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Fitness |OT8| Dad Bods, Bulge Swelfies, and Wait...Do you even lift bro?

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10g BCAA
5g creatine monohydrate
2.5g beta alanine
3.5g citrulline malate
1g taurine

However, I take the beta alanine and citrulline malate twice a day.

Edit - If I need it, I usually hit the strong coffee before a workout, and if I'm flagging mid workout I take a pro plus or two (50mg caffeine per tablet).
 

mdsfx

Member
10g BCAA
5g creatine monohydrate
2.5g beta alanine
3.5g citrulline malate
1g taurine

However, I take the beta alanine and citrulline malate twice a day.

Creatine? I'm surprised. I was convinced this caused tightening in my muscles during prolonged runs. You never get that problem cycling?
 
Creatine actually has arguably more benefit for cyclists than lifters (increasing time to fatigue is obviously massively important in cycling).

Have never had an issue with muscle tightness, but obviously cycling is a very different mechanism to running.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
What up fellas. Haven't been posting much lately but I'm around. In the middle of cut since Thanksgiving ended. Put on about 5-7lbs because of too many cheat days. The never ending cycle continues...
 

Teggy

Member
Crap, I was doing my third set of squats at 205 and my right knee started to hurt so I had to stop. Might have to take a break from squats and deadlifts for a while. I was able to do leg presses without pain last time I had runners knee, so maybe I can do that.

What can I do to protect my knees besides warming up? Would knee sleeves help?
 

mdsfx

Member
Crap, I was doing my third set of squats at 205 and my right knee started to hurt so I had to stop. Might have to take a break from squats and deadlifts for a while. I was able to do leg presses without pain last time I had runners knee, so maybe I can do that.

What can I do to protect my knees besides warming up? Would knee sleeves help?

Leg presses put too much pressure on my knees. Have you checked your squat form to see if your knees are buckling/flaring out? Have you tried playing with different foot positions?
 

Teggy

Member
Leg presses put too much pressure on my knees. Have you checked your squat form to see if your knees are buckling/flaring out? Have you tried playing with different foot positions?

I thought they were doing fine. I hadn't had any knee pain until yesterday. The last time I had runners knee was a few years ago before I was working out at all.
 

mdsfx

Member
I thought they were doing fine. I hadn't had any knee pain until yesterday. The last time I had runners knee was a few years ago before I was working out at all.
Sometimes I get pain from too much activity. Eventually no matter how much I change up my activity (running, cycling, lifting...) They just need a few days to recover.
 

ILoveBish

Member
If cooter has gone off course, what hope do we, the non genetically gifted have? Dark times ahead....

I've gained 2lbs each day the past 2 days in a row. Kinda weird. Up to 224.4 this morning. I've been at around 1900-ish calories each day. Whatever. I have so many events this month I'll just do my best and get back to a serious cut in the new year.
 

BumRush

Member
What up fellas. Haven't been posting much lately but I'm around. In the middle of cut since Thanksgiving ended. Put on about 5-7lbs because of too many cheat days. The never ending cycle continues...

Missed ya bud. It's that time of the year though, so don't worry about 5-7 pounds. That's 2 weeks tops for you.
 
Crap, I was doing my third set of squats at 205 and my right knee started to hurt so I had to stop. Might have to take a break from squats and deadlifts for a while. I was able to do leg presses without pain last time I had runners knee, so maybe I can do that.

What can I do to protect my knees besides warming up? Would knee sleeves help?

It's possibly a form issue. While you can't squat without using the front of your legs, the muscles that should be working the hardest are along your backside. How wide are your heels? Widening your stance activates your posterior chain more and puts less strain on your knees.
 
They stole my gainz bros. :(

Lost 3.5lbs overnight (hit my target yesterday) and today's session was a disaster, especially OHP and squat. Stupid stressed body. :(
 

Fox318

Member
Started taking my creatine in pill form with tons of water instead of in a powder.

My pill container is so full it isn't even funny.
 

JoeNut

Member
Holy shit I need to stretch more. I had a week off last week and then Monday went straight back into 5x5 strong lifts. The aching is my legs is debilitating
 
Looking to do some Yoga. I've been flirting with the idea for years, but I know I'll be getting a mat on the 25th so I want to know some stuff before hand. I've done some work with the wii fit, but I'd like to learn more. Any good app suggestions for the iphone? Bonus points if it shows the poses on my apple watch. Any good youtube channels? Thanks for your help.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
THE COOTER PROTOCOL HAS FAILED!

What hope do we have now? :(

Sleep easy my friend the protocol is still valid. I went off it for a few weeks. That's all.

If cooter has gone off course, what hope do we, the non genetically gifted have? Dark times ahead....

