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Workout/Staying in Shape Thread

526K views 6K replies 634 participants last post by  Nostalgia 
#1 ·
Thought I would bring this thread back, has died many times before but hopefully we can keep it going this time. Basically discuss anything to do with working out, weight lifting, body building, dieting, etc. Feel free to give people tips, ask and answer questions, whatever you guys want.

I started pretty recently myself. Never did anything up until I was like 18 as I was always playing high school sports so never had to worry about getting out of shape. Started doing casually since then and now been going hard for the past 4 months about. I am stronger in virtually every area now, stuff is starting to take shape and I am pretty damn happy with the results.

Goal now is to bulk up, which is tougher then it sounds :$
 
#2,363 · (Edited)
i$e's Cutting Guide v1.0
How to lose fat effectively

-----

I'm making this as it's probably the most sought-after information in this thread. I learnt all this years ago from Wave Length, a really good poster on a forum I used to frequent, and a LOT of pubmed reading. These are cut and dry rules, and will work with 100% success rate given it's followed.

Luckily, it's quite a simple process. The difficulty comes in consistently following the essential rules through hard work and dedication. This guide applies to anyone who wishes to lose body fat (which is what people actually mean when they say they want to lose weight) whilst maintaining muscle mass and actually increasing strength. I'll try and keep it as simple as I can.

In a Nutshell

- Fat loss occurs when we expend more calories than we consume.
- Lifting weights with high intensity maintains our muscle mass.
- Eating adequate protein, carbs and fats is the key to making them both happen.

Essentials

Above is the basic logic behind a cut, so how do we achieve this in general terms?

- Lift heavy 3/4 times a week.
- Eat at a caloric deficit.
- Take in at least 1g protein per lb of lean mass daily.
- Include some essential fatty acids (omega 3/6/9) and vegetables daily.

Do that and you'll get results, 100% of the time. Counting calories is essential to locking down your numbers, but after a while they become second nature and you won't even have to use a calculator.

How many calories should I eat?

As we've been over, losing fat requires us to be in caloric deficit. To lose a pound of fat in a week, we must have a 3500 calorie deficit (there is 3500 calories in a pound, dur). So, that's a very manageable 500 calories a day that we must take in under our maintenance level (the amount of calories needed to maintain weight in a rested state + accounting for expenditure via exercise ).

This deficit is best attained via diet (through management of caloric intake). Eat 500 calories less than your TEE (Total Energy Expenditure; maintenance calories) whilst following the rules outlined in the essentials above and you're on track.

A bit of background of our maintenance level (TEE) - when we weight train (or do any physical activity for that matter), we expand a bunch of calories, which is in our interest obviously. The problem with this as a conscious consideration is newcomers often use it as justification to eat more. Oh, I can have this cake because I did 30 minutes on the treadmill earlier. Whilst this makes some logical sense, it is usually counter-productive because in general people both overestimate how much calories they burn in the gym and underestimate how many calories they're eating. Just workout your TEE below and stick to it, focusing on creating your deficit in the kitchen.

Maintenance Calories = bodyweight in pounds x 15 (or 14 if you're female). That's a rough estimate, which will take a few weeks of trial and error to really nail down. It might take longer, but luckily the scale will tell you where you're at. So..

If you weigh 160lb.

160 x 15 = 2400. That will maintain weight. Eating 1900 a day (500 deficit) will yield a pound of fat loss a week provided the essential rules are met.

Simple.

Tracking progress

Obviously, this is key to knowing what we're doing is working, so here are my recommendations.

- Weigh yourself once a week on the same day at the same time. Before breakfast, after bathroom.
- Write it down.
- If weight does not go down after three weeks and you've not made any obvious slip ups, reduce calories by 10%.
- The mirror is usually a better judge for you to go by, although scales help with 'knowing' you're achieving something.
- Write it down. Included again because it's important to log progress. The same goes for your workouts.
- Using calipers will give you a good indication of fat loss.

It's worth noting that sometimes you'll fluctuate in weight from day to day. This is water weight amongst other factors, and is the reason we weigh ourselves at the same time on a weekly basis and don't panic if we don't drop from one week to the other. As long as there is a general downward trend over the long term, you're golden.

Myths and other things that don't matter

Given the amount of studies, blogs, forum posts (I realize the irony) and articles that you can read on the subject, it's no wonder that a significant amount of broscience has popped up over the years. Bullshit, in other words. The following things are not essential to losing fat.

