Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Week 9 down.

Push Ups - Level 2 Inclines
Leg Raises - Level 3 Flat bent knee raises

Pull Ups - Level 2 Hori PU
Squats - Level 3 Supported squats

Bridges - Level 2 Flat Bridges
Hand Stand Push Ups - Level 2 Crow stands

Great two weeks. Went up to the next level with leg raises, squats, and the hand stand push ups. Finally nailed the 2 minute headstand and that was after a failed attempt ending at 1:44.

Hit numbers in bridges but will do them at least 2 more weeks before moving on.

Pull ups and push ups continue to improve steadily and slowly. 2 to 3 reps total a week.
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TJB
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by TJB »

kane wrote:Paid a lot for the stuff at first, but in the end it was well worth it. Equipment paid for itself in about a year (gyms are expensive!), and I never had an excuse to miss a single workout since then. Plus no having to deal with shit gym music, wait 20 mins in line for the squat rack, or pick fights with idiots that throw 200 pound DBs flying across the room after a set of crappy half-rep presses.
Oh the memories, long gone are the days of waiting for the local Asian crew to finish up their 38 hour arm workout while feigning a Lebanese accent to each other. Or the strange punter from the local arcade who'd swing by with an abnormally young Asian boy to watch him fill the room with grunts and gasps like I was at a tennis match or some shit, same guy used to try and chat up the schoolgirls who hung around the arcade at the time, mind you he was in his 40's.

Same deal mate, never looked back.

Although I do miss being able to lift with my mates sometimes
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Week 10 down. The + numbers refer to the total amount for all sets.

Monday
Push Ups - Level 2 Inclines +4
Leg Raises - Level 3 Flat bent knee raises +15

Wednesday
Pull Ups - Level 2 Hori PU +3
Squats - Level 3 Supported squats - Hit numbers for the 2nd week. One more.

Friday
Bridges - Level 2 Flat Bridges - Hit numbers for the 2nd week. One to two more.

Hand Stand Push Ups - Level 2 Crow stands - Kind of a feeling out week. Didn't bother timing them, was more concerned with finding my balance point. Did 7 or 8, and by the last 2 I was holding them for 5-10 seconds. A minute is my goal.
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broken harbour
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by broken harbour »

How's the results? Weight coming down? Muscle building up?

I'm still injured but I've been eating better and not drinking anything, so I've made a small amount of progress there.
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BryanM
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

kane wrote:I just fucking hate giving training advice for free, be it to friends or family. 100% of the time I did this, the person ended up not listening to any of the shit I say
This is what you're supposed to do when asked about this sort of thing:

Step 1 - Tell them to read Starting Strength
Step 2 (conditional) - If they're a 150 pound weakling, tell them to eat more until they're pooping once a day

If they're intelligent, they'll blossom into a flower and you're a hero for 18 seconds of effort. If not, well, it didn't cost you much.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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BryanM wrote: Step 2 (conditional) - If they're a 150 pound weakling
Uhh.. is 150 pounds considered puny? I'm only slightly over that :x
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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broken harbour wrote:How's the results? Weight coming down? Muscle building up?

I'm still injured but I've been eating better and not drinking anything, so I've made a small amount of progress there.
Slowly getting stronger week by week, weight is good and has been for a while.

I found a picture of myself from three years ago, I was around 5 - 6% body fat at the time, but that shit required way too much dietary sacrifice.

I'm around 9% now and it is much more maintainable. Finally added cardio to the mix so I will probably drop a little more. Not super concerned though - just want to be strong and healthy.

Diet is super important. When I tore my calf back in October I only gained 5 lbs. even though I was on my ass for 5 weeks because of my diet.

Hope you get better soon!
kane wrote:
I am going between 5-7% body fat year round. But it is next to impossible to get people to train and eat smartly unless they pay. Only when they pay, they listen; I never had this sort of thing happen with actual clients.
Damn man. 5 - 7%? Is it difficult for you to maintain that?

