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Help - How to become more Fit and Athletic

Hi there,

Recently, when playing football I get tired very easily and dont have that much energy or strength to run or compete against others :frown:

so I was wandering if anyone here has any tips on how to shape up and become more athletic and fast or is it just a genetic thing that allows them to be ? :cool:

Help really appreciated :wink:

PS. Im interested in help for the fitness not the football :biggrin:

Reply 1

fordeletionpurposesonly.

It sounds to me like you need to build up your stamina. Exercise like swimming is brilliant for building up your stamina, because it puts no pressure on any joints like your knees, plus it can be fun.

Start off by going swimming maybe twice a week, building up the amount of time you spend doing proper swimming. Aim for maybe 5 lengths non stop first, do that until you're comfortable with it and then increase it to 7, 10, 15... you'll find that if you do this quite regularly then you're stamina will improve. But make sure you don't increase the amount of lengths you do until you're happy, otherwise you'll be knackered out in the deep end!

Also, running's a great exercise for stamina building. Same idea really, go for a short run first, maybe 10 - 15 minutes, then walk for 10 - 15 minutes to help cool down. Do this maybe every other day until you can do it easilly and then increase it until you're running for longer.

Oh - another thing, it may sound stupid, but walking up the stairs / escalators of tube stations really build your stamina too! I started walking up the ones at Bank and at first it nearly killed me, but now after doing that everyday for a few weeks, its no problem! :biggrin:

Good luck.

Reply 2

*Eliyana*

For my stamina I do interval running. Say you can run for 2 minutes without stopping, do that, then walk for 4 mins. Gradually increase the time you are running and decrease your walking breaks. eg 3 mins running, 3 walking, 4 mins running 2 walking. Eventually you won't need walking breaks!

Reply 3

cybercool

OP

9

Thanks for all your suggestions

How about trying to build muscles is this not a good idea for a mid-teenager ? ( because i hear it helps you run)

Help really appreciated :smile:

Reply 4

tiempo

9

if you want to build muscle you need to eat the right food
Don't over look the food you eat!!!
VERY IMPORTANT!!!

OP

what do you mean ?

fordeletionpurposesonly.

Swimming will build your muscles up, you apparently use every muscle you have when you swim.

Also, running will be good for building leg muscles, as will cycling, if you're into that. (Cyclists always have kick arse calf muscles!)

Agree with whoever said the food you eat is very important - for general good health you should eat 5 pieces of fruit or veg every day, and drink at least 2 litres of water. Also, get lots of sleep - your muscles need time to relax and repair. Plus, it'll do wonders for your general energy levels if you're sleeping enough (not to mention helping with having clear skin and good nails :smile:

).

Reply 7

SpiderBoy

1

Yeh drinking plenty of water to keep you hydrated and then also eating a high carbohydrate diet, as it is carbohydrates that your muscles want to be burning when exercising. Also replenish them within a couple of hours, eating little and often is better than eating a couple of large meals a day.

If your doing running to build your stamina, a good guide for if you are running too fast is that whilst training you should be able to maintain a conversation without feeling out of breath, if you can't then slow down as you will get more out of it if you can continue for longer as its a better aerobic workout.
Also don't train everyday, one or two days a week without any fixed training be it football/running/cycling etc is good as this is when your body responds to the stresses you've been putting on it.

Whatever you do be it running or swimming or cycling then the hardest part is to stick at it to start with but it does get a lot easier :smile:

(sorry if this post is running based but its how i train mainly)

Reply 8

DamnBuster

If you are trying to build stamina it is time spent on the exercise rather than the intensity of it. i.e. a slow 10 mile jog will help more than a 2 mile run.

Reply 9

Barny

17

forget swimming, its useless in your case, for you, run for long distances as damnbuster says, you should see decent improvements in stamina from this alone.

Reply 10

Lil' Miss Smiley

1

Going to move this to health you my get a more varied input. :biggrin:

Reply 11

gas_panic!

12

Work hard at weights and cv then you will have the athletic look.

Reply 12

Adam83

12

im not sure you will be able to do stamina and muscles at the same time.

when you say building muscles i guess you mean physical size, which tends to go against stamina. Have a look at how many body builders there are that run marathons for eg.

Also muscles are specific to the activity you are doing. So try lots of different activities not just one type and dont exhaust yourself otherwise you will start burning up the muscle you have.

Eat lots of food and drink mainly water

Reply 13

Mark_UK

Yea dont do fitness and weights together. Or if you do atleast do them on seperate days and if you want stamina you dont exactly want massive muscles.

I used to play footie and had good stamina and I have always been very quick at sprinting. Anyway I stopped playing and now have no stamina because I do weight training and have increased my bodyweight because I was like a stick man. lol. My aim is to get big so I dont care about stamina but I suggest you go to a gym and just do cardio and maybe light weight training.

If you just wana look good eat loads (especially protein like fish and meat) and do weight training.

Reply 14

Barny

17

Adam83

im not sure you will be able to do stamina and muscles at the same time.

when you say building muscles i guess you mean physical size, which tends to go against stamina. Have a look at how many body builders there are that run marathons for eg.

Also muscles are specific to the activity you are doing. So try lots of different activities not just one type and dont exhaust yourself otherwise you will start burning up the muscle you have.

What about rowers, and rugby players then?

Also

Adam83

So try lots of different activities not just one type and dont exhaust yourself otherwise you will start burning up the muscle you have.

is just complete and utter crap.

--------------

gas_panic!

Work hard at weights and cv then you will have the athletic look.

Best advice in this thread so far!

Reply 15

Mark_UK

Its not "crap" because to gain muscle you have to eat loads of calories and by doing cardio you are just burning the calories that could be used to rebuild you muscles after a workout.

:wink:

Reply 16

34253

2

Start burning up muscle, good one Adam83! It will build muscle you dum dum and burn fat. Your body would just become more efficient at burning the food that you are putting in, in order to build up muscle and your body fat would go down.

Swimming does do some good but you arnt going to see results as fast as you will with running, doing this with some weights will stop you looking like a gangly freak.

Reply 17

Barny

17

Again, explain to me how rowers and rugby players are so big then?

Surely you just need to eat more calories if doing cardio, if thats the case?

Reply 18

Mark_UK

Rugby players probably do cardio and weights.

They probably eat loads and turn it into muscle and have one seperate day a week doing fitness. You can do cardio and weights but do it on different days.

You can be big and quite fit but they would be much fitter if they wernt so big.

Reply 19

Adam83

12

imasillynarb

is just complete and utter crap.

please explain why it is crap?

i dont see how it can be good or bad, its just advice not to concentrate on only one specific type of activity.

Help - How to become more Fit and Athletic

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