I need to get my fat ass into shape, get rid of the farmers tan, add some more bulk to my upper body, and clean my bathroom mirror...all these coors lights are softening my once rock hard abs

apologies in advance to the fellas for having to see this when you open page 38

7/10/2013 12:12:02 AM

7/10/2013 9:16:42 AM

Reposting this for the new page:

Quote :

"Whatcy'all know about spinal decompression, sciatica, and fixing irregularities in the back in general? I think I've got a pinched nerve or something in my upper back around my shoulder blade. Been this way for a while now, too: 6-12 months. Doesn't inhibit me (yet), but definitely noticeable"

7/10/2013 3:08:40 PM

n00b question here, if anyone could help me out I'd appreciate it - there's just too much conflicting information on the internet to know what to do.

I'm 26 and 5'10 - 163 lbs (23.6 bmi) and I'm not skin and bones by any means, nor am I fat but I don't have lines on my stomach or anything. I should also add that I have experience with free weights (took weight training throughout high school and two semesters in college) but have not gone out of my way to exercise in years.

I'd like to find a lifting / diet plan to just build muscle mass (I'm guessing a high weight / low rep workout with a high protein diet).

Is this a good plan? http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/10-week-mass-building-program.html

I'm a little wary of the weight gainer it wants you to take as I don't want to gain fat (don't feel like I need to cut any fat either) just muscle.

Everything I've found seems to center on cutting or bulking but my fat levels are fine - I just need muscle. Any tips / links to a weekly routine and general diet (don't need daily meals laid out) would be much appreciated.



[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 11:02 AM. Reason : halp!]

7/11/2013 10:59:19 AM

Hmm, I'm not sure. Seems like a lot of repetitive exercises for some of them (for example, biceps). One glaring thing I noticed is that it doesn't have deadlifts, which I undoubtedly think are a compound exercise you should incorporate. But I'm no personal trainer, I don't really go into a workout with a complete plan (though I probably should). I think MattJMM2 could give a better critique, but he hasn't appeared in this thread for a couple of pages now.

7/11/2013 11:20:29 AM

^^ check out the HCT-12 routine at wannabebig.com it has gotten a lot of good reviews from people who have used it, I plan to soon once I get my strength closer to what I want. Just know most of the battle is diet, you will need to likely eat a lot more than you are now if you want to put on some mass.

7/11/2013 12:26:29 PM

yeah that's a problem, I'm really don't eat much - usually just one meal a day but hopefully the extra expenditure will boost my appetite.

7/11/2013 1:14:37 PM

Not to sound like an ass but if you want to put on some mass you need to just suck it up and eat some more. It isn't that hard to increase your daily cals by 1000 just make a ridiculous shake if you don't want to eat normal food. Whole milk + protein powder + olive oil + peanut butter = a whole lot of calories.

7/11/2013 2:04:54 PM

yeah I was thinking about going the shake route and I'll at least start bringing a lunch to work, no offense taken.

7/11/2013 2:48:38 PM

That routine is a very typical bodybuilding type routine, which I'm not necessarily a fan of.

I would go with an upper/lower split....2 days of each...focusing on heavy compounds in the lower rep range and then some other stuff in the 8-12 range since your goal is mass gain.

In terms of diet, you need to eat. 1 meal a day could be fine IF it's meeting the requirements, which I somehow doubt it is. Get at least 1 gram per lb of protein and don't be afraid to slam carbs post workout and with dinner/later at night.

I could go in way more depth, but I won't

7/11/2013 4:52:41 PM

Where is Matt?? Did he survive his trip?

Speaking of trips, I stayed my weight pretty much the whole time, because aside from what I know as typical filipino food, REAL filipino food is

7/11/2013 5:59:25 PM

ncsuallday, I'd recommend not trying to change every aspect of your life at once.

Develop a good workout regimen and keep doing everything else normally. Then once you're starting to gain some momentum --> consistency in your workouts, you can start fine-tuning the minutia like sleep schedules, diet, supplements, etc.

But if you have the resilience and motivation, go all the way. It'll take time, regardless, but you can do it.

7/12/2013 12:14:43 PM

Relevant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rGgoCm1hofM#at=728

7/12/2013 12:47:31 PM

^I'll try to watch that after work.

^^Thanks. yeah I'm not trying to get hurt or anything. I'm planning to just do some cardio and pushups/situps/pullups for a couple of weeks to get back into general exercise and then get into resistance training.

