Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

[OceansAndrew]

double post because I can beat any of the mods here at arm wrestling if they don't like it!

how many people here are headed to magfest? I wa wondering if we had enough to play some pushup poker. It's like regular poker, but currency is pushups

its pretty fun and a great way to get some extra reps in!

[Bahamut]

I'd be down with that!

[Soul Splint]

That sounds like fun, but unfortunately I won't be there.

[Global-Trance]

I better work out the chest and arms a lot if I play with you guys. I'm bad at poker. D:

[OceansAndrew]

I better work out the chest and arms a lot if I play with you guys. I'm bad at poker. D:

i dunno dude, from the way you looked last time i saw you i have a feeling you could probably just straight up bench press any of us.

regardless it'll be fun!

[Skummel Maske]

I'm in, can't say no to a challenge!

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Alright I guess I'll bite at this thread. I need some workout advice.

So my workout routine right now isn't huge; usually 6 days a week and a rest day. Right now I'm just doing standard pushups, situps, and legups(or whatever the hell you call laying down flat, bringing your legs from extended to your chest kind of like a situp). I do at least 200 reps daily of each, usually divided into a morning and evening session. I'm probably going to start running on the tread again to build up to 2 miles again, and start biking when I buy my bike

Right now I'm 5'8 borderline 5'9 and my weight fluctuates between 139 - 144 lbs. usually. I'm eating 5 to 6 times a day roughly 200 - 300 hundred calories in proteins and carbs like turkey sandwiches, soups, yogurt, and cereals and greens and fruits whenever I can get 'em.

I'm not overweight by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't have a strong muscle layer or core just yet, although they're starting to take shape. I don't necessarily want to bulk up, but I do want to be at least a little cut and lean.

In terms of weight training, I have serious balance issues, so I can't do unassisted bench presses unless I'm using the machine, but I can do free weights.

Any advice from you guys? I'm thinking of buying a pull up bar and using that as well. Are they really effective? How do you balance your workouts? How long do you work out for at a time?

[Bahamut]

I have an Iron Gym - they're pretty good, even if the build quality leaves something to be desired. Combine that with some resistance bands (stuff like this), you can build up your pull ups (depending on where you're at - you may not even need such a band).

At your weight, you likely need to bulk up. For example I'm at 5' 9", and I currently weigh around 180 lbs, although ideally I'd like to get it down to 170 lbs w/ muscle. To make sure you stay lean while bulking up, focus a fair amount on muscle endurance. Crossfit style workouts are great for that, but if you apply those principles to weights, you have to be careful. If you're not familiar with crossfit, it's a workout that consists of not stopping & switching workouts to different muscle groups throughout.

Even without weights, I think just doing those types of workouts will get you to bulk up for a while.

[OceansAndrew]

Wes has some pretty good advice. I suggest just building strength and lifting as heavy as you safely can. Unless you are taking in a ton of extra calories, you will not get massive, so if that is your concern, don't worry. You will want to mix up your exercises and do some low rep, heavy weights, to challenge your body. High rep stuff is good too, especially for building a foundation.

I am 5'9 and 160lb btw

Work hard, lift heavy + average calories = cut

Work hard, lift heavy + tons of calories = bulk

[Soul Splint]

Malaki, if you're looking for lean fitness and are interested in a home workout built around resistance training such as pullups, pushups, and free weights, I would highly recommend checking out P90-X. You absolutely will not get bulky on this program, and it's very effective for endurance as well. It's a bit like crossfit, but not nearly as cardio-intensive on an every-day basis.

If you have serious balance issues, you may want to avoid P90-X2 unless you think those issues can be solved; the X2 program is much more balance intensive.

All you need for these programs is room to move around, a pull-up bar or resistance bands, and a couple of sets of dumbbells (these are the bare essentials).

[Devyn]

Alright I guess I'll bite at this thread. I need some workout advice.

So my workout routine right now isn't huge; usually 6 days a week and a rest day. Right now I'm just doing standard pushups, situps, and legups(or whatever the hell you call laying down flat, bringing your legs from extended to your chest kind of like a situp). I do at least 200 reps daily of each, usually divided into a morning and evening session. I'm probably going to start running on the tread again to build up to 2 miles again, and start biking when I buy my bike

Right now I'm 5'8 borderline 5'9 and my weight fluctuates between 139 - 144 lbs. usually. I'm eating 5 to 6 times a day roughly 200 - 300 hundred calories in proteins and carbs like turkey sandwiches, soups, yogurt, and cereals and greens and fruits whenever I can get 'em.

