Hello

[echo03]

Hey I'm TC. I've been to this site a few times but just registered. I'm 19yr and female. Basically my goal is to get into better shape so I can improve at rock climbing, kayaking, and all my other favorite sports.

-T.C.-

[koltz]

welcome aboard tc , I hope you have a good time on the forums and be active at posting..

[Drunken Panda]

Hello TC! I hope you find the site useful. You've got an impressive resume of sports from the sounds of it - looking forward to hearing all about them!

[echo03]

Yeah I'm into alot of fun sports but I've been working on increasing my lean muscle as well as doing alot of cardio to decrease fat. Right now I dont have problem pulling myself up a climbing wall but i want to inprove and decrease the amount of fat I have to lift.

[koltz]

Yeah I'm into alot of fun sports but I've been working on increasing my lean muscle as well as doing alot of cardio to decrease fat. Right now I dont have problem pulling myself up a climbing wall but i want to inprove and decrease the amount of fat I have to lift.
you can't really do it that way , if you eat a syurplus it's unlikely you will drop a lot of body fat from cardio , and if you overdo it it's even worsens ( drop in test , overtraining etc)

[echo03]

Well I'm ready to try anything. I have alot of control so if i get into a particular cycle I can continue it. but its very difficult to eat healthy living on a college diet, almost everything served here is either deep fried or covered in butter and mayo. I'm not close to overweight but i'm not real fit either. I've pretty much hit a wall when it comes to exercise, my routine isn't working for me anymore.

[koltz]

what routine have you been doing?

[echo03]

rock climb for 2 hours monday thru friday
run or bike 3-6 miles three times a week.
tuesdays I practice Kayak rolling
I and swim tuedays and thursdays.

I do about 300 sit ups a day but only about 40 pushups. I can get a single pull up but I've been working on improving that.

-T.C.-

[Drunken Panda]

It's great to see someone pursuing so many different sports, TC. I have a few thoughts on your current routine...

1) 300 sit-ups a day will not necessarily benefit you. Sit-ups are a very limited form of abdominal exercise, targeting only the rectus abdominis (the front-most abdominal muscle famous for being sculpted in a six-pack) - you need to target all areas of the abdominals (transverus, external, internal etc.) for a strong core.

In fact, I'm thinking of writing an article for these forums on abdominals, explaining the different muscle groups, what they do and how to target them. Maybe. I'll see...

2) Further, losing size around the midsection does not occur from spot-reduction (doing hundreds of situps will not make the the stomach shrink/burn fat - it will only make the core stronger/more muscular), but instead comes from losing bodyfat. To see those abodminals/look leaner, you need to lose bodyfat.

You do a lot of long-distance cardio at the moment. This is fine for endurance, but one of the best ways to lost weight/burn calories is to engage in short periods of high-intensity work (HIIT / High Intensity Interval Training). Try short periods of (hill) sprints, bike riding at high speed etc. to lose weight.

3) Diet will also help with this. I know how tough eating well at collage can be - I've been there - but stick at it and you'll reap the rewards. The best thing to do is plan in advance. Prepare foods at the beginning of the day (or even week) so that you'll have something to take with you and not have to resort to buying oftne unhealthy-campus food.

4) Good to hear about your pushups/pullup progression. Keep at the pullups - they're an awesome exercise. Don't fret the pushups too much. My advice would be to work up to 50 pushups (a nice, solid number) and then focus on establishing yourself with harder variations (elevated, plyometric, handstand pushups etc.)

Just some random thoughts. Use what you think is useful and discard that which doesn't work for you. Everyone is different, after all. Keep up the hard work and let us know how you are getting on!