Weight Loss Thread

Dandai · Nov 3, 2015

I tried the wingate bike HIIT routine I mentioned a few days ago for my lower body HIIT day today. Holy. Shit. I literally felt like I was going to fall over trying to dismount and catch my breath after rep 5.

All I did was sped up to 170 RPM with 0 resistance then cranked the bike up to max resistance then [attempted to] maintain that speed for10-15 seconds. I rested until I felt like my breathing was down to able-to-converse levels (which was around 2 minutes). I was aiming for 8 reps... made it to 5. Legs just ran out of fuel.

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

I did a middle set of 10 with 185 on bench yesterday Tenks, and did one set with 205 but only got 5 reps. I may do 205 for a few weeks and see if I can increase, I had just been doing sets of 10 for volume. Coming for you and your 225 bitch!

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

Cad_sl said:
I did a middle set of 10 with 185 on bench yesterday Tenks, and did one set with 205 but only got 5 reps. I may do 205 for a few weeks and see if I can increase, I had just been doing sets of 10 for volume. Coming for you and your 225 bitch!

Oh shit I'll have to step up my game. Though my typical rep weight has gone back up to 215 then I do a few at 225 then move back down to 205. That is an overall 10 pound increase from a few weeks ago. Although when I went to the gym this weekend it was strange because I was feeling really tired but I was able to do many reps at a fairly high weight (8x225.) Maybe it was the hot chick at the gym.

I also got my biometrics at work and my weight was at 151. Realistically I think I'm up to ~149. They didn't account for my heavyweight denim I was wearing when subtracting the clothes weight!

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

Tenks_sl said:
Oh shit I'll have to step up my game. Though my typical rep weight has gone back up to 215 then I do a few at 225 then move back down to 205. That is an overall 10 pound increase from a few weeks ago. Although when I went to the gym this weekend it was strange because I was feeling really tired but I was able to do many reps at a fairly high weight (8x225.) Maybe it was the hot chick at the gym.

If I can do 8x225 that will be a pretty strong increase for me, so that is a good goal.

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

The biggest goal for me is since I'm a lazy fucker is not having to rack/unrack so many different weights. Its annoying putting the 45s on then some 25s to warm up. Then I throw some 10s on. Then I throw some more 10s. I'm racking too much shit. I just want to put 2x45s and call it a day.

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

Tenks_sl said:
The biggest goal for me is since I'm a lazy fucker is not having to rack/unrack so many different weights. Its annoying putting the 45s on then some 25s to warm up. Then I throw some 10s on. Then I throw some more 10s. I'm racking too much shit. I just want to put 2x45s and call it a day.

I get up and walk around between sets so I don't mind throwing the 10's on and off. I usually warm up 1 set with 145, 1 set x10 @ 165, 1 set x 10 @ 185, then I did 205 and only got 5 reps, then back to 165 x10 fo the last set.

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

I'm not quite that rigid. For the most part I just do my quick warm up set to make sure my arms are working that day. I started doing that after I was working out in my basement when I lived at home and I just cold started 225. Well for whatever reason that day my body wasn't working and I dropped the bar on my chest and it rolled onto my throat. Luckily I managed to push it up just enough to scream for help and my brother was in the living room and heard me. Ever since then I start with a lower weight warm up. After that I just go right into 205. If that is really easy for me that day I then move to 215. If that is also feeling easy I move to 225. I don't really count sets or reps I just go until I'm tired and/or bored. In general I'm constantly circuiting my workouts so I can keep my heart rate up. So I rotate between bicep curl, bench press, squat rack and pull ups. I probably execute that circuit maybe 8-10 times. Then when I'm done doing that I burnout my curls, burnout with push ups, burnout with goblet squats and do 100 crunches then 100 more but I drop a 10lb medicine ball on my stomach 10 times every 20 crunches.

Outside of the crunches I really don't count the reps or sets. I just go until I don't feel like going anymore.

