*.* 2012 General Fitness Thread *.*
 

Welcome to 2012! Now get your ass in top physical condition!

**From the 2011 Thread**

If you want to get back into lifting, or need a new lifting routine, START HERE:

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...inner_Programs

If you have questions about the SS programs, look here:

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ

Keep in mind that you're a novice lifter for a longer period of time than you think you are. Novice lifting can last anywhere from a few months to a year or two, depending on how hard you hit the weights and where you started.

Once you've reached the point where you don't make regular progress on the SS program, you are ready to move on to the intermediate stage, which can last you for a good number of years. Find it HERE:

http://madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm

If you're a very advanced lifter (many, many years of CONSISTENT weight training), then there are lot of programs out there, and which one you pick is simply a matter of preference. If you're really that advanced, you should know what works for you and what doesn't by this point.

*crickets*

Come on, you ****ing ****s!

Finally gonna get it done this year.

I'm about to start taking pump3d and superstimulant.

Pump3d™ is the most powerful Preworkout ATP(Strength) and C.N.S (Central Nervous System) Amplifier. By design Pump3d™ will acutely amplify the mind and bodies ability to lift more weight,and do so with a level of endurance and recovery that the Elite Athlete will be in
awe of and truly appreciate. Get the Strength and performance you always wanted.
Pump3d turns your "I-Energy" Into Hyper Drive and you will leave the gym feeling and looking Great.

SuperStimulant™ is a powerful Energy Enhancer and Fat Burner. It is in the class of Clean/Stronger stimulants but is still safe and non-jittery.
SuperStimulant™ increases your metabolism and controls your appetite Safely throughout your day.
It Mimics ephedrine's benefits (ECA) without the Side Effects, and works via similar/same pathways for Dramatic Fat
Loss.

I'm going to report in, I'm going to use this as a log, and I WILL adhere to my original plan.

I'm IN!
http://i39.tinypic.com/1z50lxe.gif

Military press, bench, squats and deads. Power cleans if you want.

Im around 168 right now. I wanna get up to around 180 by summer. Tried to make an achievable goal.

and pullups/chinups

Just signed up for an 8 week bootcamp program that starts 1/9 at 5:00 am. That means 5 days a week at 5:00 AM for 8 weeks. I'm excited about the workout but not looking forward to waking up before 5, but its the only time that would work for me. Hope to be in the best shape of my 35 years by the time it's all said and done!

Finish my yoga teacher training and start teaching. Continue my yoga and pilates and core practice. Pick up weights again now that my elbow has improved. Find some enjoyable cardio until the spring and then it's back outside.

Nice chest excercise today. Incline dumbell, decline barbell, then flat bench. Then some pushups that were wonderfully agoninzing after the rest of it.

Goals for the year......

Squat - 660 no belt, no wraps

Close Grip Bench Press - 455

Deadlift - 715

Incline Press - 405 (should happen in the next month actually)

Place top 10 in the world in the 242 class.

Keep my bodyfat under 9%.

I would put goals towards what you want to physically look like and how much iron you want to push.

You can look much bigger than your weight so that is not the best goal to have unless you are competing and need to get to a new weight class.

This is easily my least favorite week (/two weeks) of the year. I know that sounds cliche, but I can't even work out because there's a line for any freeweight benches, shit is thrown in places it doesn't belong, and people really don't understand the unspoken rules of the place. I commend each and every person who wants to make an attempt to get healthy, but it's really not enjoyable for me :)

On December 1st, I began daily exercise for the first time in 18 years. My goal is to be more physically fit on my 40th birthday (July) then I was on my 35th birthday. I've been averaging 45min activity time on Wii Fit daily and my body is responding. Sometime in the next two weeks, I will be getting 'EA Active 2' which offers a more strenuous workout.

Now, I just need to start eating better, I think 2012 is gonna be a great year.

I work at a gym. I can guarantee you that 75% of the people who started this week will fail. Too much emotion and energy attached to an arbitrary day vs. a long term commitment to their health. If those people were serious about weight loss or better health they could have started it on July 1st just as easily, perhaps more so, than Jan. 1st.

