Ok, just browsing this forum every once in a while and most of the guys here are all about getting bigger. My goal's are a bit different - I want to try to cut down my body fat and just get a bit more toned/imrpove my all-round fitness. Can you guru's suggest anything to help me with this?


Currently I ride my pushy between 120 and 160 k's a week, 3km run twice a week and beach volleyball every Wed night. Plus a very small amount of free weight work.


I eat junk food about once a fortnight, meals generally consist of carbs (and eggs bor brekky). I know alcohol is a big factor and I should cut it down....??


Should I mix this up a bit/can anyone suggest anything I should change or should be doing? I've been wanting to take up a boxing class for a while, would this help?


Side question - what is the correct way to do squats (or is there a link I should check out)


Ta

As you already seem fairly active the simplest way to cut down your body fat is to reduce the amount of carbs you eat. Replace most of your high carb meals with vegetables and lean meat and you will be well on your way to weight loss.

http://www.boostcruising.com/forums/index....mp;p=1284726434

One thing I know don't eat enough of is veggies, even though I like them. Awesome, will do






Thanks

Excuse my ignorance but i also want to know the best way to do squats.

People should also consider front squats as a great alternative to back squats. While the grip is a bit tricky to master, I find the movement lends itself to less variation and hence harder to use incorrect technique.

well ofcourse, if you lean too far forward the bar just slips out of your hands

Andrew - an hour a couple of nights a week doing a good compound exercise will work wonders. Going out weekends in a row doesn't help either

feet shoulder width apart

breathe in on way down, out on way up (concentric phase)

maintain soft knees at all times

try not to let knees get past toes in lowered squat position

poke butt out on way down as if ur sticking it out to sit on a chair

barbell squat :



body weight squat:



dumbell squat:



once ur really good at those and wish to test urself you can try doing one legged squats (bodyweight, barbell,dumbell)
aswell as pulses..



hope all that helps

oh and if your a beginner and or new to squats id suggest bodyweight squats 1st to get good form and technique then when your ready for weight id suggest using a smith machine as it helps you keep your form.

Ok awesome again, thanks 02_FNE






What's a compound excercise?

^^^ exersices that use more than one muscle group

You have body fat?

Exercised that use a lot of muscles at once. I recommend starting off with some squats, military presses and bent over barbell rows to start building up a good strong core, shoulders and back - the basis of a good physique. Google tabata workouts, will help you burn off the body fat as well as putting on muscle.
Work on your diet too, plenty of lean protein, avoid processed foods and try not to drink so much

Ahh, I see thanks


Will attempt to change my diet, it's so expensive to eat healthy though.


One more question, I have been doing the excercise in my first post for over a year now and it originally worked great, but I think I'm starting to plateu. Is it worth keeping it up as it is, or changing EVERYTHING?

Thats a real squat, all the way down.


As for fitness HIIT, fartlek or interval training is where it's at. Your heart rate needs to be up to 80% of your max heart rate (for easy calculation max HR is 220 - your age. then your target fitness zone is 80% of that)

Boxing, kick boxing e.t.c is excellent for fitness. You go all out for 2 to 3 minutes then take a 30 second or so rest, then your at it again. You can't keep your heart rate at 80% for long periods of time so it's ideal.

Fitness is basically a measurement of your bodies efficiency, long distance bikes and runs will build endurance (sort of a derivative of fitness, but you notice your heart rate probably hovers between 140 to 160 or so Bpm, 60% to 80% HR) but the previous given methods will make your body more efficient. It will also stop you from stalling, you will find it hard to break a plateau with constant pace workouts.

Unless you are training for a specific long distance event, there are better ways to boost your fitness.

Edit: if you want to keep a constant pace workout, slam some hills into your rides and runs if you can, go full bore to the top then cruise down, if you want to do it that way.

Edit again: Don't use the smith machine to learn to squat (They don't follow the natural curve of the squat movement and place excess stress on the knees... in fact for best results stay away from machines altogether) Start off in a rack with an empty bar. In the beginning it will feel very awkward and you will make technical errors. If you can, have someone watch you do them and they can correct you. You will probably find you can't go down very low at first, but you will get used to it. You want to get to the point where you can go as low as you can (comfortably, everyones different), with correct technique before throwing some serious weight on there.

Things like dead lifts, sit-ups and Hyper-extensions will also help strengthen your core muscles, which will prevent back injury.

Remember with your squats to squeeze your glutes and hamstrings, don't just fall in to the squat let your muscles pull you down. so many people fail at squats due to poor glute activation, like said above start with low weights and get on the smith machine to help with technique that is always first!!

I would not suggest learning squats on a smith machine. As stated in the post above you it does not allow your body to follow it's natural movement. I originally started on smith machine, when I finally went to a squat rack it was like having to learn it all over again.

I also forgot to mention the smith machine doesn't recruit your core or stabilizer muscles (which is why you have to re-learn the squat after using one) so by using a smith, your short-changing yourself a good exercise which uses the majority of your muscles.

True to a certain degree but for someone who has never done them before it could be a good starting point especially if you haven't got a trainer or spotter on hand. As for activating you core as soon as you activate your glutes your core switches on automatically as they're both connected, so you can do that quite well on a smith machine. No it doesn't activate your stabalisers as much as a free squat rack but it could be a good starting point to get the technique right.

I just find it breeds bad habits doing it that way. Once someone is comfortable using the smith they never upgrade to the real thing. If they do go on to the rack they feel de-motivated because the 50kg they were squatting on the smith is damn near impossible on the rack for them, so they go back to the smith (and end up fucking their knees)
You gain nothing from starting on a smith, that's why I say start with an empty bar on a rack, there is practically zero chance for injury and you can get your technique right sooner, instead of wasting time on a smith. They feel like two different exercises even though they look very similar.

I tried the smith machine one time, felt fucking retarded.


I'm inclined to think that learning to squat on the machine would be counter-productive to your technique

I guess what it comes down to is the individual, I started off on the smith machine then progressed to squat rack and it worked well for me. I have gotten some of my clients to start off in the smith machine and it has worked well for them and i was able to progress them.

I understand what your saying and there good points but it depends on the individual you can't go off your own experiences because everyone is different and have different goals.

Get a 30cm box and squat to touch that, there is no way you can fuck it up unless you're completely unco. Squat to the box for the first 3 months, doing it 3 times a week. This will engrain the movement it in your brain. Start with an empty bar, every session add 2.5kg to the bar.

I was playing one of those fitness games on the Wii yesterday - Squats with calf raises are stupidly hard.

Go with ATG(ass to grass) squats for an all round leg mass builder. Its excellent for your hamstrings, glutes and your quads. Also if your worried about knee problems believe me when i say they are less taxing on the joints that regular squats. I myself have had a history a condition known as runner's knee and this exercise was actually not as bad as i had expected it to be. Just make sure you get a foam roller and massage out those knots if you do have any knee pains.

If you were looking for that teardrop shape in your quad, front squats would be excellent.

Watch some tutorials on you tube OP and get used to the movement with your own body weight b4 lifting some heavy ass weight.

Also squat rack > smith machine. You might find that you lift heavy on the smith machine but you would be better off using light weight in the rack