As with all electronics, cheap Chinese ones fine. Renpho for me.
As with all electronics, cheap Chinese ones fine. Renpho for me.
Aldom for me.
Don't use it enough though, really should get it going on my lower back which has been bad the last week or so.
Anyone know of any tried and tested dumbbell-only programs they could recommend?
I'm incredibly unfit but a niggling back issue over the past year through golf is making me actually do something about it. Got a set of 30kg dumbbells on order.
Appreciate it's not as beneficial as a barbell when it comes to the likes of squats and deadlifts but I'm not going to a gym and I'm not buying a squat rack.
I've been following this for years https://youtube.com/@BurnBootCamp?si=5GAoKbhFpSUTgVL4
But most of their camps are probably going online soon and off YouTube. Might be a decent starting point though in the meantime. I've only got dumbbells and they do the job.
Google "reddit dumbbell only routine".
How do you lot take Creatine? I got told earlier that I shouldn’t be taking it with water as I’ll just piss it out.
Not sure raspberry flavour goes with chocolate protein powder but we’ll find out
I tried with water and I hated it.
Usually take it in my first protein shake of the day (but I've got unflavoured creatine) but I've also tried it in orange juice which makes it taste fine.
The unflavoured stuff with water is one of the worst drinks imaginable (hence getting raspberry which makes it taste like diluting juice)
I've never really got my head around the whole gym supplement market. Why do people bother with it all? Is it just about the GAINZ? All seems the height of mountebankery to me. Creatine, probably among a whole suite of other things, seems to have gone from outlier/headbanger material to the absolute mainstream in the last 10 to 15 years.
Furthermore:
Toggle Spoiler
How much are you using that the taste is an issue? I used to drop a tiny scoop - I think it was about five grams - into my mouth and then just wash it down with whatever I was drinking after the workout. I got out of bothering during the lockdown and never got back into it and haven't ever noticed any difference.
Dry scoop like a man.
5g is about the most the body can absorb. The rest is pissed out essentially. Drinking with water is no less advantageous than drinking with something else or dry heaving it. The science is sketchy on whether it’s actually beneficial, but it’s cheap as fuck and there’s no downside so why not.
The science isn't sketchy on creatine. It's one of the few supplements that's actually got some proven performance improvement..
I have it with my cereal dissolved in the milk.
I bought myself a weight rack now to add some other to my room and a new set of 30kg dumbbells.
If that's in response to me, my question wasn't so much as to the efficacy of these thing as I'm sure EPO or whatever else would also 'improve performance', it's more why, as an amateur in your whatevers in terms of age, performance is in any way a relevant factor in what you are doing? Health, enjoyment, community, fine, but pure performance seems to me to be the realm of the deranged malcontent.
In a field I have more experience in, it's like the lycra brigade in cycling and all the aero and weight-saving you can pour your money into. I just don't get it. If you feel you need to see constant performance gains in whatever you are doing, as an amateur, maybe you need to find something you can just enjoy doing in and of itself? Just feels like it ends up as an arms race that sucks people in for reasons they don't really know.
But that's probably just me. You can say the same about fast cars, expensive watches, fancy tasting menus and I guess the full gamut of wank that people spend their money on.
It costs pennies and isn't remotely dangerous, so it's more comparable to buying a bike in a particular colour than spending an extra six grand on carbon wheels.
As with most things, it just becomes part of the hobby.
Nico - it was in response to Ben re his comment on the science. But yes you're right, you can easily not do it and still enjoy working out. But it does help muscle growth and as Pepe says, it becomes part of the hobby.
It's one of the few supplements that are actually scientifically proven to do anything.
Cracked the 4 hours on the marathon today, third time of asking. Which for some reason is a weight off. 3:57:03 in York.
Fair play, congrats.
Good stuff, Alex. There seemed to be a lot of races on today.
I'm doing the Leeds Abbey Dash next week as usual. See if I can manage a sub-40 minute.
Thanks fellas.
@Foe - Kind of. But the last 10K or so (everything after 20 miles really) has been similarly unpleasant each time.
My (admittedly still fairly limited) experience is that i becomes very much a mental battle with yourself at that point.
