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[MThanded]

Hate to be sarcastic, but it's almost as if it's not as simple as calories in/calories out when it comes to losing body fat.

What kind of stuff do you eat?

Here is what I posted before

100 to 150 a day.

Almost no processed carbohydrates. My diet consists of these foods mainly:

-Tofu
-Chicken Breast
-Salmon
-Brocolli
-Salad Mix
-Grape Tomatoes
-Asparagus
-Onions
-Brussels Sprouts
-Feta Cheese
-Olive Oil
-Avocados

Sometimes i will make apple carrot juice. Once every 2 days. 1 apple and 2 carrot stalks.

It's consistent on a weekly basis because these are the only things I buy from costco and I cook most of my meals.

Every now and then I will throw in some brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Maybe once or twice a week. I do not buy snack foods, bread or use white sugar. Do not drink sugary drinks.

Heres a pretty much standard bi-weekly grocery run

I rarely eat processed foods or eat out. Most of my meals are made by me at home.

Edit:
Beyond the sodium related spike in weight this week. I have seen some slight weightloss by increasing my overall calories and increasing carbs along with that. Along with GSLP and reduced cardio.

 

[blackflag]

Just started doing proper tracking of my food intake and it's become clear that I'm not getting enough carbs. Trying to keep things clean so I figured I'd buy some quick oats from Costco to fill that gap. Do people eat these things raw or is there some ultra quick way to make them edible? I can't be bothered to be cooking these things every single day.

Also, any recs on a good kitchen scale?

If you don't want to cook them, put a serving in a protein shake or milk and just drink it. I prefer it that way usually because it's just fast and easy.

 

[blackflag]

One thing I've learned is stupid: weighing yourself every day. Water weight and amount of material in your body is constantly fluctuating and your weight can sometimes change two or three pounds day-to-day depending on how much water you drank the day before and the physical weight (not necessarily calories) of the food you consumed.

Source: I ate 1700 calories yesterday and weigh 1.5 lbs more today in water weight.

Now, on a related note, how beneficial is an ECA stack? Taking a blood thinner and a stimulant seems sort of risky.

It's not risky in that way but pretty much no one takes the A anymore because it's not that beneficial and I guess hard on your liver.

 

[Kyaw]

Question on face pulls. Some say to have your elbows higher than your wrist and others say the opposite. What do you guys think?

Best advice I've seen on the ending position is to do a "bro bicep flex".
And lock your shoulder scapulars back so you're using your posterior delts.

I've finished the Clean + Jerk sessions with the PT today. (4x1-hour sessions)

I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to improve on their clean technique and start getting serious about olympic movements. You'll need to take sessions for longer obviously if you want to cover all the movements.

We went over full/power cleans, clean pulls, hang squat cleans and touched upon push presses and split jerks.

Also got this torn callous today while doing heavy clean pulls:

 

[blackflag]

Remember to go during the lunch rush and ask for double meat, so as to increase the odds they won't charge you for it

This works almost every time at my Chipotle.

 

[Host Samurai]

One thing I've learned is stupid: weighing yourself every day. Water weight and amount of material in your body is constantly fluctuating and your weight can sometimes change two or three pounds day-to-day depending on how much water you drank the day before and the physical weight (not necessarily calories) of the food you consumed.

Source: I ate 1700 calories yesterday and weigh 1.5 lbs more today in water weight.

Now, on a related note, how beneficial is an ECA stack? Taking a blood thinner and a stimulant seems sort of risky.

Its pretty good and might give you some jitters at first. Start off with a low dose and than gradually increase it. Be careful on it though and don't take it too late

Also I don't count my food intake calorie for calorie. It gets too confusing because some of the cuts of chicken breasts I get are bigger than others and I won't waste my time counting calories for vegetables. Banana's are also a different size every day for me.

Getting results anyway. Leaner and more muscular every day. The only thing I make sure I get enough of is protein. 150-200g a day.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

How do people like this survive? lol



This is unreliable data, the body doesn't really work that way.