I'm not overweight by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't have a strong muscle layer or core just yet, although they're starting to take shape. I don't necessarily want to bulk up, but I do want to be at least a little cut and lean. And yes chinups and pullups are extremely effective at building both strenght and muscle.

In terms of weight training, I have serious balance issues, so I can't do unassisted bench presses unless I'm using the machine, but I can do free weights.

Any advice from you guys? I'm thinking of buying a pull up bar and using that as well. Are they really effective? How do you balance your workouts? How long do you work out for at a time?

I've been training for years. Originally started around 150 pounds, got 'bulky' around 215 pounds, now down to 202 of mostly muscle. 5'10" and won't throw up my stats in the gym for sake of sounding like a braggart, liar or both.

This is going to sound a bit extreme, but here are my recommendations:

Diet: Take in around 2500 calories a day. If that's not enough, go up to 3,000 or 3,200, but make it good calories. You're already taking in the right kind of calories, but be sure to get plenty of complex carbs - Whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, long grain rice, BEANS and more beans. Proteins are good - Eat a lot of eggs, preferably boiled. Start out by eating four at random intervals each day. Maybe even six. Don't worry about cholesterol. Limit other sources and you'll be fine. Stay away from sugar. A little alcohol is okay too but if you like to drink a lot stick to liquor or beverages that get you a buzz instead of throw on tons of empty calories. (red wine is recommended by the body-builders). Lean chicken breast is always good and red meat has its place. Screw over-priced protein shakes and supplements, unless you're just going for looks. If you want raw power you better eat buddy. Creatine will make you look pretty but it's all water. Oh. And nuts are great. Low sodium is good, but unsalted is best. They are high in fat, but mostly nonsaturated fat which is good for you in small amounts. Consume a handful of nuts each day. Almonds or peanuts will do. Pretend you are a friggin squirrel.

Cardio: Limit your cardio. Too much will make you shrink. Leave it to maybe two 20 to 30 minute sessions per week and be sure to keep your calories up. Cardio is great and absolutely necessary but can have adverse effects on muscle gain if overdone. Cardio is pretty simple. Just do it. Swimming, running, whatever floats your boat. Hell I like the trampoline.

Resistance / the real shit: I recommend three resistance workouts a week. I'm not a body builder who divides this stuff to little groups five or six days a week. I'm more of a strength trainer and weightlifter (to each his own), but this stuff will get you big quick buddy. Here goes:

Have three 50 minute resistance workouts a week, with a day of rest between each (monday, wednesday, friday with your cardio sessions whenever as long as they don't overwork muscle needed for your resistance training). Be sure to hit your upper body, core, and legs. Focus on the basic movements: Bench press, squat, rows, dips, chinups, leg press, leg curls, etc. - Start out light and add resistance so that your muscles will continue to be challenged. Do NOT take more than two minutes between sets and try to keep breaks to 60 seconds. For bench and other movements that are potentially dangerous, always make sure you have a spot. If nobody is around, then don't be shy and ask someone. If all else fails, lift light and add more reps but after you get used to your movements you generally want to lift from 8 to 12 reps for mass and strength gains.

Also, make sure to wear your ipod/mp3 player. It is shown to increase the hormones beneficial to increasing muscle, strength and that good thing called 'testosterone.' Be sure to eat a big, hearty meal after every workout and make sure to never go into the gym on an empty stomach. Also, ask questions in the gym. Don't be shy. See somebody lifting big or getting big? Go up to them and ask what they do. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

But before you do anything, ask yourself "is this really what I want?" Do you really want to be bigger? Is that really better? Try to remember, it's all about the challenge and having fun. Don't let it bug you. And good luck.

Oh, and also get plenty of rest!

Edit:: There is nothing wrong with what your are currently eating. Yogurt and veggies are great so you can keep what you've been taking and throw in the other stuff. Regarding staying cut, if you up your protein and lower your carb will certainly get a smaller but more lean body. (and contrary to what I said, cardio can be done 3 times a week if you eat a whole lot of food but for some time more than twice will reduce energy needed for resistance workouts - It's all about what you're going for. Terry Crews does cardio every day, but he is a naturally massive man to start with - Everybody has a different physiology so you will have to search for you perfect balance). Okay no more edits.

