My diet is a bit random but I know I never get enough protein. Really need to work on that. First step is re-arranging my diet and try and loose some body fat.
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Fitness |OT4| Squat Booty, Summer Cuts, and Super Swoletrophy
- Thread starter Mr.City
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My diet is a bit random but I know I never get enough protein. Really need to work on that. First step is re-arranging my diet and try and loose some body fat.
Good idea. I might grab some to check it out and see how I get on.
Might get into working out a bit more seriously.My understanding is that this is probably a good thing. Flexible backs are more prone to injury. At least, according to Dr. McGill.
chrisisawesome
Member
That's true. I just went to physio yesterday (first time ever) because of crazy pains in my lower-mid right back. My problem is that I am overly flexible and too mobile; I rotate more than normal. That causes excess strain on my muscles that need to contract in order to stop my vertebral column from rotating too much.
Now I have a few exercices to help me out, and I can't wait to fix this back problem that's been destroying me for a really long time.
Sniper McBlaze
Member
I usually use the whole body program in this topic, but next week I'm gonna have to train two days in a row. Is there an alternative training I can use so I can train two days in a row?
HarryHengst
Member
Either skip one day or just do less weights. It wont kill any gains.
maximum360
Member
The further I go with my weight-training the more of a minimalist I become. Now I'm down to strict upper and lower body days. For upper body: bench press, shoulder press, dips, chin-ups, and bent over rows. Lower body days: squats, heel raises, knee extension, hamstring curls, and back extensions. I used to do a ton more but it became more of a cardio workout than anything else. I'm sure I'll peel back on some of these as I go along as well.
Squatted 120 kilos for the first time yesterday! Went pretty well, but the fifth reps on the second and third sets were janky. When I was finished, a guy started squatting and eventually put on 140 kilos. He didn't even do quarter squats, so perhaps he just wanted to put more on the bar than me.
My legs have exploded the last couple of months! Squats have gone from 100 to 120 kilos in two-three months after staying at 100 for two or three YEARS. Feels great to be able to finally smash those plateaus.
My legs have exploded the last couple of months! Squats have gone from 100 to 120 kilos in two-three months after staying at 100 for two or three YEARS. Feels great to be able to finally smash those plateaus.
RumblingRosco
Member
If I had a penny for every time I saw some dude do a quarter squat, while doing a lot of loud huffing and puffing as he gets under the bar, I'd have enough money to buy my own gym and ban people like him.
What gave you such development in those 2-3 months as compared to the 2-3 years? Better diet, more rest, better routine?
I think I was probably kinda afraid of going over the 100 kilo mark because of the big, round number. A simple psychological barrier. Didn't trust myself to go heavier until this year. And when I finally manned up and went over that threshold, it turned out I had more to go on than I thought, and I feel more confident than before. Another thing that might have helped is that I have started foam rolling this year, which has done away with a lot of tightness in my legs. Still, I think most of the progress has been in my mind.
Saw this on Reddit, thought it was incredibly interesting:
http://examine.com/faq/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people.html
Looks like people can't blame their metabolism as much as they thought!
http://examine.com/faq/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people.html
Looks like people can't blame their metabolism as much as they thought!
Major_Lazer
Member
Starting fasting for Ramadan, my training schedule is gonna have to completely change to accomodate it. Unlucky because i was recently starting to see alot of improvement, got my bench to 80kg and Squat over 100kg fo the first time. Any tips anyone can give to someone having to fast while not dropping his training load.
At the moment ill be going to the gym at 6am before work during the week and as late as possible during weekends.
At the moment ill be going to the gym at 6am before work during the week and as late as possible during weekends.
A big part of the deadlift is the grip. You can't lift your heaviest amount if you can't hold on to the bar.
Gloves seem to prevent from strengthening your grip and making calluses.
You will be fine, I have been doing "ramadan" for the last 6 months with the best results I have ever had. It's called intermittent fasting and many people do it on this forum.
rippedbody.jp
leangains.com
for more information.
you will be fine and your muscles will not fall of your body granted you eat enough when the sun goes down.
Hey again fitness gaf! I have some questions regarding HITT.
Sofar I am still on SS and slowly seeing gains, but i think that in about 6 months most of my gains will have come to a halt and when changing program I also want to loose some of my fat, and adding some HITT to my weightlifting seems to be the way to do it.