Why not? Previous day I had more sodium, I look more vascular or I'm retaining water. Previous day I had a refeed, my glycogen stores are full or Im beginning to spillover.


I think its best to weigh yourself weekly, but if you want to observe the nuances then weigh yourself everyday in the morning and average out your weight at the end of the week. This would be more accurate than just looking at 2 data points

 

[MjFrancis]

So about 3 weeks ago I started GSLP and started focusing on ensuring i eat between 2000-2500 calories. I'm going to try this for a few months.

Is it ok to do HIIT 3 times a week too. Also, I was planning to train for a bike ride. Right now I have been limiting my steady state cardio to one long 15 miler a week. Will this destroy my progress??

GSLP is awesome. I suggest GSLP and bicycling.

You can't serve two masters - and eating modestly, training heavy, LISS bicycle riding and HITT 3x/week is serving many different goals and asking quite a lot of most mortals.

As an appeal to authority, I dug up an old Leangains Questions and Answers post:

http://www.leangains.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

1. There is no doubt that HIIT is superior to steady state cardio when it comes to improving metabolic conditioning when looking at effect/time invested.

2. Extremely overrated for fat burning. EPOC is minimal and certainly not as significant andf radical as some gurus/nutjobs/pranksters make it out to be. Choosing HIIT before lower intensity, steady state cardio solely for caloric burn is dumb as hell.

3. That last point is very important. Even though you burn more calories in less than half the amount of time compared to, for example, brisk walking, HIIT is very draining on the central nervous system. In stark contrast to lower intensity cardio, which you can do for a much longer time, with much greater frequency. For someone interested in fat loss and strength maintenance, and not metabolic conditioning primarily, including HIIT too frequently is playing with fire.

So in conclusion, HIIT is great if conditioning is high on your list. And no, you can't have fat loss, optimal strength maintenance and conditioning all high on your list. Something has to give. Since most people, at least the clients I deal with, are interested in fat loss, HIIT is vastly overrated and the frequency to which it has to be integrated in order to create a substantial caloric deficit will cause most people to crash, and their lifts to plummet. Which is why I rarely recommend HIIT for someone that just wants to get lean, while keeping their strength up in the gym. If you aren't concerned with getting your resting heart rate low, and just want to look good naked, think twice before jumping on the HIIT bandwagon.

You're likely not going to gain strength, improve conditioning, and lose fat simultaneously. It's best to give one goal priority for a time (3-6+ months) and treat improvements in other areas as secondary if not incidental.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Here is what I posted before



I rarely eat processed foods or eat out. Most of my meals are made by me at home.

Edit:
Beyond the sodium related spike in weight this week. I have seen some slight weightloss by increasing my overall calories and increasing carbs along with that. Along with GSLP and reduced cardio.

Damn, I really have no idea. That looks like some pretty clean eating. Have you tried going ultra low-carb before (sub-30g)? I think I remember seeing you post in the Weight Loss thread that you have. That didn't have an effect on you, either?

I have read a lot about how too much cardio can stall weight loss for some people. Something to do with it screwing up the thyroid.

 

[SeanR1221]

GSLP is awesome. I suggest GSLP and bicycling.

You can't serve two masters - and eating modestly, training heavy, LISS bicycle riding and HITT 3x/week is serving many different goals and asking quite a lot of most mortals.

As an appeal to authority, I dug up an old Leangains Questions and Answers post:

http://www.leangains.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

You're likely not going to gain strength, improve conditioning, and lose fat simultaneously. It's best to give one goal priority for a time (3-6+ months) and treat improvements in other areas as secondary if not incidental.

This is a really great post. I definitely learned the hard way in the beginning you can't do it all at once.

