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[sp3ctr3]

In june I finished a round of P90X and felt great. My goal was to shred fat and I did just that. Now the summer is over and therefore party time is over too. Time to get back to bussiness. Despite all the BBQ and Alcohol I managed to maintain my fat % and weight. Now I want to pack on some muscle but I work long hours and commute and hour each way to and from work, so I dont want to do 1½ hour of P90X again.

Found this program called Back 2 basics 2 split workout... but, does it work? I know the diet is a big benefactor to gaining mass and I calculated my needs using the Body Beast formula.

To get big you need to eat big and lift big. Everything is 4 sets 6-8 reps

Monday+Thursday
benchpres
dumbbell decline
dumbbell shoulderpress
dumbbell side laterals
skullcrushers
weighted ab crunches

Tuesday+Friday
Squats
Deadlift
dumbbell calf raises
Bent over rows
chinups
cable rows
dumbbell curls

thanks

 

[SeanR1221]

In june I finished a round of P90X and felt great. My goal was to shred fat and I did just that. Now the summer is over and therefore party time is over too. Time to get back to bussiness. Despite all the BBQ and Alcohol I managed to maintain my fat % and weight. Now I want to pack on some muscle but I work long hours and commute and hour each way to and from work, so I dont want to do 1½ hour of P90X again.

Found this program called Back 2 basics 2 split workout... but, does it work? I know the diet is a big benefactor to gaining mass and I calculated my needs using the Body Beast formula.

To get big you need to eat big and lift big. Everything is 4 sets 6-8 reps

Monday+Thursday
benchpres
dumbbell decline
dumbbell shoulderpress
dumbbell side laterals
skullcrushers
weighted ab crunches

Tuesday+Friday
Squats
Deadlift
dumbbell calf raises
Bent over rows
chinups
cable rows
dumbbell curls

thanks

A lot of that can be cut out. Read the OP.

 

[SeanR1221]

How am I cheating myself? I'm still engaging all of the core muscle groups involved with the workout with the exception that my grip strength is being aided.

I'll listen to fitgaf if you guys have compelling arguments but i'm gona be billigerant right now

You want to build your grip strength along with everything else when you do deadlift. Is the bar slipping even when you use a mixed grip?

 

[Chittagong]

So, what do we think about sumo deadlifts?

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

20-pound muscle-up: complete

Coming for you, Cooter!

Now to enjoy 8.5 ounces of delicious, fresh roasted turkey breast, with some sweet potatoes on the side for good measure!

 

[Mully]

Quick question, I ran six miles at a moderate pace today. I am supposed to do 5X5 squats tomorrow. Should I give myself a rest day tomorrow and squat on Wednesday or squat tomorrow?

 

[SonicXtreme]

Quick question, I ran six miles at a moderate pace today. I am supposed to do 5X5 squats tomorrow. Should I give myself a rest day tomorrow and squat on Wednesday or squat tomorrow?

not to sound like a dick, but ask your body. if you can't pull off the 5x5 then wait. if you can, go nuts.

imo it's usually better to wait rather than attempt, fail, and end up wasting time and effort.

 

[Cooter]

20-pound muscle-up: complete

Coming for you, Cooter!

Now to enjoy 8.5 ounces of delicious, fresh roasted turkey breast, with some sweet potatoes on the side for good measure!

Oh snap! Shit. I better start seriously going for 60! I'd liked to have a 300% cushion!

Nice work Boogie!

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Quick question, I ran six miles at a moderate pace today. I am supposed to do 5X5 squats tomorrow. Should I give myself a rest day tomorrow and squat on Wednesday or squat tomorrow?

Really depends on how you feel, but I could never get used to doing running and squatting back-to-back. One or the other just kicks my ass, and I always needed a rest day in between whether I did running first or squats first.

 

[Future PhaZe]

You want to build your grip strength along with everything else when you do deadlift. Is the bar slipping even when you use a mixed grip?

I haven't gone with a mix grip but I hear bad things about bicep tears using that and my left bicep is already suffering from a bit of tendonitis.

 

[thomaser]

Just got a bike, and cycled 12 kilometers after my usual gym workout yesterday. Wasn't very hard, except when going up steep hills. Even small hills left my quads burning! Not sure how to fit the bike into my usual Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday gym routine, but 10 kilometers or so every other day (on gym off-days) shouldn't be negative for my strength progress. Or what do you people say? I never train cardio in the gym, so I want to use the bike at least once or twice a week.

