These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

Out of Pod Experience

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
12Next page
 

How do I get my muscles to repair faster?
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Reaver Glitterstim
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#1 - 2015-03-21 05:00:25 UTC
I joined the Army Reserves and apparently I'm more out of shape than I'd realized. Even worse, my age seems to be catching up to me already, even though I'm only 31 years old. So I need to increase the number of pushups I can do, and thus I have been doing pushups fairly often. But I'm not building strength anywhere close to how fast I used to when I was young. In fact it's like I'm not gaining at all. For around half a year now I have been working on my pushups and all I seem to be accomplishing is making my arms gradually more sore. I am not overworking them, in fact I barely work them at all before they give out, and I give them plenty of rest, sometimes days on end. I stretch before I exercise but it makes no difference.

I'm trying changing my diet. I'm too young for this to be an age issue, so the problem may lie elsewhere. I have started getting more protein in my diet and that has yet to show positive results but I only started a couple weeks ago.

Any workout artists have any pointers for me? Are there foods I can eat to speed muscle recovery? Are there proteins that are better than others? What will help me build faster? I'm not looking to do any major bodybuilding, I just want to pass the basic physical requirements for being in the Army.

FT Diomedes: "Reaver, sometimes I wonder what you are thinking when you sit down to post."

Frostys Virpio: "We have to give it to him that he does put more effort than the vast majority in his idea but damn does it sometime come out of nowhere."
Gimme Sake
State War Academy
Caldari State
#2 - 2015-03-21 05:41:55 UTC
I'm no working out artist but jogging is your answer. Rowing a boat is probably equally useful. Or any similar outdoor sport that makes use of all your body muscles. Breathing fresh air while you're doing the effort is also important.

"Never not blob!" ~ Plato
Sibyyl
Garoun Investment Bank
Gallente Federation
#3 - 2015-03-21 05:55:47 UTC

If you want to build strength in your arms and in your hands find a climbing gym and climb the walls with foam ground cover and no ropes. My arms aren't big but I can hang off a ledge forever and transfer my weight around with just my hands.

Push-ups build your chest muscles more than your arms, I believe.

Joffy Aulx-Gao for CSM. Fix links and OGB. Ban stabs from plexes. Fulfill karmic justice.
Reaver Glitterstim
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2015-03-21 06:14:14 UTC
Well I can build my arm muscles by flexing my hands, but that's just anatomy.

I so wish I had a gym around here like you describe. Where do I find one of those?

FT Diomedes: "Reaver, sometimes I wonder what you are thinking when you sit down to post."

Frostys Virpio: "We have to give it to him that he does put more effort than the vast majority in his idea but damn does it sometime come out of nowhere."
Sibyyl
Garoun Investment Bank
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2015-03-21 06:27:42 UTC

You can look for a climbing gym but I wouldn't look for one too far away. Workouts should try and minimize external circumstances which may prevent you from doing it regularly.

You could start with pull-ups and build a climbing peg board. I personally just started by climbing trees and hanging off of them.

If you really are trying for more push-ups you can think of push-ups as upside down bench presses. A bench press is better with two weights instead of one since balance is an important part of building core strength (a single bar takes away a lot of effort you may have to put into balancing two weights while pushing on them). Now think about the different ways your arms can move to exercise with two weights while you're lying on your back. Strength is also about building from every angle of the involved muscles. Push-ups on their own just focus on one angle and tire your muscles out. There are a million types of push-ups like military style and diamond push-ups which change the angle of the push. Take a look at the arm workout routine in P90x. There are 6-7 types of push-ups there.



Joffy Aulx-Gao for CSM. Fix links and OGB. Ban stabs from plexes. Fulfill karmic justice.
Kaarous Aldurald
Black Hydra Consortium.
#6 - 2015-03-21 13:06:42 UTC  |  Edited by: Kaarous Aldurald
If you want to get better at pushups, the only real answer is more pushups, without going through a complicated gym routine anyway. Knowing where you're at right now, and where your target area is, is information that can be used to help you.

That said, there are general strategies you can use.

I recommend going to your absolute max, then knocking out a few every half hour afterwards for the remainder of the day(6 or 7 hours, depending on when you did the first max set). Tearing and re-tearing the muscles repeatedly over a period of time will give you good results more quickly than just doing a bunch now and then. (this can also be done with bicep curls to get forearm and bicep definition quickly)

Next, protein. If you're exercising regularly, your caloric intake can go up without having to worry about gaining much weight. I recommend peanut butter, it's a decent source of protein that is portable, easily stomached, and eaten in small amounts over time. Avoid beef jerky like the plague, ditto with most pre-workout or workout cocktails at your age.