- Cardio.
- Meal timing, aside from eating pre and post workouts.
- Meal frequency
- Protein 'maxes' per meal.
- Significant analysis of carb/fat ratios, sodium intake, 'clean' foods etc.

Obviously, all of these things can be tweaked and considered as part of an overall strategy, but they're are absolutely not required for fat loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I get abs? Do I need to train them every day?
A: You'll see your abs when you get to a low enough body fat percentage (10-11%, typically). Doing 1000 crunches a day won't do anything if you have a layer of fat covering them.

Q: How can I target and reduce fat from my stomach?
A: You can't. You have no control over where the fat drops off. You just have to get your overall % low enough and eventually it'll come.

Q: Do I have to use weights?
A: To be honest, yes. Unless you're training for something different. It's the fastest and most beneficial way to get it done.

Q: How much is a safe amount to lose per week?
A: Typically, 1-2lb is a good rule of thumb. If your BF% is above 20%, you can safely lose 3-4lbs, but if you're already at a low BF, it's best to go slower to prevent a catabolic reaction.

Q: What are some good food choices?
A: For protein, lean meats, fish, eggs, milk and whey supplements are great. Good carb sources include oats, pasta, rice and wholemeal bread. Good fats can be attained from salmon, mackerel, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts and getting some saturated fats in from butter etc is no bad thing at all (despite what you may have heard).

..and that's it. Hope this information helps as much as it has helped me over the years.
 
#2,827 ·
i$e's Bulking Guide v1.0
How to gain lean mass effectively whilst limiting fat gain

-----

I've had quite a few PMs, reps and comments in here requesting that I make a companion post for my cutting guide, which seems to have been received very well. I had one guy tell me that his depression was less of an issue now, which is absolutely fantastic. So, here we are. Gaining lean mass without tons of fat gain.

Like cutting, it's quite a simple process. The difficulty comes in being diciplined over a long period of time. It's something you have to initially dedicate a lot of time to consciously, then less so as you progress. So, fight the urge to alter things too quickly, which will fuck up your progress more often than not. Let's get into it.

What is bulking?

Bulk: to gain weight by predominantly gaining muscle
Who should bulk?

Sometime in ones lifting career, one will always ask themselves the classic bodybuilding question: should I bulk or cut? Whilst this is a personal decision 100% of the time, there are a few guidelines that I would suggest if you're open to both options.

You should probably bulk if:

- You're just starting out and you're <20% BF
- You've been cutting for a while and your strength is starting to decrease
- You're 'skinny fat' - pretty light overall weight but low LBM (lean body mass) and high-ish BF%.

You should definitely bulk if:

- You absolutely want more muscle (dur)
- Your focus is on making significant strength gains
- You're skinny and weak, even if you have 'abz for dayz' (low bodyfat, low lean mass, low overall weight for height)

Why should I bulk?

Because you want to be bigger and stronger than you currently are. For some people it'll be for aesthetic reasons, for others it'll be for their own self-esteem etc. Everyone is different.

My own story is that I was 155lb skinny fat. I hated my image and decided on a complete lifestyle change, with diet and training becoming a major factor in my life. For the first year, I focused on cutting body fat, rather than taking my own advice above and bulk. I lost 25lb+ of fat, but gained around 10lb of muscle (thus recomping) and made good strength gains - which is possible due to the so called 'newbie gains' (the reason that I reccomend bulking to newcomers even with moderate BF%; you'll gain muscle and strength and lose fat at the same time for the first 6-14mo).

Do I regret not bulking straight away? No, because this is a marathon and not a sprint. I may have had bigger strength gains if I hadn't cut for 12 months, but at the same time, I was walking around with a BF% that I was finally happy with. Then, I started bulking, and haven't stopped since.

Moral of this little tale; bulk until you're unhappy, cut until you're unhappy, repeat. Eventually you'll be happy all the time. When? When you reach your goals.

Once you've decided to bulk, climb the mountain to retreive a purple flower, then read on.

Essentials

All you need to know.

