Hello everyone! After over seven months of living a healthier lifestyle, I seem to have hit a plateau, no weight loss in quite a while. I know that this is quite normal in weightx loss. Perhaps it could be because as I am losing the remaining flabs, I am gaining muscle mass at the same time. Whatever the case might be, I decided to kick up my workouts by a couple of notches. I did some research about a workout program put together by Men's health magazine --- it is called the 'Spartacus' workout. The spartacus workout program is a series of ten different exercises, each one done for 60 seconds and 15 seconds rest in between each exercise. The entire circuit is supposed to be done three times with 2 minutes rest after completion of the 10 sets of exercises.

Before, wednesday (when I started the spartacus), I thought I was moderately fit, but BOY did the spartacus workout prove me wrong. I was unable to complete one full round of the 10 exercises. My entire body is still in pains from doing the spartacus. Nevertheless, I will not let the initial setback deter me. Starting next week, I plan on doing thespartacus workout 3 days a week and my usual aerobics 2 days a week. It is really an effective workout and a true test of fitness.

Wish me luck as I face this spartacus thing HEAD ON from next week. I wish everyone a good weekend.

Echala: Hello everyone! After over seven months of living a healthier lifestyle, I seem to have hit a plateau, no weight loss in quite a while. I know that this is quite normal in weight loss. Perhaps it could be because as I am losing the remaining flabs, I am gaining muscle mass at the same time. Whatever the case might be, I decided to kick up my workouts by a couple of notches. I did some research about a workout program put together by Men's health magazine --- it is called the 'Spartacus' workout. The spartacus workout program is a series of ten different exercises, each one done for 60 seconds and 15 seconds rest in between each exercise. The entire circuit is supposed to be done three times with 2 minutes rest after completion of the 10 sets of exercises.

Before, wednesday (when I started the spartacus), I thought I was moderately fit, but BOY did the spartacus workout prove me wrong. I was unable to complete one full round of the 10 exercises. My entire body is still in pains from doing the spartacus. Nevertheless, I will not let the initial setback deter me. Starting next week, I plan on doing thespartacus workout 3 days a week and my usual aerobics 2 days a week. It is really an effective workout and a true test of fitness.

Wish me luck as I face this spartacus thing HEAD ON from next week. I wish everyone a good weekend.

Its nice to know you have your groove back. A plateau is most efficiently tackled with an HIIT which is what I feel this Spartacus is all about. Lets know how the results are coming in later. Way to go girl.

mightlove:
@all:am so loving the compliments i am getting. I saw someone i have not seen in some months and she was like, wow, you have lost weight and shapened up.she went ahead to ask if i am dieting, i told her no, am just more active and thats all. I didnt want her asking further questions because i am not sure it is something she may be willing and ready to embark on.
In the course of my new/healthy lifestyle, i have met people who asked and i was very willing and glad to help out.for some, i went as far as making copies of my dvds i bought for so expensive and sharing with them at no cost but after 1 or 2 weeks, they dump everything and go back to their old lifestyle. Infact, one of them that wanted me to keep a check on her sees me as a nuisance now cos i will ask her every day or every other day if she is still working out to the dvds and she keeps complaining about her weight. I dont even bother myself with her any longer.

Have a lovely weekend all.

Compliments are good and satisfies one's heart in a way. Congrats on your NSVs
As per your buddy, you know weight loss is a journey that needs enough self will and a strong will at that. That is why before you start working out or even sanctioning foods, ask your "church mind" what it wants to do and why, if it can be answered then one can do anything and everything. Billy Blanks at the end of his workouts says this "where I am today is where my mind put me, where I will be tomorrow is where my mind put me. In the face of battle you don't give up, you push yourself". This is something that must come from the inside of anyone embarking on the journey if not the person will fade like vapour. You will notice by June that gym membership fades automatically (from statistics), except the old women/men battling disease. If you can try the method of first working on their minds first before burning DVDs for them, maybe it will help a lil. But trust me we can only try o.

