Man Cave - Any Guys on MFP?

Ok ... more time to reply now!

Anyways, what's up?! I'm Big Mike from NC --- Glad to see a place where bras & swimsuits are not hot topics! Well unless they are coming off, that is! HA!! LMAO

Anyways - Yea always been a bigger guy - football lineman in high school, now fixing to turn 30 years old in February and enough is enough. Ready to kick this thing once and for all be a normal sized guy! Before I joined the Fire Dept in 2009, I was pushing 350 lbs but at the start of the year I weighed in at 336 --- now at 318 and dropping! Hopefully to stay there and to show my kids only you can change yourself if you can put your mind to it, ya know?!

Anyways, looking forward to getting to know ya! GOOD LUCK!!

1. I exercise solely with calisthenics for strength training. I feel that this is something that way too many people overlook, even though it's a core part of things like "P90x", etc. How do they think people used to do it? Currently doing ~150 pushups, ~25 pullups, and ~200 situps 3 times a week (using "100 pushups," "20 pullups," and "200 situps" workouts as guides for pacing, then plan on maintaining / elevating with added weight/variations). I love it and it's made a huge difference! It's definitely not easy, but it pays off. For all those who don't think you can build muscle with calisthenics, two words: Hershel Walker.

You do 150 pushups without stopping? If so, thats really impressive. My goal is 100 pushups nonstop.

Great post! Finally something for us guys Here are my thoughts:

1) Depends on what your goals are as for creative exercises. My initial goal was to drop 40lbs. I did strength training 3 days a week, but in addition to doing your bench presses, curls and stuff I mixed in some cardio exercises like Burpees, bear crawls, mountain climbers, medicine ball squats, etc. This helped increase my calorie burn during strength training. Now that I've lost the weight, I mainly focus on building muscle and lifting heavy with no cardio exercises on strength training days.

2) I do one cheat day a week. Anything goes!

3) I play basketball and love it. Helps me burn some calories and I've found myself to play at my best now that I'm in shape.

4) I always pack a lunch for work. Helps me get through the middle of the day and keeps me away from temptations by not eating out.

Awesome stuff!! Good luck!

I wondered how many guys there were on here. Me and my wife joined at the beginning of the year and I think I have 1 guy on my list of friends. Anyone in here play softball? During the summer I usually get at least 4 games a week, plus at least 1 day of batting practice, and tournaments on Saturdays. It makes for a pretty good workout.

@swsunbug, I did the initial test for the 100 push ups and 100 sit ups. I did 8 push ups and 26 sit ups. I was so embarrassed. I am a former Marine and it used to be nothing for me to do 120+ sit ups and of course there were plenty of push ups.Of course that was 10 years and nearly 70 lbs ago.

Im the vice president of a girls softball league Im really thinking this summer might be a good summer to get on a mens league. It sounds like fun.

As for the push ups. I'm embarrassed to say this. When I started I could barely do 1 and when I did it I hurt myself doing it. Had to do girl push ups forever. I'm proud to say I'm I can do close to 30 good solid push ups non stop and I'm working my weight to 100.

A great thread for the guys. And remember what Nietzsche said, if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back unto you.

Sriramthiru, Thanks for the link to mens health.
I am thinking about doing the dumbbell blast that they have on the site.
Has anyone here tried it? What do you think?

1. Not doing any strength training at the moment, had to switched to cardio only till i can get back safely under my weight limit. I was around 172 end of the year, but then christmas, new years, new baby, and way less activity I got up to 180. I need to keep under 175 so I am sticking with cardio until then, after that I will ABSOLUTELY do a mixture because muscle is always burning calories throughout the day. My wife and I started this program on Monday after looking into weight watchers and some other programs decided on MFP. She wants to lose baby weight, I just want to get healthier in general and get a little further under my weight limit.

2. Beer, Brats, and Football - YES, no, and YES. I love football and I love beer, I dont drink beer very often but when I do I prefer a good beer from one of our local breweries, another question for you other beer lovers, when getting a beer from a local brewer and you dont have nutritional information, how do you log that drink? Football, well I am a HUGE Steelers fan and am looking forward to watching them win another superbowl next week ;-)


3. Been playing floor hockey at lunch, I LOVE sports (except basketball), and wish I could get more sports time because I enjoy it and I get cardio while having fun.