Edited November 7, 2012 by megadave

[Global-Trance]

i dunno dude, from the way you looked last time i saw you i have a feeling you could probably just straight up bench press any of us

I don't think I look THAT good. :blush: Like I said earlier, it's getting increasingly hard to stay fit with being swamped in grad school and I'm not anywhere near as strong as I was last year I feel. All of you guys doing the Fitocracy thing way before I had joined have been really inspiring. It totally helps to remind me to do a little more physical activity, even if it means that I have to make extra time for it.

Even without weights, I think just doing those types of workouts will get you to bulk up for a while.

Yeah. You can get incredibly far with only body weight. Gymnasts are a prime example of that.

[zircon]

Well Fitocracy is way too bloated for me, but I am trying to get on a regular workout schedule. My doctor prescribed 3-4 days a week of ~30 mins of heavy cardio. I've now gone 5 times since I've seen him. I've been ramping up to 30 mins and today did 28 mins keeping my heart rate in the ~170bpm range the whole time. I think I've come to prefer the elliptical machine. It's like jogging but without the impact on joints, and with way more resistance. I'm usually soaked by the end so I'm feeling pretty good.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, gang. I wish I would've posted in this thread months ago.

I'm glad to see that I'm at least doing a few things right with my diet. I guess I'll add another few hundred cals to my diet, and I'll probably grab an iron gym so I can make sure my form for all my exercises is correct and to start pull ups. And yeah, working out and releasing that seratonin is just fun in general. I'll start incorporating peanuts and more eggs in my diet as well(always great to have an excuse to eat more!)

I don't really have an effective space for P90X and I didn't really feel it last few times I've tried it. An iron gym seems like the best thing for my own limited space.

[Bahamut]

I've heard only glowing remarks on P90X, so that's strange to hear.

zirc - a good workout will mix all sorts of different exercises. The elliptical is not a good replacement for running in my experience - you don't get as much of a cardiovascular workout from the elliptical. Your heart definitely gets pumping a lot more easily from running, whether it be from sprints or longer runs, or going uphill or downhill. A lot of people like the supposed increased calorie burn with the elliptical, but I feel the tradeoff with the good cardio from running & (IMO) lesser core workout isn't worth it. I don't like treadmills either - if you run too fast, you start to feel the burn on the bottom of your feet, similar to running too fast on downhills.

There is of course an increased risk of injury with running, but that is mainly if you're not paying attention to your body and if you're pushing yourself real hard. For example I noticed signs of a stress fracture in both my feet last Wednesday when I ran ~9 miles after having run a marathon on the Sunday before - my friends told me that was probably a big mistake, as most people who run marathons take a week or so off, especially since it was my first one and I pushed myself exceptionally hard. I rested my legs for a week and ran 11.5 miles pretty hard just fine earlier tonight.

I have a tendency to push myself hard in anything I do though.

In general with working out, there are a few principles that are important. You want to keep pushing your boundaries in a sensible way - your body will get used to your workouts over time, so you have to push yourself to get more out of them. Also because of your body's tendency to adapt to your workouts, you want to vary them too - muscle confusion is important for maximizing development. This can be accomplished with pyramid sets for workouts (going from 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. until you fail at an exercise and then going back down to 1 - your starting point and increments can be adapted for whatever workout), low rep sets to failure with little rest in between, starting with a high rep set and going down from there, or doing as many reps as you can in a certain time limit.

And lastly, you have to be dedicated for the long run. There will be days where you want to skip a workout - once in a while is ok, but you have to be willing to fight that urge many times and just do it.

[Soul Splint]

Can we talk about eggs for a second? Dave mentioned not to worry about cholesterol when eating eggs, which I have heard before. However, about a year back when I did some light research, most of the sources I saw said that the cholesterol in eggs cannot be defined as good or bad cholesterol. So I figured, no big deal, I'll eat them how I want, because they are a great tool for protein and nutrient intake.

Then I got my blood tested about six months ago. My family has a history of high cholesterol and heart disease, so I have always been a fairly healthy eater and exerciser to try and lessen my chances of later problems. I was shocked to see my bad cholesterol was not far from the line for 'high cholesterol'. So that spooked me a bit, and since then I've tried to limit my egg intake. I know other factors in my genes can affect that number, but still...

