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Fitness |OT9|...You looked better before

Teggy

Member
Psycho, how do you balance cycling / cardio with leg days? I feel like my cardio is fighting muscle growth in my legs.

I've just dropped leg days for the season. Either I'm going to have big quads or get faster on the bike, and right now getting faster is a much bigger priority for me.
 
Yup. Don't do leg days.

I do squats, deadlifts etc, but they're in with other workouts. I usually go for two compounds and more focussed accessories in each session. So I might do bench, deadlift and chest focussed accessories. Or I might do OHP, Squat and arm focussed accessories.

A full on leg day will ruin your running / cycling training for the next couple of days. No question.
 
So at the start of March I broke my ankle and last week I could finally resume my upper body workouts in the gym. I got a huge problem getting hitting my nutritional targets, mainly the calories and carbs, because I'm barely active during the day. It was even iffy trying to get there when I was active with a healthy ankle.

So I was looking at some of the mass/weight gainer shakes and was wondering if it's a good addition to my regular meal to try and hit those targets?
 

mdsfx

Member
Yup. Don't do leg days.

I do squats, deadlifts etc, but they're in with other workouts. I usually go for two compounds and more focussed accessories in each session. So I might do bench, deadlift and chest focussed accessories. Or I might do OHP, Squat and arm focussed accessories.

A full on leg day will ruin your running / cycling training for the next couple of days. No question.

I don't do that much. Usually a 2-set warm up, then 3x5 squats on both swim days each week, but I'm just not progressing much on squats and my runs/bike rides are so much harder the days afterwards. It's like progress on everything is suffering from trying to do too much.

My fear is that my already puny legs will shrink back to their even skinnier previous form if I stop lifting.
 

ACE 1991

Member
2 weeks into my cut, down to 173 from 178. Gonna keep grinding it out until I 165, hopefully before mid-May. All I can think about is the one meal that I'll be eating out at a restaurant this week... At least my strength is still going up, it seems that switching to 5/3/1 for compound movement progression (and keeping the rest of the exercises on my PPL routine the same) was the right call.
 

Teggy

Member
Yup. Don't do leg days.

I do squats, deadlifts etc, but they're in with other workouts. I usually go for two compounds and more focussed accessories in each session. So I might do bench, deadlift and chest focussed accessories. Or I might do OHP, Squat and arm focussed accessories.

A full on leg day will ruin your running / cycling training for the next couple of days. No question.

I actually don't do any leg excercises at all right now. It's not like I will have a massive imbalance if my legs get a little smaller, though :)
 

BumRush

Member
Seanny! Beautiful results bud. Such incredible dedication to do *that*

_______________________________________________________

Unrelated, what do you guys take in your oatmeal?

I've been using it on cheat day as a way to get carbs and sugars I haven't had throughout the week.

  • 2 servings oatmeal
  • Walnuts
  • Greek honey
  • Raisins
  • Strawberries
  • Chocolate chips
  • Cinnamon powder

It tastes so damn good. I look forward to it all week.
 
I don't do that much. Usually a 2-set warm up, then 3x5 squats on both swim days each week, but I'm just not progressing much on squats and my runs/bike rides are so much harder the days afterwards. It's like progress on everything is suffering from trying to do too much.
That's odd... I don't get that at all.

I can understand why you might not be progressing (essentially your legs are being reconfigured somewhat by all the cycling / running), but it shouldn't be affecting your cycling / running that much, assuming you're resting / eating enough.

You do HRV?

I actually don't do any leg excercises at all right now. It's not like I will have a massive imbalance if my legs get a little smaller, though :)

I've been off them a while after breaking my ribs, but I'm slowly working back into it.
 

mdsfx

Member
That's odd... I don't get that at all.

I can understand why you might not be progressing (essentially your legs are being reconfigured somewhat by all the cycling / running), but it shouldn't be affecting your cycling / running that much, assuming you're resting / eating enough.

Dude, running after leg day is absolutely no fun.
 

TheFlow

Banned
My friend just became a trainer at my gym so he gave me a session. Holy shit did he work me like 12 years a slave. Might make him my pt for sure
 
Seanny! Beautiful results bud. Such incredible dedication to do *that*

_______________________________________________________

Unrelated, what do you guys take in your oatmeal?

I've been using it on cheat day as a way to get carbs and sugars I haven't had throughout the week.