 

[Doodis]

Also, and this will sound like a ridiculous question, but any tips on what to do with medium length hair during a workout? Maybe this would be better asked in the hair thread, but I've got wavy hair that goes full on perm action once I start sweating and moving. It's not long enough to pull it back in a ponytail, but I'd like to figure out some way to keep it contained so I don't look quite so insane after finishing a workout.

Wear a hat? I have curly hair that looks crappy after I wake up, no matter what length. I always wear a hat to the gym.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

I know the feeling

 

[ILoveBish]

Thanks, sounds cool. What kind of benching form do you use though? back completely against the bench?

I would suggest watching a bunch of proper bench form videos to get a good idea. But I put my shoulder blades together and arch the back so that you can put your hand underneath your back if you had to. I don't arch too much due to being a big guy. I also put my pinky finger on the ring on the sides and use that to feel where to place my hands. I then put the bar in the Palm of my hand and wrap my fingers around from there. It puts the weight more on your arms then your fingers holding up the bar.

Of course I suggest watching some form videos on YouTube to get a good idea visually.

 

[Matugi]

Its pretty good and might give you some jitters at first. Start off with a low dose and than gradually increase it. Be careful on it though and don't take it too late

.

I did some googling and it seems that because of the ephedrine it's really not worth the risk. Some pretty serious side effects and drug stores have to keep pretty strict tabs on people who buy it.

 

[MjFrancis]

This is a really great post. I definitely learned the hard way in the beginning you can't do it all at once.

Thank you, Sean. It's really valuable advice I wish I'd taken to heart sooner. Better late than never at any rate!

 

[Darren870]

I did some googling and it seems that because of the ephedrine it's really not worth the risk. Some pretty serious side effects and drug stores have to keep pretty strict tabs on people who buy it.

I thought ephedrine was illegal in the states.I used to do an eca stack. Not really worth it in my opinion.

 

[Matugi]

I thought ephedrine was illegal in the states.I used to do an eca stack. Not really worth it in my opinion.

It's not illegal but ephedrine is a precursor to meth (thanks Breaking Bad) and is more concentrated than pseudophedrine so they take your license information when you try to buy it.

I don't think I need it, personally. I've come to accept the fact that I'll always have a bit of belly fat that won't go away. Last time I bulked I didn't use creatine so this time I am and hopefully that will help build more muscle mass where I do carry more fat.

 

[burnfout]

Third time deadlifting, form check please!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fty9141sap0


Thanks!

 

[SeanR1221]

Thank you, Sean. It's really valuable advice I wish I'd taken to heart sooner. Better late than never at any rate!

I think people also need to get to a certain point before they worry about one or the other. You see guys just starting out asking if its time to cut yet before building a solid strength base.

For me? Well, all my pants have slowly been getting a little snug, so I think it's time to focus on my diet a little more and not worry about my strength gains as much. It will probably be easier to do since I'm lowering my squat/dead 5/3/1 numbers with my back issue.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Third time deadlifting, form check please!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fty9141sap0


Thanks!

You need to maintain the arch in your lower back, and drive up through your heels. You seem to be pivoting forward onto your toes on the way down. You've gotta be grounded. Also, I'd recommend that, instead of bending down and pulling the bar to you to start off, walk up to the bar with your feet beneath it so that it is touching your shins. Then, sit back while maintaining your lower back arch until you feel like you're gonna fall back, but you'll have time to grab the bar. This is the starting position you want as it'll force you to drive through with your heels/legs instead of merely swaying at the top of the lift due to being off-balance.

Of course this is my interpretation based off a video with a crude camera angle, so don't take my word at face value. Hopefully others can comment.

 

[blackflag]

I thought ephedrine was illegal in the states.I used to do an eca stack. Not really worth it in my opinion.

Ephederine is legal in most states but it can't be marketed for weight loss. You have to buy Primatine or bronkaid.

You have to show ID and sign an electronic form. They just make sure you don't buy too much of it because it's used to make meth. You'd have to buy a ton of the stuff....more than you'd ever use for an EC stack.

