The Fysical Phitness Thread

[ivar]

i heard GOMAD style dieting often results in a lot of fat gain though.

a question to all creatin users: is drinking booze while taking creatin (obviously not at the same time) okay to do? i don't want to have to completely give up alcohol for creatin, but if i don't i'll seriously consider it.

 

[popemobile]

Losing fat is incredibly easy, gaining muscle is harder. Man up and put on the weight.

 

[Eraddd]

If you aren't gaining weight, eat more. Drink more milk especially.

I've gained 15 pounds over the last 3 months, so I'm fine with the weight issue.

 

[popemobile]

I've gained 15 pounds over the last 3 months, so I'm fine with the weight issue.

ah, well I didn't think that would be the case after reading this

And I've stopped trying to bulk up, and instead going for the lean type of body. I've realized that it's probably not going to happen due to my bone density and my fast metabolism

 

[Eraddd]

ah, well I didn't think that would be the case after reading this

No no, I'm gaining weight, just not visibly. Just getting stronger. My body never changes =/ (apart from my shoulder and chest which have grown a decent bit).

 

[Stathakis]

16:38 3 mile, SB, PB, and all that jazz


not exactly sub-17 5k but I'll live with it. time to hit 4:30 in the spring, be back in a few months

 

[art-of-tennis]

Guys what do you generally eat? I've been talking to the JV tennis coach of my school, and he's going to help me get stronger during the off season, and he keeps telling me I should eat 5 meals a day and this outrageous shake thing he was describing. (he said, "Put some peanut butter, some ice cream, some milk, some flax seed, some whey, maybe some yogurt, and even a little bit of chocolate in it, and drink it before you go to bed") Now to me, that sounds kinda like a one way plan to get fat, what with the peanut butter, the chocolate, and the ice cream. :/

My goal is basically to get stronger for tennis, but I don't want to risk getting drastically slower, since speed is one of the most prevalent things in my game. Right now I'm about 145 and 5"9'. According to my doctor, I don't have an ounce of fat on me, but I don't know if I'd believe that. (if that were true, I'd probably have a six pack rather than just the shape of one without each ab)

Right now though, I've been just taking a whey protein shake ever day, along with eating two bowls of oatmeal squares for breakfeast, a peanut butter and jelly with three things only about 110-150 calories each for lunch, and whatever is made for dinner, along with some snacks in between lunch and dinner, and some snacks after dinner. (I eat dinner at about 5) I mean am I eating enough? I want to get stronger, but what I want is to not have to cut afterwords. (is that possible?)

 

[Stathakis]

gaining/losing weight is calories in vs calories out. eating "healthy" food can still get you fat and pigging out on pizza can still keep you underweight. you can "lean bulk" which is basically where you work out super hard and eat just 500 or so calories above maintenance, and then you'll gain very little muscle with even less fat, and the fat gain is pretty negligible. hard to do, requires pretty spot-on dieting calorie-wise, and not ideal, but doable.

your shake is just fine. you need to gain weight. just make sure to work out hard and not go too high over maintenance (including burned calories) and you won't gain too much (if any) fat.

 

[art-of-tennis]

gaining/losing weight is calories in vs calories out. eating "healthy" food can still get you fat and pigging out on pizza can still keep you underweight. you can "lean bulk" which is basically where you work out super hard and eat just 500 or so calories above maintenance, and then you'll gain very little muscle with even less fat, and the fat gain is pretty negligible. hard to do, requires pretty spot-on dieting calorie-wise, and not ideal, but doable.

your shake is just fine. you need to gain weight. just make sure to work out hard and not go too high over maintenance (including burned calories) and you won't gain too much (if any) fat.

Alright. Well the guy helping me told me I should try to eat a fourth meal too. Would that instead of taking his big outrageous shake and keeping mine be good enough?

Here's what he started me out on today:


Upper Body 8-12 Reps x 3

Bench: 95
Incline: 80
Lat Pulls: 60
Curls 45
Tricep Extend: 45

Lower Body 12-15 Reps x3

Leg Press: 200
Leg Extend: 50
Leg Curls: 35

He told me this is what I should start doing, but today he only had me do this full routine twice, since he didn't have much time. (he was spotting me for today) Now is this extremely weak to start off with? I've never really used gym style working out, anything I've done up to this point has been light stuff, maxing out at like 30lb.

The upper body stuff I need to definitely work on though. I had problems with the form of the tricep extend, so he was having me lower the weight to get the form right. On the curls I definitely could have done more. Heck I can curl 30 in one arm, so I didn't have much problem doing 45. :/ I'd never benched or done lat pulls, or incline in my life before though, so yeah. At first I benched 115, but I could only do like 3 reps of that before maxing out, so he made me start lower.

