Hi Everyone, I'm another newbie :D

Hi guys, I'm really new to the whole forum thing!
I'm a 1st year Nutrition student from Scotland and have been vegan for a while now and loving it
I'm really glad I found this forum because I don't know any other vegans and also I'm wanting to get fitter!
My main goals with my fitness is mainly to burn off the excess flab (damn you christmas holidays ) and also increase my strength hopefully get a bit of muscle definition. I've been doing some warm up and cool down cardio and using weights machines plus doing core work but tbh I have know idea if I'm doing things right :/ so any and all advice would be awesome!

Anyway cant wait to have a look around here so I'll be off for now
x

My first bit of advice would be to start all sessions with a bit of foam rolling (self myofascial release technique is the fancy name for it)
Something like:


If you don't have a foam roller I did a short bit about how to use a tennis ball as a cheap substitute (& easier to carry into a gym!)

Myofascial Leaflet(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

This is being used by most athletic coaches right now, research is actually fairly limited, but the theory is that any 'knot' or trigger point causes a shortening of the muscle (rather like a knot tied in an elastic band), so trying to stretch or workout with that dysfunction just over stretches the surrounding tissue & actual 'trains in' that dysfunction, so it become chronic. By first rolling out you normalise tissue length (sometimes called 'improving tissue quality') & restore proper muscle function through out the muscle, so you move normally & actually slowly restore normal muscle function over time. You can also roll-out at other times, like at home if you feel the need, basically the more 'hot spots' you find, the more often you should roll-out.

There are loads of ways to set up a routine, how you warm-up & train. At the moment I'm using this method:

1/ Myofascial release (rolling out) 5 minutes
2/ Static stretching (there's been some thoughts about cold muscles actually facilitating a better change in flexibility than stretching once you've warmed up, so I'm testing this out) 5 minutes
3/ Dynamic warm-up/mobility 10 minutes
4/ Training 45-90 minutes depending on the goals

At the moment I'm not using a specialised cool down, but I'm not adverse if someone wants to do some cardio, stretch out or just walk about a bit for a few minutes.

I hasten to add this isn't the only way to set up your training, there are 1001 ways to set up a workable system, but this is what I'm using right now & it seems to be working out pretty well.

Glad to have you on board!

Thanks for the advice I'll try out that exercise layout (probably not the right word) tomorrow
I used to use foam rollers a lot last year because they had them in our gym but theres none in my current gym so I will be trying it with the tennis ball it's such a good idea! I both love and loathe foam rolling, the actual rolling out part I loathe but you always feel so good afterwards!
Thanks again for the advice