Just waiting out the resolutionists so I can get back to my meager, realistic goals. I've put on 35 pounds, still looking to add 15 more.

Why?

I had a good year last year, and I hope to continue. I've managed to cut my workout down to only 3-4 days a week for 30-45 minutes on those days and still continue to build strength and maintain my lean build. This year I'd like to find the time to workout 5-6 days a week, so I can get more intense cardio in between my heavy lifting days.

HUGE numbers there.

For nice pec development hit the incline press movements and fly type movements. He is right on the military presses for shoulders, you may look into arnold presses and some lat raises (both front and side). It you want those nice traps on the shoulders shrugs and a close grip upright row will do wonders as well.

How's the back?

Thanks BCD.

Should be very doable by April. Barring injury of course.

Let me know how that goes.

SuperStimulant of the dozens maybe hundreds of other products that contain 1,3 dimeth probably won't be around much longer.

http://www.anthonyroberts.info/2010/...-doping-tests/

I've never taken a supplement before so I'm pretty curios to try something effective. What's out there that may be worth it?

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish?

JESUS..........:shake::thumb::drool::hmmm::clap::bravo:

Mind sharing some info on your diet & training schedule? Definitely beast numbers bro.

Awesome reviews, especially on Pump3d.

I meant why are you taking them? I'm assuming as a preworkout and the Stim for weight loss?

Pump3d is basically the same thing as Jack3d which stole the idea of combining 1,3 dimeth and caffeine as a preworkout from former Balco chemist Patrick Arnold. The other stuff is just window dressing. Pick up a bottle of ClearShot Concentrate from Patrick's company E-Pharm. I think it's cheaper and a nice little tasting preworkout shot.

http://www.amazon.com/Pharm-Clear-Co...5609797&sr=1-1

Generally when I am training for a competition I just train the big 3 with little else.

Saturday -
Squats - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 based on a cycle
Pause Squats - 2x3 usually 50-90 pounds less than squats
Adductor Machine - 1-2x10-20

Monday -
Bench - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 1x8-10
Incline - 2-3 x 5-10
Curl of some sort - 1-2 x 10

Wednesday -
Deadlift - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 2x3-5
Block Pulls with Shrug - 2x5, 1x10
Ab Wheel - 3x10

That's about it and how I've trained for the better part of 20 years. In the offseason like right now I train almost everyday however, trying to shore up imbalances and weaknesses and take care of any injuries I have.

So right now I'm concentrating on a lot of rhomboid, abs and lower back. This is all in preparation for improving my deadlift.

So the last few weeks have been like so......

Monday -
Incline
A row of some sort
Maybe some pipes

Tuesday -
Block Deadlifts with shrug from below the knee - 6-8 x 5
Db Row
Hypers

Wednesday -
Upright Rows or more db rows
Ab Wheel

Thursday -
Pause Squats
Lunges
Ab Wheel

Saturday -
Row
Ab Wheel
Hypers

I will run a specialized routine like this for 4-6 weeks all depending. Then take a break and bring up something else. Next will be hamstrings. After that my meet preparation starts, so everything will be cycles in terms of poundages.

My Gym (Ballys) was absolutely packed yesterday with New Years Resolution people. Hopefully most of them will stick with it, but they seldom do.

Our gym was recently purchased by L.A. Fitness, hopefully they will clean the shithole up since they are raising prices 70%.

I can;t stand Ballys. Took me over a year to cancel a membership there.

It is only 4 minutes away for me, the only reason I joined there 4 years ago. Change is coming though, and it is sure needed. Lots of pissed off members at the condition and cleanliness of the place.

I'd still just concentrate on the basics. It's extremely difficult to be great in all of those lifts and have areas that are "lagging." Concentrate on using good form, and those total body lifts will hit all the development you need.

Edit: That's not to say that I don't think those assistance exercises are a good idea. They are. But, I would do them sparingly, and not put most of my effort in them. I'd only do them after pushing it ****ing HARD in the big ones, because that's where the majority of the gains will come from, in both strength and muscle development.

Don't major in the minors. - Jim Wendler (I shamelessly steal this quote, because it's awesome)

Beast mode: activate!

Good luck, dude!

