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Fitness |OT5| Intermittent Farting, Wrist Curls and Hammer Strength Machine Spotters
- Thread starter MjFrancis
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I didn't do starting strength. I started training with a neighborhood friends dad, on some prison workout shit
People who say that Salsa shouldn't be doing SS, because SS isn't be all end all routine, are kind of missing the point. It doesn't matter which beginner program you're doing, just that you are doing a full body compound beginner program. Salsa is just doing whatever and "everything", using "all the machines" and going 5x week. He's a prime example of someone who should read the OP and just stop doing stupid shit in the gym. He should be doing SS or GSLP or Westside for Skinny Bastards or any one of the many good beginner programs we have.
Questions are always welcome but it gets annoying when someone keeps asking the same questions week after week and doesn't listen to what people are saying. No offense dude but just read the fucking OP, please.
Questions are always welcome but it gets annoying when someone keeps asking the same questions week after week and doesn't listen to what people are saying. No offense dude but just read the fucking OP, please.
Lovely Salsa
Banned
I'm not doing everything x5 a week, I'm doing that x3 a week
FallingEdge
Member
Speaking of beginners and training, how long have you guys been "serious" about this?
I started in 2010 but was just fucking around. Feb 2011 is when I really started to care about my diet and lifting regiment. So I guess around 18 months for me. What about you?
I started in 2010 but was just fucking around. Feb 2011 is when I really started to care about my diet and lifting regiment. So I guess around 18 months for me. What about you?
Lovely Salsa
Banned
Using all the machines for chest, arms and legs. Lifting heavy
Doing squats and bench.
Doing squats and bench.
Those are some pretty great numbers to finish SS with. 5/3/1 is definitely perfect for you at this point
What about doing 5/3/1 and really working hard to mostly cut refined carbs as well as milk? You could also complement that with HIIT on off days and stuff like farmer walks and prowler work (if you have access to it).
Chittagong
Gold Member
Two and a half months into SS, breaking into new hundreds for 3x5s in three of four lifts
308lbs Deadlift
203lbs Squat
104lbs OHP
Now just need to get that bench past 200...
308lbs Deadlift
203lbs Squat
104lbs OHP
Now just need to get that bench past 200...
BronzeWolf
Banned
I did go to the gym before when in High School and once during College. didn't achieve anything because I followed the PT's advice (shitty). I started jogging in 2008 to lose weight. Yeah cardio did nothing for me but make me feel shitty. I asked for advice here and everybody told me to do SS. That was the best advice I ever got. I looked into it, got scared of the big lifts but decided to start with very low weights, then immediately felt in love with setting PR's. You can find my posts on the first fitness thread.
I stopped lifting on a regular basis about 2 years ago when I did my M.S. and started working, then got poor, but I still love lifting heavy ass shirt from the floor.
Epic numbers for an untrained novice. I am pulling those numbers, but I am getting back in shape, for a total n00b that's amazing
D
Deleted member 12837
Unconfirmed Member
When people say "full body compound exercises" they don't mean "do exercises for each body part" they mean "do exercises that target multiple body parts at once". That's stuff like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Power Cleans, OHP, etc.
Weren't you the guy who said he was spending like 3 hours in the gym each time and using a ton of machines? That's way too much. An hour in the gym MAX is all you really need at a beginner stage to warm up and hit your entire body pretty hard to the point of exhaustion.
Hmm I'd say 2.5 years but it's been kind of inconsistent.
Started lifting in HS around 2004 but it was serious fuckarounditis. Hurt my back my freshman year in college and had surgery, didn't lift for like 3 years. Started back in 2011 and put on ~35 lbs by the end of the year. Spent a lot of 2012 battling various injuries and mostly stalled out strength-wise. A consequence of that was that I also was slowly cutting (lost more muscle mass than one would want on a cut though). This year has been about continuing to cut but also get back my strength from before 2012's injuries. I still haven't re-introduced squats into my routine yet (about too though), but I'm back at my early-2012 strength levels but 10 lbs lighter, so I'm pretty happy about that. I want to maintain strength and cut for the next month or 2 and then slowly bulk.
Most strong men in the world, be it powerlifters or strongmen or oly lifters, didn't do Starting Strength. Starting Strength isn't the only way to get strong. There are many ways to skin a cat.
However, there is a reason why we always like recommending SS to newbies, specially utterly newbies like Lovely Salsa here.
It is because it introduces some very important habits and practically drills them into the minds of beginners:
Is SS the end be all of programs? No, but it's a damn good program, it's simple (it's hard to fuck up), and it will make you strong.
After you've done SS for 4-6 months, and you have some experience under your belt, then do whatever the fuck you want. You'll be a changed man. You'll be initiated. You'll never look at a gym in the same way.
However, there is a reason why we always like recommending SS to newbies, specially utterly newbies like Lovely Salsa here.
