Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread

well, you could say both. is protein drinks a dope like vitimin water or actually helpful?:chaos:
Protein drinks are purely a supplement to get more protein to reach the levels required for decent muscle anabolism or as a way to sink more calories. The extra protein you get from them is no different to eating a complete protein source such as 2 eggs on brown toast. It's just a convenience thing tbh.

Just buy the cheapest protein powder with the lowest amount of additional ingredients and you'll be set to go.

Protein powder and some of the drinks are ok, but overusing them messes up your liver and stuff.
Uh... Unless you drink like 0 water during the day or have a pre-existing kidney disease your organs are going to be fine. Your liver is perfectly capable of transaminating amino acid/proteins without killing itself.
 
oh, i see. what does it taste like? i would imagine not the best. do you eat chicken a lot while body building? (protein)
 
oh, i see. what does it taste like? i would imagine not the best. do you eat chicken a lot while body building? (protein)
There are pretty much every flavour you can think of and no they are to taste good (especially like milk). My current WPI powder tastes like nesquik and has 93% protein.
I mean this stuff is like the most sold protein powder and it has like 30 flavours. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html


Chicken is a good lean source of protein. I 'spose I eat a lot. Any meat is, really. The cuts of the meat vary in fat content and therefore vary in suitability for you goals. Drumsticks are more fat than skinless breasts but are cheaper so more suited to trying to put on weight without regard to putting on extra fat, etc etc.
 
When you're starting out, all that really matters is that you're doing it like you're starting out. By that I mean don't worry at all about your speed, and try not to walk if possible, go as slow as you can maintain the whole time. Not only is maintaining a slow speed easier, it's also without question faster. Just start out at 20 minutes per day, get a little bit better every day, and before too long you can build up more speed and time as you see fit. After a while when you're really comfortable you can mix speeds as you see fit to experiment / mix it up.
Ahh, I suspected it depended on experience. Although I've done it on and off for just a little over a year, with varying success, I've generally always kept to a slow jog so I can sustain it for as long as I can. A lot of the time now I can generally manage 4 laps around a route of my town (around 7KM), and sometimes I can do as many as 5 or very rarely 6 laps. Biggest real problem is trying to go when my parents are attempting to fatten me up (I feel chubby enough in all honesty) and that their words impact my progress sometimes I feel. I'll keep a speed run in mind though! Thanks yee!
 

Bad Ass

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for the first time, all the lifts that i did today were in the TRIPLE DIGITS (squat 165 / bench 115 / barbell row 100). it feels good. i'm not hittin the fuckin 1000 club or anything but it's a milestone. i've also begun to see some (barely noticeable) changes in my body; more muscular, more vascularity, etc.

i also started counting calories and i don't think i was getting enough? the most i really hit was 2300 and on some lazy saturdays i couldnt be bothered to eat which set me to around 1200...2300 is pretty low for my activity level (mon-thurs running for XC with stronglifts minus squats on wednesday [today i squatted because no practice] and friday / sunday full stronglifts routine). but it's hard, because i'm just...not hungry. but lately i've been getting in the habit of cooking some chicken at 8-9PM and wrapping it in a tortilla with cheese along with a glass of milk to get the extra protein + cals. feels weird eating so late.

anyway, hope my body progresses a bit more with the few little changes i have made. but at least the progress i am seeing + the progress i hope to see is excellent motivation
 

Yonko7

Guns make you stupid. Duct tape makes you smart.
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Nice to see you progressing BA!

Keep a log book of your progress (as I'm sure your already doing). It's really odd that your not hungry especially because your also running XC and lifting, but it is good that your still eating to fuel yourself! =]

As for myself, I recently got all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out last Saturday, so it'll be one week in 3 days. I'm super paranoid about getting a dry socket so I haven't been active since Saturday, but I think I'm gonna go to the gym tomorrow and see how my mouth feels--wanna go again thanks to BA =p

EDIT: I think it'd be a great idea if people kept photo logs of themselves, so a year, month, etc. later you/we can all see the progress!
 

Redew

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Nice to see you progressing BA!