I recommend 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler for anyone looking to get stronger and for a simple routine for the major lifts of squats, bench and deads. These books are easy reads but very enjoyable, with good information for those who are beginners to those who have years of iron experience.

For some that's okay, but others like to change it up a little in the gym to make it more interesting. Of course results are fun, but for some doing a few different excercises here or there adds a little to flavor to the routines for us going that aren't in bodybuilding or power lifting competitoins. Then you have guys like me with a bad back from an auto accident that can not do 2 of the big 3 any longer.

One thing that drives me up the ****ing wall about the gym are those people who think they have the right to take up multiple stations at once.

The other day this jack sparrow looking fellow and his friend the cowardly lion had taken up both the bench and the smith machine, just jacking their jaws.

Thanks buddy. :)

Get over it and do a different exercise. Supersets or Giant sets rock.

It's fine if you want to "change it up," but that change should be change in the assistance work, and not the big movements. Not doing those is just sabotaging your overall progress.

:popcorn:

I don't think changing to incline bench for flat bench would hinder pectoral development, but probably enhance it which is what I think SR is probably after being the ladies man that he is :).

I agree to try to keep compound exercises pretty much your staple while "changing up" the exercises for other muscles. I wasn't suggesting to do leg extensions in place of squats by any means. By maybe sometime you want to to front shoulder presses instead of rear shoulder presses, maybe sometime you want to do arnolds for a bit on shoulder day instead of side lat, maybe you want to switch from DB's to a plate for front row, or use the a cable machine for it. Change from upright row on the smith machine to ropes on the cable machine or use a reg barbell. Change from preacher curl with curl bar to dumbbells on the preacher curl, do curls on that cable, do hammer curls instead of palms in. Try some supersets, try some drop sets which can be done with compound excercises as well. I could go on and on, but my point it keep it fresh, keep it fun, work hard and keep coming back while of course using compound movements supplemented with lifts for the smaller muscle groups.

Yep.

The EMG data shows that decline hits upper pecs better than incline, and flat bench hits overall chest development better than both. I mean, the differences aren't very large, but they are there and statistically significant.

Agreed!

I guess my overall emphasis is that we do things all the time that we may not necessarily prefer to do when it comes to diet and fitness. I mean, I'd love to eat apple pie every day and 18 fatty steaks, while drinking as much as I want. But I can't. We all make sacrifices in the name of fitness. So, bearing that in mind, it makes more sense, IMO, to do the exercises that are the very best for you, regardless of how boring they may be at times. And I think you agree with that, mostly.

To a point yes, but while it might not make the most sense I do a leg/bicep day instead of the usual leg/ad or leg/core. Like most people I hate doing legs so I added the bi excercises at the end to keep that day fun and me excited to come to the gym. I think it's okay to sacrifice "some" of something that may give you the maxim benefit exhange for unjoyment or keeping it fun at the gym. I'm of course mainly referring to casual gym member and not a competitive athlete.

I've got 2 guys in my gym that are in the their mid 40's. One just won the NPC Mr Missouri overall title and the other one got like 3rd overall in the Masters comp around KC somewhere. Both guys look like freak of natures, but don't train together because they don't like the way the other trains, but they get along fine. Obviously what one is doing may be scientifcally better then the other, I don't know. But they like to do what they do and they probably wouldn't be happy doing it another way even though it works for someone else. Obviously they aren't doing stuff utterly crazy dumb, but they aren't taking it to an extreme that they don't enjoy coming in.

I eat fatty steaks every day now and am 8% at 235-240 now.

I love training legs. Legs and back work has been my bread and butter for a long time. I hate bench pressing.

Dude, that is monster status. What height are you?

Over the years I've grown to love doing back for some reason. Obviously mostly upper.

I think he said around 6'4.

How you get those monster pecs, brah?

This is probably one of my main training issues. I have freaking gym ADHD. The worst part is that I tend to get bored when I'm really making progress. I especially tend to get bored with deads and squats, and I don't tend to suffer the same boredom with chest. I just find myself thinking, "Okay. I've been doing squats for the last month. I'd really rather do unweighted pistols today than deal with all putting on all the plates required for a proper squat routine." Same thing with deads. I think I really just hate racking and unracking all that weight. Boring and tedious.

