The Fysical Phitness Thread

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I'd like to take this moment to rant. If you're one of those people who goes up to people in the gym and tries to tell them how to do stuff unwarranted, make sure you know what you're talking about. YES, your hips are supposed to at least go below your knees when you squat. Guy wasted 10 minutes of my time talking and awkwardly showing me.

Raikou-I'll post my workout split :P

A
Speed Squats 8x2 at 65% 1RM
Flat BB Bench/or DB bench 3x5
Dips 2xmax
Incline BB/DB/Hammer Strength Bench 3x8
Tricep stuff 3x8

B
Deadlift 1x5 @ 5 RM
Pullups 2xmax
Bent over BB row 3x5
Hang Cleans 5x5 (I do some front squats here if I feel like it)
Lat pull down and/or upright rows 3x8

C
Squats 1 or 2x5 @ 5RM
Seated military press 3x5
Arnold press 3x6-8
Standing military press 2x8-10
Abs stuff 3x8
whatever else I want

This doesn't include any warmups, or any lowers weight sets, this is all just my highest working set. For deadlift/squat I do more than 1 set, just not at my 5 RM.

I'm sort of loose about all my auxiliary stuff, I add and take away stuff depending how I'm feeling. I'm only strict about the lifts prescribed in Starting Strength (what I was doing before I added these extra things), so bench, squat, deadlift, row, and press.

This post is entirely too long.
 
Looking great there Bam...for some reason I've always had you down as a bit of a beanpole - how much weight have you gained recently?

My training's been dwindling since I hurt my knee 2 weeks back...the plan was to just hit the gym instead of my usual running/cycling but I've been finding it difficult to motivate myself to do anything...it's becoming a case of 'if i'm not running i may as well not do anything' and I don't know when I'm going to get out of this rut. I always go through these cycles where I train like a maniac for a few weeks and then I'm a lazy bum for a week or so. Bleh.

RL - I hate you for posting that about chocolate milk because ever since I've switched from strawberry milk to chocolate milk. I love strawberry. :) And I hate chocolate. :(

Your measurements sound similar to mine though - you should post a picture :toast: I'm tempted to join you in your summer competition, it might be helpful to have an e-buddy for motivation.
 
Haha, I've almost always stereotyped internet goers as beanpoles.

I've put on about 15lbs since the end of December, and the pic I just posted isn't that great as it's somewhat old and at a weird angle.

However, track season is over so I can now go to the gym regularly again. I'm pretty excited for it.
 
I started to use the TotalGym(1700) everyday after school since monday and I'm starting to feel it a little. What are your opinions on the TotalGym?
 
I have the perfect push-up kit, and an Olympic (300Lbs) weight set. I don't use them often, because I don't feel the need to. After school, I use it sometimes though. To keep in shape I just do lots of athletic activity. Mainly, I play basketball and football. ( I quit the team in 9th grade and I'm in 11th).

Push-ups and sit ups will help you keep fit for the most part. At least they keep me fit. Running is always good as well. Sports that work your entire body are excellent. When I want to pack on a few pounds without it just being useless, I stock up on egg yolk and I do vigorous exercise.
 
Abs are important but I think are also the easiest thing to obtain. Ever.

I've had abs since I started climbing in sixth grade and have never once lost them. Even with a lot more weight on now they're still pretty well defined. I am going to start running a lot more now as they're not as nice as I'd like and running is just a good thing to do in general.
 
I'm going to start the P90X program again starting Monday. I've done it once before, but just got out of the routine and finally quit after a month or so. This time I'm actually going to follow the diet and stick with it for the full 3 months...hopefully.

Also, thanks for the tip about taking pictures Vespa. Not seeing my actual results is probably what contributed to me quitting last time, so I'm going to try that this time. Might take measurements every week as well.
 
Regarding P90X and problems with progression: I'm a purist when it comes to weightlifting, would be happy with just a barbell and floorspace, so I may be a little biased. You'll progress only if you're creating strain on your muscles/nervous system that you aren't used to. If you're just sitting on the couch now, P90X will give you some results because its more than you were doing before. There's no such thing as "muscle confusion" that P90X claims is needed to progress. The program just doesn't add heavy-ass weight. But good luck with it.
 
Yeah, I realize that I'm not going to get very bulky doing the program.

The real reason I'm doing it is to get into shape for volleyball tournaments this summer. While there isn't a lot of heavy lifting in P90X, there is certainly a lot of cardio, and that is mainly what I'm looking for. I guess I should have clarified that earlier.

Also, I'm sure that I could accomplish the same thing, perhaps even get better results, by just weight lifting and running or something, but I like having a program where everything is already laid out for me. I'll try to keep you guys updated on my progress.
 
I read back on your thing about compound workouts BAM and really to me Bench Press is not that great. You can do pushups and hit the same muscles.

I also think that pushups help you do Benching a lot better than continuously Benching does. I was benching 100 pounds just a week ago. Then for just 2 days or so I did tons of pushups and a few days later I was benching 115-125. Pushups are by far one of the best workouts you can do especially because there are so many variants on them, one arm pushups which work the tricep in that one arm being used twice as hard because it has to support the body itself. They also use a whole hell of a lot of your back too so I recommend those. Pushups are also arguably better because you can do these no matter where you go basically. All you need is a flat surface.

