The Fitness Thread

[Poison-]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Haha good to see you around, mnnicol. Those pics are amazing. :O

Unfortunately I've totally fallen off the wagon and I don't work out now or count calories, etc. Weight's still between 220-230, 30%+ bf. Womp womp womp.

I got frustrated because I basically had no idea wtf I was doing in the gym. It doesn't matter what guides I read: I had/have no confidence or certainty in anything I select, and so eventually I give up.

Tried getting a gym membership but quit after a couple months because I couldn't get past the feelings of self-consciousness (that and too many staff members there tried to sell me stuff all the time whenever I'd ask a question, and it got annoying). Squats were also the death of me. Hours of practice wasted: No matter what I tried I absolutely could not get the form right. Even with the bar alone (no extra weight) I couldn't pump out 8 reps, and yet it'd cripple my quads with absurd DOMS for four days straight.

I'd like to get back into it but my in-house gym is limited (shoulder incline bench, bicep curl, tricep pushdown, low row, lat pulldown, leg extension, leg curl, dumbbells), and I have absolutely no clue what a good workout routine would be for me. Any recs?

Do something like Insanity or P90X to build some stregth before going to the gym?

[Reincarnate]

I considered stuff like P90X but there's no room in my NYC apartment (I'd have to move the couch and coffee table, which requires moving the dining table and a few lamps... it's not a trivial process, and even then the resulting space isn't truly the 8 by 8 minimum, further complicated by the fact that I'm a tall guy). It'd also require a fair deal of equipment. I considered, at one point, watching it on a laptop down in the gym or something but I'm wayyyy too self-conscious for that and would never follow through.

I mostly just want a workout routine I can follow in a braindead manner. Trying to be realistic about things: The only way I'm ever going to work out on a consistent basis without getting discouraged or embarrassed is using the in-house gym.

Show up to gym, do A, B, C, X, Y, Z, leave. Repeat on days P, Q, R, etc. Just need to know what to fill in the blanks with based on my body type and current level of fitness.

[mnnicol]

Edit: Fuaaaaark! Didn't realize my post would be so long....inb4 tl;dr

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Haha good to see you around, mnnicol. Those pics are amazing. :O

Unfortunately I've totally fallen off the wagon and I don't work out now or count calories, etc. Weight's still between 220-230, 30%+ bf. Womp womp womp.

I got frustrated because I basically had no idea wtf I was doing in the gym. It doesn't matter what guides I read: I had/have no confidence or certainty in anything I select, and so eventually I give up.

Tried getting a gym membership but quit after a couple months because I couldn't get past the feelings of self-consciousness (that and too many staff members there tried to sell me stuff all the time whenever I'd ask a question, and it got annoying). Squats were also the death of me. Hours of practice wasted: No matter what I tried I absolutely could not get the form right. Even with the bar alone (no extra weight) I couldn't pump out 8 reps, and yet it'd cripple my quads with absurd DOMS for four days straight.

I'd like to get back into it but my in-house gym is limited (shoulder incline bench, bicep curl, tricep pushdown, low row, lat pulldown, leg extension, leg curl, dumbbells), and I have absolutely no clue what a good workout routine would be for me. Any recs?

Been cutting for just over 3 months now, so it's been a long time coming! Think I made it just in time for beach season

Anyway, my suggestions:

First and foremost, if your primary goal is weight loss, counting calories is a must. It can seem a bit tedious at first, but after a while, you really do get used to it and it's not that difficult. Assuming you have a smartphone, you can download apps like MyFitnessPal, which make counting calories/tracking macros very easy

I can't really help you regarding squat form as I'm not there in person with you, but try checking out the low-bar squat. Chances are, you're doing high-bar (the bar rests on your traps), which I found to be very uncomfortable, too. With low-bar squat, you have the bar set just behind your rear delts and you should be able to reach at least parallel.

As for routines, I'm currently running Layne Norton's PHAT, which is fairly high volume (which I love!)

