A Few Questions

[geokilla]

Hi guys. I've been keeping watch of this area for a while and I just want to ask a few questions.

About me:

I'm 16. Weigh in at 130 lbs. Height is 5 11 to 6? Last summer when I had my body checkup I was 5 10. I'm skinny =)

First Question.

Every once in a while, there's a few days where I won't be able to poo. Then a couple of days later, I'll be like passing gas a lot and I'll poo a lot. I know this isn't good for my health, so I'm wondering if there's any way that can help me poo more often. I eat vegetables daily, such as bak choi, brocolli, and stuff. It all depends on what gets cooked.

Second Question

Are there any exercises which I can do that DON'T require the use of weights? I simply don't have access to weights, nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising. Reason for exercising is so I can get stronger. I'm just too weak for my age.

I've done crunches, squats, and push ups like once a week. Every once in a while, my friend and I have a race to see who can do 100 crunches, 15 push ups, and 70 squats first. I know it doesn't help much, but racing's fun.

Earlier in the school year, we all had to do fitness for a couple of weeks for our gym course, which is mandatory in gr. 10. While we did fitness, we were only allowed to work on the machines and no free weights. We were told to do 10 to 15 reps of 80% of our maximum weight that we can lift, and that every time we hit 15 reps, we increase the weight by 5 to 10 lbs.

Anyways, I remember working out on the following machines:

Leg Extension (my quads felt really good and I liked the feeling when I was on the machine? )
Leg Curl
Ab Machine (got up to 100 lbs)
Bicep and Tricep machine
Chest Press
Hip Abductor
Chest Fly
Lat Pulldown? (dunno what it's called)

That's all I can remember.


Simply put, I'm asking what exercises can I do that don't require the use of weights. And, what can I do so I can poo more often and not wait for a couple of days.

Thanks to all and sorry for the long post.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I didn't read much about cardio exercises in your post (cycling, running, hiking, etc.) so you should definitely be doing at least 3 sessions a week.

Running is the single best activity for keeping one "regular". (That, and lots of whole grain fibre and water in your diet.)

I apologize in advance if this is TMI, but both when I was running competitively and now as a recreational runner, I poop 2-3 times a day.

Hope this helps.

 

[MegaVovaN]

I simply don't have access to weights, nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

Why?

Bodyweight exercises will only get you so far. If you want strength, you gotta lift. There's no other way.

If you want to get something outta BW exercises, do them 3x a week, not once a week. And you call 15 pushups a "race"? Try 50+ pushups and harder variations of pushups.

Also, do pullups. Hell if you don't have access to weights use boulders and gallon (and 5-gallon) jugs of water/sand. Hell bags/backpacks of sand or just random heavy crap work too.


If your family is uptight, move out in 2 years, get a job and you will have no restrictions.

 

[geokilla]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

I simply don't have access to weights, nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

Why?

Bodyweight exercises will only get you so far. If you want strength, you gotta lift. There's no other way.

If you want to get something outta BW exercises, do them 3x a week, not once a week. And you call 15 pushups a "race"? Try 50+ pushups and harder variations of pushups.

Also, do pullups. Hell if you don't have access to weights use boulders and gallon (and 5-gallon) jugs of water/sand. Hell bags/backpacks of sand or just random heavy crap work too.


If your family is uptight, move out in 2 years, get a job and you will have no restrictions.

15 is like both of our max....I race against a girl........Yes I'm weak. We're just racing for fun anyways =P

How do I do pullups? I could go to the park, but those bars are either too short or they're monkey bars. >.<

My family's not uptight, but I just don't want them to go like wtf at me. I'm lazy, and not the kind to exercise. Can't believe that I'm actually gonna do some exercises myself.

Are my list of my BW exercises good enough? That's like about all you can do without the use of weights right?

As for the pooing, would exercise help? My mom says it's because I sit too much so my body's not working, meaning my intestine's not working, meaning that I can't poo often.

