Man to Man: A Support System for Men

BigdaddyJ

I kinda want to start on monday with my wife (she's training to get ready for bootcamp), but I think I'm still too heavy...

For the Ipod, there are a couple of app, I looked them up (for Iphone)they all do pretty much the same thing and let you listen to your own music, there's a cheaper one (it's from splendid things and it's called get running(couch to 5k) it's 1$ cheaper than the other ones and from what i can see it does all the same things...

FORKDOWN

I'm in too! I signed up for a volleyball class at a local community college. Never taken a Volleyball class before. Just had our first day last week. dude, soooooo much fun!!! and a good work out. It's a 1 unit class so it came out to $50.00 for the whole semester! that's 4 months of volleyball! I highly suggest anyone take a PE class.

I love volleyball. It will be a good workout to.

CasperO

That is true. My wife is an awesome support group. Although she was kinda grumpy this morning when I showed her the results of my weigh in this morning. :grumble: She has been on a plataeu. I looked at her and asked if she had to lose 100+ lbs. She said "No... I'm proud of you." :indifferent: But she didn't seem overly enthusiastic! :laugh:

Careful,,, this is way easier for us than it is for them. Really,,, a big guy can drop 5 pounds by skipping lunch and going to the can - but for a woman that 5 pounds is a month of hard work. We have big furnaces and fast metabolisms and no baby-damage and it's just a different game for us than it is for them.

Really easy to break a girl's heart when you "outdo her". Tread lightly.

FORKDOWN

That is true. My wife is an awesome support group. Although she was kinda grumpy this morning when I showed her the results of my weigh in this morning. :grumble: She has been on a plataeu. I looked at her and asked if she had to lose 100+ lbs. She said "No... I'm proud of you." :indifferent: But she didn't seem overly enthusiastic! :laugh:

My greatest success is when wifey works with me. Thats great man.

mromnek

That is true. My wife is an awesome support group. Although she was kinda grumpy this morning when I showed her the results of my weigh in this morning. :grumble: She has been on a plataeu. I looked at her and asked if she had to lose 100+ lbs. She said "No... I'm proud of you." :indifferent: But she didn't seem overly enthusiastic! :laugh:

Careful,,, this is way easier for us than it is for them. Really,,, a big guy can drop 5 pounds by skipping lunch and going to the can - but for a woman that 5 pounds is a month of hard work. We have big furnaces and fast metabolisms and no baby-damage and it's just a different game for us than it is for them.

Really easy to break a girl's heart when you "outdo her". Tread lightly.

Oh, I know that as does she. She was just grumbling because she hasn't seen her ticker moving, and she didn't realize that her weigh-in was 1/2 a pound lighter than her previous weigh-in. There is no way I am gonna screw up my support system!!!

CasperO

Good good good,,, marital harmony is very important all the time, and especially for folks doing this.

I'm pretty close to goal, pretty satisfied. My wife has done well, but she still has a ways to go and she has some medical issues that make it really tough for her to make headway, and she's pretty frustrated with it. I just try to keep with the program, not mention my own successes and just be supportive, but it's hard sometimes.

mromnek

I hear you. That's got to rough for her. If she has done well thus far, she should be able to back off quite a ways and still keep a slight caloric deficit. In fact, if she were to back off to about 100 calorie deficit, she would be able to lose about 10 pounds per year. It ain't fast, but hey, the tortoise beat the hare, right?

bortass

All my wife complains about is not eating pizza and trying to figure out what I can eat etc. She's pretty thin, so trying to lose weight is a foreign idea to her. So that's my support system. Oh and making snide comments about my workouts and how cleaning the house is excercise. I do help with that BTW.

So I'm my own motivation system. It works great when I'm seeing results. I've been stagnating lately though. So I restarted week 7 of P90X yesterday, when i should have been starting week 9.

It'll be fine in the end.

FORKDOWN

All my wife complains about is not eating pizza and trying to figure out what I can eat etc. She's pretty thin, so trying to lose weight is a foreign idea to her. So that's my support system. Oh and making snide comments about my workouts and how cleaning the house is excercise. I do help with that BTW.

So I'm my own motivation system. It works great when I'm seeing results. I've been stagnating lately though. So I restarted week 7 of P90X yesterday, when i should have been starting week 9.

