Quote from: Kyle Aaron;372206Just watch 20 guys doing pushups without instruction and you won´t feel like laughing. Unfortunately this stuff really is not that obvious - or is only obvious when someone tells you.
 

Oh no. I get it, believe me I do. Its STILL funny to see it written and broken down like that.

I mean... have you seen my scrawny little arms? I remember when TEN push ups was a major challenge (I just rocked back and forth on my big yellow belly...).

But I actually don't recall ever needing detailed instructions, strangely enough. I remember GETTING them...just not NEEDING them...

This is a great thread, KA, and a public service for most gamers.

I'd like to ask what the best exercise for strengthening the arms is, if you don't have a lot of money for weights or room to store them? I've seen prison documentaries that show guys lifting plastic bottles and jugs full of water, and they looked strong, so can you give some advice on improvised weightlifting to improve arm strength? Or should I just try to copy what I see some guys in prison documentaries  doing?

Also, I know there's regular muscle and "fast twitch" muscle fiber that helps you in things like self defense striking. Are there exercises that improve fast twitch muscle specifically?

(Hmm, idea time: Some of these guys in prison who manage to spend all day in a small cell with no equipment and still look like body builders ought to write exercise books when they get out. They'd make more money and stay out of jail by becoming health and fitness experts instead of going back to gang banging and dealing.)

Quote from: Cylonophile;372749This is a great thread, KA, and a public service for most gamers.

I'd like to ask what the best exercise for strengthening the arms is, if you don't have a lot of money for weights or room to store them? I've seen prison documentaries that show guys lifting plastic bottles and jugs full of water, and they looked strong, so can you give some advice on improvised weightlifting to improve arm strength? Or should I just try to copy what I see some guys in prison documentaries  doing?

Also, I know there's regular muscle and "fast twitch" muscle fiber that helps you in things like self defense striking. Are there exercises that improve fast twitch muscle specifically?

(Hmm, idea time: Some of these guys in prison who manage to spend all day in a small cell with no equipment and still look like body builders ought to write exercise books when they get out. They'd make more money and stay out of jail by becoming health and fitness experts instead of going back to gang banging and dealing.)

Push ups and dips are a cheap and easy way to work the arms and chest. If your aim is to develop striking muscles, you may want to work your arms, back, chest and shoulders (since they are all important to punching). You may also try getting a medicine ball and twisting while holding it against your chest. You mention fast and slow twitch muscles. I am no expert on the human body, but I think this relates to explosiveness versus endurance. If so, you probably want to work both.

When you are doing a push up, instead of slow and even motions, occasionally mix it up by pushing yourself up in a bust. When you are running, instead of maintaining a steady pace all the time, mix it up with sprints. You can also try resistance bands.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I'd like to suggest a new forum: A support group for gamer's health. A lot of gamers, especially in america, live in a culture that really encourages bad eating habits and surrounds people with junk food, soda, etc, everywhere they go.

It doesn't help that a lot of people have families and friends that have bad health habits and practice them around people who may be trying to develop better ones.

Maybe if anyone here was interested we could have a health support forum where people could post their weight, how much they've lost or gained, get encouragement for sympathetic people who understand them better than maybe even their own family does, etc.

Just an idea, people.

Quote from: Cylonophile;372749I'd like to ask what the best exercise for strengthening the arms is, if you don't have a lot of money for weights or room to store them?

The ones I´ve written, to begin with. Muscles become stronger because you subject them to progressive resistance. Get through those starting exercises first. Pulling or pushing your own bodyweight from the floor, and doing it more times today than you did yesterday, this provides progressive resistance.

Quote from: Cylonophile;372749Also, I know there's regular muscle and "fast twitch" muscle fiber that helps you in things like self defense striking. Are there exercises that improve fast twitch muscle specifically?

"Slow twitch" muscles are those which let you work against light resistance zillions of times, eg in walking, these are not very bulky. "Fast twitch" are those which let you work against heavy resistance several times, eg in picking up something heavy off the floor, these are bulky. This is why marathon runners are small and weightlifters are big.

So just move heavy weights a few or several times, beginning with the exercises above. For things like punching, you want something different from pure strength, we call it "power". That´s the ability to put out a lot of effort in a short time. So for example the person who can do 50 pressups in 60 seconds is more powerful than the person who takes 120 seconds to do them.

Begin with the basic strength training. Once you can do the inverted rows, pressups and squats in the numbers above, work on doing them quickly. But get the numbers up first, if you can only do 5 inverted rows and 10 pressups and 12 squats it´s senseless trying to do them faster - get the total up first.

Follow the routine. Basics first, fancy stuff afterwards.

Quote from: RPGPundit;370062I practice a Tibetan Yoga, which is hardcore. Interestingly, a couple of the positions are similar to a couple of the positions shown in the OP.

I think there's somewhat of a difference between being physically "fit" (in appearance) and being actually healthy, and many western exercise regimens tend to overemphasize the former to the detriment of the latter.

RPGPundit

I remember when I first started training to be a pro wrestler, I was doing aerobic yoga (which sounds similar) and I was working in a truck stop.  I had a good number of overweight truck drivers point out to me how that wasn't really "working out".

1) There is no WAY they could have done it.

