MMV members and fitness?

[fatcow]

I am a professional athlete by trade, or at least I was until I had my son. Haha, his birth has caused me to re-evaluate a lot of things and brought me to the conclusion that combat sports were not in his best interest for my future. Oh well, not a big deal, I like to think that I have a lot more to offer the world than just being a fighter and minimate collector.

I am currently a certified personal trainer, reasonably educated, have a lot of training experience and am opening my own gym in Chicago. The gym will be a limited membership affair and cater to people of substance...for lack of a better term, I am opening the anti-gym. No "bros" allowed.

Gym decor is going to consist of kitsch,sci-fi and of course comic book decor. We are going for a really unique feel and offering completely unique training solutions for people who want to be healthy without going on ridiculous diets, taking pills, medical procedures or having to endure hours of broscience lectures from their local trainer Brody Mcbroderson ( sorry...I just have a lifetime of experience dealing with bullies as a child and then idiots as an adult...at least I got to fight them though and punch faces).

TO GET TO MY POINT...

If anyone on MMV is interested in getting healthier or working out,message me and I will help you as best as I can (NOT ADVERTISING...this is FREE)... I just feel like I have met some of the most intelligent forum go-ers on the interwebs here and if I can help you guys with health and wellness like you help me with customs, I would be happy to do so!

I'd like to reiterate, not charging money for anything or making a profit. just want to offer my help.

[karamazov80]

Very cool of you to offer this, fatcow. I tried to be healthy once. . .

Good luck with your gym!

[fatcow]

Very cool of you to offer this, fatcow. I tried to be healthy once. . .

Good luck with your gym!

Elaborate on trying to be healthy...I'm sure you can do it again! To be honest I just want to look like my Kilowog mini, haha.

[karamazov80]

Personally, I've just tried to exercise more and eat healthy intermittently, with mixed levels of success. I'll usually get burned out, have a minor knee injury, get sick, or just overwhelmed with other things and fall out of that habit for awhile. Then, I'll get inspired or whatever and get back into it for awhile later. I started (I think) a Minimate Multiverse health thread a couple years ago during one of those periods that I was more into it.

What you say could be done, no doubt, I just have about 3-4 hours of free time at home a day (even on weekends), so spending a significant chunk of that on working out is tough for me to justify. I have actually significantly improved my own diet over the last couple of months, losing nearly 20 pounds just by cutting back and being a bit more conscious about what I'm eating. And I found that since doing so, I can jog up to 60 minutes instead of 25ish, which was my limit before starting with my new diet. So, that's actually encouraged my interest in exercising.

But I've been sick all this week, so. . .

Edited April 13, 2012 by karamazov80

[Turtle]

Sounds like a cool idea for a gym. We go to the Y 3-4 times a week. If not for the on-site childcare, I would never be able to make it. I also run some and finished my first half-marathon in December. I might do another one at the end of the month. It's surprisingly fun.

What sport were involved in, fatcow? Did you have cards that said "Professional Combathlete?"

Have you got any advice for increasing flexibility? Twice a week I do a class that ends with flexibility exercises, but I haven't progressed much in that department at all.

[Mattallica]

I used to run 20 miles a day, then i said shit i can save so much time if i just take my car :biggrin:

[karamazov80]

What sport were involved in, fatcow? Did you have cards that said "Professional Combathlete?"

Made me think of this:

Damn, I miss that show

[fatcow]

Well karamazov, that sounds awesome! What I always say is that people should do what works for them and what improves their own quality of life. Too often I see people pursuing fitness or working out for the wrong reasons. Some people even want to be healthy just to out do others e.g "Oh you're on an all organic,vegan gluten-free diet? SO AM I!". Good job on the weight loss and get well soon!

To answer turtle, I say combat athlete because I competed in professional Muay Thai, boxing and Mixed Martial Arts. Usually the mention of MMA (aka cage fighting) is associated with general douchebaggery that I like to distance myself from, hence I use the phrase combat athlete. I wish I was a pro wrestler ( life long dream ) or an american gladiator...unfortunately I actually get hit in the fact haha.

Turtle, for flexibility, personally I have specific muscles that aren't as flexible as I'd like them to be so I target those groups using specific stretches. A good list is here : http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/lookup/filter/exercisetype/id/3/exercisetype/stretching .

You can pick and choose as you like. For a more regimented stretching program, if you'd like I can message you one or the name of a particular one. I'd rather not post here as most of them are heavily advertised etc so it would be like I was pushing a product.

Hope this helped!

[Hawkeye's Junk]

I'm looking for a good routine for Lat workouts with free weights, any suggestions?

[fatcow]

I'm looking for a good routine for Lat workouts with free weights, any suggestions?