 

[Deathmistress]

Quick question, I ran six miles at a moderate pace today. I am supposed to do 5X5 squats tomorrow. Should I give myself a rest day tomorrow and squat on Wednesday or squat tomorrow?

I can squat then run, but never run then squat...if that makes sense. Stretch well today and listen to your body tomorrow.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Just got a bike, and cycled 12 kilometers after my usual gym workout yesterday. Wasn't very hard, except when going up steep hills. Even small hills left my quads burning! Not sure how to fit the bike into my usual Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday gym routine, but 10 kilometers or so every other day (on gym off-days) shouldn't be negative for my strength progress. Or what do you people say? I never train cardio in the gym, so I want to use the bike at least once or twice a week.

I bike about 6 km a day, 5 days a week, and I personally haven't noticed any issues. I will throw on about 2-3 10-minute sessions of HIIT on a stationary bike after weight lifting in addition to my ~30 km/week of biking outdoors most weeks, and even that doesn't seem to negatively impact me. Worst case scenario is that you start to notice issues with your weightlifting due to the extra cardio, but the very simple solution will just be to dial the cardio back a bit and then you should be a-okay. Overall though, I think you'll be totally fine.

 

[Mully]

not to sound like a dick, but ask your body. if you can't pull off the 5x5 then wait. if you can, go nuts.

imo it's usually better to wait rather than attempt, fail, and end up wasting time and effort.

Really depends on how you feel, but I could never get used to doing running and squatting back-to-back. One or the other just kicks my ass, and I always needed a rest day in between whether I did running first or squats first.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna take tomorrow off.

I decided to pick up distance running again to kill time in between classes. Although, I don't want it to get in the way of my 5/3/1 gains, so the advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Deathmistress]

Good news, everyone!

After over a month of IF and keeping my lifting routine, I am now down to 19% bodyfat. Fuck yeah, I'm well on my way to fitting into my favorite jeans from freshman year of college.

 

[kevo_huevo]

I think I'm gonna switch from front squats to back squats tonight to see how my si joint holds up. I'm gonna go light just to get used to the form again. If i get discomfort, I'll just go back to front squats.

Question on muscle ups: is there a consensus method on how to progress doing these? I notice I'm having to bend my knees a little bit on the way up. Is my core just not strong enough in relation to the rest of my upper body? Should I stop doing muscle ups until I can do them without bending my knees, and just focus on strengthening my abs?

 

[thomaser]

I bike about 6 km a day, 5 days a week, and I personally haven't noticed any issues. I will throw on about 2-3 10-minute sessions of HIIT on a stationary bike after weight lifting in addition to my ~30 km/week of biking outdoors most weeks, and even that doesn't seem to negatively impact me. Worst case scenario is that you start to notice issues with your weightlifting due to the extra cardio, but the very simple solution will just be to dial the cardio back a bit and then you should be a-okay. Overall though, I think you'll be totally fine.

Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear I'm curious about whether or not cycling will impact my overhead press specifically, though. I was strangely more tired in my shoulders than my legs after the bike trip. Of course, I'm not used to the sitting position or to getting feedback from the road into my hands/arms/shoulders. So maybe it's just a beginner's thing that will go away after biking some more?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Dat name change.


So EFTS screwed my order up again. The hat I ordered was not in the box, but everything else was.

The fuck man, this is the third time.

Tried those Rear Delt Destroyers today after my OHP. Wasn't sure about the weights so repped 31lbsx50, 15lbsx30 and 11lbsx50. GF said I looked pretty ridiculous huffing and puffing while face down on the bench

Shit will make a baby out of you.

guys

hook grips

goddamn

Maybe if your bitchmade. Man the fuck up son!

Okay guys.

I'm off to do squats.

If you don't hear from me within the next 24 hours, you'll know the ghost got me.

Pray for me.

I hear them tendons snapping from here. RIP Noema

Those grips seem useful for pull-ups.
If your grip is the weak point in those, better off neglecting them so you can get your lats going at all.

I wanna see someone go to failure then end up stuck on a pullup bar with them things on.

Depends on your goal. When using the grips, I'm not focused on grip strength. I'm focused on getting the weight up.

If you can't hold it you're probably not ready to lift it.

Just muh humble opinion.

 

[HisshouBuraiKen]

I haven't gone with a mix grip but I hear bad things about bicep tears using that and my left bicep is already suffering from a bit of tendonitis.

The solution to this is to flex your triceps.