1. While Strength Training - Is there a creative or unusual exercise you do for strength training your Chest, Back, or Arms besides the traditional presses, rows, and curls? I've heard about kettleballs and seen some odd exercises at the gym.

2. Beer, Brats, and Football - One advantage I see that guys have is we will occasionally treat ourselves with wings and beer, etc every once in a while. Do you do this, if so - what’s your standing rule? (i.e. got to be good 5 days before I can loosen up on a Saturday for the game). Does it harm you or hurt you?

3. Do you incorporate sports into your regimen (Racquetball, Karate, etc) - do you find it effective?

4. My staple for my new diet has been portion control, I would easily before have ate 3-5 servings of things. Also adding more veggies, fruits, and ensuring I eat breakfast. The other staple would be drinking much more water then I had been drinking in the past.

Last little bit I will leave you all with is I am a HUGE burger lover, my wife and I switched to all ground turkey 2 years ago and I hadnt had much luck with making burgers out of them. well recently I made some and they were delicious so heres what to use if your wanting a burger:

1lb ground turkey
1 small slice of bread (slapchopped into crumbs)
1egg
minced garlic (to taste)
minced onion (to taste)
parmesean cheese (to taste)

Mix together and cook, tastes delicious and much better then beef

Hi Guys:

Man, this is a good place! Mike, thanks for the invite.

I wanna start working out or something but I'm not sure exactly where.

I have some physical limitations but, I am gonna do some walking this weekend. Anybody else had to ease into it?

Yep - I had to - VERY much overweight and had surgery for a hernia at the end of November... so a combination of 'water aerobics' and walking was in order...

now gone on to cycling and to 'interval training' (walking/running repeatedly for set distances) - things going great - and I've signed up for a 5K in May!

Hope things go okay for you!

I stick with traditional weights: bench, curls, etc., but I try to mix up the grips and weight. I use kettle balls to do shoulder shrugs and squats. I do cardio afterwards, usually stair stepper or elliptical for 30-40 min. I do a variety of ab work that totals 100 for now.

As for sports, I love playing basketball but I'm just getting too old. Actually, my knees are too old. The rest of me is just fine but I can't leave my knees at home to rest.

Portion control on the eating. This tool is really helping me with that!

Thought I may as well post this in here seeing as how it probably doesn't apply to many ladies :P

from here http://www.projectgoliath.co.uk/2010/08/10-rules-of-getting-big-i-think-theres.html

THE RULES OF THE GYM FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET BIG.
1. Supplements
Stop ALL your supplements. They do nothing. Bodybuilders don’t take supplements, they don’t waste there money on them. They take drugs. They get sponsored to SAY they take supplements but they dont. The only one which does anything is creatine MONOHYDRATE. Its cheap, the supplement companies don’t like it because there is little profit in it, they mix it with sugar and sell it for loads or they clamp ethyl ester on it and try to flog it. Don’t be fooled, it’s a load of bull. Even creatine has a relatively small effect: maybe 2-3 reps in the 3-5rep range. You gain a couple of kilos as soon as you start it and you’ll lose them when you stop it. Its all water. That aside I love creatine. The only other one is caffeine. It lowers central fatigue so you can go for longer and it’s a stimulant. Again, the companies will mix it with NO to make it profitable. It’s a farce, don’t bother. You can get a years supply of pure caffeine for £3. Don’t fuss with anything else.

1.1 An aside related to supplements: muscle magazines.
They are a load of balls. They are an argos catalogue of supplements. Nothing in them is true. The supplements do **** all, the bodybuilders dont take them and if you do jay cutlers arm workout you will overtrain and your guns will probably shrivel up and die. Even the slightly more harmless mens health magazines are balls. They are a fashion accessory. There is nothing (NOTHING!) of worth in them. They spew the same **** every month, there are only so many ways they can tell you that you can get abs in 4 weeks and that you can get massive by eating salad and chicken breast. Best bet, put 4 or 5 of them together and tear them in half. At least this way you get a grip workout.

