The goal for me is simple as I have stated several times. Initially to look good in clothes, and then to look good without them. Since this takes serious effort, there is no way that I am not also achieving some level of real fitness. For example, for me that means being able to run a 5.5 50, or even harder (immensely) is to run a sub 50 1/4 mile. At the end of my workout, I max out the treadmill (to the horror of most people since they could not keep up) for about 1 minute. This gets my heart rate going to ~175 to 180 bps for one minute. When I am ready, I will be going to my HS 1/4 mile outdoor track, and trying to run the 1/4 mile and time myself. I will know if I fit then, believe me. There is very little chance I will be able to beat the 17 year old version of myself, but then that is silly.
your setting yourself an impossible task LOL seriously, how do you define "looking good in clothes"? your sizes will go down because you will never gain enough muscle to make up for the loss in fat. you will look even more skinny .. what is more than likely happening is that your waist size is diminishing which is making you LOOK relatively larger in your upper body despite no size gain up top maintaining the "V"
Oh oh, I have not lost any weight this week I am working just as hard and my diet is the same. It may mean that I have to either a) Step it up and burn 600+ calories instead of the approximate 350 to 500 a day. My body has gotten used to the current stress. b) I am gaining muscle mass and in fact I have lost (fat) weight but the scale can't tell. I have a feeling it is a Nothin is easy...I may have to go kamikaze tomorrow and run for two hours and lift for an hour. Too bad they don't have stretcher services, where they come and pick you up from the gym and take you home on a stretcher. I remember as a freshman I used to train with the varsity track team. These guys were beasts to me. They would run the 1/4 mile faster in practice than I could run in a real race, over and over again! After one of those sessions, I literally could not lift a pencil for a day.
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Thanks. FWIW, I don't know a thing about lifting. I am naturally athletic though, and imo this is the only thing that has sort of helped me along achieve some level of success in this endeavor to be somewhat fit again. I have read a couple of things that have helped me out a bit: a) When lifting, do the extension move explosively, but do the retractions slowly. b) Breathe in on the retraction, exhale on the move. This is really important http://ezinearticles.com/?Proper-Breathing-Technique-For-Weight-Lifting&id=1110411 c) Don't do all the sets of one routine at once. Rotate after each set. This sort of gets the benefit of what some people here talk about with special (cross) training. It also allows that set of muscle to rest for longer intervals, greatly reducing risk of injury. Hard to do in a small gym with lots of people and few machines. d) Stretch. If you are below average height like me, this is even more important, as I need to keep my shape looking lean. Otherwise one will look too stocky. e) In the face of no personal trainer to tell you if you are making progress or not, take scientific readings, look in the mirror, and be honest. If you don't, you will have no feedback and you will be like a chicken with your head cut off, working with no idea if what you are doing is going well or not given the amount of effort you put in. This is the one advantage that the athlete has, she knows what it feels to work out, and he knows that times don't lie, weight and/or reps increased don't lie, speed and length of time on the treadmill don't lie, length of workout without fatigue doesn't lie, etc. The more of an athlete you are probably the less of this you need. But some minimal amount is imperative to measure progress. f) Don't go on fad diets. Change your eating habits to something that you can live with and enjoy food and get your nutrients. Understand the different properties of foods, and always read labels. Get to the bottom of myths. Listen to your body. If you drink milk and you get constipated, guess what, you have some sort of protein intolerance. But you can only do this if you keep track of what you eat and understand nutrition and the way food and your body interact. g) Don't try to look like someone else. Decide what kind of body you want, and work towards that. But keep in mind genetic differences and don't judge yourself by what someone else looks like. We are different for a reason, and you exist as the result of fierce evolutionary competition, and you made it! Make the best of what God gave you, believe me someone is turned on by exactly the way you look. I am sure that I will learn more as I immerse myself in the self-training jungle. For the eight weeks I have been doing this, I may have been able to have gotten even more killer results, but results I have gotten. "No one can teach us anything. We must learn to teach ourselves with the help of others." - I forget
-ballistic training will get you hurt. -mixing up sets do nothing to reduce injury risk. proper form is the way to train safely. -stretching will do nothing to prevent "stockiness". that's a function of your bone structure and body fat level. -eat to live, don't live to eat. preference is a matter of a learned palate, you can unlearn to eat fatty and sugary foods. learn to eat a healthy plant-based diet. jack lalanne (95yrs old) .. his two simple rules of nutrition are: "if man made it, don't eat it", and "if it tastes good, spit it out."
I'm jumping into the middle here, so hopefully I'm not repeating what you've already stated. To look good in clothes, you've got to put on muscle. To put on muscle, you've got to consume a lot of protein. This would require a lengthy explanation, but the only two animal proteins that are really safe to eat in those quantities are whey and egg whites. The reason I mention it is that you don't have to worry about the fine tuning of weight lifting, you'll just gain weight if you get enough protein. I've easily got 20 more pounds of muscle than I did in college and am much stronger and don't even think about what I lift or how. I just go in and enjoy myself and make sure 1) I don't hurt myself and 2) I eat enough protein. Keep it simple. Keep it fun. And, btw, I'm 50 and a Skinny Bastard, so if I can put on muscle, anyone can do it!
Stretching has been shown to relax the arteries which is always a good thing. The studies have also shown that stretching before a workout can decrease power and strengh, generally a bad idea...