your body your health

[endersgame]

I didn't throw resistance weights on until I hit my v10 and 5.13b plateaus.

oh man, that's what you climb? with a weight vest on? that is seriously fucking hard, at least from my point of view. do you do any ice climbing? i'd like to try that this winter.

although i want to reach my weight goal, it's ok if the climbing suffers. if i can work up to 5.9 and get lead climb certified, i'll be totally satisfied with that..

[t-bone]

i've grown out of and sold more clothes than i own at this point.

fuck fashion, move weight.

[Faust]

Honest question, how do you guys fit in your clothes? The more I train, the more I'm realizing there's a lot I have to cross off the list of things I can wear. Like pants, so I reduced squatting. And Rick's jackets and leathers. This is becoming annoying.

We have an entire thread with just that name

Change your exercise routine. Run, swim, walk, do yoga, low weights/hi-reps. Yoga especially makes you both strong and lean.

[lazyguru]

I generally stick to 3 sets/5reps per exercise not including warm-ups. My program pretty much looks like this:

Day 1: Rack Pulls, Bench Press, Lunges
Day 2: Deadlifts, Pull-Ups, Dips
Day 3: Squats, Push Press, Face Pulls

I'll throw in some core work (leg raises, pallof presses) every now and then. On days I lift I'll keep my mileage to 3-4 miles and usually do it after the workout.

Thanks , that sounds like a solid workout , Going to adapt that to my routine another advantage of going heavy is cutting down on the workout time. IS this enough to get strong?

I love Yoga as well & how it makes me feel but it just seems like you need more dedication & patience to get to the next level , The gym gives you total instant gratification after banging out some sets to get an endorphin high.

[Faust]

Thanks , that sounds like a solid workout , Going to adapt that to my routine another advantage of going heavy is cutting down on the workout time. IS this enough to get strong?

I love Yoga as well & how it makes me feel but it just seems like you need more dedication & patience to get to the next level , The gym gives you total instant gratification after banging out some sets to get an endorphin high.

It's true, it has taken me half a year to a year to get into certain poses, and as long as three years to improve some others. And I know I won't be getting far enough to do it hardcore, like theaddict, for example (I envy you, skinny bitch!). But I must say, I feel reborn after each practice. Yoga is the only physical activity aside from soccer that I don't need to drag my lazy ass to.

[theetruscan]

You're probably i lot stronger than me so it's not really my place. Still, I don't really agree. You're never going to pull with absolutely perfect form. Especially with weight/rep ranges that are very challenging for you. Having an unprepared body makes these un-optimal dynamics dangerous.

thanks. I will put more emphasis on quality of movement in the future i think.

Form will break down in maximal effort. When form breaks down you risk injury. This is big part of why well-programmed training uses very little actual maximum effort work, but a lot in the 70-85% range. You can do those, get stronger, get better, and then test occasionally. Max effort all the time wrecks your CNS as well as raising the risk of injury. Very few people benefit.

Get your form right, get your strength from manageable working sets (find a good program), and then test occasionally and carefully after the working sets have made good form second nature. Also, QUIT if you feel yourself getting into dangerous form. It's not like you're going to get a gold medal for pulling weight in the gym.

We have an entire thread with just that name

Change your exercise routine. Run, swim, walk, do yoga, low weights/hi-reps. Yoga especially makes you both strong and lean.

Or get jacked, sell your shit, and live in leather and twist seams. Or get custom pants made by a certain forum member who will work with monstrous legs.

Low weights/high reps is hypertrophy work. High weight/low reps should get you stronger with less bulk gain than bodybuilding sets. If you're squatting heavy 3x/week, yeah, your legs will get bigger, but if you're just doing basic "get stronger" work, you shouldn't see much mass gain.

[stagename]

@lazyguru: it won't cut your work-out by that much. Doing heavy sets properly requires good warming up sets, and longer breaks. If you're doing 5 reps per set, I'd go for a full 2 minutes in-between, especially for deadlifts and squats, to minize the risk of back injuries. As for your question about getting strong, this looks to me like a good power-lifting workout, so yes. I think 3 to 7 exercises, depending on the number of sets, make for an ideal work-out. Candito for example recommends one compound and 2-3 isolated exercises with 2-4 sets per training session.

The only thing I'm wary about in this program is that it does not segment muscle groups that well, i.e., chest(triceps)+back(biceps)+legs on day 1, legs(back)+biceps+triceps on day 2, and legs+shoulders(triceps)+shoulders(traps). I know I need longer recovery times, and I'd be more inclined to do something like day 1: squats+deadlift+lunges, day 2: bench+dips+push press, day 3: rack pulls+push press+face pulls. But I'm a proponent of the whatever works philosophy.

@faust: Agreed, completely, but something in me just wants to lift mroe.

./..as a side note, all articles I have read on the subject who tested low reps vs. high reps vs. combinatorics have shown that the latter is more effective in gains, usually in a combine > low > high fashion.