 

[MegaVovaN]

You can do pullups anywhere, including monkey bars. Though I'm not sure if you will have enough str at the moment to do them.
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-...with-proper-technique/

Maybe you should set your family a deal...they give you gym membership (it can be pre-paid for just a month), and you work out with real weights. It is "easier" and more effective to do. Strength gains should be way more rapid than just doing a bunch of bodyweight exercises with no scheme or plan.

@poo = yes. I am a regular because I lift and do cardio.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: geokilla

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

I simply don't have access to weights, nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

Why?

Bodyweight exercises will only get you so far. If you want strength, you gotta lift. There's no other way.

If you want to get something outta BW exercises, do them 3x a week, not once a week. And you call 15 pushups a "race"? Try 50+ pushups and harder variations of pushups.

Also, do pullups. Hell if you don't have access to weights use boulders and gallon (and 5-gallon) jugs of water/sand. Hell bags/backpacks of sand or just random heavy crap work too.


If your family is uptight, move out in 2 years, get a job and you will have no restrictions.

15 is like both of our max....I race against a girl........Yes I'm weak. We're just racing for fun anyways =P

How do I do pullups? I could go to the park, but those bars are either too short or they're monkey bars. >.<

My family's not uptight, but I just don't want them to go like wtf at me. I'm lazy, and not the kind to exercise. Can't believe that I'm actually gonna do some exercises myself.

Are my list of my BW exercises good enough? That's like about all you can do without the use of weights right?

As for the pooing, would exercise help? My mom says it's because I sit too much so my body's not working, meaning my intestine's not working, meaning that I can't poo often.

Why care? You're only benefitting yourself by getting some exercise in. Who knows, if they see your lazy ass exercising, they may be inspired to do so themselves.

 

[conorvansmack]

Add fiber to your diet and drink water regularly, and your bowels will become more active. Also, make sure you're eating good food (unprocessed, natural stuff like fruits and whole grains) regularly.

You can totally do pull-ups on monkey bars! If you have trouble doing more than one, jump up so you're already in the pulled-up position and slowly let yourself down to where your arms are extended. There's nothing wrong with not being able to do pull-ups. Everyone starts at a different place.

It probably wouldn't hurt to ask your family what they would think about you joining a gym. It's not just about getting stronger, it's about being healthy. They might support you, but you'll never know until you ask.

 

[GenHoth]

Your family is going to think you're weird for wanting to be fit? Suck it up, they'll understand.

 

[geokilla]

All right, so I can probably try to do pull ups, crunches, push ups, squats, and this tricep workout where I put my hands by the edge chair or bench. I forgot what it's called, and I can't really describe it.

For the poo, I'll try and drink more water and eat good food. However, can I replace water with tea or like orange juice? I don't like to drink water at home, so I usually drink tea.

As for trying to go to a gym, I have to be 19+ or something the last time I checked. I'm still a couple years away from that age. I do have access to my high school gym though every school year. If I could find a friend to go with me, I might work out after school for the next school year. But, if I recall correctly, our gym is made up of mainly machines, with a bit of free weights and dumbbells. I do remember seeing some seniors doing some squats with both the machine and the free weights.

Also, I recall the first time I used the leg extension, my quads felt like weird and good at the same time. I can't describe it, but I really liked that feeling I was getting. However, I only got that feeling on the leg extension and not on any other machines.

After I do about 20 crunches, my abs start to hurt. How many crunches should I continue to do? I only do 100 when I'm racing with my friend. Same goes for squats. My legs start to feel tired after about 30 squats. How many should I do for that?

 

[gramboh]

A few comments

1) You have to drink water, it's unhealthy not to consume water. You can get water from other liquids/foods but it's most efficient to drink it directly. This will help you become more regular with bowel movements.

2) The burn you describe from leg extensions is muscle fatigue. It's good you liked the feeling. Honestly, you should start weight lifting. You already have the desire to do it (enjoying the feeling of that burn). It will help you put on muscle and grow in size relative to your peers. I'm sure your school has an olympic bar and weights for it (the football players would usually be training squats with the olympic bar + weight in most schools). Maybe see if you can get the coach to let you train with them.