The lower body stuff though, I think I can definitely do more than what he had me doing. I'm not sore from doing that at all. All of the leg stuff I was able to do at 15reps with those weights.


Bottom line, is this a decent start, and is this a good work out? He told me this was the style of what his college basketball team used to do.

Thanks for the input btw.

 

[popemobile]

Couple things:

1. That "program" you're on is complete and total shit, and the guy helping you has no idea what he's doing. There is no redeeming value to it at all. Now that that's out of the way, I recommend you start on an actual strength training program. The two that most people recommend are stronglifts and starting strength, and both work really well. Look around those websites and learn whatever you can before you start dicking around on some program, that's the best advice I can give you. What you're doing now is just a bunch of shit isolation exercises, and that won't get you anywhere. You need to do big compound lifts when you're a beginner. Follow one of those programs or a similar one imo.

2. As you said, you don't have an ounce of fat on you. Don't worry about gaining fat, because losing fat is infinitely easier than gaining muscle. Eat a ton, drink a lot of milk, lots of meat, lots of everything tbh. If you worry about putting on fat then chances are you won't be gaining any weight at all. Basically just eat

 

[ivar]

ditch the leg press, curl whatever stuff and do some squats.

add dips and pull-ups/chin-ups instead of lat pull downs to your routine. use an assisted weight machine if you can't do any.

organizing into lower and upper body isn't a good idea. split your routine into three, each working out different muscle groups with little overlap (compounds like deadlifts, squats, and power cleans do overlap a bit but what are you gonna do) and do those three once a week. you can try something like chest and arms day, shoulders and back day, and quads, calves and core day.

focus on compound exercises but you can add iso/angular exercises like bicep curls to your routine for a more aesthetic physique. i do a lot of chest work personally for sexy pecs. but remember that your compounds are more important in the beginning and if you're gonna ditch exercises because your workout is too long ditch the iso/angular ones. i'll put stars next to the more superfluous exercises.

so chest + arms = flat bench (alternate between dumbbells and barbells)/close-grip bench, incline bench (how useful this is compared to flat bench is up to debate... apparently you need a specific body type but it works for me), dips, *curls, *pec flies superset with pullovers

back + shoulders = military press/cuban press/arnold press (alternate between barbell and dumbbell), pull-ups/chin-ups, upright/bent-over barbell rows, deadlifts, *lat raises

quads + calves + core = squats, power cleans, *standing calf raises, *weighted crunches, leg extensions

for the compounds start with 5x5 for strength for now, and for the iso/angular do 8x3. you can take larger breaks for the compounds, but take quick breaks (30-60 secs) for the iso/angular exercises. if you hit a plateau, change weight types and rep structure slightly. for example, if you stall on a 5x5 lift, try and do 1rm or 2rm with 10 second breaks for a set. so for example do a 1rm, break for 10 secs, another 1rm, break for 10 secs, 1rm and that's your first set. great plateau buster.

remember though that compounds are much more important. don't be doing bicep curls instead of squats or some shit. if your body can take it and you want bigger arms, then throw it in the appropriate day. i personally do curls like every 2nd or 3rd chest + arms day and my arms are still the biggest part of my body proportionately.

 

[Venom]

Alright. Well the guy helping me told me I should try to eat a fourth meal too. Would that instead of taking his big outrageous shake and keeping mine be good enough?

Here's what he started me out on today:


Upper Body 8-12 Reps x 3

Bench: 95
Incline: 80
Lat Pulls: 60
Curls 45
Tricep Extend: 45

Lower Body 12-15 Reps x3

Leg Press: 200
Leg Extend: 50
Leg Curls: 35

He told me this is what I should start doing, but today he only had me do this full routine twice, since he didn't have much time. (he was spotting me for today) Now is this extremely weak to start off with? I've never really used gym style working out, anything I've done up to this point has been light stuff, maxing out at like 30lb.

The upper body stuff I need to definitely work on though. I had problems with the form of the tricep extend, so he was having me lower the weight to get the form right. On the curls I definitely could have done more. Heck I can curl 30 in one arm, so I didn't have much problem doing 45. :/ I'd never benched or done lat pulls, or incline in my life before though, so yeah. At first I benched 115, but I could only do like 3 reps of that before maxing out, so he made me start lower.

