[cassaruby]

i just got the determination to start working out again but i was never very knowledgable about what i do. please add anything to my menu you'd think would be good.

right now i do 5 sets each. first i do 10 good pushups, or 3 if i'm really lazy; than 25 crunches, and if a i have a pole or rafter somewhere 3 pull ups. so total 15-50 pushups, 125 crunches, and 9-15 pullups. i do this every other day for my body to heal. it's a top heavy workout, but i like to walk alot so my legs get alittle. i don't use equipment just my body,...used to go to gym for a year but i wasn't into it at all.

the way i used to do pushups was wrong and went all into my shoulders (arms wide apart, was easier heh) and i'm still fearful when i feel more in my shoulders than my bicepts. a friend told me crunches were better than situps, so i switched.

anyways, i was hoping to improve my workout with any other things that would be good to add to the menu. i want to build other parts of my body, like all of them, especially my shoulders and wrists. i know i said i stopped working them but i'd like a real way to build the shoulders up with an exercise made for 'em. if it helps i'm 6'1'', 150-160lbs...so pretty slim.

oh oh, also if you know and good stretches, i love to stretch. right now i touch my toes, and touch my hands behind my back...but if you know and other really useful ones please say some.

[Gazelle]

For the stretches, i suggest getting a god book. There are a lot of good ones! One of my particular favourites for the legs, well, specifically around the hip area. We know it as the frog stretch, you can do it away from the wall, but, i'll explain with it against, because i think it might be a bit easier for me, however, not a moments thought will inform you how to do it away from a wall. On your knees, facing away from the wall, bring your knees out as far as you can, keeping your feet flat against the wall, and your leg below the knee perpendicular to your thigh. When you are as far down as you can, push your backside back towards the wall. After holding it for a few seconds, keeping your legs where they are rotate your body round, trying to get your body flat against your leg, putting the arm belonging to the side that your leaning towards behind that leg for a bit of stability. Walk your self around to your other leg. If you wish you can repeat, taking your legs out further before hand. If you've well and truely had enough, walk forward, trying to get your hips to the floor, whilst keeping you feet on the floor, then after a bit, bring your legs in.

That's just one stretch though, you really need to stretch all your main muscle groups at least, otherwise , it can cause an inbalance in your body, that, when teamed with excersize can lead to a greater chance of injury. Hence, why i say to get a good book. As for recommending a good book, i'll have to leave that one to someone else, or yourself.

[cassaruby]

ahh, similar to the butterfly stretch but you move your back arm to the opposite leg. i still remember some yoga i used to do with the arm to leg bit, i like it. i found a stretching article that was huge all about how everything works. i havn't been warming up or stretching at the right times. has a guide to doing splits, i'm trying it out. though i still don't know any dynamic stretches for moving flexibility.

[Gazelle]

You get plenty of stuff of google. Here's a couple...

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/dynamic.htm

http://www.acc.co.nz/wcm001/idcplg?I...GE&nodeId=4092

You can do variations of a couple of them...for example, we used to on occassions jump, with our legs together, then as we came up raise one of our knees as high as we could infront, bringing it down as you come to jump again, then raising your knee again on the second bounce, this time so that your leg is out to the side of your body. You can mix this around with both legs. Also, one that i've done once, was 'spotty dogs' , that's what the instructor called it, anyhow. For that, as you bring one leg out, you bring the opposite arm up. Do this in a jump, then with a jump, bring your limbs back so they are back in line, so you are standing, and do it with the other side of the body. There, are again, as we found out, several ways you can spice that up a bit, to get more coordination involved, but, they are easier to demonstrate, as with anything, than explain.

[opariser1001]

a friend told you crunches were better so you switched? lol. pushups and crunches are two exercises that work two different things. man you really need to go to this website: www.crossfit.com and do exactly what they tell you to do. go to the FAQ, forum, whatever, just learn as much as you can and follow their routine. crossfit is a great routine for elite athletes as well as people who lack knowledge and fitness such as yourself. search the internet, crossfit, bodybuilding.com, workout-tips.com, read a lot of articles because you are seriously lacking in the knowledge department.

Here's some:
Sissy squats
One leg calf raise
Toe raise
Push ups, wide, close and regular widths
Bicycles
Lunges
Tricep push ups
butt raises
twists
and many more.....

[cassaruby]

i'm checking out all the stretches and exercises rocker, and crossfit website.

lol opariser, i messed up and put pushups instead of situps, i'll edit that. my friend said situps give you too much time to rest and give more of a bulk fatty look, while crunches are faster with no time to rest giving better looking abs. so for crunches and pushups being two different exercises, your right. they are the only two i know and i'd like to do more.

[Gazelle]

Glad you made a mistake on that one...i was starting to think i was going mad!

By the way, i've sent you a PM.

[cassaruby]

i got a whole set for lower body stretches, upper has much less, but stretches are looking better. dynamic stretches are diff than what i thought; it's what we did in p.e. i checked out crossfit...you see my avatar? that's a look of shock and fear. that's the look i had at their site. crossfit looked out of my league for now but very interesting too.

i'd like to find some exercises to strengthen other parts of my body still...squats and burbees are good, but still i'd like to work on the minor parts of body. i'll search the web for some wrists and neck exercises.

[zefff]

your standard is very low at the moment and you are under weight. You need to eat and sleep well to be as healthy as you can be, if you are a young man you can increase your powers very quickly and see results in weeks if you balance work, rest and good sustanence. You need to be pushing beyond your comfort zone everyday and keep focused on increase.

Join your local library and borrow yoga or pilates books for stretching.

Join a class for MA because you will be pushed harder and motivated by classmates.

For neck do neck crunches forward, sieways and twisting, 50 reps each.

For wrists you can hit bag or makiwara or do wrist curls with a weight, brick or with a bottle.

Good luck