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Soul Splint

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Everything posted by Soul Splint

  1. I would go in with a flexible plan. For example, if you're planning on working your back, identify as many options as possible to work the muscles you're targeting, then use the equipment that is free/least busy. Can't find a pull-up station? Use a lat-pulldown machine. That taken too? Find a free barbell and do some Pendlay rows. No barbells? One-arm dumbbell rows. No dumbbells? Go alpha on the pricks hogging all the equipment and take what you need.
  2. NOOOOOO. Not the rotator cuff. Damn man, hate to hear that. Here's hoping it's more superficial than it sounds/feels.
  3. For the first four months I ate at 500 cals above my TDEE (about 3,000), but never let my carbs get above 30% of my daily calories (I'm carb-sensitive for an ectomorph). For the last two months I cut down to about 2,200 cals a day and kept my carbs below 20%, and started hitting the sprints hard. This time I'm going to bump my carbs up a bit so I can try to find my "line" for optimal muscle growth. I was honestly expecting more of an impact on my mood than what I experienced; other than being a bit crabby because I was thirsty and craving salt and protein, I didn't really notice any other ill effects. I definitely tired out more easily, though. And yes, I'd very interested about your progress for the show and what programming your coach puts you on. You flatter me, sir.
  4. Thanks, man! I finally got my macros figured out about 4 months into the comp, and it's making all the difference in the world. That, plus that 7-step plan I mentioned helped a good bit to show my progress at the end (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/7-scientific-steps-to-camera-ready-body.html). Since you and OA asked, I'll tell you this plan was not super-easy to follow, but it was definitely worth it. I'd do it again. It really challenges you on the last few days, though: I was eating 4-5 plain baked potatoes per day at the end to overstock my glycogen. I also couldn't find pixy sticks, so I had to go with Smarties, which are also pure dextrose, like he recommends. And that last day I only had about 30 ounces of water, though he says to try and stay under 20 (I just couldn't do it). I'd say this plan gave my physique about a ten-percent boost, so worth it for an actual contest, but probably not worth it for a standard weekend at the beach.
  5. 6 '3. My back definitely develops easier than my front, despite the blood I shed on chest day.
  6. Double-post: got my pics ready for the 6 month challenge. Check it out, guize! Edit: Hmmm...pics not working. Does the site have issues with DropBox links or something? Anyone know why they won't show up?
  7. This happens to me pretty frequently, so it's a good chance that was the culprit.
  8. Yes and no. The majority of the load is placed on the hamstrings, but if done correctly, there is a chance you will have typical muscle soreness in your lower back for a few days after, depending on the strength of your lower back. With your history I'd say that's more likely a guarantee you would be sore. Just be very careful and ensure your form is good; watch videos and have someone knowledgeable critique your form. One of the most common errors that leads to back issues is having the bar too far away from your legs, for example. If you really want to mitigate back problems as much as possible, look into sumo deadlifts. They put a bit less pull on the back and a bit more on the inner thighs and glutes. You could also do rack pulls (deadlifts from a height above the floor) to get leg activation with less back action.
  9. Yay deads! Work your everything in one movement. Strong PRs, too. Be proud of your squat/bench separation, my current (more like six weeks ago) 5 rep max is 230 for BOTH exercises. My squat got a really late start compared to my bench though, because I was never properly taught about any leg exercises. At all. (Thank you high school and college "lifting coaches" who were more clueless than Professor Plum). Go, Zoltan! Run and stuff. I get along with long-distance running like a bad mexican lunch gets along with heavy squats. But kudos to you!
  10. You would go back up to about 170 (muscle gained) within a couple of months with heavy resistance training and proper eating. Oh newb gains, how I miss thee.
  11. That is some quality, steady progress my friend. Kudos for scaling (dropping off?) the plateau. I will definitely let you guys know how well the 7-step plan works. Taking the photos Oct. 7.
  12. Yay for calorie surplus! I'm just about to finish up prep for the Six Month Before/After challenge on Fitocracy, so after I take my pic in about a week, I'll be joining you. I'm doing the Jim Stoppani "7 Scientific Steps to a Camera-Ready Body." Sodium-loading and cutting, carb-cutting and loading, water loading and cutting, the whole nine yards. We'll see how well it works.
  13. Ditto on what zircon and OA said about food intake being the key to weight loss, but I want to add one thing: if you're looking to gain muscle and lose fat, I highly recommend you go with gaining muscle FIRST. Lifting heavy weights will help you shed a bit of fat in the process anyway, then once you have put some muscle on, cut your bodyfat down to where you want it. Optimum sexification.
  14. I know, I know. But it's necessary. I felt a slight twinge in the arch of my foot while doing sprints about 10 months ago, and ignored it. The next sprint session, I full-on strained it. A month and a half later, it had started to feel better, so I sprinted again. And strained it again. Altogether, it took about four to five months for it to heal because I would try to do stuff (like sprints, calf raises, etc.) when it was feeling better, and it kept getting re-injured. Foot injuries suck. Better to completely rest it for a little while than half-rest it for nearly half a year.
  15. Rest, rest and more rest (and food and sleep). Foot injuries SUCK. Depending on exactly what you damaged, there may be some therapy options, but it's basically going to boil down to staying off of it, IME.
  16. Zircon posted some good stuff. Because of what you'll be doing, it sounds like shoulder and back exercises are going to be most helpful; I would also recommend throwing in some dumbbell raises (lateral and front, i.e. out to the sides of your body and in front of your body, with straight arms), Arnold presses, dumbell and barbell rows, and every variation of pullup you can stomach. Youtube them for clarification and form.
  17. You're kidding, right? That would be way too rational for someone who created that mess in the manner that he did. Three cheers for DA! The world needs more bro-ettes. Oh, kitty. Exercising indoors in summer w/o air = UH-UH. Nope.
  18. So...dude in the gym chalks up, chalks up some more, chalks up again, then walks over to the dumbbell rack, slams his hands together creating a massive cloud of impossible-to-clean-up chalk dust, then proceeds to do...dumbbell bench press. Of all the muscles I was training that day, I managed to strain my brain watching this.
  19. Oh man, I would love to be able to watch Mrs. Doubtfire for the first time again. I think his most iconic roles really depend on how old you are, but my favorites are (barring Mrs. D)Hook, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, and The Birdcage. I'm sure I'm leaving some out... Also, his performance "Live on Broadway" is piss-yourself hilarious, if a bit crude at times. Just don't watch it with your mom.
  20. Noooiiiice:nicework: Great work, Zirc. How is the weight loss affecting your lifts (or is it?)
  21. Alright, you're starting to freak me out with how quickly your pull-ups are progressing. Are you doing them from a dead hang? If so, that is really remarkable, and evidence that you need to start mixing up your training, because you could probably be doing scary good at other things as well. I was doing fine, until I found out my gym is closed next week. I haz a giant sad; this will be the first non-vacation off-week (not deload week) that I've taken in years, unless I decide to hit another gym. The only reason I'm not really considering that is because I'm pretty much due for a deload anyway. Sigh. First-world fitness problems.
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