I Am Sexy and You Can Too!

[Mariolee]

I've hit a plateau. It seems that, no matter how many reps I do, I don't see any gains. I can go from doing 20 reps per day to 100 reps and feel perfectly fine in the morning and see no gains at all. It seems that all I'm doing is maintaining what I already have. Which is incredibly frustrating. I can't afford to go to a gym, and I can't spare the time to do even MORE reps. Besides that, I really need the constant feedback of new gains to keep me doing this... if I'm not seeing results, I lose interest.

Are you doing the same exercises every day? For me, I hit that plateau a few weeks ago, and since I too can't afford shit, I searched up different exercises to do that mix it up a little. For example, I used to simply do crunches, leg ups, and push ups. Since then, I've added planks, fist push ups, push ups that have your legs elevated at a higher level, dips, jackknifes, bicycles and bicycle twists, as well as pull ups.

[KoopaDasher]

Are you doing the same exercises every day? For me, I hit that plateau a few weeks ago, and since I too can't afford shit, I searched up different exercises to do that mix it up a little. For example, I used to simply do crunches, leg ups, and push ups. Since then, I've added planks, fist push ups, push ups that have your legs elevated at a higher level, dips, jackknifes, bicycles and bicycle twists, as well as pull ups.

Yeah.... see, when I start having to do research just to understand the advice I'm getting about exercise, that's when I lose interest. Not that you're wrong, I'm sure you're right, I'm just not motivated enough to do all of that and plan an entire segment of my day just to run through a laundry list of exercises. Biking? Sure. Running? Maybe, if no one is around. But that much variety is out of my range of interest in being fit.

[YoshiStar]

If you're not motivated, forget it. You gotta commit yourself to stuff, man.

[Mariolee]

Yeah.... see, when I start having to do research just to understand the advice I'm getting about exercise, that's when I lose interest. Not that you're wrong, I'm sure you're right, I'm just not motivated enough to do all of that and plan an entire segment of my day just to run through a laundry list of exercises. Biking? Sure. Running? Maybe, if no one is around. But that much variety is out of my range of interest in being fit.

Like Yoshistar said, you HAVE to be committed. Get it in your mindset that you've already come too far to just give up. Work towards a goal, and step by step you'll inch towards it. Tell yourself that giving up is NOT AN OPTION. I mean, if you can't keep this up, what's stopping you at giving up on other things in your life as well. Think about it.

[KoopaDasher]

Like Yoshistar said, you HAVE to be committed. Get it in your mindset that you've already come too far to just give up. Work towards a goal, and step by step you'll inch towards it. Tell yourself that giving up is NOT AN OPTION. I mean, if you can't keep this up, what's stopping you at giving up on other things in your life as well. Think about it.

I don't have the time or the money to donate to something I'm not seeing results from. And I don't have the time or money to donate to it to find out why I'm not seeing results. I certainly don't have the time to do an entire list of exercises beyond my usual three. I'm sure it's easy for those of you that can come home and have no expectations, but I have a job that requires me to be beyond prepared before I even start, and I need that time.

[Mariolee]

I don't have the time or the money to donate to something I'm not seeing results from. And I don't have the time or money to donate to it to find out why I'm not seeing results. I certainly don't have the time to do an entire list of exercises beyond my usual three. I'm sure it's easy for those of you that can come home and have no expectations, but I have a job that requires me to be beyond prepared before I even start, and I need that time.

All you need is 30 to forty minutes every day. You're telling me you don't have that time?

[YoshiStar]

Obama probably has the hardest job in the world and he still makes time for the gym. No excuses. And yeah, it is barely a time commitment. If you have timr to get on vgboxart and talk about all of this, you have time to workout.

BTW, do any of you do HIIT training? It's really intense cardio. It's much more effective than running for half an hour or something. It'll probably only take like 20 min tops too. But in that 20 min, you're gonna be killing yourself lol. Google it. Try it out. It might just be the thing that helps you most. And please don't say "It's too hard for me so I'm not gonna do it at all." Just do your best. Don't let the perfect be enemy of the good.

[Mariolee]

Obama probably has the hardest job in the world and he still makes time for the gym. No excuses. And yeah, it is barely a time commitment. If you have timr to get on vgboxart and talk about all of this, you have time to workout.

BTW, do any of you do HIIT training? It's really intense cardio. It's much more effective than running for half an hour or something. It'll probably only take like 20 min tops too. But in that 20 min, you're gonna be killing yourself lol. Google it. Try it out. It might just be the thing that helps you most. And please don't say "It's too hard for me so I'm not gonna do it at all." Just do your best. Don't let the perfect be enemy of the good.

A quick google only gives me guidelines, but there's nothing specific that I see. As in, instead of saying "push ups" or "sprints" they just say "max workout". What do you usually do?

[YoshiStar]

A quick google only gives me guidelines, but there's nothing specific that I see. As in, instead of saying "push ups" or "sprints" they just say "max workout". What do you usually do?

Okay, well ... HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is just that, high intensity interval training lol. Basically, it involves short intervals of extreme effort separated by breaks. There are a bunch of guidelines and stuff on the net, but if you keep looking you'll overcomplicate things. This is what I do, which is fairly simple:

I sprint back and forth in my backyard, but you can do any cardio exercise. CARDIO, so no muscle building things like pushups and pullups or anything. So what I do is sprint for 30 sec to my FULL POTENTIAL. You have to give it your ALL. 100%. Everything you got! And trust me, it may sound easy to give it your all for 30 sec, but it's actually extremely hard to give it your all for just 15. So, push yourself like crazy in these 30 sec. Run as fast as you can. Once 30 sec are over, take a 1 minute break. As soon as the one minute is over, give it your all for 30 sec again. Repeat this until you just can't do anymore. It usually takes me about 15-20 min total until I am completley fatigued.

My sprint to rest ratio is 1:2, but you can change it up depending on your personal preferences. Don't change it up to make it too easy on you, though. No pain, no gain.

HIIT training will dramatically increase the amount of calories you burn. On top of this, you won't lose much muscle compared to long endurance exercises (hard to do long distance running if you wanna look muscular). If you're going for less fat, more muscle, HIIT training is ideal (if you work your muscles out, that is. HIIT training is a fat loss cardio thing)