  • 2 servings oatmeal
  • Walnuts
  • Greek honey
  • Raisins
  • Strawberries
  • Chocolate chips
  • Cinnamon powder

It tastes so damn good. I look forward to it all week.

Instead of oatmeal i make pancakes with oates.

Oates
Egg
Egg whites
Low fat yogurt
Berries

Put in blender

Cook, then cover in peanut butter and cinnamon. I like it alot.
 

JCX

Member
I had a scare while squatting last week. My left knee felt like it was about to snap as I squatted down during a warm-up set. It hasn't happened since, but the same knee often locks up (for lack of a better term) , so I have to slowly bend my knee until the locked up feeling goes away.

Any thoughts on what this could be?

On the bright side, I had a good chest workout earlier this week. Feels like I am starting to look muscular even though I still have about 50lbs to lose.
 

Szu

Member
Woo hoo!!!

Milestone squat day. All raw and shoeless.

135x10
185x10
225x5
275x5
300x5
305x3
310x4
315x2

Finally hit 315!

When I hit 305, it felt fine but I still wanted to be safe. I had a buddy spot for the last two sets. I wasn't even thinking about 315 at the beginning of the workout, but I when for it once I got a spotter.

My buddy did have to help a bit on the second rep of 315. He mentioned if I didn't do as many increments, then I could hit 315 for 3.

Dat old man strength.
 

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
I don't want to jinx it, but there appears to be some good news.

Some of you may remember I mentioned a while back that I had a pinched ulnar nerve that was affecting my elbow. This particular problem made it so that I couldn't do any exercise that activated the triceps.

So a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't even lift the bar (which as you all know is 45 lbs.) without it hurting. Well, yesterday I went to the gym again, not so much to work out in the conventional sense, but rather for the therapy part of my recovery, and when I attempted to do it with the bar, I found no pain whatsoever.

Good, right? Well yes, but I figured I'd feel shit again once I upped the weight. 65 lbs? Nope, not feeling it. 75? Negative. In the end, I was able to go all the way up to 95 lbs.! (My absolute maximum when I was at my best was 140, which only happened once, just to give you an idea).

The weird thing about all this is that I still have that damn elbow pain when I'm doing some of these exercises the doctor prescribed (that are just stretches, no weights involved). But for whatever reason, I don't appear to be having any issues when I'm lifting pretty damn heavy.

So for now, it looks like I'm slowly getting back to normal.
 

bchamba

Member
anybody here workouts and still drinks. giving up ipas :<

You shouldn't give up IPAs because of working out you should give them up because they're gross.

All joking aside, you can fit it in your macros like anything else. If you want to have some beers one day then offset it with eating less carbs. After my Saturday morning workout I'll properly refuel myself with the best nutrients that several beers and a giant burger can provide. That also is usually my only meal for that day besides whatever I need to eat to hit my protein goal.
 

TheFlow

Banned
You shouldn't give up IPAs because of working out you should give them up because they're gross.

All joking aside, you can fit it in your macros like anything else. If you want to have some beers one day then offset it with eating less carbs. After my Saturday morning workout I'll properly refuel myself with the best nutrients that several beers and a giant burger can provide. That also is usually my only meal for that day besides whatever I need to eat to hit my protein goal.
Ahhh gotcha
 
I've recently been sub 10% body fat and I still drink, though only on weights days (it doesn't go well with cardio). There's nothing really magical about beer that makes you fat, though it can have a mild effect on your testosterone.
 
So at the start of March I broke my ankle and last week I could finally resume my upper body workouts in the gym. I got a huge problem getting hitting my nutritional targets, mainly the calories and carbs, because I'm barely active during the day. It was even iffy trying to get there when I was active with a healthy ankle.

So I was looking at some of the mass/weight gainer shakes and was wondering if it's a good addition to my regular meal to try and hit those targets?

Anyone could possibly help me out or give me recommendations?
 
It's not immediately clear what you want, if you want more calories, there's numerous recommendations in here for seriously high calorie shakes. If you're eating too much, then you could consider intermittent fasting.
 
Gym made a huge deal of me Rack Pulling without shoes on yet I see tons of people use the restroom without washing their hands. I don't get it. Unless you plan on licking the floor behind me, who cares?
 

