getting into athletic shape

[JaBlue]

I'm happy with how i look. I am 5'10 160ish, reasonably muscular. I haven't lifted in a long time and I have no plans to.

My goal would be to look like Brad Pitt in Snatch.

I want to get into "athletic shape" as the kind of shape where I can play a game of 1 on 1 basketball without getting winded. Like when I was in junior high and I played whole games straight.

What's the best way to do this?

I got into swimming and am going to try to go 3 days/week. Today I swam 1600 meters [a mile] and that's a typical day for me. A month ago I was trying to do 2500m swims. My routines are pretty strange, I do something like 200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and alternate that for a while then I may end with some 50m sprints. My current fastest time is 35s for 50m and I know thats nowhere close to good. Any tips for designing a swimming workout, or swimming technique in general would be appreciated.

I want to avoid treadmill and running because my knees aren't great, and in general I don't want to use machines. My friends and I play sports sometimes but it can often be too hard to get a group together to play.

[Thremp]

Die.

[Jay.]

ha, this place got a gym forum mentality pretty quickly.

[BreakfastBurrito]

ok, to summarize:

-You don't want to lift
-You don't want to run
-You don't want to use machines
-Sports are fun but it's usually too difficult to get games going.

mmkay, you probably know that your exclusions make it impossible for anyone to give you the "best" way to achieve your goals. Swimming is definitely a great start. Is your location of UCSD accurate? If so, you're in the triathlon capital of the world, so you shouldn't have to look far for expert advice on swim workouts. Also, start surfing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. They're all fun, accessible activities that are great for improving strength and athleticism and require minimal group involvement.

[thirddan]

hmm, lots of limitations...you might consider doing some bike hiit or plyo drills mixed with some bodyweight exercises...would help with explosiveness and such...

[Green Kool Aid]

without running or lifting...

plyos would be really good for getting in athletic shape, bc they work calves.
ab/core work.
high intensity cardio like a spinning or boxing to work on excess fat.
good diet (high fiber, lots of veggies, dont eat stuff like pizza or processed snacks).

[dms]

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ha, this place got a gym forum mentality pretty quickly.

[/ QUOTE ]

At least you don't have to watch all the idiots with terrible form.

[tdarko]

[ QUOTE ]
My goal would be to look like Brad Pitt in Snatch.

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I wouldn't want to be a Gypsy. I would rather look like Brad Pitt from Fight Club.

Ok, seriously. You say athletic shape, what do you mean by that? Do you mean you just want to look athletic or you want to look athletic and be able to play sports? B/c judging from your post you want to look athletic but you don't want to really do anything to get there which is kind of weird. What sports do you like or would be willing to do?

There has been some good advice so far. Swimming is great. Some mentioned cycling/mountain biking, this is great. Rock climbing is excellent. Plyos and bodyweight exercises--getting you to do an explosive workout is good advice (thirddan). I am basically regurgitating what others have said b/c I don't know what your direction is. You don't seem to have a plan or direction so this advice, which is good, could lead to nowhere.

I will say you seem like the mountain biking type of dude though which means I would think that that and rock climbing and outdoorsy stuff would suit you well.

Also, if you want to play a game of 1 on 1 w/o getting winded run up and down a basketball court a few times a week and you won't be winded playing a full court basketball game let alone 1 on 1, but you don't want to run [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img].

[anklebreaker]

Ha, it's almost as if this op was made to justify and legitimize thremp's 'tone.'

Do you have some philosophical aversion to lifting weights?
You might wanna look into some Ross Enamait style stuff.

[skunkworks]

lol awesome thread