3) Racing can be good, but not at the total expense of form. Do as many crunches as you can with tight form. Better yet would be to add weight (e.g. holding weight over head while doing it). It doesn't have to be a dumbbell it can be anything.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: geokilla
nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

This is easily one of the strangest things I've read on this forum. All I can say is why?

In regards to pooing, you need to make sure you're getting enough water and fiber. Tea is a diuretic, and as such depletes your body of water. Drink a lot more water (or juice or whatever) and eat fibrous foods.

 

[geokilla]

Originally posted by: gramboh
A few comments

1) You have to drink water, it's unhealthy not to consume water. You can get water from other liquids/foods but it's most efficient to drink it directly. This will help you become more regular with bowel movements.

2) The burn you describe from leg extensions is muscle fatigue. It's good you liked the feeling. Honestly, you should start weight lifting. You already have the desire to do it (enjoying the feeling of that burn). It will help you put on muscle and grow in size relative to your peers. I'm sure your school has an olympic bar and weights for it (the football players would usually be training squats with the olympic bar + weight in most schools). Maybe see if you can get the coach to let you train with them.

3) Racing can be good, but not at the total expense of form. Do as many crunches as you can with tight form. Better yet would be to add weight (e.g. holding weight over head while doing it). It doesn't have to be a dumbbell it can be anything.

Water ehh.....Yuck lol. But I guess I'll drink more so I can poo better. What's some fibrous food that you guys talk of? Fruits?

You say it's muscle fatigue, but it felt different than the other type of fatigue I felt when I was working out on my other muscles. Like when I was doing bicep curls, everything was fine, then I felt very tired all of a sudden. On the leg extension, I felt that muscle fatigue on the first rep. And I found out that even though my legs feel tired, I can still push it harder than on my upper body. One example is if I felt tired on the 10th rep of leg extension, I could still forcefully push it to the 15th rep by resting for like 2s for each of the reps after the 10th rep. On my upper body such as abs, bicep, etc., once I get tired, the most I could push was like 2 more reps.

This is cus my upper body is weaker than my lower body right? As you could see, I could only do around 15 push ups.

For doing crunches with tight form, what do you mean by tight form? And how many should I do after I feel pain in my abs?

 

[KoolDrew]

nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

You really think your parents are going to discourage you from exercising?

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Water ehh.....Yuck lol. But I guess I'll drink more so I can poo better. What's some fibrous food that you guys talk of? Fruits?

You say it's muscle fatigue, but it felt different than the other type of fatigue I felt when I was working out on my other muscles. Like when I was doing bicep curls, everything was fine, then I felt very tired all of a sudden. On the leg extension, I felt that muscle fatigue on the first rep. And I found out that even though my legs feel tired, I can still push it harder than on my upper body. One example is if I felt tired on the 10th rep of leg extension, I could still forcefully push it to the 15th rep by resting for like 2s for each of the reps after the 10th rep. On my upper body such as abs, bicep, etc., once I get tired, the most I could push was like 2 more reps.

This is cus my upper body is weaker than my lower body right? As you could see, I could only do around 15 push ups.

For doing crunches with tight form, what do you mean by tight form? And how many should I do after I feel pain in my abs?

Yes your legs are typically stronger than your upper body (I think the ratio is 2/3 muscle is below waist? could be wrong here). For tight form, I mean it's better to do 20 slower crunches where you are tensing your abs in the middle of the rep, then bang out 50 really fast where you aren't contracting your muscles as much (if your goal is strength).

 

[geokilla]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising.

You really think your parents are going to discourage you from exercising?

More like wtf. And it's my mom, my dad doesn't live with me. Damn bastard...but that's another story.

Originally posted by: gramboh

Originally posted by: geokilla
Water ehh.....Yuck lol. But I guess I'll drink more so I can poo better. What's some fibrous food that you guys talk of? Fruits?

