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

[QUOTE=_Axel;47827147]So I started getting into regular lifting at the beginning of this week. I've been doing 1h30 sessions of cardio-fitness every week in the past 6 months as my mandatory sport course at school, and even though I enjoy it, an hour and a half per week isn't enough to get actual progress so I'm thinking of taking it to the next level. So I read up on the stuff linked in the OP and chose to begin with the basic starting strength program, as it mostly contains exercises I'm already familiar with. For the first session I did the usual cardio warmup (skipping rope and bike mostly), but I wasn't really sure how much weight I should put on, should I look for my single-rep max and apply a coefficient like 70% to get the best 3x5 weight? Or is it just something you adjust workout after workout? In the end I weighted them the same way I usually do during mandatory sessions, so around 50kg for squats, 40kg for bench press and 50kg for deadlift. However two days later I reused the same weights and I ended up not being able to finish my bench press sets. Does that usually occur at the beginning? Like, workouts from two days earlier diminishing the performance of the current one? If that's the case should I diminish the weight so that I can stay consistent between sessions? I suppose it's better to start light than trying to get heavy right off the bat and performing poorly in the long run.[/QUOTE] The fact that you read the OP and are asking these questions is a pretty good sign. You lifts are a good start, do them for what the program says and add about 2.5kg per session if you can, sometimes you'll stay at the same weight for several workouts in a row, sometimes you'll go down, these things happen, all you can do is stay consistent and over time you'll get stronger.

[QUOTE=cathal6606;47833220]The fact that you read the OP and are asking these questions is a pretty good sign. You lifts are a good start, do them for what the program says and add about 2.5kg per session if you can, sometimes you'll stay at the same weight for several workouts in a row, sometimes you'll go down, these things happen, all you can do is stay consistent and over time you'll get stronger.[/QUOTE] I'll try to ramp up next time, then. Today I went to the gym when the entire rugby team was doing PT, was a bit worried at first that it would be tricky to work out with that many people in here (it's not a very big gym), but in the end I just had to wait a couple of minutes before the squat rack was free. Which brings me to my point: What's the basic gym etiquette when it comes to using machines and space? For my deadlifts I had to go to the center of the room where the rugbymen laid down mats to do bodyweight exercises later on. At that moment they were all using the bikes but still, I wasn't really sure if what I did was the proper thing to do. Also, on the topic of diet, I'm trying to get the gist of calories counting (though I'm already in the process of reforming when it comes to eating healthy) but I'm not very good at evaluating the mass of servings. For instance at lunch I had a plate of pasta with tuna. It was basically 300g of (dry) pasta with 100g of tuna. Apparently based on nutrition data that's about 500+100 cal, even though it was quite filling. Compare that with the average required calories for my weight if I want to gain mass (17*165~2800) or even if I want to lose weight (11*165~1800), that doesn't seem like much at all. Am I making a mistake somewhere? Because if not then I'll need to eat a lot to get the necessary calories, and that's not really convenient considering I only have time to eat at the canteen, at least for noon lunch, and they don't really serve tremendous amounts.

[QUOTE]What's the basic gym etiquette when it comes to using machines and space? For my deadlifts I had to go to the center of the room where the rugbymen laid down mats to do bodyweight exercises later on. At that moment they were all using the bikes but still, I wasn't really sure if what I did was the proper thing to do. [/QUOTE] I'm guessing you're gym doesnt have platforms for deadlifts, just find a spot thats out of the way and do them, people wont mind if you look like you know what your doing. [QUOTE]Also, on the topic of diet, I'm trying to get the gist of calories counting (though I'm already in the process of reforming when it comes to eating healthy) but I'm not very good at evaluating the mass of servings. For instance at lunch I had a plate of pasta with tuna. It was basically 300g of (dry) pasta with 100g of tuna. Apparently based on nutrition data that's about 500+100 cal, even though it was quite filling. Compare that with the average required calories for my weight if I want to gain mass (17*165~2800) or even if I want to lose weight (11*165~1800), that doesn't seem like much at all. Am I making a mistake somewhere? Because if not then I'll need to eat a lot to get the necessary calories, and that's not really convenient considering I only have time to eat at the canteen, at least for noon lunch, and they don't really serve tremendous amounts.[/QUOTE] Nah m8 sounds like you're eating good food, try getting 3 meals like that in every day, plus breakfast, and a few pints of milk and you'll be sorted.

i'm so disappointed in the gym I joined. It's got what I need though, I gotta mcgyver shit together to be able to do my lifts. They've got one smith machine which everyone uses for squats and bench pressing, and then they have 2 squat racks which people use to squat. they don't have any bench press barbell leg support things, so I gotta turn the squat rack into a bench press area so I have somewhere to rest the barbell when I'm done. shameful display. I dunno if this is the norm, cause most every gym I've joined has dedicated benchpress setups so you don't gotta awkwardly change a squat rack into one.

