Any other workout fanatics here?

[leor_77]

I just started really getting into working out about 1-2 months ago. Although I have a bench outside, I mainly like to do body-weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, dips, etc.) - lately, I fill up a backpack with heavy books/weights to do with some of these exercises, but I'll probably get a weight vest soon. It's interesting because at times it is like an addictive type of thing...I remember a couple of times when I was in class, I was just dying to do push-ups, like I literally wanted to do them right there in the class - drove home fast, and worked out like a maniac. Also, If I'm out, at say some kind of clothing/retail store, I'll do push-ups in the dressing room, because I love the pump, and I love the feeling (and look) it gives me.

The only thing I will say is that I have not done nearly enough cardio, and that kind of disappoints me. I'll have to get that figured out - debating between something like HIIT, or just steady jogging.

I'm also thinking about pre-workout supplements. Nothing too crazy, but a little bit of edge/extra power would be nice!

[Cutheon]

What are your goals?

Body-weight exercises are good, but deadlift, squat and bench should be a staple of your routine. Squat and deadlift especially work the whole body while adding strength.

I imagine you, like most people (and myself), hate cardio, so what I would recommend to make it easier is the following:

on days you lift (let's say MWF), go for a walk after. Nothing too strenuous, keep your heart rate up, but walk for about 15-20. If you have a treadmill, set it to around 3 and put the incline to max (or near max, if you are particularly tired).

On days you do not - HIIT. I would recommend 1 on/1off sprints; do HIIT for about 20 minutes, follow it up with another 10-15 of walking as a cool down. Do that, say, Tuesday and thursday.

Rest on the weekends. Don't worry about lifting or body weights - give yourself a much deserved rest. Add weight steadily (5 pound each routine, each MWF) and you will develop strength (slowly but surely) and, if you do lifts like squat, overhead press, deadlift - you will do so over your whole body. If you are looking for definition primarily, then the biggest factor is simply your diet. Your muscles (once they are developed) will only show if you have a lower body fat. Cardio/diet will help with the latter; lifts for the former.

If you tell me your goals I can might be able to provide more information or direct you to programs I like. I do the above and I am lifting a lot more than I used to be able to in what has been a relatively short amount of time. I am somewhat lax with my diet, however, and I pretty much despise cardio so I could be better, but I have seen good gains thus far.

[leor_77]

Thanks for the reply! I'm pretty happy with how things are developing in my upper body. Only slight concern there is that my right arm is more muscular than my left, but that's somewhat normal, I assume. I always try to target my left more often now.

My current goals are honestly just getting a little bit bigger legs, and cardio. I don't want to be one of those guys who lift weights who look good, but then get winded after jogging for 2 minutes.

The thing with, cardio, also, is that with my acid reflux, it's sometimes tough, but I'm sure i'll be able to deal with it. I find that it happens more frequently when I run/sprint/jump-rope/etc. I can do really fast walking (and get a pretty good cardio workout if I really push it), usually with no issues.

[C M B]

If GERD is screwing with your cardio, a fitness center membership will definitely be worth your while if you don't have one already because of access to

-stairmaster
-rowing machine
-swimming pool
-spinning bikes
-versaclimber

and other machines that will give you that great cardio burn that's so crucial to balancing your build, not to mention keeping your blood clean and building up your aerobic aspect...and they'll do this without bouncing your stomach all over the place.

Regarding specific lifts, as a workout novice I took a fat-athletic body to rugby-yoked using a workout based on a 5x5 routine. Nothing fancy. 2 warmup sets per exercise, and then the 3rd 5x5 should be at a weight that is ~80% of your max liftable for one rep (you'll see this abbreviated on fitness forums as 1RM). For more info, google a 5x5 workout and fine-tune it to your preference. You may or may not try it out, but in less than a year it took me from Charles Barkley c. 1989 to Karl Malone c. 1998, in comparative terms. Of course, I have slowly murdered that stud over the last couple of years by burying him in cheeseburgers and complacency. I've only recently begun to undo the damage and the simple 5x5 regimen + 45 minute daily cardio sesh have gotten me back on the right track.

As for supplements, don't even think about creatine as you're in no rush to get ripped. Half of a standard whey protein shake (with no filler) is perfect beore your workout. Just enough to fuel you until your next meal without making you feel like puking during your lift. Drink water like it's going out of supply. When you think you've drank enough, drink more. When you urinate you should be looking at Zima, not Budweiser.

Regarding that pump, I know exactly what you mean. Nothing feels better than seeing results, and when you're in a groove, you're unstoppable...so when you're feeling amped, USE IT! Do those random sets! They all add up, even if you're on an "off" day provided it's not a muscle group you killed on the previous day.

Good luck!
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[Cutheon]

^Stronglifts? Great program if so.

Leor: don't kill yourself if your calves never get quite as big as you hope. Strength is always a better indicator of "gains" or development than sheer size simply because genetics play such a huge factor. I am not saying they won't get bigger (they will), but if you don't have the calves of an NFL RB or the biceps of Patrick Willis, don't worry too much. Doesn't mean you can't lift like him (and, if you can, you certainly will be pretty big) but you will ALWAYS look different. Most experienced lifters will vouch to that.