Anyways as far as things I do....I don't neccesarily have specific day-to-day plan workouts. I just do whatever I feel like doing and kill it as much as possible.

Bench Press: 115-125 pounds 3x8
Bicep Curls: 90 pound bar 3x8
Tricep Extension: 120 pounds 3x8
Lat Pull Down: 120-130 pounds 3x8
Calf Raises: 140 pounds 3x8

I'm 5'10 and I weigh around 150 pounds. I actually have quite good improvements considering I only started working out in January(weight training class) and I was only curling a bar of 30 pounds and benching 70 pounds. I'm actually working on my abs at the moment. My brother got this ab training exercise regimen from a friend of his who is just ripped. It's pretty intense and it really works the muslces greatly.
 
The problem with pushups is that once your bench is significantly more than the average weight you're doing pushups with (about 75% of your bodyweight iirc) there's no way you're really going to raise your max consistently. Of course you'll tone out and be able to do more and more pushups, but unless you do less reps at more weight on bench, you won't really get anywhere.

Don't get me wrong, I love pushups - I do a lot every night before I go to bed, and I do weighted pushups a couple times a week. It's just that for the purpose of increasing muscle size and raw power, benching heavy weight will get you further.
 
Yeah I know. But if you can't bench more than your body weight(which I can't yet) then it's better to stick with the good ol pushup. And even if I could bench more than my body weight I still prefer pushups just because you can do them anywhere basically.

Also new record for me today. I curled 110 pounds 3 times. I can do sets of 100 now for sure ^_^.

My bench is also more like 130.
 
Is your pushup logic just an anecdote? The best way to get better at pushups is pushups. The best way to get better at bench is bench. Doing 5000 pushups isn't going to make you stronger, though. After a certain number of reps, you're just fighting lactic acid. Your muscles/nervous system aren't stressed so you can't get stronger.
 
Finally sorted my camera so here's a picture with regards to the Cross-Country league I was babbling on about earlier in the thread.

DSCF0248.jpg


Picture from the local paper, far left obv!
 
Tayleef said:
Is your pushup logic just an anecdote? The best way to get better at pushups is pushups. The best way to get better at bench is bench. Doing 5000 pushups isn't going to make you stronger, though. After a certain number of reps, you're just fighting lactic acid. Your muscles/nervous system aren't stressed so you can't get stronger.
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if you change the positioning to make it cause more strain then you can do pushups as much as you want and continue to get stronger.

elevate your feet on a chair, get a medicine ball and a chair and put your feet on the chair while doing pushups on the ball. do one armed pushups. do elevated one armed pushups. do handstand pushups. i think you get the idea. the pushup is an extremely versatile exercise, like nearly EVERY bodyweight exercise. if it gets too easy mix it up a bit. you can also buy a weighted vest, i have a 25lb vest and a 50lb vest that i use regularly
 
I don't know if the push-up analogy is completely accurate... I noticed an increase in the amount of repititions I can do with my bench (I started around 150 doing 3 sets of 8 reps... now I'm at about 160 doing sets of ten) and its all because I do about 200-300 push ups a day.

Anyway, my biggest question is that I am at my ideal height and weight (about 5'7 and a half, 160 lbs) and I'm not trying to gain anymore mass but I feel like I do when I work out. Instead I just want to work on being cut and ripped rather than bulkier. People say doing more reps and less weight will alleviate this but I'm not sure... I'm still packing on about a lb a week.. I've even made sure my caloric intake is the same / less as my needs (I started doing two adays with lifting in the morning and basketball / heavy cardio in the afternoon about 3-4 times a week)... yet I still gained about 2 lbs over the last 2 weeks... ughhhh How do I make it stop??!!! Though, to be fair, I have noticed nice gains in overall muscle definition as well. I may post my workout split sometime.
 
RL, I've always thought pushups help a lot personally. For my bench to improve as greatly as it did without me having benched for the week or two but doing pushups then suddenly being able to bench more. I don't know.

Getting bulkier is done with more sets of less reps. To get a toned,ripped kind of look do slightly more reps and maybe the same amount of sets maybe less. I don't know it depends, I think it would be helpful though if you had a celebrity that you would want to model yourself after and then find out their workout so you can do something similar.

For example I really really like Bruce Lee's physique, and he did TONS of pushups to get the way he did. Pushups and pullups. To get the leaner body mass that looks more toned definitely do more reps with a bit less weight. Don't go full out, that's for bulking up. I recommend doing something like....

