The Fitness Thread

[Senip]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

That's the idea

Yup. These days if I don't puke/feel like I'm going to puke on leg days, I know I need more reps. ****in sucks!


http://www.dieselsc.com/how-to-bench-press/

My Shoulders Feel Like Sh*t When I Bench – What should I do?

Technique – You’re probably flaring your elbows in the bottom of the lift (see above). This puts a ton of stress on the shoulder and rotator cuff (dynamic stabilizers with the scapula) complex. Work on keeping the “tucked elbows”, about 45 degrees out from your torso, position throughout the full range of motion of the movement – do NOT let your elbows flare outward, i.e., your elbows end up in line with your ears.
Strength – work on the strength of your triceps with board presses, move back to push-ups and perform them for high volumes. Also, don’t forget a good warm-up and recovery component in your workout which should include rotator cuff rehab exercises, rows, external rotations and retraction exercises.

[kommisar]

thx for da tips chris


Jer and I have been doing 5 reps of 5 to build up to higher weights, each week increasing by 5lbs. I eventually hit a plateau and increase reps from there.

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by kommisar

thx for da tips chris


Jer and I have been doing 5 reps of 5 to build up to higher weights, each week increasing by 5lbs. I eventually hit a plateau and increase reps from there.

No prab. Where are you guys training? The CEPS?

[Reincarnate]

Did anyone else ever get that problem where you lift hard and suddenly you can't extend your arms past 45 degrees the following day, thus forcing you to walk around like a robot? Yeaahhhhh.

I know I've asked this already but always good to get more input: Can anyone recommend a good dumbbell-only workout (although I do have a tricep/bicep pulldown machine thingy) that targets a fair number of muscle groups?

Weight's actually gone back up to 227 despite reducing portions a bit. I worry I am not lifting hard enough or something and might need a new breakdown/plan. How many times a week/what exercises/how many sets/reps/etc?

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Did anyone else ever get that problem where you lift hard and suddenly you can't extend your arms past 45 degrees the following day, thus forcing you to walk around like a robot? Yeaahhhhh.

I know I've asked this already but always good to get more input: Can anyone recommend a good dumbbell-only workout (although I do have a tricep/bicep pulldown machine thingy) that targets a fair number of muscle groups?

Weight's actually gone back up to 227 despite reducing portions a bit. I worry I am not lifting hard enough or something and might need a new breakdown/plan. How many times a week/what exercises/how many sets/reps/etc?

Yes, this is normal.

Are you not dividing your days at the gym by muscle group? If you are, just search google for dumbbell workouts for the corresponding muscle group you're working on that specific day.

Weight fluctuates man. Don't rush it. If you're eating at a caloric deficit of your BMR, regardless of whether or not you're actually working out, you will lose weight. It's been like a month. Gotta give it time.

[Senip]

Yup. I'm telling you, stop obsessing over the goddamn scale. Throw that bitch out the window, go by how you look in the mirror. If you have to weigh yourself, do weekly weigh-ins or bi-weekly weigh-ins, not every day. If you starve yourself, you'll not burn anything productive. If you're already at a super high calorie deficit, then stop cutting things out. Probably time to start doing some cardio. In fact, several friends have added food and it jumpstarted their metabolism into burning more.

Nearly everything is possible with dbs, dude. DB press, DB shoulder press, curls, squats, Deadlifts...

[Reincarnate]

I guess I am asking how I should split it up? Right now I am doing 3x/week.

What is a good way to split up the major muscle groups over those three days and which exercises should I focus on for those?

[Senip]

Man, thats tough.

I'd do something like chest and biceps, shoulders and legs, back and triceps...

[Reincarnate]

Tough how? I assume you mean it's trying to cram too much into just a few days? I'd be willing to expand it to four days if it was optimal.

Right now:

Monday: Weights
Tuesday: 20m cardio (steady-state, considering HIIT though)
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: 20m cardio (steady-state)
Friday: Weights
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Better way to shake this up?

[Senip]

Like I said, I do:

Mon: Back
Tues: Shoulders/Tris
Wed: off (10 mins HIIT, abs, push ups)
Thurs: Chest/Bis
Friday: Off (10-15 mins HIIT)
Sat: legs
Sun: off. (10-15 mins HIIT, or walking, or whatever)

The problem is, yes, back and legs require so much work, that anything else you put with them are going to suffer.

[Reincarnate]

Alright, I'll give that a shot. Any good links for the types of exercises for each?

I think one of my main problems is that I'm relatively inexperienced and so I'm not sure if I am really getting a good workout, since I do maybe a few exercises until I'm tired and then peace out. Seems like I need to be doing like 8 different exercises per muscle group or something.

[kommisar]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

No prab. Where are you guys training? The CEPS?

yeah at CEPS, twice per week. occasional swimming when I have time lol.

jer goes every second day iirc. he's way more fit than I am haha.

[Reach]

You're a noob man. You don't need a complicated exercise program and you don't need a lot of volume. Trying to run a split at this point is probably going to be too complicated and won't yield any better results.

Especially because you're on a cut, so you're not going to gain any muscle really anyway. This is more to condition your muscles, gain strength and maintain as you lose fat.

I think your time would probably be better served just doing a full body exercise routine and focus on gaining strength.

I think I said this before, but starting with something like this wouldn't be too bad at all:

Dumbbell press
Tricep extensions
Shoulder press
Bent over dumbbell rows
Bicep curls
Lunges

Do that like 3 times a week. Aim to increase the weight on your lifts over time, i.e. constantly be pushing yourself to the limit. Try 3 sets of each of those exercises, and aim for 8-12 reps. If you can't do 8 clean reps, lower the weight. If you can do 12 reps, increase the weight by 5 lb. Rest about 2 minutes between sets.