PHAT - http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-f...ated-2011.html

If you're short on time, Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 (there are quite a few different variations, but I personally like the "Big But Boring" or the "Triumvirate" layout) is another well respected routine.

5/3/1 - http://www.strstd.com/

(Just plug in your stats and hit "Calculate 5/3/1 routine")

This last one is relatively new (don't know if any of you guys follow IceCreamFitness on Youtube), but this is aimed towards beginners (whereas 5/3/1 and PHAT are both intermediate/advance). The guy can come across as a bit of a dick in his videos, but I think he's knowledgeable and am planning on having my brother pick up this routine when I get him in the gym starting next week.

ICF 5x5 - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=148036063

You can go to this site to figure out what your caloric goal should be for your rest/training days:

http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

In short, it really doesn't matter which routine you decide to follow. The main thing is to 1) be consistent in your dieting/training and 2) track your calories!

Also, if you feel there is too much volume, feel free to knock off an exercise or a set from several exercises

If anything's unclear, hit me up on FB

[Choofers]

I don't even know if I'll have time to exercise at school but should I lose weight just by biking 10 miles a day for 5 months?

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Haha good to see you around, mnnicol. Those pics are amazing. :O

Unfortunately I've totally fallen off the wagon and I don't work out now or count calories, etc. Weight's still between 220-230, 30%+ bf. Womp womp womp.

I got frustrated because I basically had no idea wtf I was doing in the gym. It doesn't matter what guides I read: I had/have no confidence or certainty in anything I select, and so eventually I give up.

Tried getting a gym membership but quit after a couple months because I couldn't get past the feelings of self-consciousness (that and too many staff members there tried to sell me stuff all the time whenever I'd ask a question, and it got annoying). Squats were also the death of me. Hours of practice wasted: No matter what I tried I absolutely could not get the form right. Even with the bar alone (no extra weight) I couldn't pump out 8 reps, and yet it'd cripple my quads with absurd DOMS for four days straight.

I'd like to get back into it but my in-house gym is limited (shoulder incline bench, bicep curl, tricep pushdown, low row, lat pulldown, leg extension, leg curl, dumbbells), and I have absolutely no clue what a good workout routine would be for me. Any recs?

Consistency matters 100x more than knowing what you're doing.

I tried saying this so many times but - squats don't matter. Nothing really matters. The key is picking something you can do consistently and to keep doing it while making some changes to your diet.

You've just listed a bunch of exercises. Why don't you pick the ones you like, do them 3x a week and make some changes to your diet. And this time, no quitting

I mean, if you want to look like mnnicol, well, you can do all of the stuff we're doing but

If you just want to lose weight it's mostly consistency and exercise and diet.

don't know if any of you guys follow IceCreamFitness on Youtube

He's great

Got a good chuckle out of his more recent video on mr. biolayne and his obvious use of supplementary supplements

For the record, you already have a pretty sick physique :P Just finished a cut myself, got incredibly lean. Only sitting at around 170.5 right now though.

[Snowcrafta]

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Reach

Consistency matters 100x more than knowing what you're doing.

I tried saying this so many times but - squats don't matter. Nothing really matters. The key is picking something you can do consistently and to keep doing it while making some changes to your diet.

You've just listed a bunch of exercises. Why don't you pick the ones you like, do them 3x a week and make some changes to your diet. And this time, no quitting

I mean, if you want to look like mnnicol, well, you can do all of the stuff we're doing but

If you just want to lose weight it's mostly consistency and exercise and diet.
.

I think my fear is going through all the mental toil of keeping myself motivated/overhauling my diet for many months only to find that not much happens. In general I want to know that I'm doing the best exercises I can with what I have so that I'm using time more efficiently. I want to walk out of the gym knowing that I did everything correctly -- that I did the best I could possibly do -- and that everything's going according to plan. Without that confidence/plan, it's nerve-wracking as hell.

