Weightlifting/Bodybuilding Thread V.7 - let's see if more people care about themselves - General

Fuck me, Addidas sale just started and Adi powers are going for a euro less than power perfects. Not that there is a real difference, theyre both the same heel height but the Adi powers do look cooler

it turns out seated calf raises are way different than standing calf raises and i basically trained my soleus for the first time ever... 3 days in a row. I can barely walk today and standing up is agonizing

Finally put up 225 lbs on bench for my 1 rep max. Went from struggling with 95 lbs when I began working out in January, to hitting 2plates just in time for the new year. I'm so happy :joy: I can't wait to see what PRs I hit during my 2nd year of lifting.

Read a youtube comment that actually changed how I thought about bench. Guy basically said he got the idea by watching NFL combines that if he could just bench 225 for say 10 reps as a maximum for one set, he would do that then do 3-4 working sets with a weight. The next week he would do 225 and try to get 1 more rep, then do his working sets. He did this for like a year and apparently it shot his bench from 275 to 405. Interesting concept, seems very simple. I'm going to try this, but instead just try to add 1 rep to all my working sets ie 4 sets of 225 for 10, next week 4 sets of 225 for 11 and so on. when that plateaus I'm going to do 225 for max reps for one set, then bodyweight for 8x3. goal is 225x25.

isn't that just kinda sorta pre-exhaustion

I guess, but youre doing it with a rep max in mind, instead of just mindlessly going about it.

My bench workouts for the last 3 weeks havent gone to plan at all, I'm struggling with weight that I found easy a month ago and my form feels shit. I end up doing strange poorly planned work outs to keep the intensity up, heres today for example: [QUOTE][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/h6lHQum.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] I went in with the intention of getting 5x5 at 90 but I guess I just wasnt in the zone [editline]28th December 2015[/editline] This has me thinking, compared to last year my strength hasnt increased much but my work capacity has shot up

Right, I feel you on work capacity. Yes I can do longer sessions and more sets, but I don't feel I've improved my upper rep range ability and just simply my ability to recover between sets. Thats why I'm focusing on increasing rep ranges. I worked out bench like what you're doing right now for a while and never made much progress, asides for like 2-3 weeks.

[QUOTE=Kiamberm;49397776]Finally put up 225 lbs on bench for my 1 rep max. Went from struggling with 95 lbs when I began working out in January, to hitting 2plates just in time for the new year. I'm so happy :joy: I can't wait to see what PRs I hit during my 2nd year of lifting.[/QUOTE] This is very impressive. I've been lifting for 4 and a half years and although I have put on 115 pounds, I can only bench 215 :( I blame it on my long arms, but I know plenty of guys who are my height and can put up 300+ anyhow it sounds like you must be doing something right, good job on the max. [editline]29th December 2015[/editline] Oh story time, this guy messaged me on Facebook when I got home from winter break from this gym called APX. He said he would give me the first session with him for free to check gym/personal training place out. So I took him up on his offer and now I am more sore then I have ever been in my entire lifting experience. Turns out he was a former punter in the NFL, the workout was some next level shit, I haven't had DOM's like this since the first week I ever touched a barbell. There are a bunch of pictures of ex and current nfl players who are former clients on the wall in this gym. It feels like I found a sacred temple of gains. It was really cool to have someone who obviously knows their shit guiding every aspect of the workout. It's like $15 a session, and I don't even care. That workout singlehandedly reignited my passion for lifting. Reminded me what I love so much about it all, everytime you think you are experienced and you think you know everything there is about lifting you learn something that changes it up. If anyone is interested I'll post the workout. It might be a little hard to explain though because there was a lot of really specific movements with bands that I don't know the name of. So sore :)

