Did 315 on squat yesterday which was easily a PR for me. I hadn't maxed squat in a long time. I think I'll be able to get much higher than that over time. It should be quite a bit higher in relation to my bench being in the 260-270ish range.

I know, I was just commenting, because the title indicated something different than the actual study did. Personally, I'd rather be stronger and also bigger, so sticking to the lower reps for the major lifts works well for me.

Moreover, there are several studies that say you build just about the same amount of muscle when you use a rep range between 3 and 15. It's just a matter of where you want the emphasis placed in your training -- your maxes or your lifting endurance, and it's necessary to train both at some point.

You can do very heavy weight with good form and full range of motion. It's just that when working nearer the max, form breaks down more quickly.

What do you do for a living? You know your lifting shit and I agree with you on like everything you post.

I'm in grad school for something completely unrelated -- Global and International Studies.

This is just a hobby for me.

And tons of people get to this point where they are doing too much weight with bad form. This was the main purpose for that posting. Better off going lighter with full range and good form than trying to pump your ego and go super heavy with bad form.

Yeah, I agree with that, totally.

At the gym I used to work at, this one guy would come in 4 nights a week and use so much weight that every rep was a full body effort half rep. He must have used all of his energy to finish his workout though, because he never once put the weight plates back on the racks.

Interesting article about the "cult" of crossfit.

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/fit...-cult-crossfit

I hate all of you strong mother****ers.

Haha I am in the same boat!

Although I tried the business for a few years after my bachelor's but financially it wasn't what I wanted and I felt I had to sell out to keep clients.

CrossFit. 'Nuff said.

What is your goal?

I won't ever be the strongest guy in my gym or the fastest guy at the race I am running.

I pretty much figure for the most part I can out lift any runner I run against and out run any lifter in the gym though.

That's my goal, the best all around shape I can be in.

Pick a goal and go for it.

It was shoulder day and it was a killer.


Excercise Sets Reps

Dumbbell Overhead Press 4 5-6
Arnold Press 4 10, 8, 6, 6
Barbell Upright Row 3 8-10
Dumbbell Lateral Rais 3 10-12
-- superset with -Dumbbell Bent-Over Lateral Raise 3 10-12

*On last two sets, perform 2-3 rest-pauses

Dumbbell Shrugs 3 10,8,8
BarbellShrugs 3 10,8,8

I dont really have a mass goal or strength goal but its funny hearing how you dudes can bench 285 10 reps when i can barely do 135 6reps 3 sets lol. Ill get there.

But i do like the way you think. I picked up running last year and could probably outrun anyone of my similar build.

My max bench is about 275 right now, it used to be over 300. I dropped weight on purpose and lost some strength. I dropped 15lbs last year from March to July and plan to drop another 5 this year, at least for some time.

The longest run I have done so far is 8 miles at about an 8:15 avg. I am training for a half marathon in May and hope to average 8:15 for that. I also want to be able to run a 5K in under 21:00 this year which I think I may be able to do right now.

My goal this year is to run the half marathon in my goal time and be able to bench at least 275 3x.

I am 5'11 and 180lbs so I think those are respectable goals. There will be stronger dudes and faster dudes and some that are both, but that should be a good combo.

You should get 5K in 21:00 pretty easy as long as there are not massive hills.

Where are you guys finding the best deals on supplements theses days?

I'm almost out of protein, and my pre-workout drink(use NO explode, but would try something else).

Amazon + Amazon Prime = win

Any runners here ever check this site out?

http://www.djsteveboy.com/speedbump.html

Yeah. I hate his music selection, though.

Yeah, I was thumbing through some of it but nothing really appealed to me. Was more curious as to how well it holds your pace though.

You could check out some of my old sets to see if they appeal more. Obviously, I prefer my music selection.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/f...ut/id368483448

I'll check it out when I get home.

I know a lot of you guys shit all over pre-workout drinks, but I've just started taking Buzzerk and I love it. It may be a placebo effect, but I've been very focused & I've had some great workouts with it. What's the main problem that guys have with them?

They don't actually physically help you. If you like it for the mental edge, then fine. But to me, it's a waste of money, because I can't help but realize that it isn't going to help me. It's all in the mind, so I just steel myself to try harder.

I use them a few days a week when I feel sluggish and see nothing wrong with them. My main problem is people take them and think they will get stronger and huge, which is not what they are designed to do. Also, I see many people that think they need these everyday, and above a reasonable dosage, which I don't think is healthy and can burn out your CNS over time.

There isn't anything wrong with them if you are just using them for a little pick me up before a workout. Most of the high is just caffeine anyways, so if someone already drinks coffee or pop they won't do you much good since you won't be as sensitive to the stim, or like Lewdog said and try to use it every day. It's good for maybe every other day.

There is nothing wrong with them other than cost.

3 reps at 290 on the bench this morning! Of course, right after I finished somebody else did 6 reps at 295 (and I think he was moving up after that)! Ha! No matter what you think you've achieved, there is always somebody there to humble you. Made me laugh at my momentary pride.

My girlfriend deadlifted 200 for a single tonight. Made it look easy!

Pics? :)

I will probably get a video when she pulls 2 plates!

A lot of guys at my gym (including me to some extent) struggle with squat form. They have a hard time getting low and they are bent completely forward when they squat down. I think it's a flexibility/balance problem. I've been looking for some exercises to fix this. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Keep your head up and your butt out, push through your heels! I'm sure you've heard that before, but it never hurts to get a reminder, especially head up.

My son got a 500lb max deadlift this week.

Enter the flexibility/balance problems. Everyone knows that your post describes the correct method. That's why I know we're not doing it right. That's why I'm looking for ways to improve it.