You can't make people take this sort of thing seriously. They either want to or they don't. Obviously paying money motivates people, but if they were smart they would take your free information and run with it.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Blinge wrote:
BryanM wrote: Step 2 (conditional) - If they're a 150 pound weakling
Uhh.. is 150 pounds considered puny? I'm only slightly over that :x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFPsvF3UOdo

This guy is puny too :mrgreen: The truth is we can all be that strong.
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Blinge
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Urgh! It looks weird, I got a tinge of nausea from that. :?
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Blinge wrote:
BryanM wrote: Step 2 (conditional) - If they're a 150 pound weakling
Uhh.. is 150 pounds considered puny? I'm only slightly over that :x
Yeah in objective terms it is. In subjective terms you better be a shorty or start gobbling down those hamburgers >_<

A bit more about bodyweight:

* It's very important. Sports involving fighting don't have 7 pound class increments as a joke.

* Fallon Fox is an extraordinarily weak fighter. He's a male who fights women in MMA, and occasionally manages to lose. If he actually moved up a weight class, maybe two, he'd be an unstoppable woman-beating monster.

* Weight scales as cube, strength as a square. This is why the winners of Sasuke/Ninja Warrior are always short people in the 5'3" to 5'6" range.
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Blinge
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Blinge »

BryanM wrote: Yeah in objective terms it is. In subjective terms you better be a shorty or start gobbling down those hamburgers >_<
Nope, I'm 5'10.
That's it. You and me outside! You will fall to my flailing limp wrists.

One google later: It's slightly dishonest to call Fox a male isn't it?
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Xyga
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Xyga »

100 push-ups,
100 sit-ups,
100 squats,
and 10Km running...
...every single day !!!
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
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Xyga
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Xyga »

kane wrote:
Xyga wrote:100 push-ups,
100 sit-ups,
100 squats,
and 10Km running...
...every single day !!!
I can't exactly tell if you are serious :)
Google One Punch Man :p
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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kane wrote:it highly depends on what your goals are. And especially when considering recreational lifting, where "looks" is also a big motivating factor, priorities may change. For example, I spent most of my younger days at 140 pounds & 5'9; but I could deadlift ~2.5x my bodyweight, which was enough to shut up all the 200 pounder bros in the gym. Yes, in absolute terms some heavier guys did much better than I, but I preferred the slim & lean look, and always having visible abs thanks to low fat, over increasing my lifts faster.

I personally do (and suggest) a long cut to begin with, and slowly start building muscle once below 8-10% fat over a longer period, with short cuts in between when/if necessary. I found this to be more satisfactory in terms of looks-related goals, with almost equivalent effectiveness in terms of strength gains.
There is a lot of good info here. Good to have you on board:D You don't live in NYC by any chance?
Stevens wrote: Damn man. 5 - 7%? Is it difficult for you to maintain that?
It gets much, much easier as you train and build muscle over the years since your calorie maintenance levels also rise with increased muscle mass. But to this day I still count calories in every single thing I eat or drink, that is key. It's become second nature to me so it's not a bother. I'd say it's more troublesome for friends and family who constantly need to listen to me whine about my food. In my very personal experience, I found that once I could eat about 2500 calories a day with no weight change (i.e., just hit my maintenance level), I no longer had to sacrifice anything from my enjoyment of eating. Ice cream, pizza, and most importantly, whisk(e)y are staples in my diet now. But I count! If 1 drink hits my limit, I don't drink a second.[/quote]

That used to be me. On your last point - I am considering reinstating my 2 beer limit. Ice cream and pizza - love them, but they are in the once a month category.
Xyga wrote:100 push-ups,
100 sit-ups,
100 squats,
and 10Km running...
...every single day !!!
kane wrote: I can't exactly tell if you are serious :) But let me just say before I sign out that you'd be much better served doing only 8 or 10 of those with some heavy weights on you. Not to mention it would take only a fraction of the time.
Agree with Kane. If you like doing it then do it, but you're kind of spinning your wheels. If you like bodyweight training I highly recommend you look into Convict Conditioning.
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BryanM
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

Blinge wrote:One google later: It's slightly dishonest to call Fox a male isn't it?
Only if he's had elaborate surgery to shave down the size of the cross sections of his tendons, bones, and to remove foundational muscle tissue.