To Dave or anyone else: is there research or any other proof showing that the cholesterol in eggs is truly not bad?

[Bahamut]

I don't know of any such research - I will say that the military feeds its personnel eggs with box chows though, often packing 1 egg (or 2 if you are lucky).

If you have a history of high cholesterol, is there anything you can do to mitigate that, like with intense cardio?

[OceansAndrew]

I think elliptical is fine- Andy is tracking his heartrate which is the important part for cardio. Everyone has a personal preference. I run and do elliptical, and of the two, i definitely enjoy a high resistance elliptical more.

Heart rate is the main goal though, so keep rockin.

[Devyn]

I eat four to six eggs a day, and my cholesterol is normal. My blood pressue is 120/80 and pulse is 64, so pretty good there. Then again, everyone's physiology is different. I would recommend cholesterol test if insurance covers it. If you're worried then there are other sources of protein. I'm just pro-egg. Easy to prepare, easy to eat, and highly effective. Some of my fellow gym rats prefer eating whey. Some just eat a couple of chicken breasts or fish.

Edit: Okay. Here's a helpful article on eggs and the cholesterol debate. Hopefully this helps:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/whats-the-big-deal-with-egg-yolks-anyway.html

Edited November 8, 2012 by megadave

[Soul Splint]

Bahamut: From what I understand, cardio and healthy eating can keep my cholesterol from getting high, but because of my genes, no amount of anything will ever get it truly low.

Dave: Thanks for the helpful article. The last paragraph pretty much confirmed my last decision. "Eggs shouldn't be consumed on a daily basis. Even though the cholesterol is better managed by the Lecithin and Vitamin B, it still can create an excess of cholesterol, particularly in individuals who already have elevated LDL and HDL levels."

Sounds like I'm pretty much SOL on using eggs as a staple. I can fill in dietary gaps with them, but I don't think I should rely on them like other people can. Which sucks, because the egg is a bodybuilding powerhouse.

[Devyn]

Since you can't use eggs regularly, another easy option would be do buy those buy one get one free bags of chicken breast that Winn Dixie and other stores have. You can just thaw them out, put some light seasoning on and bake a whole bunch at once. That will cover most of your protein for about a week or more. I don't know if you like chicken though, but it's quite effective too.

[Skummel Maske]

Chicken breasts, cottage cheese and kidney beans is pretty much the staple of my diet nowadays. From all the information I've been able to gather, that (with some vegetables added) should be a sufficient basis.

I've seen the egg discussion countless times though, it seems people can't really agree whether eggs are bad or not...

[Soul Splint]

Since you can't use eggs regularly, another easy option would be do buy those buy one get one free bags of chicken breast that Winn Dixie and other stores have. You can just thaw them out, put some light seasoning on and bake a whole bunch at once. That will cover most of your protein for about a week or more. I don't know if you like chicken though, but it's quite effective too.

This is pretty much what I do I'm also really fond of baking a whole turkey breast on the weekends and using that throughout the week. Sadly none of these have the amino profile of eggs, but fortunately I have a connection through my local GNC (4 years of employment = nice discount) to cover some good supplements.

I'd use tuna a whole lot more if it weren't such a pain (and more expensive) to find low sodium tuna. Plus, the whole mercury thing...

[Global-Trance]

Hey Soul Splint, have you considered tofu? That's also another good option for protein without a lot of fats/cholesterol.

I have this almost irrational fear of dropping the bar on myself when I bench press but I managed to suck it up and push 175 lb last night at the end of my sets which I've never done before. As a short, 140 lb guy, I feel pretty good about this. 200 lbs and up here I come.

[Soul Splint]

Tofu's been in the back of my mind for a while, but I never seriously considered it for years because of the erroneous study saying that soy increases estrogen. Now that you bring it up (and now that the results of that study have been proven false, actually over a year ago), perhaps I should give it a shot. I don't even remember what it tastes like, it's been so long since I've had any.

The last time was probably in some hot and sour soup. Mmmm8)

35 pounds over your body weight is a solid push. That would be about 215 for me. Don't know if I could get that up right now or not...probably not.

My all time best was 235, back when I was taught to believe the bench press was really all that mattered. Gotta love coaches that think they're qualified as fitness instructors.

Edit: Uhhh...who are the three guys who just joined our group?

Edited November 9, 2012 by Soul Splint