Dr. squat video series on YouTube might help.

Omaha, glad I'm not the only one with flexibility and balance problems. I guess the only other input I have then is warm up a lot, which I have to do plus wrap. I have to constantly remind myself head up and hip crease below your knees to get a good squat. It takes me a while to get there though.

I had a bad femur/hip break quite a few years back and only did smith machine and leg press for many years. But, since I have been doing Crossfit I have been doing free squats more.

Seriously though I know you know what to do, just remind your self of it before every rep.

Thanks. I've been doing crossfit, too. I hurt my back doing deadlifts and so I've been doing physical therapy for the last 7 weeks. My back is still messed up.

My physical therapist wants me to be able to do a proper squat before I continue with weighted lower body exercises, but I literally fall backwards every time I try it.

Have the trainers work with you. We have some awesome trainers at our location.

I've been working out for over 25 years, thought I knew most everything, but still get corrected on things. It's humbling at times.

I've never done yoga before, but I signed up for a 75 min hot yoga class tonight.

Me either, but heard it's tough as hell.

I could agree with this entire post except the "over 25 years" part.

Also a too much weight problem. Go light even if it makes you look like a pussy until you get excellent form down.

What? Why?

I haven't been lifting for over 25 years.

I meant that your entire post would be true for me except the 25 yr thing.

I lose balance & bend too far forward even with body weight squats.

Wow, I just did the math and I've been at it for 20 years.

Stick your ass out more and concentrate on pushing through your heals.

http://fitnessanddefense.com/wp-cont.../04/arnold.jpg


how do i get to looking something like this?

Genetics + Steroids + Clean diet + 3-6 hours workouts + Weed

Hurt my back a little on Saturday doing kettlebell presses. As a result, I've been down all week. Back to full strength today and went up to 335 on deadlift as my working weight. Now time to start working toward 8 plates. Hell yeah.

Stand beside the squat rack and grab the let of the squat rack and work on your form. Holding the rack won't let you bend over. Stay away from the weight until you can get it. And then stay away from heavy stuff. It will whip you dude.

Well, I did some exercises to improve my form tonight. It was all body weight stuff. I hope my back is ok tomorrow. I really can't wait to get healed and start going hard again.

Golf Fitness had an episode that gave a couple ideas on that. They had the guy with poor squat form stand straight holding a bar over his head and put some elastic bands around his shoulders and started pulling and had him own his posture. Then they had him do a squat and pulled the bands at the same time and he went right down in perfect form.

They said to work on that for a few weeks until you can do a perfect squat cold then you can start using weight.

Anyone with bad mobility should check our "Magnificent Mobility" by Eric Cressey. Cressey is a genius at solving those problems.

No one will ever match this again. Arnold is a freak of nature. That is why he is the god of bodybuilding.

completed week 1 of madcow 5x5. on to week 2 sunday.

Just a quick question. For those of you starving yourselves, how long do you go between meals, and would you recommend someone lose weight by eating one meal per day?

Alternate-day fasting means a 24-hour fast.

So, 24 hours.

Eating one meal a day would be less effective than fasting for 24 hours.

And you eat one meal on the day you're not fasting?

No, I eat regularly.

Let's say you're not fasting. Eating one meal per day would not negatively affect your body in any way?

No. Let's say you had a caloric maintenance of about 2,000 calories. You eat one meal a day, maybe about 800 calories. You burned 1,200 calories that day without doing a lick of exercise.

In fact we had someone on this very forum lose a lot of weight doing that.

Yes, I lost 80 lbs last time from only eating 800 calories per day. What happens when you start eating again and you haven't gotten into the habit of exercising?

If you go above your caloric maintenance you're gonna gain weight.

So, someone is eating one meal per day, and they're not able to do a lot of exercises. Eating only the one meal per day for a prolonged period of time will not have any adverse affects on their body?

They would lose fat.

I can't say that I know for sure, but that just sounds like a very bad idea.

No muscle from too few calories?

Depends how much protein they're getting.

But the body goes after your fat stores first, not muscle.

It's not a bad idea in and of itself, but it needs to be combined with some kind of exercise.

I fasted every day for months for 18 hours a day. It's no big deal.

But you'd be healthy overall?

As long as you didn't do it so long that you became extremely underweight, I'd say yes.

Okie dokie.

Christian Bale ate nothing but an apple and a can of tuna every day to prepare for his role in The Machinist.

After two months on, two months off, 1 week on, then 2 months off, I started p90x again this morning.

Dedication.

Commitment is the key. Go even when you don't feel like it.

Have you tried setting small, achievable goals? I know that helps me. Gym partners are also good inspiration to keep showing up. If you can manage it, find yourself a gym partner with a similar schedule and similar goals. It's a lot harder to sleep in when you know someone is waiting on you.

That's a good idea... it worked well in college, but these days I have everything I need at home and there's not much room for someone else.

The one consistent time I'm able to do it is about 6-7 every morning, even though 1) I'm more motivated in the evenings, but usually have other stuff to do, and 2) I'm really not a morning person. I think the one big difference is the season, because I really have no idea how I stuck with the 6am wake up call for 2 months straight the first time, except that it was in the middle of the summer and it was warmer in the house (easier to get out of bed).

This time I think I just need to find a balance between fitting it into my schedule, but not putting it off too much.... the first time I got hung up on needing to do it everyday for 60-90 minutes/day, and just got burnt out on it, then put it off when my schedule got hectic for a couple of weeks and never got back to it. Instead of thinking I need a couple of hours everyday, I know it's better to do something, even if it's only half a workout. So, basically 'at least 30 minutes a day' instead of 'where am I going to find 60-90 minutes today?'

That's the plan, anyway. ;)

Inspiration:
 

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