aadvark wrote:thanks for all the tips...i def have a lot of body fat, cos if i pinch my belly, i can def grab quite a roll of it. past few years i put on quite a bit of weight, last yr during this time of yr i was still 85kg, managed to shed abt 11kg after watching my diet and exercising more (nope, did not resort to lipo for my body
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from what i gather, i shld get my body fat down some more with cardio, in the meantime, complement it with dips and push-ups, and when i reach a more ideal body fat percentage, i can try to bulk up my chest with incline presses
Like i said before you have no need to worry about the fat you have, the important, thing is to train all the muscle groups, and reduce fat intake to around 15 to 20%, the carbs you will need for training, and the protein for repair of muscle tissue, the whole complex synthesis will use a percentage of fat from your fat depot, but you must not cut fat out of your diet, only reduce it....the problem is if you cannot get that burn, the foods protein and carbs you are eating will go to the fat depot, its all about the actual effort, hard work, you put in, and a quick 10 minutes here and there, will not do it.
So focus on a planned training session, of 3 sets and increase to 5 sets, of light weights for rapid carb exhaustion, or slow heavy weight for muscle build. You can exhaust all daily carb intake within 30 minutes on the tread mill, by doing sprints, then it starts to take from the fat depot.
Dips you can do now, and should do now also incline press, but for stoking the fire, and burning calories do squats, but always wear a belt, for safety, don't ever believe that a slipped disc will not happen, because you don't lift heavy weight, it is nothing to do with weight so much, but the angle of lift.
understanding how to call on, the different energies of the body is important.....think about it, in terms of emergencies, the fuel is supplied from the carbs, this s what sprinters rely on for the sprint, it is short lived, with about 30 minutes use, available at one time, this is why a runner needs to plan his pace, and not be pressurised into increasing the pace, because someone overtakes.
To run dry of carbs, will cause muscles to fail and cramp, using slow movement exercise, uses only a portion of carbs, and more from the fat depot, if there is no fat in the depot, it will take the energy it needs from the muscle, so you need to ensure, you have enough protein and carbs, to do the work of muscle building, which is a slow and deliberate exercise, focussing on the muscles being trained, and doing a full flex. Half flex is no good at all, and you see many doing chin ups, with half flex, which is cheating oneself, of full muscle extension, because it is a very difficult exercise to pull up your own body weight.
Think of it this way, you are well on the road, to losing what fat you have, only think of the quality of your weight exercises to build more muscle, and ensure you have enough protein to do it, the fat you have is needed in the fuel mix otherwise, the muscle will get smaller, so its finding the balance of your diet, to suit your work out needs, you will have to experiment because of the body mechanics.
If you feel fatigued after a work out, it's because the fuel mix is not right, you should feel a buzz after a good hard work out....and there is only one reason why one should feel fatigued, probably not getting the 8 essential amino acids when you need them most....the body cannot make these 8 amino acids....so drink specially brewed vinegar while training made from brown rice, which produces the 8 essential protein amino acids in liquid form, refreshing , rejuvenating and fulfilling the metabolic cycle requirements of fuel optimisation, one citric acid cycle is equal to one ATP production...but what is the quality of fuel like, without the amino acid? think about it, and you will realise that the metabolism is impaired, when it needs to functioning at its best while exercising.
I proved this to myself, although it may be different for other individuals, but with over 25 years of running experience, I knew exactly how much weight i could lose on a run, and it wasn't more than half kilo a week, so it came as a shock, when i dropped 1kg in the first week of drinking vinegar, while training...the only logical explanation was that my diet, didn't cover the 8 essential amino acids, when i needed them most, so i continued to drink while running and weight training too, and it doubled the burning capability of the calories, on a more closer inspection of the metabolic cycle on wikipedia, I could see, that other supplements were not needed provided i got the 8 essential protein amino acids which act as intermediaries to ensure the correct fuel mixture, for high quality energy. without them, fatigue sets in.
So stamina, and endurance all require high grade fuel for synthesis of proteins and muscle building, also the carb energy fuel needs to be the best, for the sprint, no good with 2 star fuel when you need 4 star, right, so the importance must be on the fuel mixture, and without suffiecient aminos to mix with the foods, only a poor quality fuel will be delivered. Although you have no need to run out and get pulled into all the hype of food supplements at a 100$ a throw, when beverages cost $1.30 a bottle and provide more benefits than just a pill, like quenching your thirst as well as providing the amino acids.
Be careful when purchasing vinegars for drinking i have seen fruit stalls cheating customers, by selling vinegar drinks, mixed with fruit, and shaking the rice vinegar into the fruit.
These drinks are full of addtives, and the fruit is enhanced with syrup, and the vinegar is just white rice vinegar with no health benefits at all.
Heinz for example tout their vinegars on their website as healthy, but a distilled vinegar is not healthy, it is synthetic made of distilled water and acetic acid, used on salads and for industrial cleaning, no health benefits at all. They also state on their website to avoid cheaper vinegars, because they are probably made from benzene,
So the quality of vinegars out there in the market place, leave a lot to be desired.
A rule of thumb is to know that 3 types of vinegar exsist, specially brewed vinegar, synthetic vinegar, and the mixture of 1. and 2.
Obviously the 1st one specially brewed vinegars are the highest qualities and only fall into the functional category, if they have been tested, by an independant reputable bio-chemist in the food & beverage industry, to qualify for listing cardiovascular health.
One should always request the proof, and not be fooled into a purchase, because like heinze, they sell vinegar, but not health vinegar. I recieve many bodybuiling websites, asking me to exchange links, because they know the truth of vinegar drinking beverages now, of course the gyms are not keen to take it in, because there is more profit margins on the pills, it's all about money in the commercial market and not so much of health.
A very good diet, will ensure you get the amino acids anyway, but again not when you need them most, and that is when you are training and conditioning, the amounts required increase with body needs. So drinking vinegars are relatively cheap and healthy when compared to sodium benzoate drinks.
I have seen a couple of vinegar drinks in the supermarkets, which also tastes pretty good, there is one from the mainland, that should be avoided because of the aspatame, and other additives which can cause allergic reaction, it doesn't taste very nice either.
As the vinegar drinks become more popular, education in vinegars is required, because Singapore is a pirates paradise, more could be done, to protect the consumers.
Last of all drinking vinegars do not show significant weight loss after 6 months drinking without stimulating the metabolism, which means increasing the heart beat as often as possible.
The metabolic process must be started to lose weight, or eat less.
it's just plain old commonsense which you lack 
no hard feelings though, i just wouldn't like you to get taken to court over it! 