[Faust]

I am guessing that low/high rep debate will never get settled, haha. I'd rather not get into it because I don't know nearly enough about it. I like high rep low weight because it's just one continuous workout (I rest very little) that gets the heart going. I've done the low rep/high weight a long time ago and I got uncomfortably wide.

But, anyway, cardio (which I don't do nearly enough because my knee starts to hurt after 10 minutes of jogging - any tips for that?) is key, and yoga has become a staple. I simply don't feel right if I don't do yoga three times a week.

[theetruscan]

@ faust: Regarding high rep / low rep, I believe the science is rather well understood. That's not to say that you won't gain mass when you get stronger, it's just that the high-rep sets are the tried and true way to gain more mass, and low rep sets to gain more strength. Your experience may vary, but that is most likely an artifact of your diet, rather than a unique physiological response to stress. Anyway, doesn't matter...


For cardio, why not bike, row, swim, or do something else easier on your knees if running hurts them.

If you must run, have you tried running 1/4-1/2 mile (3-5 minutes) three times a week for a few weeks before ramping up? Running is brutal on your body, and it may just be that you can't run a mile right now without pain. So run quarter miles. Or half miles. Or, you know, don't run because running sucks.

I don't really know though, I do conditioning, but not much long cardio. I sprint, or push prowlers, or do short crossfit workouts, or something like that.

@stagename I find that adding in a bit of high rep work (sets of 6-8) during the first 2-3 weeks of a 8-12 week cycle as I'm getting my body back used to the load/movements, then going proper heavy, yields the best results for me.

[endersgame]

adding to cardio that doesn't involve running (i hate as well), or cardio that doesn't involve equipment or the gym:

starbursts, burpees, jump rope, mountain climbers...


you guys know of any weight gain tips for someone who doesn't want to eat 7 meals a day?

176 now with a goal of 200.

[apathy!]

Form will break down in maximal effort. When form breaks down you risk injury. This is big part of why well-programmed training uses very little actual maximum effort work, but a lot in the 70-85% range. You can do those, get stronger, get better, and then test occasionally. Max effort all the time wrecks your CNS as well as raising the risk of injury. Very few people benefit.

Get your form right, get your strength from manageable working sets (find a good program), and then test occasionally and carefully after the working sets have made good form second nature. Also, QUIT if you feel yourself getting into dangerous form. It's not like you're going to get a gold medal for pulling weight in the gym.

This is completely true. I was still trying to milk some kind of linear gains because I was still only pulling 140kg. I should have been doing something like 5/3/1 for deadlifts.

also @faust

A lot of people just get up and go when they start running which is a great way to fuck your knees/ankles/hips if you haven't lived an athletic lifestyle.

You need to learn to run properly. core engaged, feet striking the ground beneath your body, striking the ground with the fore-foot etc.

[Faust]

Man, I wish I lived on the first floor. I'd be jumping rope like Merryweather. But is t that also harsh on your knees? Biking might be the thing, theetruscan. I am ashamed to admit that I never learned how to swim :( naturally, I blame my parents

[endersgame]

compared to running, you only jump rope about 2 inches off the ground. the effects of 3+ min of rope jumping feels like 10 min of running. at least for me, it does.

you can do sliding mountain climbers with socks on hardwood floors and not make a sound. your quadriceps will burn out before your knees start to hurt..add push-ups in-between the slides to mix it up.

faust, if you're interested, i can hook you up with pool access for a few days. you can go whenever you want and bring a friend. as long as you are over 5 ft tall, you won't drown. there are also swimming aids there for you to use.

yeah, not very sz doing the doggie paddle in black trunks, flippers, and arm floaters, but whatever..

[theetruscan]

When you jump rope, you spring off your toes, with your knees slightly bent. Much less impact, though your calves may be sore as you get adjust. It doesn't take long to get a solid cardio workout jumping rope.

[move_ment]

So much empathy, so many posts. I beat the squats x fashion x thighs issue a few ways: wear drop-crotch anything and everything, 24/7. I also use long length rick t-shirts to cover the thigh area when wearing slimmer jeans, this works a treat. Also, one other - that shorts over leggings thing.. yep, use that to hide 'em.

On the staying lean while lifting heavy topic, the most successful way which I absolutely swear by (for me, at least) to cut fat while lifting heavy, has most definitely been the Lean Gains/Intermittent Fasting approach from Martin Berkhan (http://www.leangains.com/). I didn't search, but would assume it's been discussed here before? Either way, the basic outline is:

- Fast 16hrs a day (I go ~9pm-1pm)
- Get all of your calories within the remaining 8hr period (I go ~1pm-9pm)

*Bulking: aim for caloric surplus on work-out & rest days.
*Cutting: aim for caloric surplus on work-out days, and caloric deficit on rest days.

Training fasted is ideal, but make sure you have BCAA's before working out at the very least. Make sure you have your big meal directly after training (in my case, lunch time), and then taper off caloric consumption into the evening.

Interested by what adding Yoga into this mix would do, actually. Might give it a try.