It is because it introduces some very important habits and practically drills them into the minds of beginners:
- It teaches that you should always add weight to the bar; ie, you should always strive to go forward. If you are not going forward you are going backwards. The world is filled with dudes who basically fumbled their way to a 185lb Bench, but are now stuck there perpetually and are completely clueless as to how to ever progress. You need to keep forcing your self to be better always.
- It teaches the value of programming. Of going into the gym and knowing exactly what to do, for how many reps, how much weight, etc. It basically cures fuckarounditis, which is what 95%+ of the people who walk into gyms suffer from.
- It teaches you the value of the big lifts in training
- It teaches the value of doing things that are hard, and even scary. Having to walk into a gym to squat 315lb for 3 sets of 5 when last Friday you could barely do 310lb is scary, and difficult. It builds character. It builds determination and persistence. You can't that with supersets of reverse curls and machine dips.
Is SS the end be all of programs? No, but it's a damn good program, it's simple (it's hard to fuck up), and it will make you strong.
After you've done SS for 4-6 months, and you have some experience under your belt, then do whatever the fuck you want. You'll be a changed man. You'll be initiated. You'll never look at a gym in the same way.
Alright using black iron beast calculator to find my training sets for 5-3-1 using Big But Boring, and they have my first bench workout as:
5x100
5x125
3x150
5x165
5x190
5x215
Then five sets of 10x75
Then fives sets of 10 with dumbbell rows.
Does this seem right to people on this program.
5x100
5x125
3x150
5x165
5x190
5x215
Then five sets of 10x75
Then fives sets of 10 with dumbbell rows.
Does this seem right to people on this program.
If you are doing BBB your 5 sets of 10 should be at 50% of your Training Max for the first cycle. Can I assume your TM is 250lb (250*0.85)? Then you should do 125lbx10x5 for BBB.
Yeah. Theoretically it should be higher, because my 1 Rep max is higher, but I'm not going to have a training partner most days so I wanted to play it safe.
what does "serious" mean in this context?
A) Trying hard and going 4-5 times a week?
B) Knowing what you are doing? (for example, you thought you were squatting but were doing shrugs (quarter reps) for months, and so on for all exercises)
C) Doing a reputable program vs. doing what a trainer/friend/internet told you?
and about "I was fucking around, it doesn't count", how honest is it to say that it didn't count?
I have the same dilemma. I always claim I started lifting in October 2012 and I have the contract of my gym to prove it, however, I was as early as july and august 2012 already posting in the OT4 because I was jogging by the river and doing some push-ups and crunches. At that time I thought I had a crazy, awesome, workout and truth be told, my body changed and people told me "wow you look atheltic/sporty" back then and it was all before hitting a gym for the first time.
Does that count? am I allowed to say I started my fitness life in october? I don't think so, I think it started in May 2012 but regarding lifting weights and hitting the gym, that's october. It's a bit of semantics, I guess.
now, regarding how serious I am now. After going to a gym, I realized what I was doing was laughable, can you call 200 crunches and 60 pushups a workout? I don't know. It took a while to transition to a gym and then once there, to free weights with barbell and dumbbell and quite frankly, I have just been doing variations of programs I've read here in the OP and the internet, those workout formats I do with pull-up and calves, with lots of reps, they are entirely made up by me, not to mention, i've still have a lot of exercises to learn.
but on the other hand, I've tried to educate myself as much as possible, I've read SS for the exectuion of the compounds, I try to learn about nutrition. I try to experiment with different approaches to workout and try to have my mind and heart in the right place, reading from more experienced lifters here in GAF and elsewhere.
how "serious" am I???? that's a serious question.
1.5 years here. It's really been a year and 8 months but one month off when I got in a car accident and one month off because I completely slacked and fucked off
Oh btw I just tried the gap essential shirts. They are the best shirt I've ever tried. It's what you wear, right?
Wendler recommends taking 10% off your actual 1RM when calculating your Training Max so you are doing it right. I think these numbers look great for your first cycle.
Sounds good. Made the change. Thanks for the help!
Started lifting Sept. 2011. Dumbbells at home. Found SS in like Nov. 2011 and never looked back. I actually did Stronglifts 5x5 though. Always did it with a lot of accessory work. Transitioned to 5/3/1 after about 10 months.
Now I just do whatever my coach tells me then in Sept I'm going to figure out what to do next. Main lifts are always compounds though unless I'm injured.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Question about workouts. Do you go to the gym everyday, or is that a bad idea. I went to the gym Sat. And Sun. and am not sure if going again today is a good idea or if I'm pushing my body too hard.
SquiddyCracker
Banned
Three days in a row?
Well, it should theoretically be fine, so long as you're training different muscles each time.
The problem is that there's going to be some overlap if you do the big compound movements.