- Lift heavy 3/4 times a week
- Eat at a caloric surplus
- Take in at least 1g protein per lb of lean mass daily
- Include some essential fatty acids (omega 3/6/9) and vegetables daily

Do that and you'll get results, 100% of the time. Counting calories is essential to locking down your numbers, but after a while they become second nature and you won't even have to use a calculator. At this point you may have noticed I've barely altered the essentials from the cutting guide, and that's because bulking is pretty much inverse from cutting. All we're doing is switching from a caloric deficit to a caloric surplus.

How many calories should I eat?

So, gaining LBM requires us to be in caloric surplus. Unlike cutting, our weekly goals are different. Whilst it's possible to lose 2lb+ of fat a week, you're going to be adding muscle much slower than that. In general terms, we can only gain 0.5lb of muscle per week, and that's with optimal training and diet planning. For the newcomer, you can probably add more than that for the first year of training (another reason I think newcomers should mostly be bulking straight off). So..

- If you're a newcomer and have decided to bulk, aim to gain 4-6lb a month (or 0.75-1.25 lb per week)
- If you're an intermediate+ lifter, aim to gain 2-3lb a month (0.5-0.75 lb per week)

These numbers might seem lower than you were expecting or commonly heard. But this so called 'lean bulking' will minimise fat gains (which are inevitable most of the time).

The caloric surplus is best attained via diet (through management of caloric intake). Eat 200-500 calories more than your TEE (Total Energy Expenditure; maintenance calories) whilst following the rules outlined in the essentials above and you're on track.

A bit of background of our maintenance level (TEE) - when we weight train (or do any physical activity for that matter), we expand a bunch of calories, which is in our interest obviously. The problem with this as a conscious consideration is newcomers often use it as justification to eat more. Oh, I can have this cake because I did 30 minutes on the treadmill earlier. Whilst this makes some logical sense, it is usually counter-productive because in general people both overestimate how much calories they burn in the gym and underestimate how many calories they're eating. Just workout your TEE below and stick to it, focusing on creating your deficit in the kitchen.

Maintenance Calories = bodyweight in pounds x 15 (or 14 if you're female). That's a rough estimate, which will take a few weeks of trial and error to really nail down. It might take longer, but luckily the scale will tell you where you're at. So..

If you weigh 160lb.

160 x 15 = 2400. That will maintain weight. Eating 2700-2900 a day (200-500 kcal surplus) will yield between 0.25-0.75 of muscle gain a week provided the essential rules are met. The weight you gain will be a mixture of dry muscle, water, increased glycogen stores and fat, but provided you don't go overboard with the surplus, it'll be almost all lean body mass.

Simple.

Tracking progress

Obviously, this is key to knowing what we're doing is working, so here are my recommendations.

- Weigh yourself once a week on the same day at the same time. Before breakfast, after bathroom.
- Write it down.
- If weight does not go up after three weeks and you've not made any obvious slip ups, increase calories by 10%.
- The mirror is usually a better judge for you to go by, although scales help with 'knowing' you're achieving something.
- Write it down. Included again because it's important to log progress. The same goes for your workouts.
- Using calipers will give you a good indication of fat gain (and you can alter diet from here).

It's worth noting that sometimes you'll fluctuate in weight from day to day. This is water weight amongst other factors, and is the reason we weigh ourselves at the same time on a weekly basis and don't panic if we don't gain from one week to the other. As long as there is a general upward trend over the long term, you're golden.

Myths and other things that don't matter

Given the amount of studies, blogs, forum posts (I realize the irony) and articles that you can read on the subject, it's no wonder that a significant amount of broscience has popped up over the years. Bullshit, in other words. The following things are not essential to gaining lean mass.

- Meal timing, aside from eating pre and post workouts
- Meal frequency
- Protein 'maxes' per meal
- Significant analysis of carb/fat ratios, sodium intake, 'clean' foods etc
- Steroids

Obviously, all of these things can be tweaked and considered as part of an overall strategy, but they're are absolutely not required for LBM increase.

A note on Intermittent Fasting

In this thread you may have noticed a lot of people who have started talking about IF recently. I follow this protocol and have done for the past 4 months. Basically, rather than eating in a regular 12-14 hour eating window, you get your calories in a 6-8 hour window instead. It's just a timing protocol. You can just do things normally if you wish, but should you want to read more on the subject, then have a read over at leangains.com.

This is not essential for bulking, it's just another way of acheiving the same goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will I get fat?
A: Not if you take it slowly and monitor progress. Your overall fat levels will increase, but so will your LBM, so you won't necassarily look any 'fatter' as your BF% may stay the same or even lower.