First one is at 220lbs, 62 weeks ago. Second is now at... 223... [thumb]http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u423/Lawblind/Mobile Uploads/image_zpshtcrfnup.jpeg[/thumb] [thumb]http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u423/Lawblind/Mobile Uploads/image_zpsolj06dny.jpeg[/thumb] Maybe I'm delusional? I cant spot a single fucking difference. A whole year, jack shit. I'm floored. I had my suspicions, and the last 2 months (10-11h days 7 days a week) have been hard but I figured at the least I'd end this year noticeably different. All I can see is slightly bigger arms (more apparent in a different pose) and the slightest more chest. Maybe its the pose, or the lighting, or that I'm leaner in the first one, but still.... What do I do? I honestly have no clue at this point, I bust my ass day in and day out all year, make sure to eat and get plenty of sleep, always change my workouts up, what more can a man do? I'm almost considering taking the plunge at steroids because I'm nowhere near where I want to be physcially. I'll be turning 20 in 10 days.

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;49411294] Maybe I'm delusional? I cant spot a single fucking difference. A whole year, jack shit. I'm floored. I had my suspicions, and the last 2 months (10-11h days 7 days a week) have been hard but I figured at the least I'd end this year noticeably different. All I can see is slightly bigger arms (more apparent in a different pose) and the slightest more chest. Maybe its the pose, or the lighting, or that I'm leaner in the first one, but still.... What do I do? I honestly have no clue at this point, I bust my ass day in and day out all year, make sure to eat and get plenty of sleep, always change my workouts up, what more can a man do? I'm almost considering taking the plunge at steroids because I'm nowhere near where I want to be physcially. I'll be turning 20 in 10 days.[/QUOTE] How many calories have you been eating on a daily basis and what is your activity level?

I have a L of milk mixed with massgainer in the morning (2000 total?), grilled cheese or cerial, lunch varrys from 2 triple burgers to mowing down roast beef and mashed potatoes at a buffet, supper varies too but I always have another mass gainer shake before bed. I went grocerie shopping today, I'm gonna try and eat really clean for a good month and see if that cleans the shit outta me from working out of town. Hitting the sauna alot too since I got outta that

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;49414550]I have a L of milk mixed with massgainer in the morning (2000 total?), grilled cheese or cerial, lunch varrys from 2 triple burgers to mowing down roast beef and mashed potatoes at a buffet, supper varies too but I always have another mass gainer shake before bed. I went grocerie shopping today, I'm gonna try and eat really clean for a good month and see if that cleans the shit outta me from working out of town. Hitting the sauna alot too since I got outta that[/QUOTE] I'm only asking because the only guys on the football team that are your height and above 230 pretty much dedicate their entire offseason to eating food all the time and not doing too much activity wise. When I first got to university I was amazed by how much those guys eat on a meal to meal basis, I'm sure genetics has a lot to do with it, but if you are looking to push your genetic potential and not jump on some juice I think you might have to try a much longer bulking peroid than you may have done in the past. One of our our defensive ends was 6'4 and 260 after 5 years of college training with a fairly lean body mass, he was around your size when he first got to the university, numbers wise by his 5th year was squatting around 550 benching 300~? and cleaning 315+. I'm pretty convinced he wasn't on anything, there is always the possibility, but with NCAA testing it's a lot less likely. Just one observation I've had is that the idea of getting cut (low bf) to them is just a waste of time and effort, I think the lowest they ever got was 15% after fall camp, I have a theory that the bigger you get the harder it is to do a "clean" bulk. My advice would be to just eat like 4.5k calories a day or whatever it takes to gain weight at about 1lb a week and do that until your strength starts going up again (I'm guessing your strength has hit a plateau too?) I'm not an expert by any means, just an idea.

Valon how often do you do the big 3 lifts?

