Research their caloric and protein content. See how that aligns with your body composition goals.

4/13/2014 7:43:39 PM

I swear for the life of me I can't figure out deadlifts.

I've read 20+ articles on the topic, and feel like I understand how it's supposed to happen. However every time I do the lift my lower back is sore. Others that I talk to always say their upper back/traps are sore, or maybe the hams.

The only place I feel them are in my lower back, no matter how hard I try to push with heels, proud chest, pull back/down shoulders, drive hips through the bar.

I bench more than I deadlift at this point

4/15/2014 9:13:50 AM

At the in-laws for a week in Connecticut and I'm using their local gym. I think I've fallen back in love with the gym.

I've been doing the "running/push-ups/pull-ups/chin-ups" workout for the past 3 or 4 years and feel and look like I'm in great shape. But after two days of workouts with free weights and machines, it feels really good to have sore muscles all over. I'm going to look into gyms when I get back home.

4/15/2014 10:00:40 AM

Success Update:

Broke in to the 160s today at 169.6. Been consistently running every 2 or 3 days, and can tell my run conditioning is improving significantly with each bout. Feels good

Unfortunately, I can tell my strength is tapering off. I squatted 315 5x3 last week and it was way harder than it should have been.

Will probably post progress pics within the next few days. Need to trim the coat of manfur first

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 12:29 PM. Reason : wordz]

4/15/2014 12:28:01 PM

Quote :

"I eat unsalted pumpkin seeds like it's my job....seriously, like 3-5 pounds a week they're good and healthy, right?"

you are getting too much omega 6 fat. [most] nuts are far superior to seeds. eat almonds, pistachios, macadamias, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, etc.

4/15/2014 6:00:25 PM

Quote :

"I swear for the life of me I can't figure out deadlifts. I've read 20+ articles on the topic, and feel like I understand how it's supposed to happen. However every time I do the lift my lower back is sore. Others that I talk to always say their upper back/traps are sore, or maybe the hams. The only place I feel them are in my lower back, no matter how hard I try to push with heels, proud chest, pull back/down shoulders, drive hips through the bar. "

The hamstrings and glute is doing most of the work in the deadlift, but just because your lower back is always sore, doesn't always mean you're doing it wrong. It's a full body movement, where you're engaging pretty much every muscle group, if you're doing it correctly. That's why some will say upperback/ traps...probably as you're moving up in weight and you're breaking form a little. When you come up tp the top your hips should fully lock out...but not hyperextended.

The last two panel shows the lock out position at the top. Make sure you're not doing the hyperextension there in the last photo. Might be why you're sore.

http://ronlefitness.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/ron-le-fitness-pasadena-personal-trainer.jpg

If you're back is sore right in the middle almost like a pinching pain, I would be concerned. If it's off to the side, where your erectors and external obliques are, then it's probably a "good" kind of soreness.

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 7:21 PM. Reason : big photo]

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 7:22 PM. Reason : .]

4/15/2014 7:21:23 PM

I'm looking to add a couple lifts in my workout, I'm interested in what ya'll think I'm missing with my current lifting routine. I try and make it to the gym 3-4 times a week (allowing at least 1 off day because I'm lazy):

205 bench 4 sets of 8
250 squat 3 of 8
60 lbs dumbbell rows 3 of 6
one leg get ups with 25 lb for resistance 3 of 6
50 lb military press 3 of 8
50 lb dumbbell lunges 3 of 6
120 lb lat pulldown
Ab work

Usually take 30 seconds - 1 minute of rest between sets. Usually can finish within 40-35 minutes if i'm hustling. I try and play basketball 2-3 times a week for cardio.

Let me know if I'm missing a crucial muscle group - I lifted for football back in high school but have never worked with a class/personal trainer. I'm hoping to look good for the summer (sup ladies) and increase my vertical for basketball.

4/16/2014 11:23:17 AM

Ummmm, deadlifts?

How about a split instead of trying to do that every single day?

4/16/2014 9:47:54 PM

^^Why so little rest between sets? I always thought a minute was the shortest you should take. I always allow 1&1/2 to 2 minutes between sets. Can I cut that down?

4/17/2014 7:37:59 AM

^^^your body isn't recovering from that workout. Split it up by body parts so that you can give each muscle group 5-7 days to recover, and then crush the hell out of the muscle group you're working.

