Wrestling Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

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 :$
 
#1,244 ·
I'm planning on going to wrestling school late this year/early next, and obviously need to build some sort of muscle seeing as I only weigh 9st13, which is about 140pounds I believe, and i'm 5ft 10 1/2. I used to weigh 18st 6, and that was obviously fat, but i've slimmed down quite a shitload over the last year and a half after going to the gym constantly.

Basically, I did too much cardio work, and i've got a little bit of loose skin on my stomach area which needs sorting out. I was just wondering if anyone had any idea on how much I should train? I don't do many dumbells, or much lifting at all, infact. I've no idea where to start on that. Whenever I go to the gym I mostly run for 15 mins, chest press, ab toner, hip abductor, another ab toner, shoulder press, and then cool down. I know that's not enough, so I need some sort of guidelines to what I should be doing. The gym owner told me to eat twice as much too, which I admittedly find quite hard to do, but i'm determined enough to do it. I've got some 10kg dumbells at home and they're enough for me at the moment but I should obviously look to lift much, much more in the future. So any help will really be appreciated, thanks.
 
#1,246 ·
I'm planning on going to wrestling school late this year/early next, and obviously need to build some sort of muscle seeing as I only weigh 9st13, which is about 140pounds I believe, and i'm 5ft 10 1/2. I used to weigh 18st 6, and that was obviously fat, but i've slimmed down quite a shitload over the last year and a half after going to the gym constantly.

Basically, I did too much cardio work, and i've got a little bit of loose skin on my stomach area which needs sorting out. I was just wondering if anyone had any idea on how much I should train? I don't do many dumbells, or much lifting at all, infact. I've no idea where to start on that. Whenever I go to the gym I mostly run for 15 mins, chest press, ab toner, hip abductor, another ab toner, shoulder press, and then cool down. I know that's not enough, so I need some sort of guidelines to what I should be doing. The gym owner told me to eat twice as much too, which I admittedly find quite hard to do, but i'm determined enough to do it. I've got some 10kg dumbells at home and they're enough for me at the moment but I should obviously look to lift much, much more in the future. So any help will really be appreciated, thanks.
Eating twice as much with that routine will get you nowhere. You might gain weight, but not in the form you're hoping for. But you already know that. I'd chill out on the ab stuff first of all...as well as the cardio. You can do some light running for maybe 5 minutes before you hit the weights, but dont overdo it. You dont want to be huffing and puffing before you even start lifting. 15 minutes is way too long. Throw that ab shit at the end of your workouts if you really want to do it....thats accessory stuff. You definitely dont want to be that guy who goes to the gym, does a bunch of ab exercises and dumbell curls and goes home. I would just stick with the basic big exercises for now, like bench press, rowing, and squatting. Something like the Starting Strength routine is always a good choice. Obviously though you will be massively limited in what you can accomplish at home as far as accumulating muscle with 20lb dummbells though.
 
#1,247 ·
How does this sound?

Trying to devise a plan/schedule again for my workouts.

Saturday - sort of the "start" of the week for me.

Back and Chest

- lat pulldowns
- seated row (straight back)
- bent over row
- chest press
- bench press
- cable standing fly
- dumbbell bench press

Sunday - either dayoff/break or exercise bike + weights at home (its all I have at home, so its undecided)

Monday -

Shoulder + weight training exercises

- sled shoulder press
- dumb bell front raise
- dumbbell shoulder press (maybe)
- EZ Bar Curl
- hammer curls
- preacher curls
- dips (tricep version)
bench dips
- something else (suggestions?)

Tuesday - BREAK

Wednesday - Focus on cardio

Thursday - Leg and Stomach Exercises

- leg press
- leg extension
- leg curls or something else which I can't remember what its called)

(note: I'm not comfortable with squats at the moment, which is why I'm not doing the "best" squat exercises yet)

- decline abdominal crunches
- medicine ball or holding weight crunches
- oblique twists

Friday - unsure?

Saturday - startover.

Would love your thoughts, but don't go ranting and raving about it, because I'm simply learning and getting the hang of things, designing a workout suitable for me.
 
#1,250 · (Edited)
It's look awful I'm afraid (not having a go just saying). If i were you i would something like this to start with then move onto something more advanced if you like.

note: I'm not comfortable with squats at the moment, which is why I'm not doing the "best" squat exercises yet)

At the risk of sounding like a dick, the only way you will get comfortable with squats, is to squat i'm afraid. If you new to them start off with goblet squats (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmrXTx6jZs ). These will help you get more used to the plane of movement.

Here is what i would do

Workout A:
Goblet squat
Weighted dip
Bent over row
Military press
Bi curls
Planks

Workout B:
Deadlift
Benchpress
Chins (if you struggle then do lat pulldowns instead)
DB shoulder press
Tri pushdowns
Jacknifes

So the week would look like this:
Saturday: A
Sunday: off
Monday: B
Tuesday: off
Wednsday:A
Thursday & Friday off
Saturday: B
You get the picture.
Do 3 sets of 8 for everything.

Hope this is helpful :)
 
#1,255 ·
There are so many variable factors to be considered here - diet, nutrition, training frequency, volume of weights used, cables versus free weights, amount of cardio, and the list just goes on.

If you're wanting to keep or build a big frame, focus on the compound lifts. These are the heavy hitters. They're the meat and potatoes, so to speak, of a good lifting regiment. These are your deadlifts, squats, bench presses, and military presses. Without them, you're wasting a lot of time & effort in the long run.

Think of it as a foundation. You can't build a two-story house or a skyscraper with no solid foundation. Bicep curls alone aren't going to amount to much without a wide/thick back, quads, larger traps, broader shoulders, etc.