You say it's muscle fatigue, but it felt different than the other type of fatigue I felt when I was working out on my other muscles. Like when I was doing bicep curls, everything was fine, then I felt very tired all of a sudden. On the leg extension, I felt that muscle fatigue on the first rep. And I found out that even though my legs feel tired, I can still push it harder than on my upper body. One example is if I felt tired on the 10th rep of leg extension, I could still forcefully push it to the 15th rep by resting for like 2s for each of the reps after the 10th rep. On my upper body such as abs, bicep, etc., once I get tired, the most I could push was like 2 more reps.

This is cus my upper body is weaker than my lower body right? As you could see, I could only do around 15 push ups.

For doing crunches with tight form, what do you mean by tight form? And how many should I do after I feel pain in my abs?

Yes your legs are typically stronger than your upper body (I think the ratio is 2/3 muscle is below waist? could be wrong here). For tight form, I mean it's better to do 20 slower crunches where you are tensing your abs in the middle of the rep, then bang out 50 really fast where you aren't contracting your muscles as much (if your goal is strength).

By tensing, you mean when I'm like in the up position of the crunch right? So something like 20 slow crunches, then around 50 fast ones once I start to feel pain? Or should I go with like 20 normal, slow ones, then try and do 10 with a dictionary?

So maybe around 50 squats, 15 push ups, some crunches, triceps dips, and pull ups if possible right? Anything else to add to that mix? I could always try like bicep curls with the dictionary.

My primary goal is to get stronger. Secondary goal is to get my abs to show a bit and have some visible muscle. They show now even though I don't do anything, but I'd have to flex them to get a faint outline of my abs and other muscles.

Oh, and I found out what fibrous foods are. I also noticed that every once in a while, my stomach looks bloated (more round?) when it's usually flat. It sorta gets back to normal after I take a dump.

 

[irishScott]

If you can get a gym membership/access to a rowing machine, I recommend rowing as a combo cardio/core exercise. However, you have to have good form otherwise you risk making one arm stronger than the other or blowing out your back.
http://www.concept2.com/us/training/technique.asp
http://www.concept2.com/us/training/muscles_used.asp

Note on technique: Just clarifying what's in the links above. During the "drive" don't let your ass shoot back before your upper body. Good way to blow out your lower back, and it's an extremely inefficient motion.


With regards to diet, as others have said: fiber + water. Any fruit with skin is good, as is microwave popcorn and uncooked vegetables (cooked vegetables typically have the insoluble fiber cooked out of them IIRC). If you don't drink plenty of water, you will get gas up the arse (literally), and painfully hard shits. Water lubricates the intestines (among other things) and keeps the indigestible stuff (aka fiber) moving. It also softens the stools to prevent afore-mentioned painful shits.

Note: By plenty of water, I mean aim for at least 4 full glasses a day. I don't know why you're going "yuck" at water of all things, unless your local water tastes like crap. In that case, I'd suggest one of the Pur/Brita faucet filters. Check out any Home Depot/Lowe's

Also, from your description, even if your parents do go WTF at your exercising, I'd imagine it would be a "Wow our lazy kid is finally taking some responsibility for himself? WTF AWESOME!".

Good luck.

 

[skace]

1. Drink water. Eat green beans. If necessary, get "Fiber One" bars, but do not consume more than 1 a day, you've been warned. And yes, running will help you crap. Get a dog if you want to learn that lesson because it's a natural thing.

2. You are 16 years old, you are very weak and if you ever want to look like a man you are going to need to get some weights. That is the inevitable fact of life, unless you are a lumberjack or work in construction. Buy some dumbbells, you can hide them in your room if need be, they are not as expensive as you probably think they are and you don't need to buy an entire set at once.

You grow up think you will just naturally look strong one day, but the reality is that you won't unless you yourself put the work into it. Do it now while you are still young and you will thank yourself 10 fold when you are in college.

