, eat 16-20 eggs/day, vege, meats, fishoil, protein and no rice or bread. i gave up the diet only because it was becoming too ge lat to tahan.

 

re training, for pure mass/strength gain, there is no substitute for weight training. Chickenbackside's training methods are good for endurance and maintaining cal deficit, but don't think you can build big muscles with them. if you don't have access to a gym for short term, can do suitcase deadlifts, carry a bag filled with books and do pullups, use the same bag to do pushups, bul split squats with the same bag carried overhead etc... but all these are a temporary measure at best.

I agree that if you want to build some SERIOUSLY BIG muscles, a gym (preferably with steroids, haha) is the most effective way to do it.

 

However, building huge muscles is not on my agenda. I just want to be functionally fit and look more like a gymnast than a body builder, hence my approach. But I am surprised, and also people around me, at the amount of muscle that can be packed on using just body weight exercises.

 

I mean things like handstand push ups took a few months to build up to, and I estimate that in order to be strong enough to do 10 consecutive reps of it, your shoulders and arms would need to be of a certain size. Not to mention your core muscles that would have to be involved in maintaining a handstand. Same thing with pull ups. In order to do 30 consecutive pull ups, your biceps and lats would need to be pretty developed.

 

Bar-Barians a group of people that do nothing but body weight exercises, which would probably surprise most people at the muscle size that is achievable. More importantly to me, it's the definition of the muscles and the physical functionality that are outstanding:

 

http://www.bar-barians.com/

Edited January 2, 2010 by Chickenbackside

[Topgun]

...If you expend a lot of energy during your runs, I don't see any big reason not to have some glucose before or after. However, I don't think recreational athletes actually expend enough energy to warrant "energy" drinks.

 

...

 

Well, I've been running 6x a week 3 mths before the dec stanchart marathon. Since then I'm still trying to maintain with 60 to 90min run 4 or 5x a week. Guess that still qualifies me as doing recreational sports. I just think that replacing of salts with sports drink as the right thing to do.

 

Let's see what limiting of carbs will do for next couple of weeks

 

[Ithunk]

yeah handstand is a solid exercise.....i used to do pullups....until i got my personal dumbells....which is a gift really....

[Ithunk]

I agree that if you want to build some SERIOUSLY BIG muscles, a gym (preferably with steroids, haha) is the most effective way to do it.

 

However, building huge muscles is not on my agenda. I just want to be functionally fit and look more like a gymnast than a body builder, hence my approach. But I am surprised, and also people around me, at the amount of muscle that can be packed on using just body weight exercises.

 

I mean things like handstand push ups took a few months to build up to, and I estimate that in order to be strong enough to do 10 consecutive reps of it, your shoulders and arms would need to be of a certain size. Not to mention your core muscles that would have to be involved in maintaining a handstand. Same thing with pull ups. In order to do 30 consecutive pull ups, your biceps and lats would need to be pretty developed.

 

Bar-Barians a group of people that do nothing but body weight exercises, which would probably surprise most people at the muscle size that is achievable. More importantly to me, it's the definition of the muscles and the physical functionality that are outstanding:

 

http://www.bar-barians.com/

 

once u achieve that yr body will get used to the weight....tts y free weights are the best....nothing else is needed....unless u are into bodybuilding competitions....which has not much of a health benefit...lol.....or is it?

 

anyway i wouldnt choose a bodybuilder as a personal trainer if i was looking for one....lol

 

im not saying that their body is not nice....but when it gets too extreme to the extent of too many veins...its not really appealing....

 

and to wat end...keep competing? they will never catch up with these guys man...

 

 

 

[Ithunk]

and btw this are the prizes.....200 dollars for getting first...

 

Muscle and Fitness War 2010

The biggest amateur bodybuilding competition in Singapore is back!

 

 

Date: 23 Jan 2010

Venue: NUS Multi-Purpose Sports Hall 2

 

 

(1) Prizes (For each of the category stated below)

Tertiary Category (up to and including 170cm)

Tertiary Category (above 170cm)

Open Category

Fitness Category (for females)

 

1st

$200 Cash vouchers + $200 worth of Gift hamper + Prestigous trophy + Certificate from SBBF + Sponsored goodie bag

2nd

$150 Cash vouchers + $150 worth of Gift hamper + Prestigous trophy + Certificate from SBBF + Sponsored goodie bag

3rd

$100 Cash vouchers + $100 worth of Gift hamper + Prestigous trophy + Certificate from SBBF + Sponsored goodie bag

4th, 5th, 6th

$50 worth of Gift hamper + Prestigous trophy + Certificate from SBBF + Sponsored goodie bag

 

 

(2) Registration procedures

 

Early bird registration $10

-We have decided to extend the deadline for early bird registration to 5 Dec and booths will be set up to smoothen your application process should you not prefer applying via snail mail

Normal registration $15

 

Registration booths 2 Dec Wed 6 - 9pm

5 Dec Sat 12 - 5pm [Final deadline for early bird registration]

19 Dec Sat 12 -5pm

31 Dec Thurs 6 - 9pm

 

Venue NUS Students' Sports Club Room (Above Great Wall Restaurant which is beside the swimming pool)

Sports & Recreation Centre

2 Sports Drive 1

 

 

(3) Ticket Sales

 

Different from MFW'09, MFW'10 will be held in NUS Multi-purpose Sports Hall and seats are limited. Hence, tickets are on sale at $5 each! but note that there will be...