2) I found it to be WAY harder than "just" lifting weights.

3) I noticed a huge improvement in my life overall right away...a much higher energy level, among other things.

There´s a lot of macho bullshit out there about fitness.
 
In the industry, "fitness" is defined as the body´s ability to complete the tasks demanded of it. For example, a marathon runner and a weightlifter - who is "fitter"? Neither. Each is fit for their particular task. Likewise, people can be fit for their job, fit for their sport, etc.
 
What I´ve offered in these articles is guidelines for general health and fitness. That is, fitness for everyday life. Everyone in their everyday life needs to be able to run a few miles, do some pushups and so on - not those specific tasks, but things which require an equivalent effort from their bodies, like running to catch the train, moving the fridge to sweep under it, and so on. And they need a certain amount of heart/lung and muscular conditioning to minimise the chances of heart disease, injury from simple accidents, and so on.

Hmm, I've noticed that real, professional weightlifters who set records often look rather different from "professional bodybuilders" who really just flex and show.

The real weightlifters seem to not have the "sculpted" look the bodybuilders have, but can apparently lift more weight. This seems to reinforce what you just said, there, Kyle.

Now what we need is the follow-up of this thread. What do I do when I have reached this goals?

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;374353There´s a lot of macho bullshit out there about fitness.
 
In the industry, "fitness" is defined as the body´s ability to complete the tasks demanded of it. For example, a marathon runner and a weightlifter - who is "fitter"? Neither. Each is fit for their particular task. Likewise, people can be fit for their job, fit for their sport, etc.
 
What I´ve offered in these articles is guidelines for general health and fitness. That is, fitness for everyday life. Everyone in their everyday life needs to be able to run a few miles, do some pushups and so on - not those specific tasks, but things which require an equivalent effort from their bodies, like running to catch the train, moving the fridge to sweep under it, and so on. And they need a certain amount of heart/lung and muscular conditioning to minimise the chances of heart disease, injury from simple accidents, and so on.

Quote from: Cylonophile;374359Hmm, I've noticed that real, professional weightlifters who set records often look rather different from "professional bodybuilders" who really just flex and show.

The real weightlifters seem to not have the "sculpted" look the bodybuilders have, but can apparently lift more weight. This seems to reinforce what you just said, there, Kyle.

That´s mainly just bodyfat. Weightlifters only care about bodyfat in that they generally want to be in a certain weight category, but want as much of that weight as possible to be weight that can help them move iron, ie muscle rather than fat. This leads to a lower bodyfat than the general population - except for the superheavyweights - but higher bodyfat than a competition bodybuilder.

Apart from that, there´s a few small differences in muscular development. Olympic style lifters will tend to have bigger upper trapezius and not such big arms, because traps are used a lot and arms not so much in snatch and clean and jerk, whereas bodybuilders want proportional development.

But if they wanted to, a weightlifter could become a bodybuilder and vice versa much more easily than a member of the general public could become either.

Imperator, after this comes dumbells or barbells. That follow-up is sitting on my computer back in Australia, out of my reach here in Peru. But let´s be honest, has anyone here followed these articles and begun changing their diet and doing walks, runs and squats, anyone at all?

PS I hate the Spanish keyboard. I don´t need an upside-down question mark, and I don´t want to press a funky combination of keys just for the at symbol.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;374737Imperator, after this comes dumbells or barbells. That follow-up is sitting on my computer back in Australia, out of my reach here in Peru. But let´s be honest, has anyone here followed these articles and begun changing their diet and doing walks, runs and squats, anyone at all?

PS I hate the Spanish keyboard. I don´t need an upside-down question mark, and I don´t want to press a funky combination of keys just for the at symbol.

Well, I am interested, but I was already doing barbell exercises, eating clean and doing cardio. Hope that doesn't disqualifies me.

I started the cardio part yesterday, along with watching what I eat - trying more for a "reduce your total intake" approach, using an app on my iPhone. Tracking everything you eat seems to make a difference, as I've done it before.

One question, Kyle - your "portion" sizes... I arranged my fingers like you said, and then tried to figure out; is it the open spot on your palm that results (your hand ends up looking like a little cup as you described it) or is it the total size of the hand?

Just whatever would fit in the palm of your hand. Remember, I´m no nutritionist, this is just an awareness exercise really. ¨Hmmm, so today I ate 11 portions of starch, 2 of meat, 3 junk and 1 booze, and nothing else... maybe this is why I am heavy and tired all the time.¨That´s a very, very common situation. And it´s also to make sure you have some fresh fruit, vegies, nuts and beans each day, which is what most people miss out on.
 
If you are overweight, okay or underweight, you should do both the cardio and the strength exercises. If you are more than overweight, see the earlier article about seeing a physician, and with their say so, being generally more physically active.

Ok, cool - I walked 410 extra paces (not what I normally do in the course of the day) than yesterday, and will add about that many more tomorrow, so it'll add up over time, as you say.

Excellent, that´s the way to do it. Always move forward, however slowly, it all adds up. 10 more steps each day for a year is 3,650 steps, 1 more pressup each of three sessions a week is 150 in a year, and so on. Consistency is key. The major thing beginners do wrong is too much at the beginning which makes them hurt then give up - whereas a small increase each time, they could keep up forever.