My main question is should I already start doing some light cardio? The only cardio I currently do is the 5 min machine row warmup. I know that max pulse (or 90%) is important, but when out of shape, that isn't much of an effort.
And when I start adding HITT should I do it on rest days or on lighter work days?
Is it ok to do HITT on rowing machines, as I can't really run due to my knee. Or is using a stationary bike better?
And finally how long sessions should I aim for when starting out?
As always, I'm grateful for all input!
Sofar I am still on SS and slowly seeing gains, but i think that in about 6 months most of my gains will have come to a halt and when changing program I also want to loose some of my fat, and adding some HITT to my weightlifting seems to be the way to do it.
My main question is should I already start doing some light cardio? The only cardio I currently do is the 5 min machine row warmup. I know that max pulse (or 90%) is important, but when out of shape, that isn't much of an effort.
And when I start adding HITT should I do it on rest days or on lighter work days?
Is it ok to do HITT on rowing machines, as I can't really run due to my knee. Or is using a stationary bike better?
And finally how long sessions should I aim for when starting out?
As always, I'm grateful for all input!
Hello Fitness GAF
I am in need of your help.
First I'll quickly explain my situation.
I was born with a heart disease which was only found when I was six and I had surgery
when I was 7. From then on, everything went better but doctors and family kept telling me my endurance would never be as good as other kids. So I didn't really get into sports as much as other kids but instead got into videogames and fantasy.
However, as the years progressed I did feel like I missed out on the joys of sport but when I wanted to start I always felt like too much of a hassle. I know, I was a bit of a pussy.
Now, I'm 24 years old and I believe it's time for some real changes. Especially because I started to swim a lot and the joys of swimming made me realise that doing some kind of physical exercise actually makes me feel good, not only physically but also mentally.
So at the moment this is how I look:
As you can see, I'm not really "fat" but it's all a bit puffy and I don't have much endurance. There were also times I ate a lot (too much) but those days were back in high school.
At the moment I way about 72 kilograms
And my height is 1,75 metres.
My eating habbits are not that bad. We always cook with olive oil, eat a lot of oatmeal in the mornings, lots of fruit and vedgetables... But I also drink sometimes, love to eat pizza, cookies, fast food, not really on a daily basis but perhaps too much to be really healthy.
My current exercise program is pretty non existant. When the sun is shining I go for a swim in the sea but not really as a real workout, more to enjoy the sense of peace and to swim around a bit.
So my question to you guys is, to tighten my body, to get rid of my unneeded body fat (especially the little belly that developed in high school) and to get some more all round endurance, where should I make some changes in my life?
I'm open to changing my diet, doing some kind of wor out (although I don't have that much time to go to the gym, I can go for a run or swim in a swimming pool).
I might seem like a noob at this but I have never really gotten into sports thanks to my heart disease and people telling me afterwards that I'll never have the same endurance as other people. I believe this to be false and I want to change.
Thanks for the help guys!
Ryan
I am in need of your help.
First I'll quickly explain my situation.
I was born with a heart disease which was only found when I was six and I had surgery
when I was 7. From then on, everything went better but doctors and family kept telling me my endurance would never be as good as other kids. So I didn't really get into sports as much as other kids but instead got into videogames and fantasy.
However, as the years progressed I did feel like I missed out on the joys of sport but when I wanted to start I always felt like too much of a hassle. I know, I was a bit of a pussy.
Now, I'm 24 years old and I believe it's time for some real changes. Especially because I started to swim a lot and the joys of swimming made me realise that doing some kind of physical exercise actually makes me feel good, not only physically but also mentally.
So at the moment this is how I look:
As you can see, I'm not really "fat" but it's all a bit puffy and I don't have much endurance. There were also times I ate a lot (too much) but those days were back in high school.
At the moment I way about 72 kilograms
And my height is 1,75 metres.
My eating habbits are not that bad. We always cook with olive oil, eat a lot of oatmeal in the mornings, lots of fruit and vedgetables... But I also drink sometimes, love to eat pizza, cookies, fast food, not really on a daily basis but perhaps too much to be really healthy.
My current exercise program is pretty non existant. When the sun is shining I go for a swim in the sea but not really as a real workout, more to enjoy the sense of peace and to swim around a bit.
So my question to you guys is, to tighten my body, to get rid of my unneeded body fat (especially the little belly that developed in high school) and to get some more all round endurance, where should I make some changes in my life?
I'm open to changing my diet, doing some kind of wor out (although I don't have that much time to go to the gym, I can go for a run or swim in a swimming pool).