^time between sets depends on a few factors. If you're training for endurance and size, then keep your rest time low (30-60 seconds); the poundage you can move will drop but your cardiovascular system will improve and the pump will stretch your muscle fascia more. If you're training for raw strength, then get plenty of rest between sets (2-3 minutes) to let your ATP stores replenish. big lifts like squats will require more recovery time than curls, so adjust accordingly.

4/17/2014 8:26:22 AM

skywalkr - I work out every other day. Sorry for not being clear. I've tried deadlifts in the past, I'll look into the groups they work with and see if its feesable to add to by routine.

Mtan Man - I work out during lunch and I hate keeping the bench/squat rack from other people. It's more of a time thing than a decision based off of exercise.

eleusis - Are you saying I should only work out one muscle group once or twice a week? I guess I need to do more research, but I was under the impression that working out with a day off would give my body ample time to recover. If I am going for strength (which I am), would you recommend a 5 day cycle of:

1 - chest/back
2 - rest
3 - shoulders/arms
4 - rest
5 - legs

I do not know much about how to design a personal workout, just past experience from football workouts. Thanks for the input.

4/17/2014 8:52:43 AM

If you train your legs correctly, they should be sore for 3-4 days after the workout. That should tell you that they're not recovered after just one day of rest.

shoulders and arms don't need a dedicated day if you're training for strength. The back is a massive muscle group that needs it's own day, and your biceps and shoulders will get worked sufficiently on back day. similarly, your chest is a large muscle that needs its own day, and your triceps and shoulders will get worked sufficiently on chest day as well. I personally feel like legs should get two days, with a glute/ham dominant day and a quad dominant day. you can add in a fluff day of shoulders/arms in place of one of the rest days if you want, as those small muscles heal faster.

I typically do a rotation of those 4 workouts and repeat.
Legs (currently doing it all in one workout, but it's gruesome and needs to be split)
Chest
Back
Shoulders/Arms

Sometimes I repeat in 4 days, sometimes it takes me 7 days to get through the rotation if I have to travel for work or have other commitments that keep me from the gym.

4/17/2014 1:41:42 PM

Quote :

"205 bench 4 sets of 8 250 squat 3 of 8 60 lbs dumbbell rows 3 of 6 one leg get ups with 25 lb for resistance 3 of 6 50 lb military press 3 of 8 50 lb dumbbell lunges 3 of 6 120 lb lat pulldown Ab work"

It's hard to tell by this post, but do you ever go up in weight? If you are trying to gain strength, you should do that.

Sorry for being a Captain Obvious if you already know.

4/17/2014 2:26:39 PM

Hippie - I have been increasing my weight every 2-3 weeks by 5-10 lbs as needed, but its reached a point where I feel like I've kinda plateaued. No worries about being obvious, my first post wasn't very clear.

Eleusis, this is the first time I've heard to only work 1 muscle group out every 3-4 days. I've had leg days and upper body days, but not to that extent.

4/17/2014 3:16:52 PM

I had always heard to allow at least 48 hours for a muscle to rest. For a lower/upper split that would look like U-L-x-U-L-x-x which gives a 72 hour rest between.

And eleusis that's kinda what I had heard in the past, that a short rest was more cardio with strength training while longer rests allowed for more muscle/strength growth.
I also like that 4 day rotation. I've been trying to figure out a way to get a 90 minute workout from my split upper/lower routine to 45 minute. Spliiting it across 4 days would allow me to get it under 45 minutes with 5-6 exercises per day and still hit all my focus areas.

4/17/2014 5:18:23 PM

can anybody here do this?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=614367131980302
iOShttps://m.facebook.com/photo.php?v=614367131980302

4/17/2014 9:36:18 PM

^40 kilograms?....I'd imagine a lot of guys around here could do that

4/17/2014 9:40:09 PM

I watched the video on mute...

That's 88 pounds, but still impressive. Definitely requires quite a bit of practice.

4/18/2014 11:59:21 AM

^^^I'm sure quite a few people could, but if they would want to (or why) is another question

4/18/2014 12:21:12 PM

^^ Not impressive at all. The weight is extremely light and it is just plain stupid in the first place. I could probably do it after some minimal practice but I wouldn't because the risk isn't worth the reward (there is no reward).

4/18/2014 1:03:17 PM

I bet none of you could do this

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=622465164503832
iOS https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?v=622465164503832

4/20/2014 8:30:23 PM

Is it normal to gain a bunch of weight after starting strength training?

I've been on a -1000/day diet for a few months now and should be down about 12 pounds at this point. In fact, last week I was done to about 246 from 258. I cut my morning cardio out in favor of a weight training routine, then had a cheat day for Easter. Normally I'd see an increase that would taper off quickly from a cheat day, but I'm actually going up in weight now, back to 252. I can't imagine I'm adding any mass since I've just started and am on a deficit diet.