[QUOTE=cathal6606;47835006]I'm guessing you're gym doesnt have platforms for deadlifts, just find a spot thats out of the way and do them, people wont mind if you look like you know what your doing.[/QUOTE] Yeah it doesn't have a lot of equipment, I'll take a picture of the room next time I go there. [QUOTE]Nah m8 sounds like you're eating good food, try getting 3 meals like that in every day, plus breakfast, and a few pints of milk and you'll be sorted.[/QUOTE] Wait, 3 meals [I]plus[/I] breakfast? When am I supposed to eat that third meal?

[QUOTE=loopoo;47835067]i'm so disappointed in the gym I joined. It's got what I need though, I gotta mcgyver shit together to be able to do my lifts. They've got one smith machine which everyone uses for squats and bench pressing, and then they have 2 squat racks which people use to squat. they don't have any bench press barbell leg support things, so I gotta turn the squat rack into a bench press area so I have somewhere to rest the barbell when I'm done. shameful display. I dunno if this is the norm, cause most every gym I've joined has dedicated benchpress setups so you don't gotta awkwardly change a squat rack into one.[/QUOTE] Same here, no way I'm using the smith machine. I dragged a bench into the squat rack and did my bench presses there, because fuck the police.

[QUOTE=Adamhully;47835085]Same here, no way I'm using the smith machine. I dragged a bench into the squat rack and did my bench presses there, because fuck the police.[/QUOTE] that's what I do, and I get weird looks. [I]I[/I] get weird fuckin looks whilst these plebs use a smith machine. enjoy your puny, weak stabilizer muscles, guys. I'll drag this bench into the squat rack cause I want functional strength, thanks!

GOTTA GET HYOOOOOOOOOOOOGE but decided to finally ditch the scale and just go by feel, fuck what you heard

[QUOTE=_Axel;47835074]Yeah it doesn't have a lot of equipment, I'll take a picture of the room next time I go there. Wait, 3 meals [I]plus[/I] breakfast? When am I supposed to eat that third meal?[/QUOTE] Before bed, I like to go with a bowl full of cottage cheese mixed with Greek yoghurt, real good source of protein. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] Thats when I'm on maintenance or cutting, for bulking its usually pastabake/ pizza or something like that.

[QUOTE=cathal6606;47835443]Before bed, I like to go with a bowl full of cottage cheese mixed with Greek yoghurt, real good source of protein. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] Thats when I'm on maintenance or cutting, for bulking its usually pastabake/ pizza or something like that.[/QUOTE] Shit I don't know if I'll have enough appetite for that kind of stuff. Pizza as a fourth meal?

Started eating at least 2000 clean calories a day and I'm seeing quite a bit of weight gain. Not going to be a toothpick anymore.

2000 cals is still less than the avg man is meant to be having, dude. 2500 is avg and the RDA for an average man. bump that shit up to 2800 or 3000 and everything'll go beastmode. when I was eating at 2800 cals (some days 3000), my stats shot up and I packed on a lot of mass [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] being a toothpick is awesome cause it means you can bulk the fuck out and not worry too much about ending up chubbier than you already are (which is a problem I faced, being 75kg when almost none of that weight was muscle!). I had the constant sadness of knowing I was just exacerbating my underlying chubbiness, but fuck it, the gains were worth it

[QUOTE=_Axel;47835634]Shit I don't know if I'll have enough appetite for that kind of stuff. Pizza as a fourth meal?[/QUOTE] Be careful with pizza as it's very caloric-dense but otherwise why not. Home made will probably be healthier, just be light on the sauces. You will gradually get the appetite. I was doing five meals a day and saw 8kg gain in 2 months. Spot on.

been eating more for months and only just worked my way up to 5 meals ~3000 ish cal example: breakfast - whole pineapple, coffee, omelette with bacon. meal 2 - brotein shake w creatine, apple, orange, sandwich (brown bread, ham or salami and spinach). meal 3 - brown pasta with olive oil, heaps of parmesan. meal 4 - brotein shake, tuna sandwich. meal 5 - steak, steamed kale, brown rice. Gone up a stone over the last 2 months (was a size 28 waist skellington) and lifts have progressed v. nicely. Not put on much fat either which is nice. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] pretty much exactly the same as antdawg

so hard to get beastmode amount of food on a poor college kiddy diet is there any way to bulk buy meat online or something for cheap?

