Getting a Jump on 2017

[Knotwise]

Hi all!

 

I have been casually following the blog posts here for a while now and wanted to sign up and kick off my 2017 progress a few days in advance. Winter in MA is beginning to settle in (snow is starting to fall as I type this) and I want to freshen up my routines and habits while waiting for it to be warm enough hike comfortably again in the spring.

 

In May, I'll be marking my 2 years of training regularly at the gym after a long time not doing much of anything. My wife and I started working out and working with trainers in the lead up to our wedding. After 6 months, the habits stuck and I stayed on. Stopped working with a trainer last summer and am looking to focus myself a bit more. I've been trying a variety of different approaches to routines to see what works well for me and have recently been interested in spending some quality time with body weight exercises - I am hoping I can use those to tone up instead of bulking up.

 

In the gym, and in life, I tend to keep to myself and like researching things on my own - so this site has been great so far in giving me ideas and providing information without it being overwhelming (some fitness blogs hit you with too much info too fast!). And the questing/rpg side of this side definitely appeals to (majority) geek of me.

 

Have a happy new year all!

[Guzzi]

Hey! Welcome on board!

 

Have you had a good look around the forums yet? If you have any questions then please ask, I'm more than willing to help out where I can. 

 

I kinda got carried away and wrote a short novel about the 4 Week Challenges in someone else's intro thread, you can read it Here if you're interested. I'm waaaaay to lazy to write it out again and this site hates my phone, or vice versa. I haven't figured out which way round it is but they're not getting on. Strange things happen when I try to copy and paste so I shan't do that. 

 

Anyway, you can create your very own character with an Epic Quest (your long term goals), back story, progress bar and whatever else people do. I don't know, I'm not into all that but lots of people do it. I guess I'm the odd kid all over again.  

 

 

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I am hoping I can use those to tone up instead of bulking up.

 

I'd like to address this point if I may?

 

Don't worry about bulking up, unless you have the genetics to allow you to build muscle easily it won't happen. Sorry to say that, but the truth is that adding bulk isn't easy to do, people spend months (or even years) and a LOT of work to add muscle mass and get "bulky." Getting lean (visible ab, muscle definition, etc) has more to do with what you put in your mouth than what you do in the gym.

 

There are are many myths in the gym/exercise/dieting industry. You see so many magazine articles about the best exercises to lose belly fat or get a 6 pack, but the truth is that it all comes down to your diet. There's no exercise known to man that will give you visible abs if your bodyfat percentage is too high. You need to be very lean to see muscle definition like that. 

 

The same is true about "bulking up." If you lift weights then you burn calories, if you burn more calories than you consume then you will lose weight but if you are lifting weights then you are more likely to conserve muscle mass as you shed the pounds. (Your body will try to hold onto its reserves and most people lose muscle mass as well as fat when they diet/loose weight.) Conversely, if you consume too many calories whilst lifting weights then you will not only add muscle mass (eventually and with the aforementioned LOT of work) but you will also add fat, making a lot of men look bulky. The reality is though that many of them have some muscle but are also carrying a LOT of fat. But don't tell them I told you that.  

 

Oh bollocks! I've done it again. It's a novel! *holds head in hands*

 

If I can help you with anything else, and you can bear to read the long winded answer, then just shout. Otherwise, I hope to see you around.