Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - "Beginning Fitness" Article rough draft- please be brutal

mlc82 · 08-26-2008, 02:12 AM

Just finished an initial draft of this for the still one day upcoming nerdwhoworksouttoomuch. com, and want to get some input on it.
Constructive criticism is sought after, so rip it up as badly as you can for me!

Please note, I still plan to include some extra info, links on how to do the listed exercises properly, and etc.

Bolded text is not displayed yet either. Some of this, spacing and otherwise, isn't displaying correctly due to copy and paste from wordpad- if it looks way off on spacing or something, it isn't supposed to and I'll fix that in the final one!

(note as well, I'm not a vegan or raw foodist, nor do I desire to be, and am not mentioning anything of the sort here as it's hard enough to get others to eat decently as it is without terrifying them with something most people find "extreme"... just saying

)

--------------------------------------------------------------

Beginning Fitness Article (obviously tentative title)

So you've never touched a weight in your life, only run when your life is in danger, eat whatever comes your way without any regard for nutrition, and have at least a little extra gut (if not alot) that you'd rather be without? Have no fear, getting into shape isn't all that complex, and you can start today without having to go out and buy a single piece of equipment. This really isn't all that scary, it just takes a moment of decision to commit to your desire to get yourself into shape.
Here's the breakdown of what you'll need to do:

1. Start moving around more often.

2. Start eating foods that enrich your body with nutrients and provide you with energy instead of fattening you up and dragging you down.

3. Force your muscles to become stronger and better-defined by working them directly for roughly 30-45 minutes, 3 or 4 days a week.

Number 1 is the simplest one to succeed at. Starting out, just set aside 20 minutes a day (any time of the day), 6 days a week, to go out and walk at a fast pace. If this sounds like a chore, think of it this way: It's 20 minutes set aside to either think deeply about whatever you feel like, or take some headphones and a CD/Mp-3 player and listen to some music you enjoy. This should have you feeling energized and probably uplift your mood by the time you finish, and before long you'll be looking forward to your 20 minutes of zoning out and exercising.

Number 2 is the hardest to start at, mainly due to the common and fallacious myths which claim that in order to eat healthy, you must torture yourself and eat foods that would gag a maggot. This is pure crap. If your goal is simply to shape up, lose some fat, gain some energy, and become healthier, then there's no need to eat like either a competetive bodybuilder or, at the other end of the scale, a rabbit. Do yourself a big favor first of all and drop the fast food as much as you possibly can! Start packing a lunch the night before to take to work/school/wherever you spend your day. The two major benefits of a self-packed lunch are that it can help you achieve your fitness goal much faster, and also saves quite a bit of money over paying for fast food every day. If you absolutely can't take/keep food with you during the day, then go ahead and hit a fast food shop but start going for the "grilled" selections- Grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salad, or something similar should replace artery-clogging, energy draining triple-cheeseburgers. Go on and get your fries if you like them, but keep it to a small order.

The same idea goes for your dinner- which of these sounds more filling and appetizing to you:

A grease-soaked fast food triple cheeseburger with fries and a supersized 48oz sugar-laden soda, weighing in at well over 1,000 calories (and guaranteed to see you snoozing soon after eating it).

or

A home cooked burger using 93/7 (extra lean) ground beef on a whole wheat bun, with all of the veggies/condiments you want on it (go easy on the mayo) and seasoned however you like it, a quarter cup of brown rice mixed in with steamed veggies, and a tall mug of Beer.

Guess which of those two is "healthier"- I'll give you a hint, the correct answer provides more energy-promoting and muscle-rebuilding nutrients, won't knock you out cold after eating it, and best of all, includes that blessed substance known as Beer. Believe it or not, Beer in moderation isn't going to turn you into a couch-dwelling fatass with an enormous gut who suffers from erectile dysfunction- assuming you aren't preparing for a bodybuilding competition or modelling photo shoot requiring you to be ultra-lean, a beer with your dinner will be just fine, and much better than a greaseburger and supersized fries. If you aren't old enough to legally drink beer yet, substitute in the non-alcoholic drink of your choice, just watch the sugar.
;-) It's also nice that this option ends up being much cheaper in the long run as well than the every day fast food fix!

If your initial thought on reading the above is "I don't know how to cook any of that!", just drop me an email and I'll be happy to help- if I can do it without burning my place down, anyone can.

