Exercising without a gym

[Topgun]

I still prefer my method of carb refeed once a week. Kept me motivated for the weekend carb-up, and also my energy high for the 2-3 times weekly gym workout. To go completely without carbs forever, is a torture to me

 

I do fairly long runs and cycling for exercise not the type of short intensive exercises that cbs does so I think I still need some carbs for energy and recovery.

 

[Topgun]

...About your questions, I would personally eat more roasted pork than char siew cos char siew is coated with lots of sugar. Sugar = bad news.

 

Regarding oils, I would use oils that are chemically stable and do not turn rancid easily when subjected to cooking temperatures. This pretty much narrows it down to saturated fats like animal fats, butter, palm or coconut oils.

 

I am pretty confident that you can cut the last 5kg by drastically reducing your carbs. Throw in some high intensity exercises a few times a week and one or two 24-hour fasts and you should be well on your way. Try it for a week. What's the worse thing that can happen?

 

...

 

1st of all really thank you for taking the effort to reply in such detail to mine and other posts. Your belief and enthusiasm really come thru.

 

I think certain aspects of your 'diet' or way of eating is easy enuff to try but I've family (kids n old folks) and also due to circumstances have to eat out or buy cooked food during weekdays even though I also have maid. So may not be able to go 'full steam' and on the other hand, maybe not being able to follow strictly your recommendations like alternate cooking oils, no bread, etc might not be able to achieve the desired results either. I also don't take yogurt and the thought of eating coconut milk...eeeek! So caught between rock and a hard place

 

Anyway I see what I can do to try. For a start, stop eating bread and noodles and rice (for dinner, typical habit of chinese family). I'm willing to give it a go.

 

 

 

 

 

[Porker]

You're taking things a little too extreme with your carbs bashing. The claim that third world countries have alot of obese people simply because they eat majority carbs due to its cheap availability is really astonishing and short sighted. Look at America and tell me that isn't the anti-thesis. Thailand is still considered poor but look at the number of slim people there.

 

Look at Europe where the Westerners eat the traditional meat and potatoes diet. I see alot of slim Europeans as compared to Americans.

 

Carbs have been around for a long time and humans have been eating them for a long time either and if its really that bad... it would have been surfaced long ago.

 

You can follow what you believe to be true but I hope you don't spread false rumours on carbs. I've been eating carbs all my life and I'm still a healthy 7-8% bodyfat year round.

[Helloworld88]

Buy a "Men's Health" magazine, there are usually some tips for home exercise.

[Chickenbackside]

1st of all really thank you for taking the effort to reply in such detail to mine and other posts. Your belief and enthusiasm really come thru.

 

I think certain aspects of your 'diet' or way of eating is easy enuff to try but I've family (kids n old folks) and also due to circumstances have to eat out or buy cooked food during weekdays even though I also have maid. So may not be able to go 'full steam' and on the other hand, maybe not being able to follow strictly your recommendations like alternate cooking oils, no bread, etc might not be able to achieve the desired results either. I also don't take yogurt and the thought of eating coconut milk...eeeek! So caught between rock and a hard place

 

Anyway I see what I can do to try. For a start, stop eating bread and noodles and rice (for dinner, typical habit of chinese family). I'm willing to give it a go.

I know exactly how you feel. Everyone around me thought I was crazy. But eventually, they were convinced themselves looking at the health results that I was achieving (by lipid profiles and health markers obtained through blood tests) and implemented it themselves. Now they are also reaping the same rewards.

 

Again, I also started off just cutting back 1/2 of my carbs. But eventually, I just felt my body doesn't really need them, so naturally I cut them out. I do not have any cravings for any sort of processed carbs anymore.

 

 

 

[Topgun]

I know exactly how you feel. Everyone around me thought I was crazy. But eventually, they were convinced themselves looking at the health results that I was achieving (by lipid profiles and health markers obtained through blood tests) and implemented it themselves. Now they are also reaping the same rewards.

 

Again, I also started off just cutting back 1/2 of my carbs. But eventually, I just felt my body doesn't really need them, so naturally I cut them out. I do not have any cravings for any sort of processed carbs anymore.