It'll be fine in the end.

I also feel alone right now and that my workouts are a big inconvience to everyone. I have tried encouraging her to start with me but as gentle as possible. She has tried a little. Thats where MFP has been very valuable to me. I dont feel alone in this anymore.

Dont look back, look forward. You cant fix that so concentrate and week 7 and moving into week 8-9.

mromnek

Dang I am lucky to have the most wonderful wife in the world!!!

On new years day, I announced that I was going to start controlling my portions when I ate and lose weight. My wife jumped right beside me. The next day, I was pointed to MFP. My wife followed me right on in. We got an exercise bike and my wife followed me and pushes me on the bike. I mentioned getting bikes on the road when it warms up, and she was right there. I thought I would be pushing the limits when I mentioned C25K... but no. She is right there.

bortass

Good news on the scale this morning. Most of what I put on during my hiatus was water and is gone. My legs and shoulders have that nice soreness you get that tells ya you worked out.

CasperO

Dang I am lucky to have the most wonderful wife in the world!!!

On new years day, I announced that I was going to start controlling my portions when I ate and lose weight. My wife jumped right beside me. The next day, I was pointed to MFP. My wife followed me right on in. We got an exercise bike and my wife followed me and pushes me on the bike. I mentioned getting bikes on the road when it warms up, and she was right there. I thought I would be pushing the limits when I mentioned C25K... but no. She is right there.

My wife is outstanding, a top notch gal. She's right there with me as much as she can be, and she's lost more weight than I have (Really, I've lost 63, she's lost 65). Problem is, she has fibromyalgia and shingles. This is a combo of maladies far too ugly and wierd for anybody to cope with. And every fibro med has a side effect Re: weight gain/loss.

She does the best she can but it's slow going because of her health issues. She gets very frustrated and angry and a little jealous when I take off and do a 25 mile bike ride. 'cause she'd love to do it, and she can do it, but she knows that if she does it the fibromyalgia will flare up and knock her on her *kitten* for 2 weeks.

That's what I meant about being careful with the excessive happiness/pride when you do well. If you're outdoing your partner it may be 'cause she's lazy, or it may be because of something else. Either way, she knows it, and rubbing it in won't help anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: bicycles,,, Friendly tip, and you may already know this. If at all possible, if there's any way you can swing it financially - DO NOT go to a bigbox store and get a $150 bike. Go to a real bike shop and spend at least $350. A good bike really is that much better, and really is worth every extra penny. I have a Trek 7100, and I love it and I love to ride.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/hybrid/7100

I can make 16mph all day long, very comfortable, never get tired, never have to fiddle with gears or brakes or anything, it just works and works well. Before the windter attacked I was riding over 100 miles a week, burning 700-800 calories and hour and honestly enjoying every minute of it. It's worth the money.

Cute note - I stopped in at the bike shop last weekend for a set of fenders. I ride in sloppy weather sometimes and I got tired of the skunk stripe up my back. Wife fell in love with a new Trek urban bike and put some money down.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/eco_design/atwood/

So, I went in the store to spend $40, and wound up spending $500. It happens,,, :laugh:

FORKDOWN

Quick question. I want to incorporate some weightlifting to target my back. Should I do it once or twice a week?

CasperO

"Target my back",,, what do you mean? Trying to get bigger? stronger? build endurance? flexibility?

Generally speaking there's no weightlifting regimen where it's common to do it once a week. Most setups are at least twice a week and usually more like 3x a week. When I'm training I do Tues-Thurs-Saturday.

Also - what exercises are you planning to do? I know dozens that target different parts of the back. Upper-lower-middle?

Need more info.

shutterbug4674

I cannot wait for Spring. I am having a really difficult time getting motivated this winter. :sick:

gr8dad1975

Hey Guys

I am starting to incorporate running into my workout routine. I am going to train to get myself prepared for a race with some friends in the near future (you know 5k, 10k, 2kfc :laugh: ) Any tips for a newbie?

BigdaddyJ

You should check out c25k

daved71

I just finished my first week of C25K and I didn't think I could make it by the end of the last run. I'll have to see how the second week goes when I start on Sunday. So far this is my major exercise. I get out for a walk and climb about 300 stairs at work instead of sitting down at lunch and I will use hit the ice when I have time. Seems to be working for me right now, but I would like to try something different.