While I am not a big eater, I have a very healthy diet as it is so I just need to up my intake a bit. I'm planning on going to the gym MWF after work (we have a gym here or I'll get a membership to take advantage of classes, trainers) or maybe do the split that some have suggested - although I league bowl on Thursdays so I'll have to do that at lunch or something.

Thanks to all for the tips.

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 1:02 PM. Reason : ^]

7/12/2013 1:00:39 PM

I subscribe to a more pragmatic school of thought than a lot of discussion in this thread; there's a lot of (over-)analysis of the the science of every intricate piece of a healthy lifestyle.

I say just work hard. You get out of it everything you put in, and more. There's no single road to success.

But you've got the right attitude, so you'll slay your goals.

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 1:27 PM. Reason : etc etc generic motivation etc. ]

7/12/2013 1:19:32 PM

Got some fun PRs this week...


420# Deadlift
295# Front Squat

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 1:25 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2013 1:25:28 PM

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/women-running-into-trouble/

7/13/2013 1:18:39 PM

Thanks for posting an older version of the same article that you posted on the last page.

7/13/2013 2:55:39 PM

But equally laughable.

7/13/2013 3:24:31 PM

AHA, some of this anti-cardio stuff just seems to be people saying that they're not into runner's bodies.

7/13/2013 3:27:34 PM

runners'

7/13/2013 5:16:15 PM

Reads like a campfire story:

She was running hours every day, an upping her mileage every week, but...



she was actually getting fatter!

7/13/2013 7:21:58 PM

LOL

7/13/2013 11:02:58 PM

Quote :

"Got some fun PRs this week... 420# Deadlift 295# Front Squat "

Packman - what do you weigh? I got 275 on front squat for 2 reps and failed on my 3rd, but I weigh 200 lbs. This was about 3 weeks back. Last week we did some 3 rep max on back squats and I did 315 pretty easily. I'm trying to gauge if I'm getting back to my old PRs I set in college, but it's tough when when rarely do 1 rep max work.

7/15/2013 7:48:28 AM

Isnt 3 reps usually equivalent to 90% of your max? Good enough of an estimator if you dont have a spotter or feel like maxing out.

7/15/2013 9:41:47 AM

9x ^
A response to the article posted above:

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/how-does-endurance-training-affect-your-thyroid-and-vice-versa

Summary:

Quote :

"Okay, okay, I’m done. The reason I went through these 11 studies so exhaustively is because this is such a prime example of someone making a totally unambiguous claim (“studies demonstrate beyond a doubt...”), citing a pile of studies, and then apparently assuming that no one will actually look at the studies. In this case, I don’t know if it’s deliberate misdirection, or if the guy simply didn’t have access to the full text of the studies he’s citing, or just couldn’t be bothered to read them – but the result is the same."

[Edited on July 15, 2013 at 10:13 AM. Reason : lazy points]

7/15/2013 10:12:31 AM

Quote :

"Isnt 3 reps usually equivalent to 90% of your max?"

I've heard this rule of thumb before, but there are exercises where it's not as applicable. I hate front squats though as it kills my wrists.

7/15/2013 10:32:28 AM

Quote :

"Packman - what do you weigh? I got 275 on front squat for 2 reps and failed on my 3rd, but I weigh 200 lbs. This was about 3 weeks back. Last week we did some 3 rep max on back squats and I did 315 pretty easily. I'm trying to gauge if I'm getting back to my old PRs I set in college, but it's tough when when rarely do 1 rep max work."

Somewhere between 185-190 at the moment. Haven't tested back squat in awhile...345 last time I checked (I was front squatting like 270 at the time)...I assume its gone up.

7/15/2013 3:25:35 PM

Quote :

"I've heard this rule of thumb before, but there are exercises where it's not as applicable. I hate front squats though as it kills my wrists."

Cross grip? I know it's not optimal for a variety of reasons, but I don't really give a shit about "athletic performance", I just want hyyyuuuuge quads.

I got a one rep PR for front squat of 270 this past weekend @205 bodyweight with more in the tank. I've replaced back squats in my training with front squats, power runner, Bulgarian split squats, good mornings, and some other posterior chain work. Low bar back squats seem to put a lot of shear on my lower back and it just doesn't seem worth it. The lower back soreness ends up cutting into the other work I want to do.

7/15/2013 3:42:22 PM

The coaches at my gym really try to keep us from using the cross grip for front squat for whatever reason. They let a few guys that bitch incessantly about it use the cross grip. I borrowed some guys wrist wraps last time and it made a noticeable difference. I just struggle to keep my elbows up on the heavier lifts. I'm hoping to try 285 the next time we do any low rep work.

