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  1. - Top - End - #31
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    Well I'm 5'7'', so there might be some risk? Not in a massive position to do cardio yet anyway.
    That does suggest that swimming and cycling are better options.
    I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.

    I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that.
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    Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.

  2. - Top - End - #32
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Knaight View Post
    That does suggest that swimming and cycling are better options.
    Nonononononononononononononono. If I was an RPG character I'd have taken low dexterity coupled with poor sense of balance*, I feel like I'm going to fall over enough when on my own two feat.

    Swimming I'd get back into if there was anywhere to do it here. Hopefully I'll see today if I've lost any weight over the past couple of weeks.

    * Among my other disadvantages, which include such gems as poor depth perception, headaches without vision correction, hindered sense of smell, and lowered empathic perception. I worked out my player is a munchkin a couple of years ago.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  3. - Top - End - #33
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    Nonononononononononononononono. If I was an RPG character I'd have taken low dexterity coupled with poor sense of balance*, I feel like I'm going to fall over enough when on my own two feat.
    The bike actively corrects your balance for you, assuming that you're not trying to do track stands. It's actually really hard to fall off a bike in normal conditions, and I don't remember recommending mountain biking or riding on ice.

    I mean, they're fun, but that doesn't make it a good idea.
    I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.

    I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that.
    -- ChubbyRain

    Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.

  4. - Top - End - #34
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    Yeah, on the other hand I actually enjoy running and wish I owned a treadmill (nowhere to put the thing though). But I should be able to do weights, I did some at this weight a few years ago with no problems, and if I can get access to a cross trainer or the like that should let me do Cardio with few problems.



    Well I'm 5'7'', so there might be some risk? Not in a massive position to do cardio yet anyway.
    We don't have an envy emoji so...

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    I hate running with a passion. Nothing quite like the feeling of your heart screaming at you while your lungs inform you they can't fill up fast enough while getting passed by a kid on a tricycle.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

  5. - Top - End - #35
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    Nonononononononononononononono. If I was an RPG character I'd have taken low dexterity coupled with poor sense of balance*, I feel like I'm going to fall over enough when on my own two feat.
    My wife is terribly clumsy, too. The problem she has with riding a bike is ridiculously low muscle strength coupled with hesitation. When she forgets to be scared of the damned thing and just pedals, she can ride it.
    And hey, if all else fails there's the stationary bicycle at the gym. At 5'7" and over 200 lb, you do not want to be doing something as high-impact as running on the regular, especially running on asphalt or other hard surfaces. Not if you want to keep your knees.

    As for not being in a position to exercise... I really wouldn't discount the advantage of taking fifteen minutes a day to do some calisthenics. If you're not slacking off while you're doing it, it really will pay out.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tvtyrant View Post
    We don't have an envy emoji so...

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    I hate running with a passion. Nothing quite like the feeling of your heart screaming at you while your lungs inform you they can't fill up fast enough while getting passed by a kid on a tricycle.
    It gets better as you get better at it. Time was when I could run a couple miles in ten minutes - when I was in good shape, running was a breeze and actually rather enjoyable, especially compared to other forms of exercise. Right now, though, you've got some physiological constraints that make running... less than fun.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tvtyrant View Post
    My hiking partner. He has the opposite problem as me, being anorexic. He weighed 130 as a 30 year old that is 6ft before we started out, and rarely eats (thankfully he is going up with the weight lifting, which makes him eat more).

    We get some help from the local football coach, my partner being a teacher, and I worked out through my undergraduate years so we are decent with forms and not pushing too hard. Although honestly I can't go too fast because he can't save me if I fail on a big lift :/
    Good!
    It sounds to me like you've gotten pretty much everything squared away, and I can't think of any ways to improve your regimen. Outstanding work.

