***G.U.T.S. and Breathing***

[Johnny]

Hey People...

here's the deal...i've been doing some serious reading on this forum, and of course re-reading John's books; and since my main goal - before i joined this blessed community - was to lose weight (FAT), i've discovered and deduced that G.U.T.S. is the right answer and the ONLY path for rapid, healthy and sustainable weight loss...

i would be lying to myself and all of you, if i told you that i'm very scared of this routine....and there are many variables in my fear equation, but mostly it's the toughness of G.U.T.S. and a fear of being demotivated...this is why i religiously come over here every day and read how people are achieving phenomenal results...

I've been doing the M7 for about 2 weeks now and everything is fine....so i decided to take a swing at G.U.T.S. but slowly at first and stopping the M7 for the time being in order to shed all the unwanted weight and then refocus on sculpting my muscles...my beginner's G.U.T.S. routine would be the following...

- ATLAS I PUSH-UP instead of ATLAS III PUSH-UP
- ATLAS II SIT-UP instead of ATLAS I SIT-UP
- TBS and PSU 6 minutes each
- I'm not sure if the MILO will be suitable for me for weight loss (please do correct me if i'm wrong)
- The Routine will be performed every second day with one day rest in between.
- I will also have my father switch to G.U.T.S. but he will start with KNEE PUSH-UP, but everything else will be the same as me...

I'm also wondering about breathing correctly during the exercises:

For the PUSH-UP should i inhale on the way down or up?
For the SIT-UP should i inhale on the way down or up?
What is the Correct breathing technique for the MILO?

I've also did a 12 week excel G.U.T.S. WORKSHEET and 1 YEAR BODY MEASUREMENTS CHART, please feel free to download them and use them to track your individual progress over time.

Thank you all for your time, help and support.

[inertia]

Hi Johnny
On pushups, I've tried exhaling going up and I've tried it going down. I think it's a personal preference. Just make sure you breath nice and deep.

The situps, I find that inhaling on the way up feels like I'm squeezing off my air flow a bit as I curl forward, so I do it the other way.

On the Milo, I inhale on the way up and exhale on the way down. Also I think that the Milo can be effective in weight-loss simply because it's hard work, it's going to burn a lot of calories, and it will build muscle, and building muscle is great for dropping excess fat.

Doing GUTS every-other-day is fine. Just don't cheat yourself; if you're feeling real good, see how doing it everyday feels.

To work your way into the Atlas 3, you might try rotating between Atlas 1 and military pushups (as full range as possible). Perhaps putting emphasis on whichever one is harder.

Have fun!

-Paul

PS - Thanks for the spreadsheets.

[Johnny]

Thank you Inertia (Paul)!

[The Saint]

Hey Jonny,

Well done man! Fair play to you. You have taken the first step in arriving at your destination, you have taken stock of where you are! You have a good handle on what are the potential pitfalls for you, which is good. This means you've probably encountered failure before and are afraid you'll fail again, but you can't walk forward looking back. Stay positive and set yourself ACHIEVABLE goals, because achieving them will encourage you greatly to keep going. The feeling of accomplishment is a built-in reward in itself.

As far as breathing goes, in martial arts we always use the breath to focus the power of our strikes, so it always went with the effort if you understand me. I do the same in my personal training so I would breathe out where the effort is being applied for example when I do sit-ups it's on the way up I exhale and on the way back I inhale, as I find it helps me control the movement and helps focus the mind over the body. When I'm doing rounds on the bag I'll use my breathing that way, concentrating on the rhythm of my breathing to focus my effort and overcome fatigue. When you're pushing yourself and you're body is resisting concentrate on your breathing and don't listen to your body, just use the breathing to focus your effort.

This forum is tops for encouragement, the gang here are class. Like you I keep coming back and reading more, it has totally re-inspired me and given me back my joy in training.

All the best, Johnny, keep us informed on your progress. Being accountable is another way of encouraging yourself to achieve your goals.

[Johnny]

Thank you "The Saint", you words are encouraging!

[PowerHank]

when I do sit-ups it's on the way up I exhale and on the way back I inhale
I would say that's good advice. Personally, I try to synch the breathing with the exercise. Use common sense.
When the body is going towards its most extended position, breathe in. When your body is compressing, breathe out.

So on pushups I breathe in on the way out, and breathe out on the way back to the pike position.
On the squat I breathe out on the way down and breath in on the way up.

Synchronizing the breathing really helps to focus on a painless activity. If you're having to fight doing squats or pushups and are starting to feel the pain in the muscles, just smile and keep breathing.

Hank

[Viking Dan]

Rule of thumb is EOE "exhale on effort." For most moves, coming "down" is the easier part so that's the time to inhale.

[Johnny]

Thank you "PowerHank" and "Viking Dan".

[The Saint]

Synchronizing the breathing really helps to focus on a painless activity. If you're having to fight doing squats or pushups and are starting to feel the pain in the muscles, just smile and keep breathing.

Hank

That's exactly it!! Forget about your body, it's the one time I say don't listen to your body, and concentrate on breathing to power on through your round. Your body will always fight you when you want to push yourself. This is the way to go 'through the wall' and find that bit extra you always have.

[Johnny]

Thanks "PowerHank", "Viking Dan' and "The Saint":good: