The Sideshow Freaks Fitness Thread

[Eli26]

Thanks guys! I think that the swift results have only given me more drive to keep going. I am just tired of being so damn disappointed with my body and just dealing with it day to day. It was time to do something about it finally. And the inches are falling off of me like raindrops, so I am just so damn happy about it.

Good to hear! Not like you looked like the State Puft Marsh Mellow man. Maybe his thinner brother, but never the State Puft Marsh Mellow Man himself. I keeid! You're probably getting ripped up like Bruce Lee. Soon you'll be able to do one handed pull ups like Bruce Willis in Die-Hard, and be able to fight off any of the neighborhood's rottweilers with both arms tied behind your back and blind folded, while wearing steaks around your neck.

 

[Kabukiman]

I'm finally at 175 (my kinda goal where I think I should be). Now it's just a matter of turning some of this flab into muscle. Gonna add some weights to the cardio this weekend.

Glad to see some success in this thread! Keep it up!

 

[Eli26]

My goal is to get my BMI around 5 percent for the Summer. I have done it before and I can do it again!

 

[MaulFan]

That's great guys! Keep at it.

I've been having great success these past two weeks as well. I use a calorie tracker website to keep track of my foods, and am now eating less than 2000 calories a day. I used Schwarzenegger's book "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" to set up a workout regiment that is giving me great fat loss and exceptional gains.

I've dropped 3 inches on my waist in 2 weeks, lost 10 lbs so far... down to 209 now. My arms and chest are coming back to their old glory, which is nice as well. I'm going to the gym 5 days a week, lifting weights for an hour and a half a day and running 2 miles a day. It's been really great so far, and I am solidly hooked on it. I'm aiming for 170 by October, but at my rate I might make it there much sooner than expected. The calorie counting has really helped me fix my eating habits and eat more protein and less fat and carbs... which has put me far ahead of my weight loss schedule.

Damn you and your fast metabolism

I've lost about another 3 lbs over the past couple weeks, down to 294 from 314, 4 lbs to go to the halfway point.

Started lifting weights 3 weeks ago. I exercise every other day, as hard as I run I just can't do it multiple days straight. I'm only doing weights for my upper body though, running is enough for my lower. Arms and chest are my focus, with some of what I've lost, I need to start toning things up. Started doing crunches today.

My goal when I started doing this hardcore was 260 by July, I don't know if I'll get there, but I'm going to keep working hard and wherever I'm at by that time I'm at, I wanted to be all burnt off for this wedding I'm going to because there'll be a lot of people that haven't seen me in a year and the change will get dramatic reaction, but I figure at this rate, even if I'm not at the mark, I'll be close enough to still get a reaction. However long it takes, I will get my body where I want it. I've gone through the start and stop routine a number of times, but right now, I'm on the longest streak of sticking it out I've ever been on, and I'm not backing down. It's nice seeing things look better and feeling firm muscle instead of fat. Still plenty of fat to burn, but getting there. Hadn't looked in a while but my calves are ripped, if only the rest of me was

When I started all this, I was a 42 waist and 3XL shirts, I'm down to about a 40 waist and can wear 2XL again, may not get better than 2XL though, I have a big frame anyway, at this point it's about how I look in it, could be even better, might get a 1XL or two if I can fit when I'm done, just to show off a little

But this was me at my worst.

I got tired of seeing that in the mirror, basically said ^^^^ this and got started

This was the best I've been, relative to age/height etc., since junior high age, 21 years old at college senior year, had been running for like 3 months, went right back to work after graduation, fell out of the habbit, worst mistake ever, put it all back and more, now I'm fighting to get back to where I was then and better, not even at that point yet. I think I was 280 when I graduated.

 

[Eli26]

Damn you and your fast metabolism

I've lost about another 3 lbs over the past couple weeks, down to 294 from 314, 4 lbs to go to the halfway point.

Started lifting weights 3 weeks ago. I exercise every other day, as hard as I run I just can't do it multiple days straight. I'm only doing weights for my upper body though, running is enough for my lower. Arms and chest are my focus, with some of what I've lost, I need to start toning things up. Started doing crunches today.

My goal when I started doing this hardcore was 260 by July, I don't know if I'll get there, but I'm going to keep working hard and wherever I'm at by that time I'm at, I wanted to be all burnt off for this wedding I'm going to because there'll be a lot of people that haven't seen me in a year and the change will get dramatic reaction, but I figure at this rate, even if I'm not at the mark, I'll be close enough to still get a reaction. However long it takes, I will get my body where I want it. I've gone through the start and stop routine a number of times, but right now, I'm on the longest streak of sticking it out I've ever been on, and I'm not backing down. It's nice seeing things look better and feeling firm muscle instead of fat. Still plenty of fat to burn, but getting there. Hadn't looked in a while but my calves are ripped, if only the rest of me was

When I started all this, I was a 42 waist and 3XL shirts, I'm down to about a 40 waist and can wear 2XL again, may not get better than 2XL though, I have a big frame anyway, at this point it's about how I look in it, could be even better, might get a 1XL or two if I can fit when I'm done, just to show off a little

But this was me at my worst.