I use this site, its got great deals (picked up 50 steaks for £70) every now and again. You 'murricans might have an alternative and if you don't then you should start a business equivalent over there. [url]http://www.musclefood.com/[/url] I'm a student too and couldn't eat like this if I didn't have a freezer filled with cheap but quality meat. My housemates and me buy our protein powder in bulk so we save £££ on it. Syntha-6 (the brand my housemate wanted) worked out something crazy like £15 cheaper a tub if we all bought 2 at the start of each semester. I've had to really work to kill it all off hahah.

Ate 4 pounds of steak cooked by my chef gym parter/friend. Holy jesus I can feel the gains For some reason steak makes me feel really happy, even when I wake up I feel great

Arhhh since beginning my cut my lifts have gone to hell. I can no longer do full reps on 70kg barbell row, I'm losing rom on bench press too and in general I'm struggling to get to ten reps per set for most exercises (except for deadlift funnily enough). [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=PollytheParrot;47837115]so hard to get beastmode amount of food on a poor college kiddy diet is there any way to bulk buy meat online or something for cheap?[/QUOTE] What's your budget like? I was able to get good progress on a bulk from $70 per week. Australian dollars btw, that's probably like the equivalent of $40 U.S. Just buy cheap shit from a supermarket. 1kg of middle bacon lasts me a week and that's like $9. $4, 500g of peanut butter lasts me a week. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Valon Kyre;47837358]Ate 4 pounds of steak cooked by my chef gym parter/friend. Holy jesus I can feel the gains For some reason steak makes me feel really happy, even when I wake up I feel great[/QUOTE] Shame it wasn't a chicken schnitty. Steak is good but schnitty is king.

haha guys try getting by on 15€ per week

[QUOTE=NotMeh;47837980]haha guys try getting by on 15€ per week[/QUOTE] all kinds of eggs

I used to love eggs, but now when I eat them, if they're scrambled, fried, in an omelette, doesn't matter, makes me feel nauseous as fuck. I dunno if it's cause I got food poisoning a year back and I kept trying to eat eggs to get energy, only to end up puking it back out. either that, or I've developed an allergy to eggs, which'd be kinda weird. I fucking miss eggs, guys. I hate that I'll eat one now and then 1 minute later feel like I'm gonna heave. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] god damn that musclefood website looks incredible, but I can't buy the 75 quid offer cause I haven't got the space in my freezer to keep all that shit.

Frying eggs in leftover bacon oil is pretty good I reckon, and then put it on a wholemeal sandwich with some chilli sauce.

[QUOTE=loopoo;47838550]I used to love eggs, but now when I eat them, if they're scrambled, fried, in an omelette, doesn't matter, makes me feel nauseous as fuck. I dunno if it's cause I got food poisoning a year back and I kept trying to eat eggs to get energy, only to end up puking it back out. either that, or I've developed an allergy to eggs, which'd be kinda weird. I fucking miss eggs, guys. I hate that I'll eat one now and then 1 minute later feel like I'm gonna heave. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] god damn that musclefood website looks incredible, but I can't buy the 75 quid offer cause I haven't got the space in my freezer to keep all that shit.[/QUOTE] That happened to me when I was 10. I used to love eggs, then one day I ate a dodgy one, got food poisoning and could never go near them again. [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] I'm still hoping one day I'll grow out of it

[QUOTE=Adamhully;47835085]Same here, no way I'm using the smith machine. I dragged a bench into the squat rack and did my bench presses there, because fuck the police.[/QUOTE] In all the gyms i've been in UK, it's, unfortunately, the only thing to do if you want proper bench press.....

Anyone in the US know a good bulk meat order online place?

aldi bruh idk lol also eggs are fukin groce idk how yall stomach that chit, the only eggs I eat are those liquid egg whites and i put em in my protonz shakes

eggs are delicious nigga

Okay I wouldn't say they're delicious [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] they're alright [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] above plain chicken breasts and plain brown rice at least that shits like cardboard [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] if you have too many eggs can get disgusting pretty quick tho

who tf doesnt season chicken boobs to the point of absolute ambrosia

hit me with some good seasonings. I just sprinkle chilli flakes on that shit