2022: Work-Out Thread - What you Lift Bro?

i take a protein powder too but its for convenience more than anything.

i would recommend against creatine for now. adding muscle and losing weight at the same time is basically impossible. losing weight means you are in a caloric deficit. if you want to add muscle its best to be in a caloric surplus. i'd suggest getting to a target weight/body fat% then try to add muscle.
do not stop lifting, just know you wont gain muscle as long as you are losing weight. or now that youve dropped some weight trade a cardio session for an upper body session.

 

i think myfitnesspal defaults to 50/20/30 ratios. may need editing to get the performance/body you want
i used it years ago for about a year. works as intended but you need to input correct data into the app to get the intended benefit. (ie input everything you eat)
now i dont because i did it for so long i know pretty well how to approach eating and my current training.

 

I'm still a work in progress but what worked for me was focus on always doing something you emotionally enjoy while doing short, easy workouts and slowly build up.

It works. For example, do what you normally enjoy doing when not working out. Watch the Rockets or game a couple days a week while on a recumbent bike and casually pedal for 10 minutes, the next week do 15 minutes. Watch a movie/show on a cardio machine going easy, don't go hard with it, you just want to focus on building a habit. Even if its just 5 minutes, keep the habit as it's better than nothing. Take small baby steps and slowly increase, but those small steps eventually add up to miles with time, just keep going.

Same thing for diet, speak with your doctor or nutritionist for diabetic friendly choices. But you can replace soda with unsweetened tea, a diet drink, flavored water or something else. Sub salad instead of fries etc. Make very small, easy adjustments and don't worry about being perfect but try to make them a habit.

I listen to music I like, podcasts, audio books. Watch TV, Sports, get online, have a workout buddy or girl. You start to associate those positive emotions with working out and then eventually you get an endorphin benefit, as well as feeling good with improved health over time.

 

this is the key right here. small changes and consistent effort everyday
people dont realize how long it takes to change the body's composition. if you're overweight it probably took many years, you're not going to undo that in a couple months

 

I had never been to his website until you mentioned it, so forgive me if this is a dumb question... Do his paid programs utilize the same videos/instruction he puts out for free on YouTube? I'm thinking of purchasing one or two of his TNT Series programs, but if they're just a collection of what I can already view for free I'll probably pass.

What are your thoughts on the core workout, too, if you don't mind sharing? I could certainly use help there.

 

I think it's worth it.

Completely different, dedicated workout videos in a login-protected website.

Core workout is awesome and randomized every day, and it's fast. It takes 5-8 minutes. You can pick a difficulty level, too.

There's also nutrition plans and a calendar. And you own it forever.

I bought the Max Shred but it didn't really gel for me so I gave it up. However, I did keep the ab workout going.(I may revisit this now, though)

If you want to be a cheapskate you can post in https://www.reddit.com/r/Athleanx/ and people will contact you on the side offering to sell you the old versions of just the PDFs. I didn't buy that so I can't comment on how they are. You might be able to find the PDFs on torrent sites too.

 

Good, that's what I wanted to hear.

Is that the Core4 Abs Training System?

Thanks for the reddit link. I'm cheapskate enough to check it out, but I can't imagine not purchasing the program at this point.

 

Mid 30s and stocky. I can add muscle and get big pretty easily, but also add fat easily.

Squats are the basis of my workout, I can't praise squats enough for being both a perfect exercise and efficient. Squats, sauna, diet, and getting 7-8 hours of sleep.

Gold's Gym really exploded in Austin so ~$30/month for membership. Used to do the 24 hour fitness membership through Costco but they stopped offering it.

 

6Pack Shuffle

Edit:

For a great core, you really only need three things:

1. Perfect form. This will engage your core on every exercise. You should strive for this anyway because if you have sloppy form, you're going to get hurt and your gains will be minimalized.
   
   
2. Low planks. This engages your entire core. Go for a minute. If that's easy, go for three. Do it to exhaustion, then another ten seconds.
   
   
3. Bicycle crunches. This will get your abs and obliques ripped.
   
   ...and bonus, if you want to see your ripped core and be able to take your shirt off in hot-ass Houston summers:
   
   
4. Eat properly for your body type. Everyone has different dietary needs based on their body type and chemistry. Some people may be able to eat a loaf of bread a day and have an 8-pack. Some may need to go on a boxer-style cut. Experiment and find out.

 

I appreciate it, Xero.

