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Sounds like you have bulked up pretty well. I too used to be small and scrawny. Once i got out of high school i grew about 6 inches and gained about 25 lbs. and then worked in a factory and gained another 10lbs. of muscle. I worked my arse off there and the job after that and that really bulked me up quick.
Cardio, running/jogging, and weights work wonders. Free weights work really well BTW those are some of my favorites. Another one i used to do is carry around 50lbs. on my shoulder and walk about 50 feet drop and pick back up.

Note to self: Stretch before working out. Cramps are not fun. Not ing fun at all.

OT: Definately feeling better now that I've gotten back on my regime.

@Vindacator#9: I have gained weight, but it's not as much muscle as I would like. Hence why i decided to whip my a$$ back into shape, as I fell of the wagon so to speak a few months ago.

Mad Doc Grotsniks Plan....

Step 1. Wait until payday
Step 2. Attend Chaos Rising Community day
Step 3. Move house
Step 4. Meet Parents weekend after in that London
Step 5. Go get munted in Canterbury and pull some girly.

I have a new short term goal to keep me focused for a little while more.

My vertical leap is thirty three inches. I want to have a vertical leap of thirty six inches. So, I'm gonna be a lot of squats and leg workouts till I get it. Shouldn't be too hard g=to get three more inches, right?

MDG, I read that last one as "Go get mounted by some girly".

Awwwwwwwwwkward.

I think its fine except the weight lifting mate, not at your age. Plenty of body weight stuff will be just fine, and it get you in better shape anyway. Stick with the push ups, some chin ups, sit ups, lots of running an maybe some dips. Punch bags always good. I train on my punchbag by smashing feth out of it for a full song on my MP3 player (3 or 4 minutes) and then doing fifty push ups after. Rest for a minute then crack on. I do 8 reps of that and im starting to walk the push ups now. Try it yourself mate, but as i said, i dislike weights, i got into it for a little while but i just feel way better being lean and strong and not having much bulk! Plus, after a few Taliban take some pot shots at you, you tend to think leaner is better, i wish i was 110 pounds! :-)

Why does everybody warn about doing weights!?

The only weights I'm using are two five pound dumbells for T-pushups (twice a week, 10 reps, two sets)
and a fifteen pound dumbell for goblet squats. (three nights a week, 10 reps, three sets.)

That weight will not stunt my growth.

Yeah well i didnt see if you had specified a weight level (using my cell phone). Sure light weights and many reps are just fine, but thats the point. Doing 30 bicep curls with a 10 pound weight is fine, and keeps you lean and toned. But doing 5 reps with a 60 pound one can make you a midget. :-)

Weightlifting stunting growth is an old wives tale, blooming from the fact that back in the day stretching wasn't regarded as vital. So when their muscles grew large, they were limited to the range of motion that they had grown them during exercises etc.

I also agree with the poeple saying group sports are the best way to stay in shape, especially cardio. In the army, we were obviously expected to be fit, so instead of just doing straight gym workouts, we were sort of 'pressured' into joining one of the myriad sports teams and organizations on base. I ended up in Judo and Lacross, loads of fun!

Also, for jump height, I used to do gymnastics (shhh, if anyone finds out I'll never live it down lol), and yeah squats are good, walk around alot on your tippy toes (this is good for your calves) and you need to train "explosive" power, as in not just how much power your body has but how quickly and rapidly your body can throw it out. Look up 'interval training' it's where you jog for a bit then sprint in the middle of your jog for 30 seconds, to train your body to be used to sudden and exhaustive spurts of energy in the middle of an already tiring activity. So jog 5 minutes, sprint 3 seconds, walk 1 minute, jog 5 minutes, sprint 30 s, and repeat till dead lol

bsohi wrote:Weightlifting stunting growth is an old wives tale, blooming from the fact that back in the day stretching wasn't regarded as vital. So when their muscles grew large, they were limited to the range of motion that they had grown them during exercises etc.

For the most part, that's true. However, if you start really going after strength, or power gains the stress isn't simply on your muscles, but on your bones. Micro-fractures that occur in growth areas, especially the femur, have a negative impact on growth simply because there are only so many mineral resources the body can muster at a given time. For similar reasons, major surgeries, or injuries, tend to have a negative impact on growth. Of course, this can be compensated for through dietary, or medical means, but most people can't afford the medical methods, and don't have the willpower for the dietary ones.

