How to get in better shape?

[Highschoolvolunteer]

Alright I generally avoid questions like this, after all who likes to admit their shortcomings, but after overhaul training tonight I realise that I need to get in better shape. Now I am not talking about Tofu and Soy kind of better shape, but rather stamina and strength. By the end of training I was tired-- when I say tired I mean, get this.. umm.. stuff... off me because I am starting to feel overexerted. Admittedly it was my fault for taking an axe off the truck for this training(they never told us what we were doing, I figured if I grabbed the plaster hook we'd be knocking doors down!), but never the less...

Now I have access to a gym, or rather will in the next month or so, so I want to make use of that. I am a big guy, 6-2" 210lb but not all blubber, I guess my metabolism is still good! Admittedly I don't eat ubër healthy, nor do I do a ton of exercise-- I walk probably a couple miles a day getting around campus, but hardly brisk exercise!

Can anyone help provide me a good plan of action for building both stamina and strength?
I don't really have a ton of time to spend at the gym, and I am stuck with cafeteria food and take-away for most of the week, so I am looking for a routine that I can get away with for maybe a couple hours twice or so a week.

Thanks

[fire49]

Find a personal trainer or someone in the gym that can help you routinely

[Highschoolvolunteer]

I am too poor for a personal trainer! Especially at university they want an astronomical fee!

[fire49]

More than likely there is someone at the gym that will work with you

[amooneyh]

Basic PT at the Gym

When it comes to physical fitness it is good to focus endurance (aerobic) and fast movements (anaerobic). If you are new to PT then it is also a good idea to start slow. The four areas the IAFF wellness-fitness iniatiative focuses on are: Cardiovascular, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Here is a link for a preparation for the CPAT which many departments use in their hiring process. It contains a lot of exercises that are good to build a PT program around.

http://www.cffjac.org/go/jac/?LinkSe...4BF872E67CB568

[Tipys]

Crossfit. You can follow the workouts posted for free on the crossfit dot com website. All the workouts are scale able and most are suppose to be done with speed and intensity in mind while still focusing on form. If you don't know how to do a certain movement in the workout you can you use youtube and get instructed on proper form.

[Highschoolvolunteer]

Crossfit. You can follow the workouts posted for free on the crossfit dot com website. All the workouts are scale able and most are suppose to be done with speed and intensity in mind while still focusing on form. If you don't know how to do a certain movement in the workout you can you use youtube and get instructed on proper form.

Crossfit, never heard of it, Ill have to look into it, thanks!

[slackjawedyokel]

Eat less and exercise more - an easy start on your diet is small steps. Start out by cutting out anything fried and go from there.

[FF-Andy]

simplefit.org puts out a plan you can do with only a pull up bar and your body weight.

Google "high intensity interval training" and get some of that in your life. 2-3 times per week keeps me in pretty decent shape and I'm 41 yrs old.

Also, you can't out-exercise and overcome a bad diet. Eat fuel for your body, not junk.

[ben_vick]

Point of interest, to maximise the exercise you are doing, build up your heart rate then let it drop then build up again a couple of times during exercise. So if you're walking, every 15min run up and down a flight of stairs for 3 minutes then continue walking and this way you are gaining the most out of your exercise routine.

[Former Marine22]

I'm not a fire fighter ( yet) but I am an ex Marine so I know a thing or two about staying in shape. First what are you looking to do? Increase stamina and strength? Or do both those things while losing weight at the same time. First thing you need to do is see where you are at physically and trust me, you do not need a gym to get in shape. Start out by doing your max pull ups. Lets say its 5. Max pushups 42. Max sit ups 50. 1 Mile run ( assuming you're out of shape bad) 11:00 minutes. Now you know what you need to work on. Set goals.

By the way, you really dont need to eat like a bird to stay in shape. When I was in the Marines I had dominos pizza every night after work. Still ran 9 miles every morning under an hour, still did 15 pull ups, and 100 sit ups in 2 minutes. My Infantry school instructor told me this " It does not matter what you eat as long as you exercise."

[Former Marine22]

Another thing, I would recommend looking up stew smith. He was a Navy SEAL. Great stuff.

[Here and there]

Your tax dollars at work

http://www.nifc.gov/FireFit/


actually a pretty decent program, covers nutrition and exercise. Also some stuff on over training (injury) and best of all most assumes minimal equipment.

[Eric_PublicEye]

I would recommend you to try out racket sports like tennis and racquetball or any kinds of sport. It is FUN and MOTIVATING for those people who find workout is boring and hard to commit into. Find like a group of friends or club to play together to keep yourself interested. It may sound like sport is not a real "training" for strength and stamina but if you are really into it and play seriously and effortfully, your body will feel sore the next day just like the intense workout. I hope this helps

[scfire86]

Eat less and exercise more - an easy start on your diet is small steps. Start out by cutting out anything fried and go from there.

BING-FRACKING-OH!!

One of my wife's friends is a Registered Dietician.

Her commentary on weight loss is simplistic. Calories in, calories out. There is nothing complicated about it. Weight loss is the Law of Thermodynamics.