He can take all the pills he likes. Doesn't change the euclidean geometry involved with punching someone in the face.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

kane wrote:Steadily moving closer, but not quite there yet :) I have a few interviews coming up though, so I might actually land a job in Manhattan.
I wish you luck! Keep me posted if you can.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Week 11 down.

Monday
Push Ups - Level 2 Inclines +9 - Really close on these.
Leg Raises - Level 3 Flat bent knee raises +2 - Forgot to warm up, but still went up. Will hit numbers Monday.

Wednesday
Pull Ups - Level 2 Hori PU +3
Squats - Level 3 Supported squats - Finished - Level up to 4.

Friday
Bridges - Level 2 Flat Bridges - Finished - Level up to 3.

Hand Stand Push Ups - Level 2 Crow stands - Started where I finished last week, around 5 seconds. I did a few more and was able to hold 2 for 11 seconds.

Going to do a few on Tuesday. See if I can't get to handstands a little quicker.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Great article and a quick read to boot:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/why-bod ... enics.html
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Leandro
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Leandro »

yesterday I was watching Artistic gymnastics and just wondered if those guys also train with weights.... They are super jacked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLwfoZX3cc8
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Leandro »

Actually they don't, for these gymnasts the excess of muscle mass they'd get with weight training would affect their performance. They are jacked because they train those incredibly difficult bodyweight exercises with rings etc (which are no way near "recreational calisthenics" levels of ease) since they are kids.

With a bit of research I got my answer before your reply.

I wasn't implying bodyweight exercises are better than weight training, for the record.
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MOSQUITO FIGHTER
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by MOSQUITO FIGHTER »

I recently signed up with one of those 24-hr gyms. Have no idea at all what I'm doing but it seems to be working ok so far. Haven't really lost much weight. But at least I've stopped gaining weight and I feel better. I've been doing 30 min on an elliptical and then afterwards just hopping on whatever stack weight machine and setting the weight so that I can do eight to ten slow controlled reps. Thankfully the weight machines have those stick man instruction pictures or else I'd be totally lost.

Some of the weight machines hurt to use. I used the leg extension once. That machine sucks. Too painful.

I keep having problems with my feet going numb while using the elliptical. I loosened up my shoelaces a lot and it still keeps happening. I can go longer without it happening on a treadmill. But my knees cannot take being on a treadmill at all. Too bad, I liked walking while using the incline too. I think walking outside would fix that. But I'm pretty bummed about it because I really don't want to walk/run outside where I live. Maybe I'll try the stationary bikes but those don't feel like they do much at all. Stairmaster is probably the way to go but that is kind of too hard for me to use for very long right now.
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BryanM
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

Some of the weight machines hurt to use. I used the leg extension once. That machine sucks. Too painful.
I'd like to interject a bit on the leg extension machine.

In nature, kicking things like a soccer ball is not a survival strategy. While kicking in doors and trying to kickbox a lion, you don't use snap kicks, you use thrust kicks.

Thus, the knee is not designed to bear weight from those angles. It's a sheer force we're not designed to take.

So in conclusion, the leg extension machine is not a training device. It's a rehab device for people with damaged knees to ween themselves back up to a usable leg with negligible amounts of weight with long work sets.
kane wrote:EDIT: Actually, I am not up to date on this stuff, and my experience is very specific to certain groups and people, so I'd better shut up.
Nah you're correct. This whole "bulky" thing is bro science, up there will "muscle befuddlement" and all kinds of crazy folk legends.

Ask me about the dark secret behind The Blueprint sometime. It's like scientologist level stuff.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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I lift three days a week. Typically I do legs and core on Monday, chest and shoulders Wednesday, triceps and whatever else Friday. Usually I'll do squats twice a week, but sometimes I'll change it up.

Not really basing my workouts on any well-accepted plan, just trying to cover my bases as best as I can and have fun while doing it. Definitely much stronger than I was just a year ago so I'm doing something right. I tend to stick to bar/dumbell based exercises since most machines are too isolated or just downright stupid. Typically stick to 4x8 at varying weights but it all depends on how comfortable I am with the exercise.