For an example, I got OHP and various other shoulder lifts on mondays, and it'd be crazy for me to throw in my bench day on tuesday, slightly less on wednesday, but probably ideal on Friday.
I was a fat kid and an even fatter teenager with super low self-esteem. When I turned 18 I decided to do something about it, so I basically starved my self and jogged like a madman, twice a day since I was in summer vacations. I lost about 40lb in less than 6 months.
So all throughout my 20s I was skinny fat. I had some dumbbells so I'd do some curls and crunches now and then but I was a beanpole at 6'2" and 160lb. I went to a gym for about 8 months in 2006 but I just did the usual machine circuit bullshit everyone else does and got absolutely nothing out of that. I probably didn't gain a single pound of muscle. And I was afraid of eating since I'd been so fat years before.
In February 2011 I somehow stumbled upon the Stronglifts website. I think I googled "how to bulk up" or something. I read the ebook, drank the cool-aid and started training seriously for the first time ever sometime in March 2011. I discovered SS several months later, read the book, switched to that. Now I'm doing 5/3/1 with a bunch of stuff for hypertrophy.
I was 160lb when I started out in 2011; this morning I weighed in at 225lb.
160lb sometime in 2009:
225lb last week:
damn son, nice work. I think it's a lot harder to bulk than cut down while lifting so good job.
Our stories sound really similar. I was skinny fat at 5'8 and 155 pounds. Now I'm 200. Was over 220 at my heaviest in high school.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
The past two days I've only done elliptical. Should I do something different today then?
Thanks man
It's been a hell of a journey. I still have a lot to learn and a ton of room for improvement. Being skinny fat is the worst. When you are skinny fat (like I was for like 10 years), you are super weak and you look like shit without a shirt.
wow, you are a different man. Congrats.
What? If you are just doing cardio you can do it every day if you want. It's not taxing.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Goddamn Noema you went from Raffi-level to an absolute killer!
It all depends on the volume you do. You could go 7 days a week if the volume was kept to a minimum.
Thanks man
Being skinny fat is the worst. When you are skinny fat (like I was for like 10 years), you are super weak and you look like shit without a shirt.
Yup. I was envious of guys who could bench 135 at my college gym. I was so weak at one point I couldn't even do that. And like you said, you look absolutely shitty without your shirt off because you just look like a soft noodle weakling.
Just saw your edited pics. Holy shit man, what a difference.
Thug Waffle
Member
bah. all you guys are putting on swick mass and i'm stuck with cardio, plyometrics, and light lifting x high reps. oh what i would give to feel comfortable bench pressing again lol. at least i got my body fat % right, or close to right.
SquiddyCracker
Banned
Awesome progress Noema!
Oh, cardio is fine, so long as you're not running marathons.
Just keep it moderate, and not too intense.
Oh, cardio is fine, so long as you're not running marathons.
Just keep it moderate, and not too intense.
BronzeWolf
Banned
Ditto on skinny fat being the worst. Jogging only made me even more skinny-fatter
Misc thoughts as I continue early on with SS:
1) I am up to 180, from about maybe 170 two weeks ago. I am definitely getting stronger but that seems too fast. I am eating my normal diet but with an extra maybe 2.5 gal of milk. I am also running less than I used to.
2) Last Monday I did Sq/Bench/Chin/Back Ext and did 9/6/4 on chins. Today I did Sq/OHP/Chin/Back Ext and did 8/4/4 on chins. Is this because the OHP interferes with chins more than bench? Could it be slow recovery? They're harder because I weigh more now?
3) On Weds, I am going to Squat 155 and Dead 155. I know deads are supposed to be heavier than squats so I worry that the squat will be heavier afterwards. Not sure how big of a problem this is as I know increasing my squat by 10 lbs per workout probably won't last too much longer.
1) I am up to 180, from about maybe 170 two weeks ago. I am definitely getting stronger but that seems too fast. I am eating my normal diet but with an extra maybe 2.5 gal of milk. I am also running less than I used to.
2) Last Monday I did Sq/Bench/Chin/Back Ext and did 9/6/4 on chins. Today I did Sq/OHP/Chin/Back Ext and did 8/4/4 on chins. Is this because the OHP interferes with chins more than bench? Could it be slow recovery? They're harder because I weigh more now?
3) On Weds, I am going to Squat 155 and Dead 155. I know deads are supposed to be heavier than squats so I worry that the squat will be heavier afterwards. Not sure how big of a problem this is as I know increasing my squat by 10 lbs per workout probably won't last too much longer.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Thanks for the info. I didn't want to start TOO strenuously since its been a while, so I did 60 minutes on the elliptical both days (425 and (450 cal per the machine anyway). I'll look into box squats when I go today, depending if they have a box or reasonable substitute. How many ups and downs of them would be considered a full set?
