-- Weightlifting & Nutrition Thread -- v9.0 Optimized

General Discussion
5201

Hang on, can I just tell you - there’s only one way that I’ve EVER been able to lose weight quickly and healthily without freakin’ starving myself or taking pills…

Forget LOW FAT, LOW CAL, LOW CARB - none of this crap works because you’re basically starving yourself - then besides making your life miserable, you don’t even lose weight!! Your body is too smart and it just re-calibrates your metabolism to match your new caloric intake…

The only thing that has worked for me is “Calorie Shifting” - It works amazingly and just makes so much sense. My friends are getting annoyed with me saying I never shut up about it… that I sound like Tom Cruise, lol - but it’s literally changing my life!! I eat a ton and still lose weight, so obviously I’m gonna be proud of it and tell people, yaknow?

Anyway, you can check out the whole theory at http://www.consumerfilter.org/products/weight_loss

btw, Worst NAME EVER - “fat loss 4 idiots” - it’s like: “hey thanks!!” wtf?? …marketed by guys obviously :wink:
post here and let me know if you love it - we can track progress together… good luck - you can do it!!!
:blush:

5202

You devious scoundrel, you! :tup:

5203

Get the fuck outta here you bot faggot.

5204

got back into the gym but i have some questions on supplements…

i cut out all fried foods, juice, and soda, cheese and…only liquids i drink are water and gatorade after i work out

I try to eat every 3 hours

egg whites, fruit, low fat yougurt for breakfast. mix and match these. i dont know if sausage and turkey bacon is good so i leave those out. Is orange juice ok?

for lunch i go with veggies, i eat maaaaaaaddddd brocolli, dont knw if thats healthy either, fish, chicken, no mayo, whole wheat, i hear flank steak is good but i cant get any of my hoes to come cook that ish up for me lol

for snacks i go with an apple, trail mix and thats whats killing me ciuz i dont know what healthy snacks are

i’ve stuck to this for 3 weeks…cardio everyday ( stairmaster, treadmill, elliptical machine, i mix and match) the stairmaster is tough im up to 20 minutes on that, i try to increase what i can do weekly

I single out 1 or two body part a day with weight training. I’ve never worked out my legs so i dont mess with the leg machines, cuz i really dont know what im doing. I bench 225 now and i dont want to go more than that. after warm up i can do 3 sets with 10-12 reps, i do incline next, and i mix it up with push ups (dont know if it smart either but it has increased my strength) i do only one body part a day.

doing this i lost 16 pounds in the last 3 weeks, i also take hydroxycut, but that shit makes me so nauteous so im gonna stop

so now i weigh 239…but i’m only 5"10. ill post some pics up after i come from the gym. I’m seeing the changes, energy is up,

so now what about supplements?

i need to lose weight but i dont want to get weaker, i used to be able to press a whole lot more than 225 but its all about weight loss now

so any suggestions u guys have i will greatly appreciate. and i guess i need to start with the whey protein too…

5205

Your feeding intervals are okay…personally I eat every 2 hours, but I have a fast metabolism. Veggies are fine, but make sure you get a good amount of protein in there. You want to consume at least 1.5 gram per every pound of body weight (the more muscle you develop, the faster your metabolism, and the faster you burn fat)…so you have to start reading labels when you buy your food, and check out some magazines that have protein guides that tell you what types/grades/cuts of meat have what amount of protein. They generally do this every other month in Muscle & Fitness and Men’s Health.

I’m not sure what amount of cardio you need (never had to lose weight), but I wonder if you might be going overboard on that. Somebody else here should know (too bad srk seems kinda deserted on Sunday, for some reason). I do rotational intervals of light jog/regular pace jog/sprint for 45 or so minutes 2 times a week.

Supplements: basics are whey powder, fish oil (heart health with all the good omega 3 fatty acids), and maybe creatine.

Foods: my weekly staples are

peanut butter for shakes (the natural kind where the label reads just “Peanuts, salt”)
cottage cheese (healthy snack, also good before bed)
lean ground beef (10% fat or less)
lean ground turkey (same as the beef)
albacore tuna
whole wheat bread (avoid any with “high fructose corn syrup” in the ingredients)
eggs
chicken (having to watch the wallet and all, I use drumsticks instead of breasts)
frozen mixed vegetables, lettuce and tomatoes (for sandwiches)
skim milk
brown rice
Ocean Spray light pink grapefruit juice
whatever fruits I want/can afford that week (healthy snack)
7 gallon jugs of water (1 gallon a day)

Most of the time, when I want a snack, I blend a banana and some peanut butter into a protein shake (2 scoops)

Now, do you have assigned days for the body regions you excercise, or do you just do whatever? I find that most people (who don’t do full-body stuff) work from the top downward throughout the week. Chest/triceps monday, biceps/back tuesdays, etc.

