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Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread
- Thread starter Ninahaza
- Start date
Make you eat consistently, me and my brother have the same body type. He is 5'11 and weighs almost 180lb lean whilst I am only 135lb 5'10, we both started gym roughly same time lol...
Difference is he eats 5 times a day all the time; initially you eat 3 modest meals and 2-3 snacky type meals. Load up on lots of these:
-Peanuts (keep them with you everywhere)
-Peanut butter (if you have one sandwich in the morning and one at night it will change your life..)
-Cheese full fat
-Milk (drink several cups a day)
-Red meat
-Potatoes
-ALOT OF bread
DO NOT try to eat super healthy and only have lean food or you wont put on anything unless you eat shitloads and have 100s of dollars to waste. You are super skinny and you need mass, eat foods that have decent % of fat and eat dirty whenever you want....you do not just gain a beerbelly overnight lol. You just want to be able to make maximum gains while you got "newbie gainz" window of time which isn't long.
Also you dont just shock your system into eating 3000cals.
You slowly build up. Do maybe 2000 and go upwards. when you do 5x5 which is a sick training program which im sure and hope your coach will show you, you tend to increase your metabolism shitloads, happened to me at least and eventually you eat alot more.
Im the guy who screwed up eating, managed to bulk up nicely at one point and just lost it all so I can say I got first hand experience of the full deal
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Something that really worked well for me for extra fat loss was intermittent fasting. Basically I stopped eating at 8pm and then didn't eat the next day until at least 12 lunchtime...There is technical science involved but to make it simple, after your body has used all the food in your system for energy it will then resort to using stored fat cells. Anyway I might be way off with that explanation so if anyone who knows for real please do correct me.
Regardless that method burned alot of extra fat and then as a final push i did almost 3 weeks of literally living off 500g of turkey chunks and 5 protein shakes a day with half a pack of rice and one square of dark chocolate 90% as my only carbs bar two refill days. That was to get me down to about 9% though.
Regardless that method burned alot of extra fat and then as a final push i did almost 3 weeks of literally living off 500g of turkey chunks and 5 protein shakes a day with half a pack of rice and one square of dark chocolate 90% as my only carbs bar two refill days. That was to get me down to about 9% though.
Hurt my hamstring at football practice a few weeks ago and will probably be out for a few more weeks.
I'm devastated, but I'm putting a positive spin on a shit situation and using the fact that my body isn't getting beaten up for 4 hours a week to build some (non hamstring) strength and size!
I'm devastated, but I'm putting a positive spin on a shit situation and using the fact that my body isn't getting beaten up for 4 hours a week to build some (non hamstring) strength and size!
Question for anyone who started a program while "skinny fat" (or anyone who has an opinion on the subject): Is it better for a novice lifter to start a bulking or cutting cycle while skinny fat, or even just eat at maintenance? I realize this is a loaded question, so some background on myself.
24/M/5'-9.5"/170 lbs. Not sure about my BF% but would estimate 20-25%. One month into a bulking phase after finally getting serious about lifting - following a program, paying attention to macros, and incorporating barbells. I'm beginning to question if bulking is the right process for someone like me. I understand the point of bulking as a beginner is for noob gains, but I'm not entirely sure how much noob gains I have to reap since I've done machine/dumbbell work before, granted I had a year hiatus between what I did then and when I started back up again recently. I'm ultimately lifting for aesthetics (of course, any strength I gain is nice too), so I don't want to be in a 3 month bulk then have to do a 6 month cut. If it helps, not sure what my 1RMs for the Big 5 are, but current stats are 3x5 80 lb bench, 3x5 65 lb OHP, 4x5 125 lb squat, 3x5 95 lb row, and 3x5 155 lb DL.
24/M/5'-9.5"/170 lbs. Not sure about my BF% but would estimate 20-25%. One month into a bulking phase after finally getting serious about lifting - following a program, paying attention to macros, and incorporating barbells. I'm beginning to question if bulking is the right process for someone like me. I understand the point of bulking as a beginner is for noob gains, but I'm not entirely sure how much noob gains I have to reap since I've done machine/dumbbell work before, granted I had a year hiatus between what I did then and when I started back up again recently. I'm ultimately lifting for aesthetics (of course, any strength I gain is nice too), so I don't want to be in a 3 month bulk then have to do a 6 month cut. If it helps, not sure what my 1RMs for the Big 5 are, but current stats are 3x5 80 lb bench, 3x5 65 lb OHP, 4x5 125 lb squat, 3x5 95 lb row, and 3x5 155 lb DL.