Hello everyone. Yesterday I couldn't workout cos I was prepping for an exam this morning, which btw was so worth it! Today 14/4/12: 20min dancing, 1500skips, 200squats, 100abs. Gud nyt y'all.

Hour_Glass:

Way to go girl

Guy/Man

@HG & Agaba (aka our house couple ): you guys crack me up with your backstage antics Even Gen B and his love of peanuts gets dragged into it..!funny enough I always assumed he is an older guy in his 60's haha (sorry Gen if you're not!) maybe cos of the 'gentle walks'...

Talking about assumptions,Mr Echala I always assumed you were a girl/lady/lass, hm...wonder why i thought this, somehow your posts didn't come across like you were a guy anyway, good luck with the new challenge, its always good to reevaluate ones regime esp when things are becoming stagnant. I'm also due to start some HIIT workouts by Cath Friedrich, just waiting for them to arrive in the post!Hoping this switch would jumpstart things as my body seems to be used to tae bo etal

@ML: that must have been a real ego boost and motivator when people start to see the results and comment. Well done babe
@Freshface: nice work. 200 squats - good stuff!

babs2011:
Talking about assumptions,Mr Echala I always assumed you were a girl/lady/lass, hm...wonder why i thought this, somehow your posts didn't come across like you were a guy

*Lips sealed* Echala a guy? WTF? That is a costly assumption sha.

I was rather surprised when my sweets was addressing him as a her. I've always known he is a man.

Hour_Glass:

*Lips sealed* Echala a guy? WTF? That is a costly assumption sha.

Unseal your lips now or. . .

Guys 2mao i start my jogging 4 1hr,skipping 150,press up 70,sit ups 70,my alround stuff

agabaI23: I was rather surprised when my sweets was addressing him as a her. I've always known he is a man.
Unseal your lips now or. . .

I don't know why I wanted to de-guy echala o, it has never crossed my mind that he is a guy/man.

Or what

meetndee: Guys 2mao i start my jogging 4 1hr,skipping 150,press up 70,sit ups 70,my all round stuff

Mtd that is very nice one for the start of a new week, we can only cheer you on seeing you are already strong.

Lol, dont yall remember when I posted a picture of myself using two tubers of yam as dumbells, this was during the occupy nigeria protests.
The confusion may have come from other threads sha, my wife does some of her postings on 'female threads' using my device (cos I'm always logged on) - could be why hehe

7 exercise myths:

1. If women lift weights, they'll become bulky and masculine looking.

The truth is that women have far too much estrogen to build excessive muscle bulk. Men build big muscles faster due to large amounts of testosterone -- which women don't have. So don't be afraid to weight train. It's vital to decrease body fat, increase lean muscle mass and efficiently burn calories around the clock.

2. Spot reducing will correct those problem areas.

This is absolutely false. There is no such thing as spot reducing. Very often people will ask me for exercises to reduce fat on specific parts of the body such as the waist, abdominal area or triceps. According to Alice Burton, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, "By exercising a specific body part, you are building muscle mass in that area that will look lean and mean only after burning the fat over the muscle." This is done through a combination of cardiovascular exercise and overall total body strength training to create metabolically active (calorie burning) lean mass. It's much smarter to focus on the total body than on one body part at a time.

3. Body weight is the best indicator of the effectiveness of your exercise program.

Getting on the scale is the last thing you should be doing to check for change. I hide the scale in my studio so that my clients don't get obsessed with their weight! I only have one because it's needed when measuring body fat and body mass index. Body weight is not a good indicator of change. You should be focusing more on body fat and how your clothes are fitting, because muscle mass is denser and heavier than fat, and it is more compact than fat. Chances are that you will see your waist size decreasing and your body shape improving before you see much change in your weight -- not to mention all the other health benefits you will enjoy. So get off the scale and have your baseline body fat measured... then periodically recheck it to see how you're progressing.