Q: When should I stop bulking?
A: When you're happy with your weight, or when you've reached a BF% you're not happy with. Then you can cut or maintain.

Q: Can I eat what I want?
A: I'm a big believer in 'IIFYM' (If It Fits Your Macros). Get most of your foods from good sources, and then fill in the gaps with things you enjoy. As long as you hit your calories, protein numbers, eat some healthy fats and veggies, there's no reason you can't have a snickers after a meal (I have a snickers every day and I'm gaining LMB steadily).

Q: What weight lifting routine should I do whilst bulking?
A: I reccomend Starting Stength if you're just beginning. Rush made a great post on the subject that I'm sure he'll dig out if asked.

Q: Do I have to use weights?
A: To be honest, yes.

Q: How much is a safe amount to gain per week?
A: No more than 1lb a week. Any more than that will just store as fat, so what's the point?

Q: What are some good food choices?
A: For protein, lean meats, fish, eggs, milk and whey supplements are great. Good carb sources include oats, pasta, rice and wholemeal bread. Good fats can be attained from salmon, mackerel, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts and getting some saturated fats in from butter etc is no bad thing at all (despite what you may have heard).

..and that's it. Hope this information helps as much as it has helped me over the years.
 
#2,829 ·
Q: What are some good food choices?
A: For protein, lean meats, fish, eggs, milk and whey supplements are great. Good carb sources include oats, pasta, rice and wholemeal bread. Good fats can be attained from salmon, mackerel, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts and getting some saturated fats in from butter etc is no bad thing at all (despite what you may have heard).
I think all natural peanut butter deserves a specific mention here. It's an okay protein source, but very dense in calories and poly and mono unsaturated fats, making it perfect for someone on a serious bulk. Really quick calories and for the hardgainer it's super easy to whip up a PB&J with a banana to drink with a casein shake before bed.

Overall, good guide for someone just getting in to lifting.
 
#2,367 ·
Rush’s Beginners Guide To Workout Routines

Okay, as i$e has his cutting guide and HOL is doing a bulking guide, I’m doing this as a kind of reference for beginners in designing a routine that works for them. Some may not have access to gym equipment etc so I will cover some exercises that require no equipment at all as well.

Basic Training Principles

SPORT - Specific, Progression, Overload, Reversibility, Tedium
FITT - Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type

These are the 2 basic acronyms you get taught in high school PE, and they work well to enable you to easily plan out your workouts in order to reach your goals.

Specificity – training must be matched to the needs of the sport/activity to improve fitness in the body parts the sport/activity uses.
Progression – start slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise and keep overloading. Ie if your goal is to run 20km, start small and work your way up.
Overload - fitness can only be improved by training harder than you normally do. Increase the intensity to avoid plateaus.
Reversibility – any adaptation that takes place as a result of training will be reversed when you stop training ie if you don’t use it you lose it.

In planning a programme, use the FITT principles to add the detail:

Frequency - decide how often to train.
Intensity - choose how hard to train.
Time - decide for how long to train.
Type - decide which methods of training to use.

Goal Setting

When most people start out, or before they start out they say stuff like “I want to lose fat” or “I want to be fitter”. These goals may be the final result of a program, but it is important to use SMART goals to give you something to focus on, to achieve and something that is measureable. So instead of saying “I want to be fitter” you can have a goal of running 10km or bench pressing 75kg etc.

ACSM Position Statement

The ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) has various position statements that sum up the research that has been done up until that point on a various number of things. This is basically a summary of their position statement entitled “Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromotor Fitness in Apparently Healthy Adults: Guidance for Prescribing Exercise” - http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/F...nd_Quality_of_Exercise_for_Developing.26.aspx

Cardiorespiratory Exercise

• Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
• Exercise recommendations can be met through 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (five days per week) or 20-60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise (three days per week).
• One continuous session and multiple shorter sessions (of at least 10 minutes) are both acceptable to accumulate desired amount of daily exercise.
• Gradual progression of exercise time, frequency and intensity is recommended for best adherence and least injury risk.
• People unable to meet these minimums can still benefit from some activity.