    On the topic of general health, how are you with gardening? My wife observed that, once I started sticking seeds in pots and growing things out of them, we started eating a lot healthier. We're coming up on winter now, so that's not something to start right away, but it's certainly something to think about when springtime rolls around. Even living in an apartment (as I am) you can grow tomatoes, herbs, peppers, and strawberries out of reasonably-sized pots in the 1-2 gallon range. Blueberries don't seem particularly thrilled about it, but they've at least put out some berries. Citrus do well enough in pots, but those things take forever to ripen. The ones I've gotten the most benefit out of have been the leafier herbs (dill didn't really thrive, but basil and rosemary are doing fine), leafy vegetables (shallow root systems, natch), and a couple of dirt-cheap serrano pepper bushes I bought at Wal-Mart for $5 each that have more than made their money back in ripe serranos and will keep paying off if I can manage to keep them alive indoors over the winter.
    The downside is that now I'm really noticing how meh grocery store produce really is.

    Quote Originally Posted by Knaight View Post
    Although there is the matter of height here - 260 pounds at 5'0" (regardless of musculature) is enough to damage joints, 260 pounds at 7'0" is pretty normal for in shape athletes.
    Those athletes still have a serious tendency towards musculoskeletal injury. The taller you are, the bigger you are, the more likely you are to get injured. Unfortunately, not everyone can be the ideal height of 5'7" like myself, so we have to adjust what we do to compensate. 'S what I did when we got the big-and-tall fellow reassigned to my squad; he'd gotten knee injuries and shin splints from the halfwits in his old platoon running him like he was a li'l guy to try and get him to lose weight. If you're a sedentary sort like mot Americans are, you don't have the bones to go out and run 3-5 miles every other day. I adjusted the PT regimen to include a lot more wind sprints and other exercises that had less of a duration and more breaks in between, retrained his stride, watched him to make sure he didn't start limping while we ran, that sort of thing. It's all doable, just not doable the same way for every body type - and you need to be cognizant of potential foibles. Exercise is all about suffering in the now for the long-term payoff later; it doesn't make sense to undermine that entirely by exercising in a way that can lead to long-term damage.
    My latest homebrew: Majokko base class and Spellcaster Dilettante feats for D&D 3.5 and Races as Classes for PTU.

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  6. - Top - End - #36
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tvtyrant View Post
    We don't have an envy emoji so...

    Spoiler: Envy
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    I hate running with a passion. Nothing quite like the feeling of your heart screaming at you while your lungs inform you they can't fill up fast enough while getting passed by a kid on a tricycle.
    I'm not kidding, I often forget that I'm supposed to walk and break into a light run, and love doing a proper ten minute treadmill workout. Yes, I get out of breath, but it's the good kind where I feel like it was worth it and anyway, I'll be done in ten minutes. I can't do long distance running, but my plan when I lose this weight is to keep it off by ideally taking up sprinting. It's what happens when you get into the habit of breaking into a 30 second or minute long run regularly, I can keep a proper run up for the better part of two minutes without a problem.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    My wife is terribly clumsy, too. The problem she has with riding a bike is ridiculously low muscle strength coupled with hesitation. When she forgets to be scared of the damned thing and just pedals, she can ride it.
    And hey, if all else fails there's the stationary bicycle at the gym. At 5'7" and over 200 lb, you do not want to be doing something as high-impact as running on the regular, especially running on asphalt or other hard surfaces. Not if you want to keep your knees.

    As for not being in a position to exercise... I really wouldn't discount the advantage of taking fifteen minutes a day to do some calisthenics. If you're not slacking off while you're doing it, it really will pay out.
    Oh, I'm perfectly capable of it, but I can't get past the sensation that I'm going to tip over. It's why I can do spinning (the stationary bikes) but not actual cycling.

    But yeah, maybe I shouldn't run regularly. I'll look into seeing if there's some form of cardio I can do that won't deknee me.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  7. - Top - End - #37
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Swimming.

    Swimming is great cardio no matter your weight, no joint impact and full body exercise because you use arms and legs to propel yourself through a resistive medium.

  8. - Top - End - #38
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    I think the actual knee injury risk from running depends a lot on technique and training method. The risk is always there, but how bad it is depends a lot on how you run. Could be worth looking into specific training if it's what you like and you aren't getting knee pain.

  9. - Top - End - #39
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    On the topic of general health, how are you with gardening? My wife observed that, once I started sticking seeds in pots and growing things out of them, we started eating a lot healthier.
    I personally hate gardening myself, but I have heard that growing your own lettuce makes it taste much better. You can also try different varieties of lettuce since you mentioned that one might fit your diet.

