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BigMan-ification
Dead Legend
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey, what is this thread?
This is the BigMan thread.
What's the deal, should I post here?
That depends. How cool do you find this?
Best played at maximum volume
Pretty fucking cool.
Welcome home. This is where we post about lifting things and moving around. We talk about fitness type stuff, give advice, etc, etc.
So in general, what are you guys about?
How fit you are is basically decided by two things – what you eat and what you do. In terms of eating, we obviously prefer healthy stuff – chicken, not high fructose corn syrup. We (hopefully rarely, at least) don't spaz out about ridiculously inconsequential things like the trainwreck that was the D&D Low Carb thread. Some people, in situations specific to them, will need to break these rules – little guys who need to live on ice cream to get some muscle on and big fellas who need to strict it up a bit to shed some fat. Nobody should ever drink soda. On the movement side, we like the meat and potatoes movements – squats, deadlifts, presses, bench presses, and rows/chin-ups are the foundations of any successful weightlifting program. Did I forget to mention that? Weightlifting is kind of our deal, as it should be yours if you have any sense. Anybody, whether they are trying to get big or small or stay the same, will be well-served by a steady diet of the compound lifts. The heavier the better.
So, I'm a guy who's too small and wants to get bigger. What's the deal?
Eat more. Put 200# on your squat and 100# on your bench and call me back in a year.
No, really.
No, really. There are lots of small guys, particularly of the younger persuasion, out there who are small because they just don't lift enough weight, because they don't eat enough to allow their bodies to make the recovery and progress that it can. Do a program that has lots of the aforementioned squats, benches, etc, and steadily increase the weight on the bar. The eating and the lifting are intertwined – if you don't eat, you won't increase the weight on the bar, and the weight on the bar is making sure those extra calories are going to muscle, not fat. Reps don't really matter – whatever you can consistently progress with. I personally like 5s. Regardless whether your goals have to do with strength or appearance, more weight on the bar is the key to making it happen, so you want a rep range where you can increase the weight on the bar regularly and progressively. If you must maintain aerobic conditioning, keep it under control. Tons of aerobic conditioning can really sap recovery and make it tough to make the progress you should in the lifting. Running is particularly tough, for me personally (coming from a guy who's done a 1:57 half marathon, which isn't fast by any means but isn't a chump run either) and for lots of other people. Think about getting on a Concept2 rower, or something else. Running uphill is better than the flat. If all this isn't clear, feel free to ask a question and we can bicker about minor details regarding this for pages.
So, I'm a guy who's too big and wants to get smaller. What's the deal?
Eat less and move more. Depending on your size, it might only take a little extra movement, especially since the big guys don't want to put too much stress on the joints too early with a ton of running. Really it comes down to eating less, and eating better. Everybody basically know what that means. Vegetables, lean meats, etc. Moving, just get yourself out of breath often and lift some weights so you can maintain or increase your muscle mass, which is a good thing.
So, I'm a girl. What's the deal?
See above. The main difference between girls and boys when it comes to lifting is that boys have more testosterone. This isn't a difference that means girls and boys should do radically different shit. Boys should squat, press, and deadlift – so should girls. Boys should do something that gets them out of breath once in a while – so should girls. Boys should eat healthy – so should girls. Girls won't turn into Arnoldess because they did a squat or a bench press – their rear ends will get better looking, their body composition will improve, and their bones will get stronger. There are, believe it or not, other girls who post here, and talk about whatever stuff they have to deal with that I don't understand.
What are some useful links?
Link library:
(too lazy right now to fully populate this but I promise I will edit some stuff in. Please suggest!)
Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. The absolute best resource for a novice who wants to learn about form and lifting. This book changed my life.
Wiki version of the above book. It's very good and helpful, but I wouldn't consider it a complete replacement.
Dave Tate on benching. He has a million bench articles, nearly all of which are excellent, but I think this is the Greatest Hits.
A Rather Long Analysis Of The Deadlift by Mark Rippetoe (pdf). This is the best article on the conventional deadlift I've read. Very clear on the biomechanics of the movement and how to move the bar as efficiently as possible.
kudos to big l for the last op, i'm lazy and starting a new lifting thread.
diablo III - beardsnbeer#1508 Mechwarrior Online - Rusty Bock
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at first i figured 3 hours per week of running around would be enough exercise but now im having second thoughts
does anyone have some tips on what i should be doing in the gym? right now i go once a week a day before practice, and mostly focus on my legs with the treadmill and my stomach/arms with the rowing machine
im not looking to loose weight, per-se, i just want to tighten up a bit so i dont die on the field
i expect those to be useful soccer lifts
You mean like the ones here?
One of the things he says about the program is that you will have to find new rep maxes because of the other work you do during the workout. So even if you think you are doing weights you can for sure do in a different setting you might have to tweak the numbers for this program. Try actually dropping a few pounds across the sets and see what happens.
If you don't mind my ask what are your approx 1RM? And how did you come about finding / estimating those numbers?
The reason I ask is he says to take 90% of your 1RM as the basis for the lifts and if you need to figure your max to do so at the end of a workout. If you set it to high it will jack the whole meso cycle up.
once I was fat, but now I'm just scrawny.