Resistance Exercise

• Adults should train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.
• Very light or light intensity is best for older persons or previously sedentary adults starting exercise.
• Two to four sets of each exercise will help adults improve strength and power.
• For each exercise, 8-12 repetitions improve strength and power, 10-15 repetitions improve strength in middle-age and older persons starting exercise, and 15-20 repetitions improve muscular endurance.
• Adults should wait at least 48 hours between resistance training sessions.

Flexibility Exercise

• Adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week to improve range of motion.
• Each stretch should be held for 10-30 seconds to the point of tightness or slight discomfort.
• Repeat each stretch two to four times, accumulating 60 seconds per stretch.
• Static, dynamic, ballistic and PNF stretches are all effective.
• Flexibility exercise is most effective when the muscle is warm. Try light aerobic activity or a hot bath to warm the muscles before stretching.

Neuromotor Exercise

• Neuromotor exercise (sometimes called “functional fitness training”) is recommended for two or three days per week.
• Exercises should involve motor skills (balance, agility, coordination and gait), proprioceptive exercise training and multifaceted activities (tai ji and yoga) to improve physical function and prevent falls in older adults.
• 20-30 minutes per day is appropriate for neuromotor exercise.
Now flexibility and aerobic exercise is fairly straightforward, not to many people have a problem in designing a program to help them there. Resistance training on the other hand results in a myriad of questions so that’s what I’ll be focusing on in the rest of this post.

Weight Training - Reps and sets

Now that you’ve set yourself a goal, and you understand how you’re going to progress to that goal, you need to develop a routine/program in order for you to reach that goal. Reps (the amount of times you repeat a lift) and sets (how many groups of reps) are important as the amount you do should reflect the goal you’re setting for yourself.

To put it in basics;

Increase strength - low reps, heavy weight, take your time in between sets. 1-8 reps x 3-5 sets.
Increase power - low reps, heavy weight, lift quickly, take your time in between sets. 1-8 reps x 3-5 sets.
Increase strength + size -medium reps, heavy weight, take your time in between sets. 8-12 reps x 3-5 sets.
Increase endurance - high reps, lower weight, less time in between sets. 12-20 reps x 3-5 sets.

Now that’s just a pretty general guideline, and it is a continual scale so just because you lift higher reps won’t mean you don’t get any strength benefits and visa versa for lifting low reps, you will still gain some endurance benefits.

Workout Splits

So you’re got your goal, how often you’re going to be training, how hard you’re training and how many reps/sets you’re looking at doing, now you have to work on getting a routine that will incorporate your knowledge of training into a way that will work for you.

Workout A - Push, Pull, Legs
This is a fairly common split, and as the name suggests on day 1 you do exercises involving pushing, day 2 is pulling, day 3 is focusing on legs. (when I say day 1, 2, 3 thats workout days not calendar days)

Workout B - 2 day split (upper, lower, rest/cardio, upper, lower, rest/cardio)
You split your workout into upper body exercises, and lower body with a rest day or a cardio day in between to allow you to recover.

Workout C - 3 day full body split
As it says, you do a full body workout, 3 days a week with at least 1 day in between workouts

Workout D - 4 day split.
This is a fairly common split for those who are a little more advanced. A sample would be day 1 - chest/triceps, day 2 - legs/abs, day 3 - back/biceps, day 4 - shoulders, abs.

Now there are far more splits than these 4 but these are a nice starting/reference point. You don’t have to use one of these methods but be aware that muscles are rarely used individually and multi-joint exercises are the gold standard (eg exercises like deadlifts and squats, which use more than one muscle group)

Types of exercises

So you’ve got your goal, reps/sets, routine all down, now you can pick which exercises are best suited for your desired outcome. If you have access to a gym you will notice some people using free weights, some on machines, some doing bodyweight exercises etc. Which is the best? Answer: both free weights and weight machines each have their advantages and disadvantages. This is a straight copy and paste from - http://www.answerfitness.com/91/free-weights-weight-machines-weight-training-basics-answer-fitness/ if its too long, skip to the bottom and I did a very quick summary.

The Advantages of Weight Machines

Weight machines are often the first choice of equipment for people who are new to weight and strength training. And this is for good reason.

Weight machines by design encourage good form, because they limit the range of motion to the specified exercise you are performing. They also isolate the specific muscle group you are targeting by disengaging secondary muscle groups that normally are called upon stabilize the body during performance of an exercise.