4/22/2014 8:53:10 AM

probably water weight fluxuation. are you weighing at the same time every day?

4/22/2014 12:25:27 PM

When you first start weight training you can see noob gains but they will taper off

4/22/2014 1:49:24 PM

People who have been working out for years tend to have a hyperextended lumbar. Is it just an illusion because of the toned glute muscles curving out and the fact that they have strong, tight erectors too? Or there is some truth to hyperextension?

4/22/2014 6:33:34 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd8tZiHexPc

lolz

4/23/2014 8:40:24 AM

Quote :

"Mtan Man214: Is it normal to gain a bunch of weight after starting strength training?"

Yes, totally normal. Your muscles are temporarily retaining water. It's a good thing.

4/23/2014 9:08:46 AM

Yeah that's what I thought, I've just never seen such a large gain from my first week back in the gym before. Then again, my new routine is a lot more thorough than anything I've done in the past.
It's just a little disheartening to make such an impact on my weight to then see the scale bounce back up after I take things up a notch.
Thanks for all the responses.

4/23/2014 9:40:16 AM

You've probably read and heard this, but I'll reinforce again. Do not use the scale as a measurement of gains or failures. Psychologically it's not healthy.

4/23/2014 10:00:57 AM

Yeah, and while I know that to be true, its still one of the few metrics that I can see daily changes in. A lower number in the morning is a morale bump. A higher number is motivation.
For me the biggest metrics I'm concerned with are my cholesterol and blood pressure, followed by my waist size and endurance level, i just don't get to see those improvements as often.

On a related note, is it possible to have too many eggs? I'd like to improve my post workout protein intake and I really like hard boiled eggs because they are cheap, easy to prepare ahead of time and I can eat 2 in about 3 minutes. I already have 2 eggs in the morning and I can't find any good information on how many eggs are good for your diet.

4/23/2014 12:07:56 PM

Eggs are making a come back after years of being thought to be bad due to high cholesterol. Someone on here can explain it better than me, but that's basically not true.

I would say that if you are concerned with eating too many, then skip the yolk (at least on some of the eggs you eat). You can keep over half of the protein and good stuff from the whites. The yolk is the flavor and the fats.

4/23/2014 12:17:53 PM

the yolk is where most of the nutrients in an egg reside. Throwing away the egg yolk and eating the egg whites is essentially saying all you want is protein and sodium with none of the benefits of eating nutritious foods. Almost half of the protein is in the yolk too, so you have to buy almost twice as many eggs for the same protein content.

4/23/2014 1:42:12 PM

Quote :

"You can keep over half of the protein and good stuff from the whites. The yolk is the flavor and the fats."

not true.

albumen:
3g protein
nothing else

yolk:
3g protein
5g fat, half of which is monounsaturated
vitamins
minerals
choline (needed for brain)

as for the cholesterol, yes the yolk contains cholesterol, but dietary cholesterol does not contribute to a rise in blood cholesterol. eating saturated fat leads to production of lots of cholesterol in the body, but even saturated fat has been vindicated.

4/23/2014 2:07:55 PM

He was specifically asking for protein, and the white has more than the yolk. He was concerned about eating too much, so I just made a feasible suggestion. I ate lots more eggs whites than yolks when I was hardcore on my weight loss.

Also, nutrition facts I found seem to be different than those above.

Egg, white, raw:
Amount Per 1 large (33 g)
Calories 17
Total Fat 0.1g
Saturated fat 0g
Polyunsaturated fat 0g
Monounsaturated fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 55 mg
Potassium 54 mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.2g
Protein 3.6g
Magnesium 1%

Egg, yolk, raw:
Amount Per 1 large (17 g)
Calories 55
Total Fat 4.5g
Saturated fat 1.6g
Polyunsaturated fat 0.7g
Monounsaturated fat 2g
Cholesterol 184mg
Sodium 8mg
Potassium 19mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.6g
Protein 2.7g
Vitamin A 4%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%
Vitamin D 9%
Vitamin B-6 5%
Vitamin B-12 5%

4/23/2014 2:27:58 PM

my approximations were not bad, but yeah, the white has 1 gram more protein than the yolk. i wouldn't say that is significant, unless you eat 10+ eggs a day.

those who eat the whites only or more whites than yolks, what do they do with the yolks? throw them away? if so, that's a horrible thing to do.

