Muscle toning and getting fit

white_falcon

Hiya,
Im new to this part of the forum. Just finished college, and have a full time job now, so finally have time to start getting fit. Without sounding offensive, I see that a fair few people here, are interested in gaining muscle mass, and increasing body size - I'm sure its not the case, its just there seems to be a lot of threads on it when i was looking through them.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information on how to tone muscles and get fit at the same time, rather than gaining muscle mass. I'm sure its pretty much probably general knowledge like "go jog everyday" or "go swim everyday and do some weights", but I was looking for some advice on exactly what I could do to pretty much tone all my muscles.

I'm starting to read up on food combining as I know that this can be very beneficial for energy levels and food digestion, so I am trying to get into that at the moment.

If I was to do the following routine, would it be enough after around 3 months, for me to be suffienctly fit, and have more toned muscles? By the way I'm 6foot, and weigh about 12 1/2 stone. Have a tiny bit of a belly on me (very small beer belly) but I want to get rid of it, and live everyman's dream of having the six pack.

3 days a week - go for a run at 7am (20minute run)
3 days a week - go for an hr long swim
5 days a week - cycle to work (about 15min cycle)
7 days a week - 50 sit ups in the morning, 50 sit ups in the evening
3 days a week - free weights

Would this be enough for me to get back into shape? Thanks for any info you can provide

hunnymonster

I'm not being smart, but before we all wade in with our own view points can you define exactly what you mean by "toning" and "fitness". They mean different things to different people on here.

white_falcon

hunnymonster wrote:

I'm not being smart, but before we all wade in with our own view points can you define exactly what you mean by "toning" and "fitness". They mean different things to different people on here.

Sorry yea im a tad bit stupid when it comes to this sorry

What i meant was that I would like to be fit, in general terms ie. could run a marathon type of fitness - i suppose i would need to be doing a cardiovascular workout, so if anyone could help me with any good cardiovascular excercises.

And by toned I mean, that I would like to have more defined muscles all over, ie. better six pack, more lean muscles all over really

Hope that clears things up thanks

jester77

white_falcon wrote:

Sorry yea im a tad bit stupid when it comes to this sorry

What i meant was that I would like to be fit, in general terms ie. could run a marathon type of fitness - i suppose i would need to be doing a cardiovascular workout, so if anyone could help me with any good cardiovascular excercises.

And by toned I mean, that I would like to have more defined muscles all over, ie. better six pack, more lean muscles all over really

Hope that clears things up thanks

So what you want is to drop your body fat and put on some muscle?!
You haven't mentioned your diet?

white_falcon

jester77 wrote:

So what you want is to drop your body fat and put on some muscle?!
You haven't mentioned your diet?

lol sorry again.

yea pretty much what you said - drop body fat and put on some muscle

my diet consists of:

morning: soya yoghurt
3 pieces of fruit
small fruit smoothie
blue green algae supplement (natural multi vitamin)

lunchtime: soup or
veggie burger with salad or
home made chicken salad + fruit

dinnertime: salad
marinated chicken and salad
tuna pasta

snacks during the day: twirl bar, popcorn, chilli nuts, smoothie, fruit

sorry, just thinking about it now, I'm going to right down everything I eat for a week and look at it myself, cuz obviously that plays a large role in ur body...wow im stupid lol

sorry for the diet being so vague. generally everything I eat is with salad and I eat lots of fruit - even from righting stuff down here, I notice the snacks I eat are kinda crappy actually...

sorry again lads if I'm leaving something out here

jester77

You should have a look at the stickies about diet.
From looking at the diet you posted I would say you are undereating for someone who is 6ft and 12.5 stone. The 3 main meals sound fine but overall I would say there is not not enough fats and not enough vedge. Also smoothies contain a lot of sugar. You should be aiming for 6-8 meals with protein, vedge, fruit, good balance of fats and depending on your goals and time of training some good carbs.

Diet is the key to droping BF% or adding on lean mass.