Szu

Member
Gym made a huge deal of me Rack Pulling without shoes on yet I see tons of people use the restroom without washing their hands. I don't get it. Unless you plan on licking the floor behind me, who cares?

The main reason gyms have the shoe rule is to keep them from being liable in the event of an injury related to dropping a weight on your foot.
 

DopeToast

Banned
I squatted 225 for three sets of five this morning for the first time ever. Felt really nice getting to put a second 45 on each side of the bar. Deadlifted 245 for one set of five, too. And PR'd on bench, too. Good day.
 

Tater Tot

"My God... it's full of Starch!"
Facepulls have really helped me. I do them high rep at 15-17x5 as the last movement on my pull day. If you decide to add them to your routine, make sure you perform the movement with slowly rather than "jerking" the rope for good muscle contraction.

Facepull and Reverse Fly.

I like to do Reverse Flyes or DB rows supersetted with Bench Press and Strict press.


I did these today and for the first time my rear delts are sore.

Thanks
 

linko9

Member
I had a scare while squatting last week. My left knee felt like it was about to snap as I squatted down during a warm-up set. It hasn't happened since, but the same knee often locks up (for lack of a better term) , so I have to slowly bend my knee until the locked up feeling goes away.

Any thoughts on what this could be?

You should get an MRI, very likely a meniscus tear.
 
It's not immediately clear what you want, if you want more calories, there's numerous recommendations in here for seriously high calorie shakes. If you're eating too much, then you could consider intermittent fasting.

Yea, mainly trying to reach the calories required while hitting the macros. Is it best trying to make your own shake, or are those pre-made powder ones (like eg. Mammoth Mass) also a viable option?
 

mike6467

Member
I wish I could do facepulls. Sadly it makes an old shoulder injury of mine worse. :(

I really like slow, controlled, seated facepulls with super light weight (seriously, start with the minimum). Allows for complete control of the stack and keeping tension exclusively on the rear delts.

Not sure about others, but slow, controlled movement, along with pauses/tempo change-ups have been the best thing my shoulders have seen since I injured my right one grabbing a goddamn trashbag that I thought was <50 lbs but was actually >150. That was 10 years ago

Simple reverse cable crossovers are good too, plus you can adjust the angle to accommodate your shoulder issue. I'll also say that bringing up my rear delts was the best thing I ever did for my shoulders. I know I had an injury, but I'm fairly sure there was a pretty severe muscle imbalance there too, and once I focused on the rear delts, all my other workouts that had even a tiny shoulder component improved and the chronic pain got much, much better.
 

SeanR1221

Member
good stuff

Good effort Sean, great results.

Fuckin awesome! Nice work

Excellent. Lot of hard work clearly been put in there.

I really must grow a pair of balls and do mine one day.

Seanny! Beautiful results bud. Such incredible dedication to do *that*
.

Thanks guys :) I'm just glad its over for now. It became really difficult at the end. My energy levels were just sapped. Who knew calories gave so much energy ;)
 

mdsfx

Member
I had an indoor cycling time trial last weekend. It was a 10-mile climb and I never expect to place, but only one other guy showed up for this thing so I put everything out there and it was a dual from hell.

The first 3.3 miles were fucking barbaric. We were both in our 'easiest' gear, but averaging only 5-6mph. We kept looking at the staff expecting them to tell us there was something wrong. "Nope, it's a nasty climb. Stick with it," they said. The computrainers, which were not very robust, started smoking at mile 2.5, so they had to put fans on them mid-race to keep them from burning up. I was almost a mile ahead of him at mile 9.6 when mine failed completely.

They still gave me the win and offered me the $100 prize money, but I decided to split it with him due to the equipment failure (he was able to finish). Hell of an experience.
 
Was 230 pounds your top weight Sean? You seem to have a little bit of loose skin (not to be a jerk and its not much), but at 230 you weren't -that- big. How did that happen then?
 

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Excellent!

Unfortunately, my joy was short lived.

Although that arm is improving, my other arm, which was totally healthy, has started showing signs of problems. It's a bit different, though. The initial arm that was troubling me had a very distinct, sharp pain. My other arm however, doesn't have a sharp pain at the elbow, but rather feels strained, like it's being squeezed. It doesn't hurt exactly, in the sense that it's no painful. But it is noticeable in that something is off. I was carrying a 20 oz. bottle of juice home today and even that was causing it to feel really strained.

Anyone have any advice on this?
 
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