I know the counter-response to that kind of argument is "Well, not going to the gym at all guarantees no change. Any time spent is better than no time spent at all." It's true, but also incomplete due to the fact that there is mental upkeep to the whole thing. Motivation's really hard for me, and so I don't like flying blindly -- and there is a legitimately-true cutoff point in my mind where I think, "Even if I lost only five pounds over this planned timespan, that's not worth the effort."

[mnnicol]

Originally Posted by Reach

Consistency matters 100x more than knowing what you're doing.

I tried saying this so many times but - squats don't matter. Nothing really matters. The key is picking something you can do consistently and to keep doing it while making some changes to your diet.

You've just listed a bunch of exercises. Why don't you pick the ones you like, do them 3x a week and make some changes to your diet. And this time, no quitting

I mean, if you want to look like mnnicol, well, you can do all of the stuff we're doing but

If you just want to lose weight it's mostly consistency and exercise and diet.

Keeping tabs on your diet is seriously 80% of the battle when trying to make any sort of change in your physical appearance (whether you're lifting or not). Like I said over FB, I've made more progress this past year than I did the previous 1.5-2 years of lifting because I decided to stay on top of my food intake.

I suggested he download MyFitnessPal as it's got a wide variety of foods on their database and from what I understand, it's fairly user-friendly. Although I'm sure certain foods can vary quite a bit (especially fast food), at least he'll have a ballpark figure to his overall caloric intake.

Got a good chuckle out of his more recent video on mr. biolayne and his obvious use of supplementary supplements

For the record, you already have a pretty sick physique :P Just finished a cut myself, got incredibly lean. Only sitting at around 170.5 right now though.

Yeah, I really don't know who to believe. I want to give both Layne and Ryan Doris the benefit of the doubt, but what do I know. Jason said he believes Lavado is natty, so that's all I care about (Lavado's back is so awesome!)

And appreciate it, bro. I'm starting my reverse diet today, which I hope will lead into a relatively lean bulk. Really want to bring my chest, delts, and traps up this time round

[Reach]

Originally Posted by mnnicol

Keeping tabs on your diet is seriously 80% of the battle when trying to make any sort of change in your physical appearance (whether you're lifting or not). Like I said over FB, I've made more progress this past year than I did the previous 1.5-2 years of lifting because I decided to stay on top of my food intake.

I suggested he download MyFitnessPal as it's got a wide variety of foods on their database and from what I understand, it's fairly user-friendly. Although I'm sure certain foods can vary quite a bit (especially fast food), at least he'll have a ballpark figure to his overall caloric intake.



Yeah, I really don't know who to believe. I want to give both Layne and Ryan Doris the benefit of the doubt, but what do I know. Jason said he believes Lavado is natty, so that's all I care about (Lavado's back is so awesome!)

And appreciate it, bro. I'm starting my reverse diet today, which I hope will lead into a relatively lean bulk. Really want to bring my chest, delts, and traps up this time round

Yeah, food is definitely almost everything. I made really fast gains compared to most people I know that lift because I eat properly.

However, I figure if Rubix at least lifts something + cleans up a few things here and there in his diet, he's bound to lose weight if he sticks with it over time. Giving up is really the bigger issue for him it seems >_>

As for Layne, yeah. There's almost no chance in hell he's natty. It doesn't bother me, I just hate how many lies are in the industry today. It's sets everyone up for false hope.

Lavado...is definitely natty. I mean, compare Lavado and Layne though:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5...aj38o1_500.jpg
vs http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xlAqvVvBZn...810KS_0514.JPG


My goal physique is pretty much Lavado/Ogus.