The lower body stuff though, I think I can definitely do more than what he had me doing. I'm not sore from doing that at all. All of the leg stuff I was able to do at 15reps with those weights.


Bottom line, is this a decent start, and is this a good work out? He told me this was the style of what his college basketball team used to do.

Thanks for the input btw.

You should take a look at http://stronglifts.com/

I don't know much about basketball, but then again basketball isn't really a sport where you use your muscles much. From what I understand, you're one of those person who thinks they're fat when they're actually not, which is some type of psychological disorder some people have that I will never understand.

Moving on - you seem to be weak, which there is nothing wrong with because I myself started with a 75 pound bench press and I've worked myself up to 160 in just 4 months following stronglifts. You're body will benefit way way more from doing bench presses, squats, military presses, and deadlifts than doing your current work out.

As you increase in one workout in each one of these exercises, all of your other exercises' will benefit from it, therefore making it hard to hit a plateau with this program. As for the gaining fat and not muscle, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Trust me, there is NOTHING better than having a fucking badass meal after a hard, long lifting session for your muscles to grow. Protein shakes are also good for this, but solid food is always a better option.

 

[JRank]

I'm 13 and 5'2", 100lbs. Last school year (May) I would lift in basketball and my max on bench was about 65 and my max on squats was around 130. I've gotten a good deal stronger since then, though. I was wondering what would be some good ways for me to get muscle? I'm really small for my age and am tired of getting pushed around by the bigger kids my age. I'm relatively fast, and I play soccer so leg strength isn't an issue I don't think. Any ideas?

 

[popemobile]

I'm 13 and 5'2", 100lbs. Last school year (May) I would lift in basketball and my max on bench was about 65 and my max on squats was around 130. I've gotten a good deal stronger since then, though. I was wondering what would be some good ways for me to get muscle? I'm really small for my age and am tired of getting pushed around by the bigger kids my age. I'm relatively fast, and I play soccer so leg strength isn't an issue I don't think. Any ideas?

check the last 3 posts

edit tl;dr: do heavy compound lifts and eat a ton, the end

 

[Stylish Interval]

quick post

coach changed his weightlifting policy so it's a lot better now. he hasn't explained it well enough for me to re-explain it but it's better. stats for right now (no squat atm):

[height: 6' 1"
weight: 185 lbs]

bench: 115 (I should be doing more but my partner messed up with me. i'll probably start with 125 / 130 monday >____<)
deadlift: 125
edit: overhead press: 100 (weak i think ?_?)

could have done a little more on deadlift i think, probably 135-150 but this is pretty good since not doing it for a while (only did it sparingly over the summer). yup, good update i guess. i'm hoping to bench 155-160 and deadlift at least 175 by christmas. big expectations maybe but i think i can do it if i start eating better.

oh yeah eating.

i need more protein because i'm constantly hungry. i eat really poorly but i need something to really satisfy me, ya know? anyone eat anything that's good and fills them up too? i mean i come home after working out and i just sit down and eat whatever i find because i'm hungry. augh. help pls oh magical thread of wonderness.

 

[ivar]

haha 175 deadlift by christmas? dude you can get a 275 deadlift by christmas and i'm not saying that to be condescending: deadlift is THE easiest exercise to move up in weight. even more so than squats. when i started deadlifts it took me 2 months to reach 300 lbs. i admit i pushed myself, but i didn't need to push myself that hard. just trying adding on weight and trust me, you'll surprise yourself. i plateau'd soon after that though (my deadlift is only like 315 lbs 2 months after reaching 300)

as for art of tennis guy, i told you to do power cleans in your quads + calves + core day, well practice your form on only the bar a lot before you really begin those. ask around your gym for staff to look at your form if you can. it's a moderately difficult exercise to have pristine form with: a lot of people think they have it right but most fuck it up unless they've had personal trainers look at them. people even fuck up squat form all the time as well (don't even reach parallel--i always break parallel personally), including deadlift (arching the back, not squeezing the glutes on the lift, using too much of the arms)

for power cleans, lift the bar against your shins on the first movement, with your knees parallel to your feet, your grip being the distance of your hips, your elbows locked and your shoulders over the bar; squeeze the glutes and explode up once you are in the power position between your waist and your knees (DO NOT do a row--use only your core and lower body, not your arms); point your elbows outwards and push down on your traps as you explode up, getting your elbows as high as you can; lift the bar against your neck with your elbows extended up and in (might have to roll the bar down your finger tips); bend your knees on the lift and you're done. i suggest you watch some videos.