 

[A More Normal Bird]

If you're not training for a raw comp I don't see why straps or the like have to be avoided, as long as you're not using them for every single set including warmups. Why short-change your dead/shrugs etc... especially when grip is one of the most variable facets of strength. Bar width is an arbitrary factor that not everyone has the right sized hands for, not everyone can use chalk, some bars have shitty knurling etc... Personally speaking, I can't do mixed grip and hook grip is shithouse for higher reps so that's where straps have a role.

 

[FallingEdge]

If you can't hold it you're probably not ready to lift it.

Just muh humble opinion.

Fair enough. When doing shrugs, I don't care about my grip, I care about my traps so I will use the straps so I can lift more weight.

I haven't used them for deadlifts but that will prolly feel too weird. Don't think I can do it.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Fair enough. When doing shrugs, I don't care about my grip, I care about my traps so I will use the straps so I can lift more weight.

I haven't used them for deadlifts but that will prolly feel too weird. Don't think I can do it.

I do to same and with high rep deads.

 

[MrToughPants]

Maybe if your bitchmade. Man the fuck up son!

LOL

Ate 3.5lbs of Shitter's Pie

Spoiler

Sheppard's Pie

in 10 minutes.

 

[blackflag]

Tried those Rear Delt Destroyers today after my OHP. Wasn't sure about the weights so repped 31lbsx50, 15lbsx30 and 11lbsx50. GF said I looked pretty ridiculous huffing and puffing while face down on the bench

Rear Delt Destroyers? It sounds like I need this in my life. What are they?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

LOL

Ate 3.5lbs of Shitter's Pie

Spoiler

Sheppard's Pie

in 10 minutes.

That sounds gooooood.

And fuck me and my "your" I hate when people do that. Now I need to staple my nuts to my office chair.

Rear Delt Destroyers? It sounds like I need this in my life. What are they?

Why you no listen to me?!?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=80717937&postcount=2783

 

[Petrie]

Why you no listen to me?!?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=80717937&postcount=2783

We only listen to Shogun. Who the hell are you?

 

[Zonic]

That is the way to do it, just track what you eat for a day or so then you can dial it in.

Alright, I did just that & this should be pretty close to what I had:
- 500 for breakfast (bowl of cereal & a cup of coffee with creamer)
- 600-ish for lunch (tomato soup with croutons, cheez-its reduced fat, and bacon bits. & water with that stuff like Mio, but another brand)
- 1,000-ish for dinner (5 taquitos & a PB&J sandwich)

So overall, it seems I actually do eat around 2,000 calories a day, maybe 1,700-ish minimum. No idea why I thought such a low number yesterday.

& while I'm thinking about it, I've been wanting to get rid of some fat on my arms. I try to do 100 reps with 50 lbs about twice a week on my exercise machine (similar to this), but I really haven't noticed any difference. Should I increase the weight, amount of reps, or just how often I do it?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

We only listen to Shogun. Who the hell are you?

Reed mi taaaaag.

 

[Cooter]

Question on muscle ups: is there a consensus method on how to progress doing these? I notice I'm having to bend my knees a little bit on the way up. Is my core just not strong enough in relation to the rest of my upper body? Should I stop doing muscle ups until I can do them without bending my knees, and just focus on strengthening my abs?

Boogie can weigh in also but I'll tell you what helped me. Pull ups and lots of them with an emphasis on exploding up as high as possible. Over and over and over. Then add weight to them and continue to focus on exploding up as high as you can. Eventually you will be getting so high with such force that you will know that transitioning to the dip is the next logical step. A little knee bend is natural. Just make sure you minimize the swinging. Hope that helped. Good luck!

 

[Nelo Ice]

Boogie can weigh in also but I'll tell you what helped me. Pull ups and lots of them with an emphasis on exploding up as high as possible. Over and over and over. Then add weight to them and continue to focus on exploding up as high as you can. Eventually you will be getting so high with such force that you will know that transitioning to the dip is the next logical step. A little knee bend is natural. Just make sure you minimize the swinging. Hope that helped. Good luck!

And now I feel like adding pull ups to the greyskull routine I'm doing. I want to be able to pull off a muscle up so bad lol. Besides the compounds, currently doing chins and rows so I think i can fit in pull ups somewhere.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

And now I feel like adding pull ups to the greyskull routine I'm doing. I want to be able to pull off a muscle up so bad lol. Besides the compounds, currently doing chins and rows so I think i can fit in pull ups somewhere.

Uh, yeah, do pullups instead of chins.

BAM, now pay me monies.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Uh, yeah, do pullups instead of chins.

BAM, now pay me monies.

