My Fitness

[Matousek]

I have been doing sit ups (30) and push ups(25) for 2 months now (ive been a bit flabby) and it has been improving my strength and lowered my body fat.

 

Now I would like to know some of the techniques which other people have devoloped, please share them with me! (Im bored of push ups and sit ups)

[Shorin Ryuu]

It is good to offer variety in your workout every once in a while because your body gets accustomed to a routine and the benefits become less...but if you are bored after only two months, then you have a long road ahead of you.

 

That being said, Pull-ups are good. There are many variations of crunches that you can do (and variations of push-ups). You can do pushups with your hands close together or your hands far apart.

 

I for one do a lot of push-ups and crunches (varying kinds of each). I also do a lot of weapons work every day, so that adds workout. Furthermore, I do a lot of kata, so that adds cardiovascular training. Lastly, I do a lot of traditional Okinawan training, which includes using gripping jars, stone locks, chi-ishi for finger/hand/wrist/forearm strength and iron sandals for leg work. These are all pretty low weight/high repetitions work because I'm just trying to stay toned rather than bulk up..

 

What kind of workout are you looking for? If you wish to really drop body fat, pick up running, biking or swimming. I would recommend the last two more, as running can give you some joint problems.

 

You can also do squats (bend your knees, keep your upper body straight) as well.

 

Really, I'm rambling at this point...again, what specifics are you looking for?

[Vito]

weights and running! woo! dont start too fast though. in fact, do those exercises and run a little for another month, then youll have layed the foundation to start weight training. that will help you burn fat with the extra muscle mass taking calories... plus theres added strength benifits (and girls like muscles too you know.) running is all legs and cardio, and cardio fitness is the most important type of fitness in the long run in life. and now.

[aefibird]

Try adding squats and star jumps (jumping jacks) to your press up/sit up routine.

 

Also, try varying your ways of doing sit ups too. Leg raises (where you lie flat on your back and lift your straight legs up and down together) are also another good excercise.

 

There's also another excercise that you could do, but I don't know the proper name of it - I only know it by the name the British Marines give it, which is too unprintable!

 

Basically, you get down on the floor in a push up position, flat hands feet together, but instead of bending your arms for push ups you keep your arms straight and 'jump' your legs forwards and backwards - bring your knees into your chest and back out again. It makes it harder if you rest both your hands on something, such as a medicine ball.

[Matousek]

Well, Im not really getting bored of what im doing... im just looking for something *new*, lol.

 

Anyway to answer your question I am trying to loose extra body fat , and get toned. I do not want to get "hulky" as that slows you down a tremendous amount.

 

I am started running today.Theres a old horse racing track which is exactly 2 kilometers , so I run half of it a day which comes to 1 kilometer! (this is where math comes in handy lol)

[Matousek]

Shorin Ryuu, can you teach me some excersizing techniques and that will keep me toned. I can handle high repeditive (probably spelt wrong) stuff.I just put on tunes and the time flies.

[Shorin Ryuu]

Like I said, doing different kinds of pushups: hands wide apart, hands normal, hands very close (diamond pushups).

 

You mentioned that you did not want to do sit-ups, but there are other ab exercises as well...

 

I don't know if you are against crunches...but basically a crunch is where you start in the normal sit-up position (on the ground, back touching the ground, knees bent so they are at a ninety degree angle). Lift your upper body up so that your shoulder blades (and the rest of your back) come off the ground. Don't go all the way up as in a sit-up, but just allow your back to rise off the ground...this is done by flexing the abs, not by anything else. Do this without anything holding your legs down, if possible (same goes for sit-ups if you try those again later). This helps you isolate the muscles and not use your legs.

 

The variants of the crunch are endless. I'm sure you can easily go on google.com and type in a search and find something.

 

Another one for the lower abs is to lay flat on your back. Make sure your head is not resting on the ground and that your feet are six inches off the ground. From their, you can do flutter kicks, where you alternate raising the legs (keep them straight) to 45 degrees or more (the higher you go, the more it lets you rest at the top) or you can move both legs up and down at the same time.

 

As someone mentioned before, jumping jacks (side-straddle-hop...) are good for a nice warm-up, or even a workout (I remember doing 2004 on more than one occasion during boot camp...).

 

Another arm one is where you hold you arms out to the side, palms up and arm straight. It is an eight count exercise where you turn your torso 90 degrees to the left (1), 90 degrees more to the left (2) 90 degrees to the right (3) 90 degrees to the right (4) 90 degrees to the right (5) 90 degrees to the right (6) 90 degrees to the left (7) 90 degrees to the left ( and you should be where you started...of course, it isn't possible to turn your torso completely 180 degrees backwards, but just get a close approximation. This is good because you are really just holding up your arm weight for a long period of time = small weight x lots of repetition. After a while, it burns a whole lot. To make it burn faster, just hold weights in your hand. It won't take much, as your arms are biomechanically weak at that position.

 

And then just any general weight lifting will do with lower weight and lots of repetition.

 

Oh, and one thing, don't get crazy ideas about punching and kicking with weights on...you'll just injure your joints...slow controlled movements with weights are okay, but not fast, snapping ones...you can walk around all day with 5 lb. weights on each leg if you want, but don't run in them. (SOMEONE, for the sake of anonymity, we'll just say his initials are ME...used to walk around with weights on his legs in high school...it doubled the diameter of his ankles after about 6-7 months...).

 

Like I said, running or biking really helps...cut down on soda and drink water instead...cut down on junkfood (This "ME" character has also given up junk food completely years ago...you don't have to be as extreme, but moderation does help your physique in addition to long term health...).

 

EDIT: I know tons of exercises, but these were just some that I wrote down for now...if you really want more, I can give you more later on...

[Matousek]

Thanks for the tips! Any tips on making leg weights(homemade)

 

Please post some more!

 

I would greatly apreciate it!

[aefibird]

To make a couple of light, simple weights fill a strong sock with stones/pebbles and tie the top. It'll be quite a light weight (unless you have very big socks) but even light weights can be useful for toning up.

 

For other simple hand-held weights, try using objects that you have in your house, eg tins of food.

 

Another excercise you could try would be to lie on your front on the floor, legs together and arms straight out in front of you. Raise your arms and legs up (so that you are laying with just your stomach on the ground) and hold for a couple of seconds. That is a good excercise for back muscles as well as stomach, although, you have to build up with them slowly or you could injure yourself.

[ProjectJanus]

Im not sure if its been said already, but to help me condition my arms for my sword class there is a certain posre you have to hold, and its fricken impossible.

 

What you want to do is, stand with your feet together and take your feet and pivot them on your heels, so you make a V shape with your feet. Then do the opposite, lift your heels and push them out so you make a / \ shape with your feet. Then pivot on the heels again so you make a \ / shape, then pivot again on your toes so they are making the / \ shape.

 

After that, buckle your knees inward so from the front your body should look like this:

 

\ \ / /

 

/ / \ \ Be able to ONLY fit TWO FISTS inbetween your knees.

 

After that, raise your hands up to just about 2-3 inches above your head, make sure that the back of your hands are facing TOWORDS you. Raise your right hand slightly above your left bend your elbows slightly.

 

You now have the basic pose down, stick your butt out you are leaning forward, now straighten your back as much as possible.

 

 

 

Now try and hold that for more than 15 minutes.

 

Sorry if thats a little confusing.