5206

Most of what you’re doing is pretty good. Gatorade isn’t all that great cause of the fructose corn syrup it contains unless it’s the powder mix. Green tea is top tier if you don’t mind drinking it. OJ has a decent amount of sugar, so try drinking it within 3 hours after weight training. The sooner the better so your muscles can use it for energy. Processed meat is a no no. Turkey’s cool if it’s not that high sodium deli store junk. Broccoli ftw, it’s good stuff. Snacks can be mixed nuts, berries of any sort, cottage cheese, multi-grain/whole wheat crackers, yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, and similar items. Examples of combing those would be tossing berries or nuts into your yogurt or putting cottage cheese or peanut butter on the crackers. Apple slices dipped in peanut butter are good. Get creative with what ya got.

Since you’re trying to reduce fat, forget the 1 or 2 body parts a day. Doing a compound pull and push each will be better overall. An example is doing pull ups and push press. I recommend squats since you don’t want to touch leg machines (which I don’t do either) and you’re trying to burn off more fat. Squats will increase muscle mass which will burn more calories from your body.

If you’ve been lifting for a few years, you don’t need to try anything out of the ordinary to increase your bench. Try progression. It’s where each week you change the sets, reps, and increase weight, but total reps will remain relatively unchanged. Here’s an example of 24 week progression.

Week 1: 2 x 12
Week 2: 3 x 8
Week 3: 4 x 6
Week 4: 5 x 5

Opinions on supplements vary person-to-person. I take 1 scoop of whey post-workout. I’ve been using 100% Whey Gold Standard from Optimum Nutrition. It mixes well, tastes good, so I have no complaints about it. I also take fish oil and a multi-vitamin.

5207

I know you weren’t talking to me, but since I am doing something similar(the two body parts/day workout) I was wondering if you could perhaps give more examples of the kinds of workouts I should be doing to reduce fat. Also, how often should I do that kind of workout? Recently I’ve been going four days a week(one or two muscles per/day) with one or two days rest. Thanks

5208

squats, dead lifts, bench press, clean & press, dips, push ups, pull ups, row. pick your poison, rest until you feel 100% again

5209

ohh. Thanks. So I should work my entire body in one day?

5210

During the my college winter & spring semesters I had to minimize my gym time so I could better distribute/balance my time. Here’s the basics of what I did.

Monday
1.DB flat bench press
2. DB row
3. Deadlift
Wednesday

  1. DB Romanian deadlift
  2. Flat bench press
  3. BB bent-over row
    Friday
  4. Pull/chin up
  5. Seated DB military press
  6. Squat

Now this was ok, but it could have been better by the arrangement and choice of exercises. Here’s how a few adjustments could have made it better.

Monday
1.Deadlift
2. Cable row
3. DB flat bench press
4. Woodchop
Wednesday

  1. DB single-leg Romanian deadlift or BB lunges
  2. BB bent-over row
  3. Flat bench press
  4. Swiss ball weighted crunch
    Friday
  5. Squat
  6. Pull/chin up
  7. Push press
  8. Reverse woodchop

The pulls and pushes (#'s 2 & 3 each day) can be supersetted for more performance efficiency. You work out most muscles by doing compound lifts such as these.

5211

ahhh… sounds good man. since I don’t have as much time as I would like, this would be good for me too. Anything I can do to replace deadlifts? It’s not that I don’t want to do them, but I am afraid of fucking them up. I have seen videos, but I am still unsure of myself whenever I attempt them and end up doing something else. oh and I am still much to heavy to do pull ups, so anything I could do for that?

5212

Deadlifts aren’t really replace-able. There are variations of it, but that isn’t going to help. You think you’re going to mess up, but what specifically? I practice form on light weight to better understand and master the motion of any exercise before I attempt heavy lifts with it. That way when you do try a heavier load, you understand where the problem lies and can work on it.

I used this video because I had no clue how to perform them. It’s good for the most part if you have no one around to demonstrate it. This link is to a T-nation article that thoroughly describes everything about the conventional deadlift. It’s a bit lengthy, but if you want to give it a read then go for it.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1588392

Pull ups are great, but lat-pulldown is a good substitute. If you want your biceps worked more, then go for a chin-up grip. Otherwise, go wide and overhand.

*EDIT: If you don’t know any of the exercises mentioned in my last post, I can post a few youtube links of proper form execution.