FORKDOWN

"Target my back",,, what do you mean? Trying to get bigger? stronger? build endurance? flexibility?

Generally speaking there's no weightlifting regimen where it's common to do it once a week. Most setups are at least twice a week and usually more like 3x a week. When I'm training I do Tues-Thurs-Saturday.

Also - what exercises are you planning to do? I know dozens that target different parts of the back. Upper-lower-middle?

Need more info.

Actually still figuring that out. I wanna increase the V in my back to compensate for the large middle. BUt I want a stronger core. I have a healthy back and a crappy neck. Any suggestions on either would be appreciated.

FORKDOWN

What a morning, my Wife was nagging at me as I went out the door. Something about I dont listen to her or something like that.



:bigsmile:

OddSquid

For back exercises, I do back flys, pull-ups, and bent-over rows (single arm and double arm) -- those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head

CasperO

What a morning, my Wife was nagging at me as I went out the door. Something about I dont listen to her or something like that.
:bigsmile:

Now that's funny... Hehehe.

To enhance the V you need to make the latissimus muscles ("Lats") bigger and the waist smaller. Waist smaller is obvious, lose bodyfat.

As for building the lats, I agree with fish, pullups, dips, bent-over-rows, back flys. I'd also add in shrugs and deltoid raises.

However,,, it's a bit of a pickle. You're trying to make your back wider, which means you want to get bigger, which means you want to feed enough to have excess material to make more Forkdown. Very very difficult to build muscle mass without excess calories to build the mass out of. On the other hand, you're trying to lose bellyfat. To do that, you need to be in a calorie deficit so your metab burns fat as fuel.

It's pretty hard to do both at the same time. You're eating enough or your not,,, you can't have it both ways.

This is why b-builders do "Bulking cycles" and then "Cutting cycles". They'll eat like teenagers for a while (with emphasis on protein) and lift like demons, and lift heavy weight for few reps. This builds muscle mass, and may add some bodyfat.

Then after some period of time, or maybe when there's a competition coming up,,, they'll "Cut" for a while,,, doing more cardio, lifting lighter weight more reps, and eating very light and very lo-carb. This'll cut bodyfat and "shrink-wrap" the skin to the musculature.

Anyways,,, it's 2 different deals. You almost have to pick what you want to do, 'cause you can't really do both at the same time.

mromnek

Re: bicycles,,, Friendly tip, and you may already know this. If at all possible, if there's any way you can swing it financially - DO NOT go to a bigbox store and get a $150 bike. Go to a real bike shop and spend at least $350. A good bike really is that much better, and really is worth every extra penny. I have a Trek 7100, and I love it and I love to ride.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/hybrid/7100

I can make 16mph all day long, very comfortable, never get tired, never have to fiddle with gears or brakes or anything, it just works and works well. Before the windter attacked I was riding over 100 miles a week, burning 700-800 calories and hour and honestly enjoying every minute of it. It's worth the money.

Cute note - I stopped in at the bike shop last weekend for a set of fenders. I ride in sloppy weather sometimes and I got tired of the skunk stripe up my back. Wife fell in love with a new Trek urban bike and put some money down.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/eco_design/atwood/

So, I went in the store to spend $40, and wound up spending $500. It happens,,, :laugh:

Right now we have some upper range big box bikes. Of course they are mountain bikes, with big nobby tires. I have told my wife that when we get her tolerance (for sitting on a bike seat) up, we will be transitioning into road bikes.

I already have a Bianchi which is a hybrid setup (between touring and racing). I bought this bike many years ago when I had great intentions of getting back into biking.

I definitely agree with the suggestion to shy away from big box bikes. They are too heavy for serious riding. When I was a kid, I could never afford a "real" bike and had a crappy economy bike that I had to tear down and rebuild every year. But I never could overcome the problem of running on tires that were so heavy it felt like they were made of concrete.

FORKDOWN

What a morning, my Wife was nagging at me as I went out the door. Something about I dont listen to her or something like that.
:bigsmile:

Now that's funny... Hehehe.

To enhance the V you need to make the latissimus muscles ("Lats") bigger and the waist smaller. Waist smaller is obvious, lose bodyfat.