 

Well, for a start, this morning for breakfast, I had bananas and my usual cup of local kopi (this habit I thnk hard to kick ); skipping my usual noodles, or bread/kaya or pau's.

 

And just now for lunch I'd roast pork from my fav roast pork/char siew stall but without rice and mineral water.

 

So let's see how it goes

[Chickenbackside]

You're taking things a little too extreme with your carbs bashing. The claim that third world countries have alot of obese people simply because they eat majority carbs due to its cheap availability is really astonishing and short sighted. Look at America and tell me that isn't the anti-thesis. Thailand is still considered poor but look at the number of slim people there.

 

Look at Europe where the Westerners eat the traditional meat and potatoes diet. I see alot of slim Europeans as compared to Americans.

 

Carbs have been around for a long time and humans have been eating them for a long time either and if its really that bad... it would have been surfaced long ago.

 

You can follow what you believe to be true but I hope you don't spread false rumours on carbs. I've been eating carbs all my life and I'm still a healthy 7-8% bodyfat year round.

Actually, I am not really bashing any macronutrient. Nor am I spreading any "rumours" about any macronutrient. I'm simply looking at biochemistry and stating it as it is.

 

Carbohydrates are chains of simple sugars bound together. No?

 

Carbohydrates are metabolised into sugar in our digestive system. No?

 

Sugar causes insulin spikes. No?

 

Insulin causes fat storage. No?

 

Frequent insulin spike caused by frequent sugar feeding over enough time cause metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, various cancers, Alzheimers, heart disease). No?

 

A human body will physically die without dietary fat and protein, but can be superbly healthy without dietary carbohydrates. No?

 

All the answers are very easily available in ANY and EVERY biochemistry textbook and have been proven many times over, enough to be established as fact. Facts are non negotiable, just like the earth is round, or the rate of gravity is 9.81 metres per second.

 

If you look through the resources that are freely available in public libraries (yes I have gone and studied biochemistry texts because I found it impossible to believe carbs actually break down into sugar at first) and the internet, put aside any sort of advice that has been drilled into us since we were children, you might actually find the science pretty solid.

 

Actually, the study I was referring to was done in America. I have to look it up, but I have seen a lecture presenting a study that compared obesity levels in various American communities differentiated by income levels. The poorer the communities (like those living in the Bronx), the higher the level of obesity. The more affluent the community (like Beverly Hills), the lower the levels of obesity.

 

It wasn't the amount of food they were eating. It was the quality of food and ratio of macronutrients that explained the differences.

 

Regarding the Europeans, Ancel Keys already answered that one in the '50s when he threw out the European data that clashed with his agenda. Europeans have no fear of fat. They eat their butter, cheeses, milk, steaks, fois gras, full fat everything, unlike the Americans who shun anything with saturated fat. When enough fat is ingested, the brain experiences satiety. Simply put, you can't eat very much when you eat the fat with your steak. You brain will tell you to stop eating. Or as we say: "GELAH"! There simply isn't much room left for anything else except maybe some red wine, which contains plenty of good things.

 

That was why he excluded France (and a few other countries) in his hypothesis when he found out they consumed massive amounts of animal fat but had very low incidences of heart disease.

 

I wonder why until today, it is still called the lipid HYPOTHESIS, and not the lipid FACT.

 

I personally find Weston A Price's studies very profound. He was a dentist that travelled the world studying tribes of people who were isolated from the western diet. He found that most indigenous people like the Eskimos and Massai who ate a diet of 70-90% animal saturated fat were the most lean and healthy and had the best oral health. They had no heart disease, no cancers, no obesity or any diseases of civilisation. However, once some of these people move into cities and adopted carbs and sugars into their diets, diabetes, obesity, cancers, heart disease became rampant.

 

Of course there are people like yourself who can maintain a lean body by eating loads of carbs. But the science simply states that every time you do so, you spike your blood sugar level. There is no way your body is reacting any other way, unless you are not human. Your body has a very efficient way of dealing with sugar, no doubt. In cases like that, it takes many decades to become insulin resistant.