Your strength is quite low, so don't get wrapped up too much into bulking and cutting just yet - you have plenty more noob gains to come, so take advantage of that. If you cut too early, you will just wind up skinny. Eat lots of nutritious food and lift heavy... Once your numbers have gone up, then you can make an informed decision on bulking and cutting imo
i dont know when the last time ive posted was but i got rly fat n gross so i started just working out nonstop for 4 months. i used to work out a little a few years ago and even got kind of strong but it would go quickly in phases and i paid 0 mind to what i ate. but the experience made it so the lifting was at least easy to jump into. the last 3 days have been the first time in my life ive ever hit a healthy bmi in my life so i wanted to share my progress because im proud of making changes. im going to begin training in an mma gym soon (it was going to be last week but i snapped my shoulder back during a military press and im a mascochist so ive been trying to work around it but now i think i just gotta let it heal completely for a week before doing anything else) just because by pure coincidence one of the really highly ranked ones is like a 2 min drive from where i work now and i have nothing else to do in life and ive always loved martial arts and grappling.
heres a before picture:
weight: 192 lbs (BMI: 30.1) - OBESE
lifting: none
diet: literally everyday the same: i would smoke, drink, eat a whole tuna sub with fries for lunch from some italian place next to my old job and then eat a double quarter pounder with cheese/large fry/10 piece nugget for dinner...every single day. only drank water when not drinking alcohol
cardio: horrible asthma attacks after running, could only manage 5.5 pace on treadmill for maybe a mile
push-ups: could do like 10
planks: could only last 30 seconds
sex: a struggle
heres some after pictures from today:
Non Flexed stomach
flexed stomach
bigger arms shoulders, chest is way more solid and not flabby
face body and neck actually look human-like
weight: 152 lbs (BMI: 23.8) - HEALTHY
lifting: almost everyday. squats are up to 200 and db bench is up to 75 in each hand. i just do a bunch of shit
diet: use myfitnesspal to count calories. became a pescatarian in june, only eat tuna salmon shrimp as animal food. completely cut out fast food like mcdonalds and most meat places. only fast food i still east is 6 inch tuna subs from subway and lots of pizza because im addicted. cut out alcohol completely. stopped smoking weed. lots of veggies n shit now. lots of premiere protein milk drinks and pure protein energy bars. going to start taking whey protein and maybe creatine.
cardio: run about 3 5ks per week, then usually about 1.5-2 miles the other 3 days with 1 rest day. my mile time flunctuates but im consistently getting sub 8-8:15 on treadmill now for longer distance runs from 2.5-3.5 miles, about 7-7:30 on short runs like 1.5-2 miles. i dont do hiit at all which im going to definitely start doing soon just because im frustrated that im not faster after so much running. i also just started barefoot running yesterday, hurt a little but i think itll be worth it.
push-ups: can do 40 at least altho i havent tried since my shoulder injury from last week. my goal is 50 with no breaks. i also like doing clapping pushups a lot too
planks: can last 2:30
sex: a lot more fun
heres a before picture:
weight: 192 lbs (BMI: 30.1) - OBESE
lifting: none
diet: literally everyday the same: i would smoke, drink, eat a whole tuna sub with fries for lunch from some italian place next to my old job and then eat a double quarter pounder with cheese/large fry/10 piece nugget for dinner...every single day. only drank water when not drinking alcohol
cardio: horrible asthma attacks after running, could only manage 5.5 pace on treadmill for maybe a mile
push-ups: could do like 10
planks: could only last 30 seconds
sex: a struggle
heres some after pictures from today:
Non Flexed stomach
flexed stomach
bigger arms shoulders, chest is way more solid and not flabby
face body and neck actually look human-like
weight: 152 lbs (BMI: 23.8) - HEALTHY
lifting: almost everyday. squats are up to 200 and db bench is up to 75 in each hand. i just do a bunch of shit
diet: use myfitnesspal to count calories. became a pescatarian in june, only eat tuna salmon shrimp as animal food. completely cut out fast food like mcdonalds and most meat places. only fast food i still east is 6 inch tuna subs from subway and lots of pizza because im addicted. cut out alcohol completely. stopped smoking weed. lots of veggies n shit now. lots of premiere protein milk drinks and pure protein energy bars. going to start taking whey protein and maybe creatine.
