Gym/workouts

White or brown rice??? Whole wheat or white bread???

 

@TXRailRoadBandit73, search "interference effect."

 

I'm going to start getting back in the gym after a long hiatus...and looking for some advice on good routines/schedules to follow. I'm looking to do some weight loss, but mainly build muscle/healthy lifestyle. I'm 6'1" and 225 right now with a background of sports based lifting and did Crossfit for a year (I have never been more hurt so often in my life) so I'm familiar with most exercises or concepts.

I had an old football coach who took 1 rep maxes (squat, clean, bench, etc.) and created a weekly workout routine with exercises and weight/reps based off my maxes. Does anyone know of a resource that can replicate that? Part of my issue is I will follow a generic workout plan, but either go too light or too heavy. I know that over time I will learn where to start and such, but it was awesome having a guide and it be adjusted every few months when we redid our maxes. I don't mind spending money for the right resource.

 

These days, it doesn't matter where you start as long as you start. I've been off and on in my fitness journey throughout my years. I'm 5'7" 210 right now. Trying to get down somewhere between 160 and 180. Hopefully, closer to 160. I'm doing 1 - 1.5 miles on the treadmill, 2000M row, maybe 1 mile on the stationary bike. That's around 30 - 40 minutes of cardio at the pace I've selected. As far as weight training, I tore something in my left shoulder. So, I've decreased weight to 1/4 of what I would normally lift for any exercise involving my left shoulder, BUT I have increased reps. I am doing sets and reps slowly in both positive and negative motions thus increasing time under tension and to rep failure. Prior to my injury I was seeing massive gains in strength using that method. I derive a lot of what I'm doing these days concerning weight training and form from the AthleanX YouTube channel. It's a great resource and I did donate money to him at one point in time for his content.

 

I weighed myself yesterday at the gym, 280 lbs, feeling good! jeans fitting loose, trying for 270-60

 

Been a completely off few months so I need to get my shit together. Starting off with overall weight loss and lifestyle goals.

Step 1 is diet. I don't really eat breakfast and I have a bad habit of forgetting to eat during the day beyond coffee and the odd unhealthy grab and go snacks like cookies in the office. Then I get home and I'm starving, hangry and just need food so I default to crap food. I'm going to correct this by more actively meal planning and meal prepping.

Next is fitness. I'm always on again and off again with my training. I get into a program, get bored after a few weeks then don't work out for a few more weeks. I think I've worked out a 3 week "program" that should keep me more engaged and is built around my 14/7 work schedule. It's got components of cardio and strength training.

Week 1 (Home): Swimming most mornings before The Woman and Lil' AK wake up. I love swimming and it'll be a good start to my day. In the late afternoon before dinner on Mon, Wed and Fri during this week I'll do some barbell training.

Week 2 (Work): Kettlebell training. I'll be doing the Simple and Sinister program on a daily basis this week. I'll be able to do this in my room at work without disturbing my roommate. Stair training. Where I work, the jobsite a lot of stairs. I'll be leaving my office to do rapid stair climbs at least twice a day.

Week 3 (Work): Stationary bike. I have a TacX trainer for my mountain bike I've brought to my work aptmt. I have the place to myself for my second week at work when my roommate rotates out. I'll do some HIIT training each night and kettlebells on Mon, Wed and Fri. I'll also do the stair climbs at work every day.


Thoughts?

 

I've started my 2nd round of the Wolverine workout. It's supposed to be what Hugh Jackman's trainer had him doing. Lots of variations on it but this one seems pretty legit - a big focus on shoulders and back, or at least it seems like that. I'm seeing some transformation and getting stronger.

4 weeks of exercising, then a week off, then back at it. The first exercise on most days is a primary based on a percentage of your 1 rep max. The percentage goes up every week and reps go down until the 4th week where you drop the weight and increase the reps. After 4 successful weeks, I'm increasing what I believe is my 1 rep max by 5lbs and going back at it. 45 secs of rest in-between each set. I've modified a few exercises for my home gym.

I've yet to get bored with it and it's an ass kicker. I'm attaching a Word doc with Week 1 (I print out a sheet each week and bring it with me to keep track of reps and take notes).

After the first day of the week, I have the percentage of the one rep max for primary exercise on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday. I figure out the weight and put it on the set line. The x after each exercise is for the weight and the number after is the reps. Bold and italic after "x" is my 1 rep max. (ds) is drop set.

Week one 1 rep max % is (60%, 65%, 75%, 75%) at 5 reps

Week two is (65%, 75%, 85%, 85%) at 4 reps

Week 3 (70%, 80%, 90%, 90%) at 3 reps

Week 4 (40%, 50%, 60%, 60%) and 10 reps of primary. I also drop the accessory exercises down 50% and try to double the reps.

You are supposed to carb cycle on your days off and do 30-60 minutes of Cardio or 15 minutes of HIIT. I'm notorious for not being able to follow a diet but, like I said, I'm seeing some positive body transformation at 50.