Another important point is technique. Doing pushups correctly is more difficult than you might think, and doing them wrong will make you hit the wall big time as far as growth goes. To gauge your technique, get in front-leaning-rest, then slowly lower your chest to the floor without letting your hands move to adjust. If your arms are all cocked and feel uncomfortable, odds are your form sucks. With your chest on the floor, adjust your hands to where they are comfortable and raise yourself up, and that's about where you want to start with your form. Adjusting mid PT test comes later once you have the form down. And make sure to separate your feet, bringing your feet together and not distributing your weight makes it harder if you're a big guy like me.

Lastly, hydrate like a ************. Increased activity necessitates more water intake.

"Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws."

One of ours, ten of theirs.

Best Meltdown Ever.
Mina Sebiestar
Minmatar Inner Space Conglomerate
#7 - 2015-03-21 14:10:26 UTC
Withous using stuff that boost muscle growth only way to boost your self over self practise limit is having friend to help your body give out apsolute max and after u cant push out any more to use his streinght to lift few more until you totaly colapse.

Other than that just do more of what you do.

Push ups alone are ok but you need to target more muscle groups i would hit a gym.

You choke behind a smile a fake behind the fear

Because >>I is too hard
J Mcclain
Sniggerdly
Pandemic Legion
#8 - 2015-03-21 15:01:55 UTC
What you need to do is do pushups to muscle failure , then go to your knees and do more pushups. Don't go sup[er fast go nice and slow that slow exertion of the muscle will help build the strength you are looking for. But bottom line is pushing the muscle groups past your normal exertion level is where you will make your gains. Also don't forget to work out the supporting muscle groups like your back. Pullups and even weight assisted pullups will be a big help there. For the soreness you are feeling I have found that taking a BCAA supplement (Branch Chain Amino Acids) helps in muscle recovery as well as having a good post work out protein shake withing 30 minutes of finishing your work out will go a long way to getting the nutrients your mucles need to recover post work out. Also stop on into our Military Veterans channel in game " Best of Us " I'm sure you can utilize the channel to get more tips from other vets.

Creator and operator of the "Best of Us" channel for Military outreach and Veteran suicide awareness. Best of Us Community site

Reaver Glitterstim
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#9 - 2015-03-21 18:16:10 UTC
Thanks for the responses guys. Lots of good advice.

Maybe I just need to push harder, also I'll try the peanut butter and possibly BCAA if I can find it. I won't be going to any gyms because I'm way too poor (and lets face it, way too lazy), but I always believed working out at home was just as good as long as you can work the target muscles. Only thing I need a gym for is a pullup bar because those are out of my price range, I don't have anywhere to install one, nobody else has any, and despite me living around scores of trees they are all birches, poplars, firs, and pines, none of which are any good for climbing.

I hate not being able to climb trees but I haven't had the chance to since I was 19 years old. So frustrating!

FT Diomedes: "Reaver, sometimes I wonder what you are thinking when you sit down to post."

Frostys Virpio: "We have to give it to him that he does put more effort than the vast majority in his idea but damn does it sometime come out of nowhere."
Nana Skalski
Taisaanat Kotei
EDENCOM DEFENSIVE INITIATIVE
#10 - 2015-03-21 20:39:56 UTC  |  Edited by: Nana Skalski
I started with ten pushups and ended with 50 in a 3 months. I just made as much pushups as I could, with 1 day brakes from exercise, and eating slightly more meats. I just think that if you start breaking them more and more, and give them something to repair, the strength will come, they will not be bigger really, maybe slightly bigger.

It seems like the strength build in a longer timespan is lasting long, I just made 45 pushups, one year after I stopped making any pushups.

ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏғ ᴀ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘs ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴀ sᴛᴏʀʏ 📕

ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ᴀɴɢʀʏ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴏʀᴅ ɢᴜʏ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ʜɪᴍ

ᴏsᴘʀᴇʏ 🚀

≡⋁≡ ♥
Reaver Glitterstim
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#11 - 2015-03-21 22:24:50 UTC
Yeah I used to be able to gain that quickly when I was around 20-25 years, but I'm following the same technique and it's not working anything close to how it used to.

FT Diomedes: "Reaver, sometimes I wonder what you are thinking when you sit down to post."

Frostys Virpio: "We have to give it to him that he does put more effort than the vast majority in his idea but damn does it sometime come out of nowhere."
Celise Katelo
State War Academy
Caldari State
#12 - 2015-03-21 23:39:39 UTC
Its all in the mind

Be a man & fight the pain, pull the rage (mind of over matter) into your body & increase your Endorphin levels.
Short bursts of intense work outs will do you more good then long work outs, rinse repeat every day.

Climbing is rather a nice way to get upper body strength & also amazing fun. (Free climbing)
Another thing you can do is " tense your muscles, hold then release" , you can do this all day long, even at work.