I actually had a good idea of my 5-rep maxes from doing 3x5s, so I used those on the calculator and then tested two of them with 1 RM tries. One was over and one was under, but both were fairly close, so I just went with the calculations. I did my math right, that's no problem. The thing is, today I had 125 on my overhead press for my 1+, and did a set of 4. In August I did two sets of 5 at the same weight. It wasn't even a bad day, because I tore through everything else with no problems. Both of these are with the press as my first lift, as well. I know about reducing variables.
It's not bothering me too much, because I'm more than meeting the rep goals, but I'm a little :? at the thought of unexpectedly sliding back.
Texas isn't 5-3-1.
If I were you, and I practically am...
I wouldn't lift on days right before practice. Depending on how many games of soccer you're playing and if they're indoor or outdoor I would try and space the lifting and running days out across the full week.
Depending on what your goal is (better soccer or better lifts) put the emphasis on the one you want and work the other stuff around it. Ideally your weeks should be spaced out so that you have a schedule like the following where H = high intensity, be that weights or soccer, L = lower intensity/recovery P = practice, and O = off.
Start these wherever you need to in order to manage your lifting and resting around the soccer, or vice versa.
H - L - O - H - L - O - P
If your practice is high intensity switch your initial H day to L or O and start the sequence from there. Or do whatever, just make sure you're resting and lifting and running. 8-)
Edit - yes I know that doesn't quite work out evenly but that's all part and parcel of trying to do 2 different things. Managing your energy expended and recovery time is literally 3/4 of the entire deal.
Nah, just trust the program will work with proper rest, food, etc...
I will say if your used to 3x5 style program the volume of the assistance work + lifts can take some time to adjust to and make it seem like your numbers dropped, but once you reach the end of the cycle your body will have adapted to it, and it will all even out. Let it go for a full month before you worry to much.
and i wouldn't really recommend 5 - 10 minutes of squats or lunges unless you're some kind of masochist
i recommend light dbs for the lunges.
I think I'll try HIIT.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
I lifted weights.
That is what I have to contribute.
Hmmm...
Interesting, maybe your right! I'll be interested to see what happens if you do jump up to the other workout. Try it out and tell us what happens!
News to me, people I talk to use them interchangeably.
Duck if you don't stop seeing every stupid thing I say you're going to get a bad impression of me.
Let's make record. It will look like:
Side A.
1. Tomato Soup
2. Grilled Cheese
Side B.
1. Naptime
Great first leg day back after my 2 week layoff. I had the whole gyms attention when I was doing snatches and overhead squats. I wish everyone would stop staring. Go back to your smith machine shrugs! I don't like you!
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/shauns-4-day-muscle-building-split-routine.html
There's a couple other ones on the site as well. Does anyone have any critiques or ideas?
Shitloads of reps, too. What are your goals?
love, AMP'd
You're better off doing that than taking a poor 4-day split and lowering the reps.
I've been lifting for about a month short of a year. I'm trying to move up from a 3 day split currently. I posted this late in the last thread and someone asked for my current workout(which I haven't been doing much of over the past month in favor of cardio)
Bench Press 3x10
Squats 3x10
Chest Dips 3x10
Leg Press 3x10
Incline DB Press 3x10
Wednesday(Back/Biceps)
Deadlift 3x10
Bicep Curls
Pull-ups 3x10
Cable Curls 3x10
Cable Rows 3x10
Friday
Shoulder Press 3x10
Overhead Tricep Extensions 3x10
Lateral Raise 3x10
Rope Pulldowns 3x10
DB Shoulder Press 3x10
I disagree with everyone else, that program looks good. If your goals are more size/appearance focused than strength focused that is exactly the sort of program you should do. More than one day a week of legs is not necessary for growth.
Feel free to switch it up though, like try doing flies before bench to pre-exahust your chest, you'll end up doing about the same weight but you'll feel it in your chest a lot more. I personally don't like decline, I do dips instead. Also every other week or basically whenever I feel like it I start off with deadlifts on back day. Sometimes I'll do drop sets, or do a rest-pause set for my last set of an exercise.
One thing I would say is that for this kind of program you should keep your rest intervals short, like a minute tops. It takes a while to get used to short rest and higher reps, but it really improves your conditioning.
Your legs and posterior chain make up way more muscle mass than your upper body. Work heavy squats and heavy deadlifts in to your routine.
Ugh. Watched this spectacle twice, got frustrated, and did free weight flies instead. I've seen some pretty dumb stuff at the gym, but this... inconceivable!
In better news: squats tomorrow yessss god I hate them but they're so good. Will I stop being a wuss and do more than 185? Let's hope so.
Love Pokemon? Going to PAX Prime/East/Aus/South? Challenge the PAX Pokemon League!!!
What spring does with the cherry trees.
I'm afraid the answer would have probably just made me laugh. And then I would have felt like a bigger douche than I was already.
Also I was kind of hoping one of the other two benches would open up, but one had a gaggle of five or so guys taking turns on it, and the other was taking his time, so I figured it would just be faster to do free weights.
Love Pokemon? Going to PAX Prime/East/Aus/South? Challenge the PAX Pokemon League!!!