If you are doing 100 crunches, time to add some weight or review your form. Make sure you aren't throwing your arms or utilizing your legs or inanimate objects in any way. Try doing them with your legs in the air and your arms at your ears. You want a slow, smooth motion so that you aren't using momentum or anything else to throw yourself through the exercise. There are about 50 different situp variations, so change up your model if this one is too easy. Racing is cute and all, but bragging rights are useless. Exercising is like golf, you aren't playing against other people, you are playing against yourself and trying to beat your score.

 

[Invisible Evil]

Water = Delicious, and if you want to jazz it up get the flavored water, I drink the Aquafina berry splash.
NO Soda diet or not.

Fiber = If you want to stay regular just get you some fiber pills, I am happy to say regularity is good to have!

Maybe you should go to the library and get you a fitness book, there is A LOT of information and it can be overwhelming.
Trust me I have only been at this for about 3 months and I am still as confused on something than when I started.
I luckily partnered with someone at the gym recently and they are showing me some really good things.

Don't give up on this if results are not immediate.

 

[geokilla]

All right. Today, I did push ups, and crunches at various times throughout the day. I just didn't feel like doing them all at once. Just now I did some squats and my legs are a bit tired. Even thought they are a bit tired, it's not the same as when I was working out on the leg extension, doing like 130 lbs for 15 reps. However, at the end of my crunches, I added a dictionary behind my head to add some weight and to make my crunches more challenging. I did the same for squats as well, adding the dictionary and a textbook that I have lying around.

Originally posted by: irishScott
Note: By plenty of water, I mean aim for at least 4 full glasses a day. I don't know why you're going "yuck" at water of all things, unless your local water tastes like crap. In that case, I'd suggest one of the Pur/Brita faucet filters. Check out any Home Depot/Lowe's

Water tastes fine. Good water = no taste, which is exactly why I don't like water. I prefer tea over water when possible. I will drink water, maybe just not as often as I should since I'll be drinking tea and orange juice as well.

As for getting a gym membership, I have to be like 19+ last time I checked to get a membership or anything of that sort. I'll just see if I can find any of my friends and see if they wanna work out with me during the school year at my school's fitness room. Even though it consists mainly of machines with some free weights and stuff, it's better than doing just body weight exercises to try and get stronger right? I'm just too weak if I can only do like 15 push ups, even though I have to take like 2s rests between each push up after the initial 10.

Question: How should I breathe when I do squats? I was breathing in when I was going down, and breathing out coming back up. Is that correct? Oh, and can someone answer the first 2 questions on my previous post about the crunches and any other exercises I can try and do without weights? Thanks.

 

[geokilla]

Waa today I went to the park and did some chin ups/pull ups. I managed to do one of each....by swinging my body. I think I'll stick with push ups, crunches, and squats.

Question: Over the weekend, my quads were hurting/felt really tired and it lasted from Friday to Monday. Just walking up and down the stairs gave me pain. I think this is you guys call being sore?

 

[KoolDrew]

I think this is you guys call being sore?

I call it becoming a man.

 

[geokilla]

Came up with another question that's muscle related.

How do muscles develop when you're working out and when you're resting? When you're working out, I understand that you're like putting strain on your muscles or something because they have to work harder to say lift 30lbs of weight compared to just 10lbs of weight. But, how come they like get bigger over a certain period of time?

Example: When we had to take fitness back during the school year, I noticed that when I was working out on the leg extension, my quads looked perfectly normal when my legs were done like an L shape, but when my legs were parallel, my quads were like defined and showing.

 

[MegaVovaN]

I am not an expert, but I think of it this way:

When your legs were parallel, the quads are "flexing". They compact, compress, come together to deliver force and thus you see them defined. When legs are in L shape, quads are stretched and mostly relaxed.
Same thing with abs. Normally they are stretched along the belly, but if you "flex" them, you will see squares (or feel them with your hand) - muscles compressed and are exerting force against your back.


As for overall muscle development, when you demand more of muscles, they provide it. Like anything in body, if you keep pushing it to near limits, the limits will increase, the body will adopt. I do not have enough knowledge to explain it in detail.