Anywho, my week 1 is attached if anybody is interested. If you need a word doc for the other 3 weeks, let me know.

 

Do fat burner pills really work??? Couple guys at work are gym rats, these guys should be competing they way they look, IDK what they doing out here on the railroad, anyways, they said they'd help me train at the gym when we out on the road working, as @JRS stated , these guys also mentioned the same thing to me, the hour to hour and a half of cardio before working out has been countering my muscle gain, I mean I'm not looking to get ripped or 6 pack abs, I just want to look and feel healthy, one of these guys mentioned fat burner pills, I've never taken them before, he said start out with just one with tons of water, I already drink like 6-8 bottles of water a day, and I'm sure my diet is not right, but maybe you guys out here can pick up or give some pointers

Diet is... Out in road while at work

Morning ...
2 bags of protein oatmeal added with water and a banana , black coffee no cream or sugar

Lunch...
3 boiled eggs, just eat the egg whites, banana or avocado or apple or grapefruit

Dinner...
Opt 1, Bagged salad (Cesar kit) with chucks of white chicken, chicken comes from grocery store already packed in container skin peeled and pulled apart

Opt 2, Or a veggie bag add chicken and avocado

Opt 3, Those flavored tuna packs with avocado slices wrapped in lettuce

Tons of water all day

Back at home while off from railroad..

Almost the same routine as work

My gym routine is cardio almost 1 1/2 hours, walking or elliptical or bike

Then machines or free weights for 2 hours

4 sets, 12 reps, 1 minute rest between sets

I've been doing since November, I've seen the weight loss and feel it, BUT no muscle gain

 

The only "fat burners" that ever worked was the ole Ephedrine stack
ephedrine 25mg
caffeine 200mg
aspirin 80mg

but...you can imagine it's quite tough to get ephedrine hcl now.

 

Swam 10 laps (500m) this morning, followed up with sauna and hot tub. Nice easy morning, but feels good.

 

I'm fixing to hit gym now

 

Also do these cold tubs work?

 

I stand corrected....you can still get them!
however, once you order, keep an eye out for the black suburbans.

https://www.advacarepharma.com/en/pharmaceuticals/ephedrine-hcl-tablets

 

The "Request Quotation" tab

 

I'll see what GNC offers

 

I highly recommend kettlebell workouts - or anything working your core, hips/glutes, etc., for a very good reason. (Slightly long story incoming.)

A few months back, having lost about 50#, I started to get back into running. Out of nowhere my left knee started swelling up, pretty damn painful, clicking/popping in my kneecap area, etc. Primary care doc said to give it a solid 2 months doing nothing but walking and low-impact workouts. I could tell my knee was still slightly swollen, though nothing like what it was. So I asked for an MRI.

Unfortunately - so I thought - it revealed what they call 'chondromalacia.' Fancy term for the cartilage on the back of my left kneecap was slightly degraded. Orthopedic surgeon basically said "no squats or lunges" but he also said I could ease back into running. I kinda got a bit confused, because a) it's not like that doesn't stress your knees, and b) ONLY the cartilage on the back of my kneecap was slightly degraded....everything else looked fantastic.

He prescribed therapy, and when I started my first therapy session with the therapist I see, we weren't even 10 minutes into the first round before it was determined that my hip muscles were weak as hell.....which made total sense. Hip muscles being weak = throws off all the other muscles, which is why my left kneecap was being pulled off kilter. She flat said "I don't think the kneecap cartilage thing has squat to do with what's going on." She then said inside of 2-3 months, I could likely be back to fully doing whatever I wanted, with the suggestion that if I DO engage in squats in the future, limit them to 90 degrees, just to be careful.

I've only been seeing her for 2 weeks but my knee is *VASTLY* better. No pain, no clicking/popping, no swelling, etc.

Moral of the story is that some of the stuff we take for granted is the most important stuff. I used to view kettlebell workouts as nice but 'extra' to what I was doing. Now? Those sons of b*tches are an absolutely integral part of my physical therapy, and will comprise an integral part of any workouts I do in the future. Of course they won't be all I do, but they'll be a core part. They work all the muscles I haven't been; and you HAVE to execute exercises with them with good form or else you'll hurt yourself. You can 'cheat' in certain ways with other workouts that you can't with kettlebells.

As far as my own workout routine goes, as it stands right now, along with the 4x a week HIIT workouts I do, I'm simply doing 45 minutes a day of therapy 'workouts', with a hell of a lot of stretching. Tomorrow I add rowing in (I've got a Concept 2 rower), and next Monday I actually begin a normal workout again, where I'll lift 'heavy' (e.g., with Oly bar, as opposed to just HIIT workouts with 5-25# of weights). At LEAST 3x a week I'll ensure I add kettlebells to the workout.

 

kill the cardio. just walk everyday.
do heavy compound movements.

if you do it right, your workouts should be no longer than 60 minutes. it used to be 45 minutes, but I got older.