Keep a log book of your progress (as I'm sure your already doing). It's really odd that your not hungry especially because your also running XC and lifting, but it is good that your still eating to fuel yourself! =]
gp -1

Today I squatted 155 and I am pretty happy with that. Although I am not looking to make my legs stronger, I definitely want to keep squatting more and more. If I am 16 and 6' 3", what would be a good number for me? I mean, I guess it depends on how much I can actually squat, but I'm curious to know what you guys can do. Oh, also, I know I can lift at least 100 pounds, but I didn't put on any more because my spotter could only lift 50... Regardless, I have another goal of 300 crunches per day and possibly 100 push ups. It's probably not a lot, but it's what I'm starting with! This Friday I am going to do a "Max-out" day or whatever it's called. Hopefully I'll be able to get some numbers to post here.
 
Hey all.

Well I know it's been kind of a while since I posted here, but that was mainly because I got really off track with exercising when my second semester started. However, about four weeks ago I started up on Starting Strength again and I am back to about where I was before:

Squat: 205
Deadlift: 210
Bench : 115
Overhead Press: 85
I also do pull-ups, chin-ups, and hanging leg raises as part of my routine but those are to exhaustion so I have trouble keeping track of where I am with them.

From 5'4", 135 lbs. I seem to have stalled on my Bench and Press pretty quickly but I wasn't really expecting them to keep up with how fast I've been putting on muscle in my legs and back I guess.

I don't have much else to say, just figured I'd give an update haha.
 

Yonko7

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Redew, I don't know how sensible doing that many crunches and push-ups everyday is, rather doing them every other day is a better idea. Also, it depends on how fatigued you get from doing that many. Keep in mind that you want to give your muscles the time to recover and grow, so then you can see gains.

Another thought, doing crunches and push-ups won't really add mass if that's what your looking to do. If you trying to sculpt yourself then those high reps are good, moreso important for the core than push-ups. :p
 

Lee

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been training a friend of mine for the past month in preparation of her first triathlon. Today was the big day and she only went and finished first within her category. i am very proud of her!



those are my quads, not my kneecaps btw
 

Ninahaza

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if only lee could work with me :(. i am sure i would get over whatever hump is keeping me from going unto the next level as far as running outdoors and actually loving to run goes. i am also sure i could pick up a few things in the weight room from you, lee.

Damn it come to Washington and train me. i would even settle just working out with one of the guys that inspired me to get into fitness more finally.
 

Yonko7

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Damn look at those legs!

I was wondering, what does everyone think of wrist-wraps? I think I might need to get some, because my grip strength is starting to limit the weights I can use, mainly for exercises like the barbell shrugs, bent-over row, and deadlift.

Are they worth it, or should I really focus I making my grip stronger (I am doing that now, but my grip isn't increasing in weight at the same rate as the above exercises.)
 

Stallion

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Comparison time:





I couldn't show my right arm in a comparsion cause with the tattoo on it and all it's harder to truly compare images, which makes my progress even more exciting as my right hand is my dominant one and that side looks quite a bit smaller in the photos. You never realise how much you're improving until you look at your progress after 6 months, a year, or multiple years! Now it's getting cold, it's time to pack on some serious muscle. My eating is finally getting on proper track for the first time ever, training is as good as ever, and I'm feeling great. Only thing is I haven't deadlifted in 6 weeks cause of a bad lower back, so I'm hoping that issue has resolved itself now :). My other sticking point is finding it tough to find time for cardio, partly cause I'm actually that busy and partly because tbh, I fucking hate running for the sake of it. If it's for sports or something I love it, and I play two basketball games a week at a decent level, and scrimmage 1-2 further times a week. Honestly though I don't think that's enough. I manage to get a run in here and there but I want to be fit and especially explosive as well as big and strong, so I have to make time for it. Suggestions? I will note that gridiron (american football) preseason is approaching, and apparently my coach is notorious around not only my city but my country for working people ridiculously hard, so maybe I'll end up getting my cardio in that way?
 

Yonko7

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Yeah, if you don't like to do traditional steady-state cardio, which is the longer, endurance runs, then I suggest explosive sprints or intervals. Also, you can mix in a circuit of exercises that can improve your cardio.

Something along the lines of:

20-push ups
20-Burpees
30 seconds high knees

rinse and repeat

(not that great of an example, if you want a more detailed example search 'JdCav24' on youtube, and search like 'Ironman workout', for example.)
 

