The Workout thread

[blade1889]

I've been doing 15/20 mins of HIIT before weights tbh, bit of a warm up and body isn't aching so much I cant put full effort into it. What's the idea with doing it the other way around?

 

[Nath]

The idea is that preserves energy. It's aimed more at those who lift really heavy. I've played a football match before the gym and it didn't impact my lifting too much. Generally I'd leave any HIIT until after the weights session though. Particularly if I'm looking at doing heavy compound exercises.

 

[Renegade]

As Nath states, once you hit heavier weights you will fail a lot quicker after HIIT. There is no benefit to doing the cardio before weights, whilst there is benefit to doing cardio afterwards. Both types of training will deplete your muscles of glycogen, but by doing cardio first you're decreasing your ability to makes strength (and therefore muscle) gains. Also, you'll be sweating all over the equipment, don't be that guy.

I've persevered with 5/3/1 on my compound lifts Nath, found it suits me best for strength gains. Squat up to 152.5 x 7 (max) through gradual progress, I typically do between 8-15 reps for all the accessory exercises, suits me well. Can't be fucked with German volume training, you'd be in the gym for two hours every day. I like to keep my workout to about 50 minutes.

 

[Nath]

I've persevered with 5/3/1 on my compound lifts Nath, found it suits me best for strength gains. Squat up to 152.5 x 7 (max) through gradual progress, I typically do between 8-15 reps for all the accessory exercises, suits me well. Can't be fucked with German volume training, you'd be in the gym for two hours every day. I like to keep my workout to about 50 minutes.

Aye, GVT doesn't look worthwhile considering the same results could be got in lesser time. As you say, you'd spend far too long in the gym. 5/3/1 looks very interesting, and is something I'm going to give a go. If my 1RM is 100kg (or thereabouts) on the flat bench, is it right you add only 5 pounds for upper-body lifts, and 10 pounds for lower-body lifts for the new cycle (after the 4 weeks).

Out of interest, what format do you follow for the isolation exercises? 3 sets of 8-15 reps going low to high? or do you even bother with them?

 

[Renegade]

Aye, GVT doesn't look worthwhile considering the same results could be got in lesser time. As you say, you'd spend far too long in the gym. 5/3/1 looks very interesting, and is something I'm going to give a go. If my 1RM is 100kg (or thereabouts) on the flat bench, is it right you add only 5 pounds for upper-body lifts, and 10 pounds for lower-body lifts for the new cycle (after the 4 weeks).

Out of interest, what format do you follow for the isolation exercises? 3 sets of 8-15 reps going low to high? or do you even bother with them?

Yeah, add 5 lbs for upper body stuff and 10 lbs for lower body. Most gyms over here use kilogram plates, so I typically go up 2.5 kg for shoulder press and 5 kg for squats and dead-lift. However, once you start reaching the unknown with squat (for me this was when I hit 140 kg) I decreased the increments to 2.5 kg because the 5 kg jumps seemed a little bit much. Keep going until you're comfortable though.

I've found that it is a far more sustainable and enjoyable strength program than 5x5, which doesn't leave you knackered and every time you go to the gym you should hit a personable best because you always do MAX reps on the last set of the day. So you should hit a PB for reps on lighter weights (5 rep and 3 rep days) and a PB for weight on the heavy days (1 rep day).

Yeah, I do some isolation exercises for the bodybuilding and accessory strength reasons still. I always hit the 5/3/1 compound exercises for the day first and the rest of my workouts are fluid (I change them up every few months). At the moment my workouts are like this - some days I just throw in random exercises, the most important thing is that you accomplish your main lift:

SQUAT DAY
------------------
Squats 5/3/1
Straight Leg Deadlift - manageable weight - 15 x 4
Crunches - 25 x 3

BENCH DAY
------------------
Flat Bench 5/3/1
Incline Dumbbell Flyes - 15 x 4
Wide Grip Pull-up - 10 x 4
Barbell Curls - Dips superset - 5 x 15 each (this is brutal, but amazing)

DEADLIFT
--------------
Deadlift 5/3/1
Front Squat 8 x 4
Bent over row - 10 x 4

SHOULDER PRESS
----------------------------
Shoulder Press 5/3/1
Incline Barbell Press - 15 x 4
Chin Ups - 12 x 4
Side Lateral Raises - Flat Dumbbell Flyes superset - 5 x 15 each

I take it pretty easy on leg days because those lifts are so much more taxing once you start getting close to your physical limits and I'll mix the workout up every now and then with new exercises/different rep ranges.

