I want the body of a Greek God

Good luck Mick, Mrs Mick really will appreciate the improvements!
Tony

Alex

I paid extra to be pestered and monitored by a "Fitness Trainer". Same sort of thing as a personal trainer in the sense that they keep you on the staight and narrow.

I have a couple of friends who have started doing this and whilsted they ached for the first couple of weeks, find that they feel a lot better now.

I will give it 3 months and see how it goes. I am certainly aching.

Regards

Mick

Velcro Shorts

Mick,

What the hell are velcro shorts? Would you stick to a wall of velour if I threw you at it?

Also, studies have shown that 3 workouts is too little, and there are significant benefits to be had from adding a forth.

Good luck.

PS- We all know this is merely part of your dream to model amongst your Naim gear in the next newsletter.

Mick,

I assume you mean *Lycra* shorts not velcro. Otherwise I have visions of you begin flung off the back of the treadmill and gettting stuck to the gym carpet by the seat of your pants and having to endure an undignified prising off the floor by the gym staff.

Also the lycra is more Tim and Ross's thing these days. When I'm ripping up my local jump spot I tend to favour a baggy cargo pant or similar.

Matthew

Snap.

Don't expect to go too fast on the way down. 4 pounds is good, take more time for walking on days off. Do lots of sight seeing/walking and hill climbing on your trips. That is certainly more enjoyable than a treadmill. Cut out the junk food and excess alcohol (I have friends that cut out pasta and bread and for a time their nightly wine bottle or two and they dropped about 14 pounds). And, think more steamed veggies than other fattening casserols, and bread etc and the weight will slowly come off. But, you have spent many years adding it on, it's not something that comes off really fast. and of course more active listening to your Naim gear could help, along with daily situps and pushups for that toned adonis body.

glenn

Life is analogue

It's called Self-Dicipline, without a trainer kicking you in the arse and screaming.

Life is Digital.

Fritz the Cheese.

Graham Ricketts

Mick

I reckon that the routine given above should move weight pretty quick - assuming you do not tell yourself that you can have an extra pud because you have worked hard today. Drinking more water also helps reduce hunger by bulking up the food you are digesting. Avoid "Rules" at all costs.

I had the body of a Greek Temple; now its a Greek Restaurant.

Keep at it.

Regards

Mike

On the Yellow Brick Road and happy

Just to keep you encouraged Mick, make the personal trainer a female. It will make a difference to your attendance & performance . No... really..!
And when you are about to go for a business lunch and feel the risk of over-eating, have an apple or banana before going so that when you look at the menu, the edge has gone from your appetite.
Good luck buddy.

She is a female.

Regards

Mick

Will we get before and after pictures?

I do hanker for another glimpse of that wallpaper.

Herman

Mick, I do wish you every success, and on behalf of the rest of us congratulate you for putting mere theory into physical practice [exercise stomping on poncey diets any day of the week]. For me, even just thinking about going to the gym gives enough of a mental frisson to justify a bag of Sensations [festive Honey Roast Ham now available to the seriously committed, as a Limited Edition].

What I want to know is Mrs Mick's position. From the ' ... dinner tonight?' thread, we all know that she undeniably qualifies for Domestic Goddess status, serving up those traditional delicacies which poor male mortals cannot resist - we haven't heard about her steak & kidney puddings [but I have my fantasies].....

Whilst I would not dream of enquiring after Mrs Mick's measurements, I do hope that she is not one of those partners who presents a feast and then picks at it herself, e'en as a sparrow, acompanied by worrying comments such as, 'It'll only go to waste' or 'It won't keep', leading to Things One Later Regrets. [I speak from bitter experience]. Getting her on side would seem to be a major plank in your programme.


throb

Mrs Mick was up until 2 years ago a size 12 and now it is 14. She has joined a different gym near her place of work and swims 50 lengths 4 times a week.

We have both decided to live a simpler existance and mid week dinners are now only one course. Tonight was a small piece of gammon with potatoes, swede, cabbage and peas. The bulk of the meal is vegatables.

I have porridge every morning.

We limit ourselves to two bottles of wine per week. The whisky portions are also reduced.

My social life is also relatively frugal, only one night out per week.

Our only vice is a decent restaurant meal on saturdays or possibly a take away curry.

Although the gym is boring....I use it as time to think.

I just hope 3 sessions per week is adequate.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:

I just hope 3 sessions per week is adequate.