I got tired of seeing that in the mirror, basically said ^^^^ this and got started

This was the best I've been, relative to age/height etc., since junior high age, 21 years old at college senior year, had been running for like 3 months, went right back to work after graduation, fell out of the habbit, worst mistake ever, put it all back and more, now I'm fighting to get back to where I was then and better, not even at that point yet. I think I was 280 when I graduated.

Keep it up bro. You're a good looking guy. Once you shed the lbs you'll be beating off the woman left, right, and center.

 

[DarkArtist81]

It's great to hear so much success here, thanks for the kind words Eli. I hope you get to your goal as well!

And Sean, I can understand your concerns about running and the wear and tear on your legs. Right now I have had 2 straight weeks of pain in my legs. Nothing severe, but with my running an 8 min Mile and 7 min Mile for 99% of my run, 5 days a week... it can make the legs hurt.

One thing I recommend, and it has been recommended to me by many books and fitness sites... Work out your abs DAILY. If not daily, just every day you go to the gym. Do three or four sets of crunches or decline situps, or even on the machine. Abs are notoriously hard to build and define, so a lot of work is needed to get them to where you want them to be. It is your core afterall.

I was very happy today to measure myself and realize that my waist has now dropped to 39 in! And my arms and chest are starting to pop finally, I can at long last make my chest jump.

I still have a long way to go, but I'm just very happy with how swiftly things have been going. I've got my calorie intake below 2000 calories a day, which took a lot of work.. (I keep track of my activities, calories, measurements and weight at Fitday.com...a great site for that) I'm eating healthier than I have in years, if ever!

By October I am hoping to unleash an onslaught of pics of the new me.... and I don't plan on giving up. It's time for a change, fat Josh has to DIE!

 

[Eli26]

I come from a family of runners...even marathon runners..and while most of us have good knees (so far), it is important you understand the ramification of how much abuse your knees take on when running. I find now for me, that the cross trainer is better. Yeah, it's boring. Gives me just as good of a cardio work out and burn as a run, but has significantly less impact on your knees.

P.S. You don't look like a size 39" in the waist DA. I always figured your waist to be around a size 34 from the pics I saw. Man, you carry your weight well.

 

[DarkArtist81]

I come from a family of runners...even marathon runners..and while most of us have good knees (so far), it is important you understand the ramification of how much abuse your knees take on when running. I find now for me, that the cross trainer is better. Yeah, it's boring. Gives me just as good of a cardio work out and burn as a run, but has significantly less impact on your knees.

P.S. You don't look like a size 39" in the waist DA. I always figured your waist to be around a size 34 from the pics I saw. Man, you carry your weight well.

Thanks man, my build hides it... The only downfall is that I don't see that my weight is becoming a problem until it REALLY is a huge problem.

And you are right about the knee abuse, it's a huge issue for runners. I've been very lucky and haven't had any knee problems throughout my life, so it's been easier for me. The pain I get is in my shins.. not in the middle but down low near the ankles. It's not severe, but it's definitely painful...especially when I couple that with "Leg Day" on my lifting schedule.

I like to do the cross trainer every now and again myself, but it's not as intense for me.. I really like the exhilaration I get when I get up to 9 or 10 MPH on a treadmill, the sweat stinging my eyes, a permanent grimace on my face as I bolt for a good half a mile. Nothing gets the heart pumping like that, at least in my case.

 

[paulaura]

Hi guys.

Im pretty new on here, but Ive been reading this thread and wanted to chime in.

I competed as a bodybuilder for about 12 years, stopped about 5 years ago.

Ive continued to train since then, just trying to stay fit now. Im 5'10 and weighed up to 275lbs when I competed.

Gradually got down to what I am now, around 225 but Im thinking of starting again...Im getting old now though..

I would also advise training your abs daily, as said above they are a stubborn muscle group to develop. If you are heavy round the middle I would say do no work with weights for abs,ie weighted knee raises or crunches as this will thicken the waist more.
As many reps as possible of normal crunches is what Ive always done.

Anyway, congrats to all those who are hitting their targets for weight loss.

 

[MaulFan]

One thing I recommend, and it has been recommended to me by many books and fitness sites... Work out your abs DAILY. If not daily, just every day you go to the gym. Do three or four sets of crunches or decline situps, or even on the machine. Abs are notoriously hard to build and define, so a lot of work is needed to get them to where you want them to be. It is your core afterall.