I'll say it again. Cardio and isolation lifts are the seasonings and side platters. Heavy, compound lifts are your main course.

Dig in.
 
#1,257 ·
Tabata protocol is 20 secs hard, 10 secs rest right? Haven't tried it although i did have to help out a few of the postgrad students looking at a HIIT protocol of 8 secs hard 12 secs rest (although it was really more 10/10). Tried it out, was easy enough. 20 secs on, 10 secs rest would be a killer though.
 
#1,258 ·
Yeah that's it. Added it into my training routine b/c of how much it burns in so short a time. It's a pretty good trick to improve your anaerobic conditioning. I do it prior to my steady cardio workout usually (moderate intensity). Can also send your heart into hyperdrive so might not want to do it if you're not 100% heart-healthy.
 
#1,259 ·
Agree with Something Savage (I'm often finding myself saying that around here). Compound lifting is the main thoroughfare, and the isolation workouts are side streets that are great to spend some time on, but in support of your travels on the main artery. Compound lifting is crucial to building substantial muscle mass. The more muscles utilized in one workout routine, the better. If you happen to have a big frame like I happen to, then compound lifting is like taking what should be a good foundation based on size, and taking it to, well, not its full potential--but at least taking advantage of it.

The Tabata protocol is a solid exercise for cardio; I do it regularly for about five minutes, but I don't want to take it any further than that (at least at 20 seconds hard, 10 seconds rest), because while I'm sure it does indeed do wonders for your heart health in a reasonable dose, I'm not personally intrigued by the possibilities that a lot of hardcore enthusiasts of it exclaim to be true. Just basic cardio training with a decent helping of the Tabata protocol for maximum fat loss--or at least maximum as far as I'm concerned I'm willing to go to at this juncture--does it for me. But there's definitely something to the Tabata protocol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Something Savage
#1,267 ·
There's more of a positive correlation with squat > deadlift in contrast with deadlift > squat.

In a perfectly controlled trainining program, with the same variables, it seems as though increasing your squat numbers without training your deadlift will raise your deadlift numbers accordingly. Conversely, the same isn't necessarily true or proven yet in regards to the deadlift increasing your squat (if you were to train the deadlift without training the squat for weeks on end).

All in all, you would probably be better served training both concurrently unless you had some limitations. This is just a tested experiment that's been run across a few years ago (can't remember the year this experiment was published off hand).
 
#1,268 ·
I've been doing a few squats as of late, and been doing bicep curls lately also (That's not it, but the last week or so it is, as i've been pretty damn ill). I'm getting quite toned, but I still have the unfortunate loose skin problem, which I am actually going to see a doctor about next week as it's annoying the hell out of me. I'm going to Florida this year in September for the first time, so i'd like to be in some sort of shape so I can take my shirt off and enjoy the holiday.

I haven't been to the gym much as of late as i've just got over the flu, but i'm planning on going again this week. Instead of doing 15 minute jogging, I now do 5 minutes, and a fair share of weight training throughout the hour that i'm there. Infact last time I worked really hard, and really enjoyed it. It's enough for me, as I have a previous back problem that could stop me from even beginning wrestling training, so I wrote to my surgeon and i'm awaiting a reply on whether he'd advise me to take it up or not. If not, then I wouldn't have to work as hard, as I have to build atleast 40 pounds of mass or so, as i'm only 140lbs at the moment.

I'm not saying that if my surgeon tells me not to wrestle that I will give up working out, as I enjoy it. But I just wont work as hard to build the 40+ pounds or so of mass.
 
#1,272 ·
I started off on Starting Strength and made some fairly good progress. Any training based around the theories of Bill Star and Mark Rippetoe are generally good for strength and mass gains.

As of recently, I've transitioned into olympic weightlifting so I've been running the Bulgarian program for something along the lines of two & a half months now. My goal was to get my total around 1200 lbs then switch to something a bit more entertaining (OL).

Most programs you will find in magazines, on the internet, etc,. are highly falsified, let alone impractical.
 
#1,271 ·
I'm a control freak. I'm extremely anal about my regimen, regardless of whether I intend to be or not. During downtime, I'll find myself thinking about what groups I've already hit, what groups I could hit again, and what's been lagging.

There's no doubt that squats are very important for building mass and building strength. I go through phases of dedicating a lot of time and effort to squats (and quads in general), but then I generally fall back off and resort to the same old same.

Deadlifts are definately my personal favorite. Squats are definately something I proscratinate and dread. And, in fact, I think I try to force it to the back of my mind & look for reasons to avoid them whenever possible - such as the fact that I work construction, in piperacks, etc. and hate the feeling of having sore legs for days on end - while having to climb and crawl and shit for work.

Regardless, I think I'll force myself to incorporate them into my routine more often again now. Why the hell not? I've already recognized that it's a problem. I just need to man up & get back to it more regularly.
 
#1,276 ·
I'd agree with that. You can pick & choose bits or pieces from others' programs, but you're never going to just "stumble" across the perfect program for YOU without putting it into action for yourself.

Photos, videos, or the author of some article won't determine what's best for you. They won't keep you motivated enough, rested enough, or nourished enough to hit the gym 3-5 times a week.

Likewise, there's not one poster here who can answer your question of, "What should I do?"

We can merely offer advice and suggestions. It's going to take you applying it and seeing what works with your life, your schedule, and your body type to determine whether or not it's efficient in the end.
 
#1,277 ·
How do you guys split your workouts? This is my schedule:

Sunday: Chest/Tris
Monday: Biceps/Forearms
Tuesday: Abs/Legs
Wednesday: Back/Shoulders
Thursday: Full body

My friend who I go to with likes to do full body workouts on Thursday, but I feel like that is kind of pointless because we are over training. So what do you guys think? Yay or nay to full body?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top