[top]

i'm going to post my workout in hopes that somebody will tell me whether or not what i'm doing is a good idea.

weight: 150lbs
height: 6'1"

(what these mean is that i go do this activity once a day for 3 days, then i switch to the next.)
3 mile run - 3 days
hill sprints - 3 days
wind sprints - 3 days
after whatever running activity i do, i come home and proceed to do this workout...
key: * = 1 min, ~ = 30 sec
wide grip pushup*
rest~
v-up*
rest~
mid grip pushup (normal pushup)*
rest~
reverse situp*
rest~
close grip pushup*
rest~
bicycle kick*

repeat workout 2 more times.
after this workout, which i THINK is doing a pretty awesome job, i do...

20 seconds of pushups 10 seconds of rest, i do this until i reach muscle failure.
side plank for 2 min on each side (1 min intervals w/ 30 sec - 1min rest in between)
wall sit 5 min (1 min intervals w/ 30 sec - 1 min rest in between)
squats 5 min (1 min intervals w/ 30 sec - 1 min rest in between)
calf raises 5 min (same rest period, you get it now i assume)

finally, i stretch and have a big, hearty meal.

so any suggestions? or am i doing okay?
edit: i really want to get up to about 165 - 175 pounds, like i was when i went to AIT for Army training..

[mnnicol]

Originally Posted by Reach

Yeah, food is definitely almost everything. I made really fast gains compared to most people I know that lift because I eat properly.

However, I figure if Rubix at least lifts something + cleans up a few things here and there in his diet, he's bound to lose weight if he sticks with it over time. Giving up is really the bigger issue for him it seems >_>

As for Layne, yeah. There's almost no chance in hell he's natty. It doesn't bother me, I just hate how many lies are in the industry today. It's sets everyone up for false hope.

Lavado...is definitely natty. I mean, compare Lavado and Layne though:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5...aj38o1_500.jpg
vs http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xlAqvVvBZn...810KS_0514.JPG


My goal physique is pretty much Lavado/Ogus.

Yeah, consistency is definitely key. Unfortunately, results don't happen overnight, but if you keep at a slight caloric deficit coupled with exercise 3-4x a week, you'll definitely see results

How recent is that pic of Lavado? 'Cos I swear he's a lot bigger than that now. He's definitely a goal physique, though.

And at the risk of sounding like an idiot, I really would like to give Layne the benefit of the doubt. His off season pics don't look anything out of the ordinary and he's one of the most knowledgeable guys in the field. Oh well, guess I'll find out for myself after I'm done training 10+ years

[Reach]

Originally Posted by mnnicol

His off season pics don't look anything out of the ordinary

Mostly why I don't really buy it. Most natty BBs still look jacked in offseason. They usually look bigger because naturals don't tend to hold nearly as much mass on stage as they were holding in the offseason.

You lose quite a bit of it getting that lean. Layne just looks like he's off his cycle. Plus his lifts are higher than many heavily juiced lifters lmao


Doesn't matter either way I suppose. I still like watching his videos. He's a good guy.

That and I plan to reach my maximum naturally regardless of what it ends up being. People are *so* fucking mad in the comments on that video though lmao. But why? If Layne's natural none of it matters anyway

As for Lavado, I think it's from his last cut. Either way, he hasn't gotten a ton bigger (e.g. http://www.shockmansion.com/wp-conte...13/06/SM10.jpg)

But alas that's the natty life :P

[mnnicol]

Originally Posted by Reach

Mostly why I don't really buy it. Most natty BBs still look jacked in offseason. They usually look bigger because naturals don't tend to hold nearly as much mass on stage as they were holding in the offseason.

You lose quite a bit of it getting that lean. Layne just looks like he's off his cycle. Plus his lifts are higher than many heavily juiced lifters lmao


Doesn't matter either way I suppose. I still like watching his videos. He's a good guy.

