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I spend most/all of my day sitting down and doing almost no physical activities so about a month ago i decided to at least do some basic exercises daily not to get fit or anything like that (considering how the quantity is low) just to start with something, so i started with some push-ups and squats. At first i could barely do any now im doing about 30 push ups and about 50 squats, i've also found some dumbbells around the house and im using those as well doing different types of exercises 20 reps each but i don't do them all at once, i do them throughout the day pretty much every time i have to get up in order to either get some food or go to the bathroom etc (about 7 8 times a day so i end up with something like 60 push ups a bunch of squats and around 120 with the dumbbells every day). Now my questions are these: shall i do them all at once or just keep them spread throughout the day? Also from what i've understood i should alternate between groups of muscles? that seems a bit to complicated so instead should i just do arms and back one day and legs the next and so on or is all at once every day fine? I'm sorry if this sounds incoherent but i mostly have no idea what im talking about, and i dont really have a goal i just wanted to do something else other than getting fat sitting on my ass. Thank you.

Hi there! I'm still new to the forums, and still exploring. So I'm posting this thread so that I could keep track of all the things I have discovered and done for my profile. Woot! For newbies like me, maybe this could help you. But, maybe not?! I don't know. FEEL FREE TO COMMENT!

Ok So I have a running trainer-friend...and a gym/weight trainer-friend. Gym trainer friend says: LIFT THE HEAVY THINGS MAKE THE MUSCLES Runner trainer friend says: RUN AND MAKE THE MUSCLES (specifically the leg muscles we are talking about here) Runner trainer friend says that lifting muscles are built differently and end up more compact and restricted in movement than muscles built by lifting. I say a built up muscle is a built up muscle and stronger is stronger. What's everyone else's thought? The issue that brought this up is how to determine my lifting schedule while I train for my second marathon. I've been a runner for going on 10 years...but I'm skinny-fat. I'm slim-ish, but squishy. I have good calf muscles. That's about it. Everything else is under soft stuff. And until like...last fall I'd never done consistent weight lifting. And now I'm squatting, dead lifting, leg pressing, etc. (And arm stuff too, but legs are what matter here). So I do agree that I should tone down the weight lifting during the last month or so of high-mileage run training. But I want definition. I want to look good naked. I want to see tone, not skinny softness. In my opinion, everyone's physiology is different. Runner/Trainer has a rock solid body...but she's a FAST FAST FAST runner....like Boston fast...and I'm not. I don't get muscled from running. 10 years. Granted not a fast 10 years...but if I was going to get a killer body from running I think it would have shown up by now. But she's saying switch now (Marathon in November. Training just started) to lighter weights and higher reps. I don't want lighter weights. I want to deadlift my body weight!!! MUST SQUAT BODY WEIGHT. Will heavy weights hurt my running?? (Should I post this in the running or weight lifting forum instead?) And if you can back up any of your thoughts/comments with articles/research/something I could link to her then you get bonus points. Lol. Please and thank you.

I keep second guessing, so I'm asking here: Will I be sad if I buy this? http://sellout.woot.com/offers/adidas-squat-stand I have some reservations about buying a $200 squat stand. I have some reservations about going without a squat stand any longer. I know I won't be squatting more that the weight it says it can support (600 pounds). Can someone who has actually ever done squats with weight give me an opinion?

I try to work out 6 days a week. I'm new and I'm doing the Beginner's Body Weight Circuit one day, A little cardio + interval the next. I rest on Sundays. Today I'm really busy, and it isn't a rest day. I'm working all morning, jumping with an hour in between to go to night shift. Would it be ill advised to take a break today? I'm supposed to be doing some cardio/interval today. Should I squeeze in something in that hour, although I have to shower and change in that same time period. Or just wait til after my night shift?

So I'm 18 years old and tomorrow I'm starting my electrical apprenticeship with the Union. From what I understand, it's gonna be a busy schedule, with plenty of overtime and night school starting in January. Does anyone have any idea of how physically demanding an electrical apprenticeship will be? At the moment, all I do is run 3-4 times a week, but I'd like to switch over to weightlifting or bodyweight exercises soon because I think it would be much more beneficial than the pure cardio I do now. I'm pretty confident that my work alone will get me into pretty good shape, but over time I'd like to transcend that and turn myself into a real fitness machine. Also, I understand that diet is much more important than exercise, but rest assured that I've slowly (but surely) been overhauling my diet to suit my own needs, so please keep the advice focused on exercise. Thanks so much!

Hello I am new to the Rebellion and I was born an elf and I want to eventually be a monk/assassin/warrior hybrid (I want the speak and power of a monk the strength of a warrior and the body, flexibility, and agility of an assassin) I know it sounds crazy (or the perfect fighter). Well anyways I have a question for anyone out there who can answer it. My GF wants to lose some fat around her belly but due to something that happened when she was little she has ABSOLUTELY no control over her core muscles (the closest thing she can do to flexing her stomach is sucking in her gut). So she can't do push ups or crunches or stuff like that because when she dose instead of using her core muscles she uses her back instead which if you are doing crunches or push ups or something like that she might evently hurt herself doing that. So my question is what can she do to work out and lose the fat right there when she can't use her core muscles (she seems to be able to use the muscles on the side of your belly just not the core muscles). If ANYONE can give any suggestions we would be extremely grateful. Please and thank you Billy Stanley

Hi all! I have a bad left hip - I tore the labrum training for a half marathon and had surgery four years ago. Recently I found out I tore it again and will be having surgery to both repair the labrum and reshape the hip joint in about a month. For the past four years, my hip has really been a prohibiting factor in my ability to train. I can't run anymore, and I find it difficult to follow many workout plans because they like to incorporate things like jumping jacks or jump rope, etc, which causes me pain for days afterwards. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions to replace the impact parts of workouts - particularly a solid alternative for jumping jacks. When I'm home or have access to my gym, I bike, but I am on the road for about half of every month. I like the 20-Minute Hotel Workout, but I'd love to find something I can do other than jumping jacks or pretend jump roping to get my heartbeat up on the alternate days. Any suggestions?

I'm feeling a lot less like a noob now, but I do have a very important question I wanted to ask of you more experienced and lovely people. On days when I don't go to the gym, I make do with what I have at home. I do body weight squats, push ups, planks, and things like that. I can't do incline pull ups because of my right hand (flexor tendinitis, had surgery twice), but I do make sure to do assisted pull ups at the gym where the machine has a much better grip on it. At home, my heaviest dumbbell is 10 lbs (in the past I never got much farther past needing it), and already I'm able to tell that it's getting to be too light and I only get a benefit with adding reps and/or sets. My question is this: I'm going to be adding another gym day and was wondering if instead of the usual 3x15 I feel anything from with the 10 lb weights, would it be advisable to switch to the 5x5 with 20 lb weights for my rows and curls? On a positive note, before I could only do 5 second planks, but now I'm up to 10 on a bad day and 15 on a good day and about ready to get rid of the ball for my push ups.

I'd like to start tracking my food, in preparation for making some changes. I've never actually done this before. :embarrassed: So, I went to check the Weight Loss Knowledge Base... which is sort of empty. I'd like to track calories, and break that down into fat/carbohydrate/protein. I'm not sure if that's all I care about tracking yet or if there's other important stuff I haven't thought of. Assets: I have a kitchen scale and the internet. Limitations: I don't have a smart phone, so even though there are numerous apps to do this, they aren't really an option. I eat almost nothing that has a nutrition label on it (mostly homemade stuff, and a lot of the ingredients are bought as bulk/repackaged). Does anyone have suggestions?