Arkk's Weight Lifting / Fitness Thread

Elurin_sl said:

That drives me crazy. I don't know how they do it. I've seen the same people who have essentially plateaued in weight and size for at least a year+. I feel like if that were me, I'd start seriously reevaluating what I'm doing.

If I don't see progress on something after at most 2 months, I generally change it.

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You're only going to get so large man. At that point it's maintenance. I don't judge. I don't know what people feel their ideal look/size/weight/strength is.

I've been 280 or so for a year now. I've plateaued on all my lifts/exercises. Not going to get bigger or stronger without juicing.

Brahma_sl said:

You're only going to get so large man. At that point it's maintenance. I don't judge. I don't know what people feel their ideal look/size/weight/strength is.

I've been 280 or so for a year now. I've plateaued on all my lifts/exercises. Not going to get bigger or stronger without juicing.

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I think Elurin and I are referring to the men who are quite clearly not even remotely close to their genetic max. Sure, I'm not their doctor and I don't know if they have any special conditions... but I think those are quite rare. Besides, I've heard the "I just can't gain weight" lamentations from a bunch of thin skinny-fat men. They think they're eating 4k calories a day when really they aren't and they aren't willing to do an accurate food journal.

Nevergone_sl said:

Some people reach their goals and want to maintain it. Not everyone wants to become a cloud.

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Those aren't the people I'm referring to. I'm talking about people who quite clearly want to build muscle but aren't eating enough to do it. They're perpetually rail-thin. They're likely quite healthy, but they want to be bigger but they don't eat enough. No one picking up heavy shit in a gym wants to be 6'2 145lbs (my brother).

Right, the kind of guys that are still benching under 2 plates, or curling 70 pounds...for years. If you're in the gym with a pump and I can barely tell you lift, why are you even bothering being in the gym (once again, only referring to the ones who I see doing the same crap for years).

And I agree with only getting so large, Brahma, but that's a lot bigger than most people even get remotely close to.

As a side note, I remember jokingly telling my friend about fatlogic and how so many people genuinely believe that they're incapable of losing weight. Turns out my friend thought he was incapable of gaining weight. 6'1, 165lbs skinnyfat male. He claimed he ate 4k calories a day "easy" but his metabolism was just too fast. Dood never did anything active. Convinced him to do a food journal which I helped him track via MFP. After a week, I told him he was averaging 2100c/day. He called me a liar and said "that makes no sense" and I shouldn't believe everything I read on bodybuilder forums. Said he went to see a doctor when he was younger who told him and his mother that he would "never be able to gain any weight." I asked him what condition he was diagnosed with but he didn't know.

I suspect he continues believing this to absolve himself for any responsibility for his body. I can't think of any other reason why someone would A) be so invested in believing they have a fucked up metabolism but B) not be interested whatsoever in investigating or trying to fix it.

I'm excited. I've posted pics of me on here before. I'm a big guy, a solid 260 right now. I've been a gym rat for awhile. I'm using a bodybuilding trainer/nutritionist. Not the losers who call themselves trainers in the gym, but the guy who gets bodybuilders and fitness models ready for competition. My macros are so dialed right now, that I'm dropping weight and gaining muscle at the same time. It's nice to have someone adjusting what I do on a weekly basis, based on my results. I'll post pics here when I'm done.

I'm also amazed, he's got me detoxing, and there's a bunch of sludge coming out. That stuff adds to bloating and having a large gut.

Lyrical_sl said:

I'm excited. I've posted pics of me on here before. I'm a big guy, a solid 260 right now. I've been a gym rat for awhile. I'm using a bodybuilding trainer/nutritionist. Not the losers who call themselves trainers in the gym, but the guy who gets bodybuilders and fitness models ready for competition. My macros are so dialed right now, that I'm dropping weight and gaining muscle at the same time. It's nice to have someone adjusting what I do on a weekly basis, based on my results. I'll post pics here when I'm done.

I'm also amazed, he's got me detoxing, and there's a bunch of sludge coming out. That stuff adds to bloating and having a large gut.

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Curious, how much does that run you a month lets say.

Brahma_sl said:

Curious, how much does that run you a month lets say.

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Not much. He's charging my wife and I combined only $50 a week. That's low, and he competes as a professional drug free bodybuilder. Everyone at our gym who competes uses him. Oh, and that is not hands on training. He gives the program, the routine, and each meal is outlined to the gram. We check in with him daily, and send progress pics and weight every Saturday AM. We also text back and forth about what's going on (energy levels, strength levels, bloating etc.). We've seen people at the gym he's transformed from being tubs of lard to ripped, he doesn't have to sell himself.

Lyrical_sl said:

Not much. He's charging my wife and I combined only $50 a week. That's low, and he competes as a professional drug free bodybuilder. Everyone at our gym who competes uses him. Oh, and that is not hands on training. He gives the program, the routine, and each meal is outlined to the gram. We check in with him daily, and send progress pics and weight every Saturday AM. We also text back and forth about what's going on (energy levels, strength levels, bloating etc.). We've seen people at the gym he's transformed from being tubs of lard to ripped, he doesn't have to sell himself.

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Seems like money well spent. Not being nosy but how old are you, and what have your gains/losses been like over a time period?

Brahma_sl said:

Seems like money well spent. Not being nosy but how old are you, and what have your gains/losses been like over a time period?

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It is money well spent. I've always been a gym rat, but now I have someone to help me dial my nutrition.