Drink a gallon of milk every day!

Quick question: My right bicep is larger then my left. Is that a problem, or well it even out as I keep to my plan?

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:Quick question: My right bicep is larger then my left.

Know how I know you're single and right-handed?

chaplaingrabthar wrote:

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:Quick question: My right bicep is larger then my left.

Know how I know you're single and right-handed?

Is it bad that was the first thing to spring to my mind as well?

bsohi wrote:Weightlifting stunting growth is an old wives tale, blooming from the fact that back in the day stretching wasn't regarded as vital.

I have to disagree with you there mate, ive trained hard since i was 15, and boxed as well as been in the green berets for ten years, and i have to say, im of the opinion that stretching is most certainly not VITAL.

In the military the PTIs and such always take you through stretches before you do any organised PT. But it doesnt happen when your on the hoof, or suddenly have to get kinetic on operations.

As a result of this I wondered about the subject for a long while, as i have never felt any benefit from it.

I asked my father about it, as he played squash professionally as a young man and was extremely fit as well, and he also said he has never bothered with it. Talking to my fellow commandos, some liked it and did it regularly, some didnt. The PTIs say its good to warm up, but not absolutely neccessary, and its kinda obvious considering we never once "warmed up" before we got engaged by a Taliban patrol, and i never once got an injury!

Cut a long story short, ive read at length on this subject and it seems like their is any concrete evidence that it actually does anything, other than improves your flexibility. Im 31 this year, i dont and never have stretched, and i have never once had a muscular injury. I broke an ankle when i fell from a great height and landed akwardly, and i broke my collarbone once, but never soft tissue. I think its fair to say its "each to their own" with regards to stretching. Certainly in my experience.

Some seem to actually think it INCREASES your chance of becoming injured, although i do disagree with that. Perhaps people who arent as clued in with their physical training regime are doing something wrong?

Anyway, Just to give you something to think on, i googled it and came up with quite alot. Some interesting articles on the subject. The overwhelming amount of evidence though suggests that there is no proof at all that suggests stretching makes you any more or less likely to sustain an injury.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stretching-before-exercise-is-useless-738097.html

http://www.bcbs.com/news/wellness/personal-best-to-stretch-or-not-to-stretch-the-answer-is-elastic.html

http://www.readysetgofitness.com/newsletter/48_truth_about_stretching.html

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:The workout I started doing is a variation on th eprison workout (and there are variations on it depending on what part of the world you live)

Original (no running as locked in a cell):
10x pushups + 10x sit ups per minute
x30 minutes

To mix it up I do:
10x pushups + 10x sit ups per minute x 10 minutes
2km run 6 minutes (pretty much a flat out sprint)
1 minute to get back inside and set up.
10x pushups + 10x sit ups per minute x 10 minute
1km run 3 minutes.

Gonads, did this work for you? As in, did you lose weight, or are just more in shape, etc? I used to play tons of soccer and other sports but haven't done anything in the last several years... and I'd like to get back my cardio before joining up in a league and getting circles run around me!

Orkeosaurus wrote:Drink a gallon of milk every day!

Drink a gallon of milk in an hour!

(funniest safe challenge I've seen on YouTube!)
____

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:Quick question: My right bicep is larger then my left. Is that a problem, or well it even out as I keep to my plan?

Try using your left hand more often.

mattyrm wrote:
Cut a long story short, ive read at length on this subject and it seems like their is any concrete evidence that it actually does anything, other than improves your flexibility. Im 31 this year, i dont and never have stretched, and i have never once had a muscular injury. I broke an ankle when i fell from a great height and landed akwardly, and i broke my collarbone once, but never soft tissue. I think its fair to say its "each to their own" with regards to stretching. Certainly in my experience.

This is pretty accurate. Stretching is important in order to achieve peak athletic performance, particularly as it relates to speed and explosiveness, but isn't critical to the daily lives of all but the most inflexible people (eg. someone who can't rotate 75 degrees across their waist). It does work directly to prevent soft tissue injuries during high load, or flex activities like sprinting, cutting, or getting hit in a joint, but most people don't actively participate in such things.