2. Protein and Mass shakes
Shakes are good. They don’t count as a supplement. They increase your calories in a liquid form, anything else they claim to do, they don’t. It’s like mixing milk with olive oil and making it taste good. That is a mass shake, calories. That half an hour window after a workout is for CARBS and PROTEIN. You need a banana and a pint of milk after a workout, not a protein shake. Then a meal when you get home as well, not a protein shake. If you think protein shakes help you gain ‘lean mass’ then stop reading here. Calories make you big, not protein.

3. Milk
Drink an extra gallon of milk a day. You will get massive. Milk is God. Drink it whole. Nuff said.

4. Workout
Go to the gym and do some squats, do some deadlifts, do some bench/shoulder press. Every second you spend doing leg curls and cable flyes you are getting smaller. I don’t give a crap what workout you do, if you do the big 3 hard and heavy and are not cheating yourself then it doenst matter what sets, reps or rest intervals you do. It doesn’t matter how many times a week you train. All that matters is consistency which brings me to my next point.

5. Consistency
Everyone wants to be big and strong and no one wants to train. They train when they fancy it and no doubt they will put in a good solid 4 week spree. Then they are hungover and cant train, then they have exams and cant train, then they go on holiday and cant train, then they cant be arsed and cant train. If people call you obsessed for wanting to train all the time tell them to STFU, you are training for an hour or two, 3 or 4 times a week, they watch tv more then that they play xbox more then that. Obsessed is what the weak call the dedicated. Please to refer to this video:
NO EXCUSES
MAKE TIME TO TRAIN. You make time to eat, you make time to sleep, you can make time to train, don’t lie in bed for as long or go out an hour later. You need 90 minutes. Get there train 45-60mins then get out, shower and your done. There is never “not enough time” there is only “not enough will”. Have a time in the day for gym, when that time arrives, go to the gym, its gym time. You go to work at work time and you go to school at school time so go to gym at gym time. If something comes up tell them you cant talk now, its gym time. You don’t run an hour late for work just because your favorite show came on tv.

6. Nit-picking
Don’t worry about the minute shape of your muscles. Don’t try to improve your upper pec. Don’t sculpt the outer head of your biceps. Don’t try to get your rear delts up a bit. Body builders do this, they weigh 300lbs and if their right pec is slightly smaller then they lose money. You weigh 150lbs and no one gives a **** about your right pec. There are more important things to think about like actually getting some pecs to sculpt.

7. The Olympic barbell
A simple rule: If your not using the Olympic bar for EVERY workout then you are doing it wrong. If your leg session includes anything but a squat or dead variation then you are doomed to fail. If you think a machine gives you a better pump or more muscle activation then you are wrong. Just wrong. Its not true. They don’t. The only exception to this is for bicep curls. Don’t ever use an Olympic bar for barbell curls. In fact, why are you doing curls. Go and squat.

8. Overcomplicating
People think too much about this training stuff, its bloody simple. Eat lots train hard and stop being such a ***** looking for the pros workouts and the latest hormone supplement. Stop thinking about what protein to take, stop asking people on forums how to gain some muscle but stay lean. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD stop telling me that you don’t want to get that big. Don’t worry mate, its not gonna happen over night, your not suddenly gonna get 20inch guns and a 400lbs bench. Saying you don’t want to get that big is like saying I want to stay small, its almost as if your setting yourself up for failure. STOP OVERTHINKING. Scratch that, stop thinking full stop. Its bad for you. Just shut up and squat and every time you think of a question do another rep and forget it.

9. ABS, the scourge of the gym
I think all the thinking and over complicating is partly due to peoples obsession with abs. They want to gain muscle and lose fat. They want a 6pack and massive arms. EVERY ****ER AND THEIR DOG HAS A ****ING 6 PACK. I could go into a primary school playground and find 10 kids with 6packs. If you want your 6pack that bad, get out of the gym and do some situps on your bedroom floor. If you want to get big and have abs, then thats fine but do it properly and admit your gonna have to say bye bye to 6 pack for a couple of months and get big first. That’s it, a couple of months…and this brings me to…

10. Impatience and hardgaining
I WANT IT NOW! Training takes time. Going back to the point about consistency. You need to train like a fiend. FOR YEARS. So put your hiking boots on and prepare for the long haul. If you want to do an in-out jobby for 6 weeks then **** off. Your taking up my squat rack. And its not just about training consistency. I know people who have been training for years and look the same as the day they started. To make linear progression you need to eat more more more more and MORE and do it consistantly. Training makes you smaller, FACT, it breaks you down. EATING and SLEEPING make you bigger. 100% of the people who are hardgainers aren’t. Hardgain is a myth, it means your not eating enough or not sleeping enough.