Dragan

If your looking for some general bodyfat lose and mild muscle development you could do worse than having a look around www.crossfit.com and www.gymjones.com

If you are really interested in marathons and the like then hunnymonster is your road to salvation!

hunnymonster

The marathon is a great race. It's the hardest fitness test many people will ever take and it's sooooo much fun. The sense of achievement I had finishing my first marathon is up there in my top 10 life experiences. BUT.... a marathon is not a route to a 6 pack (or even a 3 pack) and a body women will kill for, unless you look after the other components of finess such as diet and resistance work. It's also worth noting that even on the cardio front, running is very much a legs only activity (with a minor suporting role from your bum). A more balanced approach might suit you if it's visual results you're after. That said, I've run dozens of marathons and I still love them although now I'm into longer races.

CerebralCortex

jester77 wrote:

You should have a look at the stickies about diet.
From looking at the diet you posted I would say you are undereating for someone who is 6ft and 12.5 stone. The 3 main meals sound fine but overall I would say there is not not enough fats and not enough vedge. Also smoothies contain a lot of sugar. You should be aiming for 6-8 meals with protein, vedge, fruit, good balance of fats and depending on your goals and time of training some good carbs.

Diet is the key to droping BF% or adding on lean mass.

Aren't smoothies just blended fruit?

jester77

Not a good source but should give you an idea

white_falcon

CerebralCortex wrote:

Aren't smoothies just blended fruit?

yea well im very very picky about my smoothies. all i drink is innocent smoothies - no sugar, no preservatives, additives...no crap really

The ONLY thing in them is fruit NOT from concentrate, so they really are JUST fruit. Anyone who likes smoothies id advise them definitely!

ali.c

white_falcon wrote:

Without sounding offensive, I see that a fair few people here, are interested in gaining muscle mass, and increasing body size - I'm sure its not the case, its just there seems to be a lot of threads on it when i was looking through them.

as dragan said you could do worse than crossfit or gymjones for general conditioning. Not the easiest workouts in the world but fun!!

Lifting weights seems to be confused a good bit with body-building. Your diet plays a big role in whether or not you put on muscle mass or not. If you are on a slight calorie you deficit will lose fat and not build too much muslce. If at any point you find your muscles getting bigger than you want you can re-think your training and your diet. These things dont happen over night so youll have plenty of time to suss what the problem before it escalates.

Good Luck and happy training

white_falcon

hunnymonster wrote:

The marathon is a great race. It's the hardest fitness test many people will ever take and it's sooooo much fun. The sense of achievement I had finishing my first marathon is up there in my top 10 life experiences. BUT.... a marathon is not a route to a 6 pack (or even a 3 pack) and a body women will kill for, unless you look after the other components of finess such as diet and resistance work. It's also worth noting that even on the cardio front, running is very much a legs only activity (with a minor suporting role from your bum). A more balanced approach might suit you if it's visual results you're after. That said, I've run dozens of marathons and I still love them although now I'm into longer races.

What marathons are there around the country coming up in the next few months? I'm big into trying this, but can't seem to find much except for the Dublin marathon, which is over. Im in Waterford, but will try anywhere in the country. Want to get into fitness that is fun!

white_falcon

Thanks very much for all the feedback so far by the way lads

rubadub

You should be lifting heavy weights. If you are trying to loose the belly you will want to be on a calorie deficit. While on this you risk loosing muscle, hitting the weights hard will counteract this and hopefully add a little muscle too.

Maybe you could give an example or pic of somebody you consider "toned", I would bet many of the experienced posters here would tell you that they are probably lifting heavy to get that look. In most peoples minds "toned" is just low bodyfat an above average muscle mass.

I have seen people post pics here and people saying they look terrible and really skinny, while in my mind they are acutally bigger than I would want to be! They are comparing to themselves, and their own goals. If you do get too big you just stop lifting so heavy, it is far easier to lose muscle than build it.

LIfting heavy stimulates muscle growth, which burn a lot of calories. Then the additional muscle increases your basal metabolism, so you end up loosing fat easier, revealing the little extra muscle below.

white_falcon

rubadub wrote:

You should be lifting heavy weights. If you are trying to loose the belly you will want to be on a calorie deficit. While on this you risk loosing muscle, hitting the weights hard will counteract this and hopefully add a little muscle too.