    Just make sure that the wild life doesn't eat it. Or get some exercise spraying deer with a hose?
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  10. - Top - End - #40
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by paddyfool View Post
    I think the actual knee injury risk from running depends a lot on technique and training method. The risk is always there, but how bad it is depends a lot on how you run. Could be worth looking into specific training if it's what you like and you aren't getting knee pain.
    At his height, weight, and build? There's no technique improvement you can use to avoid increased injury risk. Not that developing a good technique isn't a good idea, mind, but still. I'm speaking from experience on this one.

    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    I personally hate gardening myself...
    Heretic! Blasphemer!

    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    ...but I have heard that growing your own lettuce makes it taste much better. You can also try different varieties of lettuce since you mentioned that one might fit your diet.
    Very much so. Iceberg lettuce is mostly water and worthlessness. Lettuce is also rather easy to grow with minimal maintenance and is pretty forgiving about how much sunlight it gets, which is another plus. Just don't let it bolt, 'cause most leafy vegetables and herbs get bitter if they flower.
    Another leafy green that grows well in containers? Arugula. My wife loves the stuff, too. Borage likes a bigger pot that it can put some serious roots in, but its leaves taste just like cucumber and the flowers are rather pretty - it doesn't get bitter when it flowers, either, which is nice. I put some plants in the 15-gallon pot with my Japanese maple to take up standing water, and they just about exploded.

    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    Just make sure that the wild life doesn't eat it. Or get some exercise spraying deer with a hose?
    It's a lot easier to protect things growing in pots. For example, I bring in my strawberry plants when they're about to ripen so the varmints don't get them.
    With lettuce, you really need to watch out for rabbits - deer are a bit situational. There are some tricks you can find online, but I haven't had to battle the little buggers yet so can't offer much advice there.
    My latest homebrew: Majokko base class and Spellcaster Dilettante feats for D&D 3.5 and Races as Classes for PTU.

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  11. - Top - End - #41
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by paddyfool View Post
    I think the actual knee injury risk from running depends a lot on technique and training method. The risk is always there, but how bad it is depends a lot on how you run.
    Eh, whilst that's likely true in the right conditions, having a lot of weight above the knee means that you are going to cause a lot of impact on the knees when running, no matter your technique.

  12. - Top - End - #42
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    Heretic! Blasphemer!
    Hey, not a lot of room to grow things in. As far as I'm concerned, I'm saving room for others.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    It's a lot easier to protect things growing in pots. For example, I bring in my strawberry plants when they're about to ripen so the varmints don't get them.
    With lettuce, you really need to watch out for rabbits - deer are a bit situational. There are some tricks you can find online, but I haven't had to battle the little buggers yet so can't offer much advice there.
    We might live in different areas. No rabbits here but I'm in the suburbs. Slugs and deer are more likely then bunnies. Keep in mind that the deer here will eat most flowers, so a pot on a patio they can access will not deter them in the slightest.

    Gardening will also get you out of the house and some fresh air, which surely can't hurt. Getting proper amounts of sunlight is important, as my doctor keeps reminding me.
    Quote Originally Posted by Oko and Qailee View Post
    Man, I like this tiefling.
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  13. - Top - End - #43
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    Very much so. Iceberg lettuce is mostly water and worthlessness.
    It's not exactly hard to find Romaine lettuce, which has much more flavor.

    With that said: I don't mind iceberg lettuce. It fills a niche similar to that of celery, more for texture than anything else and can be good in that role. It's when it gets used the way one might use more flavorful leafy vegetables (all other lettuces, spinach) that it doesn't work well. That this happens often doesn't reflect on the vegetable so much as the vegetable market.
    I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.

    I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that.
    -- ChubbyRain

    Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.

  14. - Top - End - #44
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    *Borage likes a bigger pot that it can put some serious roots in, but its leaves taste*just*like cucumber and the flowers are rather pretty - it doesn't get bitter when it flowers, either, which is nice.
    Plus the cute thing about it is that the flowers themselves are edible.

  15. - Top - End - #45
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    Hey, not a lot of room to grow things in. As far as I'm concerned, I'm saving room for others.
    I live in a one-bedroom apartment with a fairly small patio. I improvised. The herbs and snack things did well enough that we only needed to buy the kinds I didn't grow, like cumin.
    My wife's a little concerned about what I might do when we finally manage something with an actual yard, much less get myself a greenhouse.