That's why I try to arrange my workout where there is something to look forward to next, or a little later. It's that dessert for eating your supper.

Nope. 6'.

I don't train bodyparts. I train movements for the most part. And all the benching I do is close grip.

Am I the only person in the world that looks forward to legs? My program calls for squats every day I'm in the gym, and a heavy dose of deads. I love it.

You do heavy squats and deads everytime you workout?

I just think that no matter what lifting exercise you chose, you have to stick with it for awhile to continue to gain strength. Too many people have exercise ADD or believe in "shocking" the muscles and change exercises too much so that progression is thrown out the window.

If I could put 60lbs on my bench in a year I would be soooo happy. If you look at adding that much weight to my bench, that is "measly" 5lbs a month. It is grinding it out, week after week to make those gains. If I trained like most people, I would sub out flat bench after only making a 5lb gain in a month but subbing it out won't let me get better at it! I think even if your main goal isn't strength, you need to keep lifts in there much longer than people do in order to make progress on the lift, which will result in changing your body more so than switching exercises. Progression in weight or reps is what makes the body change (independent of exercise chosen), not constantly changing exercises which doesn't allow you to really push the body into new strength levels and have to adapt.

I love legs too! I hate bench. But I guess competing in Olympic lifting for a few years and doing snatches, cleans and squatting 4x a week will do that! Injured my hip and damn do I miss training like that. :(

You're clearly not a fan of Crossfit. ;)

Haha generally no. But it does have a somewhat different goal and I have seen some very good Crossfit places that do their ever changing workouts but also keep in progression on things like squats and deads. As long as a Crossfit program has consistent work with main lifts, I don't see a problem with their ever changing exercises. Not many run their Crossfit programs like this but I have seen a few and I totally don't hate Crossfit when it is run like that.

I know a competitive bb'er that said he would change up everything each time he came in. Sets, reps, excercise, rest, etc... I gave it a shot for about 2 weeks and hated it. I'm like you in that I enjoy the trying to progress on the same lifts so I change it up every 4-6 weeks.

Heavy squats on Monday and Friday, Lighter squats on Wednesday with heavy deads.

That's cool. I remember trying many many years ago trying to do both heavy on the same day. I did dead's first so my heavy on squats didn't end up so heavy. That routine got canned pretty quick.

Is that a Starting Strength routine?

For the longest I pulled and squatted heavy in the same workout. I have no idea why some pussies say they can't do it. I'm hardly the epitome of strength but doing 600 squats and 600 deads in the same workout isn't a big deal. If Andy Bolton can squat 800 and pull 1000 pound block deads in the same session surely everyone else can do it too.

"I'm hardly the epitome of strength"

and

"doing 600 squats and 600 deads"


These do not belong in the same sentence! Incredible stuff man.

But I agree. The body can be conditioned to do most things. I never though sqautting heavy 4x week for Olympic lifting was possible or made sense. But boy did my body condition itself to this workload and much faster than I expected.

I do, too, but I'd rather eat them with lots of beer and as much apple pie as I could shove down my throat :)

Sounds like Madcow 5x5.

:doh!: That is what I meant.

Sure is. I'm sticking by it as long as I'm seeing substantial gains from it. Quick routine that's worked wonders for me so far.

I ate a whole box of thin mints for desert on New Years Eve. 4,500 calories!

Does anyone use or have used Kettlebells before?

I'm looking for something I can do at home.

talk to newphin.

He also will recommend going to a instructional class to learn how to properly use them.

I use them a lot. If you can take a few seminars with an RKC instructor and get your form down, then there nothing wrong with doing them at home, though good bells are expensive. I don't recommend just jumping into them self taught due to the compound, dynamic nature of the movements posing a high risk of injury (assuming that you actually start throwing around some real weight. A lot of the BS kettlebell infomIercials have people using such light weight that its useless form of training).

It's all about context. I'm friends with guys with 900 pound deadlifts and 800 pound raw squats. So I never feel strong. Ever.


Oh me too. And I do. Just not very often anymore.

What do you recommend as a good multivitamin for men? Especially those men in the neighborhood of 40 yrs old.