The workout gospel, according to Subb.

[Subb]

Part One - The beginning and an insight to working out[/u]

Contents
1.   Introduction
2.   "Be realistic!"
3.   Three Stages of pre-workout.
4.   Warm up.
5.   Cool down.
6.   The Golden Hour/Window of Opportunity.
7.   Overload.
8.   Types of Training Progression.
9.   Fuck the Gym.

Introduction

I've seen a number of people posting about workout regimes and such (there was a P90x thread started a while ago), so I decided to create this thread to help (and somewhat educate) y'all. I hope this helps you gain insight into the world of exercise and may you enjoy many days of working out - it's addictive!

So why should I listen to the Welshman, I hear you say? First and foremost, I'm doing a Masters in Osteopathic Medicine and I specialize in Sports Care (and Paediatrics, since I'm a softie), secondly, I'm currently in Officer training in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Commando (RM, from now on) Corps. Doing both of these as a job (albeit both in training) gives me a unique insight into the body and how to effectively work out.

Be Realistic!

I have one motto - "Be realistic" - be it for your goals (weight loss/gain, personal best for run, six pack, tone up) or regime content or consistency; you'll only cheat yourself after all. The best way to do this is to do a SMART goal:
•   S - Specific: Goal must be specific and not general - "I must be able to run 3 miles in less than 25 minutes in six weeks".
•   M - Measurable: You need to aim for a measurable goal; a time, number of miles or a specific weight.
•   A - Achievable: No point bullshitting yourself... your goal needs to be achievable. If you are planning to run a marathon and it's only a week or two away then it's completely unachievable.
•   R - Realistic: Pretty much the same as achievable, but more specific. For example, wanting to run a sub three hour marathon for your first ever race is complete wank.
•   T - Time: You need to apply a time scale to your goal.

Three Stages of pre-workout.

Step one:

*Check with your physician if you have a medical condition e.g. epilepsy, any kind of motor neurone disease. Mainly, you need to be sure you have no joint disease as any kind of neurological disease is (usually) pretty obvious.
*Eat healthily! Okay, don't go from eating shit to five portions of vegetables a day; that's unrealistic. Instead, steadily incorporate portions; sliced strawberries into your morning muesli (you guys have that stuff, right?) and then the next day you should add a banana into your lunch, too. Also, you need to cut down on sugar; miss one of your daily sodas and, again, build on that. Saturated fats are nasty buggers; cut down on pizza, chips and make them weekly or bi-weekly treat.
*Cut down on smokes. Basic, I know but it's true; you don't have to go cold turkey and quit completely - some of the most athletic people I know are smokers, but they could be so much better without them.
*Drink less alcohol - empty calories and shit loads of sugar. A pint of medium strength larger contains the same amount of calories as a Mars bar. Don't know if you guys have them over there, but they're basically chocolate bars with a chewy centre and caramel.
*Have will power. You want to get fitter - you will get fitter!
*Enjoy the work out.

Step two:

Know what you're doing - you need to know why you're doing it and what it is doing to you. This applies to cardiovascular (CV) exercises, weights, whatever. I know what you're thinking: "Oh, if I run then that'll help me lose weight and get fitter". Nuh, huh! I'll explain this later under the 'Overload' section.

Step three:

Learn to warm up and cool down. I cannot stress enough about this.

Warm up

Why do we warm up, you ask? Well taking 10 to 15 minutes to warm up (will tell you how to effectively in a moment) not only helps to avoid injury, it also aids in:
•   Preparing the body for the demands of harder exercise to follow - blood vessels dilate so more blood = more oxygen gets to the muscles and organs.
•   Thoroughly warming the musculoskeletal system -  increasing flexibility of musculature and synovial fluid (lubrication) is released into the joint spaces.
•   Increasing the core temperature  - increases energy production and joints'n'muscles become more flexible.
•   Increase mental focus and prepares the mind - triggers your flight or fight responses.
•   Rehearsing the neuromuscular channels and their function.
•   Preparing the body for extreme environment training - if it's cold or hot (excessively so).

There are two different kinds: psychological and active/passive. Psychological is obvious - you need to psych yourself up - chant, punch something, shout, whatever. Active and passive warm up is your physical warm up.  Passive warm up includes increasing the body temperature using external means such as clothing, the sun and sports massage. Active warm up involves progressive soft exercise - not ballistic or explosive movements.

Disclaimer - If it hurts, stop. I'm not going to accept liability for your injuries (this does not include next day aches/DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness).

To start - STRETCH. You need to do a maintenance stretch, which is held for 12 to 15 seconds. Work from head to toe and segmentally - 'wobble' your head around gently, move your elbows, fingers and wrists... stretch the rest.

Now you need to run between two points (soft jog... with a soft jay... 'yogging') that are about ten meters apart in your tracksuit bottoms and jumper. If you want to warm up at home, just jog in a circle. As you jog, you need to move your upper limbs and torso; pretend you are doing the breast stroke (SWIM STROKE, not boobs). Do this roughly for 2 to 3 minutes. To effectively warm up you need to break a sweat, but just, so you feel that you're warmer (hence warming up). Take your tracksuit bottoms and jumper off (put them in a backpack or leave them at home if you've done your warm up at home). Now you're ready to start your session.