Maybe you could give an example or pic of somebody you consider "toned", I would bet many of the experienced posters here would tell you that they are probably lifting heavy to get that look. In most peoples minds "toned" is just low bodyfat an above average muscle mass.

I have seen people post pics here and people saying they look terrible and really skinny, while in my mind they are acutally bigger than I would want to be! They are comparing to themselves, and their own goals. If you do get too big you just stop lifting so heavy, it is far easier to lose muscle than build it.

LIfting heavy stimulates muscle growth, which burn a lot of calories. Then the additional muscle increases your basal metabolism, so you end up loosing fat easier, revealing the little extra muscle below.

Thanks man. I'll have a look around for a calorie controlled diet so. So basically what you are saying is that I would need to do is, eat a calorie controlled diet, lift heavy weights around 6 days a week, and excerise before lifting weights is that correct? I heard excercising before lifting weights burns off your fat, and then the weights help to make muscle aswell as burn fat is that right?

hunnymonster

white_falcon wrote:

What marathons are there around the country coming up in the next few months? I'm big into trying this, but can't seem to find much except for the Dublin marathon, which is over. Im in Waterford, but will try anywhere in the country. Want to get into fitness that is fun!

There are not many marathons in Ireland. Dublin is not over, in fact today is the last day for cheap entry and the price goes up tomorrow. It is on the bank holiday monday in October. It is however the last Irish marathon of the year. THe others are

Connemara in April
Belfast in May
Cork in June
Longford in August (I think - I've never done it)
Dublin in October

Achill have a half marathon that nearly makes it to being a marathon every year and there is a mountain marathon as well but that's probably not advisable for a newbie.

No need to limit yourself to Ireland though. There are marathons pretty much everywhere. have a look at www.marathonguide.com for some ideas.

hunnymonster

white_falcon wrote:

Thanks man. I'll have a look around for a calorie controlled diet so. So basically what you are saying is that I would need to do is, eat a calorie controlled diet, lift heavy weights around 6 days a week, and excerise before lifting weights is that correct? I heard excercising before lifting weights burns off your fat, and then the weights help to make muscle aswell as burn fat is that right?

You're better to lift before you run/bike/swim/ski. You need the most concerted effort to lift the heaviest weights you can. Most people can jog along happily even with tired muslces so you do the weights when you're fresh and the cardio when you're not:) Personally, I don't enjoy cardio after weights so I tend to split the sessions. For example I ran 18 miles when I got up this morning and I'm just back in the door after doing weights in the gym.

6 Days sounds a lot for heavy lifting for a new person. Most people start with total body routines where each body part is worked in the same session. I don't think you can do this effectively 6 days a week. The pro's split their workouts so they can exercise more frequently.

white_falcon

hunnymonster wrote:

You're better to lift before you run/bike/swim/ski. You need the most concerted effort to lift the heaviest weights you can. Most people can jog along happily even with tired muslces so you do the weights when you're fresh and the cardio when you're not:) Personally, I don't enjoy cardio after weights so I tend to split the sessions. For example I ran 18 miles when I got up this morning and I'm just back in the door after doing weights in the gym.

6 Days sounds a lot for heavy lifting for a new person. Most people start with total body routines where each body part is worked in the same session. I don't think you can do this effectively 6 days a week. The pro's split their workouts so they can exercise more frequently.

do you do food combining so?

white_falcon

Details on it found here if you havent - http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/DietandLifestyle/Food_combining.htm

I've heard of marathon runners cutting off a lot of time by food combining - a lot of IronMan trainers do it also

hunnymonster

white_falcon wrote:

Details on it found here if you havent - http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/DietandLifestyle/Food_combining.htm

I've heard of marathon runners cutting off a lot of time by food combining - a lot of IronMan trainers do it also

Could you tell me which marathoners and Ironmen have done this? I know all of the best ironmen in Ireland and several of the worlds best pro's and none of them follow that particular reasoning.


I don't do food combining in the way your article descibes. Some of it seems a little strange to me. Your stomach acid is is 20-100 ml of a pH 2-3 solution but the article appears to suggest that the acid in a tomato which I understand is 5.9-6.8 depending on the variety will prevent enzyme function? Without going into lecture on pH buffering I really doubt a tomato is going to affect my digestion of anything else based on it's acidity.