That and I plan to reach my maximum naturally regardless of what it ends up being. People are *so* fucking mad in the comments on that video though lmao. But why? If Layne's natural none of it matters anyway

As for Lavado, I think it's from his last cut. Either way, he hasn't gotten a ton bigger (e.g. http://www.shockmansion.com/wp-conte...13/06/SM10.jpg)

But alas that's the natty life :P

That right there is what's really having me question his status. But then again, there are natural freaks like Ben Rice, so I really don't know...oh well, like you said, doesn't really affect me 'cos I'm only doing this for myself and I have no plans on going to the "Dark Side"

What're your thoughts on the GymShark crew? Only one I'm having second thoughts about is Alon (the one in the front for those unaware).

[Syhto]

if you want to know youre getting better at something, why dont you go after something that you can measure, instead of saying, "if i overhaul my life and nothing happens what will i do", you can just focus on 1 goal. like bench, or running times, or sprints, or squats. Just go for something. my suggestion is sprints and body weight exercises for you, rubix. you're too much of a wimp to just go to the gym, feel the burn, and know that's your body becoming stronger. like, it's not rocket science, it's mostly blood and sweat. focus on times or weights. like decreasing time or increasing distance, or increasing weight and reps. focus on that. not the scale

[Senip]

Ben Rice is awesome. I've pretty much decided that if people are doing things that don't seem humanly possible, then they're either on something or they're just gifted. But then there's a point where it's like "Whoops theyre doing something."

It doesnt really fucking matter though, I just hate it when juiceheads enter "natural" contests because they weaned off it long enough to pass a piss test.

Rubix, stop being a wuss. You'll either have the excuses all your life, and be fat, or go out and do something about it, and not be. If you sit there and fucking analyze every dingle berry that you pull out of your ass, you might learn something, but you'll also learn by just trying to do something to improve your life. So you aren't fucking amazing right off the bat, so you fail, so you do whatever. Better to fucking fail, than to sit on the internet and whine about how you're afraid to do whatever and then not meet your perceptions.

I fail every fucking day, and I never, ever give up. I refuse to give up on so many things, despite the fact that I may not be very good. I was a terrible, terrible goddamn football player.

I went to practice, I did the weight lifting class, I did everything I could. Then I went home, and I made my dad practice with me, until we couldn't see anymore. Then we turned the lights on, and we kept fucking going, and until I broke my hands and physically was unable to continue to play, I evolved until I was a really, really good player. Don't give up, just do it.

If you give up, you die. That's just how it is.

[Reach]

Originally Posted by mnnicol

That right there is what's really having me question his status. But then again, there are natural freaks like Ben Rice, so I really don't know...oh well, like you said, doesn't really affect me 'cos I'm only doing this for myself and I have no plans on going to the "Dark Side"

What're your thoughts on the GymShark crew? Only one I'm having second thoughts about is Alon (the one in the front for those unaware).

Apparently Alon weighs like 190 lbs in that picture at 5'9. Probably not natural.

Jeff Seid is probably taking something because he manages to stay that lean all year round (yet doesn't grow. wth? Low dosage test and cruises on tren maybe? haha). Having gotten down to like, 6-7% at the peak of my cut, I can definitely say I don't know how you'd maintain that level of leanness. Plus he just won an IFBB pro card, meaning he beat a lineup of guys on gear.

I assume Ogus and Lavado are natural. Ogus documented his entire cut. Running something doesn't really make sense. Any AAS compounds would have cut him up way faster than he got lean. Plus he barely weighs 160 lbs which means no wet compounds in his history.

t doesnt really fucking matter though, I just hate it when juiceheads enter "natural" contests because they weaned off it long enough to pass a piss test.

Pretty much this. I don't care if you use or lie and say you're natural (probably best nobody admits to using illicit substances), but entering natural contests on gear is just low.

[Wayward Vagabond]

My mom bet me $100 that I won't lose 30 pounds in three months

I'm going to win me some money

[Reach]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448

Motivation

Never give up.

[Wayward Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Reach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448

Motivation

Never give up.

Dope video that guy is awesome. My motivation though is getting to rub my winnings in my moms face and to rub my success in rubix's face. No excuses

[Reincarnate]

Huh? Why on earth do you want to rub successes in my face?