Regards

Mick

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Based on the differing recommendations that exist, and given we hope to motivate people via the mood effects of exercise, as well as its health protective functions, we recommend at least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise on at least 3 days per week.

I ran my first sub 21 minute 5k on a treadmill last week. I didn't have time to get bored, I was too busy trying to keep my lungs on the inside.

Mick - Nothing wrong with a take-away curry occasionally - but if you have bolied rice instead of pilau, you will save 500 calories intake. Amazing but true.
Don't forget to keep to a glass of water (small whiskey tumbler size) every hour always every day.

The other thing to do if you are so inclined is to take up cooking. Food interest can be satisfied as much by cooking as by eating. When I cook for friends, and I am the main cook in our house, I find that I make small portions of rich food, and barely eat much myself. It helps to not just be a consumer. (If I had a Mrs Mick I suppose it may be different - you may not yet have the body of a greek god, but you probably have the lifestyle).

The most important thing is that whatever you do is sustainable, not for a month or even a year, but until you drop. Anything else is a complete waste of time.

For example, say you decide to do some press-ups every night. First attempt you can do 10 and it hurts. Within a few weeks you are up to 20 or 30. Your motivation is being fuelled by rapid gains in fitness. Problem is :

1) When you get to say, 100, you start to dread the session because its HARD.

2) There has to a limit to how many press-ups you are prepared to do in a session so your perceived progress diminishes and with it your motivation.

Net result : the activity has become harder and less rewarding. Conclusion : you will give up.

Solution. Choose an activity that you enjoy. Make it hard enough to feel that you have done some work but easy enough for it to be sustainable. Don't ramp it up to the point where you are putting unreasonable expectations on yourself. Better to do 20 press-ups a night for 20 years than 100 for 2 months.

Same applies to running, cycling or whatever.

I have the body of a Greek god. It looks as if its been dead for centuries!

Regards,

Roger Poll.

Mick,

Hope you every success on your pursuit of that greek god body. You really need to decide which Greek God you want to aspire to, give this a go.

Greek Gods...

Good luck!

I am currently training for a big climb in the Andes so am putting myself through my paces. Annoyingly the treadmill only goes up to 16kmph but the step machines can be fun, how big a pool of sweat can you leave around the machine after 20 minutes of agony? Still not really great training for the endurance I will need and altitude issues.

cheers

Matthew

The interventions that we design to promote exercise use prospective memory aids that are believed to automatise behaviour. Essentially they give you a shortcut to habit. We've found that in other areas the change in behaviour that occurs is not mediated by motivation. Put simply, by making a very simple plan that links how, when and where you will exercise, you will end up doing more exercise than someone who intends do to just as much as you. For example, all my exercise for the week ahead is in my diary as appointments. Running in to work on a monday relies no more on motivation that getting the bus does, it's just what I do.

That's not to say motivation isn't important, just that it's prone to vary over time, and it appears that by linking a behaviour to environmental cues, you may help yourself do something that may have dropped several places in your 'to do' list. Think of all the behaviours that you perform during any week for which your motivation is not an issue. Do you consider whether or not you can be bothered to pay the bills or go to work? If you can turn regular exercise into a habitual behaviour, you are set.

On the motivation side of things, I recall a study that found by warming down properly at the end of a gym session, motivation to engage in subsequent sessions was increased. IIRC, it was posited that gentle exercise at the end fooled your body into thinking it hadn't been tortuous.

I'd bet Mrs Mick would be pleased to have you look like this, Mick.

Well, Mekon will tell us it's all a matter of motivation, and of getting appropriate training worked into one's daily régime ...

quote:

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Originally posted by Tom Alves:
No manner of stretching's going to help

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So you have tried them all?

quote:

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Originally posted by Markus Sauer:
Well, Mekon will tell us it's all a matter of motivation, and of getting appropriate training worked into one's daily régime ...

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Far from it, health psychologists are only mopping up the variance not explained by (what can be loosely termed) biological, environmental and social factors.

As that picture demonstrates, no amount of planning or motivation will get the job done if you haven't got the right tool to start with.

I'm curious: Do scaled in the UK measure in stones? Do you do the conversion in your heads. (let's see: 14 stones = 6.35 kilo. carry the one. . .)

Judd

quote:

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Originally posted by alexgerrard:
Can't make a mountain out of a molehill. Or, in this case, a cumberland out of a chipolata.

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I'm sure Mick is OK in the equipment department, it's his arse that's the wrong size