 

[Kyaw]

You need to maintain the arch in your lower back, and drive up through your heels. You seem to be pivoting forward onto your toes on the way down. You've gotta be grounded. Also, I'd recommend that, instead of bending down and pulling the bar to you to start off, walk up to the bar with your feet beneath it so that it is touching your shins. Then, sit back while maintaining your lower back arch until you feel like you're gonna fall back, but you'll have time to grab the bar. This is the starting position you want as it'll force you to drive through with your heels/legs instead of merely swaying at the top of the lift due to being off-balance.

Of course this is my interpretation based off a video with a crude camera angle, so don't take my word at face value. Hopefully others can comment.

Third time deadlifting, form check please!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fty9141sap0


Thanks!

Here is the deadlift setup by Rippetoe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA

 

[blackflag]

It's not illegal but ephedrine is a precursor to meth (thanks Breaking Bad) and is more concentrated than pseudophedrine so they take your license information when you try to buy it.

I don't think I need it, personally. I've come to accept the fact that I'll always have a bit of belly fat that won't go away. Last time I bulked I didn't use creatine so this time I am and hopefully that will help build more muscle mass where I do carry more fat.

That's not how creatine works.

 

[Matugi]

That's not how creatine works.

I know how it works. Delivers ATP in the form of phosphocreatine so as to make your muscles more mechanically efficient during work. This increases your muscles' capacity to work which in turn helps you achieve more lifts and more gainz

 

[Mark1]

When I started at the gym for the first couple of months, I hardly had to change my diet and my muscles grew. Now they don't grow at all, what could be the reason behind this, is it that the diet needs improving more or some other mistake I'm making?

Cheers

 

[Matugi]

When I started at the gym for the first couple of months, I hardly had to change my diet and my muscles grew. Now they don't grow at all, what could be the reason behind this, is it that the diet needs improving more or some other mistake I'm making?

Cheers

Are you progressing at all with your lifts? Some of those may be noob gains. If you aren't providing progressive stress to your muscles your lifts and gains will stagnate.

 

[Mark1]

Are you progressing at all with your lifts? Some of those may be noob gains. If you aren't providing progressive stress to your muscles your lifts and gains will stagnate.

Im not sure what you're meaning by progressive stress. Sometimes there is no progression with my lifts, there are a couple of times when it did.

 

[FallingEdge]

When I started at the gym for the first couple of months, I hardly had to change my diet and my muscles grew. Now they don't grow at all, what could be the reason behind this, is it that the diet needs improving more or some other mistake I'm making?

Cheers

Most likely noob gains. What is your current routine and diet?

 

[Matugi]

Im not sure what you're meaning by progressive stress. Sometimes there is no progression with my lifts, there are a couple of times when it did.

IE each week you're either doing more weight or more reps

 

[Mark1]

Most likely noob gains. What is your current routine and diet?

I'm in the middle of setting up a new diet. I don't have a routine atm because I'm on holiday and the gym in the complex only has a couple of machines, each with their own functions. Is it possible for others to look through other's posts? I'm only saying this if you want to find my previous routine made by me and a trainer. I'll post it again if you're unable to find it.

EDIT: I should also add after doing done research about a month ago I've stopped spending more than 2 hours in the gym at the MOST. As well as being stressed at times which could be another reason.

EDIT2: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=60447525&highlight=#post60447525 Previous routine

EDIT3: Finding it real hard trying to meet 150 something grams of protein without the use of protein shakes.

 

[Chittagong]

I am well over 15% fat and fairly sure my obliques edges are showing. Is such a thing even possible..?!

 

[Darren870]

Ephederine is legal in most states but it can't be marketed for weight loss. You have to buy Primatine or bronkaid.

You have to show ID and sign an electronic form. They just make sure you don't buy too much of it because it's used to make meth. You'd have to buy a ton of the stuff....more than you'd ever use for an EC stack.

