The official gym & weightlifting thread! rep #2

[Darth Handsome]

your metabolism needs to elevate to digest protein, you're looking fo at least 1 gram per lb. of bodyweight each day. Agree on the simple carbs, and limit complex carbs. A bit of fat is advisable too, it'll help the body get over the loss of carbs. If you're losing or gaining, you basically eat the same way. It's the activity level and other things that determine what your body does. Many smaller meals throughout the day are also better than 2-3 larger ones.

I disagree with the "at least" 1 gram/lb. notion. IME, it doesn't need to be that high. I think he'll be fine with 170 grams a day. I would say the floor on this for most people is just over 1/2 gram a day per lb. That's the amount I say is needed "at least". I personally shoot for somewhere around 3/4 gram or slightly higher.

Diet is by far the greatest factor in controlling your body fat percentage. I agree you'll be eating similar food, but the amount of it has more bearing on things than exercise or other factors, typically. Again, just my experience.

Finally, the small meal vs large meal debate: in terms of manipulating metabolism, if that's what you meant by "better", I believe this is a myth. I eat small meals to control hunger & prevent the desire to overeat, but as far as keeping your metabolism "running", spreading your meals out throughout the day as opposed to eating 2-3 times makes no difference.

But again, ask 10 people what they think about this, you'll get 10 different answers, so ymmv.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

1800 calories a day isn't enough to keep a humming bird alive. Pm me, I'll give you my cell and we can discuss, too much to type

We've got time

Seriously though, if you have something worth sharing that the rest of us are seemingly unaware of then it's worth it to us that you type it our here so we all can have the information.

My plan, which is based on my personal needs and goals, wasn't something I simply pulled out of a book or off a website at whim. It was created after months of collecting information from various books, workout websites, and one-on-one talks with fitness and wellness trainers, as well as my own personal experiences.

 

[Chebass88]

I am working on adding the olympic lifts into my programming, once per week. I am currently working on the split snatch - it is a difficult lift to learn. I don't have 'bumper plates' either, just iron plates on my cement garage floor. If the old timers can teach themselves with similar weights - so can I.

I have started by power-cleaning every rep that I press overhead, striving for perfect form.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Form is key, even more so in olympic lifts than others.

Be careful on how you bring the bar down. The way up and the way down are very different. On the way up, you're getting into position under the bar, without any real load. You end up twisting and turning things in ways which aren't too benificial on the way down if you aren't dumping it, especially with the snatch.

When I was doing them without bumper platers, I'd give the bar a little bounce after it was locked out so I could pivot my arms back and catch it in the way you'd catch a power clean, then lower from there. Basically so that your legs/glutes are doing most of the work to take out the shock of getting it back from lockout to chest.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I've reached the end of week two of my new nutrition regime (meal plan shown on page 47), and have already dropped 6lbs (168.8 down to 163.0)! My mid section has slimmed down and is flatter, my muscle definition is starting to really show, and I overall feel like I have more energy throughout the day. No sign of any muscle loss yet, either

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Another two weeks since my last report and I'm down another 4lbs! I'm sure I could of taken another pound or two off, but I've been a little more relaxed with my nutrition and have allowed myself another cheat meal a week. I'm also averaging one less workout a week, which I'm sure has played some role in the slowing of my progress. That said, dropping 10lbs in a month still feels nice, and I now look more defined than ever before. Just another 5-8 more pounds to go and I'll be set

 

[Darth Handsome]

Another two weeks since my last report and I'm down another 4lbs! I'm sure I could of taken another pound or two off, but I've been a little more relaxed with my nutrition and have allowed myself another cheat meal a week. I'm also averaging one less workout a week, which I'm sure has played some role in the slowing of my progress. That said, dropping 10lbs in a month still feels nice, and I now look more defined than ever before. Just another 5-8 more pounds to go and I'll be set

I wouldn't try to lose any more than 10 lbs in a month. Even that seems high. Any more than that certainly won't represent fat loss.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I wouldn't try to lose any more than 10 lbs in a month. Even that seems high. Any more than that certainly won't represent fat loss.

Yep. I've slowed my progress down a bit as it was starting to seem a little drastic. I'm hovering right at 160lbs right now and am slowly increasing my daily caloric intake as I don't need to be taking off weight as fast as I was.

In other news, I've begun to change up my workout some. My week looks like this now:
Mon - Chest and tris
Tue - Legs
Wed - Off day/2-3 mile run
Thur - Bis, forearms, and back
Friday - Shoulders and lats
Sat - Off day/2-3 mile run
Sun - Core/abs

 

[Chebass88]

I forgot to post this when it happened a few weeks ago - I broke 500lbs in the deadlift. I did it in the gym at work, where some other guys were able to give words of encouragement. I got up to 515lb for a single (BW = 260-270lb). Completely raw and drug free. Going in, I just knew it was going to be one of *those* days.

