How often do you work out? How many days week/ How long per session? What's your work out rotation like? I've started back at the gym few months ago after 5-6 years hiatus but with work and my "life" I only go two times a week. I go consistently twice a week though either Monday/Weds or Tues/Thurs and work out pretty much for two hours each time. I weigh about 158-160 now and in the last month able to bench two plates 2 or 3 times.. with spotter. Can now bench one plate + 35 about 6 times with ease. In terms of weight, my normal non working out weight was around 145-150 so have put on some weight. My "skinny" weight went as low as 137 at one point when I was depressed and not eating... so you can see the big difference there. I don't think if I'm not working out hard enough... but I think I might have hit a plateau? I do work out very hard and intense when I work out for those two hours twice a week. Am I just not going frequently enough to see more gains?
Wow bro,nicely done...Was it a clean bulk and how tall are you? Got any progress pics? I owe you some reps. I'm currently 6'0 155 lbs. I have no idea why I weigh so little since I look a lot bigger in person. I'll post some progress pics later tonight after I get off work and hit the gym.
I start intermittent fasting 2 weeks ago (get leaner/stronger)..and I gotta say..it feels good. i dont have any more cravings throughout the day. whenever i eat, i feel full and don't have to worry about packing 4 diff meals etc. I eat my first meal at noon..and eat another one around 8pm. then fast till the next noon. of course there's more to it in terms of when to workout etc and what to eat..but thats the general idea. if anyones interested, i can post more about it.
http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html also u can go here for an example. http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting/chapter-6 another good summary. http://examine.com/leangains-faq/ You gotta go against a lot of the broscience you hear every day. "omg fasting...starvation mode! omg dude you didnt get your protein shake in your anabolic window!!! HIIT is the only way to go! need to do 500 curls" etc
<br> Thanks man! It was pretty tough to be honest. Protein shakes twice a day along with maybe a gladiator from smoothie king every other day and 3 solid meals. But not gaining "bad" weight was worth it. I'd say I'm about 5'10 now. I think i've gained a little bit of height in the past few months. Not sure why. Could be attributed to posture/yoga. No progress pics for now, but i'll post some in the coming weeks when I feel a little bit more content with where i'm at :grin: <br> Ah I see man. I think the most important thing is to stick with it and stay consistent. Eating right and some exercise is still better than living an unhealthy lifestyle and already WAY better than the average person. <br> I work out 5 times a week for about an hour long session each time. I change my routines every so often to keep from becoming static and so I can get muscle groups that certain exercises might overlook. Lately it's been as follows: Monday- Chest (Bench, dumbell press, incline press, incline flys, decline press, cable crossover) Tuesday-Arms, bi's and tri's (curls 15 reps light 12 reps medium 8 reps heavy, barbell curls 7/7/7 variation, skull crushers, tricep pulldown , concentration curls, hammer curls 15 rep 12 rep 8 rep, one armed tricep extension, tricep extension, dips) Wendesday- Shoulders (Dumbell press 15/12/8, Arnold Press, upright rows, around the world, deltoid raise, front plate raise, shrugs) Thursday - Back (bent over Rows 15/12/8, reverse grip rows 15/12/8, heavy pants 15/12/8, machine rows, seated cable rows, wide grip seated cable rows, back focused deadlifts 15/12/8, lower back raises, wide grip pullups) Friday- Legs (One legged lunges 15/12/8, Squats, Sumo Squats 15/12/8, Dumbell squats 15/12/8, leg focused deadlifts 15/12/8, toes raises, another calf focused one I don't know the name of) Saturday- Yoga and Abs I'll actually do abs 3 times a week most of the time other than Saturday. Sometimes I'll do them every single day. Kind of just up to how i'm feeling. But yeah that's more or less it. I've really been focusing on every group individually and hitting everything I can and hitting it hard.
dudewah, have you considered switching up the order of your workouts? I noticed you work out your triceps the day after chest. You may be wasting a lot of your tricep workout, since your triceps will already be broken down some from the chest workout. It's hard to get enough rest because of the way you have it split up for the week, but i think you may get better results from pairing up the chest with tris and back with biceps. You can afford to cut out an exercise or two for each, to make more room for 2 muscle groups in one day. It sounds like your body is just getting used to a certain eating schedule, so it doesn't crave outside of your feeding schedule anymore, which should be expected after 2 weeks. I'm not sure i'd call this fasting, as the primary fast happens while you sleep, which is common for all of us. In a nutshell, all you do is skip breakfast and eat most of your calories before and after working out. In other words, you eat when you need the energy or to refuel and and not so much, or at all, if you don't need either of those. You're not going against "bro science", but rather doing a tweaked version of it.
