Man, dieting sucks. I've dropped about two pounds this week, but only lost maybe .25 off my stomach. I'm surprised that I've kept up with the strength portion of my training, though. So far I've met the 5 and 3 days for both bench and press, although I dropped deadlift for the month.
Yeah, about to have this problem myself.
Currently 201... thinking about cutting down 5 pounds in conjunction with my standard routine.
I did the same thing with my older brother, and he rarely lifts with me now. He decided deadlifts are bad for your back and ass-to-grass squats are bad for everything.
Nice little milestone for independence day. Completed my first full 3x5 of squats above my bodyweight (210lb, I'm sitting at 205). Not a ton of weight, but when I started squatting for the first time back in march/april I was struggling with 130. Feels good. Now to go eat a bunch of meat and watch things explode.
So some of my friends and trainers at the gym have noticed that, whilst I can DL reasonably well, I can no longer do any type of squat with any type of conviction due to my stuffed knee.
Last week, the 300 squat felt like I could add a bit more. This week, it was a bit harder, but I attribute that to the revelry of the weekend. I think I could add another 10 lbs. to the bench too, but 215 was great considering I failed it a month ago. Overall, it was a good month of gains. Looking forward to the next cycle starting on Monday.
Hit the gym today, squats weren't no thing but ended up failing my first bench press and got stuck under the bar and had a guy hop over to help me out. Got 5/5/5/4/4 with the last set being spotted by a nice dude who asked if I wanted a spotter.
Now that I'm hitting these road bumps in my OHP and bench, what should I do about them? Try to force my way through them by just hitting the same weight constantly, or go down in weight a bit for a few days then work my way back up?
E: Looking at it I haven't been getting the right form on a few lifts (still need to get farther down on my squat, need to fix the barbell rows, etc.) So I might drop the weight a little bit and bump up the reps to work on my form for this next week, then the following week start making gains again.
Got back to the gym yesterday after having taken a rest week. I was glad to get back in there, there were a few days where I really wanted to go in and blow off some steam. Today I'm nice and sore. Feels good, man
Lost five pounds off my squat in the interim, unfortunately, probably because I wasn't eating enough. Ah well, I'll get it back soon enough!
He is probably using 25s or 35s. My gym seems to have similar plates-- anything under a 45lb plate is much, much shorter than the 45s, and they're very thick.
I have to stack a few plates under them as well to bring them up to 'regulation' height.
So umm, I'm a little unsure with the plan I've started, I'm hearing differing opinions of the number of reps i should be doing. This plan has me doing either 8-8-6-6 or 10-8-4-2-1 , I'm hearing I should probably do something more like 5x5 or something?
Opinions? I'd say I'm moreso looking just for definition in chest/shoulders/biceps than actual hulk strength.
Anyone have a recommendation of a plan to follow for basically a beginning (i used to lift in highschool but haven't done so for many, many years)?
Uhh, it's a thing I got from a book I had laying around. Off the top of my head I can't say which ones are 8-8-6-6 and which are 10-8-4-2-1 but the workouts are:
Monday/Thursday
Leg Press (probably will switch to squats)
Leg Extensions
Lunges
Bench
Incline Bench
Reverse Curls
I am been following this program pretty religiously since I returned to the gym world. It is pretty squat heavy, so if you have problems with squatting or deadlifting, I would suggest another program.
But it is a nice program for building strength and the psychological effect of slapping on more weight every week is a nice plus. It makes you feel that you are progressing and not just stalling in the gym. I have yet to stall in any of the sections though I am beginning to experience some slight difficulty in bench and OHP.
On another note I went to the gym today and was looking forward to doing some OHP. Since I switched to dumbbells I have a hard time to hit the exact weight amount I need to lift (odd lifts like 37,5kg - 82 lb). As I have to increase my lift according to the program I went with 2 x 20 kg dumbbells (total 40 kg - 88 lb, 45 kg - 99 lb with the bar weight included). No sweat at all
Also I met a guy who looked like the dude from the Geico commercials doing deadlifts. Was nice to let me do my squats while he rested. Also suggested that I include the weight of the bar into my total lifting amount which brings my squat total to 62,5 kg - 137 instead of 42,5kg - 93 lb. Means I only have 12 kg - 26 lb left until I can squat my own weight 8-)
Yeah, I was doing upper and lower sessions during my bulk, since you're generally talking about discrete muscle groups. As long as you take appropriate rest there's not much of an issue. I didn't combine different upper and lower exercises, however (i.e.: didn't combine chest and shoulder, didn't combine squats and DLs). I used to like to focus on one or another, but change is good.
I mean, don't change up as much as Ham, but doing other things every now and then is worthwhile.
Ugh. Seriously. Why are there programs out there that combine upper and lower body exercises, specifically, squats and bench press or deadlifts and squats or benchpress and deadlifts?
When I go to the gym, I am usually focused on either squats, deadlifts, or bench press, lower body or upper body. I never do two of those exercises on the same day.
If you're just getting back into the gym, I'd recommend trying DeFranco's Built Like a Badass program.
Yeah I was a little unsure about it because I've always done the upper/lower split thing in the past, and while there are different ways to do things I DO kind of prefer that way. The program you mention looks pretty interesting although holy crap that's a lot of different things, I'm used to doing the same thing each week.
I think I may start that up though, thanks for the recommendation.
I'm just so fucking tired after doing squats or deadlifts that it would be extremely detrimental to my health and forward progress if I added another power exercise to my routine.
I don't know how people do it. I mean, I think that if you're doing it right, then you shouldn't have enough energy to squat sets of 300# after you've been deadlifting 315#.
