Tomorrow will be the start of an intensive 7-day period which will stretch to the 31st of January, marking the last of my exams in SP. Frankly speaking, I've been studying and practicing the papers so much this few days that I'm kinda burnt out and I'm struggling to motivate myself to study now. Thankfully there's the Worms Open Warfare I just downloaded yesterday, so yea, I devised a scheme such that an hour of studying earns me 30mins of PSP. This is gonna be my motivation for the next few days.
I reckon that I have some (yes, an overstatement) avid readers who are also fitness fanatics like myself. At least I consider myself to be one and I wouldn't wanna use the word 'freak'. Anyway, for the benefits of my readers, I'll post some general tips on fitness that I've learnt along the way and hope that everyone can just read them out of leisure. I know it wouldn't sound convincing coming from someone with a physique like myself, but I do wish to share some information that I have with my homies and anyone else who might be interested. If you've got alternative viewpoints or think that I'm writing bull, do not hesitate to fuck me up by leaving hate comments below. Haha just kidding, correct me where I'm wrong as I'm eager to learn as well.
1. Turn fats into muscles
This is a no-brainer. I'm sure by now everyone knows that this is impossible. Fats and muscles are made up of completely different substances and it's like turning wood into gold or something. I can't think of any logical explaination of justifying this saying at all. So to the big guys out there, the next time someone says that you've got the pre-requisite to be muscular cause you can turn your fats to muscles, you can jolly well ask them to turn their pea-brains into pea soup and screw a wall.
2. Egg yolks are fat and bad so we should only eat egg white
There is some truth in this, but only if you've got cholestrol problems or someone in your family has a history such problems. If you're a healthy normal person like most of us are, there's simply no reason for you to waste half of the protein from the egg by ditching the yolk. Heck, there's even an article in Jan's issue of Men's Health saying that cholestrol could be good for your health. Personally, I eat up to 5 eggs with yolk on workout days and I know of people who take alot more. Moreover, it's the most delicious part of the egg! Don't let myths and sayings from the 80s fool you, eat the whole damn thing.
3. Machines are good cause they're safer
WRONG. Free weights over machines anytime. Yea they're safer, but they restrict your body into a fixed motion and this will place additional stress on your ligaments, joints and whatnot. Over time, everything will break down pretty fast and bad. This is because when we lift, there is some natural curve in our motions. Machines also stifle your training of stabiliser muscles which will render you more helpless towards injuries. They also have little carryover to real strength, you can bench a lot on the Smith Machine but you can't do half as much on a flat bench. Always do freeweights, and always call for a spotter if you think that there's danger, especially for the bench press. (I know cause I hurt my shoulder this way. Fuck it.)
4. Supplements are dangerous
True, certain supplements like steroids are harmful to your body cause they'll screw your hormones and other stuff but certainly not Whey protein powder. Whey protein actually is produced from milk so unless your stomach has a problem taking in dairy products, there's no reason why you cannot take whey. Depending on the brand, Whey usually gives you 20+g of protein per scoop for 1-2g of carbo. A common gauge of how much protein we should be consuming is around 1.5g protein / 1pound bodyweight. Do your math, and you'll realise Whey is really a good source of protein, BUT it should not be your only source. If you really do not want to take it, eat more whole foods such as chicken, eggs, tuna, soy, steak blahblah that gives you a shitload of protein.
5. I workout alot so I can eat alot
Yes, our body needs food to grow. If we wanna bulk, we gotta eat alot alot alot too. But eat what? Your fried nuggets, cheese fries, fried chicken wings and drumlets? HELL NO. You gotta eat, but you gotta eat right. Some simple maths, 1 pound = roughly 3500 calories, so if you wanna gain 1 pound, you gotta eat 500 calories more than your body burns per day (3500cal / 7days = 500cal). Conversely, if you wanna lose weight, you gotta consume 500 calories less. An average male roughly burns 2000 calories per day without doing anything (depending on your fitness level, more muscles you have more calories you burn), so if you workout you can add perhaps another 500 calories to that and it gives you a range of how much you should be eating. How you make this range work for you is up to you. You can waste your calories on high carbo high fat food such as DONUTS or other fried stuff, or you can use it on quality food like those I mentioned in Point 4. Just a gauge, a plate of fried rice is around 800-1000 calories, so yea. To quote from someone at a forum, "You can train all you want but you can't out-train a crappy diet."
6. Compound workout vs Isolation workout
Ok my last point, and also I think is the most useful for most of us. Compound workout, if you don't know, comprises of full-body workouts like squats, deadlifts etc. Isolation workouts isolate your body-part and they include your bicep curls, chest fly etc. What should you be doing? Both have their benefits, but if your physique is nowhere near Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler or even Brad Pitt, isolation exercises will probably not do shit for you. If you're still a novice like I am, you're gonna be much better off doing compounds because they work your body more and will help you gain mass and strength faster. It's no use curling 5kg dumbbells to build your biceps cause the muscles fibres recruited probably are so little that you cannot see any effects. Exercises like squats and deadlifts enable you to carry much much heavier and work your whole body so more muscle fibres can be recruited for the action, which will lead to more growth. You can look to switch to a body-part split with isolation exercises when you've attained a level of strength that enables you to lift a lot more but before that, stick to full-body workouts to lay your foundations. If you've been doing body-part split all your life, (like I did since wayy back until I changed a few months ago) it's time you give it a try. You will not regret it.