 

Quantity discounts!

10 tics and above 5% discount

20 tics and above 10% discount off total price

 

Please reply to this email to reserve your tickets AND come down to our booths at the same venue stated above on

19 Dec Sat 12 -5pm

31 Dec Thurs 6 - 9pm

to pay and collect the tickets.

 

 

Please visit nushnf.com/MFW2010/index.html for more details.

 

[Ithunk]

this is also a good workout routine

 

[Mazdaowner]

yaya....correct....break wind burns calories

 

Specially when you take a can of baked beans, wah, yoru face have to "khek" and muscles all

tense up, just to let go the perfect one. Caution: Need to concentrate, if not besides gas, "other" things will come out as well. hahhahahaha! [laugh]

 

Have to wash pants.

[Porker]

Yet, carbohydrates (essentially sugar in the end) are at the base of our recommended diet and are supposed to make up the majority of what we eat. Hmm.

 

Does that make logical sense? Doesn't that set us up for ill health? Does that seem to coincide with the obesity trends around the world? Does that seem to explain why the poorer a community, the more obese the people are because the cheapest and most abundant food available are processed carbs and artificial fats?

 

You mentioned above that carbs set us up for ill health or seem to imply it simply because carbs get processed to sugar at the end.

 

Its also a sweeping statement to state that diabetes, cancer and etc can be caused by excessive consumption of sugar (or carbs).

 

And you are right that those obese folks in USA are eating the wrong macronutrient but that stems mainly from the way the food is processed. Deep fried food will be soaked in oil and fat that whatever predominant macronutrient will be obvious.

 

Here'd a scientific low down on how your diet is a success:

 

1) You consume less food because the high fat content in your meals make you eat less

2) The total calorie intake drops because of the "suppressed appetite"

3) Your daily expenditure outweighs the food intake in terms of calories

4) You lose weight hence

 

Doesn't matter what sort of diet you do because losing weight = calorie deficit (the most simple formula)

 

Btw, complex carbohydrates are simply sugars bonded together to form a chain (like what you mentioned). Digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds to break the chain into individual sugars for absorption through the intestines.

 

For this reason digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption of sugars provides us with a steady supply of energy and limits the amount of sugar converting into fat and stored!

 

We all know insulin spikes are from a sudden influx of sugar such as simple sugars from coke and maybe that krispy kreme doughnut. These are bad for reasons you have mentioned. Complex carbs are a different story altogether (for the reason stated in bold above).

[Aristotle]

I agree with Porker on this. If all things held constant, you will still lose weight just by caloric deficit. But looking at your almost daily body weight exercises, coupled with diet modifications, fat will literally melt very very easily with a high fat high protein diet through ketosis. But to put carbs as the main source of problem is like " 一竹竿打翻全船人

[Porker]

Yes discipline is the key word.

 

Animal fats in fact are the worst and well documented to cause many diseases if taken long term. Plant extracts are definitely better but this is a long debate so lets save it for our own reading pleasure.

 

Chickenbackside... no offence meant to you in anyway. Its just that I get carried away in discussion when people say things that I feel is wrong. Regardless, I wish you the best in your dieting endeavour.

[Ithunk]

actually carbs are important

[Chickenbackside]

You mentioned above that carbs set us up for ill health or seem to imply it simply because carbs get processed to sugar at the end.

 

Its also a sweeping statement to state that diabetes, cancer and etc can be caused by excessive consumption of sugar (or carbs).

 

And you are right that those obese folks in USA are eating the wrong macronutrient but that stems mainly from the way the food is processed. Deep fried food will be soaked in oil and fat that whatever predominant macronutrient will be obvious.

 

Here'd a scientific low down on how your diet is a success:

 

1) You consume less food because the high fat content in your meals make you eat less

2) The total calorie intake drops because of the "suppressed appetite"

3) Your daily expenditure outweighs the food intake in terms of calories

4) You lose weight hence

 

Doesn't matter what sort of diet you do because losing weight = calorie deficit (the most simple formula)

 

Btw, complex carbohydrates are simply sugars bonded together to form a chain (like what you mentioned). Digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds to break the chain into individual sugars for absorption through the intestines.

 

For this reason digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption of sugars provides us with a steady supply of energy and limits the amount of sugar converting into fat and stored!

 

We all know insulin spikes are from a sudden influx of sugar such as simple sugars from coke and maybe that krispy kreme doughnut. These are bad for reasons you have mentioned. Complex carbs are a different story altogether (for the reason stated in bold above).

Again, how much something isn't harmful is not related to how much that thing is beneficial. How well method A works has nothing to do with how better method B would work.

 

Why depend on glucose for fuel when you can tap into fats? Why do our bodies only have the capacity to store a relatively small amount of glucose in our livers and muscles (which can be easily used up in a short, intense workout) but have a huge capacity to store fats (which can sustain life for around 3 months for most people)?