You know, I found a YouTube review for that course after you first mentioned it where someone demonstrated a few of the exercises. I realized pretty quickly that I was in no way ready for it and have been simply following a modified version of one of Jeff's free "perfect abs" (or something like that) videos, combined with some things like planks (which I had started back up a couple months ago) ab wheel-ing, some oblique exercises with a kettle ball and some ab machine exercises at the gym.

I've been doing at least twenty minutes or more of ab exercises once a day, often twice, working my butt and legs religiously (but still not quite enough) , and I recently started doing low back exercises as well.

It's torture.

Your core and abs are the hardest, most sensitive & downright uncomfortable muscles to train. But it's beginning to pay off for me with improved posture, reduced back pain, and the flattest stomach I've had in yearrs.

As I'm sure you know, you can have huge arms, a big chest, etc. but you're never going to look truly fit without a six pack.

I have a long ways to go yet but I'll get to Jeff's course soon hopefully. WIll start bicycle crunches too!

 

Good luck my guy.

I am going to start a serious program soon just waiting to heal up after my final surgery.

I lost about 60 because my initial surgeries and have gained back about 15 so I am trying to stay the same size but get some muscle back, the really crazy part is I realize that I gain fat in the most terrible of places.

I need to look at the some of those perfect abs videos I might have a chance now of at least getting a 2 pack.

 

Thanks. I remember you disappearing for a while and mentioning something about some health stuff. I'm not exactly sure what, but multiple surgeries does not sound like fun. I'm not the sending out prayers type, but you have my sincerest of well wishes.

I gain fat in the wrong places, too. Stomach... chest... my face... (Never my flabby ass, where I could use it.) On top of that, I'm losing hair in the right places and gaining it back in the oddest and most unflattering of places. Ugh.

I rocked a two pack before the pandemic. It was a great feeling getting there because I was heavy at one point myself. (Never buy a milkshake machine and/or bread machine, and/or live on fast food like I did for years.)

I hope you have some positive news for us soon. Same with you @Rocket River

 

I appreciate that.

I had gotten really heavy before my health scare and was amazed i lost so much weight and were it was lost from, sides, chest, underarms and stomach.

My legs are skinnier as well, the 1st thing to start reattaining fat was my chest which has been an issue most of my life, so I am going to nip that in the bud.

 

Fat has a way of sneaking up on us all, lol.

Good luck man. It was a health scare that got me semi-serious years ago about getting in better shape. I'm thankful for it now. I hope you can say that soon, too.

My advice is to stick with it once you start. I skip exercising for just a couple days and it's near impossible to go back to it. Thankfully my life and outlook sort of turned to **** for a while or I would still be packing on weight.

 

I have always liked working out to some degree and it always kept my weight somewhat in check, I had stopped because I was having sleep issues and was tired all the time, I seem to have a bit more energy now and I am really looking to get back in the gym.

I am shopping for a new stationary bike now and I am surprised the prices are not that high, I need to do some more research, any recommendations?

 

I started working out consistently last July. Good friends of mine meet up every morning at a buddy’s garage who has just about everything we need. We use the PaulSklarXfit program. I had never worked out on any consistent basis ever and now I love it. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I realize it’s not leading to weight loss but it’s definitely helped me add muscle in places I didn’t know were possible. I’m not ripped or anything close to that but I still see and feel a huge difference.

I do wish my knees weren’t in such bad shape so I could do more cardio and be on the soccer field more even if at 46, I know my days are numbered. It would help if I could drop about 30 lbs. Just need to find the right balance to keep building strength and lose the gut.

 

I hope you get back to it soon. It's done a lot of good for my psyche, that's for sure.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, but I do have a recumbent bike. My suggestion is a pretty obvious one and that's to try before you buy. We tried quite a few first, including this one, but we still ended up getting something that bothers my back, and my wife's knees.

The knee part is something to watch out for. The pedals on ours are spaced farther than a normal upright because of the design of the bike. You wouldn't think that would matter, but it puts your knees in a really unnatural motion as you pedal. I stood iin front of the bike once as my wife pedaled and you could see my wife's knees and ankles going through all sorts of odd sideways motions. Some of that was probably due to her not having the seat adjusted properly (she won't listen to virtually anything I tell her), but it's still a flaw, IMO.

My mom has a Schwinn recumbent that's pretty nice though. I'll get the model number in the next couple days for you.

The one drawback about the Schwinn is that the heart rate monitor only tells you that your heart is beating--it doesn't tell you the rate. That part's really stupid. But it is nice overall. I imagine a fancy display would just make the bike more expensive.

 

Wouldn’t that be pretty obvious by, you know, not being dead?