Best way to get in shape?

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by rubecube

So if I'm trying to drop 10 lbs, what should my daily diet ratio percentages be in terms of carbs vs. fibre. vs. protein vs. fats? Or does it really matter if running a calorie deficiency?

It depends on your current weight, height and age. It's not a standard formula for all people.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by HOOT

It depends on your current weight, height and age. It's not a standard formula for all people.

Well if you want specifics, I'm 22 years-old, 5'8", 165 lbs.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

My question was you said everybody should lift weights. Why is that? How does that differ from climbing? As far as climbing goes, it goes something like 75% top rope (endurance), 15% bouldering (power) and 10% lead (mix of both? or at least feels that way). However, I know especially with bouldering, people just ruin their bodies, notably shoulders and fingers. Does weight lifting do that?

I'd think doing soccer and top rope climbing should help my endurance, but after 3 straight days of it, on the 4th day I'm completely crapped out and I can't do more then 4 days. I'm trying to change that since I'd like to do a 1-week climbing trip (for Kybosh, the 32-pitch Half Dome route) and right now, I can't do that. I'm not even sure I can do a couple full day trip ones I want to do (for Kybosh, Cathedral Peak and the 8-pitch Half Dome route, Snake Dike). Mentally, I'm getting there, but physically I don't think I am - does lifting weights help that?

Those are some awesome goals man! As far as lifting weights is concerned in conjunction with climbing (note, I am not an expert) the goal is a little different. With straight lifting the goal is to increase muscle mass in localized areas. Climbing is much more holistic and our muscle comes in primarily in the shoulders, back, core, forearms and legs. The way I'm treating weight training is as a means to even out the muscles that I'm not using during climbing. For example, climbers often over develop their shoulders which can actually lead to increased amounts of rotator cuff injuries. To combat this, part of my routine is to do a variety of shoulder rotation exercises.

To get to your goals I would suggest that you alter your climbing schedule a bit. I'm primarily a boulderer so I may be a bit biased , but I would recommend increasing the amount of time you spend bouldering to 40 or 50%. You will see results, I guarantee it. You're absolutely right that the risk for injury is greater (I've blown two finger pulleys to date and messed up one shoulder once) but if you take it slow you won't have a problem. When you boulder the trick is to seperate your sessions into either an endurance/traversing session or a power session. The endurance sessions are all about only using easy holds and staying on the wall for extended periods. You won't have the rope to help you out so all the gains will be on you. For the power days, go hard on some routes that are at the edge of your ability but stop before you are too fatigued and could injure yourself.

Also, check out "How to climb 5.12" or "Training for Climbing". They have some interesting tips and such.

Edit: If you aren't doing this already, you should start down climbing as many routes as possible. Instead of being belayed down to the ground (or jumping off the wall for bouldering), climb back down for that super pumpy feeling!

[metallicat]

I'm late to the party, and there are obviously people who know more than me here, but I cannot suggest CrossFit enough.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Well if you want specifics, I'm 22 years-old, 5'8", 165 lbs.

My god your short. 165lbs can't be that bad though, my boss is super short too and he was at 180 for a long time, but he looked normal to me.

[3 Justin 3]

So I am underweight and want to build up in 3 areas, my waist (only a 29 in Jeans! and I am 6'3"!), my wrists (too thin, since I have long arms), and my shoulders.

My legs are fine, don't need them to get bigger ATM.

How do you build up your wrists/forearms?

[phaneuf_train]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

How do you build up your wrists/forearms?

Use both hands.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

So I am underweight and want to build up in 3 areas, my waist (only a 29 in Jeans! and I am 6'3"!), my wrists (too thin, since I have long arms), and my shoulders.

My legs are fine, don't need them to get bigger ATM.

How do you build up your wrists/forearms?

Start bouldering. It won't really build up your wrists (sorry, that's mostly genetics) but you'll work your forearms and shoulders like nothing else. . . in addition to working a billion other muscles.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Those are some awesome goals man! As far as lifting weights is concerned in conjunction with climbing (note, I am not an expert) the goal is a little different. With straight lifting the goal is to increase muscle mass in localized areas. Climbing is much more holistic and our muscle comes in primarily in the shoulders, back, core, forearms and legs. The way I'm treating weight training is as a means to even out the muscles that I'm not using during climbing. For example, climbers often over develop their shoulders which can actually lead to increased amounts of rotator cuff injuries. To combat this, part of my routine is to do a variety of shoulder rotation exercises.

To get to your goals I would suggest that you alter your climbing schedule a bit. I'm primarily a boulderer so I may be a bit biased , but I would recommend increasing the amount of time you spend bouldering to 40 or 50%. You will see results, I guarantee it. You're absolutely right that the risk for injury is greater (I've blown two finger pulleys to date and messed up one shoulder once) but if you take it slow you won't have a problem. When you boulder the trick is to seperate your sessions into either an endurance/traversing session or a power session. The endurance sessions are all about only using easy holds and staying on the wall for extended periods. You won't have the rope to help you out so all the gains will be on you. For the power days, go hard on some routes that are at the edge of your ability but stop before you are too fatigued and could injure yourself.