I still have abs. How bad could it have been?

Missed ya bud. It's that time of the year though, so don't worry about 5-7 pounds. That's 2 weeks tops for you.

Thanks man. Yup, 2 weeks is about right. Already getting close.
 
Forgot to mention. I ran a 10k on thanksgiving. It wreaked my legs for days afterwards. Still got a cool photo from it.

hD3VJ2c.jpg
 
Reading this blog post by Mark and he's saying that a novice male will start squats at 135 and should be 185 by the 6th work out.

So within two weeks, a person is supposed to jump 50 pounds?

Which makes me feel like I'm not doing it right when I only jumped 65 pounds in 6 weeks
 
10-15lb per session (if you don't fail). So assuming you started at 135lbs, you'd add say 10lbs on Wednesday, then 10lbs on Friday... and so on. Thoretically by the sixth you'd either be on 170 or 195 (or in between).

How much weight should I add from workout to workout?

For young males that weigh between 150-200 lbs., deadlifts can move up 15-20 lbs. per workout, squats 10-15 lbs., with continued steady progress for 3-4 weeks before slowing down to half that rate. Bench presses, presses, and cleans can move up 5-10 lbs. per workout, with progress on these exercises slowing down to 2.5-5 lbs. per workout after only 2-3 weeks. Young women make progress on the squat and the deadlift at about the same rate, adjusted for bodyweight, but much slower on the press, the bench press, cleans, and assistance exercises. – Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming, Pg. 122

Took me a damn sight longer than that to get to 180... but then I only weigh 140.
 

Chocobro

Member
I'm pretty sure there are some assumptions like the male novice weighs minimum 200#. Then that's reasonable. I don't think it's reasonable for someone that weighs maybe 135#, or just light-weight in general, to squat close to 1.5x BW within several weeks.
 
What's a good tactic for food. I eat 4400 per day and it is hard for me to get it all down. I eat about 6x per day. Should I double it up and hit 1500 in 3 big meals? I find myself forcing food down because I'm not hungry. I can do like 6-7 hour splits with meals (I get up at 2:30 and go to bed around 7 or 8) - just so I have room between meals to get hungry again so I don't gag.

Thoughts?
 

goober

Member
Okay so I started Stronglifts 5x5 a couple weeks ago, but I hadn't lifted in about a year.

I have the app, and I made it so I said I was a complete novice to lifting. It started me at just the bar for everything except deadlifts.

Now I've been sticking to adding the weight for a while because I wanted to focus on proper form. But I feel the workout is a little too easy, except for the overhead press.

Any tips? I don't want to increase the weight too fast and injure myself or something.
 
Any tips? I don't want to increase the weight too fast and injure myself or something.
You've already got the right idea. Don't. Concentrate on getting your form dialled and the weight will get plenty heavy in no time at all.

Before you know it you'll be getting pancaked on squats and ripping your arms out / tearing your hands to pieces on deadlifts.
 

Teggy

Member
It's possibly a form issue. While you can't squat without using the front of your legs, the muscles that should be working the hardest are along your backside. How wide are your heels? Widening your stance activates your posterior chain more and puts less strain on your knees.

Thank you for reminding me about this, I definitely have been keeping my feet too close together. It's something I would concentrate on when I started squatting a couple of years ago, but I forgot I started up again recently after a very long (around 10 mos) break. Even doing unweighted squats I can feel the difference on my knee.

Reading this blog post by Mark and he's saying that a novice male will start squats at 135 and should be 185 by the 6th work out.

So within two weeks, a person is supposed to jump 50 pounds?

Which makes me feel like I'm not doing it right when I only jumped 65 pounds in 6 weeks

I mean, he also suggests you drink a gallon of milk a day, so you can take that with a grain of salt. When I first started squatting I didn't feel comfortable with 135 and started with 95. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I also do a modified Greyskull, which goes up 5lbs for legs unless you can do more than 10 reps (then 10 lbs) and 2.5 lbs for arms and I find that a lot more reasonable than those huge jumps. And it still only took about 7-8 weeks to go from 115-205 in squats.
 

goober

Member
You've already got the right idea. Don't. Concentrate on getting your form dialled and the weight will get plenty heavy in no time at all.

Before you know it you'll be getting pancaked on squats and ripping your arms out / tearing your hands to pieces on deadlifts.

Thanks. It just sucks because when I was lifting regularly, I was able to squat and deadlift way more than I'm doing now. I'm just eager to get back to where I was.
 

Fox318

Member
One of the gyms I go to had the bright idea to have a deadlifting area with bumper plates on the 2nd floor above other businesses .