 

A good doctor to look up is Dr Micheal Eades. His own story is he was skinny his whole life. Ate whatever he wanted and could never get fat. UNTIL much later in life when he suddenly ballooned and developed a host of diseases. That was the point where the cells in his body became insulin resistant. He then, as a practicing doctor for a long time, embarked to relearn everything again, and found out that non of his medical training taught him how to avoid this. All he learnt and prescribed to his patients were drugs to try to control these diseases and most of the time, non of it worked.

 

Sounds very familiar to me. I know many people who are on hypertension and cholesterol (statins) drugs, and they're not experiencing any significant improvements in their health despite following their doctor's advice of "eat more whole grains and less fat".

 

It has become like "oh you have high cholesterol? Eat more healthy and exercise, take this statin drug and hope that you become better, cos 99% of the time, it doesn't really happen". I have seen 3 doctors who told me this same thing. That is what they are taught in medical school? It's just not acceptable to me.

 

I'm not saying that you are not at your best health eating carbs. All I am saying is carbohydrates break down in to sugar in a human body. That is not up for discussion. It is a fact.

 

Any decision on what to put into one's body after considering this fact, is entirely up to that person. That's the beauty about living in a free society.

Edited January 2, 2010 by Chickenbackside

[Chickenbackside]

Well, for a start, this morning for breakfast, I had bananas and my usual cup of local kopi (this habit I thnk hard to kick ); skipping my usual noodles, or bread/kaya or pau's.

 

And just now for lunch I'd roast pork from my fav roast pork/char siew stall but without rice and mineral water.

 

So let's see how it goes

Haha. It will be hard at first but your body will eventually get used to getting its energy from stored fat rather than from glucose. But you're definitely off to a great start. Much better than me when I started!

 

Try not to drink too much water with your meals, especially when you eat protein. It dilutes the digestive acids in your stomach making digestion less efficient. Drink before or 2 hours after.

 

Remember to supplement with Omega 3 fish oils when you eat farmed meats that are loaded with Omega 6's.

 

 

 

[Topgun]

Haha. It will be hard at first but your body will eventually get used to getting its energy from stored fat rather than from glucose. But you're definitely off to a great start. Much better than me when I started!

 

Try not to drink too much water with your meals, especially when you eat protein. It dilutes the digestive acids in your stomach making digestion less efficient. Drink before or 2 hours after.

 

Remember to supplement with Omega 3 fish oils when you eat farmed meats that are loaded with Omega 6's.

 

Thanks! And oops, I thought more old fashion healthy water for the foods (fats and proteins) to digest...

 

I actually drink lots of fruit juice and also 100plus before and after runs cos of the salts. So I should skip the fruit juices? (I buy orange juice by the cartons from fairprice).

 

Hope it works

[Ithunk]

Break Wind = Farting. Hokkien=Pang Pui.

 

yaya....correct....break wind burns calories

Edited January 2, 2010 by Ithunk

[Chickenbackside]

Thanks! And oops, I thought more old fashion healthy water for the foods (fats and proteins) to digest...

 

I actually drink lots of fruit juice and also 100plus before and after runs cos of the salts. So I should skip the fruit juices? (I buy orange juice by the cartons from fairprice).

 

Hope it works

I would cut out fruit juices, especially the ones that come in a carton or bottle. They usually contain high fructose corn syrup. Not good. If you have to, make your own fruit juices. That way, you know it's pure.

 

If you expend a lot of energy during your runs, I don't see any big reason not to have some glucose before or after. However, I don't think recreational athletes actually expend enough energy to warrant "energy" drinks.

 

For example, I do all my workouts fasted. I never eat anything before I exercise (always first thing in the morning) and I have no problems with energy levels during my workouts. In fact I have constantly improved the quantity and quality of exercise the past half year working out fasted, and also put on quite a few inches around my arms, chest and shoulders. You can read the post about what my exercise routine is like.