cardio: run about 3 5ks per week, then usually about 1.5-2 miles the other 3 days with 1 rest day. my mile time flunctuates but im consistently getting sub 8-8:15 on treadmill now for longer distance runs from 2.5-3.5 miles, about 7-7:30 on short runs like 1.5-2 miles. i dont do hiit at all which im going to definitely start doing soon just because im frustrated that im not faster after so much running. i also just started barefoot running yesterday, hurt a little but i think itll be worth it.
push-ups: can do 40 at least altho i havent tried since my shoulder injury from last week. my goal is 50 with no breaks. i also like doing clapping pushups a lot too
planks: can last 2:30
sex: a lot more fun
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nah, i was talking to kd because he had a much better haircut in the after pics.
your hair is fine, might look a bit better with some of the chest hair removed (but i'd keep some of it).
I'm back from my partially torn hamstring in 11 days (but who's counting) and am beyond excited to be back playing football.
Haven't spent this time being mopey though, I've been taking advantage of all the contact I haven't been getting at training, been hitting the weight room hard and have been doing conditioning work. Currently around 96kg / 211 lbs at 180cm / 5'11". No shredded abs or anything at the moment but I'm not remotely fat either...i just need the extra weight so that I don't get crushed by 330lb (150kg) linemen haha. Football first, aesthetics can come after when the season is over!
Haven't spent this time being mopey though, I've been taking advantage of all the contact I haven't been getting at training, been hitting the weight room hard and have been doing conditioning work. Currently around 96kg / 211 lbs at 180cm / 5'11". No shredded abs or anything at the moment but I'm not remotely fat either...i just need the extra weight so that I don't get crushed by 330lb (150kg) linemen haha. Football first, aesthetics can come after when the season is over!
Damn, this thread makes me wish I wasn't a fat slob who can't get enough fried chicken or buffalo wings down my throat. Boy, I wish I was trucking shredded.
Be a piggy and eat tons of nasty food all day...or move....curse my weak mind!
Be a piggy and eat tons of nasty food all day...or move....curse my weak mind!
You can do it man. Trust me on that. You can do it.
I have learned a lot in my current short life, and one of the few ~true~ things i have learned is that its not the dog in the fight, but rather the fight in the dog.
Basically its a question of how bad you want it rather than a question of knowledge/experience. I did this shit without the know-how.
You can do it man. And you best believe that it takes time so dont even THINK about giving up just yet you young fuck. (Ps: good luck)
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Short weight-gain update:
July 22 -> August 29
135 lbs -> ~147 lbs
A lot of this could be water weight or something, but I've definitely noticed a difference in my physique/body comp/muscle mass. I've been doing pretty intense workouts with a trainer 3x a week with bodyweight stuff on my own sometimes on other days. The eating part has been the roughest for me... I just don't like eating that much even though I know it is necessary. I've been relying on weight gainer shakes probably more than I should be. The trainer part is expensive, but keeps me motivated. I like having set days/times I have to be at the gym--it keeps me accountable. I'll probably post again in another month or so, hopefully with more progress (although it probably won't be as big; things seem to have slowed down).
July 22 -> August 29
135 lbs -> ~147 lbs
A lot of this could be water weight or something, but I've definitely noticed a difference in my physique/body comp/muscle mass. I've been doing pretty intense workouts with a trainer 3x a week with bodyweight stuff on my own sometimes on other days. The eating part has been the roughest for me... I just don't like eating that much even though I know it is necessary. I've been relying on weight gainer shakes probably more than I should be. The trainer part is expensive, but keeps me motivated. I like having set days/times I have to be at the gym--it keeps me accountable. I'll probably post again in another month or so, hopefully with more progress (although it probably won't be as big; things seem to have slowed down).