Some assholes I guess we're slamming the weights down so an employee had to stop them.
 
I feel a lot of guilt on deadlift day. I don't even fully drop the weights, let alone throw them down, but I feel terrible about the noise / impact they make. I never do it late, but my neighbour must still hate me every Wednesday. Pendelay rows are pretty bad too.
 

BumRush

Member
I feel a lot of guilt on deadlift day. I don't even fully drop the weights, let alone throw them down, but I feel terrible about the noise / impact they make. I never do it late, but my neighbour must still hate me every Wednesday. Pendelay rows are pretty bad too.

Do you live in a condo?? If not, you're probably fine lol.
 
No, but I know that their living room is attached to where I work out. I can hear when they're banging / moving things, so they're definitely hearing / feeling my deadlifting.
 

BumRush

Member
No, but I know that their living room is attached to where I work out. I can hear when they're banging / moving things, so they're definitely hearing / feeling my deadlifting.

Haha well as long as you do it during respectable hours, I'm sure they don't mind.
 

mdsfx

Member
Bench form question:

When I'm really struggling, my elbows flare way out and it ends up messing with my shoulders. Anyone ever have this problem? Wtf am I doing wrong...
 

Christopher

Member
Anyone who doesn't think you can do it again I'm living proof that you don't have to be fat



I believe that's 265..?? That was me fat not confident and thinking I could never lose weight.

4-6 months later of gym everyday grilled chicken and water also I took the group fitness classes which I still do to this day





These aren't my super up to date today photos as now I just feel weird taking shirtless selfies as a married dad lol

I just always wanna make sure I drop in to give some inspiration that yes you can do it and yes you can feel confident about how you look and feel
 

mdsfx

Member
Anyone who doesn't think you can do it again I'm living proof that you don't have to be fat


These aren't my super up to date today photos as now I just feel weird taking shirtless selfies as a married dad lol

I just always wanna make sure I drop in to give some inspiration that yes you can do it and yes you can feel confident about how you look and feel

Awesome job! That's a hell of a transformation.

Also, fellow shirtless, married dad here. I used to post them all the time lol
 

Fox318

Member
man I had such a craving for a good burger yesterday.

There has to be good places on the go where I can get a bowl or burger that isn't packed with salt.
 
Tis the time of year where we all fall off, lmao.

Between the holiday and a big change in my work schedule (promotion and transfer) I've had challenges with hitting the gym and eating with discipline.

Gonna have to figure out non-peak gym visits now that I have a more normal 9-5 or 10-7 schedule.
 

Wulfric

Member
225 5x5 squats today. Might need to get just a little lower, but seemed pretty good I think. Felt good!

Looks pretty low to me. Smooth movement too.

So I've run into an issue with my bench press again. I was doing 120 lbs 5x5 and the last two sets were a struggle. I can get the bar down, but I have to really fight to move it back up. Day 13 of SL has BP set at 75lbs, so should I be deloading until I'm more comfortable with the weight?

It's beyond me how I struggle with BP when my squat is at a solid 155 when Day 13 is only 105. >_>
 

Christopher

Member
Awesome job! That's a hell of a transformation.

Also, fellow shirtless, married dad here. I used to post them all the time lol

I guess I just don't buzz my body hair or care as much as I use to lol so it's like ehhh

But again I'm telling you anyone can do it - it just sucks cause food tastes so good
 
It's beyond me how I struggle with BP when my squat is at a solid 155 when Day 13 is only 105. >_>

My bench is about half what my squat is, and about a third of my deadlift. Such is life though. lol

Unrelated, I had to work all through the night yesterday. Went straight from weights which finished at 8pm right through to 7am because of server issues. Which was fun. I feel utterly wrecked today, and sore, which I haven't felt after a workout in ages. Am currently taking my first day off (between weights and cycling I do 7 days a week) since October.
 

BumRush

Member
Bench form question:

When I'm really struggling, my elbows flare way out and it ends up messing with my shoulders. Anyone ever have this problem? Wtf am I doing wrong...

It happens if the weight's too heavy. Focus on keeping your elbows in as that will do some serious shoulder damage.
 

SeanR1221

Member
Man. I can finally go back to benching relatively pain free and my strength has plummeted off a cliff, broke into a thousand pieces and a bear walked by and pissed on the remains.

Time to rebuilt this shit.
 
It happens if the weight's too heavy. Focus on keeping your elbows in as that will do some serious shoulder damage.
This. I keep my elbows at a 45. Good balance between tri and anterior delt activation on the press, IMO. Feels good and you get a nice smooth motion.
 

Anth0ny

Member
So I finally started incorporating crossfit exercises into my routine

battle rope exercises are killer

i'm soft as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
 
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