In the future you can switch to a more complicated split with more volume. I think push/pull/legs is the easiest to start off with, since it's a simplified version of Senip's split.



Also, huge jumps in your weight are fluid volume dude. 1 litre of water weighs 2.2 lbs. You *have* to weigh dry and hungry if you want your measurements to be even remotely reliable. If you have food in your stomach, have consumed decent amounts of carbs recently or have drank a decent amount of water, your weigh in will NOT be reliable. Food has weight. I took a massive shit this morning and lost 1.5 lb. Carbs on the other hand will increase stored glycogen, which pulls in more water and can increase your weight by several pounds, ESPECIALLY because you're cutting and are glycogen depleted. Because you're glycogen depleted, if you take in too many carbs you're going to pull in a ton of water really quickly and your weight is going to skyrocket. This is super typical and really common for people coming off of diets; they think they're rebounding and gaining back their fat or something.

I am currently sitting at 165.8 lb dry and fasted as of this morning, up from 161 lb 5 weeks ago. However, I did buffet style last week and consumed approximately 4000 calories in a single sitting and ~500 grams of carbohydrates, along with several glasses of water. My weight that evening was 181 lb.

Food. Can weigh a lot. Be careful with how you weigh yourself.

[jductape]

Originally Posted by Senip

Mon: Back
Tues: Shoulders/Tris
Wed: off (10 mins HIIT, abs, push ups)
Thurs: Chest/Bis
Friday: Off (10-15 mins HIIT)
Sat: legs
Sun: off. (10-15 mins HIIT, or walking, or whatever)

You do chest and bis on the same day?

[ssbmchamp]

@ Kmay and SCWolf: I do not have a smart phone with a good camera but have a camera phone so maybe i'll try and get a pic with that

@Senip: I don't consider myself as a "beach bro" Instead i've got most peoples dream metabolism and body type AKA i literally eat/drink whatever i want whenever i want without gaining long-term weight and i VERY RARELY workout legs and back, yet mine are naturally stronger than easily 90% of people i see at the gym that do those muscle groups religiously. after seeing what happened with my bench after never doing it i'm thinking of trying that with back and legs and see if the same effect would happen.

[Jerry DB]

Originally Posted by Senip

Like I said, I do:

Mon: Back
Tues: Shoulders/Tris
Wed: off (10 mins HIIT, abs, push ups)
Thurs: Chest/Bis
Friday: Off (10-15 mins HIIT)
Sat: legs
Sun: off. (10-15 mins HIIT, or walking, or whatever)

The problem is, yes, back and legs require so much work, that anything else you put with them are going to suffer.

exactly, this is a great split. Back is far away from bicept workout for your biceps to be fully recovered. Shoulders and tris compliment each other, legs definitely need their own day, perfect rest spots. If you ever switch up your split it's good to keep the idea of muscles that compliment each other in mind, otherwise over training and injury is bound to happen, especially with shoulders ><

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by ssbmchamp

@ Kmay and SCWolf: I do not have a smart phone with a good camera but have a camera phone so maybe i'll try and get a pic with that

@Senip: I don't consider myself as a "beach bro" Instead i've got most peoples dream metabolism and body type AKA i literally eat/drink whatever i want whenever i want without gaining long-term weight and i VERY RARELY workout legs and back, yet mine are naturally stronger than easily 90% of people i see at the gym that do those muscle groups religiously. after seeing what happened with my bench after never doing it i'm thinking of trying that with back and legs and see if the same effect would happen.

Sweet lord, I just can't anymore. You're not some genetic marvel, you don't put on long term weight cause you're not building any muscle because you're undereating.

I was 114lbs last year. I have a hyper-active metabolism, stomach problems and medication that dwarfs my appetite completely, yet I still managed to put on 30lbs since I started. I'm really starting to get annoyed with your claims and lack of knowledge. This thread is made to give true advice to people who need it, and you come in here and not only give wrong information, but proceed to insult one of the smartest people on this entire website.

If you need help with diet or workout routines, we can help with that, but we don't need your smug attitude and blatantly wrong advice. It's getting annoying.

[ssbmchamp]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

Sweet lord, I just can't anymore. You're not some genetic marvel, you don't put on long term weight cause you're not building any muscle because you're undereating.

I was 114lbs last year. I have a hyper-active metabolism, stomach problems and medication that dwarfs my appetite completely, yet I still managed to put on 30lbs since I started. I'm really starting to get annoyed with your claims and lack of knowledge. This thread is made to give true advice to people who need it, and and you come in here and not only give wrong information, but proceed to insult one of the smartest people on this entire website.

If you need help with diet or workout routines, we can help with that, but we don't need your smug attitude and blatantly wrong advice. It's getting annoying.

Haha! "Undereating" that's about the last thing I'm doing man. If you or anyone saw how much how often i eat you would probably do a double take at how i'm not 300 pounds. It sounds like your "getting annoyed" because your body can't physically do the things mine can. Oh and I find this to be the funniest by far: "I give wrong information and insult one of the smartest people on the site" You really do have me laughing with this statement. Wanna know why? I'll tell you. If you put me in a line up with, let's say 20 random people that "workout, or are getting into working out (not knowing what they did to get their current physique) I would put any amount of money on it that majority of people that looked at this line up would pick me as their "ideal fitness goal" I know it sounds cocky but you know what, it's the truth. And it's also funny that you say my ways are wrong when I've gone up a $hit ton in everything doing things my way. In fact, how do we know your ways aren't wrong and mine are right? Pretty sure this argument favors the guy who's actually got very impressive results, just saying...

[Jerry DB]

I guess fitness and the internet just "don't work out"

[Reincarnate]

bro alert