I might seem like a noob at this but I have never really gotten into sports thanks to my heart disease and people telling me afterwards that I'll never have the same endurance as other people. I believe this to be false and I want to change.
Thanks for the help guys!
Ryan
youngplaya21
Member
Yeah, I remember that being mentioned here before. Good luck convincing the average person that, though.
You have some very good programs in the OP, then you could try fixing your diet by eithet watching what you eat or also adding some intermediate fasting.
After going through the info in the OP the knowledgeable people here can help you with the details.
This is from what I've understood from fitgaf...
About the not having time in the gym, it's 1h x3 week and even less when you first start of (if doing SS)
I've had some shoulder/chest soreness so skipped 2 workouts this week to recover, then decided this morning I feel good, and was ready to get right back into things. Had done 365x5 on Deads this week, so decided since I was short on time, I'd start with deads and go from there.
Got 375x5, which has me stoked considering my cut continues succesfully, meaning I am pulling 375 @175, but holy shit, this is the first time I'm seeing what GAF really means about deads. Went to bench after, at a light weight for me, 165, and got 3 reps in before my arms were gassed. Looks like it's deads and basically done today. Sucks, but feels awesome all at once.
Got 375x5, which has me stoked considering my cut continues succesfully, meaning I am pulling 375 @175, but holy shit, this is the first time I'm seeing what GAF really means about deads. Went to bench after, at a light weight for me, 165, and got 3 reps in before my arms were gassed. Looks like it's deads and basically done today. Sucks, but feels awesome all at once.
So GAF I have no idea what happened to squats for me. I just lost my confidence with squats, and I struggle to complete a set I normally would complete. It's weird because this is the only lift I have trouble with. The moment I step into the squat rack 6 million thoughts get into my head, and eventually I fail the set when I shouldn't. Has anyone else had this problem or am I just crazy?
210 on squats today. Only hit one rep, but considering I'm only eating 1500 calories, I'm pretty confident I'll hit my first goal of 225 when I start eating more in the fall.
Also, fitocracy is great and has led to some fun trash talking with my friends. You guys can send me a request at SeanR1221
Also, fitocracy is great and has led to some fun trash talking with my friends. You guys can send me a request at SeanR1221
Get angry.
Really, I'm being serious. When I'm doing a lift and don't feel confident, I just spend about a minute getting angry at the bar and just beast it out as best I can. Don't let the discouraging thoughts get the best of you.
parrotbeak
Member
Have you tried walking away from the rack, go stare into space somewhere, walk around, then rush back to the rack and do it. Hit your cues but otherwise don't dwell on what you're about to do, just do it.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Getting some nice callouses now!
Oh, we're posting pics of our callouses now?
Well, don't mind if I do...
Oh man, flash actually makes it look grotesque. It's not THAT bad in person, trust me.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
If that's true, then it works the other way too. The whole "hardgainer" thing would also be BS.
I doubt this "article" anyway since I've been around plenty of people including my wife who can eat nothing but junk food and not work out (literally a sedentary life) and not gain any weight.
Set the pins way high so you can only do a quarter squat basically. Practice walking out weight much higher than you normally squat. You should be able to walk out / quarter squat about 100 lbs more than you normally squat. This will give you confidence to get under the bar with your normal working weight. Do progressively heavier sets of 3 or 5 after your normal squat workout and see how this helps you
Ughh I passed out deadlifting last night. I tried 1x450 (weak I know) and struggled to get lockout. I'm pretty sure I did get it then I must have just passed out. At least I didn't head first into a dumbbell rack
Must have dropped the bar hard down my shin cuz there's a nice chunk out of my left one and it is super bruised.
Rested for 5 minutes and then did my BBB sets like a boss.
Guess I shouldn't count it since the deadlift won by TKO.
I was dumb for trying it. I had already finished my main 5/3/1 lifts but they felt kind of easy so I wanted to try more.
Must have dropped the bar hard down my shin cuz there's a nice chunk out of my left one and it is super bruised.
Rested for 5 minutes and then did my BBB sets like a boss.
Guess I shouldn't count it since the deadlift won by TKO.
I was dumb for trying it. I had already finished my main 5/3/1 lifts but they felt kind of easy so I wanted to try more.
