Drop and give me twenny

[morph1]

I was, until very recently, an avid bodybuilder. My love affair with iron began when I was 18 and I soon spent a couple of years on the competetive circuit. Nothing major at all though so don't get the wrong idea.

Since then I have carried on training and am now 36. However, with a wife, kids, and having to bring home the bacon I am looking to change the way I train. I just find that the traditional weights and cardio routine takes up too much time and over the years I've picked up too many injuries...

As far as diet goes I pretty much know what works for my body. But now I'm looking for an alternative training routine. I know there are no quick fixes or overnight gains. But I would like to work at something that will:

• burn bodyfat;
• put on some muscle;
• build strength (but FUNCTIONAL strength); and,
• increase fitness.

Of course this an area swamped in hype. Help me cut through it?

[RandomHero]

Are you looking for a 'bootcamp' style routine? I assume you are since you posted in this particular forum. http://www.amazon.com/Navy-Seal-Work.../dp/0809229021 Check this out it aught to put you where you want to be.

[StupidManSuit]

This suggestion isn't always accepted with open arms, but based on your goals I gotta suggest it: yoga.

Burn Body Fat: yoga is cardiovascular and will help you burn body fat.
Add Muscle: depending on how well you add muscle, you may notice a change here. If you're wanting to add some size, however, yoga will not do this and I highly recommend the 5x5 to fit in with your time constraints.
Functional Strength: few things can add functional strength in the powerful way that yoga can. In addition to improving your flexibility, muscle tone, and breathing, yoga also strengthens your tendons and ligaments, improves blood flow, and increases the function of organs and glands. My father is trying to build "functional" strength and accommodate a painful knee, and I bought him this book:


(click the image to go to amazon.com for more information on the book)

It has large pictures performed by various people (different genders, races, ages), explains how to do the pose, how to ease into the pose, how to make the pose more difficult, and things to avoid if you have a certain injury. I love this book.

Increase Fitness: As I stated above, it increases flexibility, muscle tone, circulation, lung capacity, tendon/ligament strength, and function of organs and glands.


I don't know how you feel about yoga, but please don't let any prejudices stop you from doing it.

[BobRowley88]

P90X

[pghiron]

crossfit.com if you want general functional fitness.
crossfitfootball.com if you want to be a beast.
crossfitendurance.com if you want a little extra.

[weightslayer]

i spent 5 yrs incarcerated. i saw alot of different routines there, but one thing that almost everyone did was bar/dips/pushups. i know..i know what the hell is that? well, it's like circuit training where you start off with as many pullups you can do, followed by as many dips you can do, followed by, you guessed it, pushups till faliure. usually 10 sets of all 3. one thing i can say about this type of calisthenics is that it's very challenging. this with cardio and diet will rip you up and increase your conditioning. i used this on a cycle of one week bar dip and pushups followed by cardio 4-5 times a week and the next weight training with cardio 4-5 times...works like a charm!

[weightslayer]

wow. this thread sucks.