That's pretty much my routine, I may increase the ammount per set, but right now, when I do ab work, I do 2 sets of straight crunches, then a set for each side of my obliques because I don't just want abs, i want the obliques to be nice too. It'd be nice if some day I could do a situp, never have been able to, but the spare tire puts the breaks on that, there's just only so far my stomach can bend before it stops

 

[Kabukiman]

Thanks for the ab tips! That's the part I'm most concerned with. I don't know if I can do it every day though... I hurt bad enough working them every other day!

Any tips for man ****s?

 

[MaulFan]

Any tips for man ****s?

I'm doing bench presses for that. I'm not sure other than burning the fat and tighting the skin with muscle work what you can do to help that.

 

[paulaura]

You really need your body fat down to notice improvement in your chest.

If you do weights, concentrate on the upper area (do incline bench and flyes) as this will build the muscle at the top, giving a much more pleasing shape.

DONT do any decline work, cos although you may build muscle at the bottom of the chest, unless you are really lean, it will just look as bad as when you started.
As for your abs being sore, it just gets easier with time....

 

[Shadow King]

After talking to a trainer, there is so much to do with the diet as much as weights. With the 5 meals of chick'en (that is how we say it in the south) I have lost 2lbs in 2 days.

 

[DarthNeil]

After we had our second child last May I noticed in June that my weight had increased to 206 lbs... Well, I had never gotten over the 200 lbs mark, even back when I used to play (and not coach) football and I was working out religiously. I immediately stopped drinking any and all kinds of pop and made sure to drink copious amounts of water daily. I stopped eating after 6 pm and by the end of the summer along with my usual working out, just in time for the new season, I had dropped twenty pounds and was back to my more comfortable 185-187 lbs.

Staying healthy is work but if done right it can most definitely be rewarding. Keep up all the good work guys.

 

[MaulFan]

All you small people , I haven't been 200lbs since I was like 12, of course being 6'4" I'd be rather unsightly to be 200lbs now. I figure 260 being made up of muscle is a good range to be in. I think 220 without muscle is where I should be, but I want to look fit, not just small, plus I need the muscle work to tighten my skin and all.

 

[DarkArtist81]

At least you are a bit taller, my little 5'10 frame looks HORRIBLE at 210 lbs.

And that was a great tip on the decline bench, I will stick to incline, flat, and flys.

Man ****s are difficult, but as it was stated...just do chest exercises and cardio to burn the fat away. You have to get the boby fat % down before you will notice. And diet is immensely important, try to banish as may foods containing High Fructose Corn Syrup...especially sodas. Stick to water and tea, less carbs...more protein, etc. If you can fix your diet, the workout will help you out much faster.

And Sean, I know what you mean about the mid section causing havok with sit ups. Nothing feels worse that when you are trying to do them and all you can feel is your gut flopping around. Not to mention it makes it physically challenging. But that will fade. As your gut gets smaller you will feel better about that, it will be like you are beating it down into non-existence.

 

[MaulFan]

Yeah, water's huge. I used to go through half a dozen sodas a day at work sometimes, I'd be so sick of the work I'd compensate with a treat but it was doing no good. Now I have a glass of juice to start my day, milk with each meal, a cup of coffee at night and juice before bed, but all my other drinks throughout the day are water, makes a huge difference. I can't cut out the other stuff though, I'm picky about what I have with meals. I drink beer socially, though that rarely comes up, but I can never have it with food.

 

[paulaura]

Situps arent great for abs anyway guys, they tend to thicken your middle out a bit.

Crunches concentrate on the abs only.

When I was bodybuilding properly, I drank water every hour. I still dont really drink much else now.

And darkartist81, you dont have to look horrible at that height and weight.
Im the same height as you, weighing around 225, quite lean, 36" waist, 46" chest. My competiton weight was around 235 at my best.

Also WHEN you eat is probably the biggest factor for weight loss. Higher calorie/carb meals early in the day , high protein at tea time.

Try not to eat at all on a night. If you feel hungry, guzzle a pint of water.

 

[DarkArtist81]

Situps arent great for abs anyway guys, they tend to thicken your middle out a bit.

Crunches concentrate on the abs only.

When I was bodybuilding properly, I drank water every hour. I still dont really drink much else now.

And darkartist81, you dont have to look horrible at that height and weight.
Im the same height as you, weighing around 225, quite lean, 36" waist, 46" chest. My competiton weight was around 235 at my best.

Also WHEN you eat is probably the biggest factor for weight loss. Higher calorie/carb meals early in the day , high protein at tea time.

Try not to eat at all on a night. If you feel hungry, guzzle a pint of water.

That's awesome! Good to know there is some hope for me.... I build muscle rather easily, but just never committed enough to it for anything to really get where I wanted. But it's very nice to know that it is entirely possible.

And if I ever need a boost of inspiration, I just rewatch Pumping Iron and get ready to go back.

Thanks for the tips, they will come in handy.