Having said that, there are parts of the article that make some sense. I eat carbohydrate rich foods around the times when I am training. I mix only small amounts of protein at these times as I want carbs to fuel the workout. I know g'em and some of the others suggest s 2:1 ration of carbs to protein for workouts but they are lifters. For aerobic endurance types like me, it appears the best ratio is colser to 4:1. Before training I eat things like porridge, during training I eat banana's, flap jacks and pretty much anything my stomach can handle. I often take energy drinks as they are easy to digest. After training I eat some rapidly processed (high GI) carbs to replace glycogen as soon as possible. My training sessions least at least 2 hours and often 5 or 6 and I train at least 6 days a week so I need to recover as quicly as possible.

At other times I eat larger portions of protein and much less carbohydrates because I want to maximise the amount of building materials my body has to make me stronger. I'm a recent convert to fats in my diet. I used to try and keep low fat (and silly high carb) proportions and it didn't work. THe nice people on here got me to start including good fats and it's working. I'm finding this the hardest bit though as I don't actually like them.

Transform

You are only getting started and you are looking at iron man training!!!

Get going on whats been said and post up your blister stories.

Food combining - works for some but heck even a bad training program done with lots of intensity works wonders.

hunnymonster

Transform wrote:

YGet going on whats been said and post up your blister stories.

my favourite blister picture (not for the squmish). It's from an ultrarunner not an ironman but I like it all the same:p

Transform

Honneymonster have you read ultramarathon man Dean something-or-other- excellent book and he finished his 52nd marathon in 52 states in New York last year (my last marathon).

Really inspired me when i was feeling it during the race

hunnymonster

I think it's Dean Karazas. Not sure of the spelling but yes I have the book. I found it difficult to read in terms of his ego but the achievements speak for themselves.

Another book in a similar vain is Pam Reeds. I enjoyed this more. Partly because I can relate to her anorexic history and partly because I love that she was the first woman to really beat the guys at their own game by winning Badwater (http://www.badwater.com/)

white_falcon

Heres some pics taken from gymjones, of what i kind of look like and what i would like to look like, in response to rubadub

in response to hunnymonster, I can't remember the exact person's name - I read in an Anthony Robbins book, that some lad had cut off 5mins off his marathon time by simply combining his foods correctly. You've heard of Anthony Robbins I'm sure, everyone on this forum shud have - one of the best motivational experts in the world and amazing NLP skills...oh an running for president in America soon aswell i think

hunnymonster

Isn't he the vegan guy who used to talk about the electrical energy of food? I realise there is a lot more to what he says than that but, I'm not sure I buy it.

white_falcon

hunnymonster wrote:

Isn't he the vegan guy who used to talk about the electrical energy of food?

lol....erm therese quite a lot more to him than that...and I mean like miles miles more to him than that.

Type his name into youtube or google, or you can have a look at this video here aswell,

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/96

Seriously - if u havent read his books, I can gaurantee that he will astound u

hunnymonster

white_falcon wrote:

Seriously - if u havent read his books, I can gaurantee that he will astound u

Do I get a money back guarantee back with that? I don't astound easily

white_falcon

hunnymonster wrote:

Do I get a money back guarantee back with that? I don't astound easily

well with certain torrent sites, where one mite be able to download some of his audio books, one mite not need a money back guarantee, if one was to use such sites...if one was interested in such things

Transform

White falcon - i have been to see tony robbins 3 times and have used his info throughout my life - physically, work, relationship etc

If he is sooooo good for you why are you not in better shape?

Tony is the man and he like i talks his walk so get in board and hit the road and gym

white_falcon

Transform wrote:

White falcon - i have been to see tony robbins 3 times and have used his info throughout my life - physically, work, relationship etc

If he is sooooo good for you why are you not in better shape?

Tony is the man and he like i talks his walk so get in board and hit the road and gym

I completely agree with you. I should be in better shape. I want to be in better shape. I didn't want it before hand, during college and stuff, but now I do, so thats why I'm not in better shape.

I do want to get into far better shape now, so that's why I'm being proactive about it and trying to get all the info from others aswell