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ericscottf

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About ericscottf

  • Birthday 08/10/1981

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  1. I'm thinking that i should hold off on things that "look intimidating" and stick to things that are more approachable at first. Any merit to this, or just a waste of energy?
  2. Thanks for the response! I think the best thing for me now, to avoid my going overboard, would be to find a good starter routine for her and see how that works. Is it at all different from what i'd recommend to a guy friend instead? Certainly a little, at least, given that squats are out. Any routines and schedules anyone can recommend as a starting point? thanks!
  3. Hi all It's been awhile since I've been around! I've been focusing on my stair climbing for competitions, shying away from weights. So my fiance(e?) wants me to train her. Originally, i suggested she get a personal trainer, but at our gym, they all seem to be highschool dropouts who just want to push powders, and at $50 a session, that seems like a bit of a waste. I was hoping for some suggestions on how to get started. She likes to do spinning, so i figure that's probably all the cardio she's going to do. Running and stairclimbing are out. What kind of weight training program and schedule would be best to start for a fairly petite mid 20s gal? She says she wants better arms, but I know better than to attempt to focus on one thing. Should she be doing bench presses? bicep curls? pullups (assisted at first)? She's worried about her knees so squats are off the table (for now at least). It'll be important to make it easy at first, something where she won't get discouraged by difficult or complicated exercises and i won't get in trouble for being too intense. If it were me, I'd chart everything over a long time period -- what i ate, what exercises i did, relative body fat %age, etc, etc, but I'm worried that'll be too pushy. How do i do a good job without going overboard? How should i deal with [en/dis]couragement? How hard to train? Should I just avoid this completely? etc. thanks!
  4. I'm shy, but no more in the gym than elsewhere. Perhaps I just need more air than I'm getting during my workouts.
  5. Nope, i prefer to be warmer than most people (except when I'm working out, then i need as much cooling as possible - One major gym-determining factor for me is how cold it is) The most annoying part about my frequent yawns is that my eyes tear when i yawn, so people are always asking me if I'm upset. then i have to explain that my eyes tear when i yawn, and really, i should probably just get it printed on a shirt or something.
  6. Hi all I am constantly yawning. Even when working out, in between sets, sometimes several yawns. I get 7-8 hours of sleep on a typical night, and usually wake up on my own before the alarm. I take a multivitamin every day... I've been like this for years, all the doctors i've asked say i'm fine and shrug it off, especially when i mention that i'm veg. Any suggestions? It's fairly annoying. I don't feel tired, certainly not when working out.
  7. Nuts would result in way more saturated fat than I'm looking to eat, even ones that are low in it will be too much given how much i snack. hummus would work if i didn't find it gross. ugh.
  8. I got terrible cramps from mono when i would cycle. they were so bad that i couldn't bring myself to take it enough to make a difference. I've switched to ethyl ester (mostly comes in pill forms, so watch out for gelatin), and while i don't have enough data to testify that it works as well, the cramping is completely gone.
  9. I use creatine plenty. There are a few things to watch out for. There are two major types right now: Monohydrate and ethyl ester. Monohydrate causes bloating and cramps in many people. Ethyl ester tastes like a handful of coins-only worse. I used to use mono, but i hated the feel of it so much that i didn't take it enough and didn't see much benefit. I switched to ethyl ester, and whether or not there's a huge difference in effectiveness i can't testify to, being one person, but the bloating and cramping is reduced to --zero--. YMMV, but that may be because I'm a one person sample, or because it doesn't do anything -- i don't know. I get the ethyl ester pills from labrada. They have a starch coating. The only times creatine isn't vegan is when it is mixed into crazy ass powders with animals in them or if it is in a pill capsule that's made of bone slime (gelatin). There's a reason that it is hard to find ethyl ester as a powder -- it tastes remarkably bad, so much that when i threw it into a shake, it ruined the whole thing. at first, i thought I'd used rotten fruits by accident or some such. I'm also firmly in the camp that vegans benefit from creatine because of our lack of animals. It isn't a steroid, however. It will allow you to recover from hard work more quickly and get more exercise in. It won't make that exercise count for more. It lets you work/push yourself harder, it doesn't make that work count for any more than it would have without it. Also, i don't buy the huge dosage suggestions on the bottles. They've been steadily rising for the past 15 years, and never take bodyweight into account. i take about a quarter of what the bottles today are recommending (it'll be 1/8th in a few years, I'm sure)
  10. Hi all I'm doing my best to gain some weight, attempting to eat 3000+ calories per day. I typically eat a high fiber cereal with raisins and a banana every morning, tofurkey sandwich for lunch number 1, 2 vegan boca burgers for lunch 2, and two fairly large dinners, at least one of which typically involves an entire block of tofu. Despite this, I've been snacking a LOT lately, but not necessarily on muscle-productive foods. Mostly pretzels, animal crackers, candy, etc. I'd love to find easy to graze upon high protein snacks. I have found some tofu jerky here and there, but 1) it is expensive and i'd eat a ton of it 2) not easy to find (i guess i could order it online...) 3) messy to eat (candy is computer keyboard friendly, and I'm a fastidiously clean person) 4) I'm already eating a metric ton of soy per day. ( i know it is debatable as to whether or not that's bad, but some variation can't hurt!) I know, i know, i could prepare more healthy snacks ahead of time like rice and veggies or something, but I'm wondering if there are more common quick and easy snacks that are geared towards muscle gain? Something i can graze on unconsciously while i'm working.... I have been eating ***WAY*** too much HFCS and (psychosomatically or not...) i can feel it physically. Oh, and lastly, i don't eat anything with any significant amount of saturated fat, so that puts a dent in a lot of possibilities as well. any suggestions? thanks!
  11. Watching the videos on youtube, it looked like the lifters backs were a bit more vertical than 45 degrees. I've been paying most of my attention to keeping my knees back, I'll see what my back is doing next time. It is definitely possible that i'm bent over a lot.
  12. I'm not having any trouble with the dipping belt, the only issue is that when i'm doing pullups with the belt, i have to climb up something or get something to stand on to reach the bars, as it is somewhat difficult to jump with 45lbs chained near my junk. I'm finding that with my squats, my lower back gets tired way before my legs do. I could do way more weight/reps before my legs gave out. I've watched a bunch of rippetoe videos on youtube on squat form and I'm pretty sure I'm doing them right -- is it just a matter of building up my lower back before I'm able to strain my legs? At the moment, I'm squatting about 130% of my weight. I'm still a bit nervous about it so i'm going easy.
  13. Ok, so here's what I've started: (all 5-6 sets 4-8 reps unless specified) day 1: Bench press Press (this type: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbswrStK8cs ) weighted dips (3 sets 4-8 reps) day 2: Squat (got me a squat sponge, they aren't so bad...) Deadlift ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4FwBkuK6o ) leg curls (both extension and curl, 3x of each, 4-8 reps) day 3: Pull ups bent-over-barbell row (supine, from )bicep curl 3x sets 4-8 reps (ez curl bar) 21s 2 sets I do an abs class on wed and friday, and a plyometrics class on friday. Stairmaster every day for 20 mins on short days and 50 on long days (pretty much 50/50) On the pull ups -- it was advised that i do 5-6 sets at 4-8 reps. How do i control how many pull ups i can do? I have been using a dipping belt to increase my weight. A bit awkward when you're short... What do you think?
  14. That was the most recent time -- and it was after i worked out and gave blood. Previous times were from just working out. The more minor events that i can just shake off if i stop doing the exercise are every time i do it, like butterflies...
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