I have no experience benching 300 lbs, but I found the body weight fitness group on reddit a few months ago and it's made a huge difference progress-wise and with my overall outlook on working out (still can't bench 300lbs... yet. :hmmm: ).

The foundation of that program --- progressive overload, big compound moves as opposed to (for example) annihilating your biceps with a million curls, 'resting hard' and not needing the p90x-like 6 day routine --- has all really clicked, including a few trainer channels on youtube, at least for my beginner/n00b self who was stuck in the 90s marketing campaign of working out (the few times I've actually tried to).

Compounds are key

My 4 days of lifting start with either bench, military press, squats or deadlifts. The big 4. This never changes.

I also add in variations of these lifts on other days so I end up squatting, benching and deadlifting some variant 2x per week.

My high school went to it when I was there a million years ago. There were handles welded onto the squat rack that we held onto to lean back instead of forward that ****s your back.

It feels kind of awkward at first. It feels like you’re hanging out over nothing. But once you get comfortable I was able to lift far more with it than I ever could straight bar squat. Some of it could be I can’t do anything like I could when I was 18, but it was different. Plus the weight sits better. In high school I was pretty skinny and the straight bar sat on my spine which hurt. Where as the safety pad put it up on my traps which was better.

BTW I’m 6’3 with ridiculously long legs.

I don’t know the kinesiology behind it, but it worked for me. A million years ago.

I need TRT

I do mine at home. I started out at a men's center. I got tired of going to the office once a week though, so I moved to a local family practice. He's great. I only have to check in once every six months and he doesn't hassle me when I need a refill.

When I started, my T was lowish, but not criminally low (it was 315). The TRT fixed my problems though.

I think mine might be low but at what point do they consider it low enough for TRT?

It all makes sense now

Find “the right” clinic and you can get it prescribed, I’m told.

Where would I find the “right” clinic?

One that specializes in it will usually get you it. Unlike say your PCP.

I’ll be looking into next year I think.

Generally, it's below 300, but it depends what doctor you get. Some are more about treating the symptoms than the number.

One of the "TRT Mills" would work...you know, the kind of places that advertise during sports games. Places like the Low T Center, etc would gladly take your money.

How much are you paying per month for yours?

0 now that im at a family practice doctor. Insurance + HSA covers my twice yearly doc visit and blood work. I do self pay for the testosterone because it's cheaper than what insurance would cover. A 10cc vial of 200mg/ml Test Cyp is $40 at Walgreens with a GoodRX coupon. That lasts me 10 weeks. So, all in all, I pay about $250 a year for my TRT (insurance premiums and HSA contributions/matches are not included here).

Back at the TRT place I think it was about $30 per visit, including my shot.

Thanks for the info. I’ll see what places around here. I just don’t want to go to some bullshit place.

Question for the wise group in here (sorry for the backstory on it as I think it does have a role)...

Last year for lent, I decided I was going to fast. I needed to lose weight anyway (38 year old at 6'4" 250 at the time) and I liked the sacrifice of it. So for the 40+ days, I did not eat during the week... only on Sundays. The last few Sundays, in particular, I let my diet go to crap in order to try to gain as many calories as I could because without it I was afraid I wouldn't make it to Easter without losing too much weight. All said and done when I finished I was just under 200 pounds (197).

Fast forward to today... for the last year since then, I essentially IF... my eating window is 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm. In particular the last month, I have been working out 1-1.5 hours in the morning with my calorie intake always around 800-1400 calories (depending on the day). However, my weight (now at 243) will not go down.

So my question... did I do irreparable harm to my metabolism by my long fasting? How do I offset it? Or am I Low-T?

Thoughts?

Metabolic damage is likely. No one should fast that long. Sorry, it’s the truth.

I do IF and have for a decade. I would try increasing your feeding window to 8 hours. I’d eat around 1200-1500 calories per day and spread them throughout the caloric window. If you can try exercising right before your feeding window, that would be best. If you can supply calories immediately post workout, your insulin sensitively may return (it’s likely off with a fast that long). Try to have this as your highest carb meal too.

I’d be concerned about your body functioning first before further weight loss. At this point don’t focus on scale weight and increase the weight training to promote your BMR.

So not being able to workout, other than push-ups, crunches, and squats finally got the better of me and i bought a Weider Ultimate body Works (basically very similar to a Total Gym slider thing). Anyone have one and care to give me some pointers? Not on exercises, but things to watch out for or quirks in function, maybe maintenance tips? Basically I don't want to break it doing something stupid that I could've avoided.

Thanks. Some good advice and I will try that and see how that goes

What do you bros do for shoulders? I've been watching a lot of NBA after the restart and I want my shoulders to pop like Giannis and seemingly half of the NBA roster.

Mine get some residual work from the bench, overhead press, dips, etc but I'm looking to really go hard on them.

My brother stole this from Brad Pitt's trainer for Fight Club, and it worked very well for him:

Arnold press — four sets at 15, 20, 25, 30 lbs (15 reps per set)
Laterals — four sets at 10,12.5, 15, 20 lbs (15 reps per set)
Front raises — four sets at 10, 12.5, 15, 20 lbs (15 reps per set)

Note: those are the weights i use; the idea is relatively light weights and higher reps, but use weights that fit your body/muscle mass/etc. At the end of each set the last rep or three should be fairly difficult, but not to actual failure.