If the studies indicate that caloric metabolism differences are +/- 300 kcal, I'd be willing to bet that those who are fat vs those who are skinny while eating junk must have something different in their lifestyles/habits. Of course, long-term caloric surpluses, even just 200 kcal a day, will lead to quite a bit of weight gain over several months.
However, from what I've seen from friends who eat junk and don't exercise while remaining skinny, they seem to have different eating habits than me (who used to be pretty chubby), in that they are often comfortable to stop eating once they are "done" aka "not really hungry any more". When I was a tubster I very vibrantly remember always trying to finish my food, and I achieved "overeating" very frequently. Similar exercise levels, similar meals, different eating mentality.
Over time, eating more = getting fatter.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
That's just my point. My wife and the people I'm talking about eat more than I do, more often and gain nothing. My brother was also this way until he hit his 30s.
My wife specifically I've been with for over 10 years, she is constantly eating and never weighs more than 136 max at 5'8"
Also, research can be made to say anything. For every article that says "that" there's another that says the opposite.
More to the point, again, if this study is "accurate" all the "hardgainers" are also wrong, because there would be no such thing.
Also, one of those articles said it only studied 11 people in its study, if I read it right. If that's the case, it's not a study that can be accurately generalized.
The only way to be "sure" would be to actually research and evaluate MANY studies on the matter stating opposite conclusions to see which has the better evidence.
Ughh I passed out deadlifting last night. I tried 1x450 (weak I know) and struggled to get lockout. I'm pretty sure I did get it then I must have just passed out. At least I didn't head first into a dumbbell rack
Must have dropped the bar hard down my shin cuz there's a nice chunk out of my left one and it is super bruised.
Rested for 5 minutes and then did my BBB sets like a boss.
Guess I shouldn't count it since the deadlift won by TKO.
I was dumb for trying it. I had already finished my main 5/3/1 lifts but they felt kind of easy so I wanted to try more.
Yp, like a boss indeed!
I haven't seen any articles that disprove the claim that basal metabolic rate between people is significantly larger within std deviations, but if there are please link me.
It makes sense to me that BMR does not vary. A small person will burn less calories than a large people. An active person will burn more calories than a sedentary person. For a small, sedentary person to "burn more calories" than a large, active person (yourself, I suppose in this situation) does not make sense to me unless there is a significant (aka outside 2 std deviations, or 95%) genetic difference. Even so, that doesn't explain everyone.
Studies show that fat people, even if they are sedentary and don't do anything, burn more calories than regular people. Why? Because they weigh more and need more calories to operate at maintenance. They remain fat because they are eating up to snuff calorie-wise. (Source: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/6/1412.full)
What I was saying is that I think skinny people are often misleading in how much they truly eat. Now that I weigh less, I actually eat quite a bit less than I used to. My appetite is MUCH easier to satiate with smaller amounts of food, and even eating until I'm "full" now is much less food than when I was heavier. I could eat the same junk but I just would not be able to eat as much of it.
Yeah that makes sense, your lower body is stronger than your upper because you use it a LOT more, and even just walking/running will allow you to maintain it easier than your upper body.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
To be honest I haven't looked, but you can bet where one person makes a claim through study, another refutes it the same way. That's how these things work.
I'm curious on your opinion of "hard gainers" though by your line of thinking they should e able to add weight easily.
I am not really familiar with "hard-gaining" as I was not a "hard-gainer" nor do I work out with any I know of. However, based on what I'm reading, it would in theory not be as difficult for them to put on weight as is commonly believed.
Gaining weight is a slow process that is affected greatly (I believe, as I have been saying) by eating habits and mentality. People who frequently eat past their capacity, over time (several months) will gain weight. Recall that 1 lb of fat is 3500 kcalories. Let's say you eat 350 kcal over maintenance (avg 2000 ish), it would take you 10 days to put on 1 lb of fat. To become 20 lbs overweight (which compared to many people is really not that much anymore), you would consistently have to eat 350 over for 200 days. That is several months!
That is all complicated by the fact that as you get fatter your body requires more calories to stay at maintenance. So in reality you are eating more and more calories everyday, and you need 350 ON TOP of that to gain weight.
Regarding hard gainers, I think they are largely affected by just how much they are able to eat, not their metabolism per se. To gain muscle AND fat, you need more calories than just gaining fat. You and I both know that gaining muscle is hard, and is MUCH SLOWER than gaining fat. You need to eat big to gain big, and even so, "gaining big" is really a several month process. It's my impression that "hard gainers" call themselves so because it is difficult for them (appetite-wise, calorie-wise, whatever) to consistently eat a lot of food to gain weight, on top of the fact that gaining muscle is a very long, arduous process. You need to gain GOOD, CLEAN calories if you want to efficiently build muscle. Even if you do everything perfectly right, 100% clean diet and you have great form in the gym and good habits, it'll still take many months to build muscle.