 

[Nath]

Steve Cook is running a 8 week program through the Bodybuilding website.

Workout plans and nutrition plans - all in place. Interesting from one of the most knowledgeable guys in the industry. I might follow it closer to the summer.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

I made this commitment to get into shape, which I'm sticking to surprisingly well. Started with cardio, now adding in resistance training 3x a week. Momma mia, everything about me hurts right now.

 

[Nath]

1 gram of protein, 1.75 grams of carbs, and 0.5 grams of fat per pound of body weight.

Fair macros guideline for a nice lean bulk whilst trying to hit a high enough calorie count?

 

[Veggie Legs]

Grams per pound? Urgh.

 

[Renegade]

Sounds fair enough, don't think you actually need that much protein (a lot of research debunking how much protein actually required for gaining muscle, 0.8 is probably enough). Also, Veggie, makes a lot more sense to measure food in grams per lb when relating to your own bodyweight, makes the process of sticking to a strict diet a lot easier.

I just wing it with my nutrition, counting calories is just a step too far for me. You get a feel for how much you need to maintain your bodyweight, add an extra small meal or remove it if you need to lose/gain weight. Eat well, train well, it'll work itself out.

 

[Veggie Legs]

My objection was merely to the mixing of metric and imperial units. Why not grams per kilogram? And who measures their weight in pounds anyway?

 

[Renegade]

The entire body-building community (and the United States). It's basically because we weigh food in grams, but it's easier to track bodyweight in pounds, it's a more precise measurement. The macro nutrients required for gaining/losing weight are easier to track when you use pounds and they align well with typical guidelines.

It's way easier to track 1 gram of protein per pound as opposed to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram when working out your diet.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Who's clued up on all this then?

Basically, My beer belly is getting bigger by the day it seems. I've cut down drinking pointless 2/3 pints in the week at home or whilst I'm out and cut down on takeaways and rubbish food whilst I am out. Going alright but as I've got 3 holidays this Summer I want to try and lose the belly and bulk myself up abit. What foods should I be eating?

The working out isn't bad, I'm a fairly active person anyway, I play football 2/3 times a week, I have an active job aswell which helps. Before Christmas I started going Spinning aswell but hadn't been in the New Year until last night and I thought my bike was going to get washed away with all the sweat!

Any advice will be much appreciated!

 

[blade1889]

I'm no expert but have lost a relatively large amount recently...went from 11stone to 10.5 in 6weeks. That was mainly from cutting out booze, barely any takeaways and stopping 'bad' snacking. Started going to the gym now and not weighed myself since. The idea you shouldn't snack is a bad one because being hungry encourages your body to start storing fats as opposed to burning them, the key is to not snack on 'bad' foods.

My advice would be to keep snacks to a limit and do what's sustainable. Know so many people that do these fad diets and lose weight but soon lose interest and pile it all back on. Everyone knows what's good for you and what's bad, just try and keep making small changes and don't jump in head first and you'll be reight imo.

Fwiw my typical diet now is:

Breakfast: Granola & milk

Mid-morning: Tin of tuna (that's my post-gym food, not sure how necessary it is and may be laughed at by others on here!)

Lunch: Vegetable soup, chicken, rice, salad, some kind of pulse, fruit juice

Mid-afternoon snack: Peanut butter

Tea: Lentils, avocado, omelette, chorizo, onion, garlic, chillies, broccoli

Late snack: Fruit & a slice of cake


Which I reckon is quite healthy, also eat that because of where I am though as opposed to just healthy eating.

Another thing worth considering may be to have your 'bad' carbs (hate that word cos they aren't 'bad' but you get the jist...bread/pasta/rice/etc) around lunch time as you then have the day to burn it off instead of sleeping on them.

That's my two penneth anyway, some may disagree as its largely a personal thing and finding what works for you not someone else!

 

[Aber gas]

I'm no expert but have lost a relatively large amount recently...went from 11stone to 10.5 in 6weeks. That was mainly from cutting out booze, barely any takeaways and stopping 'bad' snacking. Started going to the gym now and not weighed myself since. The idea you shouldn't snack is a bad one because being hungry encourages your body to start storing fats as opposed to burning them, the key is to not snack on 'bad' foods.

My advice would be to keep snacks to a limit and do what's sustainable. Know so many people that do these fad diets and lose weight but soon lose interest and pile it all back on. Everyone knows what's good for you and what's bad, just try and keep making small changes and don't jump in head first and you'll be reight imo.