Also like I said I work out at my company gym so I can freely keep the bench and squat rack ready to go for me without deracking all the time and having someone swoop it

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

Tenks_sl said:
I'm not quite that rigid. For the most part I just do my quick warm up set to make sure my arms are working that day. I started doing that after I was working out in my basement when I lived at home and I just cold started 225. Well for whatever reason that day my body wasn't working and I dropped the bar on my chest and it rolled onto my throat. Luckily I managed to push it up just enough to scream for help and my brother was in the living room and heard me. Ever since then I start with a lower weight warm up. After that I just go right into 205. If that is really easy for me that day I then move to 215. If that is also feeling easy I move to 225. I don't really count sets or reps I just go until I'm tired and/or bored. In general I'm constantly circuiting my workouts so I can keep my heart rate up. So I rotate between bicep curl, bench press, squat rack and pull ups. I probably execute that circuit maybe 8-10 times. Then when I'm done doing that I burnout my curls, burnout with push ups, burnout with goblet squats and do 100 crunches then 100 more but I drop a 10lb medicine ball on my stomach 10 times every 20 crunches.

Outside of the crunches I really don't count the reps or sets. I just go until I don't feel like going anymore.

Also like I said I work out at my company gym so I can freely keep the bench and squat rack ready to go for me without deracking all the time and having someone swoop it

I have kind of a structured workout so that I can feel accomplished when I'm ready to leave. Haha. And it prevents me from quitting early.

I'm sure I'm not doing it optimally but I basically have an upper body day and a leg/ab day. On upper body day I do:

Bench 5 sets w/ pyramid weights - everything else I adjust weight to try to fail on the last set each day depending on how I'm feeling
Bent over rows 3 sets
Incline bench 3 sets
Military press 3 sets
Chin ups 3 sets of 8
Wide grip pull ups 3 sets of 8
Chest flys 3 sets of 10
Shoulder lateral and forward raises alternating 3 sets of 8
Bicep curl 6 sets alternate between front grip and hammer, final set I grab the 40lb bar and do it until failure

I'm sure thats not ideal in several ways but it hits a lot of groups and I do that 2-3 times per week depending on how many times I can go to the gym.

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

I've never been big on "X day." So I really just do it all every time I got to the gym. I couldn't really care less about being optimal I just care about going to the gym and working out.

Khane · Nov 4, 2015

If you want to increase strength forget doing high rep sets and instead do something like a 10-3-3-3-1 and just increase the 1rm by 5 lbs total every week. Even if you fail increase it another 5 the next week anyway (and obviously always have someone spot you). Biggest concern being to make sure you take ample rest periods between each set (5 minutes or longer).

You'll be doing 8x225 in no time.

I started lifting again 3 weeks ago and am weak as fuck. That's what I'll be doing to get back to what I feel is respectable and worthwhile.

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

Khane_sl said:
If you want to increase strength forget doing high rep sets and instead do something like a 10-3-3-3-1 and just increase the 1rm by 5 lbs total every week. Even if you fail increase it another 5 the next week anyway (and obviously always have someone spot you). Biggest concern being to make sure you take ample rest periods between each set (5 minutes or longer).

You'll be doing 8x225 in no time.

I started lifting again 3 weeks ago and am weak as fuck. That's what I'll be doing to get back to what I feel is respectable and worthwhile.

Yea I haven't really focused on increasing strength per se mostly just want to look sculpted. I don't really do anything in life that requires any particular physical strength. I kinda just want to get to 225 cuz it seems like a good number, haha.

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

I tried the increase by 5 approach and I honestly did not care for it. I find doing completely clean reps at a weight you can handle. I generally like to do a weight I can cleanly do about 6 times but necessary could do 8. I do that until it feels like 6 is inadequate then I increase the weights from there. When I was just adding weights because "Its weight adding week!" my form was suffering because I was just crossfitting the form to execute the rep.

Dandai · Nov 4, 2015

Tenks_sl said:
The biggest goal for me is since I'm a lazy fucker is not having to rack/unrack so many different weights. Its annoying putting the 45s on then some 25s to warm up. Then I throw some 10s on. Then I throw some more 10s. I'm racking too much shit. I just want to put 2x45s and call it a day.