4. No pain, no gain.

This goes totally against my philosophy and how I work with clients. Being in pain is not a good indicator of a sound exercise program. If you're working with a trainer who inflicts pain on you, find another trainer! Exercise must be sustainable in order to be successful, and pain will surely bring your exercise plan to an end due to injury or burnout. Celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak states that "it's also important to note that pain can be a warning sign of an exhausted muscle or torn ligament. Be smart -- you know the difference between feeling discomfort and being in pain. Discomfort is acceptable in a challenging workout -- pain is not.

5. Your cardio machine is accurately counting the calories you're burning.

This one comes up all the time and causes clients great distress! These numbers don't mean a thing! I wish these calorie counters would be completely eliminated. It is not possible for a machine to accurately calculate how many calories you are burning without asking for your weight, gender, and body composition. The lower your body fat, the more calories you will burn. So someone with a higher body fat percentage is going to burn less calories than someone with less body fat -- on the same machine. How will the machine be able to differentiate between those two people? So don't fret if you've been on the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes and it's telling you that you've burned a disappointing number of calories. It's just not that smart. Besides, if you're doing interval training as we discussed in previous articles, you're continuing to burn calories long after you get off that machine.

6. Wearing leg and hand weights while walking or running will boost exercise benefit.

Please don't do this. Wearing weights while walking or running puts you at great risk of injuring yourself because it alters your normal gait and movement patterns and is detrimental to joints, nerves, and muscles. There are safe ways to increase aerobic capacity, strength, and caloric expenditure. According to a study done in 2002 in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, this isn't one of them! If you really want to add weight to your walk or run, try wearing a weight vest. This will more evenly distribute the weight and will avoid injury.

7. Muscle soreness after exercise is caused by lactic acid.

This is another false belief. Lactic acid is a byproduct of weight training, but it clears shortly after you finish training -- long before muscle soreness sets in. Muscle soreness is actually caused by microscopic tears that result as you exercise. As bad as this sounds, it's actually a good thing. This is what needs to happen before your muscles can hypertrophy and get stronger as a result of the healing of these tears. It's all part of the process -- but is unrelated to lactic acid.

Though there are many other exercise myths circulating out there, these are the ones that are often brought to my attention. My hope is that understanding the truth about these myths will be helpful to you as you continue to exercise in your quest to live a long, healthy life. Until next month, easy does it... but do it!

Source: Health and fitness section of the Huffington post, I visit there atleast once a day. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/health-fitness/

Hour_Glass:

I don't know why I wanted to de-guy echala o, it has never crossed my mind that he is a guy/man.

Or what

Or I kiss it

agabaI23:
Or I kiss it

*permanently sealed*

@HG:maybe that is what i'll do now. Work on their minds first.
@babs:thanks dear
logs for the past days
14/4/12
45 minutes on the elliptical machine
15/4/12
morning:10 minutes on the elliptical machine
evening:40 minutes on the elliptical machine
Have a great week all

Hour_Glass:

*permanently sealed*

Permanently kissed *Kissing continues*

hi all, am new here, I lost 12kg within 2 months and wants to share my formula. I use to weigh 80 kg 2 months back, height is 5ft 6 now i weigh 68kg.

i accidentally found out i have high bp, my doc advice that i loose weight after all the drugs he prescribed fail to return it to normal. First i reduced my food portions and cut out all junk food stopped eating white bread i ate white rice only once a week 15 tablespoons but with lots of dark green vegetables. I made beans my main food but no more than 15 tablespoon at a time with variety of fruits and vegetables, i ate garri , wheat flour with okro and onugbu soup and fish but in small portions like 10 lumps at a meal. Eat brown bread and skimmed milk. I walk at a pace of 4miles an hour for 45 minutes at least 4 times a week also jogg for 45 minutes Wednesday and Saturday morning. Within 2 i lost 12 kg and my bp is back to normal. At least this worked for me .