4/23/2014 3:09:38 PM

Yeah I'm mostly concerned with protein. I already eat a balanced enough diet that I'm not worried about missing out on the benefits of an egg yolk or two.
Either way, it looks like 4 eggs/day wouldn't be that big of an issue for me right now. Most of the information I could find that said otherwise was based on some pretty dated research Almost everything I could find now argues that there's more good than harm that comes from them, as long as you don't eat a comically large amount of eggs.

4/23/2014 3:39:48 PM

Quote :

"People who have been working out for years tend to have a hyperextended lumbar. Is it just an illusion because of the toned glute muscles curving out and the fact that they have strong, tight erectors too? Or there is some truth to hyperextension?"

It's usually too much Anterior Pelvic Tilt.

Developed erectors actually give more of a rounded back appearance. For example, I have a decently developed low back and when I set up for a DL it looks almost rounded when in neutral.

You want to use the angle of tilt of the ASIS and sacrum relative to the lumbar.

4/24/2014 8:16:57 AM

Has anyone added yohimbe to their dietery supplements? I would like some research on this.

4/25/2014 9:25:47 PM

I'm about to start it next week.

Unless you already have visible abs, I wouldn't do it yet.

4/26/2014 5:56:15 PM

What's the reasoning behind that? Will it become ineffective over time?

4/26/2014 6:17:05 PM

maximum fat burning when you already at low body fat, is my guess.

4/26/2014 7:11:10 PM

Yeah but if something helps to burn fat then why not take it if you have abs showing or not? If it loses it's effectiveness them that would make sense because it is harder to lose more the less you have so might as well save it. I've heard people say similar things about the EC stack but I wouldn't have been able to lose weight this fast without it (down to 207 from 245 back around the end of November). Mainly because the appetite suppressant capabilities are crucial for me since I was used to eating so much.

4/26/2014 7:26:17 PM

The mechanisms that the yohimbine affect supposedly only help with stubborn fat.

It is not the same as ephedrine + caffeine.

It doesn't help burn fat per se, it helps release fatty acids from "stubborn fat" to be burnt.

If you have a large amount of easy fat to burn through, it's sort of a waste of supplement.

4/26/2014 8:54:09 PM

Got it, hopefully I will have a reason to need it then

4/26/2014 9:26:59 PM

^ which EC stack have you been taking? I’m almost to my goal weight, size and composition but I have just a little ways to go and thinking it’s time to start adding a dietary supplement other than protein and pre-workout drink. I think an EC stack is the way to go. I have some barely visible upper abs and my hip flexors are definitely much more noticeable. My arms, shoulders, chest, back and legs are all very firm and toned. I finally have a lean look going for me. I’ve dropped 4 inches in my waist (36 to a 32 and 32s are getting a bit loose on me). I’d love to drop below 160…at 162 now. The final step would be dropping this stubborn lower belly fat.

4/28/2014 10:46:24 AM

25mg of Ephedrine (Bronkaid or Primatene) + 200mg of caffeine is the way to go with dosing an EC stack.

Depending on sensitivity you could go up to 2 doses/day. I'd start out with half a dose of ephedrine and see how you respond.

If you start taking yohimbine: DO NOT TAKE IT ON THE SAME DAYS AS EPHEDRINE.

[Edited on April 28, 2014 at 12:37 PM. Reason : ;]

4/28/2014 12:36:34 PM

Should I just buy Ephedrine HCL and Caffeine tablets and make my own stack or get one of those pre-mixed stacked pills? I'm thinking the former would be better and cheaper.

4/28/2014 12:45:49 PM

You can only buy ephedrine legally in the US in bronkaid or primatene.

You used to be able to get it from Canada in HCL form. If you can do that, that would be best.

4/28/2014 12:50:32 PM

Definitely work your way up to a full dose. It can be a kick in the ass the first few times you take it even if you aren't sensitive to stims. If you are sensitive to stims then I would advise you not to take it at all. I can handle a lot of caffeine and when I first start EC at a half dose I feel like I drank way too much coffee. Now I can take a full dose 2x daily and I hardly notice the stimulant effect.

4/28/2014 1:07:24 PM

i can get 300 8 mg caps of Ephedrine HCL for $27 at http://www.gorillajack.com/ephedrine-ephedra-caffeine.aspx

stimulants don't bother me too bad. i drink a decent amount of coffee during the day and take a pre-workout drink that has a shit ton of caffeine and it's ok. I can chug a redbull and go right to sleep. I will ease into the dosage though.

4/28/2014 1:42:53 PM