 

However, I must say that my body is very adapted to using fat for energy as I hardly consume any sugar (except from my 12 blueberries a day). It took some time to reach this state.

 

 

 

[Stary]

Very interesting thread.

 

If it was easy to lose weight and look good then I guess everyone would have done it.

 

It ain't easy and probably 90% of any population can't do it because they haven't got the focus etc.

 

For me thanks to Starry for his advice.

 

I've always thought that I need expert advice because even though I do exercise hard I don't achieve my goal.

Still happy to continue and try new stuff as long as it's not too hard, dieting is a no no for me although keep trying to cut down my intake.

 

I suppose I'm an average guy just not willing to go that extra yard.

 

I now take statins to reduce my cholesterol because exercise and watching what I eat didn't work.

Exercise never reduced my BP either and I'll probably start some tablets for that in the future.

 

My heart rate has reduced from around 78 to 50 so exercise has helped that.

 

A great book to read is Sport by James Michener. He's a great writer anyway but I read this book again and again.

Generally about American Sport from kids sport to professional sport to college sport and the finances of all, but has a lot about personal fitness as well. Michener's conclusion is that based on statistics and his view then fitness and training will not increase lifespan in itself, a holistic approach is required.

 

I could go on but anyone still reading will be approaching boredom so will stop, but hope the thread continues.

 

 

As a gym instructor in the past, the common mistakes I see among trainees are these 2:

 

1) Not knowing his goal. Are you trying to lose fats or build muscles? Both need to have different diet and exercise regime. Many mix both and they don't see results

2) Not keeping things simple. Exercise, to be effective, just need simple things. Many people overdo things. They simply spent too much time in the gym overdoing everything. You get results while resting/sleeping, not while in the gym.

 

The best results I have seen are people keeping things simple. Wanted to lose fats? Do cardio 30-45 minutes 3 times a week, and lessen your food intake. You don't even have to go into precise carbo/proten/fats ratio yet. Forget about counting calories..it's not like you don't know how much you normally eat.

 

Want to build muscles? Eat, eat , eat and never go hungry even for an hour. In gym, just do the big exercise like squats (only man do squats..boys avoid them), benchpress, pull-ups, shoulder press, 2 times a week, max 45 minutes each time. Then go home and grow. Take proten often. That's it. I have seen with my own eyes a guy who only does squat 2sets x 20 in 20 minutes x 2 times week and nothing else and he grow 20kg in 3 months. I called it the 2-20 formula. 2 times week, 2 sets, 20 reps and in 20 minutes. When you finished this, you wished you had died.

 

Simple and it works.

 

[Stary]

Hello all,

 

My previous company has a gym for staff. In my present company, no such facility is available. Other than driving to SAFRA after work, I wonder if anyone here can recommend me a website or exercise routines that doesn't require a gym. My objective is to cut down flab around my abs. And I also keep my arms and legs muscles built up.

 

Thnks.

 

 

Interesting you ask. When I was working in Tuas last time, I didn't have time to go gym. So I have a home gym/exercise.

 

All you need is this

 

1) Get some weights and a bar from Aibi.

2) Get a Ez-curl bar as well

3) Get 2 dumbell bar.

 

With the above, you already have a simple set of weights and bars.

 

Now for the home exercise

 

1) Chest : Hard to do this on bed but you can emulate an incline benchpress on the bed. Put the weights in a haversack behind you. Put your toes on the edge of the bed and do incline push-up with the weights behind you. Put more weights as you get stronger.

 

2) Shoulder: Put weight on the bar and do a shoulder press. Easy

 

3) Back : Put weights on the dumbell bar and do dumbell pull-ups.

 

4) Tricep. This one use the ez-curl bar with weights. Lie on your bed face-up with your head on the edge of the bed. Hold the bar behind you and pull to the top of your head. They call this exercise skullcrushers for obvious reasons, so start with a low weight.

 

5) Bicep : easy ..just use the dumbell or ez-curl bar for variety.

 

Sometimes to emulate a gym bench, I will take some stools, line them in one line and there is my bench. This is useful for dumbell flyes..an exercise for chest.

