any fitness freaks or gym junkies on here?

[lazykid]

 what supplement are you using if you are using one
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what gym and how often?

[shinny]

For your first question, Optimum Nutrition protein. It's apparently the best one. Only been using it for a few weeks though, but it mixes well and tastes nice. As for where, basically just go to your closest possible gym. Anything that has a set of dumbbells (i.e. any gym) is really enough. The lack of any machines can be compensated with an equivalent dumbbell exercise. I went every 2nd day during the holidays, but now I'm pulling out to every 3 due to uni. Any more than every 2 is overkill. I'm sure lexitu will have some better insight into this.

[slothpomba]

I don't know about freak haha but i try to stay healthy.

I've been going to gym lately but i've just been hitting the cardio section, i got no idea which are the best weight exercises.

You guys care to offer some tips or anything like that?

(I hear creatine works rather well too)

[shinny]

I'd only use creatine once you start to plateau and not get any gains.

[lazykid]

nah. creatine gives your body too much water retention.
ive been trying to hit the gym every 2nd day atm and more weights than cardio. 5 min warm up cardio 60 -75 mins weights then 5 mins cool down
horleys ice wpi is the way to go
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found a great and cheap supplement store in dandenong that sells better products than gnc and cheaper

[slothpomba]

What weight exercises do you do?

[Cianyx]

The Uni gym is the greatest thing ever. $420 for the year and it's down the street

[shinny]

found a great and cheap supplement store in dandenong that sells better products than gnc and cheaper

Best I've found is Health4U. It's like the MSY of supplements. It's literally stacked half way to the roof around you with supplements, with only enough room for one person through each walkway at a time, but it's cheap as hell. $75 for a 5 pound tub of Optimum Nutrition.

[98.40_for_sure]

Fuck the supplements... build muscle without breaking the bank. I've been going hard for nearly 4 years (had a 8 month break during year 12), only having a PWO shake (time release protein). Did creatine for a few weeks but gave it up as it tastes like dogs balls. The degree of water retention you experience under creatine varies from person to person. For me, i didn't notice any difference at all hence i stopped, but for some they get 'bubble muscles' and put on a few water kilos. In regards to the 'every 2 days' garbage getting thrown around, that's complete shit. With bodybuilding and fitness, everyone is different and there's no point saying "whats the best supplement" and "best exercises" etc, you just need to experiment and if it works for you then it works.

I'm not one for cardio, as i find it to be a huge waste of time. Fat loss is done in the kitchen, not on a bike or treadmill. For those who think supplements are magic pills/powder that make you big or skinny, you're a fucking moron. You put in the effort, you get the results, there is no shortcut.

All in all, i'm a firm believer that money should be spent on your diet (steaks and chicken break the bank enough as it is) and not on supps which may or may not work.

[shinny]

Cardio isn't just for losing weight. There's the associated health benefits with it as well... Well, besides the fact exercise obviously helps you lose weight. It's a combination of both really. It's simple. Energy in>energy out=gain weight. And vice versa. Either lower your energy in by diet, or increase energy out by exercise.

Regarding best exercises etc, I think for a beginner it's still a good idea to learn a few proper exercises and play around with those. It doesn't really help saying 'find what works for you'. While there's no best way, there's obviously wrong ways. Form is extremely important. I've seen so many guys in my gym turn dumbbell flys basically into a dumbbell press with their terrible form. More importantly is that bad form predisposes to injury and that obviously screws up your gains.

[98.40_for_sure]

By energy, I'm assuming you're talking about food intake. Like calories and such. That would be the basic principle for beginners to learn, but i'm assuming we're not talking about beginners here. And if we were, they would be after gaining weight to begin with. Cardio would be used merely to warm their body up beforehand to dilute the inevitable soreness later on. There's way too many idiots going to the gym 7 days a week, doing bicep curls for 2 hours. Cheating and swinging like a madman as well lol so as long as they're doing some sort of variety of productive exercises, what works will show. Google is sufficient for anything bodybuilding, a million and one articles to read on exercises and videos on youtube to ensure proper form. I'll admit it is hard and perhaps intimidating to go into a gym and not knowing how to do things, especially since not everyone can afford PTs.

What's your stats shinny? height weight lifts etc? didn't know you were a junkie

[shinny]

By energy, I'm assuming you're talking about food intake. Like calories and such. That would be the basic principle for beginners to learn, but i'm assuming we're not talking about beginners here. And if we were, they would be after gaining weight to begin with. Cardio would be used merely to warm their body up beforehand to dilute the inevitable soreness later on. There's way too many idiots going to the gym 7 days a week, doing bicep curls for 2 hours. Cheating and swinging like a madman as well lol so as long as they're doing some sort of variety of productive exercises, what works will show. Google is sufficient for anything bodybuilding, a million and one articles to read on exercises and videos on youtube to ensure proper form. I'll admit it is hard and perhaps intimidating to go into a gym and not knowing how to do things, especially since not everyone can afford PTs.

What's your stats shinny? height weight lifts etc? didn't know you were a junkie

lol there's nothing wrong with wanting to do cardio for health while gaining mass. You're not going to get visible abs if you've got a sheet of fat overlying it no matter how big your ab muscles are. Depends what kind of look you're going for I guess. And nah, I only started this Summer so I'm not really a junky, and I haven't really gained that much yet.

[98.40_for_sure]

You get abs by dieting like a boss, you don't even need to do ab exercises. Let's compare two people, both equal in sexiness (important factor), both have exactly the same amount of fat, one is a 'crunch nut' and the other isn't, who looks better? The one who does no ab exercises will have a smaller gut in comparison. We have abs when we are kids, it's not something you have to go and do 10000000000 situps to get.

Your lifts must be increasing fast as... i remember the good feeling when the weight stack just goes up so quick at the start. When you're actually motivated because you feel you're getting something out of the time. Getting stuck at a plateau makes you rethink if training is worth it =/

[lazykid]

yeah, regarding supplements. i was speaking to a pt and he advised getting more glutamine into your diet (eg. spinach steak and chicken) but also told me of a good protein shake that had low carbs and sugar but high protein and glutamine. the glutamine works wonders for recovery, wake up next morning feeling no sore muscles or pain and even feeling energised.
guys, i find it funny seeing guys at the gym screaming their hearts out, while still using terrible form as most bodybuilders put it
Form > weight.
with my workouts i try to start off with compound exercises than work down to isolated exercises. eg. shoulder day,start off with upright millitary press and end with front/lateral raises.
try exrx.com great advice and instructions on how to execute each exercies perfectly.

[shinny]

You get abs by dieting like a boss, you don't even need to do ab exercises. Let's compare two people, both equal in sexiness (important factor), both have exactly the same amount of fat, one is a 'crunch nut' and the other isn't, who looks better? The one who does no ab exercises will have a smaller gut in comparison. We have abs when we are kids, it's not something you have to go and do 10000000000 situps to get.

Yeh, I had a free six-pack when I was younger. Lost it over the last few years, then gained it back within a week of starting gym I'm just really lean so it's easy though. For those with a bit more abdo fat, they might need to train their abs a bit more. For those with too much, no amount of situps will get there. But yeh like you said, abs is really all about dieting rather than situps/crunches as most people think.