Duh, of course. I'm just so used to sticking with the program exactly that I don't see the obvious places to substitute lol.

 

[Gruco]

Made the decision today to drop my squat down to 175. I failed at 215 last Monday and it was so rough I ended up taking the rest of the week off to recover.

It is frustrating to drop down but I think it is the right call. 175 was still strenuous but I could tell my form was much better. In addition this will let my deadlift separate a bit; seemed like they were getting too close. Rough last couple of weeks as a variety of personal obligations impaired my recovery a bit. Plus I was I'll be back at 215 soon enough.

Good news is I hit 155 on bench no problem and hit 225 on deadlift. Think it's time to start power cleaning.

 

[Oblivion]

Quick question, do your forearms take longer to get bigger than other parts of your body? I've gained 11 lbs. in the past 2 months, and while I see some improvements in other parts of my body, my forearms and wrists seem completely unchanged.

 

[_Isaac]

Made the decision today to drop my squat down to 175. I failed at 215 last Monday and it was so rough I ended up taking the rest of the week off to recover.

How was it so rough? Did you hurt yourself?

 

[Gruco]

How was it so rough? Did you hurt yourself?

Very limited mobility for the rest of the week and a soreness that lasted from the day of for the rest of the week. It was pretty far beyond the normal amount of soreness I was used to. Not sure exactly why since I didn't have quite so much trouble at 200, 205. Maybe a cumulative lack of recovery catching up with me.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Very limited mobility for the rest of the week and a soreness that lasted from the day of for the rest of the week. It was pretty far beyond the normal amount of soreness I was used to. Not sure exactly why since I didn't have quite so much trouble at 200, 205. Maybe a cumulative lack of recovery catching up with me.

Sounds more like an injury than simply normal soreness. Especially if you were supposed to be at that weight. As for the bolded part I doubt it. People claim "overtained" far more than is true.

 

[Gruco]

Felt fine at my workout today, should I still be concerned?

 

[Cudder]

I dropped the weight for all of my compounds last week and am incrementally adding weight (5lbs) per workout to each of them, on a 3x5 set scheme.

Dropped my weight to:

Bench: 185
Dead: 225
Squat: 225
OHP: 95

 

[Noema]

Quick question, do your forearms take longer to get bigger than other parts of your body? I've gained 11 lbs. in the past 2 months, and while I see some improvements in other parts of my body, my forearms and wrists seem completely unchanged.

Yep, they are like calves, largely dependent on genetics.

Some people have Popeye-like forearms even though they've never touched a weight.

But they'll grow: deadlifts, chinups and bench will put some meat on your forearms as you get stronger

I dropped the weight for all of my compounds last week and am incrementally adding weight (5lbs) per workout to each of them, on a 3x5 set scheme.

Dropped my weight to:

Bench: 185
Dead: 225
Squat: 225
OHP: 95

Sounds like a good plan. Better to start low and have a lot of room to grow than stalling out quickly.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

I think I'm gonna switch from front squats to back squats tonight to see how my si joint holds up. I'm gonna go light just to get used to the form again. If i get discomfort, I'll just go back to front squats.

Question on muscle ups: is there a consensus method on how to progress doing these? I notice I'm having to bend my knees a little bit on the way up. Is my core just not strong enough in relation to the rest of my upper body? Should I stop doing muscle ups until I can do them without bending my knees, and just focus on strengthening my abs?

This is the best beginner muscle-up tutorial I've seen, and it's actually the one I used to help me when I first began doing them way back when.

Check it out.

 

[Mr.City]

Made the decision today to drop my squat down to 175. I failed at 215 last Monday and it was so rough I ended up taking the rest of the week off to recover.

It is frustrating to drop down but I think it is the right call. 175 was still strenuous but I could tell my form was much better. In addition this will let my deadlift separate a bit; seemed like they were getting too close. Rough last couple of weeks as a variety of personal obligations impaired my recovery a bit. Plus I was I'll be back at 215 soon enough.

Good news is I hit 155 on bench no problem and hit 225 on deadlift. Think it's time to start power cleaning.

You should post a form check. Improper form uses way more energy than proper form.

 

[Chocobro]

Noema! I did 5/5/4 on squats at 85 lbs (from 75), should I go for 90 instead of 95 next time? That's what I feel I should do. Or maybe do 85 again to see if I can get all 5 for each set and progress from there?

I really need one of my buddies in the gym to help me record my form check videos. They all had ChemE lab today . Some guy in a sports team at my university said I should use a wider stance (I can do that) and have my foot pointed straight (lolwat).