11. And finally…..equipment
FOR GODS SAKE TAKE THOSE ****ING GLOVES OFF. And stop wearing a belt under your shirt to do bicep curls. If you are sweaty use some barrel roll or chalk. The only excuse for gloves is if you actually have grievous injury to your hands like your calluses are bleeding out and you just want to finish your workout. Other then that. NO! And a belt is for maximal effort (>90%) squats, deadlifts or push press. This is more or less it. Belts make you weaker if you use them for everything.


NOTE: FOR MEN (and women) WITH THE BALLS TO BE AWESOME.

---

This pretty much sums up everything we already know, albeit in a funny sort of way.

To be a hypocrite, my issues are 1,8,9 and 11 :P (9 is mainly program hopping and 11 cause I hurt my lower back doing jui jitsu so use a belt for heavy squats and deadlifts)

1. While Strength Training - Is there a creative or unusual exercise you do for strength training your Chest, Back, or Arms besides the traditional presses, rows, and curls? I've heard about kettleballs and seen some odd exercises at the gym.

Ive only got back into getting fit last couple of weeks, i have begun using EA Sports Active 2 on Xbox 360 & find it is quite for an overall workout, I will start walk/jog/running in the next few weeks to aid the weight loss, fitness boost.

2. Beer, Brats, and Football - One advantage I see that guys have is we will occasionally treat ourselves with wings and beer, etc every once in a while. Do you do this, if so - what’s your standing rule? (i.e. got to be good 5 days before I can loosen up on a Saturday for the game). Does it harm you or hurt you?

Not really a drinker so if i have a few jars whilst out shouldnt be to bad.

Nice to see there are plenty of men on the site

Nigel

Wow, sunbug... that looks pretty intense. Need to WORK UP to that 300 workout. If the actors got that ripped doing it then it sounds like a winner. Thanks for the link.

Ok, a PS after going through the thread:

mkrafick: I've not done any kettlebell work, but there's a ton of resources online, free and unfree. If memory serves, Dragon Door publishing has almost a kettlebell fetish. There's nothing wrong with them, they're challenging and can be a fun new tool. However, there are people that injure themselves by not controlling the 'bell properly. So, go slow, and stay mindful. In the end, a weight is pretty much a weight. It depends a lot on marketing.

yotatoy/rileysowner: Rileysowner is spot-on. IMO, I'd do more weightlifting and less cardio.

chrisdavey: D00d. Awesome knowledge-bomb! Perhaps the biggest, best info-dump I've seen on this site. I think shakes aren't a good idea, and I personally disagree with the absolute-ness of paragraph 7. But other than that, thanks for taking time to share all that. Kickass.

I do cardio to strengthen my heart and lungs and help with my Blood Pressure. I do weight training to lose weight. Either way they both help, but my experience is that the resistance training expecially done fairly quickly and intensely, will take off my fat that cardio ever does.

Having said that, I keep it very simple and straightforward. Squats/Push-ups super sets, Deadlift/Pull-ups supersets. I will probably come up with some other superset combinations in the future, but for now this works well for me. 4 or so supersets with 30-60 seconds rest between them and I am beat.

Don't get me wrong, I think women are great! Matter of fact, I married one and love her dearly - I even have two little girls. (I'm out numbered - send help).

But on MFP - if I read one more post about what bra works best, how to lift my butt, recover from pregnancy, or how to stop weight gain while on your period - I may very well bang my head against the desk.

....................

4. What is a staple in your new diet that works well and keeps you full.


Feel free to answer one above or ask one of your own. Also, feel free to add me as a friend, I am looking for some more guys to link up to for accountability.

My favorite snack is 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 packet Splenda, 1/2 cup non-fat yogurt, 3/4 cup Malto-o-Meal Golden Puffs.
I like to mix the first three and sprinkle the cereal on top. This is good stuff and comes in under 200 calories. Sometimes I use peaches, cherries or blackberries.

I gotta say that this is so good that I would eat it on plan or not!