7/15/2013 4:30:42 PM

Posted June 1st




Taken July 4th: down 10 lbs


Some progress!

7/15/2013 6:55:03 PM

your gf (wife?) is stealing your food

7/15/2013 8:27:04 PM

She's 7 months pregnant. She can steal all she wants

7/15/2013 8:51:24 PM

Good job! You can really see the weight loss in your face.

7/15/2013 10:10:35 PM

^

7/15/2013 11:03:32 PM

Quote :

"The coaches at my gym really try to keep us from using the cross grip for front squat for whatever reason."

i think for the front squat a cross grip or clean grip does not matter, the weight distribution is the same. my thought would be that your coaches would rather your people work on their mobility in order to use the clean grip because of the benefits in other areas. having that mobility to get a solid front rack position will translate to other lifts like the clean and jerk.

7/15/2013 11:07:12 PM

yeah the rack position is a skill transfer to a clean, I think that's why CF trainers discourage anything else ( I remember rflong mentioning he was at a CF gym).

7/15/2013 11:33:21 PM

^ You are correct, CF gym. The trainers probably are just trying to improve wrist mobility as we do some type of mobility stretching every day it seems as part of our warm-up.

We did a ridiculous workout today. Max rounds in 30 min, 10 thrusters at 95 lbs, 10 burpees, 10 pull-ups. I got 8 rounds and about died.

7/16/2013 11:08:08 AM

That seems a bit excessive...

7/16/2013 1:53:58 PM

That could be the tagline for CrossFit.

7/16/2013 2:25:17 PM

^^ It was, but in all honesty we don't work out like that very often. I've been going for about 3-4 months now and that was one of the 5 or so worst workouts yet. Yesterday we had a pretty light day doing an 800 m time trial and some static work so I think the guy programming it decided to tear us up today. Most of the people modified to less weight and only 5 reps.

7/16/2013 5:22:19 PM

http://vimeo.com/70328231

[Edited on July 16, 2013 at 5:47 PM. Reason : ]

7/16/2013 5:47:39 PM

^^ how often do they program strength? Sounds like 2 back to back cardio-type days.

7/16/2013 9:24:14 PM

Man, I feel like I'm in ketosis except I've been eating fruit and whatnot here and there. Mainly, I've lost my appetite, and I've been foggy for a few days now. I forgot to put the car in park twice today, but otherwise, I kinda like this feeling.

7/16/2013 9:52:04 PM

^^ The coaches put us through cycles. Like a strength cycle for a month where we are doing more low rep work, a lactic cycle on legs testing max effort on things like the air dyne, a lactic cycle on upper body doing pull-ups/burpees, etc. I am not really sure what cycle we are doing right now as they have not really talked about it in those terms lately.

Last week we did some low rep work and I imagine we'd be doing low rep work today (I can't make it). Rarely do we go three consecutive workouts without some type of 1 to 3 rep max effort exercise built in.

7/17/2013 11:59:06 AM

is this for rowing as a sport or just CF?

7/17/2013 7:45:44 PM

Hey guys I’m on the tail end of my Insanity program. Just 3 more workouts to go to complete the program. I am more than satisfied with results. I’ll post a full review with results next week after final measurements. This post though is to discuss what to do next. I’m put together a 10 week program. 4 weeks of exercise, a recover week then repeat. I wanted to get some opinions on the program. While executing the program I will be maintaining a calorie deficit (500 Kcal deficit/day = about 3500 a week so about a lb of fat a week). I plan to lose another 12 lbs to get to 155 but my main goal is 15% BF. I”ve posted my program below. Week 6 -10 is a repeat of 1-5.

7/18/2013 9:21:15 AM

personally, i dont like doing deadlifts on the same day as legs.

if it were me, i would move dead lifts to back day. and then move chin ups to shoulder day. i might also drop one of the bicep exercises so you are only doing two if the volume gets to be too much.

Then i would switch a few of the days around to separate the muscle groups

monday: rest
tuesday: shoulders / upper back
wednesday: legs
thursday: chest / tri
friday: lower back / legs 2 / biceps

this way you are essentially alternating between upper and lower body, hitting all the exercises you listed, and you keep heavy deadlifts and squats separate.

7/18/2013 2:04:51 PM

Cool man thanks for the suggestions.

7/19/2013 9:02:07 AM

This thread is really inspiring. I am down 11 lbs since the end of April.

7/19/2013 10:09:14 AM