Buchika: i accidentally found out i have high bp, my doc advice that i loose weight after all the drugs he prescribed fail to return it to normal. First i reduced my food portions and cut out all junk food stopped eating white bread i ate white rice only once a week 15 tablespoons but with lots of dark green vegetables. I made beans my main food but no more than 15 tablespoon at a time with variety of fruits and vegetables, i ate garri , wheat flour with okro and onugbu soup and fish but in small portions like 10 lumps at a meal. Eat brown bread and skimmed milk. I walk at a pace of 4miles an hour for 45 minutes at least 4 times a week also jogg for 45 minutes Wednesday and Saturday morning. Within 2 i lost 12 kg and my bp is back to normal. At least this worked for me .

With all these results is inevitable, keep it coming buddy.

Buchika, well done on getting your health back on track. 80kg on a 5'6" frame doesnt sound like a lot of weight to me sha

Echala]Buchika, well done on getting your health back on track. 80kg on a 5'6" frame doesnt sound like a lot of weight to me sha.

my doc said so, even he said he is not sure the normal bp is not as a result of the shed weight. Well I keep on eating healthy and exercising, hoping for the best.

Buchika: my doc said so, even he said he is not sure the normal bp is not as a result of the shed weight. Well I keep on eating healthy and exercising, hoping for the best.

Maybe you need to just put your mind to rest then.

wow, congrats buchika and welcome to the thread. Thank God you are ok now.

Echala: Lol, dont yall remember when I posted a picture of myself using two tubers of yam as dumbells, this was during the occupy nigeria protests.
The confusion may have come from other threads sha, my wife does some of her postings on 'female threads' using my device (cos I'm always logged on) - could be why hehe

You took the "Yam tuber a la dumb bells"right out of my keypad.

Hi guys, how have you all been? It has been a crazy, busy weekend for me.....

@ Echala...i ffel the same way, i loose inches instead of pounds now, though i lost 2 ponds opver the weekend, but that was after a longwhile (3 weeks no change) Anyways...am not really complaining as long as as am not gaining weight , i will change things around, it looks as if my body is used to the normal routine i do everyday....

@ Buchika....welcome aboard...

No exercise for me friday and saturday...was too busy to incorporate any exercise into my time.

Logs for yesterday...30 minutes total body workout and 30 minutes pilates....used the pilates as a cool-down...very nice, my stomach is getting flatter by the day...Pilates does a good job.

@ALL,
How una dey.

@HG&AGABA,
Continue with your love/lust games.HG,when he begin show you his true colours do not come crying to me
@Buchika,
Classic example of "what you sow,you shall reap",you invested time,efforts and willpower,the reward is better health and a leaner frame.well done.
@ML,
Gone are the days of dragging the horse to the stream,the horse is HEAVIER&LESS INCLINED,all you can do is to just offhandedly encourage.
My sis-in-law is in"despair"cos she still looks heavy after 8mths of delivery,I tried o assist,i "helpfully&enthusiastically"prescribed a 30mins daily walking regime coupled with "sensible"eating for the next 3 months.she came back with "Am breastfeeding and Sad"..how does she expect to lose the weight?? By OSMOSIS!!!!

modath:

@HG&AGABA,
Continue with your love/lust games.HG,when he begin show you his true colours do not come crying to me

..how does she expect to lose the weight?? By OSMOSIS!!!!

He promised not to hurt me again

Now the osmosis part is really funny

tx ol 4 d wc. After a very hectic day i managed to walk for 42 minutes ate some fruits and ready for bed.

Monday 16th April

Brisk walking - 50 mins

Hope you all had a good day.

modath: @ALL,
How una dey.

@HG&AGABA,
Continue with your love/lust games.HG,when he begin show you his true colours do not come crying to me

Hour_Glass:

He promised not to hurt me again

Now the osmosis part is really funny

That's true sweetie. Mody, you know I am a good man. Experience has shown you that
HG, it is not what you think

agabaI23:

HG, it is not what you think

What