I am fairly fit ,5'10'' ,130.I can bike 20miles in a day [I do it sometimes],15 Pushups in a row,50 sit-ups,and can do 3 miles of jogging in about 35 min.I don't have much weightlifting equipment 2 15Lb. dumbbell,a arm cruncher spring ,and a bike.Does anyone know a good regime and diet to add maybe 8-10 pounds of muscle over the next 3 month's?I need a pushup,pullup,situp,type.

Try to google Army Physical Fitness Training FM21-20 there may be some ideas in there.

Is that 3 miles in 35 minutes with or without high heels??????


Eric

Whittlin'....why do you need to gain 8 - 10 pounds of muscle?

Three months is a fairly reasonable time to get fit mate. Try to put aside an hour each morning, or at least 3 times a week, to do a bit of PT. If the pushup, pullup/heave and situp are all part of a military entrance physical, then doing the exact exercise that they will test you on is the ideal way to bring yourself up to their standard.

If they want 50 pushups, then train doing 3 x sets of 10, ensuring that you do them correctly...hands shoulder width apart, back straight, lower under control till your chest touches the ground, then raise under control to full arm extension. Keep your chin up and don't arch your back into a "sway back" position. As you get fitter, increase the number of reps in each set until you can do the number required or reach the required standard without stopping. It is a good idea to set your goal at 30% higher than the required standard. Also, unless there is a particular cadence you need to maintain, set yourself a goal of say 50 pushups in two minutes.

Pullups/chinups/heaves...again, find out what the required standard is and using the above principles, work towards it. Be aware that this is probably the most difficult of the three exercises and you will need to tailor the number of reps you do accordingly but to still attain the required standard.
Find yourself a rigid horizontal bar that is sufficiently strong, and high enough, to support your weight hanging at full arm's extension with your feet clear of the ground. I found it easiest to use a step to allow me to get a good grip on the bar without having to jump up. Speaking of grips...there are three different grips you can use:
1. under grasp grip...palms on the opposite side of the bar as your body and facing inwards towards you...the easiest method to use.
2. over-grasp grip...palms on the same side of the bar as your body and facing away from you...the hardest method to use.
3. alternate grasp...a combination of the two above grasps...one arm in each position...good for squeezing out one or two more reps when you can't do anymore using over-grasp grip.

Raise yourself until your either "breast" the bar or get your chin over it...lower under control then repeat the rep.

Situps...Find out the required standard and again, using the principles mentioned above, work towards it.

I always set my goal at 100 situps at a cadence of 3 seconds per situp...raise, then lower in three seconds. To reach this goal of 100 nonstop situps at that cadence I would start at doing 3 x sets of varying numbers and styles. First set would be 30 situps, second set was a minimum if 20 situps, third set was the maximum I could do. Work at this until you can do 3 x set of 30 reps , then add another set of 25 reps.

Now, the actual situp itself...lay flat on your back, draw your feet in towards your butt until your knees are at roughly 90 degrees...place the palms of your hands on your thighs with your arms straight. You can initially put your feet under something that will keep them on the floor and assist with the situp, but the goal is to do all reps without this support. When you start your reps, raise your upper body...WITHOUT JERKING IT UP (this will hurt your back) OR RAISING YOUR BUTT OFF THE FLOOR...at the same time slide your palms along your thighs until your wrist rests on top of your knees, pause, then lower under control, sliding your palms back to the start position. Prepare for the next rep. Some say that to assist in supporting your neck it is good to tuck your chin down into your chest/neck.

You can also incorporate some crunch type situps into your training regime. A crunch situp is difficult and works your abs pretty hard. I always started off doing them with my feet resting on a chair...that is, lay on your back, raise your legs thill your thighs are vertical, then bends your knees down to approx 90 degress, resting your feet on a chair. Place your hands on the SIDE of your head over your ears. NEVER grab the back of your head with your hands when doing any sort of situp...you will hurt your neck and do damage...most painful. Now you simply raise your upper body with aim of touching your knees with your elbows. Don't be disillusioned if you cannot do it initially...this is a difficult exercise. As you get fitter, you can get rid of the chair and keeping your legs in the same position cross your ankles and then do the exercise as before. If you are going to incorporate crunches, remember....you will not be able to do as many as you can normal situps...they are working directly on your abs.