This was one of my major goals for 2012. Now my goal is to deadlift 600lb this year. It also means that the mythical 500/400/300/200 for deadlift, squat, bench, and press is mine (515/455/295*/195*) (* - I tested both bench & press AFTER a full workout, so I suspect I would have no problems getting 300 & 200 when fresh). They are only training maxes, not competition maxes.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Dude, awesome!

 

[Darth Handsome]

I forgot to post this when it happened a few weeks ago - I broke 500lbs in the deadlift. I did it in the gym at work, where some other guys were able to give words of encouragement. I got up to 515lb for a single (BW = 260-270lb). Completely raw and drug free. Going in, I just knew it was going to be one of *those* days.

This was one of my major goals for 2012. Now my goal is to deadlift 600lb this year. It also means that the mythical 500/400/300/200 for deadlift, squat, bench, and press is mine (515/455/295*/195*) (* - I tested both bench & press AFTER a full workout, so I suspect I would have no problems getting 300 & 200 when fresh). They are only training maxes, not competition maxes.

You're a lot stronger than I am. I'm mad at you.

 

[1958Bassman]

Rough day in the gym today. We subbed in leg presses for squats and I did an extra set of DL's trying to up my weight. I'm sore from my knees to my backside.

Sounds like your feet were ahead of your knees, or you were squatting over your ankles before, which works the quads more than the glutes and hamstrings. If your glutes and hamstrings are sore, working these more by placing your feet so it would look like you're sitting on a chair if you were laying on the floor, it might let you add to your lifting weight. I have been doing this with about 150# (I only started working out again just over 7 weeks ago) and am up to about 30 reps. Not enough that my hamstrings are tight but the results are pretty fast.

 

[1958Bassman]

I just saw this thread ... never look under the section ... if you are training natural, you are very correct cutting the session off at 40-45 minutes ... and bottled DISTILLED water is your best friend if in training

I have read and heard that distilled water leaches calcium from the body, which can be a problem if someone drinks enough and doesn't replenish the calcium.

 

[1958Bassman]

Finally, the small meal vs large meal debate: in terms of manipulating metabolism, if that's what you meant by "better", I believe this is a myth. I eat small meals to control hunger & prevent the desire to overeat, but as far as keeping your metabolism "running", spreading your meals out throughout the day as opposed to eating 2-3 times makes no difference.

But again, ask 10 people what they think about this, you'll get 10 different answers, so ymmv.

Isn't the "more meals, but smaller" for keeping the blood glucose level more consistent, rather than for maintaining the metabolism? I know they're related but fewer meals means the blood sugar dips can cause more fat storage, right?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I have read and heard that distilled water leaches calcium from the body, which can be a problem if someone drinks enough and doesn't replenish the calcium.

I've heard that too, but as far as I'm aware, it's a myth.

Also, we get very little in the way of minerals from drinking water.

I wouldn't drink distilled water though, can't stomach the taste of it!

 

[Chebass88]

Isn't the "more meals, but smaller" for keeping the blood glucose level more consistent, rather than for maintaining the metabolism? I know they're related but fewer meals means the blood sugar dips can cause more fat storage, right?

I think this is on the right track, but I don't know enough to comment further.

 

[Darth Handsome]

Isn't the "more meals, but smaller" for keeping the blood glucose level more consistent, rather than for maintaining the metabolism? I know they're related but fewer meals means the blood sugar dips can cause more fat storage, right?

Speaking strictly from my experience, less meals cause no more fat storage than more meals. But I obviously can't speak for everyone.

 

[1958Bassman]

I've heard that too, but as far as I'm aware, it's a myth.

Also, we get very little in the way of minerals from drinking water.

I wouldn't drink distilled water though, can't stomach the taste of it!

I use a Brita pitcher. It works well enough and has activated charcoal in the filter, so VOCs and other chemicals are removed, to some extent.

 

[1958Bassman]

Speaking strictly from my experience, less meals cause no more fat storage than more meals. But I obviously can't speak for everyone.

depends on the person's activity level but the explanation I got from the trainer was, the body is like a campfire and if you only stoke it 2 or three times per day, the fire intensity decreases before it's stoked again. If it is never fed/stoked, the fire will go out and what's left will just smoulder. If more fuel is added periodically all day, the fire's intensity can stay high. Obviously, if too much fuel is added, it won't be consumed before more is added, so it will build up.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I use a Brita pitcher. It works well enough and has activated charcoal in the filter, so VOCs and other chemicals are removed, to some extent.

I use a Brita pitcher too, about the only way to make city water palettable! (Grew up in the countryside).

But Brita etc isn't what I think of when I think distilled. MiliQ water at 18.2 MOhm, that stuff is distilled, deionised 'ultrapure' and absolutely rank (granted, not really for drinking though)