For the last four to five weeks I've only gone about 3-4 times a week for under two hours each time and I've only done cardio once during that entire time. ..took a few pics, but this is the only one i liked. I feel as if I've lost a lot of muscle and definition and gained fat. I didn't realize how bad i looked until i took some pics tonight, definitely gotta start hitting it hard again and get back to doing cardio... My chest and abs look like crap(starting to get love handles) right now so ill post some some of those when i get toned up... Do I at least look i lift right now? Spoiler 154 lbs 6'0
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not lol... Ive been too lazy to work on my lower body so its pretty much nonexistent and also probably the reason why i weigh less than i should.
gotta work on them legs. squats will add major lbs to your physique. it sounds funny but increasing your leg strength and size contributes to an increase in the size of your upper body.
The_Conquistador is not a bodybuilder, but I train to maintain a basic level of fitness and appearance which I then use to intimidate my opponents in business. I'm probably the opposite of many of these 24-hour Fitness upper-body-only curl jockeys in that I spend most of my time in the gym on compound movements only. We're talking old school compound movements, such as deadlifts, squats, bench, standing military press, pushups and pullups. Because the demands on my time are great and my travel is extensive, I usually lift weights one time per week on either Saturday or Sunday. Then, I go running outside for 3 miles on either Mon/Weds or Tues/Thurs. If you guys were to suggest one non-diet addition to my routine, to help me get more lean/shredded, what would you suggest? Perhaps some pushups/pullups midweek? Perhaps a competitive sport once per week? Rep for good ideas.
Do you work your abs and obliques? If not, there's your missing piece. You might also consider extensions.
I'm on the road constantly for business, and I either do HIIT on the hotel treadmill/exercise bike or swim laps in the pool. I'm a compound lifter as well and you just can't do that in many U.S. hotels. When I travel internationally, every hotel I stay at has a full rack or squat rack along with bench press racks.
I'd replace the 3 miles with about 15-20 mins of HIIT. Then, i'd find time for some soft tissue and mobility work, which should improve your posture and alignment. That will improve your all around performance and possibly reduce some inflammation/edema in your body. Together, all that should improve your physical appearance.
well it's not like i was eating outside my schedule. breakfast + lunch + afternoon snack + dinner was my routine before but I was so damn hungry all the time.
<br> Yeah I actually often times switch my shoulders and arms days. You're probably right about the lack of rest especially when doing chest/tricep on days right after each other. I try to avoid that when possible. As for doing tricep/chest then bicep/back that's a good idea. It's actually how I pair up my routine most months. I was just doing something a little bit different this time around as I felt I was getting stuck for a while there. I'll prob revert back to that routine soon enough. Thanks for the advice though, that's def the reason I post in this thread <br> <br> You're still looking pretty good man. It's tough not having proper time to be able to do everything you want. I know how that is. But i'm sure you'll make up for it when you get more time again. Your upper body is still really solid. I think others have mentioned this and I am sure you're well aware but you def gotta work on those legs hard Also, if you don't mind me asking what's your diet like? I only ask since you said you feel like you've lost muscle definition and gained fat
For the last four weeks my diet has been pretty inconsistent... For breakfast though I always have some oatmeal and a Oats and Whey protein shake. and then for the rest of the day I'll probably only eat once or twice again. I keep a freezer full of Tilapia fillets so I have tilapia fish sandwiches on wheat round tops every day...I Always have pro complex whey after workouts and casein before bed...im pretty sure im getting enough calories or protein. Sometimes I just don't have the time to eat so I'll go without food for 8 hours straight. It's hard to explain how my diet is since I've just been doing whatever this past month lol