    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    We might live in different areas. No rabbits here but I'm in the suburbs. Slugs and deer are more likely then bunnies. Keep in mind that the deer here will eat most flowers, so a pot on a patio they can access will not deter them in the slightest.

    Gardening will also get you out of the house and some fresh air, which surely can't hurt. Getting proper amounts of sunlight is important, as my doctor keeps reminding me.
    Are you sure you don't have rabbits? A lot of people miss just how much of a rabbit population they have because the critters are pretty good at not getting noticed. I've never seen any where I live (although I have spotted a few other varmints), but that hasn't stopped the little bastards from eating my mulberry seedlings.

    The deer are pretty ballsy where you live. Here they stay a bit farther out from development; I don't think I've seen one within a mile of my apartment complex. That's a mercy, too - they love to murder apple and maple saplings.
    The wife apparently thought I was joking when my response to her protesting that we didn't have the room for the trees was "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED". I learned her good!

    Quote Originally Posted by paddyfool View Post
    Plus the cute thing about it is that the flowers themselves are edible.
    They are! And they're blue, too, which is pretty neat. I was actually growing mine mainly for the flowers to use as a garnish on my wife's lemonberry pies (think "lemon meringue without the meringue, add berries" - and next year they're going to be made with my own grown strawberries, raspberries, and lemons), but derped on pot size until about two months ago and am only just now seeing flowers. Those suckers really do get pissy if they can't send their tap root down at least a good foot.
    Reportedly, the flowers are sweet with a honey-like taste. I do know that if you sniff 'em the morning they first open, they have a pleasantly cinnamon-like scent to them. I'm not wanting to eat my flowers this year on account of wanting to get seeds out of 'em for next year's planting.

    A surprising number of flowers are edible. Roses, for example, although my wife's rose is one of the bitter varieties... and she said I'm not allowed to eat her rose anyways. Onion flowers are actually pretty good, although the onion-and-garlic family do not get along with me in the slightest when I'm trying to grow the little buggers. Turns out tubers don't do well in pots.
    My latest homebrew: Majokko base class and Spellcaster Dilettante feats for D&D 3.5 and Races as Classes for PTU.

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  16. - Top - End - #46
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
    Are you sure you don't have rabbits? A lot of people miss just how much of a rabbit population they have because the critters are pretty good at not getting noticed. I've never seen any where I live (although I have spotted a few other varmints), but that hasn't stopped the little bastards from eating my mulberry seedlings.
    Not sure how I'd check for those to be honest. Through I'd rather not detract from TVTyrant's thread, if you don't mind chatting about this some more.
    Quote Originally Posted by Oko and Qailee View Post
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Recently dropped another 5 pounds after a month long plateau. I keep bouncing and dropping each week, my nutritionist believes I am collecting water weight.

    So my bounce went from 375-378 down to 370-375, I usually lose weight over the weekend and gain it over the week.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

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    Congratulations, Tvtyrant. Good to hear you're doing good!
    Quote Originally Posted by Oko and Qailee View Post
    Man, I like this tiefling.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling View Post
    Congratulations, Tvtyrant. Good to hear you're doing good!
    Thanks!

    Feeling super ground down for no reason though. Losing weight is hard.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

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    I have been working out heavily for about 4 going on 5 years. I fight SCA and wanted to pull off a gladiator persona but being overweight I didn't want to look like my squire brother in our fighting kit, he was more overweight than I was. I am 6'4"(so I find your ideal height of 5'7" somewhat amusing) and weighed 274 when I started work(oddly also I got married 5 years ago... correlation? hmmmm). I am also in the military and was getting nailed on my waist measurement even though I maxed push ups and sit ups and passed the run. Its a flat 39" waist for the PT test, above that you fail, you can max at 31 or 32" or something impossible for someone my build to ever get to. So I started with p90x3 and then Combat cardio. I was able to drop to my low of 254 and dropped from a 42" waist to a 36.5". That was cool and all but I hated getting up that early and working out in the living room. So I joined a gym 3.5 years ago and started weight lifting. I jumped up immediately taking bad advice like the whole twice your weight in grams of protein that is still bandied about, creatine is good for you, take some with your protein. I was back again to the upper 260s in no time. Sure I was putting on muscle but you couldn't see it. So I stopped creatine, went down to one dedicated protein shake a day immediately after a workout and I dropped into the low 260s. A little better.