Also, check out "How to climb 5.12" or "Training for Climbing". They have some interesting tips and such.

Edit: If you aren't doing this already, you should start down climbing as many routes as possible. Instead of being belayed down to the ground (or jumping off the wall for bouldering), climb back down for that super pumpy feeling!

Yeah, I'm trying to get back into bouldering, but you spend so much time standing around to rest. 1 minute bouldering, 5 minute rest... when I do boulder, I tend to do more traverse type stuff then actual boulder problems because I'm so weak lol.

What do you mean by "straight lifting" when you are in the gym? For me, I'd like to build muscles in my shoulders. My core is pretty solid, I try to avoid my back since its a little messed up, my wrists could use a bit of world but for the most part I'm pretty good on slopers, and my best strength right now is fingers as I can pull up my body weight with 2 fingers or even a pinch. (though my fingers just ache after a route)

And yeah, I've been practicing downclimbing on top rope the past few months though I guess I sort of got away from it lately. Its funny that I could probably free solo something, but when I'm downclimbing, I seem to burn so much more energy; not sure if I'm just pumped out or what. I never jump off on bouldering and always downclimb because my ankles are so weak I'd really mess them up if I fell.

[HOOT]

On a side note anyone looking to recover quicker and help get rid of that pain from a squat or bench press is icing after and later in the night. You will be amazed how quickly you can recover by doing that. Even a quick 10 minutes.

[Azure]

If you're going to isolate muscles you can run into problems.

The reason the DL is so awesome is because you basically work every single muscle in your body.

Even climbers....you're using a lot more than just your upper body.

But, if you climb, and you want to get better at climbing....check out Crossfit.

[metallicat]

Interestingly enough, tomorrows WOD for CrossFit is fairly deadlift specific.

Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps

[Caged Great]

one of the things I'm doing right now is basically throwing left and right hooks like a boxer would, but I have 15lb weights in each hand. It's an endurance thing, and I just keep going till I cannot any more, up to about 50 punches with each. I do this exercise about 3 times a day. It has worked pretty decently for all the muscles in my upper body. I've only been doing it for about a week or so, and for the first time in years, I'm actually starting to get rid of the extra little bit of fat I have and put muscle on at the same time.

Not sure if that's a particularly good exercise or not...

[OilersBaby]

What an awesome thread! You guys have raised a lot of points for people that are trying to get into shape or do things differently than they presently do.

Someone mentioned that you should intake about a gram of protein for every lb you weigh. My trainer told me the same thing..and its hard. I definitely have to consciously make an effort to get to the 120g I need.

Remember to let your muscles rest if you are weight training. You can run everyday but if you work out your quads for example, 3 days in a row, its really bad.

You guys talked about protein powder. My question is: are protein powders = to having natural protein or is it bad to rely on it to get to your desired amount? What about protein bars? Ive discovered this amazing new protein bar and have it for breakfast instead of egg whites which I used to have. The bar is low enough in sugar and its just more convenient. Do you think its bad given that its not a natural source of protein and its a replacement?

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by rubecube

So if I'm trying to drop 10 lbs, what should my daily diet ratio percentages be in terms of carbs vs. fibre. vs. protein vs. fats? Or does it really matter if running a calorie deficiency?

\

What HOOT said but you definitely need to stop with the refined sugars and even diet sodas.

Also muscles burn more calories than fat, so for every lb of muscle you gain you have to do less work (your body will just burn fat on its own).

[Caged Great]

For every pound of muscle you add, it burns 100 extra calories per day on it's own.

Adding muscle really does help.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

How do you build up your wrists/forearms?

I little forceful tuggin' a few times a day should do the trick.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

To get to your goals I would suggest that you alter your climbing schedule a bit. I'm primarily a boulderer so I may be a bit biased , but I would recommend increasing the amount of time you spend bouldering to 40 or 50%. You will see results, I guarantee it. You're absolutely right that the risk for injury is greater (I've blown two finger pulleys to date and messed up one shoulder once) but if you take it slow you won't have a problem. When you boulder the trick is to seperate your sessions into either an endurance/traversing session or a power session. The endurance sessions are all about only using easy holds and staying on the wall for extended periods. You won't have the rope to help you out so all the gains will be on you. For the power days, go hard on some routes that are at the edge of your ability but stop before you are too fatigued and could injure yourself.

Yeah I'm concentrating on bouldering too. Generally only do bouldering, almost zero time on top rope or lead. Three 2.5 hour sessions a week or so with some exercises afterwards like push ups, planks/bridges, crunches and some other core work.

I should maybe try and do an endurance session every once in a while. The bouldering wall at my gym is small though, hard to find a good spot where you can boulder for like 3 minutes straight.

[Azure]

What is bouldering?

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Well if you want specifics, I'm 22 years-old, 5'8", 165 lbs.

What I would recommend is joining a website like myfitnesspal.com or fitday.com and just go through the steps. It asks lifestyle questions like what you do for work, how often you workout, etc. to give you a better idea.