Author Topic: Body shaping  (Read 2204 times)

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Offline janine721

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Body shaping
« on: September 10, 2019, 06:18:33 am »
Hello! Looking for some pointers here on gym and physical activity. I was in the army for 8 years and gained a significant amount of muscle mass during that time. Currently sitting at 207 lbs with a little bit of pudge around my mid section. I'm just wondering what it's going to take to lose this larger shape. Unfortunately when I went to the gym I fell back into the old pattern because bulking up was all I knew how to do. Prior to army I was 119 lbs which was unhealthy but I know my body type allows something like that. Any pointers would be appreciated. I'm including a picture of body type for suggestions on slimming down.

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Offline MeTony

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2019, 03:51:32 pm »
Have you tried pilates or cardio?

Running and low weights makes your body leaner. That’s why girls most often do not do heavy lifting and upper body exercise.

The girls I see at the gym exercise their legs and butt. Or do cardio on the x-trainer or treadmill.


Tony

Offline Maid Marion

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2019, 03:57:21 pm »
I do  lot of a gardening from a squatting position that allows me to carry fat in my thighs for the hourglass shape that most women desire.

Offline janine721

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2019, 08:28:12 pm »
Thanks for the replies! I do run daily, not much just 2 miles. I want to do light weights but I find it too easy and dont know how I should rep because I feel like I have accomplished nothing, is that just due to my old way of thinking?

Squats eh? Maybe I should pick up gardening too haha.

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Offline MeTony

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2019, 03:22:17 am »
The thing is, when you have T in your system, muscle will build easily.

Use only your body as weight. Do stretching and do a lot of butt and thigh workout. Then your thighs and butt will be more visible.

I do upper body workout. I want the image of narrower hips. You get that with a good upper body.

Tony

Offline John406

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2019, 09:16:40 am »
Thanks for the replies! I do run daily, not much just 2 miles. I want to do light weights but I find it too easy and dont know how I should rep because I feel like I have accomplished nothing, is that just due to my old way of thinking?

Squats eh? Maybe I should pick up gardening too haha.

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Interesting topic; thanks for bringing it up.  :)

And yup; it is just due to your old way of thinking. You want to go for low weight and high reps. Lifting just a light barbell without any weights on it sounds pretty easy and feels easy at first, but do it 500 times or so and it won't feel so easy any more lol. This causes the muscles to form really strong, but smaller and denser than a bodybuilder's muscles for example; they do large amounts of weight in quick bursts, causing the muscles to come in a lot bigger. Fun fact though, a lean skinny looking individual can still be just as strong as the jacked bodybuilder depending on how regulary they do their low weight/high reps routines. The muscles of both are insanely strong; one just looks prettier than the other.  ;D

Patience and persistance play a big part; won't feel like you're doing much at first, but do it enough and you'll start to feel it burn. Keep doing it and you'll find you just can't do any more any longer, even if it's something as simple as holding a 5 pound weight in each hand with your arms straight out in front of you for hours on end. Treading water is another good one for cardio and endurance. Kinda blends mental discipline with physical discipline. Learned these in a Teen Boot Camp; they were a wonderful form of torture often used as punishment.  ;D

Offline janine721

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2019, 09:33:27 am »
Yeah definitely bad that I still go best mode. But definitely will do lighter weights and higher reps. Any idea on guidelines for the weight cutting? Like should I do half my usual weight, 40%? Its all pretty new to me.

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Offline John406

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2019, 05:41:03 pm »
Yeah definitely bad that I still go best mode. But definitely will do lighter weights and higher reps. Any idea on guidelines for the weight cutting? Like should I do half my usual weight, 40%? Its all pretty new to me.

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Personally I wouldn't use weights at all; just the metal bars that you'd normally put the weights on. Take off all the weight, and then just lift the bars. It may a look a little silly, but it gets WAY harder lol, and then you feel even sillier for not being able to lift a skinny 5 lb. bar lol. Walking's another good one; I've walked for thirty miles straight before, and you wouldn't think it, but there is indeed a point where it just becomes impossible to slowly place one foot in front of the other and you literally can't walk anymore lol. Nice reminder that the body has limits even on the small scale; it just takes longer to reach your limit. You could lift a feather over and over, and eventually, that feather's going to feel like it weighs a thousand pounds lol.  ;)

Offline janine721

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2019, 07:33:22 pm »
Tha is gonna try tomorrow!

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Offline John406

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Re: Body shaping
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2019, 08:47:36 pm »
Another thing I've tried a bit is called the Art of Kung or something like that. A man I caught a ride with taught it to me during my homeless nomad days; I'm not actually sure if it's an official training program, but the results were pretty impressive; he could do things I didn't even think were possible for an old guy his size.

One practice involved jumping in and out of a hole the diameter of your outstretched arms for hours on end. Not a super deep hole; pretty easy for a while. After a couple days of that, dig the hole a couple inches or so deeper, and jump in and out of that for a couple days, then dig it another couple inches deeper and jump in and out of that for a couple days, etc, etc, lather, rinse, repeat. Only continue to dig the hole deeper once you've mastered the current depth and it becomes easy for you. Then dig out another couple inches or so. Due to not having enough room for a running start, it has to be a vertical leap straight upwards. After years of dedicated training, I joke you not, you'll find yourself leaping in and out of a 15 foot hole in the ground; possibly even higher. Spider-Man level leaping ability lol.

Another practice entails wearing weights when you run. Start off with a lot of weight until you can run X amount of laps in X amount of time. Keep trying to get faster with all the extra weight on. Once you've mastered that level, take off a little bit of the weight, and master the next time limit you set for yourself. And so on, and so forth. By the time you finally get down to taking off the last weight, you'll be running like the wind; well beyond 20 mph. probably closer to 30 mph. Years of training in this method can enable someone to run nearly as fast as a car at 40 mph.

The Art of Kung is basically, (supposedly), an ancient practice that turns humans into superhumans through seemingly easy exercises that gradually get more difficult over the course of many years. Usually only Monks have that kind of patience and mental domination over their own bodies. Wanted to learn more; especially about the Tummo meditation techniques; monks would use it to melt circles out of the ice around their bodies by increasing their body temperature on command; another game they play is seeing who can dry the most wet towels on their backs in the mountains by heating the towels up via manipulating their own body temperature. Crazy stuff lol.

And those superhuman monks are teeny tiny; size really doesn't matter; a little old man just might throw a truck at you if you're not careful lol.  :laugh:

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