@ScousePig - I've never done the Abbey Dash but would like to, and it's close enough that's I've no excuse not to. My 10K best is absolutely nowhere near that sort of level though, that's rapid!
Ha can imagine. One of my pals did a marathon up this way which is basically across some pretty hefty hills and the whatsapp videos and messages he was sending the group suggested he was on the brink of suicide at his arrogance that it would fine. I’m a quitter, I wouldn’t stand a chance.
Top effort all the same.
Completed my first ultra marathon last weekend Gower Ultra Bach 34 miles.
Amazing experience, beautiful views felt pretty fresh at the end of it besides the blisters on my feet making it feel like I was running barefoot on glass.
Lessons learned though take fresh socks as running in completly soaked feet with shoes that are filling up with sand continuously turns your socks into sand paper…
My Apple Watch is shit for running for longer than 6 hours as it died 25 miles and i left the charge ring bank in the hotel room.
Having to pull out my phone to check the gpx file to make sure I was going the right way is annoying to the extreme so I think investing into a coros or garmin watch that has maps enabled would be a decent investment.
12 months from morbidly obese to an ultra runner not a title I’d ever thought I’d be able to give myself!!
Last edited by Andrew; 17-10-2023 at 08:43 AM.
Amazing stuff man. Congrats
At this rate, you may as well sign up to this next year.
(P.S. currently live, 11 hours in and... many more to go).
https://backyardultra.com/
https://my.raceresult.com/266852/results#0_B3DC1F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MPGfWFs9CU
Managed to dip under 40 for my 10k at the Abbey Dash this morning. 39:50.
That's impressive!
That's, what, under 6:30 a mile? That's mad. That's six and a bit miles all quicker than any mile I've ever run.
Scouse has always been a rapid runner.
It just comes with experience really. I could have pushed myself and gone quicker, especially as my heart rate was only averaging 140 and I felt comfortable.
For a bit of context, I only came 500th-odd.
They've been running for 91 hours straight now.
https://my.raceresult.com/266852/results#0_B3DC1F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPDXoRdDDy4
The brother in law has been inspired by this video this and wants to walk 50km from Salerno to Napoli. What can possibly go wrong?
As long as he's got some Scottish walking boots he'll be fine.
I'm a big fan of the idea of walking holidays, I have the Camino de Santiago down on the to-do list if Allah permits it. Italy would be perfect for it but I'm not doing none of this marathon bullshit thats going to damage my body. It won't get the social media clout or the reformed cocaine addicts promoting it but split that up into 4 days' worth and actually saviour and enjoy it.
I've actually been eyeing up a visit to Iran. The architecture and ancient cities look incredible.
Myprotein.com need to chill with the emails. Fuck me. I know they love a promo but I’ve had 20+ this week and 5/6 today alone
Not related to the thread but on the topic of emails, I bought a new duvet set from Dunelm the other week and they must have sent me about 5 or 6 emails in the following couple of weeks begging for reviews. Fuck off, it's not even out of the packet yet.
They didn't seem to have an unsubscribe link till about the 6th email too.
Dunelm are so pushy with email receipts but you can't ever give in to that shit.
I bought a blind off them months ago and I seem to get at least one e-mail a day.
And you claim to be a man of the people... You're just Boydy with testosterone.
I switched from Athletic Greens AG1 to something called 33Fuel Ultimate Greens, purely based on cost, and my god I can barely drink it. So bad. Lesson learned: you get what you pay for.
I’ve been doing very well with quite a strict fasting plan (don’t eat between 6pm and 12pm) and lost 2lbs last week, after a recent spate of fast food and takeaways, and consider myself 6lbs from my target weight.
Problem is my ‘love handles’ are still flabby. What can I do to reduce/firm them up, please?
I'm a twit
Don’t be changing your physique for a fling in work mate
Lift some weights and do some exercise.
From the photos I’ve seen you’re built like a 1 iron anyway. What more is there to lose?
Just exercise to firm up what you’ve got rather than losing it. “Love handles” are literally the last thing to go and you can’t directly target them, despite what Instagram PTs might say.
Gave the new gym near my nans a go today. Some excellent old school machines and my first experience on a hack squat machine, absolutely brutal even without weight. Looking forward to going back a few times this week to play with all the random equipment and do a few deadlifts while I get the chance to use a barbell.