There's a lot you can do for the lats with free weights especially. I have a lot of suggestions but they would be better tailored to your needs if I knew a few things first, you can pm me if you'd like.

1. Why specifically the lats? Are you having trouble gaining muscle there? Or strength? Is it an aesthetic thing?

2. Are you lifting regularly, if so what kind of routine do you follow?

3. Do you have any shoulder problems? Because when working with free weights on the lats and back there is a lot of strain on your shoulders and ac joint specifically, you want to make sure the rest of you is healthy and strong enough to support lat movements and help them grow/get stronger/whatever your goal is.

[hellpop]

That is a very cool offer, fatcow, and I'd definitely take you up on it if I lived anywhere near Chicago (particularly since a geek culture-themed gym in Chicago might mean CM Punk may show up ).

As far as my own personal fitness goes... I was really thin up until my early 30s... then I got married, got a desk job, and promptly put on 20 pounds. I'm still not fat (I'm around 6'1", 210 lbs), but when you've been really thin, any body change is a big change.

Anyway, I just need to point out that the personal trainer/MMA fighter around here answers to "fatcow".

[luke314pi]

Do you recommend protein powder to supplement strength workouts? If so, what do you look for in a good protein powder? There are SO many to choose from that I don't know where to start. And different blogs seem to have different opinions on the matter.

[Hawkeye's Junk]

Also, what are your thoughts on creatine? I used to take that in college.

[buttheadsmate]

As far as my own personal fitness goes... I was really thin up until my early 30s... then I got married, got a desk job, and promptly put on 20 pounds. I'm still not fat (I'm around 6'1", 210 lbs), but when you've been really thin, any body change is a big change.

I just weighed myself & I'm 210 lbs . I'm 6'2", play no sport ,eat what I like & drink ....erm..too much . Years ago however I played Soccer,I 'ate, slept & drank' the game for about 15 years & that has held me in good stead ever since. These days I'm just a glorified farm-labourer but apart from a dodgy back it's probably the cheapest way of staying fit you could ever wish for.

[hellpop]

As far as my own personal fitness goes... I was really thin up until my early 30s... then I got married, got a desk job, and promptly put on 20 pounds. I'm still not fat (I'm around 6'1", 210 lbs), but when you've been really thin, any body change is a big change.

I just weighed myself & I'm 210 lbs . I'm 6'2", play no sport ,eat what I like & drink ....erm..too much . Years ago however I played Soccer,I 'ate, slept & drank' the game for about 15 years & that has held me in good stead ever since. These days I'm just a glorified farm-labourer but apart from a dodgy back it's probably the cheapest way of staying fit you could ever wish for.

I agree, the best way to stay in shape is not to work out, but have an active lifestyle... I used to walk everywhere, when I lived in downtown Philadelphia; I was also working jobs that kept me on my feet most of the day. Once I got a (mostly) stationary job, I almost immediately saw the change. I still haven't really found a way to make up for all that lost activity.

[fatcow]

Do you recommend protein powder to supplement strength workouts? If so, what do you look for in a good protein powder? There are SO many to choose from that I don't know where to start. And different blogs seem to have different opinions on the matter.

Firstly, at sake of sounding patronizing, protein powder serves one sole purpose, to make sure you get the adequate amount of protein your body requires. This is variable for everyone, there are many formulas for calculating how much protein you need. As long as your diet contains a decent amount of protein you shouldn't NEED to supplement with protein powder, of course, because of the way urban life is nowadays and with hectic schedules it makes things a lot easier.

Protein powder comes in all varieties, personally I'd advise you to consider a more natural brand, that has less filler and less chemicals in it. I mean at the end of the day you are trying to be healthier by working out, and filling your body with unnecessary chemicals that shouldn't exist nature is not the way to do this.

I hope this helped. If you do choose to go with a protein powder, let me know what your budget is and I will send you links in your inbox.

Also, one thing I would advise you to do if you feel like you aren't recovering from your strength training efficiently and find yourself sore for many days after is to supplement with BCAA's ( branched chain amino acids ). These can be bought for relatively cheap and help a lot.

[luke314pi]

Thank you for the information! That is very helpful.

[fatcow]

Thank you for the information! That is very helpful.

If you do decide to go with a protein powder, and you're not going to be buying different brands to be had at different times of the day I'd suggest going with a blended protein e.g one that has whey protein, casein, egg and other protein varieties in it. Again if you need help picking, pm me or ask someone knowledgeable about nutrition. DO NOT trust any employees at GNC or Vitamin Shoppe, they either try to sell you the most expensive product, a cheaper one and then they suggest a companion product, or they won't provide any helpful information at all. No offense to anyone who works at a nutritional supplement retail store, just speaking from my experience. There are of course always exceptions.