For me this workout is more about strength than actually increasing the size of my shoulders, because i partially dislocated my left shoulder during a judo tournament and had a level 3 separation to the right in a football game, so if I don't work on them they get hinky. Like the left shoulder wanting to pop out at random times.

But for my brother it increased the measurement around his shoulders by several inches when he was in his early 40s.

Who's been going to the gym since the lockdowns been lifted?

Let me know how that goes. It’s at least where I would start, for about 4 weeks before assessing how it’s working. We can sometimes improve body composition with increased calories when we’ve caused some metabolic issues.

I go when I can (about 4x a week) , but if I don't then I have everything at home except heavy dumbbells.

Do heavy presses (db or bar). Aside from that, you don't need any extra front delt work. They get enough work from bench, dips, curls, etc. Never in history has anyone had underdeveloped front delts compared to side and rear.

Focus on tons of side and rear delt work. That's how you get square shoulders. Side raises, bent over flys, reverse pec dec, reverse cable flys, rope face pulls.

In all of your delt work, keep your shoulders pulled down and back to keep tension on the delts and off of your traps.

Yeah, I will let you know. I will probably give it to October for sure. I will have to completely revamp my diet since I have been doing IF for a few years now.

With my workout and work schedule, then I will be eating at 5 AM and then thru out the day to have a more conventional diet. So I may just go to a lot of small meals every 2-3 hours but trying to keep calories at 1500 or less... let's see what happens.

I'm at the gym right now this dude is trainer some high schoolers.

Didnt wipe down a single ****ing thing before or after.

Lewis I get strong for you bb

Down to 168.6 lbs. Been five years since I was under 169. 160 here we come.

Gawd i hate those SOB's.

Wipe down the ****ing equipment you disgusting pieces of shit.

Yup staph and ringworm are very common in gyms not to mention COVID If they can link a bunch of cases tied to 1 gym then its bye bye. That's why people need to not be so ****ing dumb at take 1 min to wipe shit down before and after using it.

Eat less, Billay.

I took this at the end of August on my 35 birthday. Survived COVID this year and through the summer I got the leanest I've been since my 20's.

https://i.imgur.com/DFhSrSRl.jpg?1

Lew wtf is your diet?

Mostly protein and fat when cutting through the summer. Less than 50g of carbs every day except Saturday where I allow myself a refeed day of excess carbs/calories.

People grossly over-estimate how many calories they really need, even when working out hard, to lose weight. I'm very strict on my cutting diet 6 days per week, eating roughly 1,700-1,800 calories per day. I workout 4 days per week and on the 3 days I do not workout, I fast until 12 or 1 on those days and fit all my calories in the day in an 8 hour window.

Now that summer is over I plan to do a modified carb cycle. Basically I will continue to intermittent fasting those 3 days I don't workout and have little/no carbs. But on the 4 days where I lift I plan to stick carbs post workout and in a large evening meal, 100-200g of carbs on those days. I don't mind gaining some weight/muscle back through winter as I add back heavy strength training of squats/deads/bench/military work every week.

I deadlifted 355x3 last week at a bodyweight of 175 so I was pretty happy to see those numbers already, as cutting definitely zaps my strength.

I don't work out like Lew does but he's spot on with the diet.

1800 calories is plenty, with a good mix of proteins and fats. I usually keep under 40g of carbs a day and get 100-120g of protein.

Admire that I finally have some muscle

You actually do look a bit leaner too from previous posts.

Good work man.

Damn lew, you're kind of a butterface

Do you count calories on an app like MyFitnessPal or Samsung? I feel like unless I use those I always go over, but holy **** is it annoying as hell to keep logging that shit all the time.

If your diet is pretty consistent, MFP works pretty well. You can pre-load meals and recipes and split them into quarters or eighths, then add the appropriate number of servings per meal.


The work is in initially setting up your core foods

I eat consistently the same foods so after tracking for about a week, there’s no need. Especially when there’s little carbs most days. Meals are just protein and veggies. Throw in a protein bar and a shake and that’s about it.

I should have noted, I get 100-120g of protein FROM SUPPLEMENTS. Protein supplements (mostly whey isolates) make up about 1/3 of my 1800 calories per day.

The way I worded that last post, it might seem like I'm getting 100-120g protein TOTAL per day which is incorrect, once I factor in meals.

I was just about to say the same thing. Once you get into a routine, you don't really have to count anymore. :thumb:

You sexy bitch. What do you do for forearms? Just residual from all of your upper body lifts?

I’ve never trained forearms in my life. Pickup heavy objects enough and don’t lift like Pete at planet fitness, and they seem to do fine.

You don't use straps when you lift Billay's dong?

You should turn wrenches. That will get you some yoked forearms.

I have fun with that kind of stuff.

It's the shit that doesn't have a bar code or hasn't been entered that's hard to track. You have to weigh it and do the math to figure out the calories etc. THAT shit is annoying.