 

[abuC]

Hmmm, strength was up on Saturday's power day, however muscle endurance today was in the dumps, not sure how to rectify that if it's the beginning of a downslope.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Heh weird day at da gym

Frahnt Skwat 225x5x3
Bensh Puress 187.5x3x5 for easy reps
Deathleeft 375 1 rep out of 5! Pitiful
Shinahps 7/7/5.

It seems my upper body is getting stronger but my lower body is static. It must be the cut. Talking about cut, I keep forgetting to make my omelette 2-egg instead of 3-egg. That robs me of precious night calories :\...

& while I'm thinking about it, I've been wanting to get rid of some fat on my arms. I try to do 100 reps with 50 lbs about twice a week on my exercise machine (similar to this), but I really haven't noticed any difference. Should I increase the weight, amount of reps, or just how often I do it?

There is no spot reducing. The answer to your questions is in the OP

 

[Oblivion]

Yep, they are like calves, largely dependent on genetics.

Some people have Popeye-like forearms even though they've never touched a weight.

But they'll grow: deadlifts, chinups and bench will put some meat on your forearms as you get stronger

I hope so, dang it!

So I went to the gym again. Mixed results yet again. :/

Squats: 100 lbs.

The pain in my legs (which is a sharp pain, btw) didn't subside very much. My previous successful set was at 110, and I was supposed to advance to 120, but sadly I couldn't go beyond 100. It's starting to annoy me.

On the plus side:

bench press: 85 lbs.
dead lifts: 80 lbs.
Pull ups: again 3 sets of 10 without any fuss

So I advanced in pretty much every other area. The program in the op doesn't say anything about increasing the amount of pull ups or whatever. What am I supposed to do when they start getting too easy?

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Heh weird day at da gym

Frahnt Skwat 225x5x3
Bensh Puress 187.5x3x5 for easy reps
Deathleeft 375 1 rep out of 5! Pitiful
Shinahps 7/7/5.

It seems my upper body is getting stronger but my lower body is static. It must be the cut. Talking about cut, I keep forgetting to make my omelette 2-egg instead of 3-egg. That robs me of precious night calories :\...


There is no spot reducing. The answer to your questions is in the OP

This was me on my cut. Strangely enough, it's usually pushing movements that go first.

 

[despire]

I started my efforts to cut down weight in the end of October last year. It's now been a little less than 11 months and in total I've dropped little over 31lbs of fat. Strength gains have of course been nonexistent but I think I'm a bit bigger than I was a year ago.

Anyway I'm getting leaner finally after messing up my diet so bad. Can't wait to start my first ever proper lean bulk

 

[abuC]

I started my efforts to cut down weight in the end of October last year. It's now been a little less than 11 months and in total I've dropped little over 31lbs of fat. Strength gains have of course been nonexistent but I think I'm a bit bigger than I was a year ago.

Anyway I'm getting leaner finally after messing up my diet so bad. Can't wait to start my first ever proper lean bulk

Good work, best way to look like you've gained 10lbs of muscle is to lose 10lbs of fat, so dropping 31lbs of fat must be great .

 

[despire]

Shit will make a baby out of you.

At least they nailed the shit out of my middle traps even though I guess that wasn't the intention, lol. Got some DOMS in there as well as in my rear delts.

I guess I need to practice the movement a bit more to get the traps out of the picture, but my rear delts were burning for hours after the workout yesterday.

Rear Delt Destroyers? It sounds like I need this in my life. What are they?

Dude, your delts are big enough as it is

staph

Good work, best way to look like you've gained 10lbs of muscle is to lose 10lbs of fat, so dropping 31lbs of fat must be great .

Yeah it is. Actually my weight loss came mostly in a couple of short and intensive bursts, followed by longer periods of recomping/slower cutting. Thank god for Lyle and his PSMF method.

Anyway I'm pretty sad that it will literally take me a year to fix this. This folks is what happens when you:

>first get lean after being skinnyfat all your life
>skip the two week maintenance period before bulking, so hormones out of whack
>don't deload at all at the start of the bulk
>eat a ton of food and do GOMAD (pretty standard recommendation for SS actually)
>progress on lifts minimal because didn't deload
>get fat as fuck while not getting any serious muscle because body wants go get back to its setpoint.

fml, I gained 42lbs (probably 80% of that fat) before I fully realized that I can't keep on gaining weight anymore. The worst thing is that your mind plays tricks on you. I was literally that "Don't worry bro, I'm bulking" dude. Never again.

Anyway, sorry about the rant..