Ahhh okay. Last time I did a stack was 2006, so maybe it was illegal then? I don't remember but I know I didn't get it over the counter.

 

[ZeroRay]

Been sick and out of it the last few days.

My body feels so soft and weak!

 

[Szu]

I started cutting in May and have a month to go. It's nice to actually feel my abs now lol. Here are a few progress pics:

Week 1:



Currently:

Nice work. I almost want to substitute rage faces into those bubbles.

 

[Mully]

Pretty bummed today. Hopefully my 5/3/1 bench day makes it better with a new PR.

 

[Hypertrooper]

I hope this is the right thread. Hey guys, I am looking for a website which has all the gym exercises, equipment etc.. I want to translate my workout plan in English for a friend, but most of the terms aren't in my English-German dictionary. (And may ask you guys what could be tuned) Thanks guys in advance!

 

[Darren870]

I hope this is the right thread. Hey guys, I am looking for a website which has all the gym exercises, equipment etc.. I want to translate my workout plan in English for a friend, but most of the terms aren't in my English-German dictionary. (And may ask you guys what could be tuned) Thanks guys in advance!

Bodybuilding.com has a lot of exercises and how to do them.

 

[MThanded]

GSLP is awesome. I suggest GSLP and bicycling.

You can't serve two masters - and eating modestly, training heavy, LISS bicycle riding and HITT 3x/week is serving many different goals and asking quite a lot of most mortals.

As an appeal to authority, I dug up an old Leangains Questions and Answers post:

http://www.leangains.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

You're likely not going to gain strength, improve conditioning, and lose fat simultaneously. It's best to give one goal priority for a time (3-6+ months) and treat improvements in other areas as secondary if not incidental.

Thanks for the help. Seriously this is a great thread.

 

[fredrancour]

I hope this is the right thread. Hey guys, I am looking for a website which has all the gym exercises, equipment etc.. I want to translate my workout plan in English for a friend, but most of the terms aren't in my English-German dictionary. (And may ask you guys what could be tuned) Thanks guys in advance!

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Click on a muscle in the left column to get a list of exercises for it. Click on each of those moves to see an animation.

 

[sphinx]

New Overhead Press PR broken... 40 kgs. x 5 ...but damn, that move is brutal, my lower back got severly punished, not to the point of injury but It's clear my body still isn't in that league to pull it off properly. I'll stay there some weeks before trying to break that PR, I am pretty sure I plateau'd today and besides I suspect my form isn't as good, I have to be cautious.

 

[Jack_AG]

IE each week you're either doing more weight or more reps

To a point. Eventually you won't be able to constantly add a consistent amount each week and will wind up doing every other, every 3, etc.

If we added weight to lifts each week people would be throwing up insane numbers after just a year of lifting - which doesn't happen, naturally. Not to mention the avg lean mass gain is roughly 0.5-1 lb per month - that's not an incredible amount by any stretch of the imagination.

Noob gains come quick, after that they should come slow, but consistent (unless you're taking garbage). Most people I know tend to come off the weekly gain around 3 months in. Every other to every 3 is normal for someone who eats their nutrition.

 

[alexthekid]

Hey guys, this is my first post in fitness GAF and I need some serious help. I have been living abroad for 4 months and during that time my diet was vastly different from what it usually is. Just asian food, so a lot of rice. During this time I went from 67 kg to 60 kg, and for a guy my height(180 cm) this is as terrible as it can get. Besides this I have never really been able to put on weight.

So I wonder if anyone can recommend a training schedule to me? I would prefer to just use my body at home, but I am really determined and are willing to work hard every day.

 

[Mr.City]

Third time deadlifting, form check please!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fty9141sap0


Thanks!

The form is decent. It's hard to tell because the weight seems light, however I would start by walking up to the bar until the middle of your foot is under the bar. Someone posted a link to a Rippetoe video, so I would watch that.

Also, you need better shoes. Cushy running shoes are the worst for lifting.

