Had a great session on Friday and was able to 1rm 295 on squats. Felt like I had 300 but didn’t push for it this time. Still 10lbs heavier than I like but the strength gains are coming so wife can deal with the fat.
My frame looks nothing like a power lifter at a towering 5’11” 190 lbs and wrists barely thicker than a woman’s. But I’ll be damned if this isn’t a more fun way to workout.
Thanks for the response. Yeah, I'm trying to stay away from worrying too much what the scale says. At my annual health thing, my BMI was down about 3 points and my body fat was down about 8% to 17. I do know that those are somewhat inexact measurements, but it did show me there was some progress. At this point, I'm more concerned with definition. I'm not trying to get shredded, but if I'm going to put this much into it, I want some muscle definition. I'm seeing noticeable differences in my upper body, which makes my love handles look even worse now. Gonna look into changing the cardio to after the lift. I'd read that in a couple other places. Also like the idea of trying the StrongLifts training. As far as cardio, I run in my neighborhood some, the treadmill some, a track some, and I mix up what I do pretty regularly. One day, I'll run a 5K, one day I'll do a 5 run/1 walk interval on the treadmill at varying speeds, some days I'll shorten or lengthen the intervals. Should I continue with that or change that up as well? When I started running again and lifting, one of the goals I set was running a 5K, which is why I generally run 3-4 miles or do 35-40 minutes of cardio each day. Now that I'm to the point where I don't necessarily have to put in that kind of work to still run a 5K, I'm open to changing that if it would be beneficial. On the diet, I normally track my food through LoseIt, which keeps up with macros, but other than knowing they're being counted, I'm not sure I'm doing anything to maximize my diet while tracking those numbers. Any suggestions there? I've always generally been a low carb eater, not necessarily because I was trying to lose weight but more by what I like to eat. I like most vegetables, meat, sweet potatoes, and fruit. I thought I could probably get enough carbs from the sweet potatoes and veggies, but I could definitely be wrong. Nutrition isn't something I know a ton about. Also Capstone 88 I appreciate your input as well.
I’d defer to resident abs expert HOOSINSC but my gut () tells me HIIT is a better, more efficient method towards increasing your metabolism. Again, after weights. It can be done on a treadmill or outdoors, wherever you can run and mix up your pace.
Also, I’m no nutrition expert, but I do fall into team carbs are necessary muscle fuel. Some will swear by the keto diet, but fuck that noise.
Guess it's kinda crossfity but I've been doing cardio in middle of sets recently and making better progress on both than I did when I split them up. Instead of running like 3 miles after I'm done lifting, been doing 1/4 mile intervals or 1/10 mil sprints and while it gets my HR up high it doesn't drain my energy. My long distance pace from a few months ago feels like nothing now. Probably not the best if you want to run a half marathon or some shit but definitely a much better runner than I was a few months ago. If you go hard on cardio, a deload week also helps that as well. Say you have a normal 8 minute/mile pace, do a 10 minute pace for a week or back off the # of miles. Your body will thank you and make progress.
I need to get a do not run the day after deadlifting tattooed on my forehead. Haven't done it for a while but it's amazing how stubborn I was about it and would get back pain every time.
As far as lifting, cardio, and gaining muscle goes...if you want to add some size you need to scale that cardio back a good bit or else you’ll have to bump your calories much higher. You won’t be able to add any material size with that amount of cardio and that few calories. My personal philosophy is to put everything into lifting and eating then do some minimal cardio. Just enough to limit fat and maintain cardiovascular health. For nutrition, fruit is a good source of carbs. White rice is as well due to its extreme ease of digestion. Easy to get a good amount of carbs In without feeling ultra bloated. What are your current macros?
His coach guaranteed he’d total 1,100kg/2,424lbs which I think is doable if he doesn’t hitch a deadlift
These are the percentages, right? You can take that protein down to 25-30% and push those calories to carbs. Then just increase your overall calorie intake
the best thing i ever did for my abs was switch my training focus to feature more strength lifts, followed by some standard bodybuilding/vanity sets, and i think pull-ups, push-ups, and dips are very important for having great detail. i do very, very little cardio, aside from regular hikes and canoeing. i snack every hour or so, rarely eating a full meal. lots of eggs, fish, nuts, and carbs from fruit and veggies. i stay at or just above 2400 a day, and only drink once/twice a month. i’ve spent years getting a pattern that gives me the results i like. cliffs: lift weights, a simple repetitive diet, cardio for health reasons only
Started TRT today. Test levels are down to 213 at 34. Doctor wants them closer to 1,000. Gonna track progress starting tonight.
Test replacement therapy done through injections. I doubt I do this very long. Already not a fan of injections.
just accessory lifts 3-4x10, something related to the main lift i did that day. try to move fast and i love supersets. i’m only 5’7 and a very lean 170 now. don’t have the desire to eat my way into being much larger again.
There's nothing wrong with it. It will toughen you up and make you appreciate not walking like you just had a fire hydrant rammed up your ass. It has been a long-time goal of mine to deadlift 600 lbs and run a 6 minute mile within a 24 hour period. I've come relatively close to both (not on the same day) in the past, but I fear that time is not on my side as I will be in my mid 40s in a matter of a few weeks.
Whenever I’m feeling old and weak, I can always trust that lhprop1 will remind me that I am, in fact, just weak.
Day 3 of hypertrophy trading with another 3x10. It’s starting to get easier and I’m getting some strength back in my legs
Ordinary men can do extraordinary things. Extraordinary men can do the impossible. Which do you choose to be?
31 hours into TRT and I cannot believe the energy level I have. I’ve also been in an awesome mood all day. So far so good.
I’m technically prescribed test now. I know it’s made in an American lab and know it’s regulated. It’s basically like adderall and cocaine. Same exact thing, just know one is made in American lab.
Almost 2 years later I finally got this looked at as it never went away. Torn ligaments, got surgery, 3 month recovery. Shit sucks and I hate myself for waiting so long but also can’t wait to get healthy and back in the gym hopefully pain free.
I think everyone prefers the 2s, then 1s, and lastly the 3s (current model.) Adipowers are a great value.
What's a price I should look for the adipowers, was looking at those as well and prices were all over the place.
I have the 2’s (in the volt color (obvi). Been a big fan, but I haven’t tried any other so I don’t know how they stack up. Regardless you’ll get good use out of them and they haven’t worn down since I got them 4 years ago.
Ended up getting the adipowers I get thrown off whenever I stray away from my regular gym or stuff at home. Didn't feel comfortable on the bench tonight, hands were slipping on the bar, way more people than my usual, different dumbells, I'm a bitch. Still had a good workout but need that level of comfort.
Been a pretty rough go of lifting for me the last few months. Routine got pretty screwy in August then had a busy 6 weeks so just got back to a good routine a couple weeks ago. Last Friday felt something tweak in my lower back while squatting and it was pretty rough on Saturday. Walked a ton in the office today and that started helping so tonight I did super light squats as well as RDLs. Feels much better this evening. Also bought some KT Tape and I’m going to see what, if any, benefit I can get from that. Mostly bought this because I have some other nagging pains in my upper back so figured I’d at least give it a shot
I currently can't do a pullup without pain, don't feel it on any other lift but pullups are a struggle. Some part of my upper arm is fucked up but I'm too stubborn to rest it and just hope it goes away.