5213

thanks a lot man. I know that the deadlift is a major exercise and is something I have wanted to work into my routine but I guess I am just worried about my whole form overall. the times I have tried I used an empty bar and just don’t feel comfortable. I guess with most exercises I have had someone teach me the basic technique and I feel comfortable doing it on my own, and with this one I wouldn’t have no one to show me and tell me what I’m doing wrong. I guess I just need to watch more videos and practice with an empty bar until I feel comfortable with the exercise.

I would love to be able to do pullups, but I am still way overweight to lift myself. I have lost about 90 pounds so far, and I am still a ways from my goal which is to lose probably at least another 60(yeah I was pretty fucking overweight =T). I guess I’ll just do lat pull downs until I am strong and light enough to lift myself.

oh and as for exercises I didn’t know, The woodchop and reverse woodchop, and romanian deadlift. I am also assuming the cable row is just the seated row machine, right?

Thanks a whole lot again…

5214

The empty bar might be the reason it feels weird. You have to reach down extra low to grab the bar and barely have any weight to get a sense of what the exercise should feel like. I think you could practice with a 45lb. plate on each side. They should give raise the bar to a comfortable level and not feel too heavy. If that does feel too heavy then try 35 or 25 plates rather than the 45s.

It’s fine if you can’t do pull ups just yet. Good progress on the weight loss especially since you’ve lost already more than half your total goal.

[quote=“Mr.Bastos, post:5213, topic:8283”]

oh and as for exercises I didn’t know, The woodchop and reverse woodchop, and romanian deadlift. I am also assuming the cable row is just the seated row machine, right?{/QUOTE]

Yeah for the seated row machine. The woodchops are pretty basic, but Romanian is a bit tougher.

Woodchop


Reverse woodchop

Stand about 3 feet away from the weight stack when doing either of those.

Single-leg Romanian deadlift

It’s important to keep your upper body straight for this one or else it’s just not worth it. Doing this exercise for the first time was tough and awkward, but it’s well worth it. You can hold dumbbells in both hands, but one DB in the hand of the nonworking side is better to start off. While this is a good exercise, doing BB lunges is fine too. It’s important to include an exercise with unilateral leg work and both of those are good choices.

5215

Ohhhh. When I go to the gym tonight I will try it with some weight.

I was pretty sure thats what woodchops were, but I just wanted to ask to make sure. Those roamanians look pretty crazy. I definitely need to practice that one since I am not always the most balanced person. I will try that though

Oh and I was just looking at the list of exercises again, and I was wondering what the “push press” you listed on day 3 was. Is that just a general term for a push exercise? should I do another bench?

Thanks again for all the help, I need to make as much progress as I can in the next 3 months, because I will be studying abroad from September to May and I am not sure if I will be able to get into the gym, which really sucks.

5216

They’re tough. Best advice I can give on them is try it without weight first and go slow. I noticed my first attempt I had to really take my time so I wasn’t all over the place. Go as low as you can without thinking it being an extreme difficulty. It should be a challenege, but not something super insane.

It’s similar to a standing military press. Using a bar or dumbbells, dip low (about a 1/4th of a squat), then drive you feet into the ground and the bar/DBs straight up even as far as getting up on your toes (but you don’t have to). Then lower the weight and repeat. It’s a good power exercise. This doesn’t happen too often, but make sure if you use a regular barbell that you don’t hit yourself in the chin. I’ve seen it happen once…and well, it looked painful. This video’s the best I found.

When I’m at the gym, I use the squat rack to set the bar to my shoulder-height.

5217

I have never seen this one before.

On the topic of difficult exercises, Bulgarian split-squats give me a really hard time. What with it being a single leg exercise that requires a lot of balancing at the same time. So taxing to me. Maybe I am using too much weights…

5218

I’ve tried those a few times, they’re not comfortable IMO. Even static lunges aren’t comfortable for me so I do dynamic. I feel better each time I reset myself for the next rep.

Speaking of unilateral leg work, here’s a good article on it.

http://www.t-nation.com:80/readTopic.do?id=473323

5219

thanks again man, you have been a total help. I will definitely try to implement this when I work out tonight.

5220

Also, if you’re really worried about not having access to a gym abroad, then you can buy a weight vest. They’re pretty pricey, but it allows you to do body weight exercises with the same challenge as a gym.

Otherwise, you can still stick to body weight exercises. Do high reps relatively fast while maintaining good form or mix it up by doing low reps slowly. There are other ways to make variations of course such as changing the degree at which you perform a push up.