[QUOTE=Bleach Qeef;49397974]Read a youtube comment that actually changed how I thought about bench. Guy basically said he got the idea by watching NFL combines that if he could just bench 225 for say 10 reps as a maximum for one set, he would do that then do 3-4 working sets with a weight. The next week he would do 225 and try to get 1 more rep, then do his working sets. He did this for like a year and apparently it shot his bench from 275 to 405. Interesting concept, seems very simple. I'm going to try this, but instead just try to add 1 rep to all my working sets ie 4 sets of 225 for 10, next week 4 sets of 225 for 11 and so on. when that plateaus I'm going to do 225 for max reps for one set, then bodyweight for 8x3. goal is 225x25.[/QUOTE] 225x25 is pretty beast mang, sounds like a good goal. I did a max rep set with 225 for a bet with my coach (betting on who could do the most) when I was competing and I think I got 16-17. It's funny, you can get to around 8-9 and be thinking, "Ah man I got this shit in the bag," and then just one or two reps later it feels like it just got a couple hundred pounds heavier. 225 is a magical weight in the sense that you can't really throw it around and rep it out with pure momentum like you can with 135 unless you're one of those crazy stronk NFL linemen who can rep it 30+ times.

[QUOTE=Nevermind.;49417061]I'm only asking because the only guys on the football team that are your height and above 230 pretty much dedicate their entire offseason to eating food all the time and not doing too much activity wise. When I first got to university I was amazed by how much those guys eat on a meal to meal basis, I'm sure genetics has a lot to do with it, but if you are looking to push your genetic potential and not jump on some juice I think you might have to try a much longer bulking peroid than you may have done in the past. One of our our defensive ends was 6'4 and 260 after 5 years of college training with a fairly lean body mass, he was around your size when he first got to the university, numbers wise by his 5th year was squatting around 550 benching 300~? and cleaning 315+. I'm pretty convinced he wasn't on anything, there is always the possibility, but with NCAA testing it's a lot less likely. Just one observation I've had is that the idea of getting cut (low bf) to them is just a waste of time and effort, I think the lowest they ever got was 15% after fall camp, I have a theory that the bigger you get the harder it is to do a "clean" bulk. My advice would be to just eat like 4.5k calories a day or whatever it takes to gain weight at about 1lb a week and do that until your strength starts going up again (I'm guessing your strength has hit a plateau too?) I'm not an expert by any means, just an idea.[/QUOTE] ncaa testing is a joke. I'd say half the lineman at my school juiced in some form at some point, and damn near every starter did, especially the "strong" guys. We had a 5'11 270 defensive tackle who was hang cleaning 400+lbs for reps, dude was an animal, but definitely juicing, saw him shrink after the season dramatically.

[QUOTE=Bleach Qeef;49421703]ncaa testing is a joke. I'd say half the lineman at my school juiced in some form at some point, and damn near every starter did, especially the "strong" guys. We had a 5'11 270 defensive tackle who was hang cleaning 400+lbs for reps, dude was an animal, but definitely juicing, saw him shrink after the season dramatically.[/QUOTE] While the NCAA testing isn't perfect by any means I wouldn't go as far as to call it a joke. Testing is year round and random, and if you are have been taking anything that's still in your system and you get randomly tested you are for sure going to be fucked, unless you want to inject another persons urine into your own bladder and even that is not a guaranteed way to pass. I think you have about a 15% chance of getting tested every season as of 2012. I'm by no means saying that there isn't steroid use in college football and I believe the percentages are a lot higher than casual fans think, with that being said I still think that the vast majority of the guys; at least where I go, which is bottom of the FBS don't juice. A lot of the bigger guys carry a significant bodyfat% and are just genetically gifted strength wise, it's easy to pull the steroid card whenever you see a dude who performs like a freak, but you also have to remember that those guys are also recruited out of a huge group of people and really are the cream of the crop. It was hard for me to accept this because I've been training my ass off my entire life and it sucks to see someone who is just more gifted than you that can have a bigger impact than you on the field while training for a quarter of the time you do and having considerably worse technique.

I've had the strength coach flat out tell me who was juicing lol. More guys do it than you think. Yes there are definitely genetic freaks, my best friend benched 450 lbs in high school natty, but there are definitely juicers. It's not even the big guys either, a lot of the DB's and receivers juice in some way, prohormones are very big.