 

Home can do a lot of things, but you need to get the basic weight set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ithunk]

lol....i do it on the floor....and i certainly wouldn't have a lack of motivation to train....

Edited January 2, 2010 by Ithunk

[Ithunk]

Interesting you ask. When I was working in Tuas last time, I didn't have time to go gym. So I have a home gym/exercise.

 

All you need is this

 

1) Get some weights and a bar from Aibi.

2) Get a Ez-curl bar as well

3) Get 2 dumbell bar.

 

With the above, you already have a simple set of weights and bars.

 

Now for the home exercise

 

1) Chest : Hard to do this on bed but you can emulate an incline benchpress on the bed. Put the weights in a haversack behind you. Put your toes on the edge of the bed and do incline push-up with the weights behind you. Put more weights as you get stronger.

 

2) Shoulder: Put weight on the bar and do a shoulder press. Easy

 

3) Back : Put weights on the dumbell bar and do dumbell pull-ups.

 

4) Tricep. This one use the ez-curl bar with weights. Lie on your bed face-up with your head on the edge of the bed. Hold the bar behind you and pull to the top of your head. They call this exercise skullcrushers for obvious reasons, so start with a low weight.

 

5) Bicep : easy ..just use the dumbell or ez-curl bar for variety.

 

Sometimes to emulate a gym bench, I will take some stools, line them in one line and there is my bench. This is useful for dumbell flyes..an exercise for chest.

 

Home can do a lot of things, but you need to get the basic weight set.

 

actually you can do a dumbell floor press...

 

[Bighappyjer]

i'm not a nutrionist and i will avoid the discussion on high-carbs vs high-fat - but based on my meagre understanding, i agree that carbs are generally unhealthy, be it simple or complex. i used to be on a no-carb diet, eat 16-20 eggs/day, vege, meats, fishoil, protein and no rice or bread. i gave up the diet only because it was becoming too ge lat to tahan.

 

re training, for pure mass/strength gain, there is no substitute for weight training. Chickenbackside's training methods are good for endurance and maintaining cal deficit, but don't think you can build big muscles with them. if you don't have access to a gym for short term, can do suitcase deadlifts, carry a bag filled with books and do pullups, use the same bag to do pushups, bul split squats with the same bag carried overhead etc... but all these are a temporary measure at best.

[Ithunk]

the problem with clubfitt gyms is tt the dumbells are too light....so there is a problem....for me....and i dun want to pay stupid amounts of money to go to california planet fitness or fitness first....so what do i do? purchase my own weights!!!

 

the max that i can put on a single dumb bell is 60 kg....and the bar can fit 8 plates of 10....but i have not gone there yet as i do not want to over train....and if i overtrain i will get smaller if i do not eat enough....

 

and after i train its great to know that i am feeling strong and good...

 

however i do hit clubfitt gyms once a week....and its for the main exercises such as bench presses and tbar....etc....

Edited January 2, 2010 by Ithunk

[Ithunk]

i'm not a nutrionist and i will avoid the discussion on high-carbs vs high-fat - but based on my meagre understanding, i agree that carbs are generally unhealthy, be it simple or complex. i used to be on a no-carb diet, eat 16-20 eggs/day, vege, meats, fishoil, protein and no rice or bread. i gave up the diet only because it was becoming too ge lat to tahan.

 

re training, for pure mass/strength gain, there is no substitute for weight training. Chickenbackside's training methods are good for endurance and maintaining cal deficit, but don't think you can build big muscles with them. if you don't have access to a gym for short term, can do suitcase deadlifts, carry a bag filled with books and do pullups, use the same bag to do pushups, bul split squats with the same bag carried overhead etc... but all these are a temporary measure at best.

 

can get its quite cheap.....there is a shop next to car workshops in toh guan.....not too sure whether they have the xmas promotion...

 

but the weights i used to buy....its like the more u buy the cheaper it gets.....

 

and i would like to say my lifts at the gym have improved due to my home training....

 

 

Edited January 2, 2010 by Ithunk