As for building the lats, I agree with fish, pullups, dips, bent-over-rows, back flys. I'd also add in shrugs and deltoid raises.

However,,, it's a bit of a pickle. You're trying to make your back wider, which means you want to get bigger, which means you want to feed enough to have excess material to make more Forkdown. Very very difficult to build muscle mass without excess calories to build the mass out of. On the other hand, you're trying to lose bellyfat. To do that, you need to be in a calorie deficit so your metab burns fat as fuel.

It's pretty hard to do both at the same time. You're eating enough or your not,,, you can't have it both ways.

This is why b-builders do "Bulking cycles" and then "Cutting cycles". They'll eat like teenagers for a while (with emphasis on protein) and lift like demons, and lift heavy weight for few reps. This builds muscle mass, and may add some bodyfat.

Then after some period of time, or maybe when there's a competition coming up,,, they'll "Cut" for a while,,, doing more cardio, lifting lighter weight more reps, and eating very light and very lo-carb. This'll cut bodyfat and "shrink-wrap" the skin to the musculature.

Anyways,,, it's 2 different deals. You almost have to pick what you want to do, 'cause you can't really do both at the same time.

Looks like I have some researching to do. I would put strengthing back ahead of building the V. More concerned with the lower back but only have free weights.

CasperO

Freeweights are perfect for strengthening the lower back.

Dead lifts,
Squats,
Power cleans,
Clean & jerk,
Dumbbell lunges,
Deep dumbbell rows,
Dumbbell cleans (I love these, they build explosive power, just make ya' bear strong :happy: )
All kinds of "core" work. Don't forget, the back half of your "core" is you lower back. Good good stuff.

The selection of exercises is pretty straightforward, you just need to figure out your training & nutritional strategy. How pudgy are ya' right now? If you're unhappy with the belly then maybe you should cut first. Training would be more about lots of exercises, higher reps-lighter weights (no, not 5 pounds 1000 reps, but maybe 80% max for 3 sets of 10?). Also, tons of cardio to burn bodyfat. Nutrition would be lighter cals, lighter carbs. "Don't eat anything white!".

Looking at your pic (yes, your pic, not Arnie & Duane's pics :bigsmile: ) - I'd say you're going to be pretty happy with your appearance when you get to 14% bodyfat and the waist and butt get little and the 6pack starts peeking through. It's also the more attainable goal. Building a 48" chest takes years, building a 32" waist from where you are now takes months. You can do it.

Simplicity

Hey. A man forum I bet this moves slower than the rest of 'em.
Ben here, Half way through my first round of P90X. Enjoying it lots and learning lots about different muscle groups and eating right. Both of which are confusing. Currently trying to keep to my high protien low carb cutting fat sort of stage. started going out running again this week too. 6km 3 times a week now that the UK weather is in the +'s again during the day. Its great to see a support system for men too.
Hope everyone is well
Ben

BigdaddyJ

Hey guys!

I made up a new training programm for myself, I invite all to go have a good look at it and plz feel free to comment, I'm no expert, it's actualy my first time making up such a programm on my own!!

all input is welcome and if you think it makes sence you're welcome to copy it!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81619-new-training-programm

JF

PanicAtTheBuffet

Hi Guys, I hoping to get this thread going with some important discussion.

The Subject: "Lounge pants" vs. Pajama Bottoms

Background: Some garment marketing guru, must have gotten the idea after he, himself, also realized that men need very little sleepwear(Think t-shirt, gym shorts). In an effort to rename pajama bottoms, they could basically sell pajama bottoms separately and call them "lounge pants." Now when your significant other arrives home, and you are just "lounging" around in your "lounge pants," why do they accuse you of never changing out of your pajamas. :yawn: ooOOoo this is making me sleepy.

(Yes,I'm kidding)

CasperO

Gym shorts 'til bed, not a stitch after that. Her neither. Like it that way.

Like Sinead O'connor - "I do not want what I haven't got".

PanicAtTheBuffet

Gym shorts 'til bed, not a stitch after that. Her neither. Like it that way.

Like Sinead O'connor - "I do not want what I haven't got".

HaHaHa, Casper. I can't do that. I am sleepwalker. :huh: