Weightlifting/Bodybuilding Thread V.7 - let's see if more people care about themselves
5,000 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Exigent;50111292]Can you guys give me some tips on the split I'm doing?
Monday: Chest/Abs; Bench Press, Incline Bench, Butterfly, Decline Bench, Dumbbell Flys, Cable Crossover, AbCoaster, Crunches
Tuesday: Back; Deadlift, Pull-up, Bent-over row, Lat Pulldown
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Shoulders/Abs; Shoulder Press, Lat Raise, Front Raise, Upright Row, Pull Side-Lateral, Arnold Dumbbell Press, AbCoaster, Crunch
Friday: Legs; Squats, Leg Press, Leg Extension, Inverse Leg Curl, Hack Squat, Standing Calf Raise
Saturday: Arms/Abs; Preacher Curl, Hammer Curl, Bicep Curl, Skullcrushers, Tricep Extension, Reverse Curl, AbCoaster, Crunch
Is this good? I feel like I should add some lifts to some days but I figured I'd get a more experienced opinion.[/QUOTE]
Sorry for the very late answer. Your routine looks solid but you are only hitting each major body part except abs once a week which means you will see results slower than if you do it twice a week. Compound lifts like squats and dead lifts are great for abs so you can trade some ab-time for chest/back/legs. Just make sure to get enough rest, ideally 2 days for each individual muscle group.
Another thing I noticed is that you do upright rows which are generally viewed as bad by doctors and physical therapists because you are moving in an unnatural way which puts much stress on your gleno-humeral joint (shoulder joint). I'm not going to say that you shouldn't do them because they absolutely work but be really careful and if you feel pain or any discomfort stop doing them. There are many other great exercises that hit the lateral delts and traps you can switch to. Also, never pull the bar above shoulder level, that will fuck up your rotator cuff even if you don't feel it.
[QUOTE=maeZtro;50129974]Sorry for the very late answer. Your routine looks solid but you are only hitting each major body part except abs once a week which means you will see results slower than if you do it twice a week. Compound lifts like squats and dead lifts are great for abs so you can trade some ab-time for chest/back/legs. Just make sure to get enough rest, ideally 2 days for each individual muscle group.
Another thing I noticed is that you do upright rows which are generally viewed as bad by doctors and physical therapists because you are moving in an unnatural way which puts much stress on your gleno-humeral joint (shoulder joint). I'm not going to say that you shouldn't do them because they absolutely work but be really careful and if you feel pain or any discomfort stop doing them. There are many other great exercises that hit the lateral delts and traps you can switch to. Also, never pull the bar above shoulder level, that will fuck up your rotator cuff even if you don't feel it.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the advice, especially the last part. I had no idea about upright rows being a problem and I probably never would've thought about it. You probably just saved me an injury, I'll make sure to look out for comfort from now on when I do them.
[QUOTE=Lone Wolf807;50128855]I get nauseous eating it lately, I hope I don't over do it like when I ate eggs everyday for breakfast one summer. The taste of them just made me want to vomit over time.[/QUOTE]
Resort to Nutella.
[QUOTE=Ch!ef;50131260]Resort to Nutella.[/QUOTE]
Naw, Nutella's got a worse calorie to fat per ratio. I just gotta toughen up :(
Hey people. Haven't posted here before. I've been lifting for a few years. I had good results for the first six months, but since then I've been getting slack. I still go to the gym regularly but I'm not making any substantial progress. My long-term goal is to be natural and look reasonably cut - I'm not awfully interested in huge size, I have my height for that lmao. My short-term goal right now is to go on a cut to lose some fat but I also want to work on my poor stamina, then eventually go back to putting on weight.
I understand my diet will factor into this (and I'm already working on that myself - don't worry, I know my macros and daily intakes), but first: Can anyone recommend some good workout routines for both the cut and bulk stages? I go to the gym three times per week. While on the cut, I especially want to try and get my stamina back up. The problem at the moment is I'm left breathless after a few sets. When on the bulk, I suppose I want to lean more to the hypertrophy side rather than the strength side. My arms are too skinny lol.
Finallt, how do the rest of you do your chicken breasts? How do you cook a batch of them in the oven without them becoming heaps dry? And how do you store them as well? I keep mine in the freezer but it's always awful, after reheating in the microwave, to have a boiling hot outside and stone cold inside.
[editline]16th April 2016[/editline]
Oh and one last thing: I usually have peanut butter on thick slices of toast for breakfast (when bulking). In terms of macros it's pretty well-balanced, and full of calories. But it tastes so bland. Anyone have any ideas on healthy ways to improve the taste a bit? I sometimes put lemon curd on top but that stuff is something like literally 70% sugar, so not healthy at all.
if you want to cut + gain stamina, i think your best bet would be running on off days
[editline]15th April 2016[/editline]
go for distance, not speed, and increase distance over time until you can run ~5 miles per session consistently
[QUOTE=NixNax123;50136800]if you want to cut + gain stamina, i think your best bet would be running on off days
[editline]15th April 2016[/editline]
go for distance, not speed, and increase distance over time until you can run ~5 miles per session consistently[/QUOTE]
Okay that sounds good. There's a slight problem though, so it might need modification. I had a hernia when I was little, and so if I run I get hip pain after a few minutes. However, I don't get that pain if I use an elliptical machine, I guess because I'm not slamming my feet hard into the ground. Would it make much of a difference if I used the elliptical machine instead of running?
I should probably ask my doctor about this, but would it be possible for that hip pain to go away after gradually working on the running?
definitely ask your doctor before trying, but swimming is a good low impact alternative, plus you get a good full body tone from it. eliptical is fine but (at least in my experience) the rate of calorie burn is much lower compared to running or swimming, so you'd have to do it a lot longer to get the same results (if i ever go on the eliptical i usually stay on it for a good 50 mins or so)
Cycling too, if you have no water.
[QUOTE=sb27;50136700]Hey people. Haven't posted here before. I've been lifting for a few years. I had good results for the first six months, but since then I've been getting slack. I still go to the gym regularly but I'm not making any substantial progress. My long-term goal is to be natural and look reasonably cut - I'm not awfully interested in huge size, I have my height for that lmao. My short-term goal right now is to go on a cut to lose some fat but I also want to work on my poor stamina, then eventually go back to putting on weight.
I understand my diet will factor into this (and I'm already working on that myself - don't worry, I know my macros and daily intakes), but first: Can anyone recommend some good workout routines for both the cut and bulk stages? I go to the gym three times per week. While on the cut, I especially want to try and get my stamina back up. The problem at the moment is I'm left breathless after a few sets. When on the bulk, I suppose I want to lean more to the hypertrophy side rather than the strength side. My arms are too skinny lol.
Finallt, how do the rest of you do your chicken breasts? How do you cook a batch of them in the oven without them becoming heaps dry? And how do you store them as well? I keep mine in the freezer but it's always awful, after reheating in the microwave, to have a boiling hot outside and stone cold inside.
[editline]16th April 2016[/editline]
Oh and one last thing: I usually have peanut butter on thick slices of toast for breakfast (when bulking). In terms of macros it's pretty well-balanced, and full of calories. But it tastes so bland. Anyone have any ideas on healthy ways to improve the taste a bit? I sometimes put lemon curd on top but that stuff is something like literally 70% sugar, so not healthy at all.[/QUOTE]
Try a peanut butter and jelly/honey sandwich? If it's too dry try dipping it into some whole milk before eating. That's what I do.
[QUOTE=Nevermind.;50137177]Try a peanut butter and jelly/honey sandwich? If it's too dry try dipping it into some whole milk before eating. That's what I do.[/QUOTE]
Honey is nice, I wasn't sure if it was healthy though. I'm not sure about the jam (what we call your jelly). Most of it is literally just sugar, same as the lemon curd I've been having.
[QUOTE=sb27;50136700]...
Finallt, how do the rest of you do your chicken breasts? How do you cook a batch of them in the oven without them becoming heaps dry? And how do you store them as well? I keep mine in the freezer but it's always awful, after reheating in the microwave, to have a boiling hot outside and stone cold inside.
...
[/QUOTE]
Defrost chicken in a plastic bag under cool water. Doesn't take too long. Brines help with the texture and flavor of breasts. Marinades are pretty nice. Use a meat thermometer to get it to the right temperature, too hot and you'll make the meat tough, too cool and you'll get food poisoning. I like cooking breasts at 425°F in a cast iron pan for around 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Nothings worse than a half repper, I can't decide if I hate it the most on bench or squat
[editline]15th April 2016[/editline]
Also viral bronchitis yay, don't feel bad enough (in terms of fever and general sick-ness) to not gym but have to catch my breath if I lightly jog for 5 meters, so another forced week off
[QUOTE=Waterpi;50137758]Nothings worse than a half repper, I can't decide if I hate it the most on bench or squat[/QUOTE]
Even I, as a beginner, constantly notice people doing half reps. It's so practically useless to do.
Depending on the movement, partial reps can be useful - granted there's usually better alternatives and most people aren't aware of what they're doing. Different parts of a movement will generally involve different muscles.
A good example of this you probably will see often is people doing half reps on squats. Obviously there isn't the same benefit in doing this, but it will emphasize the action of the quadriceps. Upper part of most presses primarily involve the triceps, etc.