 

[mtr]

I recently switched over from a fairly standard hypertrophy routine to Wendler's 5/3/1 strength training after I stopped making many gains on the old routine. I believe this is because if you focus too much on doing exercises in the hypertrophy rep range (8-12 for most exercises), you build muscle size, but you don't develop the neural connections required for more heavier lifting. So you get stuck after your initial gains. The research I've done corroborates this.

Current 1rms:
Bench: 205......goal = 225
Squat: 235......goal = 275
Deadlift: 285....goal = 350

Not sure I can accomplish the Deadlift goal, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Nosferalto]

Hi guys, I've been bulking for about 3 month now, and I've gained a lot of weight (145 --> 170) I'm sure I've gained muscle because my lifts are getting better and I can see it, but I've gained a fair bit of fat on my stomach and hips. This is where I'm a bit torn, should I 'clean' bulk or will that affect my performances while lifting, or keep doing what I'm doing? Some opinions would be welcome.

 

[Stathakis]

bulk a little cleaner through the winter (i.e. 500 calories above maintenance instead of more) then start cutting in march and cut super slow


edit:

as for the running, for anybody who cares, my girlfriend dumped me one day so I went out to run till I drop and I ran 2 miles in 9:58, which is waaaaaaaaaay faster than 17 low fitness would indicate. and that's in the context of high miles with no speedwork (I guess soccer counts =x). if I can replicate that sort of time on a consistent basis, given another month or two for aerobic work + another month or two of dedicated speedwork and I think I have a legitimate shot at breaking 2 in the 800 this year and maybe even 4:25 or 4:20 in the mile! (last time I ran an open 400 was track season 2 years ago, in 54, but I ran a couple 300s in 38s and faster during practice, so I think I have the leg speed to do it).

 

[Stylish Interval]

Stat lost his badge ._.

Nosferalto, are you doing any cardio? I've been doing cardio (on off-days) since I started back in October and I've stayed around the 200 mark with significant improvements in my lifts while not gaining any gut or extra baggage.

Not much, just a mile or two (generally 6-15 minutes, not a large time investment) on Tuesdays / Thursdays and a quick mile on Saturday. It hasn't affected my performance but it's a possibility that I'm simply the exception. However, I just looked up an article on bodybuilding.com (i trust it, i've referenced it before) that says:

I recommend doing 2-3, 20-30 minute sessions of cardio each week while bulking (ideally on a non-weight training day) to maintain cardiovascular health and keep you fit. Cardiovascular training improves the heart's ability to pump blood and increases oxygen uptake into cells. Strenuous weight training can be aerobically taxing and therefore having an efficient, strong heart will allow you to train harder. In addition, a fit person burns more fat at rest than an unfit person, so doing cardio while bulking can help keep you lean.

Just looked into a couple forums and there are people who do cardio with fair results too. So I'm going to assume then that it's fair as long as you're doing it mildly and not being strenuous with it. Running ought to, and has for me I guess, limit fat gains and improve metabolism and it will at least for me help keep my cardio strength up for next year when soccer starts again.

I remember when I was reading through stronglifts he recommended steady cardio for post-workout / off day workouts. 3x30 mins was what he reccommended since it took little time out of your week and helped you eat more (more protein = more muscle obv) and kept your fat loss to a minimum.

In short, cardio cardio cardio ought to be fine. And I believe I may have just cued a post from someone who is willing to disagree with me with much more knowledge than I have ;)

-----

Also my Christmas gains:

Bench - 135 (not as much improvement as I'd hoped, but I didn't lift over Thanksgiving or Finals)
Deadlift - 150 (again was hoping for more but didn't do as much of this as I thought)
Squat - 165 (may or may not be out of proportion, started at 115 but it improved quickly)
Overhead press - 125 (not a huge improvement but I'll take it.)

I think this up-coming year I'm going to cut out fast food / soda (something I did up until the end of soccer) and see how much better I fair. Also I'm thinking about trying out protein shakes for post-workout; any suggestions? I might have to go back and read those pages on whey protein mixes from earlier.

My goals for the end of the year are

Bench: 185 (If I'm not at 1x bodyweight before the end of this off-season I'm going to be pissed)
Deadlift: 220 (I think if I put some more work into this I can get it up; it came up quickly before Thanksgiving break when it dipped again, and the only break I'll have this semester is Spring Break)
Squat: 225-250 (I know 250 is kind of on the high end but if I can get it up that high I told my friend I'd shave my head; looking forward to a shaven head for summer haha)
Overhead press: 185 (Same as Bench, I want to be at 1x bodyweight at least)

I think that when I get to these gains (when, not if) I'll have gained more weight, but who knows. I actually weigh 188, haven't gained much or lost much ... kind of odd I think but I'm not complaining as long as I'm moving these numbers.