I plan to write plenty more on healthy eating ideas, but for now the above should give you a basic idea. On to #3...

#3. Once you get past that initial period of making yourself do it in the first place, this WILL become the really fun part. There is no better way to vent after a bad day, or get yourself fired up for whatever you like to do at night, then a good resistance training workout. Even if you don't enjoy the act itself for awhile in the beginning, the feeling afterword becomes addictive, and is well worth getting the whole thing done for. I'm going to assume you've both never worked out with resistance training before (or only done so minimally), and have no weight training equipment in your home (and of course, no gym membership). This is a routine that anyone can do starting out, assuming you have no knee or shoulder issues- if you do, drop me an email and I'll set up an alternate plan for you.

Squats (bodyweight)- 50 reps, or as close as possible
Push up (from knees, full if you can do them)- 25 reps
Calf Raises- 50 reps
Prone Cobras- 25 reps
Crunch Sit Up- 25 reps
Repeat 3 x total

Doing this 3-4 times a week will be fine. Go down the whole thing as a circuit, ie do your set of squats, then your pushups, then calf raises, and so on until you complete the circuit (all of the listed exercises), then restart again from the Squats two more times. Keep your break time to a minium, ideally no more than 15-30 seconds between sets through the whole thing, although at first you'll likely need to take a while longer, that's fine.
Work up to the number of reps per exercise I've listed, and be prepared to be really sore during the first week or so! The soreness will lessen after that first week, but the results to come will not!

When that feeling kicks in that it's getting too hard to do, or you don't feel like doing it, or whatever other excuse you can dig comes to mind, remember these things:

1.
It will make you look more physically attractive!
2.
Keeping yourself healthy should be a priority to anyone- you're never too old to start, and the younger you start, the better!
3.
Working out regularly promotes feelings of well being, increased energy, and increased self confidence!
4.
Members of the opposite sex will like you more!
5.
Ahem, again, anyone you're interested in will find you more attractive! Same goes for your spouse/significant other, they'll like the change, and you'll reap the benefits!

So just keep at it, do your best to cover all of the steps, email me if you need any tips, encouragement, or have any questions.