Cheat reps can be useful if you're wanting to incorporate some negatives (eccentric emphasis) into your workouts. When I'm teaching people to do pullups I have them do partial reps and negatives after lat pulldowns.
half reps can be useful [I]if people realize they're doing them[/I] lol
Don't get me wrong partials are hella useful I do box squats myself and they help tons with both my confidence with the weight and general strength, but the average gym bro isn't going to be doing a partial to assist the full exercise because they just don't do the full exercise at all. On top of that quarter squats are common and I've seen people do the same on bench. Half reps are fine with regards to partials and all but quarter reps are lockout training and really if you're not in suits you shouldn't need to worry about lockout training
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;50137308]Defrost chicken in a plastic bag under cool water. Doesn't take too long. Brines help with the texture and flavor of breasts. Marinades are pretty nice. Use a meat thermometer to get it to the right temperature, too hot and you'll make the meat tough, too cool and you'll get food poisoning. I like cooking breasts at 425°F in a cast iron pan for around 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.[/QUOTE]
If you're a lazy fuck buy it in bulk, thaw it, put it an a big pan in the oven and put some water in the pan with the chicken and don't cover the top. You'll get juicy chicken and don't have to do anything.
[QUOTE=Waterpi;50137758]Nothings worse than a half repper, I can't decide if I hate it the most on bench or squat
[editline]15th April 2016[/editline]
Also viral bronchitis yay, don't feel bad enough (in terms of fever and general sick-ness) to not gym but have to catch my breath if I lightly jog for 5 meters, so another forced week off[/QUOTE]
half repping a bench only works if its paused(eg, spoto press)
what the fuck is a half-squat supposed to do, ruin your ACL?
i only half rep squats (i.e. go parallel but not below) if i feel really bad knee pain and some asshole lowered the safety bars too low
[QUOTE=aznz888;50139217]half repping a bench only works if its paused(eg, spoto press)
what the fuck is a half-squat supposed to do, ruin your ACL?[/QUOTE]
spoto press is generally close enough to a full bench tho, it's usually an inch off your chest then to, or close enough to, lockout. By half rep bench I mean the bro's who unrack and then proceed to go halfway to their chest and then back. While I don't like half squats, I do box squats which are I suppose pretty close, they train the upper half of the movement (idk which muscles are involved more in the upper portion of the lift) with emphasis on explosiveness and since you can use more weight usually they help bringing your confidence up on the lift. Without focusing on the full movement though you're just dick waving and are going to fuck your shit up in the long run
Instead of getting a second lat pull down machine and a second squat rack, my gym instead got this big monkey bars crossfit thing with a boxing bag on it. To fit it in they had to move everything around and now the place is cramped and shit. It's the first time in the last 5 years I've seriously considered changing gyms.
But it's by far the cheapest gym out there so I'll give the place a shot. Maybe I just don't like change.
[QUOTE=NixNax123;50139289]i only half rep squats (i.e. go parallel but not below) if i feel really bad knee pain and some asshole lowered the safety bars too low[/QUOTE]
Is parallel considered half rep? I recently started with working out but I've never seen anyone squat below that, and i rarely see people going parallel.
[QUOTE=thermobaric;50139832]Is parallel considered half rep? I recently started with working out but I've never seen anyone squat below that, and i rarely see people going parallel.[/QUOTE]
No, most people consider a full rep to be parallel. It's relatively rare to see people going to parallel, and even rarer to see people going full ass-to-grass.
[editline]16th April 2016[/editline]
Here's a good debate on how to squat:
[video=youtube;MQWzAs2m0ck]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQWzAs2m0ck[/video]
I don't have the balance to go ass to grass without eating said grass.
[QUOTE=aznz888;50139217]half repping a bench only works if its paused(eg, spoto press)
what the fuck is a half-squat supposed to do, ruin your ACL?[/QUOTE]
It gets you more comfortable with heavier weights on your back.
Also if your squatting ATG a big sticking point is near or above parallel, where you've lost momentum from the stretch reflex at the bottom but the bigger stronger muscles of your hip and legs havent fully kicked in. I've found box squats(which I'd consider partial reps) help with getting through that.
[QUOTE=MuTAnT;50141174]I don't have the balance to go ass to grass without eating said grass.[/QUOTE]
Go lighter and focus more on the movement. I fucking hate going ATG but I managed it after like a month.
[QUOTE=MuTAnT;50141174]I don't have the balance to go ass to grass without eating said grass.[/QUOTE]
I can't do them properly either, hell most people I've seen trying to do them lacks mobility and doesn't keep their back in a good position on the way down, setting themselves up for a hernia. As long as you are feeling it in your glutes you don't need to go lower.
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