The Fitness Thread

[Senip]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

That's nuts man. Strangely, I don't feel it at all in my legs when I squat, just feels like my back is going to explode. I have problems in my lower back. I feel the burn more when I do leg press.

Had the same issue, its all because your form is shit. Fix the form and you'll feel it in your quads. It feels awkward as **** when you do it right, but once you get used to it, get ready for quad tearin pumps. One thing I like to do is put a five pound plate under each foot, it helps simulate oly shoes and helps hit the depth.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by Reach

?

He lost a lot of water weight initially, as most people do when they go on a caloric deficit (glycogen depletion).

Since he has little if any more water weight to lose, subsequent losses will be fat.

He's gonna get all kindsss of losses. All kinds.

you always lose water weight. i don't know what anyone means when they say 'little to no more water weight to lose' -- it's going to fluctuate daily and it's not like it disappears. i have very little body fat and still lose 2-5lbs of water weight during a run or tennis match, then you just drink it back

[Reach]

Most people that are sedentary have massive glycogen stores because they're never using them. These pull and hold a lot of water weight.

When you go into caloric deficit, you start to burn off those stores and subsequently lose a lot more water weight than you would with natural fluctuation.

Therein lies the difference. Of course he still carries water weight, but how much you can carry depends on a number of variables.

Originally Posted by Senip

Had the same issue, its all because your form is shit. Fix the form and you'll feel it in your quads. It feels awkward as **** when you do it right, but once you get used to it, get ready for quad tearin pumps. One thing I like to do is put a five pound plate under each foot, it helps simulate oly shoes and helps hit the depth.

For me, the pump I get in legs depends on my rep range. If I do higher rep squats my quads feel like they're dying (10-12 reps). If I do lower rep squats I feel pretty much nothing (~5 reps), but they're sore as hell the next day.

Right now I'm doing ~10 rep squats (ass to grass), and then I move up to about 15-20 reps for my accessory leg exercises. Destroys my legs pretty badly.

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Senip

Had the same issue, its all because your form is shit. Fix the form and you'll feel it in your quads. It feels awkward as **** when you do it right, but once you get used to it, get ready for quad tearin pumps. One thing I like to do is put a five pound plate under each foot, it helps simulate oly shoes and helps hit the depth.

My form is flawless, my legs have just been endurance trained for 8 years. Squatting with perfect form is not something people should struggle with.

EDIT: Just talked to Reach about it. I most likely don't feel it because I do low rep range, high weight. If I upped the reps to say, 12-15, I'd probably feel it more. Bad back prevents that though.

[Reincarnate]

I know this is probably a tall order/question, but I have a dilemma:

My diet still sucks. Mainly, I'm an inexperienced cook and my food choices are lame. I'm not used to this new diet and since I'm playing everything conservatively, my meals are pretty much bland and uninteresting.

I'm curious what you guys eat/if you have any cool recipes for things like eggs, chicken, tuna, whatever/just any tips that would help make the diet less boring. I know I can "probably get away with" eating whatever I want as long as I hit my macros, but I'd still like to save money/learn a few simple recipes/eat much healthier than I used to/etc Thanks!

[Riotpolice]

The chicken you can grill with dry rubs found on the internet if you have the spices. It can make it taste really good. I have done it before, and some of them are awesome!

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

I know this is probably a tall order/question, but I have a dilemma:

My diet still sucks. Mainly, I'm an inexperienced cook and my food choices are lame. I'm not used to this new diet and since I'm playing everything conservatively, my meals are pretty much bland and uninteresting.

I'm curious what you guys eat/if you have any cool recipes for things like eggs, chicken, tuna, whatever/just any tips that would help make the diet less boring. I know I can "probably get away with" eating whatever I want as long as I hit my macros, but I'd still like to save money/learn a few simple recipes/eat much healthier than I used to/etc Thanks!

The laziest cook ever, here. All my meals are made in about 12 minutes, if not less.

Your best friends will be:

Vector cereal
Beef steak/Sirloin steak
10 Minute brown rice
Pre-cooked lean chicken breast from Costco
Peanuts
Raisins
Whole Grain bread
Ms Dash (I use this pretty much on everything)
Franks Red Hot (same with this)

Everything I eat is basically on that list. I also cheat whenever I can't manage to cook, + weight gainer.

[Reincarnate]

vector cereal -- haven't even heard of this, haha

definitely gotta look into Ms Dash and Frank's Red Hot

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Reach

For me, the pump...

just reminded me...
obligatory:

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

just reminded me...
obligatory:

This, lmao

[Reincarnate]

Are there any good freeweight exercise routines out there you know of that would be good (keeping in mind I am untrained/losing weight)? My in-apt gym has a rack of freeweights, a bunch of treadmills/bikes/ellipticals, and that's pretty much it.