 

In any case, maybe I have sounded too sweeping regarding carbs. I'll admit that.

 

I actually have nothing against non sweet carbs like leafy or cruciferous veges. I eat them myself though not in large amounts. Heck, I even eat blueberries that contain fructose. The nutrients they contain and their low glycemic loads make them ok to eat. But they won't make up the bulk of my meals.

 

However, what I'm really cautioning against are grain-derived complex carbs like brown rice, whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, whole grain cereals...etc. They are just bags of sugar to me.

 

This where it gets dangerous. People hear that these whole grains are "good for you" and "fats" are bad for you, and what happens is they start eating loads of these carbs and "healthy" oils like margarine and soyabean oil.

 

Would you agree that these complex carbs and healthy oils are good for human health? Everyone has been told so. It must be so. Right?

 

Or is there a better alternative?

 

I held the exact same view as you. I even lost a lot of weight with the whole complex carbs diet. That was purely due to a calorie deficit. I was hungry all the time. It wasn't feasible for me eating high carb and low fat.

 

But this time round, I don't deny there had been a calorie deficit when I was losing weight. However, after my body weight reach 64kg, I did an experiment to see how much of it was diet and how much of it was exercise.

 

For 2 weeks in October 2009, I stopped exercising and ate as much as I wanted. I ate many buffets at the The Greenhouse and The Line. The only thing I made sure of was that I was ingesting >70% fat, 20% protein and as little carbs as possible. I did not lose weight or gain weight. There was definitely no caloric deficit cos I did not do an ounce of exercise other than walking to my car. One would think that 2 weeks of unlimited eating and zero exercise would induce some weight gain.

 

Hence I was convinced that a calorie is not simply a calorie, as hypothesized by many researchers both past and present. Obesity is not a disease of overeating. It is a disease of excess fat accumulation. We overeat because we are hormonally driven to grow fat; we don

[Chickenbackside]

Yes discipline is the key word.

 

Animal fats in fact are the worst and well documented to cause many diseases if taken long term. Plant extracts are definitely better but this is a long debate so lets save it for our own reading pleasure.

 

Chickenbackside... no offence meant to you in anyway. Its just that I get carried away in discussion when people say things that I feel is wrong. Regardless, I wish you the best in your dieting endeavour.

Hey no offence taken bro!

 

We're just having a "healthy" discussion, haha.

 

Let's just agree to disagree.

 

Isn't it great to live in a free world?

[Porker]

I like to think of myself as a man of balance and I live my life in balance (I try my best).

 

And no I don't think all fats are bad contrary to what you might think of me lol.

 

I think omega 3 fish oil is damn good and I take them too. I think a little bit of fat goes a long way during pre contest dieting as it keeps you sane from all the b-------t steamed food without salt and oil. I do try and limit my intake of high salt-high fat/oil food at all times. A once in a while indulgence is fine but not too much.

 

I LOVE MY KFC JUST LIKE LEE PRIEST DOES

[Chickenbackside]

actually carbs are important

Very true.

 

There is a very crucial METABOLIC need for carbohydrates.

 

To quote Dr. Kurt Harris:

 

"...fatty acids cannot cross the blood/brain barrier. Neurons can shift about half their metabolism to ketone bodies, but still require a gradient of glucose that can diffuse into the brain. If your blood glucose level drops too low, you are in a coma. Also, red blood cells require glucose.

 

Finally, apart from these special situations, there is another very significant situation in which it makes perfect sense that we have retained the ability to burn glucose generally.

 

That is called anaerobic glycolysis."

 

So luckily, our bodies can make it's own glucose for these metabolic needs through gluconeogenisis.

 

So, there is no DIETARY need for carbohydrates.

[Chickenbackside]

I like to think of myself as a man of balance and I live my life in balance (I try my best).

 

And no I don't think all fats are bad contrary to what you might think of me lol.

 

I think omega 3 fish oil is damn good and I take them too. I think a little bit of fat goes a long way during pre contest dieting as it keeps you sane from all the b-------t steamed food without salt and oil. I do try and limit my intake of high salt-high fat/oil food at all times. A once in a while indulgence is fine but not too much.

 

I LOVE MY KFC JUST LIKE LEE PRIEST DOES

Wah, do you compete in body building competitions? I used to body build in my late teens and remember vividly eating 20 egg whites a day and boiled everything. Yuck. But I'm definitely leaner now and have more muscular definition although muscle size is smaller.

 

I agree with the once in a while indulgence. I also let myself go once in a while. The chocolate fudge brownie crepe at The Line buffet is my weak spot. That's a once a year thing for me.

[Hamburger]

To bros who r really pro here, wat is e best way to lose my 2 spare tyres at e side. I run 30 mins or power walk 1 hr for 5 days a week. Diet restrict to 2000 cal n seldom takes dinner. But still seems not able to shave it off . Any suggestion??

read until blur but no one advice on my spare tyre leh............

[Porker]

Simple.. watch your diet and do more cardio and it will go. You're not eating enough. And make sure your 2000 calories are quality calories and not from crap like fast food and etc

Edited January 3, 2010 by Porker