The idea is to get your "Testosterone" levels kick started, as we get older they can drop so low that it becomes impossible to increase this natural hormone.

Stick to the white meat of poultry for excellent, lean protein
Drink water
Cod liver oil (Tuna other such types)
Etc etc...

Also try not to get stressed out




EVEBoard ...Just over 60million skill points, each skill was chosen for a reason. I closed my eyes & clicked another skill to train... "BINGO...!!!" ... "This time i got something usefull"
Reaver Glitterstim
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#13 - 2015-03-21 23:56:46 UTC  |  Edited by: Reaver Glitterstim
Celise Katelo wrote:
Its all in the mind

Be a man & fight the pain, pull the rage (mind of over matter) into your body & increase your Endorphin levels.
Short bursts of intense work outs will do you more good then long work outs, rinse repeat every day.

Mostly good points, but I disagree with this part. I can easily get past the pain but it's also there for a reason. Some people need a push to be willing to accept some of that discomfort, but some other of us need to know when to stop. If I didn't have the foresight to hold back, I'd easily hurt myself enduring pain just because it's easy for me.

FT Diomedes: "Reaver, sometimes I wonder what you are thinking when you sit down to post."

Frostys Virpio: "We have to give it to him that he does put more effort than the vast majority in his idea but damn does it sometime come out of nowhere."
Celise Katelo
State War Academy
Caldari State
#14 - 2015-03-22 00:12:38 UTC
You have a good point Reaver Glitterstim, never push yourself past a certain amount. But that pain fresh-hold is what you need to aim for. P

EVEBoard ...Just over 60million skill points, each skill was chosen for a reason. I closed my eyes & clicked another skill to train... "BINGO...!!!" ... "This time i got something usefull"
jason hill
Red vs Blue Flight Academy
#15 - 2015-03-22 22:47:25 UTC
I allways exercise by starting down the pub

then going downhill all the waaaay .........works a treat Big smile
Twisted
Khergit Deserters
Crom's Angels
#16 - 2015-03-22 23:15:42 UTC
OP, I'll just say that I had the same experience when I started doing karate training again after age 30. When I was 22, my muscles toned up quickly, and came out of classes feeling hyper-energized. At age 33, the strength-building was slow, the way you described. No good advice for you, just wanted to let you know you're not the only one with the same experience.
Rain6637
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#17 - 2015-03-23 11:49:20 UTC
Hey Reaver, thing about pushups is if you have the muscle to do one, you have the muscle to do 100.

There's a routine I did throughout the day that worked really well. There's also a pushup technique.

The routine is starting with 5 pushups as fast as you can, and stopping. 20 minutes later, do 5 more. In another 20 minutes, do another 5.

Each hour, increase your number of pushups by 1. Do them every 20 minutes.

Do that throughout your day, and when you continue the next day, you should be able to pick up where you left off, with no problems.

There's also pushup technique. When you drop your weight, make sure you're not trying to support yourself on the way down. That just adds more strain. Really let the gravity take you, and catch yourself right at the bottom of your pushup, without letting your chest touch the ground. This lets your triceps rest, instead of working when you go down as well as up. You end up resting about half the time you're doing the excercise.

For sit-ups too, let your body drop, rather than supporting your weight on the way down. When you're going for time, throw yourself back with your back and if you get the rhythm right, you can spring back into the beginning of your situp using your head and arms.

I was able to get within 1 repetition of a perfect score, between situps and pushups, and the speed makes the repetitions look very violent... and to do it, you have to let your body drop in the pushups, and also throw yourself back down in the sit-ups.

Help, I can't download EVE

President of the Commissar Kate Fanclub

PLEX: A Giffen good? (It's 1B?)
Black Panpher
CastleKickers
Rote Kapelle
#18 - 2015-03-23 19:53:03 UTC
Rain6637 wrote:

There's also pushup technique. When you drop your weight, make sure you're not trying to support yourself on the way down. That just adds more strain. Really let the gravity take you, and catch yourself right at the bottom of your pushup, without letting your chest touch the ground. This lets your triceps rest, instead of working when you go down as well as up. You end up resting about half the time you're doing the excercise.

For sit-ups too, let your body drop, rather than supporting your weight on the way down. When you're going for time, throw yourself back with your back and if you get the rhythm right, you can spring back into the beginning of your situp using your head and arms.


Not sure if troll? What?
Mijel Riak
Extensive Enterprises Space
#19 - 2015-03-23 21:53:54 UTC
Every time you jump a gate, or dock - do 10 pushups
Khergit Deserters
Crom's Angels
#20 - 2015-03-23 23:01:27 UTC
Mijel Riak wrote:
Every time you jump a gate, or dock - do 10 pushups

Big smile Good counsel for any one of us, there.
12Next page