Ok, I think I've written quite alot but they're just very simple and brief explainations. For those who are interested in knowing more, visit bodybuilding.com or t-nation or other fitness sites to get more information. This goes out to my homies and all those who're into pumping iron. If there are contradicting views, please do not hesitate to leave hate comments. Lol.
Time to fucking study for MA paper. Holla.
I reckon that I have some (yes, an overstatement) avid readers who are also fitness fanatics like myself. At least I consider myself to be one and I wouldn't wanna use the word 'freak'. Anyway, for the benefits of my readers, I'll post some general tips on fitness that I've learnt along the way and hope that everyone can just read them out of leisure. I know it wouldn't sound convincing coming from someone with a physique like myself, but I do wish to share some information that I have with my homies and anyone else who might be interested. If you've got alternative viewpoints or think that I'm writing bull, do not hesitate to fuck me up by leaving hate comments below. Haha just kidding, correct me where I'm wrong as I'm eager to learn as well.
1. Turn fats into muscles
This is a no-brainer. I'm sure by now everyone knows that this is impossible. Fats and muscles are made up of completely different substances and it's like turning wood into gold or something. I can't think of any logical explaination of justifying this saying at all. So to the big guys out there, the next time someone says that you've got the pre-requisite to be muscular cause you can turn your fats to muscles, you can jolly well ask them to turn their pea-brains into pea soup and screw a wall.
2. Egg yolks are fat and bad so we should only eat egg white
There is some truth in this, but only if you've got cholestrol problems or someone in your family has a history such problems. If you're a healthy normal person like most of us are, there's simply no reason for you to waste half of the protein from the egg by ditching the yolk. Heck, there's even an article in Jan's issue of Men's Health saying that cholestrol could be good for your health. Personally, I eat up to 5 eggs with yolk on workout days and I know of people who take alot more. Moreover, it's the most delicious part of the egg! Don't let myths and sayings from the 80s fool you, eat the whole damn thing.
3. Machines are good cause they're safer
WRONG. Free weights over machines anytime. Yea they're safer, but they restrict your body into a fixed motion and this will place additional stress on your ligaments, joints and whatnot. Over time, everything will break down pretty fast and bad. This is because when we lift, there is some natural curve in our motions. Machines also stifle your training of stabiliser muscles which will render you more helpless towards injuries. They also have little carryover to real strength, you can bench a lot on the Smith Machine but you can't do half as much on a flat bench. Always do freeweights, and always call for a spotter if you think that there's danger, especially for the bench press. (I know cause I hurt my shoulder this way. Fuck it.)
4. Supplements are dangerous
True, certain supplements like steroids are harmful to your body cause they'll screw your hormones and other stuff but certainly not Whey protein powder. Whey protein actually is produced from milk so unless your stomach has a problem taking in dairy products, there's no reason why you cannot take whey. Depending on the brand, Whey usually gives you 20+g of protein per scoop for 1-2g of carbo. A common gauge of how much protein we should be consuming is around 1.5g protein / 1pound bodyweight. Do your math, and you'll realise Whey is really a good source of protein, BUT it should not be your only source. If you really do not want to take it, eat more whole foods such as chicken, eggs, tuna, soy, steak blahblah that gives you a shitload of protein.
5. I workout alot so I can eat alot
Yes, our body needs food to grow. If we wanna bulk, we gotta eat alot alot alot too. But eat what? Your fried nuggets, cheese fries, fried chicken wings and drumlets? HELL NO. You gotta eat, but you gotta eat right. Some simple maths, 1 pound = roughly 3500 calories, so if you wanna gain 1 pound, you gotta eat 500 calories more than your body burns per day (3500cal / 7days = 500cal). Conversely, if you wanna lose weight, you gotta consume 500 calories less. An average male roughly burns 2000 calories per day without doing anything (depending on your fitness level, more muscles you have more calories you burn), so if you workout you can add perhaps another 500 calories to that and it gives you a range of how much you should be eating. How you make this range work for you is up to you. You can waste your calories on high carbo high fat food such as DONUTS or other fried stuff, or you can use it on quality food like those I mentioned in Point 4. Just a gauge, a plate of fried rice is around 800-1000 calories, so yea. To quote from someone at a forum, "You can train all you want but you can't out-train a crappy diet."
6. Compound workout vs Isolation workout
Ok my last point, and also I think is the most useful for most of us. Compound workout, if you don't know, comprises of full-body workouts like squats, deadlifts etc. Isolation workouts isolate your body-part and they include your bicep curls, chest fly etc. What should you be doing? Both have their benefits, but if your physique is nowhere near Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler or even Brad Pitt, isolation exercises will probably not do shit for you. If you're still a novice like I am, you're gonna be much better off doing compounds because they work your body more and will help you gain mass and strength faster. It's no use curling 5kg dumbbells to build your biceps cause the muscles fibres recruited probably are so little that you cannot see any effects. Exercises like squats and deadlifts enable you to carry much much heavier and work your whole body so more muscle fibres can be recruited for the action, which will lead to more growth. You can look to switch to a body-part split with isolation exercises when you've attained a level of strength that enables you to lift a lot more but before that, stick to full-body workouts to lay your foundations. If you've been doing body-part split all your life, (like I did since wayy back until I changed a few months ago) it's time you give it a try. You will not regret it.
Ok, I think I've written quite alot but they're just very simple and brief explainations. For those who are interested in knowing more, visit bodybuilding.com or t-nation or other fitness sites to get more information. This goes out to my homies and all those who're into pumping iron. If there are contradicting views, please do not hesitate to leave hate comments. Lol.
Time to fucking study for MA paper. Holla.
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