Inquiring for advice

[Fox]

Hi, this is my first post on these forums, I stumbled on it when researching amateur fighting, so I thought I'd pop on and ask some advice. :)

I'm a 22 year old male, and it was this past year since 14 I've become active physically. My physical form was in pretty bad shape due to a lot of disuse and under the guidance of a soldier (who has new left for Iraq) I've managed to lose over 100 pounds this past year. Now even at this weight I'm still overweight, I'm 5'5 and weight appx 175 (I'm at one of those road bumps where it's kinda hard to get over) and I've still something of a gut.

Now, my soldier friend and I would do some rigorous ground fighting the way he was taught in the army, the biggest problem I had was my endurance, I mean I exhaust quickly, so my first big question is, whats the best way to improve endurance solo (My roommates arent that fond of physical fighting, so my training is a bit solo until I scrape up the money to enroll in the local Brazillian jitsu program)

Alright, now my second question is, until I'm able to access a gym (as I said financial difficulties at this time prevent me from affording entry into one that isnt open only to college students) so, what is the best way to condition my body at home? (I live out by a farm as well, so you know a block around here is five miles in the path I take, so when I refer to running around the block.. I'm refering to a farm block) Right now I do sets of 21 sit ups and push ups every day and running about the block three days a week. But.. I'm really dead set on building my endurance like I've never had before (Psychologically and physically)

And third is, I mentioned before I've a bit of a gut, and I wanna get rid of it really, I was advised to work my core, but what is a great training regime to strengthen the core, build its endurance and get rid of the gut? Any nutrition advice? And if so can you give me an example of the foods and amounts, I've never been one to pay attention in nutrition class so I kinda need it dumbed down in that area :)

Anyway thats all for now, thank you!

[Titan]

Well, since nobody else is responding, I guess I will. :-) 100 lbs is a lot of weight to lose! I don't know how you did it, but good job!

When you go out on your runs, you need to run intervals. You have to sprint every so often, and not keep a constant and regular pace. Even better would be if you could put up some things along the way, like a bale of hay or something that you pick up on your shoulder (like an opponent), and run with for a bit, and maybe have certaion stations where you stop for a short excersise, like sprawls. I used to go up and go walking in the mornings before eating. It's said that it burns the fat directly that way, but nobody I've read seems to come to full agreement on that. I like it, though. I also would run in the evenings.

Push-ups, I guess you could start a separate threat asking for push-up excercises. There's so many varieties of them, and it's good to vary, because different angles hit different part of the muscles. Working the core will not get rid of your gut. You can't work out a muscle and get rid of the fat around it. Core excercises involves building up the stomach muscles, and to get a good balance, you must work out the lower back, or you can get some problems. The most common is various forms of situps, and the various forms of lower-back excercises there are. A common lower-back excercise if to lay on your stomach, and lift arms and legs off the floor, and hold for a few seconds in the most tensed position.

Foods and amounts. You need to eat, I'd say, about 1.5 grams of protein per kilo bodyweight. When I go to lose weight, I stay completely away for carbohydrates for 3-4 weeks, and when getting back on it, sticking with complex carbs, but not overeating on it. I eat plenty of vegetables and greens, to get vitamins and minerals, and I drink only water, about 3-6 liters a day, I guess. I'd eat 6 times a day, and smaller meals, and it's a good way to keep the metabolism going, but I honestly think it's a finer detail that's more important for people that have lost a lot of their weight already and want to finetune their system. This is all good, and DECENT eating will get you really far, but training is much needed to lose the gut. It's not easy, and it takes months, but if you start on some of the above, you'll get much better endurance, I think, and a better looking body. I've been fortunate enough to most of the time be able to go down and train with people, and get my excercise that way, but when it's not possible, running intervals is a very good endurance building excersise, plus that it burns off the fat. The only problem you might face is getting so damn hungry sometimes. :-)

Anyway, hope this is enough to get the thread started.