On the day that I deadlift, my lifts for squat are lower thus as to avoid fatigue when reaching the deadlift portion. Then again, I am no where near 300 lb lifts so that may be the reason why I still have energy for it
Ugh. Seriously. Why are there programs out there that combine upper and lower body exercises, specifically, squats and bench press or deadlifts and squats or benchpress and deadlifts?
When I go to the gym, I am usually focused on either squats, deadlifts, or bench press, lower body or upper body. I never do two of those exercises on the same day.
If you're just getting back into the gym, I'd recommend trying DeFranco's Built Like a Badass program.
Yeah I was a little unsure about it because I've always done the upper/lower split thing in the past, and while there are different ways to do things I DO kind of prefer that way. The program you mention looks pretty interesting although holy crap that's a lot of different things, I'm used to doing the same thing each week.
I think I may start that up though, thanks for the recommendation.
You're welcome. The "finishers" at the end will kick your ass.
Run a mile as fast as you can at the end of a lower body workout? Wha?
i have a feeling that'll be the least of my worries since i already run 5 miles 3 or 4 times a week at a fairly fast pace...but yes it should be interesting right after a leg workout, ha
Although - I'm not sure if this is something I can really work against, but I had heart surgery when I was very young. As a result, I'm missing about a third of my left pectoral muscle. It goes up to the scar tissue and then just stops. It's messin' with my bench.
Fucking shitshow today, I haven't had a day like this in a while. I guess work kicked my ass harder than I thought because I had nothing in the tank tonight, no reps or weight or anything. What a disaster.
Posts
Yeah, about to have this problem myself.
Currently 201... thinking about cutting down 5 pounds in conjunction with my standard routine.
Should get me under 10% BF.... hopefully!
well
it got me past one point on the OHP
now i'm stuck at another point
Let's make record. It will look like:
Side A.
1. Tomato Soup
2. Grilled Cheese
Side B.
1. Naptime
Let's make record. It will look like:
Side A.
1. Tomato Soup
2. Grilled Cheese
Side B.
1. Naptime
So now they're calling me Quadzilla.
I may never be able to go back...
Lifts (Previous - New Max in lbs.):
Squat: 285 - 300
Bench: 205 - 215
Deadlift: 335 - 365
Last week, the 300 squat felt like I could add a bit more. This week, it was a bit harder, but I attribute that to the revelry of the weekend. I think I could add another 10 lbs. to the bench too, but 215 was great considering I failed it a month ago. Overall, it was a good month of gains. Looking forward to the next cycle starting on Monday.
Now that I'm hitting these road bumps in my OHP and bench, what should I do about them? Try to force my way through them by just hitting the same weight constantly, or go down in weight a bit for a few days then work my way back up?
E: Looking at it I haven't been getting the right form on a few lifts (still need to get farther down on my squat, need to fix the barbell rows, etc.) So I might drop the weight a little bit and bump up the reps to work on my form for this next week, then the following week start making gains again.
So jealous; the plates my gym uses put the bar at my ankles if I don't put two 45's underneath them.
Lost five pounds off my squat in the interim, unfortunately, probably because I wasn't eating enough. Ah well, I'll get it back soon enough!
I have to stack a few plates under them as well to bring them up to 'regulation' height.
Opinions? I'd say I'm moreso looking just for definition in chest/shoulders/biceps than actual hulk strength.
Anyone have a recommendation of a plan to follow for basically a beginning (i used to lift in highschool but haven't done so for many, many years)?
But what plan is it you're doing? I apologize if you posted it somewhere and I didn't see it.
Monday/Thursday
Leg Press (probably will switch to squats)
Leg Extensions
Lunges
Bench
Incline Bench
Reverse Curls
Tuesday/Friday
Seated Rows
Upright Rows
T-Bar Rows
Military Press
Tricep Kickbacks
Skullcrushers
PS4:MrZoompants
But it is a nice program for building strength and the psychological effect of slapping on more weight every week is a nice plus. It makes you feel that you are progressing and not just stalling in the gym. I have yet to stall in any of the sections though I am beginning to experience some slight difficulty in bench and OHP.
On another note I went to the gym today and was looking forward to doing some OHP. Since I switched to dumbbells I have a hard time to hit the exact weight amount I need to lift (odd lifts like 37,5kg - 82 lb). As I have to increase my lift according to the program I went with 2 x 20 kg dumbbells (total 40 kg - 88 lb, 45 kg - 99 lb with the bar weight included). No sweat at all
Also I met a guy who looked like the dude from the Geico commercials doing deadlifts. Was nice to let me do my squats while he rested. Also suggested that I include the weight of the bar into my total lifting amount which brings my squat total to 62,5 kg - 137 instead of 42,5kg - 93 lb. Means I only have 12 kg - 26 lb left until I can squat my own weight 8-)
I mean, don't change up as much as Ham, but doing other things every now and then is worthwhile.
I think I may start that up though, thanks for the recommendation.
On the day that I deadlift, my lifts for squat are lower thus as to avoid fatigue when reaching the deadlift portion. Then again, I am no where near 300 lb lifts so that may be the reason why I still have energy for it
like why could i not even pick up 235 ONCE when i've done it before x5, a few weeks ago, and did 225x5 last week
so i said fuck it and did a set at 205
i dunno maybe i was tired from bench or the weekend and drinking and whatnot but still
I think that means it's working.
Although - I'm not sure if this is something I can really work against, but I had heart surgery when I was very young. As a result, I'm missing about a third of my left pectoral muscle. It goes up to the scar tissue and then just stops. It's messin' with my bench.
Anyone have experience with similar issues?