You WILL end up with sore muscles for the first week or so, especially after a hard session. This is a build up of lactic acid in your muscles. Always warm up your muscles with gentle warm up exercises followed by light stretching, and finish the session with light warm down exercises again followed by stretching. When you start the morning session with sore muscles, be gentle but firm in your warm ups and push through the initial pain, but do not overdo it. Remember, Rome was not built in a day.

Firstly, get yourself a good quality set of running shoes/joggers...with good heel strike absorption. With your running, work on a run of 5km round trip 3 times a week...that is about 3 1/8th miles. Set yourself a goal of 5km in about 22 minutes. Alternatively you can reduce the distance to 2.4km (1.5 miles) with a goal of completion in 12 minutes. Occasionally increase your run to 8 km (5 miles)...maybe once each two weeks. Don't be afraid to also include some walks as well mate...they are also good for your cardio-vascular fitness building.

Try to incorporate some reasonable hills into your run...they help build stamina. Most important thing I found when running is to ensure you control your breathing. I would start out breathing in over 4 paces and out over 4 paces...as I started to fatigue a bit I would reduce that to in over 3 paces, out over 3 paces. When I started to fatigue significantly I would reduce it to in over 2 paces and out over 2 paces. On an uphill run, if I couldn't maintain in over 2 paces, out over 2 paces I would suck in a big breath in 1 pace, hold it for a pace, then dump it over 2 paces. speaking of hills...always lean into the hill and shorten your pace a little when running uphill. If you feel yourself starting to get a stitch (pain in the side)...take a big breath, hold it for maybe 5 or 6 paces, then let it out...do this until the pain eases.

Exercise can be a lot of fun and enjoyment....and after a while you will form a mild addiction to it and the endorphins your body release...but most importantly you will be a lot fitter and healthier which can only be good for you mate.

Let us know how things are going for you mate.

Cheers, Vince

That is some good solid advice from Vince. Weight training and body building are not an all around PT program but with the advice from Vince and if you are able to find the book I told you about you will be able to get into the best shape of your life. There is one more thing we haven't mentioned yet and that is self discipline. At first you will find muscles that you had no idea were there. You have to work through it with heavy and light work outs. Three months is more then enough time to "get in shape". I wouldn't worry about gaining any muscle weight, that will come at about 35-40 when you build and tone the beer muscle. Let me know if you can't find the manual I recommended. Good luck!!!

I'll try this to start-
80 push-ups set of 10-3:00 timer.
140 sits various types sets of 20-4:00 timer.
1.5 mile run-14:00 .
30 pull-ups sets of 5-2:00
Increase intensity by add 10% more a Week and removing 5% from the timer

whittling wrote:

I'll try this to start- 80 push-ups set of 10-3:00 timer. 140 sits various types sets of 20-4:00 timer. 1.5 mile run-14:00 . 30 pull-ups sets of 5-2:00 Increase intensity by add 10% more a Week and removing 5% from the timer

WOW...that is a HUGE start Whittlin'. Make haste slowly mate.

80 push-ups is a massive start....far too many mate, same with the sit-ups and 30 pull-ups is way way too many to start with. I don't know how much running you do mate, but again, 1.5 mile in 14 minutes is a bit unrealistic unless your fitness levels are already fairly good. Sure, you might be able to do it, but not without making yourself very sore and risking hurting yourself or straining something.

Start at realistic levels, levels that your body and level of fitness will decree. If you over-do it at the start you will either hurt yourself and/or become disillusioned and loose confidence and the drive to continue.