Bad Ass

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well i fucked up my back somehow. my form is good -- i do realize that there could be some hidden problem but i've posted videos on the internet and had my father (who lifts) spot me, and it's always been good. i'm not sure what it was even. it's a tightness in my lower spine when i squat/bend my back/lay down on my back, so pretty much every exercise is affected. i was making really good progress, and i didn't spontaneously pull anything. one day, i just did my set of squats and when i unracked it i felt a bad pain in my lower spine that i had to shake out. very weird. taking 3 weeks off per doctor's orders and then coming back with reduced weight =| i don't just want to go back to stronglifts because i feel like i will just re-injure it? maybe it was something in my routine, perhaps going up too much in weight, but i did NOTHING that was so strenuous that it hurt me. i always had a failsafe in case i stalled in the middle of a rep, everything i lifted, i lifted easily enough. i don't know what to do, the only idea i've had is to try some 4x8 or 3x10 when im better. fuck perplexing injuries.

the worst part is that i finally got my diet right (eating more) and was supposed to be squatting 200 on sunday and was really fucking close to benching a plate. doesn't sound like much but those were 2 milestones that i was really working towards. my year end goal was (still is) benching 165, squatting 250, and deadlifting 275.

in the meantime i'm just gonna get a pullup bar and go crazy with bodyweight stuff. i looked at the bodyweight subreddit and it looks pretty legit. if anyone has any advice, please share, i'm looking for anything to keep up strength while im on the sidelines.
 
I manage to get a run in here and there but I want to be fit and especially explosive as well as big and strong, so I have to make time for it. Suggestions? I will note that gridiron (american football) preseason is approaching, and apparently my coach is notorious around not only my city but my country for working people ridiculously hard, so maybe I'll end up getting my cardio in that way?
You might like to try mixing cardio with weight workouts to save time. I posted about it somewhere way earlier in here I think, if not the basic idea is to maintain your heart rate and keep working in between sets. For example if you were to mix it in with a lat workout you could do something like-

Set of Weighted pullups
30-120s of jump rope / burpees / jogging etc.
Set of Lat pull downs
30-120s of more light cardio to rest lats
Set of 3rd lat exercise
30-120s of cardio to rest lats for next set

And just cycle through however many lat workouts you think are good with however much rest time works for you between sets. It's a bit intense and may not be an everyday thing but a lot of fun.
 

Yonko7

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I think I should post my progress so far. I'm a hardgainer to the bone =[, which means that I have difficulty gaining weight that might seem awesome, but gaining muscles becomes harder too. The bright side is that I have a low body fat percentage and a fast metabolism, so right now my caloric intake isn't too big of a deal. I've always been active: did 4 years of XC, indoor and outdoor track, but I've always been the skinny guy, which aggravated me. So more recently, since I started college last fall, I wanted to gain muscle. I'll be honest, I want the aesthetics moreso than the pure numbers, but they do go hand-in-hand. I've only recently started to track my progress visually, I've kept logs of the weights and reps and such, but I wanna see the changes too. My goal was to show that I'm in shape with a shirt on!

I've mainly been doing pure-weight days and high intensity days, alternating, and giving myself the weekends to rest.





For the second picture, I wanted to take it quickly and not have anyone see me taking a picture at the gym.

The biggest difference I've noticed so far is in my arm and chest. My biceps are painfully weak but I've developed them nicely, and my bench press went from about 105 to 130 lbs.
I haven't used any supplements, but I feel to really increase my gains, I need to drink some, because sometimes I'm sore for 4-5 days at a time.
 

Stallion

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You're looking really good man, recovery shouldn't take that long though. Two days max is how long you should be sore for, supplements do help but make sure you're eating well too.

Speaking of painful, gridiron preseason has started now. Holy fucking shit, I could barely walk today and that was our FIRST training session. It's pretty intense HIIT cardio as well as physically demanding, so I'm pumped as anything to be getting aesthetic as well as functional strength and power ^_^
 
Well, in the middle of my first set of squats yesterday I ended up coming down with a killer sudden-onset headache. My friend that I was lifting with said that it looked like I was not breathing properly; while I was breathing between squats and holding my breath for the duration of the movement, I was not taking in enough air in each breath. This headache did not go away with motrin, so I ended up going to the hospital. Now it's been about 27 hours since this happened and the headache is still persisting underneath my narcotic pain meds, and I'm waiting on an MRI to see if there was lasting damage.

I'm really not sure where to go from here. I don't really want to give up on lifting without meeting any of my long term goals, but the idea of getting under a bar again after this scares the shit out of me...
 

Soul Fly

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Guys, how important are protein shakes and shit?

I have seen people guzzle it like water during/post workouts.
 

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