If you’ve never performed a bench press (a free weight exercise), for example, you may not be familiar with how to align your arms properly in relation to your body in order to perform the exercise effectively and with minimal risk of injury. A chest press machine, on the other hand, will ensure that your arms are positioned correctly and will give you a sense for how the movement should be performed.

By starting out on weight machines, you can work on get a feel for the exercise, which can then be applied to a free weight workout.

Machine weights also tend to allow you to use more resistance, because you aren’t limited by the smaller (and often weaker) stabilizer muscles that are called upon to balance a free weight. This can help you make bigger gains in strength, and can help beginners establish a more solid base before moving on to more challenging free weight movements.

The Disadvantages of Weight Machines

The primary disadvantage of weight machines is that they don’t engage stabilizer muscles or develop core strength and conditioning as well as free weights.

Your “core” is the chain of muscles that stabilize the spine, pelvis and shoulder and provide a solid foundation for movement in the legs and arms. When you use machines, you don’t need to engage these muscles to balance your body. Over time, this can lead to weaknesses or muscle imbalances which can make you more vulnerable to injury. It can also create aesthetic imbalances in muscle size or definition.

Weight machines aren’t as effective in developing the smaller muscles and connective tissue that your body uses to balance resistance — for example, the rotator cuff, a group of muscles and tendons that help stabilize your shoulder. Because free weights require you to balance the weight during the movement, they can help you strengthen these critical muscle groups.

Finally, because weight machines isolate as specific group of muscles, your body doesn’t require as much energy to perform them as when you perform compound, free weight exercises that call on more than one muscle group to execute the exercise. So from a fat and calorie burning perspective, free weights require more energy which can help with fat loss.

The Advantages of Free Weights

Free weights such as dumbbells and barbells offer more flexibility and options in terms of movement and the different types of exercises you perform.

Many free weight exercises are considered “compound exercises.” A compound exercise is one that involves movement at more than one joint. This means it engages additional muscle groups beyond the primary one that is being trained.

For example, when you perform a dumbbell chest press on a bench, you engage not only your chest, but also your shoulders, abs, lower back and even legs to balance and stabilize yourself during the exercise. When you perform a chest press on a machine, the equipment does all of the stabilization and balancing for you, and isolates the movement so that it’s primarily limited to the muscle being trained.

Free weights also do a better job of accommodating the unique physical quirks that everyone has. No two people are built alike, and weight machines — because their motion is fixed — can force people into movements that are uncomfortable.

Free weights, on the other hand, allow you to make very subtle self-adjustments in the movement and your positioning, which increase your comfort and actually allow you to execute the exercise with better results.

This flexibility is especially important for people who have experienced injuries in the past, since machine weights can cause them to move the weight in a plane that aggravates their condition. Overhead shoulder press machines are infamous for this type of thing.

Free weights also allow you to try out different variations on an exercise. Because you control the positioning of your body and the plane of movement, you can target the muscles differently depending on how you perform the exercise. And because you are calling on stabilizer muscles during the exercise, many people find that free weight training gives them better overall muscle development and definition than when using weight machines alone.

The Disadvantages of Free Weights

There are two primary disadvantages to using free weights.

The first is that people who are new to weight or resistance training may not know how to perform an exercise with proper form. Because free weights don’t force a plane of motion, people can develop bad form habits more easily with free weights than with machines.

This is why it’s often beneficial to practice a bit on a weight machine to get a feel for the exercise before trying the free weight version. It’s also a good idea to have a personal trainer or member of the gym staff show you how to perform an exercise with free weights. They can make sure you are using good form and executing the exercise properly. Failure to do this can cause injury or muscle imbalances.

Free weight also limit the amount of weight you can use. This can be a good thing, because it lessens the chance that you’ll lift too heavy for your current conditioning, but it can also hamper progress, especially for more experienced lifters.

What About Cable Weight Machines?


Cable weight machines can actually offer some of the benefits of both free weights and machines.
Unlike fixed-motion weight machines, cable machines allow you to adjust the range and plane of motion much like free weights. They also require you to stabilize the resistance during the motion, which is excellent for strengthening smaller stabilizer muscles and connective tissue and building more functional coordination between muscle groups.

Cable machines also have advantages over both machine weights and free weights because they encourage constant tension on the muscle through the entire range of motion. This can translate into better strength gains and improved muscle size and development.
Tl;dr - free weights work on stabilisers, don’t lock you into a position, more functional strength gains. Machines, good for beginners, can provide a solid base of strength and enable you to isolate muscle groups.