Monday: Do maybe 10-20 pounds less than normal
Tuesday: 20 pounds less
Wednesday: 30 pounds
Thursday: 10
Friday: Full out, do as much as you can, kill it hard. This gives a good general mixup in how much you do and how it improves body mass. It doesn't have to look EXACTLY like this but it should look similar. If you don't want to bulk up it is important to do less weight.
 
more reps less weight wont "tone" you. its a gigantofuck misconception. if you want to lose mass work out less or eat less its pretty simple. if you want to stay the same eat the same amount and work out with less intensity/ sway in favor of cardio and plyometric exercise rather than muscle building exercises. your body can only build on itself if you give it more materials than it needs.
 
vespa said:
more reps less weight wont "tone" you. its a gigantofuck misconception. if you want to lose mass work out less or eat less its pretty simple. if you want to stay the same eat the same amount and work out with less intensity/ sway in favor of cardio and plyometric exercise rather than muscle building exercises. your body can only build on itself if you give it more materials than it needs.
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no, less weight more reps definitely builds leaner muscle, and more weight less reps builds bulkier muscles, however its not the only factor, body type is probably the most important factor.

also working with resistance bands/body weight instead of weights can help build lean muscle
 
I would say in I'm in decent shape, but I really feel that most of it is just natural. I can honestly say that I've never gone to gym for more than two weeks in a row at any time; despite this, I have a decent figure, and I'm told often that I have a "nice" body by both men and women.

I play basketball and go to practice regularly, which I suppose keeps me from becoming out of shape. There is however, one part I hate about it; the constant running. If I really push myself, I'm capable of running for significantly longer times than I normally do, but honestly, I hardly ever find the motivation to do so. As soon as I feel even mildly tired, I kinda just want to go back to the bench and sit, even if it's just for thirty seconds. Of course, I don't go back, so I end up running anyway, until I just don't want to run anymore, even though I'm physically capable of doing so. It's more a mental weakness than anything, and I really should change that about myself...

In fact, during my game today, I'll try to go all out, run full speed the whole time, and see how I do. Perhaps this might be the first step to changing my ways.
 
latios315 said:
no, less weight more reps definitely builds leaner muscle, and more weight less reps builds bulkier muscles, however its not the only factor, body type is probably the most important factor.

also working with resistance bands/body weight instead of weights can help build lean muscle
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dude, you are wrong. the only reason people think they are building lean muscle is because after doing a million reps of no weight you are fighting a lactic acid buildup.

to make muscles rebuild themselves you have to damage them and the only way to damage them is to stress them beyond the point they are used to. the muscle fibers tear and rebuild themselves thicker so that they wont tear from that amount of stress any longer.

doing a million reps of low weight will never cause your muscles enough strain to tear and rebuild themselves. EVER.

do you even know what it means when people say they want to build lean muscle? for one it means they dont know much about exercise and two they are saying they want to reduce their bodyfat % while simultaneously increasing their muscle mass without looking like the hulk. i personally see it as an insult to bodybuilders when people say they do not want to look like a complete mead head, you don't understand how ridiculously hard those guys train to get and stay that big. its not easy.

if you want a nice toned physique just work out with intensity until you get to where you want to be. find out how many calories a day you need to consume to maintain that weight and stick to it. you can work out with more intensity/ do more cardio and plyo drills if you want but as i said before if you dont give your body more materials than it needs to repair itself you wont get any bigger.


i also think anyone who complains that they just "don't have the right genetics" should stop wasting the air we all breathe. genetics do play a factor in how easy it is for you to get to and maintain a physique but it is not the deciding factor. sweat, tears, and sometimes blood are really the deciding factor in how you will look and if you will achieve it.
 
no, less weight more reps definitely builds leaner muscle, and more weight less reps builds bulkier muscles
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I lol'd. :toast:

vespa, your posts in this thread just get better and better.

Unfortunately my patella is well and truly gone again so it looks like I won't be able to run/cycle/walk like a non-retarded person for around 4 months. I'm obviously devestated but it's happened before and God knows it'll probably happen dozens more times before I keel over so I figured I'll try and get the best out of this hiatus and throw on a few kilograms. I've always been keen on 'bodybuilding' but since I've been running 10+ miles a day for most of my life my weight has been fixed firmly around the 70kg range and no amount of weight training caused me to gain so much as a pound. So for the first time in a while I'm actually excited about training and the opportunity to try something fresh and I'm gonna use this thread to merrily blog away I think.

I'm finding it difficult to move away from my usual cardio based training which tends to be around the 50 rep mark though and I'm also not used to the larger rests etc. I guess these are to be expected though and it'll sharp sort itself out. It also sucks that I have to go to the gym now as my barbell and dumbells just don't cut it anymore.

(closing with a bicep shot because paralymadon and bam got to do one and I felt left out. kept my shirt on because it's an optimus prime t-shirt and i thought for some retarded reason you'd be able to see it...)

DSCF0294-1-2.jpg


So yeah, I'm happy with my deltoids, biceps and triceps at the minute and my upper forearm is okay too but I'm not keen on my wrists, they're pretty puny and it's becoming noticeable. I'm gonna have to do some of that sandbag clutching shit vespa mentioned.

EDIT, can't believe I forgot to ask, it's why I posted here in the first place. Does anybody know the best way for me to maintain my leg muscles during my recovery time? I'm very limited in what I can do at the minute but I don't wanna lose too much off my legs and end up looking like a half-empty tube of toothpaste. :z
 
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