I'm actually pretty fit. I was on Track in High school but after my diverticulitus developed into Crohn's, I kind of just let myself grow into a dad bod.
My dear: You are already worlds ahead of most people then. Please dont stop now.
believe it or not but i have been coming back to this thread for motivation myself. And i started this thread
Just remember that it is easier to return from an injury than a mentality of defeat. you have already done it once it sounds like. All you need now is to give it a bit more time. ;)
believe it or not but i have been coming back to this thread for motivation myself. And i started this thread
Just remember that it is easier to return from an injury than a mentality of defeat. you have already done it once it sounds like. All you need now is to give it a bit more time. ;)
I'm still alive and still loosely follow this thread. It fills me with nostalgia and has encouraged me to reflect. I've been on Smogon for well over 10 years now and below is a collage of the first 'fitness' picture I ever posted on these forums alongside a more recent one from a few days ago. A 10 year transformation if you will.
Is this an impressive change over the space of a decade? That would vary based on opinion but I'm sharing it because it is honest and I believe it to be a more accurate representation of the progress that you can expect, as opposed to the dubious transformation pictures on places like Instagram. I'm a pretty normal guy - in fact I was always considered to be puny growing up - who has trained consistently for around 14 years (and yes, I'm a life-time natural). Over those years I've developed 5 golden rules and I'm going to share some those here, for the benefit of the next generation of Smogoners.
1. Think long-term
Too many people expect mind blowing results in 6 months and overlook the fact that fitness is a life-long pursuit. There will be ups and downs, backs and forths...the progress is not always linear. I don't believe that I train particularly hard. I've seen people in the gym screaming, puking, crying...they never seem to last long. My advice would be to incorporate your fitness regime into your life in such a way that it is sustainable in the long-term. By all means set short term targets but always think long-term. It's not glamorous and it's not what people always want to hear, but it's what they need to hear. Look at what you're doing and think 'could I do this for the next 5 years?' If the answer is no then you need to reassess.
2. Question everything
You live in a wonderful time for fitness...there are a thousand online articles on every subject, an army of experienced coaches on hand to share their expertise. Use it. Read everything. Go to T-Nation and just go nuts. But question everything. No matter how many citations an article has, no matter how qualified the author - some things just need to be learnt and experienced personally. You are your own test-subject. Trial and error the shit out of anything that piques your interest. Don't be that gym douche who strays away from cardio because he read that it would cost him his gains. Don't avoid stretching because such-and-such an article said it was ineffective. Don't persevere with a certain way of training because 'apparently' it's the best way of doing it. Try things for yourself, keep the useful and discard the useless. As long as you're working hard at something, it doesn't matter. Here's an example; when I was younger I wanted to 'tone up.' Even mention those words in fitness circles and you'll be mocked, ridiculed...told it's impossible and that you should just lift heavy weights. As a stubborn young man I ignored those comments and started doing lots of movements for high reps with low weight. I'd cycle through movements with short rest periods. Whether I 'toned up' is debatable but I did end up regularly doing a workout that would, by today's standards, be recognised as HIIT - a lauded, hugely effective style of training. It wasn't really a thing back then though and I certainly didn't know I was doing it. But I had noted that it was effective and that I was getting fitter and stronger. I still do a version of this workout now - a workout that, had I listened to the conventional wisdom of the time, would never have existed.
3. Don't stop learning
This kinda overlaps with the above one but never, ever assume you know everything. I've been training for 14 years and even this year I've discovered things that have changed the way I approach my training. Don't go stale.
4. Always have a rival
This goes against all those feel-good messages of 'your only competition is yourself.' Rubbish. We (especially males) are naturally competitive and that should be harnessed. Walk into a gym, identify somebody who is more advanced than you and think 'I'm going to surpass him.' Join a running club, find somebody who's a little bit faster than you and aim to beat him. Then pick a new rival. And so on. There are really only two ways of measuring your fitness; i) how you are now compared to how you used to be and ii) how you are compared to others. Utilise both of these means of measurement. Don't be a dick about it though - your 'rival' doesn't even need to know you exist.