    But the biggest change I have noticed visually although no sign of it on a scale was in the last several months I have added a half hour+ of cardio a day into my workout. Either on an elliptical or I go swim a mile. Much improvement and I can see it. The swimming especially works the shoulders and the waist. Talking to some actually professional models and such, they agree with me that weights or cardio alone wont do it. Combining the two is by far the best way to slim down(I wont say lose weight since they aren't the same thing). Dude I have crappy knees and feet from my time in the army so I don't run unless I am working up for a PT test in the AF. The elliptical is a life saver but swimming, while boring is awesome.

  21. - Top - End - #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Corsair14 View Post
    I have been working out heavily for about 4 going on 5 years. I fight SCA and wanted to pull off a gladiator persona but being overweight I didn't want to look like my squire brother in our fighting kit, he was more overweight than I was. I am 6'4"(so I find your ideal height of 5'7" somewhat amusing) and weighed 274 when I started work(oddly also I got married 5 years ago... correlation? hmmmm). I am also in the military and was getting nailed on my waist measurement even though I maxed push ups and sit ups and passed the run. Its a flat 39" waist for the PT test, above that you fail, you can max at 31 or 32" or something impossible for someone my build to ever get to. So I started with p90x3 and then Combat cardio. I was able to drop to my low of 254 and dropped from a 42" waist to a 36.5". That was cool and all but I hated getting up that early and working out in the living room. So I joined a gym 3.5 years ago and started weight lifting. I jumped up immediately taking bad advice like the whole twice your weight in grams of protein that is still bandied about, creatine is good for you, take some with your protein. I was back again to the upper 260s in no time. Sure I was putting on muscle but you couldn't see it. So I stopped creatine, went down to one dedicated protein shake a day immediately after a workout and I dropped into the low 260s. A little better.

    But the biggest change I have noticed visually although no sign of it on a scale was in the last several months I have added a half hour+ of cardio a day into my workout. Either on an elliptical or I go swim a mile. Much improvement and I can see it. The swimming especially works the shoulders and the waist. Talking to some actually professional models and such, they agree with me that weights or cardio alone wont do it. Combining the two is by far the best way to slim down(I wont say lose weight since they aren't the same thing). Dude I have crappy knees and feet from my time in the army so I don't run unless I am working up for a PT test in the AF. The elliptical is a life saver but swimming, while boring is awesome.
    32'? That seems fairly impossible for anyone with a naturally large frame. Like the large foot test, just seems unreasonable. (I am a size 15 for shoes btw).
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Very unrealistic. Why I will never get close to perfect on the PT test even if my feet were in better condition to run. People like to post "Arnold was 34" when he competed so you can do it too." Yeah he was competing at the end of a hyper intense cut phase, had next to no body fat for energy stores and likely would have ripped someones arm off while taking a burger from them at that point. He might have passed the tape test but would fail the rest with lack of stamina from semi-starving.

  23. - Top - End - #53
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    So...I have a pretty stupid question for those of you who keep suggesting swimming. How do you get around the fact that you're not supposed to swim alone? It's past the pool season here now, but I have a pool at my new place and I enjoy swimming, I just only get to do it on rare occasions because I live alone so I have no one to keep an eye on me in the water.

  24. - Top - End - #54
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Corsair14 View Post
    Very unrealistic. Why I will never get close to perfect on the PT test even if my feet were in better condition to run. People like to post "Arnold was 34" when he competed so you can do it too." Yeah he was competing at the end of a hyper intense cut phase, had next to no body fat for energy stores and likely would have ripped someones arm off while taking a burger from them at that point. He might have passed the tape test but would fail the rest with lack of stamina from semi-starving.
    Arnold is also only 6'1 or 6'2, and waist circumference is generally considered in proportion to your height, with an ideal being no more than 50% of your height (so no more than 38" if you're 6'4). At 32", you're getting into underweight territory (for a well muscled dude the ideal range should be 45 to 50% of your height, so anything from 34" to 38" for a 6'4 guy; for slimmer physique overall, it's fine to go down to 40%, but less than that is definitely underweight).