Based on the studies I've seen, it seems not to be the BM rate that discriminates against "hard gainers". If I had to take a guess (my opinion, of course), the difference would be in how comfortable they are in eating enough food, along with the process being very slow.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Just got a compliment indirectly. My brother in law who is the first person to point out someone being fat was talking to my wife while she was making some hotwings for lunch. She asked him how many he wanted since she was giving me 9, and he said "6, I'm not 225 solid muscle like your husband." That felt good to hear, even if I'm no where near solid muscle.
That would make more sense, and is pretty much what I was getting at. That the whole "hardgainer" thing would also be BS if those studies are to be believed.
That would make more sense, and is pretty much what I was getting at. That the whole "hardgainer" thing would also be BS if those studies are to be believed.
But thats's just it. What program should I choose? Should I just focus on losing weight before doing something else?
And what kind of changes should I make to my diet?
And I play the piano and study at the university so the gym isn't always an option. I could try to make some time if it's worth it. But would 3 times of running/swimming a week be adequate too? Or isn't that enough. I'm just asking since I really don't know.
It is bullshit. They just measured REE and saw that there wasn't a big variance among people. But, people respond very differently to excessive food intake. Some people easily store fat when they eat calories in excess of their typical daily EE while others ramp up their metabolism in response to consuming excess food. There was a study in a metabolic ward where they force-fed naturally skinny people like 5k calories daily for several weeks. They all gained way less than what would be expected based on their REE (they were monitored and didn't exercise). One guy even gained almost entirely muscle mass and virtually no fat.
Interesting. Link to study please?
As I am probably the biggest noob here I'll just reiterate what advice I've gotten, and besides you are way skinnier then i am so i guess same advice goes for you.
There are lot of different ways you can go, but it's not needed to first loose weight, get to the gym If you want to ad muscle, that will help with the look (seem "toned") and the feel (of being strong).
Of course it could be enough to just swim and run if you want to loose some fat (which will make you look better/muscular). Doing Intervals (HITT) seems to give you the most bang for your bucks.
But the thing is that you will loose some muscle in the process if you do not add some sort of weight training (gym, home, park). So by just running and swimming you could loose a lot of fat, but that could make you look skinny/malnourished instead of fit.
And then you have diet, which seems to be very important for the look, as you can be muscular but still look kinda fat. You need to find out how many calories you need for maintenance and then reduce it slightly so as to loose the fat you have and not add any extra.
You should also figure out the balance between fat/protein/carbohydrates you eat as to maximise the gains and minimise teh fats.
This link might help
http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/
I would say the gym is definitely worth it, and I think most in this thread would agree. I've never done any weightlifting before wisiting this thread almost 6 months ago, but now I'm hooked, all thanks to these nice ppl here. And I'm a kinda bigg fatty who is seeing all kinds of gains!
So just decide if you want/can add the gym, choose one of the programs listed and enjoy your new better self.
As a noob in the gym it doesn't matter all to much which program you choose as long as you follow them. I would of course recommend SS as that is thw one I'm still on.
Hope any of this makes sense to you and helps you decide on what to do next.
Etrian Oddity
Member
muntersaur
Member
http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/why-are-thin-people-not-fat.html
I would definitely describe myself as a hardgainer but the upside to this is that I am one of those naturally thin people whose body does not like being fat.
I naturally reside around 10% bodyfat and can go up to around 15-20% if I bulk by eating ridiculous amounts of carbs at every meal. As soon as I start eating a more normal diet (normal for me would make most people fat) again my body will natural taper again to 10% without any effort in getting there. I've been to around 15-20% once and will never do it again because it is not natural for me, and I felt terrible, so now I will only gain weight slow and steady. The biggest positive to this is that I know pretty much any permanent weight gained is lean body mass and not fat.
Horse Detective
Why the long case?
Hey Gaf, need some advice,
One of my co workers mentioned something called "wheat grass", as some sort of health drink. Have any of you had experience with this? Is it worth trying?
One of my co workers mentioned something called "wheat grass", as some sort of health drink. Have any of you had experience with this? Is it worth trying?
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