08-26-2008, 02:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
mlc82 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 502	"Beginning Fitness" Article rough draft- please be brutal Just finished an initial draft of this for the still one day upcoming nerdwhoworksouttoomuch. com, and want to get some input on it. Constructive criticism is sought after, so rip it up as badly as you can for me! Please note, I still plan to include some extra info, links on how to do the listed exercises properly, and etc. Bolded text is not displayed yet either. Some of this, spacing and otherwise, isn't displaying correctly due to copy and paste from wordpad- if it looks way off on spacing or something, it isn't supposed to and I'll fix that in the final one! (note as well, I'm not a vegan or raw foodist, nor do I desire to be, and am not mentioning anything of the sort here as it's hard enough to get others to eat decently as it is without terrifying them with something most people find "extreme"... just saying ) -------------------------------------------------------------- Beginning Fitness Article (obviously tentative title) So you've never touched a weight in your life, only run when your life is in danger, eat whatever comes your way without any regard for nutrition, and have at least a little extra gut (if not alot) that you'd rather be without? Have no fear, getting into shape isn't all that complex, and you can start today without having to go out and buy a single piece of equipment. This really isn't all that scary, it just takes a moment of decision to commit to your desire to get yourself into shape. Here's the breakdown of what you'll need to do: 1. Start moving around more often. 2. Start eating foods that enrich your body with nutrients and provide you with energy instead of fattening you up and dragging you down. 3. Force your muscles to become stronger and better-defined by working them directly for roughly 30-45 minutes, 3 or 4 days a week. Number 1 is the simplest one to succeed at. Starting out, just set aside 20 minutes a day (any time of the day), 6 days a week, to go out and walk at a fast pace. If this sounds like a chore, think of it this way: It's 20 minutes set aside to either think deeply about whatever you feel like, or take some headphones and a CD/Mp-3 player and listen to some music you enjoy. This should have you feeling energized and probably uplift your mood by the time you finish, and before long you'll be looking forward to your 20 minutes of zoning out and exercising. Number 2 is the hardest to start at, mainly due to the common and fallacious myths which claim that in order to eat healthy, you must torture yourself and eat foods that would gag a maggot. This is pure crap. If your goal is simply to shape up, lose some fat, gain some energy, and become healthier, then there's no need to eat like either a competetive bodybuilder or, at the other end of the scale, a rabbit. Do yourself a big favor first of all and drop the fast food as much as you possibly can! Start packing a lunch the night before to take to work/school/wherever you spend your day. The two major benefits of a self-packed lunch are that it can help you achieve your fitness goal much faster, and also saves quite a bit of money over paying for fast food every day. If you absolutely can't take/keep food with you during the day, then go ahead and hit a fast food shop but start going for the "grilled" selections- Grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salad, or something similar should replace artery-clogging, energy draining triple-cheeseburgers. Go on and get your fries if you like them, but keep it to a small order. The same idea goes for your dinner- which of these sounds more filling and appetizing to you: A grease-soaked fast food triple cheeseburger with fries and a supersized 48oz sugar-laden soda, weighing in at well over 1,000 calories (and guaranteed to see you snoozing soon after eating it). or A home cooked burger using 93/7 (extra lean) ground beef on a whole wheat bun, with all of the veggies/condiments you want on it (go easy on the mayo) and seasoned however you like it, a quarter cup of brown rice mixed in with steamed veggies, and a tall mug of Beer. Guess which of those two is "healthier"- I'll give you a hint, the correct answer provides more energy-promoting and muscle-rebuilding nutrients, won't knock you out cold after eating it, and best of all, includes that blessed substance known as Beer. Believe it or not, Beer in moderation isn't going to turn you into a couch-dwelling fatass with an enormous gut who suffers from erectile dysfunction- assuming you aren't preparing for a bodybuilding competition or modelling photo shoot requiring you to be ultra-lean, a beer with your dinner will be just fine, and much better than a greaseburger and supersized fries. If you aren't old enough to legally drink beer yet, substitute in the non-alcoholic drink of your choice, just watch the sugar. ;-) It's also nice that this option ends up being much cheaper in the long run as well than the every day fast food fix! If your initial thought on reading the above is "I don't know how to cook any of that!", just drop me an email and I'll be happy to help- if I can do it without burning my place down, anyone can. I plan to write plenty more on healthy eating ideas, but for now the above should give you a basic idea. On to #3... #3. Once you get past that initial period of making yourself do it in the first place, this WILL become the really fun part. There is no better way to vent after a bad day, or get yourself fired up for whatever you like to do at night, then a good resistance training workout. Even if you don't enjoy the act itself for awhile in the beginning, the feeling afterword becomes addictive, and is well worth getting the whole thing done for. I'm going to assume you've both never worked out with resistance training before (or only done so minimally), and have no weight training equipment in your home (and of course, no gym membership). This is a routine that anyone can do starting out, assuming you have no knee or shoulder issues- if you do, drop me an email and I'll set up an alternate plan for you. Squats (bodyweight)- 50 reps, or as close as possible Push up (from knees, full if you can do them)- 25 reps Calf Raises- 50 reps Prone Cobras- 25 reps Crunch Sit Up- 25 reps Repeat 3 x total Doing this 3-4 times a week will be fine. Go down the whole thing as a circuit, ie do your set of squats, then your pushups, then calf raises, and so on until you complete the circuit (all of the listed exercises), then restart again from the Squats two more times. Keep your break time to a minium, ideally no more than 15-30 seconds between sets through the whole thing, although at first you'll likely need to take a while longer, that's fine. Work up to the number of reps per exercise I've listed, and be prepared to be really sore during the first week or so! The soreness will lessen after that first week, but the results to come will not! When that feeling kicks in that it's getting too hard to do, or you don't feel like doing it, or whatever other excuse you can dig comes to mind, remember these things: 1. It will make you look more physically attractive! 2. Keeping yourself healthy should be a priority to anyone- you're never too old to start, and the younger you start, the better! 3. Working out regularly promotes feelings of well being, increased energy, and increased self confidence! 4. Members of the opposite sex will like you more! 5. Ahem, again, anyone you're interested in will find you more attractive! Same goes for your spouse/significant other, they'll like the change, and you'll reap the benefits! So just keep at it, do your best to cover all of the steps, email me if you need any tips, encouragement, or have any questions.