I must emphasise the importance of proper technique. If you are unsure of how to perform an exercise, then ask a personal trainer or even someone at the gym. Some people don’t like helping others, some are more than happy to give a few pointers.

Next post - Sample workouts and a general overview of exercises for chest, back, triceps, biceps, shoulders, legs, abs, and bodyweight exercises. Might chuck in some rehab stuff that i prescribe for clients just incase anyone is suffering from back pain or something serious preventing them from engaging in physical activity.
 
#5,412 ·
Feeling satisfied with finally reaching the 400-pounds-for-whole-multiple-sets threshold in deadlifting last night. Been very gradually working toward this for a long, long time. :drose :eek:

Special thanks to @Invictus who taught me about going shoeless for those and squats. Has definitely helped, a lot! :)

Will get back at it Monday after taking this weekend off, haha.
 
#5,503 ·
Little before and after here. The first pic is from a few years ago, but I've been pretty doughy and out of shape most of that time.

In late November of last year, I decided to start working out regularly. The 2nd pic shows what I look like now.

I'm happy with the results.
 

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#179 ·
I've lost 20 pounds in the last 2 months simply by eating better, having a slim fast shake for breakfast, and working out 4 days a week.

When I played football in college, I started out at 170 pounds. I finished my career at 270 lbs (I'm 265 now). I never took creatine or any supplement, I simply ate more (lots of protein) and worked my ass off. Here's my steps if you'd like to add muscle.

1. Stretch and do some light walking (10 min) to get your blood flowing.

2. ALWAYS finish your sets. I don't care if you fail out 4 reps into your last set, have a spotter there make you work for it. This always pisses me off when some retard takes a shit load of supplements but then doesn't put them to use.

3. Quit doing leg presses and start doing squats. Leg presses are nice if you're trying to lose weight (right here), but if you wanna add muscle, start squatting. I know it'll hurt your confidence that you can only do 3x10 of 135, but it will work on everything from your legs to your back to your core to your neck.

4. When you eat, always have 2-4 servings of meat (depending on how much muscle you want to gain). Protein from meat works just as well as protein out of those shiny containers. In fact, I'll go farther and say that there's nothing in supplements that you can't get out of food. Sometimes you will have to eat till you feel like puking, that'll happen. And stop drinking soda too.

5. Don't expect to be huge after a month. Keep track of little bits of progress and keep positive. For example, I can see my abs for the first time since 2 months after football, it's pretty awesome. Always compliment yourself and never take anything for granted.

Now go ahead and get pissed at me for saying that supplements are bullshit (which most of them are).
 
#2,646 · (Edited)
Guess we still need to clear up BASIC things for beginners here.

You can either gain muscle, or lose fat, there's no inbetween such as toning muscle. You can "tone" if your bodyweight gets lower (bodyfat wise) or stays the same while the bodyfat drops (which means muscle gains). You will never get 200 lbs and below 10% if you just hit the light weights and do shitty abs exercises, neglecting legs and any logical intesity and rep-range. Your muscles only grow if you give them stimulation to do so, so if you only go light, why should your muscles think they have any reason to grow? Better tren hard and eat clen instead of training hard and eating clean if that's your philosophy.
 
#2,651 · (Edited)
You will never get 200 lbs and below 10% if you just hit the light weights and do shitty abs exercises, neglecting legs and any logical intesity and rep-range. Your muscles only grow if you give them stimulation to do so, so if you only go light, why should your muscles think they have any reason to grow?
This is true, personal experience. I'm far from being a fitness guru, but I'll try to throw in my thoughts on this.

I did light weight and easy exercises for great amounts of time (2-3 hours) 3 times a week, and the results were not that great.

I bought a few more weights and instead of doing easy and light training, now I usually only workout for an hour but doing exercises a lot harder than before. Only one week has passed, and my bicep is starting to get hard normally, without me needing to do any strength for it to pop out.

More workout time = more results - X

--

Lately I've been trying to do this exercise that has been recommended to me (of course I do more than just this).

Instead of doing bench-presses/push-ups/dumbbells normally, I hold them midway trough until I can't take it any longer, and then rest for a while, and repeat.

Not sure if this is worthy, but I must say it has not disappointed so far.
 
#5,187 ·
Damn, this thread is dead. Report!