I've just started, I'll post later. But usually, my strength starts waning by now. The other day I inclined 315 for 8, and was doing back rows with 300-400 pounds. My weights are going up instead, and the weight is coming off slowly. My wife, on the other hand, got pretty lean on her 16 week program. She got in good enough shape that you'd think she was taking performance enhancers.

One thing my trainer is trying to do is get my metabolism up to where I'm burning another 1,000 calories a day. He stresses going slow, he doesn't want me to lose more than a pound a week.

Lyrical_sl said:

It is money well spent. I've always been a gym rat, but now I have someone to help me dial my nutrition.

I've just started, I'll post later. But usually, my strength starts waning by now. The other day I inclined 315 for 8, and was doing back rows with 300-400 pounds. My weights are going up instead, and the weight is coming off slowly. My wife, on the other hand, got pretty lean on her 16 week program. She got in good enough shape that you'd think she was taking performance enhancers.

One thing my trainer is trying to do is get my metabolism up to where I'm burning another 1,000 calories a day. He stresses going slow, he doesn't want me to lose more than a pound a week.

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Maybe I will "invest" in a PT. A real one, not the gym provided one. I'll be 45, and I know I've hit the age where my muscle and strength will start to decline. I just want to get lighter, while maintaining strength. I need someone to guide me there properly. Issue is that real trainers in Boston will run you 250 a week.

Thx for the info. You sound like a beast.

Brahma_sl said:

Maybe I will "invest" in a PT. A real one, not the gym provided one. I'll be 45, and I know I've hit the age where my muscle and strength will start to decline. I just want to get lighter, while maintaining strength. I need someone to guide me there properly. Issue is that real trainers in Boston will run you 250 a week.

Thx for the info. You sound like a beast.

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He's changed my diet up. All I know is that I absolutely destroyed my legs yesterday, and I'm not sore. Usually, when I hit it that hard, my hams are trashed. He's got me on a bunch of supplements, and he forces me to eat all my meals. Every two hours, I'm eating lean protein. Today, I'm behind, and I'll be eating right up until I go to bed.

Have you guys ever tried a supplement called HMB? I'm not getting sore at all after workouts, and I think this has something to do with it. I absolutely trashed my legs on Saturday, and there's been zero soreness. I hit my hamstrings hard enough that it felt like they were ripping. My trainer's got me on a bunch of supplements I've never tried before, but I think HMB is the culprit of this. Of course, force feeding myself protein every two hours and taking digestive enzymes are probably helping. My recovery is a lot better.

Lyrical_sl said:

Have you guys ever tried a supplement called HMB? I'm not getting sore at all after workouts, and I think this has something to do with it. I absolutely trashed my legs on Saturday, and there's been zero soreness. I hit my hamstrings hard enough that it felt like they were ripping. My trainer's got me on a bunch of supplements I've never tried before, but I think HMB is the culprit of this. Of course, force feeding myself protein every two hours and taking digestive enzymes are probably helping. My recovery is a lot better.

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Ya...It stops protein breakdown if I remember. Please don't quote me. It was like 15 years ago I last used this. It works though, but back then I'm not sure they knew what the side effects were.

Brahma_sl said:

Ya...It stops protein breakdown if I remember. Please don't quote me. It was like 15 years ago I last used this. It works though, but back then I'm not sure they knew what the side effects were.

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This is how messed up scientists are. Studies are inconclusive on HMB, yet I know it's working. There is a huge difference in my recovery, I'm training to failure, and yet I wake up in the AM with no soreness. It's like I'm not even working out, I had no idea this stuff was that good.

So my weight was stagnant, the trainer cut my carbs by 300 calories, and increased my fats by that amount, and all of the sudden, I'm losing too much weight. Oh, he also added HIIT cardio.

Apparently I know jack shit about nutrition. I'd have thought that me eating 40% of my calories a day in fat would have caused an increase. It's done the opposite. As he's upped my fat and lowered my carbs, my weight is going down, and that's at a zero calorie deficit.

Yeah, carbs are kind of the enemy if you're trying to lose weight.

I do higher fats on non-workout days and higher carb on workout days though, just because I need that extra energy.

If you really want to learn about the "why's" you should start reading up about how insulin gets effected by how we eat. When you keep in mind that insulin is a hormone, it starts to make more sense. Insulin controls how you use the food you eat. By controlling your insulin levels (mainly through manipulating carbs) you can somewhat control what energy sources your body uses (e.g. stored fat, versus carbs consumed, and sparing muscle).

Elurin_sl said:

Yeah, carbs are kind of the enemy if you're trying to lose weight.

I do higher fats on non-workout days and higher carb on workout days though, just because I need that extra energy.

If you really want to learn about the "why's" you should start reading up about how insulin gets effected by how we eat. When you keep in mind that insulin is a hormone, it starts to make more sense. Insulin controls how you use the food you eat. By controlling your insulin levels (mainly through manipulating carbs) you can somewhat control what energy sources your body uses (e.g. stored fat, versus carbs consumed, and sparing muscle).

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I need to read up. I've always had a hard time getting to and maintaining single digit bf. Most of the time, I'm consuming negligible amounts of fat, as I'm only eating from lean protein sources.

It is a bit weird when it comes to having every meal and workout dictated to me, but it's working. I follow the diet and the cardio, but I'm sticking with my own weight plan.

What fats are you referring to? What food types?