I also second what CMB said, particularly regarding water.

[Don Draper]

I run a lot. Don't know if that counts.

[PLATNUM]

Do you even lift, bro?
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[C M B]

[C M B]

[doughboy90650]

Train like a boxer and eat like an Asian. That's what my Vietnamese mother in law told me. She usually has me eating a lot of vegetables and greens, chicken and all that stuff that healthy and good for you; while at the same time I go to work on the heavy bag, speed bag, jump rope and road work.

Now that I'm getting older, I hit the weights more for reps than strength. Just wanna stay in good shape because I don't wanna look on my dresser and see seven bottles of prescriptions keeping my ass alive.

[Moses]

I've trained weights for about 12 years now (I'm 29), but have been serious about Martial Arts since I was like 5 or 6, so I've always trained pretty hard.

It's been my obsession since I was young, I don't drink, smoke or take drugs, I see a nutritionist every month, and workout literally all the time. At my heaviest I was about 225 with 15-20% body fat, now I'm around 190 with about 5-7%.

I like early morning cardio training, I personally think HIIT works well, I have a massive hill near my house that I run up, then walk down, and repeat until I feel sick

On the subject of pre-workouts, I've tried so many, but the best ones always seem to end up banned! I had one called Craze last year that was awesome, but it's banned now. You'll find a lot of them contain loads of caffeine, taurine & creatine, so make sure you aren;t sensitive to high amounts of caffeine & taurine, and drink plenty of water so creatine doesn't dehydrate you or give you a headache. NO-Xplode is one that isn't too bad, same with Grenade 50 Cal.
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[Dladi Vidac]

I used to train like a maniac, 4am, 5days a week, 380g protein a day, straight bodybuilder gym program, trained with many pro bodybuilders and even a couple pro wrestlers. I stopped that madness about 10 years ago. I started training again using the Body For Science method, youtube and google Doug Mcguff. It's basically once crazy intense super-set done ONCE a (bleep) week. Results have been awesome with zero chance of injury.
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[ahaider]

It seems like there are some fairly knowledgable weight lifters on here. Hopefully one of you guys could give me some advice:

I'm about 160 5'10-5'11. 7% body fat. I'm trying to cut a little bit more so I'm in the gym 4-5 times a week for about an hour and a half. I'm trying my best to get a six pack. I've never had one before even though I've always been skinny with a fast metabolism.

I've been working out great but I feel like my diet might not be up to par. I've been eating clean. Mainly brown rice and chicken. I get my carbs by baking potatoes or bananas. I'm starting to see some solid results but I was curious about the diet you guys implemented. I bake salmon from time to time and stay away from soda's and juices. If i drink orange juice, it's fresh squeezed from a juicer.

If I eat out fast food, I mainly only eat chipotle. If I go to chipotle I get the brown rice, chicken, no sour cream pico de gallo and avocados. Is that clean enough for eating out?

Idk, am I eating clean enough? Should I be doing more weight lifting activities for abs? Any thoughts for me?
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[Cutheon]

[Conker]

500 push-ups, 1, 000 pull-ups, and 2, 000 Hindu squats a day helps a lot. Trust me.
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[56]

I've been pyramiding since high school. 4 sets of 10/8/6/4 reps while increasing the weight respectively. I make sure that I am only able to do a certain weight for only that amount of reps and no more. If I am able to do more, or still able to complete the 4 sets with ease (about 3-5 min rest periods) then I increase the weights. It's been working pretty well, and aside from 2 serious injuries that took out about a combined 6 months of lifting, I've increased the weights on all my lifts quite a bit since I started.

I haven't hit a plateau yet fortunately, but if I do I think I'll switch up to 5x5x5. It's been doing wonders for one of my buddies.

Also I just started Deadlifts/Squats 2 years ago, and I love the results. Since they work out multiple muscles (Quads, Back, Shoulders, etc.) I found my lifts for Bench Press, Shoulder Press/Military Press to be much stronger than before.

Edit: Forgot to add, for supplements I only use this Muscle Milk Whey Protein from Costco, I just picked it up because it had the highest amount of protein per serving lol (27g). I used to use creatine for a bit in college but I didn't like lugging around a big gallon of water everywhere I went. I also found myself looking not as ideal as I wanted to due to all that water weight. I've tried Jack3d, and let me say that thing worked extremely well as I have never been as energized during a gym sesh but I wasn't able to sleep all night. It might be due to the fact that it has so much damn caffeine and I have a high sensitivity to caffeine. Regardless, I stopped after 1 use.

[Don Draper]

[GoldenChild]

I work out no more than 30 minutes a day or every other day. I used to do longer cardio workouts but soon learned that I only need about 25-30 minutes a day or every other day. I used to run but learned that running more than 2 hours a week can be damaging to the heart so I stopped overdoing it.

I usually take a non-denatured whey protein shake after my workouts or for breakfast. It gives me energy until lunch and makes me feel great.

My favorite right now is Natural Factors Whey Factors Matcha Green Tea. It's pretty good taste.

[C M B]

[GoldenChild]

[C M B]

[ahaider]

[AY2043]

[jodeke]

LINK
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