  25. - Top - End - #55
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    GnomePirate

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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Um, unless you have some kind of issues, swimming in a pool alone is perfectly safe. I wouldn't do open water here in Fl due to numerous hazards but a pool is fine. I don't think those "rules" are more for kids horse playing and not someone swimming laps. If I had to wait for someone to be in the pool area with me I would never be able to get in the water at 615 in the morning when I go.

    Air Force doesn't care what your height or age is or if you work out. It a flat male is x - y and female is x - y regardless of age. I managed 36.5 last test which I think was good for me. I would look like a concentration camp survivor if I lost more size there. If I had the will power to do a real cut phase I could easily drop it lower but wouldn't have the power to pass the rest of the test.

    A professional level cut phase will drop your waste line extremely drastically along with every other bit of fat you have. Its why those big body builders look so freakish, hate to say it, women especially. But they aren't doing it for aesthetical beauty, they are doing it to show muscle, thus removing as much subcutaneous fat that they can. Give them a week after the competition and normal eating and they look fairly buff normal. Its actually fairly unhealthy long term which is why they don't look like that except for competition. Also destroys their energy stores since they have no fat and they cant do a lot of strenuous activity. This is opposite of say strong man competitions where the dudes look like absolute fatasses since they need so much energy to power their muscles. I always kind of wondered what one of those dudes would look like in a before/after pic strong man comp followed say a month later by a physique comp.

  26. - Top - End - #56
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Lizardfolk

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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Algeh View Post
    So...I have a pretty stupid question for those of you who keep suggesting swimming. How do you get around the fact that you're not supposed to swim alone? It's past the pool season here now, but I have a pool at my new place and I enjoy swimming, I just only get to do it on rare occasions because I live alone so I have no one to keep an eye on me in the water.
    The usual answer is find someone to do it with you. That or go to a public pool with a life guard.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

  27. - Top - End - #57
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    Grey_Wolf_c's Avatar

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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Algeh View Post
    How do you get around the fact that you're not supposed to swim alone?
    ... I've never heard of this fact. So I just don't follow it. If you are that concerned, I recommend you swim with a lifejacket. It will make the swimming just slightly less exercise-y (and not even by that much), but it will remove the danger of drowning (which I assume is what the "always have someone there" is meant to address?).

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    But really, the important lesson here is this: Rather than making assumptions that don't fit with the text and then complaining about the text being wrong, why not just choose different assumptions that DO fit with the text?
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  28. - Top - End - #58
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Corsair14 View Post
    Air Force doesn't care what your height or age is or if you work out. It a flat male is x - y and female is x - y regardless of age. I managed 36.5 last test which I think was good for me. I would look like a concentration camp survivor if I lost more size there. If I had the will power to do a real cut phase I could easily drop it lower but wouldn't have the power to pass the rest of the test.
    Fairly daft of the air force, since for every 2" of height your waist circumference should increase by 1". 36" is a good target for dudes over 6 foot.

  29. - Top - End - #59
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Knaight's Avatar

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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Quote Originally Posted by Algeh View Post
    So...I have a pretty stupid question for those of you who keep suggesting swimming. How do you get around the fact that you're not supposed to swim alone? It's past the pool season here now, but I have a pool at my new place and I enjoy swimming, I just only get to do it on rare occasions because I live alone so I have no one to keep an eye on me in the water.
    I blow it off entirely - plus it doesn't really apply if the water is shallow enough that you can stand on the bottom and just walk out of the pool/river/whatever.
    I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.

    I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that.
    -- ChubbyRain

    Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.

  30. - Top - End - #60
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Get Fit: I want a folding vegetable.

    Regarding not swimming alone: personally I only use public pools, so this has never been an issue. But I think it could be safe enough if you're careful and have no medical contraindications (e.g. prior seizures). Or put up a post on a local board saying you're looking for a swim training buddy.

    Going back to the back issues, these are quite a good set of exercises for back protection and pain prevention: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psyc...exercises.html
    Last edited by paddyfool; 2017-10-31 at 03:30 AM.

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