 

[yelo333]

OK, I'm an amateur, but I'll help where I can...

Originally posted by: geokilla

Every once in a while, there's a few days where I won't be able to poo. Then a couple of days later, I'll be like passing gas a lot and I'll poo a lot. I know this isn't good for my health, so I'm wondering if there's any way that can help me poo more often.

Fiber + water does the trick for me. I have a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast most days. Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Are there any exercises which I can do that DON'T require the use of weights? I simply don't have access to weights, nor do I want to lift weights or let my family know that I'm interested in exercising. Reason for exercising is so I can get stronger. I'm just too weak for my age.

Yes, bodyweight exercise is fun and there are many options.

Like you, when I first started, I didn't want anybody to know about it. IMHO, it's best to just let them know about it, become the brunt of jokes for awhile, and just keep doing it. If you're consistent and get results, it turns to respect for your hard work. Just keep it up.

I've done crunches, squats, and push ups like once a week. Every once in a while, my friend and I have a race to see who can do 100 crunches, 15 push ups, and 70 squats first. I know it doesn't help much, but racing's fun.

Yes, get your friends involved. crunches, push ups, squats are all good exercises.

Simply put, I'm asking what exercises can I do that don't require the use of weights.

Crunches, push ups, squats are all great exercises. Other fun things to try:

pull-ups and chin-ups (palms facing you = chin-up, palms away = pull-up. For most people, pull-ups are harder and work the lats/back more. Chins are slightly easier and tend to hit the biceps/arms harder. There is a significant amount of overlap between the two)

Static Holds

Dips between a couple chairs

Lunges

There are also a gazillion core exercises. To name a few (just google): V-ups, Lying Hip swings, Plank, Supermans, Russioan twists, rollouts with an ab wheel.

Pushups, pull-ups, dips, and squats all have an almost unlimited number of variations you can switch around as your body gets bored. Just google a bit and I'm sure you'll find more than you ever wanted.

How do muscles develop when you're working out and when you're resting? When you're working out, I understand that you're like putting strain on your muscles or something because they have to work harder to say lift 30lbs of weight compared to just 10lbs of weight. But, how come they like get bigger over a certain period of time?

Your muscles actually get weaker during your workout. Afterward, they recover, but recover stronger than before, because your body is adapting to the stress imposed upon it. So the recovery is as important as the workout in the first place. If you're trying to improve your pushup numbers, you'll likely improve faster if you do it every other day instead of every day.

If you're trying to get big muscles and not just stronger, there really isn't any (easy) way around using weights. It can be done, but it's very hard, and requires a very high level of dedication. Weights are much better for this.

If you're shooting for becoming a better athelete that's faster/stronger/higher endurance, I've gotten a ton of mileage out of Ross Enamait's book Never Gymless. There's a review of it here.

It would be incredibly hard to gain a large amount of size with this book, given that about half of your time is devoted to conditioning. The other half is improving strength, which includes both max-strength and explosive strength.

So if you're trying to get big and be strong only from a max-strength perspective, you're going to need to hit the weights hard and eat a lot of food. This is where programs like Stronglifts 5x5 and Starting Strength come into play.

BTW, keep doing the pull-ups. They complement push-ups very nicely since it hits the back/back of shoulders/biceps and the pushups hit the triceps/front of shoulders/chest. Since you can already do one by swinging a little, just keep at it and you'll be able to do a few in no time.

At any rate, I'd purchase a book of some sort. Exercise is so much more fun when you're getting results. If you're wanting to do bodyweight exercise, then IMHO, Ross Enamait's Never Gymless is the best book available. If you get a gym membership somehow, then by all means pick up a copy of Starting Strength.

 

[KoolDrew]

Example: When we had to take fitness back during the school year, I noticed that when I was working out on the leg extension, my quads looked perfectly normal when my legs were done like an L shape, but when my legs were parallel, my quads were like defined and showing.

The same reason you see your bicep when you flex it...