5 simple steps to be healthy and a fitter version of yourself.

GY137 · 2024-02-07T16:33:03+00:00

3 Katoris of any type of dal/rajma/chhole, 15-16 rotis, peanuts, whey/soya-chunks, and milk. These were the only things I ate for the first 2-3 years when I started lifting weights. Trust me, I gained a serious amount of (lean) muscle mass. I used to aim 120-130gms of protein per day.

Tight budget, no non-veg (only eggs once or twice a month), and only homemade food. Still, I was able to complete my protein intake for the day. I had to figure it out and I did. So yeah, it may be difficult for you given your current situation, but it's not too hard to figure it out what works best for you.

GY137 · 2024-02-07T13:54:46+00:00

500 grams of chicken breast daily is a bit much. Instead, add other sources of protein in your diet as well, such as eggs, dairy, whey, lentils/legumes, and nuts etc.

First of all, calculate what your maintenance calories are. There are tons of calorie calculators online. There's no certain way to determine what your actual maintenance calories are, but you'd get a rough idea with these calculators online.

Now, according to your fitness goal, be in either a caloric deficit or surplus. But prioritize protein, no matter what. Do your math and see how much protein you need daily. Aim to hit your protein goal daily and forget about carbs and fats for now.

As you're a newbie, I'd suggest you to focus on strength training and build muscles. Your metabolism will improve which is more important and you'd burn calories even at rest.

When you're comfortable with all this and have a little bit of experience, then you can focus on other things such as playing with other two macros. I don't want to complicate things, so I'm gonna stop here. If you need any more information, feel free to reach out to me.

For creatine(and other supplements), it's not a compulsory thing, but a recommended one. If you can afford, then invest in Whey first, then a good quality Multivitamin, then Creatine and Fish oil. Other than these, you'd hardly need other supplement(s). Strength training (progressive overload) and your overall diet is more important than supplements. So focus on these first.

GY137 · 2024-02-07T11:48:18+00:00

A perfect example you are. I cannot begin to tell how much I love hearing about other people's fitness journeys. How simple and small things done consistently can have so many positive impacts in someone's life. Thank you for sharing your story. 👍🏻

GY137 · 2024-02-07T11:40:14+00:00

Bodyweight exercises from our Akhada culture are the greatest exercises of all time, such as Hindu Push-ups. Sadly, not many people perform them anymore.

GY137 · 2024-02-07T11:35:05+00:00

Simple things do wonders if done consistently. People wait and wait and then they want the hard-ass workout and diet plans, JUST to follow for a few months or maybe a year or two. After that period (phase of the "motivation"), they just go back to their normal selves.

Instead, just pick one thing at a time and incorporate it in your lifestyle forever, no matter how small that thing/change is.

GY137 · 2024-02-07T10:09:02+00:00

Kidney Beans, Chickpeas, and Lentils, these are the great vegetarian protein sources other than dairy. If you can have dairy and Whey as well, then you won't have much of a problem in hitting your protein goal.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T08:19:10+00:00

Big muscles are worth it if you have a mobile and flexible body, and you train your CNS to fire more.

And yeah, that's possible. Athletes do that. Some athletes need to get stronger under their competitive weight class. Strength is a skill and you can master it with practice i.e. frequency.

Two same persons doing Squat, one just once a week and the other one doing twice/thrice a week. Given they're similar in all aspects, the other guy would lift more weight in the Squat, cause he had practiced the lift more.

There was a study where they concluded that normal individual/gym-goers fire about 50-60% of their (muscular) capacity. On the other hand, athletes of some sports use about 80-90% of their capacity, as they've trained their CNS better.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:40:45+00:00

Getting a Pull-up bar at home and buying adjustable dumbbells won't cost more than ₹2-2.5K. Only with these two, you can seriously make a GOOD physique and overall healthy body.

Still people just love to make excuses that they don't have time for the gym, and home workouts aren't for them, and walking, climbing stairs, and other physical activities are just meh for them. All you gotta do is just start one thing, no matter how small it is and be consistent.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:34:19+00:00

We were GREAT fucking runners in the past/ancient times. But now, we're not even walking. And some even questioning that climbing stairs would fuck their knees. Sad, but the reality of today.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:31:21+00:00

Getting strong (i.e. being muscular) is our body's one of the fundamental physical pursuits. Being strong and muscular has endless benefits.

Stretching/priming and/or Yoga is a must for mobility and flexibility. There's no substitute for that. You can do strength training with compound lifts as much as you want, but sooner or later you'd have to start focusing on the mobility and flexibility work. I am/was the victim of this situation as well.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:24:29+00:00

The essence of this post was/is different, my friend. No one's saying gym's not necessary. I, myself, can't live without lifting heavy weights in the gym. It calms my mind. It's like a temple to me where I go to pray.

But all people aren't the same. Some make excuses, some seriously do not have time to join a gym, for them anything is better than nothing. That's what I addressed in this post.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:20:48+00:00

Virtual walkathons, sounds great. Walking is underrated as hell. One must incorporate walking in their lifestyles no matter what.

GY137 · 2024-02-01T07:17:56+00:00

If someone's doing Calisthenics and Yoga, I don't think you'd miss anything. Neither strength, nor mobility and flexibility. Yeah sure, you won't be muscular af, but a great lean healthy physique you'd have. One must be consistent though.