5. Walk Alone
Another controversial one. A lot has been written about the benefits of training with others. Those benefits are common knowledge so I won't repeat them here...I'll merely state that I do recognise them. However, I believe a fitness journey should always have an over-riding theme of staunch independence. If your training hinges on the participation of another person then you'll never truly be in control of your own progress. Relying on others takes away your autonomy. By all means train with your friends, join clubs etc. But always put yourself first and always be prepared to train alone.
Till next time Smogon dudes.
Is this an impressive change over the space of a decade? That would vary based on opinion but I'm sharing it because it is honest and I believe it to be a more accurate representation of the progress that you can expect, as opposed to the dubious transformation pictures on places like Instagram. I'm a pretty normal guy - in fact I was always considered to be puny growing up - who has trained consistently for around 14 years (and yes, I'm a life-time natural). Over those years I've developed 5 golden rules and I'm going to share some those here, for the benefit of the next generation of Smogoners.
1. Think long-term
Too many people expect mind blowing results in 6 months and overlook the fact that fitness is a life-long pursuit. There will be ups and downs, backs and forths...the progress is not always linear. I don't believe that I train particularly hard. I've seen people in the gym screaming, puking, crying...they never seem to last long. My advice would be to incorporate your fitness regime into your life in such a way that it is sustainable in the long-term. By all means set short term targets but always think long-term. It's not glamorous and it's not what people always want to hear, but it's what they need to hear. Look at what you're doing and think 'could I do this for the next 5 years?' If the answer is no then you need to reassess.
2. Question everything
You live in a wonderful time for fitness...there are a thousand online articles on every subject, an army of experienced coaches on hand to share their expertise. Use it. Read everything. Go to T-Nation and just go nuts. But question everything. No matter how many citations an article has, no matter how qualified the author - some things just need to be learnt and experienced personally. You are your own test-subject. Trial and error the shit out of anything that piques your interest. Don't be that gym douche who strays away from cardio because he read that it would cost him his gains. Don't avoid stretching because such-and-such an article said it was ineffective. Don't persevere with a certain way of training because 'apparently' it's the best way of doing it. Try things for yourself, keep the useful and discard the useless. As long as you're working hard at something, it doesn't matter. Here's an example; when I was younger I wanted to 'tone up.' Even mention those words in fitness circles and you'll be mocked, ridiculed...told it's impossible and that you should just lift heavy weights. As a stubborn young man I ignored those comments and started doing lots of movements for high reps with low weight. I'd cycle through movements with short rest periods. Whether I 'toned up' is debatable but I did end up regularly doing a workout that would, by today's standards, be recognised as HIIT - a lauded, hugely effective style of training. It wasn't really a thing back then though and I certainly didn't know I was doing it. But I had noted that it was effective and that I was getting fitter and stronger. I still do a version of this workout now - a workout that, had I listened to the conventional wisdom of the time, would never have existed.
3. Don't stop learning
This kinda overlaps with the above one but never, ever assume you know everything. I've been training for 14 years and even this year I've discovered things that have changed the way I approach my training. Don't go stale.
4. Always have a rival
This goes against all those feel-good messages of 'your only competition is yourself.' Rubbish. We (especially males) are naturally competitive and that should be harnessed. Walk into a gym, identify somebody who is more advanced than you and think 'I'm going to surpass him.' Join a running club, find somebody who's a little bit faster than you and aim to beat him. Then pick a new rival. And so on. There are really only two ways of measuring your fitness; i) how you are now compared to how you used to be and ii) how you are compared to others. Utilise both of these means of measurement. Don't be a dick about it though - your 'rival' doesn't even need to know you exist.
5. Walk Alone
Another controversial one. A lot has been written about the benefits of training with others. Those benefits are common knowledge so I won't repeat them here...I'll merely state that I do recognise them. However, I believe a fitness journey should always have an over-riding theme of staunch independence. If your training hinges on the participation of another person then you'll never truly be in control of your own progress. Relying on others takes away your autonomy. By all means train with your friends, join clubs etc. But always put yourself first and always be prepared to train alone.
Till next time Smogon dudes.
But he did say he has now trained 14 years, so that would be 4 years into his hard work, so it's not like that was just lucky genetics. I know that's not what you meant but I wanted to mention it anyway. Lee may not believe he trains particularly hard, but he is certainly very dedicated. You get what you put into things. Thank you for your wisdom Lee.