BronzeWolf
Banned
What's your height? It can be water weight. 2.5 galons of milk a week? With SS you will probably gain weight, and a lot of it will be muscle. I say you focus on finishing SS and then trimming off the extra fat.
It's all of those 3 things:
a) OHP is heavier, it taxes your arms more
b) Your CNS overall is getting taxed like never before
c) Your weight is going up.
plus
d) Chin Ups are last, you are likely all busted with the main lifts.
I recommend you to not get too fixated with the ancillary exercises. They are accessory and your arms will grow if you keep doing them along with SS.
On SS, you Squat first and Deadlift last. If you feel you are not going to advance 10# each training session it's time to bring out the 2.5# plates.
Thug Waffle
Member
bike + stairs > jogging. if you're incorporating heavy lifting (relative to you) in your regimen, then it helps to avoid jogging so that your joints aren't taking on that extra stress. save that for leg days, lol. i assume you're not training for a triathlon or anything like that. you can get away with not jogging.
as stated above, some of that is probably water weight, but you should definitely feel like you've gained muscle mass. starting strength will help you shoot up in weight pretty fast if your diet's right, you make specific goals for yourself, and your form is impeccable. i don't fuck with SS now because of my wrist, but i got to 190 (+30lbs, pure muscle) in less than a year by starting off with SS and moving on to some more advanced routines later on.
if you're worried about your squat overtaking your dead weight, simplify your squats with 135 x high repetitions until you separate your dead enough. you would be deviating from the ss routine a little bit, but it'll make you more explosive since you'll be able to get the weight up faster and with likely better form.
FallingEdge
Member
I was a fat kid and an even fatter teenager with super low self-esteem. When I turned 18 I decided to do something about it, so I basically starved my self and jogged like a madman, twice a day since I was in summer vacations. I lost about 40lb in less than 6 months.
So all throughout my 20s I was skinny fat. I had some dumbbells so I'd do some curls and crunches now and then but I was a beanpole at 6'2" and 160lb. I went to a gym for about 8 months in 2006 but I just did the usual machine circuit bullshit everyone else does and got absolutely nothing out of that. I probably didn't gain a single pound of muscle. And I was afraid of eating since I'd been so fat years before.
In February 2011 I somehow stumbled upon the Stronglifts website. I think I googled "how to bulk up" or something. I read the ebook, drank the cool-aid and started training seriously for the first time ever sometime in March 2011. I discovered SS several months later, read the book, switched to that. Now I'm doing 5/3/1 with a bunch of stuff for hypertrophy.
I was 160lb when I started out in 2011; this morning I weighed in at 225lb.
160lb sometime in 2009:
225lb last week:
wooooooooooo
huge difference
beast mode
BronzeWolf
Banned
I don't jog anymore. That's the only thing I did when I didn't lift weights and I felt horrible.
Nowadays, Cardio for me is either light or intense, depending if I want to train for sports or just keep fat low. Right now I just do some light HIIT sessions at the beach every second Sunday + light biking around. That's plenty of cardio for me to not interfere with my lifts.
When training for sports, things get nuttier. Tuesday Prowler, Thursday Hills and Saturday HIIT it depends on the team phys. training schedule. My lifts always hurt when I am on season though, so I try to get my most gains off-season.
FallingEdge
Member
Is that just the plain gap tees? If it is then yes, I do wear them and I love them.
Beast mode indeed
6 ft 1. Yeah, 2.5 gal a week. Basically shooting for a half gallon a day but coming in a little under. I know I'll gain weight and I am sure I'll be able to get leaner later (that part I am already good at) but the speed is still a little shocking.
Sorry, I must have been unclear here. What I mean is that I worry my squat is going to get heavier then my deadlift in later sessions, because at 3x per week and 10 lbs per workout it is growing faster. Should I be worried about this, or just trust the deadlift to catch up when the fast squat gains start to slow? I feel like I could go higher than I have so far with the dead but am reluctant to jump too much.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Someone point me to some shirts that make your biceps look RIDICULOUS please. I gotta accentuate my strengths.
Thug Waffle
Member
gyuh. i'm salivating at the thought of beachside cardio. what sports are you training for?
Ok it's time. Maybe 10 lbs too early but whatever.
Before...don't have a good one because I hated cameras at this point. These were probably 2011 at 310-320 lbs. probably 40% + body fat.
Here is me today @ 236 aprox 14% bodyfat.
I've got about 10 more to go for my immediate goal. Not sure what I'll do at that point.
Before...don't have a good one because I hated cameras at this point. These were probably 2011 at 310-320 lbs. probably 40% + body fat.
Here is me today @ 236 aprox 14% bodyfat.
I've got about 10 more to go for my immediate goal. Not sure what I'll do at that point.
Lots of props to this thread for motivation.
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