I have all these feels. Fuck shuffling weight on and off the bar thirty times. I've been focusing on dumbbell press instead of barbell, but I'm gonna do some barbell work this week to so I can throw some heavier weight around. 70 lbs is as high as I can safely go with the dumbbells. My wrists and elbows feel too unstable to risk going much higher, but my chest doesn't feel really worked until the third set.

Warmuth · Nov 4, 2015

Cad_sl said:
I get up and walk around between sets so I don't mind throwing the 10's on and off. I usually warm up 1 set with 145, 1 set x10 @ 165, 1 set x 10 @ 185, then I did 205 and only got 5 reps, then back to 165 x10 fo the last set.

Do that in reverse order minus warm up and you'll get more reps at 205 and more at 185.

Tenks · Nov 4, 2015

I'll try and post progress sometime soon but this is the best "before" picture I can get. I pretty much never take pictures and never with my shirt off so unfortunately it is maybe 5-6 years old when I was on vacation but I maintained basically the same form until a few months ago when I decided to put on more weight. I can already tell I've rounded out my chest more and my arms are larger.

Cad · Nov 4, 2015

Somehow I pictured you as more of a artisinal coffee skinny jeans looking faggot.

Dandai · Nov 4, 2015

Dr. Mike Zourdos says that ultimately you want to pay attention to how much total weight you move within a certain period if you want to increase your strength; sets and reps are just the breakdown for how you arrive at that total number. I think there was a caveat that the weight should be a minimum of 60% of your 1RM, but that might've just been advice, not a guideline.

For example, if I have two bench press days and both days I did 3 sets of 5 reps of 100 lbs, my total lift was 3000 lbs for the week. If I want to continue getting stronger, next week I need to aim to do more than 3000 lbs, and I can structure the sets/reps however I'd like as long as I move more than the previous week's total. Obviously there's a ceiling to this or we'd have people capable of Superman level feats of strength.

When I'm tracking my lifts (I can share my spreadsheet if anyone is interested), I go into the day knowing the exact number of sets, reps, and weight I'm going to be doing. Granted, I'm still very much in beginner gains territory, but I find that I'm often underestimating my strength and can add a little extra weight to each set and a couple extra reps to my last set. It's exciting to see real progress in the week over week totals.

Itlan · Nov 4, 2015

That's calledvolumedude.

And Tenks, you look like my best friend, you beanpole motherfucker.

Fifey · Nov 4, 2015

That's not Tenks, the Tenks I know would have a raw denim swimsuit.

ubiquitrips · Nov 5, 2015

I have been doing the BodyWeight routine (/r/bodyweightfitness) mostly successfully for around the past 30 days now. I am officially starting my first bulking phase to try it out. I am hoping to be able to stay sane long enough for this to go until approximately mid / end January 2016.

The primary goal is to develop some additional strength and work on my form through the routine. Outside of straining an ab muscle I have been able to progress fairly well. When switching progressions I find that the form is generally my limit first and then I slowly make my way to my physical limitation. Push Up, Dip, Row, and Squat are all progressing nicely. I cannot do an actual pull up to save my life right now. I am stuck doing negatives for the time being.

The secondary goal is to gain approximately .5 - 1 lbs. per week for the next 12 weeks. After my initial 'lol creatine / carbs' weight gain up to 170 lbs that should end me right around 180 - 185 lbs. Assuming I net 50 / 50 muscle vs. fat I will be around 17-18% body fat for around 150 lbs of lean mass. Since this is my first time I am guessing I will get more fat than muscle.

The biggest problem for me so far has been believing the number of calories the internet recommends. To gain as much as I want the online calculators are estimating 2600+ calories per day. While that sounds delicious, I cannot bring myself to do it all at once and I am 'reverse dieting' my way up and just monitoring progress. I eat around 2500 calories on my workout (BodyWeight / BJJ same day) days (3) and 2000 on the rest (BJJ or Yoga or Rest) days. That gets me an average of ~2200 calories per day which already seems like a huge bump up from 1900-2000 I was doing before.

When this cycle is done I am planning on cutting back down to as close to 10% body fat as I can get. Current goal is to be 165 lbs. ~10% body fat at 5'9" for next summer. I will do another DEX around June I think as that was my last one in 2015.

Weight Loss Thread

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