Newbie here, novice to fitness.

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Road-to-Fitness

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Hi all.

Just signed up so figured best way to get accustomed here is to introduce myself. I'm a 29yr old male from Dublin, Ireland who for years didn't do any physical activity really. Im 6ft and weigh about 13 stone now.

Then in November I signed up for a 10k assault coarse in Ireland called Hell & Back which was on in January [video=youtube;SEz2gaee8ow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEz2gaee8ow[/video] for anyone that's interested that's it, I got through it won't lie it was tough I got myself up to running 10k from basically being out breath after twenty seconds of jogging at the start in just over two months. So I was delighted and really enjoyed it I caught the fitness bug :)


Anyways I signed up to do it again in June and have been slowly progressing my knowledge on fitness in general. At the moment I'm on a bulking diet, and going the gym four times a week doing weights and cardio. I started the bulking diet about 7 weeks ago first few weeks I struggled I had been eating unhealthy for years so the sudden change in diet was hard and I was hungry all the time. But each week I've improved to were now I'm starting to notice the change physically and my strength has improved vastly from were I began, nearly every time I go the gym I'm upping my weights. The first sign for me that I was improving was my t-shirts started to feel tight around the chest area, and as much as I know this will cost me a fortune in clothes I was delighted. Each week I'm learning more and more and I'm loving it, starting to understand the food side to it now and calories etc as before that was never a thought for me.


So basically Im here to learn more I'm like a sponge I want all tips on food, bulking, weights, fitness and figured it can't help to join here.
 
Yeh at the moment, I'm going the gym four times a week at the start of each session Im doing 5 to 10 minutes cardio then doing weights one day focusing on back and chest, then next legs and shoulders. Once the weight are done I go and work my core doing various sit ups and afterwards another 5 to ten minutes of cardio. Because I'm doing not an awful lot of cardio when I do, do 5 to 10 minutes on the threadmill I tend to push harder than If I was running at distance for example I will start off at about 11k on the threadmill and by the end be running at 14 to 15k on it to get the heart pumping fast.


Why am I doing it, right now Im looking to bulk up and build some muscle mass so I'm taking in up to 3,500 calories a day but I also want to maintain my endurance since I have that 10k coming up again in 8 weeks. I do have a friend who is big into fitness helping me and guiding me but all advice is more than welcome and appreciated.
 
It appears that your training is contradicting itself as you are trying to bulk while training for 10km running. Your weight training will mostly be using the lactic acid system, your running needs to mainly use the aerobic energy system (although by training at high intensity you will be using more of the lactic acid energy system despite this not replicating the race you want to complete.

i would suggest that at 6 weeks out you stop the weights, reduce the calories slightly and train your aerobic system only.
 
Cheer for the advice, my thinking or well what I've been told you may be able to correct me on this, is that while the race im doing is 10k its not non stop 10k running, its stop start mostly. As in there are parts your climbing a mountain, getting over 10ft walls, going up hills carrying sand bags, going through rivers etc which all require strength and endurance and quick burst of energy and turn of pace. The longest stretch of running non stop is 1.5k to 2k.

But yeh point certainly taken thanks.
 
I have seen these sorts of races and the top athletes/winners normally finish in about an hour which is impressive. You are probably going to take 30+ more minutes meaning your lactic acid system is going to be empty so you need to use some or your aerobic system throughout the race.

Rather than bulking, try some local muscular endurance with 5-8 set of 15-25 reps with 30 seconds rest with your weights using large whole body movements such as squats, standing overhead presses etc. You could also use kettlebells and TRX too. This will compliment any cardio you do instead of contradict it.

I would be wanting to be fit enough to run a normal 10 km in sub 50 minutes before contemplating this sort of challenge.:eek2:

Good luck.
 
Yeh as far as I know the winner of the one I done in January managed it in under an hour which is very impressive, I done it in 1hr 40 minutes in January and am hoping to improve upon that again so your right could be 30+ plus minutes.

But yeh what your saying makes sense Ill start trying squats, trx etc to help along with the cardio.

Before I stopped running I wasn't quite doing 10k in sub 50 minutes but was getting closer to it doing 10k in around 54 to 55 minutes.

Thanks for all the tips.
 
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