[QUOTE=Bleach Qeef;49423230]I've had the strength coach flat out tell me who was juicing lol. More guys do it than you think. Yes there are definitely genetic freaks, my best friend benched 450 lbs in high school natty, but there are definitely juicers. It's not even the big guys either, a lot of the DB's and receivers juice in some way, prohormones are very big.[/QUOTE] I don't disagree, especially about the part where it isn't necessarily the big guys.

Last week I learned I had a mild scoliosis in the shape of a S. A strange one if you ask me, there is not a "clear" arching but you can see it from the bottom and in my neck. I said oh fuck I won't be able to keep deadlifting Then I found out about Lamar Gant.... Man, fuck scoliosis

My back has been playing up lately and I've not even lifted for months fucking mystery

[QUOTE=Lukeo;49426907]My back has been playing up lately and I've not even lifted for months fucking mystery[/QUOTE] I'm in the EXACT same boat. Like, do I need some deadlifts to kick my back into not being a bitch?

[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;49426655]Last week I learned I had a mild scoliosis in the shape of a S. A strange one if you ask me, there is not a "clear" arching but you can see it from the bottom and in my neck. I said oh fuck I won't be able to keep deadlifting Then I found out about Lamar Gant.... Man, fuck scoliosis[/QUOTE] Isn't 'strengthening your back' supposed to help with scoliosis?

[QUOTE=NotMeh;49427097]Isn't 'strengthening your back' supposed to help with scoliosis?[/QUOTE] Yes it does help because the muscles help support it. The thing I was scared about, is that if I kept doing squats or deadlifts, my spine would....eh, how would you say it? Due to the force, it would be compressed and then the scoliosis would get worse. A more accentuated curve. Like grabbing a bow, and trying to get the two ends together, that kind of effect. Anyway, I'm 20, and I know that im some years med developments might make a very shitty scoliosis into a not that bad scoliosis, so that makes me more glad.

Just wanna get hyooge

What's a good way of estimating body fat % ?

@waterpi Very rarely, with how I set the bar on my back for squats I dont have the flexibility to move my arms in enough that I wont obliterate my fingers so I do front squats For bench, very rarely happens, I only do it the odd time to dickwave with my friend, but I should get back into doing it more frequently. I originally got out of doing it a lot to be able to build back up to it. My best so far is 365x1 I THINK, I cant recall if I did 405 yet becuase I did try it recently, I think I made a post about it? I should easily be able to do more by now. Deadlifts I just never do, the motion has never appealed to me, but the odd time I do I just slow rep 225 till I cry. @nevermind I'm sitting at around 11% right now I'd say, my bulk has been all over the place, when I do eat, its a fuckton, but when I dont, a large part of the day I'm running on nothing. That sounds reasonable for 5 years of training so I'd believe the guy, I've only done 3 years myself. I'm a bit hard on myself sometimes, never think I do enough or push hard enough, I was in a rut with that post. Since then I've eaten a whole clove of garlic, cleaned up my diet, hit the sauna for 2H twice, and slept a lot longer and came back today at 229 feeling great! That back pic is hard to go off, but looking at myself in the mirror I've come a good amount in just shape. Should really quit going off the scale so much. Thanks for the advice though!

^brah I would start doing a lot more back, especially if you don't deadlift. That shit will add mass to you, if you deadlifted 600-700lbs your back would be hyooge. To gain mass at this point for you you're going to have to do lifts and exercises that you either don't do or aren't that good at and become good at them. The places where you're already swole as fuk at won't improve a whole lot, but you need to bring up your weak points. [editline]1st January 2016[/editline] and weighted abs too, theres a whole lotta mass to be added in your core if you don't already do those. I used to be able to see my abs pretty well even though I was fatter when I doing a shitton of heavy weighted abs. Just started to do those again.

Deadlift is king. It's probably the best exercise in the history for strength and the back.

[QUOTE=_Axel;49430460]What's a good way of estimating body fat % ?[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages[/url] This article would be a start, should be able to get within a 5% margin of error with this.