[Senip]

I know a lot of people say their form is flawless, but if you feel it in your back, you're doing something wrong. Just how it goes, you should never have back/knee pain when squatting.

Yeah, Reach, I was doing low reps like you (8-12) and not really feeling it, then started doing much higher reps/giant sets with no rest, and I've been sore for days. Most people have slow twitch fibers, so doing lots of reps and keeping them under tension decimates them.

My trainer had me do something really brutal though it didnt sound like it a few weeks ago, and I puked (several times). Still finished the workout, but I was feeling horrible.

We'd do:
20 reps with a medium weight with the vertical leg press (straight up and down)
12 reps with feet almost touching, high up on the pad, with the regular leg press
10 reps per leg, 1 legged horizontal leg press.

4 sets of that and my quads were swollen and I could barely even think I was hurting so badly, since it was so different from what I usually do.

SCD is pretty cheap, but lentils and black beans are pretty boring. most of my meals take 15 minutes, 8 oz chicken/tuna/beef, 1/4 a cup of lentils, 2 cups of spinach. MCT oil or EVOO for flavoring, Mrs. Dash and ground mustard for spices.

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Senip

I know a lot of people say their form is flawless, but if you feel it in your back, you're doing something wrong

I have a herniated disc and a problem with the nerves in my lower back. I'm not doing anything wrong. My form is flawless.

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

just reminded me...

Lol. I get ridiculous pumps on back and biceps day (today!), so I definitely see where he's coming from. It's very enjoyable. Makes me look forward to this day; I swear I could become a curlbro and just do curls all day long and feel the pump.

Are there any good freeweight exercise routines out there you know of that would be good (keeping in mind I am untrained/losing weight)? My in-apt gym has a rack of freeweights, a bunch of treadmills/bikes/ellipticals, and that's pretty much it.

As for dumbbell routines, you can pretty much create an entire routine out of dumbbells. If you don't know how to do any of these exercises, google for videos. They're all pretty easy and aren't dangerous for newbies. You can always just drop the weights if things get bad.


Chest: dumbbell press (flat or incline), flyes (flat or incline)
Shoulders: dumbbell shoulder press (sitting or standing)
Triceps: Overhead Tricep extensions (2 handed or one handed).
Back: Bent over rows
Biceps: Standing curls, incline curls, preacher curls
Legs: Lunges will work pretty well I think

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

I have a herniated disc and a problem with the nerves in my lower back.

what caused this?

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Reach

As for dumbbell routines, you can pretty much create an entire routine out of dumbbells. If you don't know how to do any of these exercises, google for videos. They're all pretty easy and aren't dangerous for newbies. You can always just drop the weights if things get bad.


Chest: dumbbell press (flat or incline), flyes (flat or incline)
Shoulders: dumbbell shoulder press (sitting or standing)
Triceps: Overhead Tricep extensions (2 handed or one handed).
Back: Bent over rows
Biceps: Standing curls, incline curls, preacher curls
Legs: Lunges will work pretty well I think

Is it a bad idea if I just do all of these every MWF? I know people tend to split things out but I suspect isolation isn't necessarily high on the priority list for me since I am just trying to maintain muscle and burn fat

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

what caused this?

I'm honestly not sure. My doctor basically just told me ways to prevent the problem from getting any worse.

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Is it a bad idea if I just do all of these every MWF? I know people tend to split things out but I suspect isolation isn't necessarily high on the priority list for me since I am just trying to maintain muscle and burn fat

Given how few exercises are there, I would do them all in one routine. Also, as a newbie, full body workouts aren't necessarily a bad thing, so yeah you could do this 2-3 times per week.

Try starting with 1 exercise per body part, and do 3 sets of that exercise. That will give you 6 exercises, and 18 sets, which can be done in less than an hour. For chest I would do dumbbell press, and do standing curls for biceps. Bent over rows will work your rhomboids and specifically your lats; if you want to work your traps, you can do shrugs as well, since they're pretty easy to do with dumbbells. That would bring you to 7 exercises, 21 sets, which is certainly far from overkill.

You won't be gaining much muscle doing this since you're eating at a deficit, but you can gain some strength. Strength is separate from muscle mass, since it also involves the CNS and training the muscles you do have to respond optimally. For example, on my cut I gained 20 lb on my bench over 3 months, without gaining any muscle. Hence why powerlifters don't need to look like bodybuilders.

Over time, try to increase the # of reps you can do, staying in the 6-12 range. If you can do more than 12 with good form, up the weight.

This will give you a decent base that you can expand on if you ever want to get into better shape after the weight comes off. Pay strong attention to form and learn how to do the lifts safely.

[Senip]

Best way to cut fat and build muscle:

Squats, bench, deadlift, pull ups, dips, barbell curl.

Any compound work you can do is gonna rip you up!

[infinity.]

opinions on cardio ?_?

also how do you all feel about yogurt?

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