Five years ago I was 240lbs with minimal muscle mass, pretty much on the verge of obesity (close to 30%). After slimming down to 170 in two years, I'm now 210 at ~15% body fat, that's with doing virtually no cardio. I'm sure I could slim down if I spent more time running, but right now my focus is on building strength. Not to say I'm in poor cardiovascular condition, but I'm no triathlon, either.

Only supplements I take anymore are protein and fish oil. I do have Amino Energy for the days I really need it, but it's the only thing close to pre-workout I'll ever touch.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Damn Quash, that is a lot of weight you lost. Great work.

Cardio is the last piece for me, I just went back to it. I'm curious to see how it will affect my body fat %.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

I'm glad this thread gained some traction again. Over on HFBoards it is basically my private journal.

Pull ups and squats today.

One of the things I love most about this program is you only do an exercise one day per week. By the time next week rolls around you're looking forward to doing those exercises again. Never in a rush to get them done, but really concentrating on very rep.

Marketing ploy or not, if you like bodyweight training Convict Conditioning is legit. It was hyped up greatly by people I have met in parks working out here in NY, but the hype is real.
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quash
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by quash »

Read through this a bit. Solid advice throughout but really nothing you haven't heard before if you've been searching for this kind of stuff. I pretty much do the low/high/low split he's talking about whenever I can, and when I can't do it (sometimes the gym is too crowded and I can't afford to wait 20-30 mins to get the squat rack on Friday) I just work on something else I did earlier in the week or work on something I'm going to start with next week.

As someone who was a beginner for awhile (and spent countless hours reading stuff like this instead of working out), I feel like a lot of getting started can be summarized in three main points:

- Stick to barbells and dumbbells for all but the most isolated of exercises (which you shouldn't be doing as a beginner anyways)
- Focus on form and building strength through higher reps (don't train for max lifts) (I still don't train for max lifts)
- Do as many compound exercises utilizing your core as you can

Like the guy even said in your link, you know your body better than anyone and in a short amount of time will probably become more perceptive to how your body reacts to lifting weights than you ever thought you'd be.
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TJB
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by TJB »

2 plate squat! Although I'd much prefer to do 90kg more solidly at this point in time.

I need to fix my diet though... And sleeping pattern. It's beginning to hit me pretty hard.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

kane wrote:Seriously with this thread alone, shmups forum probably already has more accurate information :)
Haha. I don't do to those forums, is it that bad?

And how did we all wind up here? Do you have a background in this stuff Kane, or just interested in it?
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Week 12 down

Monday

Push Ups - Level 2 Inclines +6 - 3 reps shy of hitting numbers.

Leg Raises - Level 3 Flat bent knee raises +13 - Hit numbers, 2 more weeks.

Wednesday

Pull Ups - Level 2 Hori PU +7

Squats - Level 4 Half Squats - Hit Numbers - Even did half a set of full squats, 2 more weeks.

Friday

Bridges - Level 3 - Angled Bridges - 3 sets of 8 - Significantly larger difficulty jump than level 1 to 2. Might be working on these through the summer.

Hand Stand Push Ups - Level 2 Crow stands - 33 seconds - Last Friday I hit 10 seconds, Tuesday was 20, so why the hell not?

Resting all weekend and not doing anything extra this week.
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broken harbour
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by broken harbour »

Neck is still messed up, its a doozy.

I can still run however and finally started jogging/breathless walking again for the first time since October. Also started a juice fast on Monday, I've done a few of these before, and I've found they work really well provided you stick with eating well afterwards. (I didn't). Last time I lost about a pound a day and it really reset my palette and really improved my sleep. I know it's a controversial thing and not for everybody, I don't want to start a debate about it, but the whole reboot with joe thing has worked for me in the past.

Once I figure out my neck, I can go back to weights, that's the major missing component for me as I've always noticed that's when I start to really drop weight and actually look decent in the mirror.
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