I've done a "westside" / conjugate periodization routine since 2001.
https://www.sugdenbarbell.co.uk/routines/The-Standard-Westside-Template

I've toned the weights down once I got past 50. My son is kicking may ass now.

It appears complex, but it's based on science. you will get results.

in 2001 it got me to 645SQ/407Bch/550Dead never, ever did PED's

then , kids came along.

I'm an accountant, so I dug the %'s and numbers. it's 2nd nature now.

I'm still strong & healthy @ 55 405/305/455

that's my $.02

 

I'll look into this, thanks for sharing

 

and if you like reading.

"Supertraining" by Dr. Mel Siff.

it's the ultimate read on working out.

 

Thanks again

 

and, if you want to just watch good youtube videos,

Table talk with Dave Tate.


he has the best strength athletes on for 2 hour talks. for free.
once you watch a few of these, you will see the utter bullshit this industry try to lay on you.

just brutal honesty on how to train.

 

I really enjoyed the “The M.A.X. Muscle Plan 2.0” by Brad Schoenfeld. He’s the trainer for the New Jersey Devils. Lays everything out in layman’s terms - diet, cardio, muscle growth, etc. I did the plan and it really kickstarted some definition for me (got some ab bumps!).

PM me if you’re interested in it and I can let you borrow my copy. Either send me your address or I can leave it by the train track for when you are cruising through my town.

It’s a good read.

Also, I’d steer clear of any fat burner pills and cut the cardio WAY back. Maybe a walk or some jumping jacks right before exercising and a little cardio later in the day if you really feel like you need it (some people are addicted to cardio - fortunately I am not one of them).

 

I may have mentioned it before but I started doing Julian Smith's "The Daily Pump".

I played D1 soccer all 4 years so I've been around the gym and fitness my entire life. I used to make my own workouts but got tired of doing that. I started following Julian on Instagram many years ago and was intrigued but his style of training. He emphasizes on Time under Tension which I like instead of quick reps. He also give new exercises that work the smaller muscles or just the big muscle but at an angle. For example, instead of doing a basic lying leg curl, if you cross your feet or change direction of where your toes are pointed, then you hit different sides of your hamstrings. What I also like he that the workouts he sends out is the same workout he does every day so every day is a new workout and he switches up the splits(group of muscles worked in the same day) after a few months or so. All of the exercises come with a demo video showing you how to do it a swell as a built in rest timer for each exercise. I have done other online workout programs like AthleanX and Mike Rashid but they were not worth the price and they were repetitive. There is a FB group for subscribers and it allows everyone to ask questions about exercises, nutrition, equipment, etc. The best part about it is that its only $6 per month. I dont think there is a program better for the money. Its at least worth the try.

The biggest change I made last year was counting my macros instead of calories. Using an online macro calculator you can get an idea on what your daily intake should be. I realized I was under eating A LOT and once I started tracking my intake, I leaned up drastically. It becomes a game after a couple weeks on how you can add your numbers up. I used LifeSum but I know My Fitness Pal is the most popular. I tell people that counting macros is more efficient than calories because you know what kind of calories you are putting in your body and macros are how calorie numbers are made up. (1g fat = 9 cal, 1g protein = 4 cal, 1g carb = 4 cal).

attached screenshots of the app for an idea.

 

Oh and these are my current numbers. As I do a weigh in every 3 weeks they may change.

To get protein numbers in I mix 2 scoops of protein in oatmeal which gives me 50g just from breakfast and oatmeal.

 

Train track!

 

If you have a Vitamin Shoppe nearby, they are pretty awesome. I prefer them over GNC - the staff seems a lot more knowledgeable (the last time we were there my wife wanted some appetite suppressant pills and the lady working there talked her out of it because she said they don’t work) and they have tons of sales.

 

Just left gym, did 30 min walk, chest back and arms, also just GNC, they said hottest item is Nugenix total t and the fat burner, I'll hit up Vitamin Shoppe later

 

I think like most here whenever I look in the mirror I think, “man I wish I was ripped” but then I start thinking about candy and fast food! Haha. Diet is so hard for me as is a workout plan even with my home gym. There are too many kids and home projects for me!

 

There's lots of evidence out there that suggests cold immersion/therapy is fantastic for the human body. I finish off most of my showers with 30 seconds of the coldest water I can handle. While a full immersion tub may be "better", most of the stuff I've read says cold showers achieve the majority of the intended purposes.

I love kettlebells. Aside from being a great workout, I find they keep me engaged in ways barbell training doesn't. It's constant motion and the workout times go by quicker when I don't need to keep stopping to change plates or set up for a different work out.

I've love to get a Concept 2 rower. It's one of the last things I need to fully round out my home gym. They pop up on the used market here for around $1000 now and then.

 

Yeah, every time I quit eating candy and cookies, they come out with a new flavor. Oreo is coming out with a triple stuff Oreo and the cream has crushed up Oreo inside of it.