Misc. progress thread

[SCWolf]

Bump with 290lbs bench. 10lb PR, rpe 9, 160lbs bw

[Arch0wl]

nearing 2x BW BP

that's like... elite powerlifter ratios

[Reach]

I did a 245x8 bench, which puts my 1RM higher than chris's according to a calculator, but pretty sure last time I tried to max at 285 I snapped my shit up so fuck that.

I also weight 35 more lbs than him.

lol

[Rapta]

Today I started working out my muscles until they burn intensely instead of just doing several easy sets a day. Maybe I will see results after a year of this. (results as in more strength/bigger muscles)

30x15 curl ups with dumb bells then three hundred sit ups and finish with 50 push-ups and lay on the ground until I can move again to pursue other activities.

Edit: @SCWolf - burning sensation

[SCWolf]

Honestly muscle pain isn't necessarily something to strive for during a workout. While "pain" is subjective per person, it is in no way something you need to feel when working out in order to make progress. A burning sensation in the muscles during the end of your set is something totally common though, but I feel that's not what you're referring to if you're doing 300 situps.

The easiest way to tell you're doing the job is when you feel a swelling in the muscles you're working, otherwise known as a pump. Working out to muscular pain sounds potentially problematic.

Not trying to shut you down or anything, just hoping to make things a little easier.

Also if by pain, you meant that burning sensation I was referring to then disregard this completely.

[Reach]

300 situps

You should really make them harder for yourself. Doing 300 reps of something is really not very useful.

Unless you did like 15 sets or something, at which point well...good luck with that. My abs are usually dead after 5-6 sets lmao.

[Rapta]

Originally Posted by Reach

300 situps

You should really make them harder for yourself. Doing 300 reps of something is really not very useful.

Unless you did like 15 sets or something, at which point well...good luck with that. My abs are usually dead after 5-6 sets lmao.

My abs don't tire out nearly as quickly as my arms do, that's why so many repetitions. By the time I make it to 200 I don't really feel any burn so I keep going until I do (which is around 300) but after 40 pushups my arms burn. When I do sets it takes double the time before I feel any burn. Should I start doing smaller sets or does it not matter considering how many it takes until I feel a burn?

gonna research how to make sit ups harder now ._.

[Arch0wl]

resistance training is about causing muscular microtrauma, which induces a growth process as an adaptation to stress.

unless you have been training for a while and are very good at recognizing when an area is undergoing stress, you will probably not get this desired stress response if you are doing 200 reps. you almost certainly need to be doing heavier shit than that.

this article is part of a series, but it touches enough on the subject: http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2011...abdominis.html

[SCWolf]

About to my first deload week in almost 2 years AMA

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Rapta

My abs don't tire out nearly as quickly as my arms do, that's why so many repetitions. By the time I make it to 200 I don't really feel any burn so I keep going until I do (which is around 300) but after 40 pushups my arms burn. When I do sets it takes double the time before I feel any burn. Should I start doing smaller sets or does it not matter considering how many it takes until I feel a burn?

gonna research how to make sit ups harder now ._.

My only explanation here is that you're doing them wrong.

200 reps in a single set?

This sounds oddly familiar to a girl I know that once told me she also did 300 situps. I was like, lol, no. Anyway, she gets down to show me how she does them and I almost spit up my drink.

Rep quality matters infinitely more than rep quantity when dealing with body weight movements. You want to fully contract and engage your abdominals and minimize the usage of things like your back, your legs, momentum, etc.

Focus on doing crunches instead of situps for a bit so you can get the feel for what it should be like. Honestly, your abs should start knotting up after 10-20 repetitions if you're engaging them properly and fully. You want to squeeeeeze the abs. Put your hand on your stomach as you crunch and feel the muscle get harder, keep squeezing until it contracts fully and you can't squeeze them any harder. Try to get used to that feeling, let your mind connect with the contraction of the muscle. Slowly relax and then squeeze as hard as you can.

From my experience, many people will back off during a squeeze and stop short of where they should be contracting, because 'it hurts' etc. But that's the point. It should hurt and if you're contracting fully it should feel extremely difficult to complete the movement.

If you're doing it properly these should start to burn pretty quickly. That's what you want. Simply doing more repetitions isn't going to get you anywhere.

[Arch0wl]

biceps are pushing 16" but lats are so huge that my upgrade of shirt size is primarily due to chest circumference (mostly caused by lats) and my arms look tiny in the upgraded shirt size

big lat problems

[kommisar]

I was at 179lbs in october, down from 198 in july

up to 184. gonna try another push to get to 175 before figuring out what to do from there

[SCWolf]

At least you seemed to maintain some of that weight you cut off which is good. I don't think it'll take you too long to get back down.

[Reach]

Started my cut on Jan 4th. NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS FTW

Naw, it was just a good time to start my cut. Planning a 3 month cut, start weight was 202...again, albeit leaner than last time I was 202 so I definitely put on a decent amount of muscle. Down to 197.5 already. Water weight is easy.

[kommisar]

Originally Posted by SCWolf

At least you seemed to maintain some of that weight you cut off which is good. I don't think it'll take you too long to get back down.

working with food all day is a massive display of willpower and combatting urges to gouge my face in fried chicken

[NeoMasterPie]

i used to think i was really good at situps then i realized i was just using my legs to pull myself up. learned to stop using my legs and start using my abdominals and WOOOHHHH

anyways i think i am gonna start some sort of regular exercise routine, probably just something cardio until i can afford a gym membership (paying for something is likely to increase my motivation). i'm super sedentary right now

[Arch0wl]

Originally Posted by kommisar

working with food all day is a massive display of willpower and combatting urges to gouge my face in fried chicken

#1 reason servers stay fat is the fucking free bread near the expo station, or whatever the restaurant's equivalent of free bread is

[kommisar]

or as your own facebook post said, your inability to resist urges. in restaurants especially people eat like shit and will literally pack 3-4k calories without realizing it.


at least if I gain weight I can admit it's my own dumb fault haha. the first 20 pounds I lost weren't really difficult to lose but idk if that's a shallow thing to say because I know so many people that struggle with it.

[Arch0wl]

I put a lot of stress on percentiles and the relative difficulty of doing things because I think both confidence and humility are counterproductive to neutral assessment of your abilities. If you know exactly where you and other people stand on something you can say, for example, "I am better than x% of people at this thing" and be exactly accurate.

Fat loss is objectively hard (in that only a small percentage of the population can successfully do it) but it's the most simplistic aspect of fitness. People's struggle with it doesn't change the relative difficulty of doing that.

Roughly 66% of gym members stop going 6 months after they buy their contract, so by definition anyone who goes after 6 months is in the upper 1/3 or above-average compared to them. It's not like showing up at a gym is hard; the average person just tends to have middle-of-the-road willpower and cognitive ability (hence the word 'average') and in a culture where the average allows for mediocrity, they're going to fall back into that.

[-JiZ53-]

Check out my legs. I don't really work out but I've been walking about 15 miles a day for the past two days and I plan on getting in 30+ mile day shape. I've been eating like an animal







Think I could kick somebody's teeth in?