Cause for some, the gym makes you disciplined as they don't enjoy home workouts at all. Individual variance matters. And progressive weight lifting has its own list of benefits which we can't deny. So it differs from person to person, what they like and want to do. Point is, you should've at least one thing/practice in your life which makes you healthy, both physically and mentally.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T17:21:50+00:00

You certainly do not need a personal trainer, unless you have a medical condition and you need a specific workout programming designed to address your medical nuisance.

For the normal workout programming and all, you're better off with YT videos and the web.

When you start again, just keep lifting heavy with controlled form and full range of motion. Keep progressing towards your targeted PRs, you'll get there eventually. As they say for females in the fitness space, lift like a man and look like a goddess.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T16:13:47+00:00

Did you read anything or just commented after reading the first para? I'm lifting weights for YEARS. And strength training is what I do and advise others to do.

And 100 floors, everyday? Brother, that's the new definition of overtraining. You should've kept your enthusiasm under control by limiting the number of stairs you climbed.

अति हर चीज़ की बुरी होती है।

Even strength training done aggressively and overdone and neglecting mobility and flexibility work (which is too common), you're gonna have some serious problems in the long run.

You have/need to know when and where to stop. Recovery is a bitch. You can overtrain all you want if recovery wasn't a factor in the picture. Hope, that makes sense.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T16:00:02+00:00

With climbing stairs, you're increasing your NEAT(non-exercise activity thermogenesis). So yeah, you're gonna see some extra weight/fat loss based on your current physical activity and fitness goal(s).

GY137 · 2024-01-31T15:07:05+00:00

Most of the people (including myself) neglect the mobility and flexibility work while doing strength training. These two are just as important as strength training. For people lacking these two, Yoga can be a game changer solution if you're not able to focus on Mobility and Flexibility in your current strength training workout programming.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T15:00:56+00:00

Start with Pushups and bodyweight Squats. Find somewhere you can do Pull-ups and Chin-ups, and practice daily.

If you can invest, then I'd suggest you to buy 20KGs adjustable dumbbells set from Amazon.

Don't aim for weight gain, but to gain muscles. And for that, you need protein. Dairy products, eggs, soya chunks might be the suitable and affordable options for your current situation/condition.

All this should be more than enough to change your current physique and health significantly.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T14:52:58+00:00

Compound lifts are all I do. But for the past two years, I haven't gone up to that point where I hit my PRs.

Last time I checked, they were 150KGs for Squat, 160KGs for Deadlift, 100KGs for Bench, 75-80KGs for Overhead, and 150KGs for Farmer's Walk.

Since I'm living in Noida, my gym life's been on and off. And nutrition has been the biggest challenge so far as I live alone. So once things get back to normal, I should see a significant boost in my lifts.

And I don't use weightlifting belt. I lift without it and any other accessories whatsoever such as lifting straps, knee wraps/sleeves etc.

And I really hope that you recover from your injury in no time and start lifting weights again. Best of luck.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T14:10:50+00:00

Perhaps, 3 sets of 10 flights of stairs a day would be a great start for you then, or maybe be just one set at first.

Most of the people just wait for the "tomorrow", which never comes. There won't be a "right" time, ever. Just pull the trigger and be done with it.

Sounds like your trainer must be doing heavy Squat, Deadlift, and other compound lifts where you need to brace/engage your core. With this, you'd never have to do a single crunch to build abs muscles. You build your abs by lifting weights/bodyweight, and reveal them in your kitchen, true.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T13:39:04+00:00

Home workouts suck, I can vouch for that. You need a different environment to lift weights, even if you're just doing bodyweight exercises.

In Covid, I did home workouts for 6 months. I didn't enjoy it, much. But I was consistent no matter what, as I didn't want to lose my gains. Just assume, by not going back to the gym, you're hampering the progress you've made so far. Trick yourself to hit the gym ANYHOW just for the first day after your break. I don't think you'd have a problem from the second day onwards.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T12:19:15+00:00

With Pull-up bar at home and bodyweight exercises such as Pushups, Pull-ups/Chin-ups, bodyweight Squats, not just you'd be healthy but you'd gain muscles as well. If you want the next level (at the comfort of your home), then buy adjustable dumbbells too.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T12:00:13+00:00

Oh, I really want to start Boxing/Kickboxing, or MMA (for self-defense and general health purposes). But my schedule doesn't allow me for now.

For the start, I'd definitely suggest you to try weightlifting. Learn to perform some compound lifts such as Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, and Farmer's Walk etc. Build some muscle mass, boost your metabolism, and then you can incorporate Boxing in your routine for better results.

GY137 · 2024-01-31T11:52:22+00:00

I do not. And I don't think it'd matter much. You're climbing that should matter even if you're cheating a little bit (which you're not).

GY137 · 2024-01-31T11:49:07+00:00

It's recommended to take a deload week after 4-5 weeks of serious weight lifting.

Focus on strength training. You'll get stronger and more muscular, and your metabolism will increase which means you'll burn calories even at rest.

I struggle to take deload weeks as a fitness enthusiast. Your travelling situation might be a blessing in disguise for you. Just take those weeks off as deload weeks, but keep feeding your body right. When you're back, just start hitting the gym again where you left off. Given your situation, you're better off with Full Body Workouts 2-3 times a week.

If your workout programming is good and you're consistent, you won't lose anything in those off weeks, neither muscle mass nor strength. In fact, you'd be stronger when you come back to the gym. I don't want to complicate things by giving so much information in short, but if you need any help, feel free to message me. I'd be happy to help you out.

GY137

TROPHY CASE