Fwiw my typical diet now is:

Breakfast: Granola & milk

Mid-morning: Tin of tuna (that's my post-gym food, not sure how necessary it is and may be laughed at by others on here!)

Lunch: Vegetable soup, chicken, rice, salad, some kind of pulse, fruit juice

Mid-afternoon snack: Peanut butter

Tea: Lentils, avocado, omelette, chorizo, onion, garlic, chillies, broccoli

Late snack: Fruit & a slice of cake


Which I reckon is quite healthy, also eat that because of where I am though as opposed to just healthy eating.

Another thing worth considering may be to have your 'bad' carbs (hate that word cos they aren't 'bad' but you get the jist...bread/pasta/rice/etc) around lunch time as you then have the day to burn it off instead of sleeping on them.

That's my two penneth anyway, some may disagree as its largely a personal thing and finding what works for you not someone else!

Fucking granola ! You're from Yorkshire, behave yourself.

 

[blade1889]

Fucking granola ! You're from Yorkshire, behave yourself.

My heart sunk when I saw youd quoted a post where I talked about what I eat

Cheapest cereal out here, rest are an absolute rip-off!

 

[Aber gas]

My heart sunk when I saw youd quoted a post where I talked about what I eat

Cheapest cereal out here, rest are an absolute rip-off!

Better than that tinned nonsense those shoutbox peasants eat I suppose

 

[blade1889]

Better than that tinned nonsense those shoutbox peasants eat I suppose

You didn't see my snack after breakfast did you!?

But aye, at least its not beans and sausages from a tin

 

[TimeyWimey]

I swear by Nick Mitchell's books (got better results from there than in 5 years faffing around a gym) and his advice on nutrition, which is basically high protein, low carb, no avoiding fat and lots of green veg.

Just done week 6 of his newer book, 3 weeks of leg specialisations makes leg days insane. Going to try out a modified strongman training session or two from next week, try and speed up fat loss.

 

[Whitechapel]

I've dropped 21lbs in a little over 7 weeks. Just ate smaller portions and cut out sugar and bread. Went down to 176.4lbs from 198.2lbs. being 6ft 2 that's about right.

Only reason I wanted to drop the weight was to take the stress off my knee when playing football, picked up a knee issue running last years London Marathon. My belly fat has dropped off too, managed to wear shirts I've not worn in about 5 years.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

I made this commitment to get into shape, which I'm sticking to surprisingly well. Started with cardio, now adding in resistance training 3x a week. Momma mia, everything about me hurts right now.

Then I got a job and everything went to shit.

Right. Take 25 2.

Let's do this shit.

 

[Max]

For the old school approach: a couple of years ago, I wanted to lose some weight. I was 12 stone 3lb. I adopted a calorie counting diet. I made sure I was doing 12,000+ steps a day, and adopted a 1750 calorie a day intake for 6 days a week, with one day a week off. I didn't have any rules about what I made the calories up with, but I tried to make sure I was having five a day of fruit/veg if possible, which it usually was. I lost a pound a week or so and got down to around 11 stone. Since then, I tend to waver around 11 stone 3lb, having learned by instinct more reasonable portion sizes. It's a ball-ache, and not to be recommended if you're also trying to build muscle mass, but if you just want to lose weight, it's hard to go wrong.

I would also recommend downloading a pedometer app on your phone and setting a target. You might feel more inclined to get off the bus and walk, take a walk at lunch, or go for a jog if you've got a target you're trying to meet.

 

[Christian Slater]

I've been in the tough position of trying to lose belly weight and work on my abs without losing muscle mass elsewhere. I do workouts on different days for my arms, back and legs like always, but I have also bumped up cardio and go swimming a lot now. I feel the best I have done in ages, and I'm still drinking quite heavily at the weekend and doing coke.

The phone pedometer is a great a shout for keeping momentum. It gets addictive beating the score. 10,000 should be the aim.

 

[T.A]

You're putting pressure on your heart by doing that much exercise and then doing coke and drinking heavily you know. I don't know how old you are but it won't be good for your heart in the future.

Obviously not telling you how to live your life but seems a waste to look after yourself by exercising that much and then damaging it by doing that.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'm rubbish at this. Started really well and then went on 3 holidays this Summer and ended up back to square one. Started again this week, few sits ups and push ups in a morning before work to ease me back in. Still I'm quite active as I play more football than I ever have now I've got back into Sunday League. This is why I need to sort my fitness out because it was a killer last Sunday!!

 

[Monkey]

I just dance, dance and dance. I don't care as 4 days out of 5 I work from home and no one can see me.

Losing weight though.