I'm in the middle of setting up a new diet. I don't have a routine atm because I'm on holiday and the gym in the complex only has a couple of machines, each with their own functions. Is it possible for others to look through other's posts? I'm only saying this if you want to find my previous routine made by me and a trainer. I'll post it again if you're unable to find it.

EDIT: I should also add after doing done research about a month ago I've stopped spending more than 2 hours in the gym at the MOST. As well as being stressed at times which could be another reason.

EDIT2: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=#post60447525 Previous routine

EDIT3: Finding it real hard trying to meet 150 something grams of protein without the use of protein shakes.

What is your goal here? The previous routine looks like the usual grab bag of random exercises super-setted to leave you sweaty and exhausted.

 

[Mark1]

The form is decent. It's hard to tell because the weight seems light, however I would start by walking up to the bar until the middle of your foot is under the bar. Someone posted a link to a Rippetoe video, so I would watch that.

Also, you need better shoes. Cushy running shoes are the worst for lifting.



What is your goal here? The previous routine looks like the usual grab bag of random exercises super-setted to leave you sweaty and exhausted.

Muscle growth. I'm starting to wonder if the trainer's routines are any good.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

The form is decent. It's hard to tell because the weight seems light, however I would start by walking up to the bar until the middle of your foot is under the bar. Someone posted a link to a Rippetoe video, so I would watch that.

Also, you need better shoes. Cushy running shoes are the worst for lifting.



What is your goal here? The previous routine looks like the usual grab bag of random exercises super-setted to leave you sweaty and exhausted.

Mr City?
Bro where have you been? I haven't seen you for ages.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

New Overhead Press PR broken... 40 kgs. x 5 ...but damn, that move is brutal, my lower back got severly punished, not to the point of injury but It's clear my body still isn't in that league to pull it off properly. I'll stay there some weeks before trying to break that PR, I am pretty sure I plateau'd today and besides I suspect my form isn't as good, I have to be cautious.

I did overhead presses for the first time yesterday at 55lbs (25~ kg) for my work set, and damn they are killer. I think my form is poor, too, because I felt a bit of pain in my lower back. I'm not really supposed to be using that area if I had proper form, right?

 

[Hypertrooper]

So I thought why not ask GAF as well for help. So that's what I am doing now:
This is my workout plan created by my trainer today. Do you think this is a good workout plan? Would you do a few things different? Or adjusts? The workout plan is for 2-3 times per week. Every second week(week 3, week 5, week 7) I got recommended to raise the weight!

Furthermore I need help with the abs. I normally join the abs training course. (15minutes), but unfortunately those are only two times at a fixed date. To be honest, I do not want to drive to the gym early in the morning or in the evening.

Oh I forgot to post some stats:
I'm 20 years old, I'm weighing 73kg (lost a lot since I started back in November last year. Around 20kg now). Fat percentage is 13.6%. (9.9kg fat ; 63.1kg fat free) Goal is to get rid of the belly and to gain muscle.

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Click on a muscle in the left column to get a list of exercises for it. Click on each of those moves to see an animation.

Bodybuilding.com has a lot of exercises and how to do them.

Thank you, guys!

OMG. Bodybuilder.com is kidding or trolling me. :/

Swim Without a Shirt. Your abs can be felt but not seen, and your muscle is shy but starting to show. You've got shape, but it's a bit soft. It's obvious that you're working out, digging into solid nutrition, and motivated to hit your fitness goals. This is a healthy weight, but it might not be the end of your transformation. Keep pushing!

Yeah. True that's my belly at the moment:

And I'm sorry for the disgusting picture.

 

[iAmMaximus]

So these have been keeping me sane during my cut:

I usually reward myself with 2 after drinking my daily jug. Has anyone else tried them?

 

[MrToughPants]

That is not 13% bf...not even close.

13% you have a 6 pack or very close, depends on the person.

 

[abuC]

I hate leg days can't stress that enough.