Rather than have a maximum time for a set of exercises, do the exercises under control, slower, and have a rest of 2 minutes between sets (you will be surprised how quickly it goes by). As you improve in fitness reduce the rest period time between sets. The object is not to do the exercises as quick as you can, rather to do the exercise correctly and under control in order to build strength and fitness. You will gain more from doing the exercise slowly and under control than by rushing it. As a test, try doing 10 push-ups really quickly, have a rest and then do a further 10, only this time do them slowly and under control...lower slower and raise slower...see how you feel after doing that 10, or if you can even do them all. You will then be able to see which is doing more for your fitness.

Cheers, Vince

Vince is defiantly giving good advise here!!!
Sllllooooooooow down, you’ll only hurt yourself rushing into it.
You need to work your body into a routine.

Can’t put enough emphasis on warming your muscles up by stretching !!!

Heavy weight + low reps = muscle mass
Light weight + hi reps = defined muscle
Once again going to fast and not working into a routine = damage to the muscle !!! (pulled, torn, ripped, [pain] )

If you decide to work with heavy weight, you should have a spotter (strong enough to lift what your working with) help in order to do the routine correctly.
Oh yea !!! It’s safer too !!!

add weight?
Whats wrong with with the tried and proven way?
Pizza, Hamburger and Slurpees?
You can tone up the gut with some beer too..

Exercises lower your weight! My doctor says so.... so there!

This morning I managed 1 mile in 8:01 ,45 pushups ,100 situps and 10 pullups before breakfast .I feel tired but great.

Yeah ,but I want to get some good tone.I want to join the navy ,run the Boston Marathon next year.I want some weight and muscles to because I want to get into seriously good shape.

Take er ez young buck. When you hit the Navy it won't matter how many reps you can do it you can't do them correct. I don't know the Navy standards but the Army requires minimum of 42 push ups in 2 minutes, 52 sit ups and 2mile run in under 15:30 (that is for someone 18-21). This may not sound like much but the catch is correct form. I have seen a lot of studs do 60 to 70 even 80 push ups and fail because of form or burn all their energy in the first event. The PT test is a test of endurance going at max speed for 2 minutes doing push ups will drain a lot of strength then you come to the next event. It sounds like you are in pretty good shape you will get a lot out of the slow work out. Like Vince said doing the reps as slow as you possibly can will work your muscles like you won't believe. Just make sure you always do a proper warm up and cool down. And don't worry if Navy boot camp is anything like Army Basic they will be more then happy to train you to the standard. Remember when doing an upper body work out it's not a sprint build your stamina.

Whittlin' mate....there is a massive wealth of knowledge being imparted by all here....even young Gelan's has merit...well that's how I built my big stomach muscles

It sounds like as Wiersy said, your fitness level is at a reasonable level to start with, but the most important thing he says there is "do the exercises correctly". Like him, I have seen guys struggling to pass a BFA (Basic Fitness Assessment) because the PTI is standing over them saying..."that one doesn't count, not the correct standard". Quality before quantity mate.

Just before I left the aussie Army, at age 50, to pass a BFA I had to do 15 push-ups, 40 sit-ups and run 2.4km in 13 minutes. I was capable of 50 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and did the run in 12:45 minutes. There were additional Combat Fitness Assessments we had to do as well, but they are very different and something that are job specific.

Also mate, be aware that whilst weight training builds body weight and muscle mass, running and other cardio vascular type exercises/activities will burn weight off...even muscle, although the body fat is the first to go. If you really want to run the marathon...although why anybody would want to torture their body like that I will never understand... then you MUST get the advice and guidance of someone who has expertise in this area of "body destroying" exercise. Regardless of your level of fitness, you will need a very long time for your body to recover from the pounding it will take running a marathon.

Exercise is a very enjoyable activity mate, so long as you approach it with both eyes open and a realistic training regime. As you get fitter, then you can start to really "push the envelope".

However, always keep in the back of your mind mate the scientific principle of:

"for every action or force, there is an equal and opposite action or force"

it is this "opposite force" that can, and will eventually, hurt your body. It is knowledge and smart training that will reduce this to an acceptable level and not leave you a near cripple in later life.

Cheers, Vince

OK ,I 'll try to reduce it to a easy but challenging amount .

Atta boy.