Cool Down

This is the part most people forget - even more so than the warm up. The warm up is too prep the body and the cool down is to maintain flexibility and reduce the next day aches. Cooling down is more important than the warm up; do both of them. Every time I hear "Oh, I'll just stretch off in the shower" a piece of me dies inside. I repeat - the cool down session promotes recovery from the session (by promoting blood flow (so nutrients get to the muscle) and the removal of waste product e.g. lactic acid) and develops your muscular flexibility. A cool down is so much more than just stretching; if you stop directly after a hard workout blood pooling will occur and  you'll feel faint and may black out. Not nice - I've done it.

So if, for example, you go for a run, at the end of the session you should drop to a very gentle jog or fast walk and continue to do so for 2 minutes, afterwards when you get into your house/apartment/dorm room you should walk in a circle and note the good and bad parts of the session, again, for a few minutes. Doing this helps you prepare for the next session. Gently stretch your shoulders and HOLD it for 30 seconds - these are developmental stretches and help to realign the micro tears in your muscle(s). Like with the warm up, make sure you work segmentally from head to toe with your stretches. After you finish off, you need to do short dynamic stretches. Examples (google them if you're unsure how to do them) of these are:

•   Russian walking x6 (3 each leg)
•   Lunges x6 (3 each leg)
•   Squats x5
•   Controlled press ups and sit ups x5

Ice any niggles for ten minutes, then leave it for half an hour, then apply ice again for another ten minutes. Repeat another two times. If necessary, follow the PRICE guidance (protect, rest, ice, compress and elevate); you can find this on the internet.

The Golden Hour

The hour after exercise is called the 'Golden Hour' - a window of opportunity to replace the glycogen stores (energy) within your muscles. Easy food to scoff is a banana, orange or yogurt; but the best is something with carbs and/or protein or a pure fruit juice. After a weights session, it's beneficial to get some protein down you; I have specialist protein drinks since I basically don't eat meat much unless I am in mess or eating out.

Overload

To improve the fitness of any part of your body, you must overload/stress those body systems. So in simple terms - you need to make that part of the body work harder than it does normally. In response, the body will respond to the stimuli and adapt to the added stress and become fitter and stronger. This is why a very gentle jog that is not taxing is shit for weight loss and fitness - you need to find a point where  you feel a burn and are breathing hard to repay your O2 debt.  You need to think of four things when you work out:

Frequency - no point just running once a week; you need to do it at least three times. You need to have rest days in between as you start training, but as you get fitter you'll only need one or two a week. However, some sessions will be low intensity and some high intensity.  
Intensity - as I said; there's no point trying to exercise if you're not going to push yourself; if you don't your fitness won't improve. Of course, don't be stupid and overdo it - if you feel pain, then stop, rest and ice etc.
Time - to see improvements in the aerobic system, you need to increase the time of your runs/circuits as time goes by or you'll just hit a plateau.
Type - there's no point doing marathon training to boost your strength. Do your research before you dedicate your time to a training regime.

Types of Training Progression

Again, I will use running as an example. On the rest days you should do 30 second to one minute developmental stretches. Here is a short regime for getting ready for a 5K race:

Week one:
•   Monday - One minute run, one minute walk for thirty minutes.
•   Tuesday - Rest.
•   Wednesday - Same as Monday.
•   Thursday - Rest.
•   Friday - Same as Monday and Wednesday.
•   Saturday - Rest.
•   Sunday - Ten minute light jog.

Week two:
•   Monday - Rest.
•   Tuesday - Five minute run.
•   Wednesday - Rest.
•   Thursday - Eight minute run.
•   Friday - Rest.
•   Saturday - Five minute run.
•   Sunday - Eight minute run.

Week three:
•   Monday - Rest.
•   Tuesday - Ten minute run.
•   Wednesday - Rest.
•   Thursday - Ten minute run.
•   Friday - Eight minute run.
•   Saturday - Rest.
•   Sunday - Twelve minute run.

Week Four:
•   Monday - Rest.
•   Tuesday - Fifteen minute run.
•   Wednesday - Rest.
•   Thursday - Eighteen minute run.
•   Friday - Rest.
•   Saturday - Twelve minute run.
•   Sunday - Twenty five minute run.

By now, your CV fitness should be good enough to do a 5K run, but to improve further you should start incorporating lower limb exercises such as squats and burpees as well as intervals and 'fartlek'. I'll talk about these in the next part where I'll talk about weights and exercises.

Fuck the Gym

Yes, you heard me. Fuck the gym. If there's one thing I've learned - it's that you don't need any equipment other than shoes, shorts, socks, underwear and a t-shirt or vest (and a sports bra if you're female - please, for the love of God wear one; it's distracting and not always attractive). Again, I'll go into more detail in the next part, but in short body weight exercises (sit ups, press ups, dips, various planks, burpees, squats, bastards, star jumps, lunges, knees to chest etc.) are the best ways to gain strength, muscle mass and power without looking like a 'roid pumped idiot.

And you don't need a god-damned treadmill to run (unless the neighbourhood you live in is quite treacherous then yeah, maybe it would be better); just get out the door and trudge along!



To be continued...

(There will be several parts - going into various different workout regimes for different goals, more on body weight exercises, circuits and more example regimes.)