In fact, there are some postulated benefits to avoiding stretching when it comes to accuracy activities (like shooting an insurgent) as tight muscles allow for superior fine motor control, at least to a point.

Ketara wrote:

chaplaingrabthar wrote:

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:Quick question: My right bicep is larger then my left.

Know how I know you're single and right-handed?

Is it bad that was the first thing to spring to my mind as well?

No. I'm actually ambidextrious. Never feels like cheating.

Yeah. I went there.

Seriously, my right just seems to have more defination in the muscle tone then my left. I do more reps with bicep curls on my left side, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Work on symmetrical activities using both arms, and avoid isolation activities. Do curls with a regular curl bar, so it forces both arms to lift equally (or the bar will tilt). Do bench presses with a free bar, again, forcing both arms to push equally. Pushups, wall stands, etc. are all symmetrical, too.

Meh. I reccomend just saying 'sod it' and heading to the nearest pub instead.

Work on your Piceps.

Been awhile since this was updated, nows as good a time as ever I think.

Weight: 125 pounds

Height: 5 feet, 3 inches.

I also did straight leg dead lifts for the first time today.

I tried it first with sixty pounds, then scaled it back to fifty, but I'm thnking I'll lay off it, or when I do it, put the wieghts in the range of 35 to pounds.

Last night I did 80 bicep curls, switching between ten pound dumbells and fifteen pounds dumbells, and did ninety goblet squats using the fifteen pound dumbell.

I've also been looking up exercises that can be done nusing smaller weights, as I don't want to get bored with exercises and say "Eff it."

I've also started doing coffin sit ups, and dispite that I usually need to tuck my legs underneath my dresser to keep the on the ground, I'm liking them and am going to start doing them in favor of ordinary sit ups.

I also really need to start doing some more cardio, because I don't feel like having to take as many breaks as I do when working out.

So to fix my cardio problem, I have come up with a new plan.

i live in a community with a pool, that isn't that farr from my house if I bike or even walk. So, when it open later in spring, I will start walking down there, doing three or four laps,
rest for a few minutes, do two more laps, then walk back home. As time goes on, I will up the number of laps and start jogging, the running to the pool.

And this semester I have gym class, which helps me reach part of my goal of being more active.

I have alos started working on flexibility, though this is not as easy as strength or cardio in my opinion. I have however, been doing lots of butterflys, and my hip/thigh flexibility
seems to be better.

More to come in following weeks.

Protein shakes taste like ass.

Just thought I'd put that out there, despite their obvious health benefits.

Also, in gym, we're gonna be using th weight room either the end of this week, or beginning of enxt week, so I'll have acess to some more equipment.

Muscle Milk, cookies & cream isn't horrible-tasting. Just a little gritty.

JohnHwangDD wrote:Muscle Milk, cookies & cream isn't horrible-tasting. Just a little gritty.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

My friend tried all of the MM flavors, and that's what he recommended!

JohnHwangDD wrote:My friend tried all of the MM flavors, and that's what he recommended!

Then pass the thanks on to him, LOL.

I usually find that the chocolate flavor of any given brand tends to be the best, but there are exceptions.

I don't use protein shake mix anymore though. I just buy unflavored whey protein and add it to smoothies. Strong citrus flavors do a much better job of hiding the taste.

Personal favorite:

2 cups of plain yogurt
5 large strawberries
1 large banana
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup ice
protein as desired

dogma wrote:I usually find that the chocolate flavor of any given brand tends to be the best, but there are exceptions.

I don't use protein shake mix anymore though. I just buy unflavored whey protein and add it to smoothies. Strong citrus flavors do a much better job of hiding the taste.

Personal favorite:

2 cups of plain yogurt
5 large strawberries
1 large banana
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup ice
protein as desired

I already eat alot of fruits. I drink a glass of grange juice a day, at least, eat a bannana a day, and munch on some apple slices.
My family usually serves salad with dinner, so I take alot of lettuce, celery, carrots, and peppers

The smoothie recipe sounds good, I'll give it a try next time a do a big workout.

Did alot of working out in gym today. 92 situps, 40 pushups, six sprints, and i combined a little bit of yoga to keep loose.
Feelin really good, and the weather's getting better, so I'll start running and biking.