How does Pete at Planet Fitness lift?

Down over 60lbs since December. Started eating clean and hitting the gym, which unfortunately is still closed where I live. I sourced some weights and a small bench, but mainly have been sticking with body weight exercises. Also I'm running a lot, can do a 5k or more no problem now.

At 44 going on 45, I'm probably in the best shape of my life :)

Just jerk off a bunch

I did get a bit leaner then the whole shut down thing ****ed it all up but I'm going to get back on stricter calories intake next week.

Great job Lew, you're looking awesome! But is this you on carb Friday?

https://scontent.fmkc1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...eb&oe=5F91B9CD

It's been 2 months since I've hammered down and got on a routine.

My current macro goals per day are 275 carbs, 50 fat, 150 protein (thanks Lew), 2100 calories. I use the Under Armor Myfitness App. It's great, go get it.

I have been meeting/exceeding the protein, ending up around 125-150 carbs, and I stopped caring about the fat. Looking back I average around 50-70 gr/day, most of which comes from cashews, peanuts, and beef. Calories end up around 1800-1900 on most days. When I dig into a bag of beef jerky I usually overdo protein and get close to hitting the calorie ceiling.

2 month ago I was 6'3 220. Not terrible, but I had a gut because I love beer, pizza, and burgers

First month I first started with crunches and 4-6 mile "trail" bike rides. My work during the day is enough cardio. I dropped about 1/3-1/2 pound of weight per day until hitting 205-207.

That's when things leveled off.

Month 2 I transitioned to weight training, and the cardio during my work day was more than enough. I use a combo of Bowflex (laugh it up) and free weights. The body transformation during the first month was somewhat dramatic, but once the weights hit I wasn't losing weight as much, but the proportions were moving from my midsection to my arms, shoulders, and chest.

I am now at 202, can work all day without getting tired (wood floor install and sanding), and my mind is razor sharp. The main reason I started this program is because my mind got hazy, and I wasn't as motivated to kick ass as I should be.

People look at the physical side of weight loss and eating, when they should be looking at their mental state of mind.

You can do it. Once you get the ball rolling and embrace the suck it becomes a masochistic fetish to push your muscles to total failure.

Huge side benefit: My 8 year old son has really taken to lifting weights. He is a solid brick as it is, but this is something that will take him through the rest of his life.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and tweaks to my diet.

I might also add that I cut out cheat days. I found myself having a "food hangover" that ****ed up the following day. Sunday and Saturday became just normal days, and it helped me greatly.

Nice job man! Seems you may have helped reset your metabolism a bit. Keep at it.

Billay, do you do squat/bench/deads/military press consistently?

I'm training for a Half Marathon right now. My goal is to just finish right now. Once I come closer to the date, maybe I'll try to finish it in under 2 hours.

Rock on man. Set a goal, meet the goal, but never lose sight of the goal.

I have been yes. Why,?

I’d like to talk about programming and I’ll post more later about Reactive Training System usibg perceived exertion. I’d be willing to program you weekly workouts but it’s designed using the big 4 and/or variants. Goal is to get strong and thus big for the natural lifter.

I'm still upset that you skipped over this cute pic/post.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...52140e8778.jpg

Yeah man I'd do it

I'm assuming I would still be able to cut on this program?

Cut during winter? Who does that?

I could tweak it if you’d like to cut. How many days a week do you lift?

I need to. Weight is up and my BP is high.

4 . Upper-lower-off-upper-lower-off

We could do a recomp while you work on getting stronger.

Bet.

Send me what you're thinking Lew.

Hey Lew, experiencing a fair bit of elbow pain from low bar squatting, trying to get back up to the kinds of weight I was doing in the new year before all the gyms shut down.

Any ideas on a common cause for this? Doesn't hurt with the bar on my back but as soon as I rack and go to straighten my arm, hurts like a bitch. I squat first (doing a starting strength style linear progression with the big 4) and the pain is ****ing with my bench, overhead press, everything.

Read this on RTS training. We aren’t trying to be powerlifters but the core of our workouts will focus on the big 4 using perceived exertion.

https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/a-...g-systems-rts/

Are there any OTC testosterone enhancers that are worth it?

No. All of them are junk.

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to complete 4000 miles of cycling. I also weighed in at about 194 lbs, on a 5'9" Frame

Last week I surpassed my goal of 4000 miles and am targeting 5000 for the year. I've also gotten my weight down to 174 lbs and hope to get it down to the 165 lb range.

Ok. Figured as much.

Recommendations on a home treadmill?

Mainly for my wife but I’ll be using it. I’m looking at the Nordic Track commercial 1750 for $1800, ProForm Smart Pro 2000 for $1500, or Sole F80 for $1600.

Anybody have one or another model? Don’t want to go over that $1800.

Just cracked 1100 lbs between deadlift, bench and squat (455, 270, 375). Bodyweight @ 193lbs.

I was pretty ****ing sick earlier this week for a few days. Lost 6 pounds but the good news my blood pressure is down.

Best post this thread has seen in years.

Nice work.