 

[Nosferalto]

I'm going to go with a cleaner diet, to keep fat gains a bit more under control, and still gain some muscle; but I'm also gonna bulk all year, I don't want to start cutting in March unless I've made some excellent improvements.

@ Stylish: I actually do some cardio, but only once a week, and for about 10 min .-. (when I have to do legs). I'm thinking of doing some moderate cardio 3 times a week for about 15 min, but I'm not sure about 30 min. (too long). Anyway, thanks for the reply!

 

[CBshuckle]

Hey all, I'm impressed with a lot of the guys here in this thread and their physical strength has inspired me to work harder.

I've read through this topic and started with some of the exercises recommended by the people here, and after one short day at the gym I already felt more than during the previous months, when I went in without a real plan and probably didn't push myself hard enough.

However, I have one main question/qualm: In doing workouts such as squats, deadlifts, bench pressing, etc., where immensely heavy loads are applied to the body, can the result stunt one's growth, especially to somebody who is still growing?

 

[sax king]

I'm trying to build muscle and lose a bit of fat.

For about three months now, I've been waking up at 5:30 to work out (I alternate between cardio and weights). I find that if I don't wake up at 5:30, there's a pretty good chance that I won't have time for the work out.

I understand that getting good amounts of sleep is essential for muscle gain, which is what makes me second guess this idea. Usually I don't get to sleep until around 11:30, which means that I only get six hours of sleep each day.

Should I sleep more and take the chance that I may not get around to a work out, or wake up earlier and be certain that I will work out?

 

[Stylish Interval]

I'm trying to build muscle and lose a bit of fat.

For about three months now, I've been waking up at 5:30 to work out (I alternate between cardio and weights). I find that if I don't wake up at 5:30, there's a pretty good chance that I won't have time for the work out.

I understand that getting good amounts of sleep is essential for muscle gain, which is what makes me second guess this idea. Usually I don't get to sleep until around 11:30, which means that I only get six hours of sleep each day.

Should I sleep more and take the chance that I may not get around to a work out, or wake up earlier and be certain that I will work out?

First, I'd make a timetable. Just a simple excel thing, or just write it all down, but break it down by 15 minute intervals and see what all you're doing everyday and see if you can shift some stuff around. Working out shouldn't take more than an hour, hour and a half in my experience if you're working. So see if you can free that time up.

If that doesn't work, try and get to bed earlier. I don't know if there is some specific reason for you not going to bed early or if you just stay up late, but always try and get a decent amount of sleep. the extra half hour of 11-5.30 will be excellent. if you're over the age of 17 11, even 10.45 should be fine. typically (and i've read one or two studies regarding sleep, although this may be a bit off), students between 17-25 and adults between 35/40-60/65 only need 6.5-8 hours of sleep as opposed to the 8-10 younger students, children, and elderly need. however even if you're just around 17, i'd say 6.5-8 would be enough.

but mostly, remember that you're dedicating yourself to this. there is no 'i'm too tired, i need to sleep' or anything like that. there is only 'hot damn it's 5.30! time to go kick some ass so i can kick some ass!' and once you get into this mentality, you'll be lighting shit up. weightlifting is all about how you go into it mentally i think, i know when i want to get those 5 reps of that higher weight i lay back thinking 'holy shit i'm going to rub it in [friend's name omitted]'s face once i get done lifting this, and maybe i'll fuck a girl on the way home too just because this won't leave me without any energy'. but most importantly, just remember that this is all mental

if you want to get stronger, you'll be determined to lift.
if you are determined to lift, you'll be determined to get up.
if you're determined to get up, you'll lift.
if you lift, you'll get stronger.


tl;dr
if you can't shift stuff around to get into bed earlier, set an alarm, force yourself to get up, and kick some ass. in the end, you'll appreciate that you got yourself up so that when you see all those scrawny white punk ass kids you know they aren't going to take your lunch money today ... no, you're going to take theirs.

also pretty sure at some point i stopped using the shift key, oh well. hope i kind of helped or something.

 

[froggrunner]

Been working out for track (I'm in high school) a lot recently; last season I doubled my max for benching. I haven't grown a single inch or watched my diet (still at 5'10) but gained 37 pounds since this time last year
Current maxs:
Benching: 165
Squating: Dunno, I don't max when squating
400 Meter (If anyone cares lol): 54.3 Indoors, dunno about outdoors.