7/9 @ 92.3kg for 607.5 kg/1339lbs total today. Needed 605kg for nationals in February, I found out afterwards. Now I get to decide if I want to lose Nationally or not! They're in Regina so that's only a six hour drive from where I live. 1400 obviously didn't happen, haha. Cutting down to 93kg took a toll on me, at least for squats. I need to stop being so de facto fat. Technical failed my third squat - just folded forward onto my toes before I even had a shot. Oh well. Hurt my back on second bench and my third was hopeless. However, got my first 3/3 deadlift in comp. Won the 93s with a 383 wilks. 468(miss 490)/319(miss 330)/551. Took 551 for a safe third attempt and class win instead of my planned 567. It was the right call. Definitely not my best day but that's okay.

VID

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4eeftODi9s
 
#5,562 ·
@HiddenFlaw; with that avocado access. :banderas

:woo Just finished performing 100 pullups! Feels good late at night, so cool, haha. :woo
 
#2 ·
Keep building your base first. Nothing is more futile than trying to bulk up without an adequate base of muscles first. Four months is not enough to build up a proper base. I've been consistently working out for about a year now and do not have the base to bulk up the right way yet. Granted I'm not trying to bulk up though as I am perfectly content to be 170 with just a base.
 
#3 ·
well im 5 11 200 pounds i basically live on milk and protein bars lol. I have a cheat day once a week where i eat whatever i want just to keep myself from eating bad stuff the rest of the week.

My workout is all at home i have a bench that you can adjust and i have weights. I do situps on it i put the bench all the way down so your basically doing situps upside down. Then i also do chest i take 20 pound dumbbells in each hand and raise them slowly like 4 sets of 10. Other than that i play basketball outside on my hoop for cardio.
 
#329 ·
Yea sugar is key to getting post-workout as well as protein.

Sleep-aids... what are people's thoughts? I recently purchased Somatomax and Somnidren, both are marketed as "HGH" products, which is of course they are not, but ridiculous claims don't stop me from trying something. They are both touted as being great at inducing deep sleep, something painkillers or ambien or whatever doesnt do for me. Tried somatomax last night and though there's arginine in it (which I respond very poorly to) I figured it was worth a shot anyways due to the small amount of it. I had a very deep sleep and all, but I woke up this morning with very irritated skin (due to the arginine) so I dont think I can take this anymore. I'll be trying the Somnidren tonight, and seeing as how it lacks arginine I'm hoping for the quality sleep of Somatomax minus the problems.
 
#1,145 ·
@ Panther: do not know when I was speaking for you?

@ Enigma: SL 5x5 isn't a bad program. I would actually recommend it to a beginner, next to Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Nearly the same principles but in all honesty, novice lifters don't need 5 sets across. They can make extraordinary gains with 3 sets of 5 across at the same weight. So, I would say Starting Strength is the more appropriate program for novices but Stronglifts is a very nice alternative.

I actually went back on Starting Strength to increase my squat back up to what it was after losing some strength after a bout' with pneumonia. I can't promote the program enough.
 
#2,320 ·
Stop adding salt?
 
#3,285 ·
some of you may remember my last post here in this thread. basically about 6 month ago i decided i had enough and started a new diet and started to workout regularly. well it has been 6 month and i have lost 84 pounds since . i just wanted to thank everybody in this thread for their tips , i don't post regularly here but i visit it often and it really helps . thanks guys.
 
#3,287 ·
This lad deserves his props, people. Whether you're just coming off a bulking phase and looking to cut, or you're morbidly obese and want to change your lifestyle, and anything in between, we can all understand that this is hard work.

The fact you've lost that much weight in half a year is crazy. Congratulations, mate, and I wish you all the best if you are looking to lose more! (Y)
 
#3,365 ·
Went as a tribute to my MMA teacher who died three months ago. He always talked about it. I spent most of my time near (well about 500 Kms removed) a little mountain town called Leh in Kashmir.

And yeah, climbed mountains, ran up them, martial arts, a little bit of chores etc. GOAT monks. They were so hospitable, worked me like a dog but hospitable nonetheless.
 
#3,532 · (Edited)
295 lbs on stiff leg DL today, 3 times. I even asked a trainer I know there to watch me to make sure I had good form (said I did). Felt like a fucking beast!

I hadn't stiff legged in a few weeks either.

He even took a picture of :
 
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