The Fitness Thread

purbeast · November 2, 2022

15 hours ago, Dayaan said:

Let's hope I get that slow metabolism soon as well. It's hard to put on weight. Bulking went really bad for me, even though it a mathematical success. I'm not in my twenties so I have some time.

Eat more.

It's really that simple. It may not be trivial but you just need to eat more if you didn't put on as much weight as you wanted/expected.

Dayaan · November 4, 2022

On 11/2/2022 at 6:11 AM, purbeast said:

Eat more.

It's really that simple. It may not be trivial but you just need to eat more if you didn't put on as much weight as you wanted/expected.

I stabilised at 145 on my bulk. My peak was 147, but I couldn't sustain that. I'm happy with my weight, just want to cut more fat and replace it with lean muscle!

Dayaan · December 20, 2022

I dropped my weight a little to 133 lbs. Gotta bring it back up!

I've been training calisthenics lately. Just bought some bars to work with and I'll buy Baseblocks later this year. Can anyone here do any higher level calisthenics and guide me through some training? Been working on my planche pushups and tucked planches lately...

Emptyeyes_ · December 21, 2022

Since it's freezing now, I've signed up with Planet Fitness' annual plan. Such a fantastic atmosphere.

Edited December 21, 2022 by Emptyeyes_

Vhozite · December 21, 2022

1 hour ago, Emptyeyes_ said:

Since it's freezing now, I've signed up with Planet Fitness' annual plan. Such a fantastic atmosphere.

Telling you now it’s gonna be stupid packed until like March if you plan on starting ASAP.

Emptyeyes_ · December 21, 2022

6 minutes ago, Vhozite said:

Telling you now it’s gonna be stupid packed until like March if you plan on starting ASAP.

A little problematic, but today, it was fair. I just need to get back in more shape for the vainity and before MMA training next year.

YourFavGrandpa · December 28, 2022

I signed up last week to run a 5K in March. I'm planning on starting to train next week after New Year's for it.

Dayaan · December 30, 2022

On 12/28/2022 at 6:20 AM, YourFavGrandpa said:

I signed up last week to run a 5K in March. I'm planning on starting to train next week after New Year's for it.

Nice! Should only take 5-6 weeks to train up, so go hard and make yourself proud!

Dayaan · December 30, 2022

I just purchased some parallettes and have been working at perfecting my planche lean, frog stand, planche pushup, slowed pushup, tucked planche and more!

Calisthenics are great on top of extra ab workouts, so I hope I make great use of these...

YourFavGrandpa · January 7

On 12/29/2022 at 10:51 PM, Dayaan said:

Nice! Should only take 5-6 weeks to train up, so go hard and make yourself proud!

I'm quite out of shape, so I did find a course through Garmin (via my recent purchase of a Forerunner 55) that's geared towards people with sedentary lifestyles such as mine that's more forgiving. The tail end of the program will be when I run/walk my 5k; and I'm hoping that between that program and switching to Keto will help me tremendously. I basically got tired of sitting around, and said fuck it.

Dayaan · January 16

My planche practice has come across well... Hopefully I'll work on progressing my frog stand this week. My tucked planche needs more lean so I'll train that too.

Dayaan · January 20

Oh yeah I got the tripod handstand down!

Very sick these days though... How is everyone else's fitness coming along? @Darc_Requiemcan start 😄!

Darc_Requiem · January 20

235lbs. So not good. On the bright side, I 'm still down 25lbs.

purbeast · January 20

My shoulder has gotten much better and my lifts are getting stronger due to it. It's nearly 100%.

*knocks on wood*

I can get standing barbell presses 155x6 pretty easily now. 135x8 is now basically a warmup for me. I can do it 10x easily but stop at 8 so I can go heavier.

Yesterday I had a spot for chest day since I worked out with my brother. I was hoping to get 225x8 on incline bench but wasn't able to. I only put it up 7 reps, which I had done last week without a spot. I feel like if I was at my gym I could have gotten it 8 just because I'm used to everything and the bars at his place were thinner with the line markings in different spots, so my grip wasn't the same as usual.

Right after doing incline we did dumbell flat bench and I had never gotten 100x8 for 3 sets. I usually would get 8,8,6 or 7, but yesterday I got it for 3 sets so that felt good.

My knees have been in/out of feeling good/bad but it's feeling pretty good now so my squats feel good. I can get 315x8 pretty easily now but some weeks it feels better than others. But I do feel like I am kinda plateaued with them right now. Whenever I go to like 335 I can usually get it 6-8x but it just feels heavy as shit, and when I have tried 355, god damn it feels super heavy. I think I've only gotten that 3-4 times before.

But not too shabby for a 41 year old.

Edited January 20 by purbeast

Vhozite · January 20

I’m still hovering with 2lbs of 150. Push exercises are definitely progressing, but the rest of my gains are definitely starting to plateau. It feels like I need to give everything for 5% gains but and if I slack even a little I’ll lose 20%.

We are having a weight lose challenge at work so me and my coworker are aiming for gains instead.

Darc_Requiem · January 20

I just realized by checking my prior post. I haven't gained any weight in the last year. So I guess that's a positive.

Dayaan · January 20

I was following a 3 day water fast with Georges St-Pierre, but I hit my target weight in two days, so I cut it short. Did a mini bulk last week while vacationing in Arizona. Was fun, but time to get down to combat weight again.

Camacho · January 20

Had to back off weight on the bench pressing due to jacking one of my shoulders up pretty bad- now doing reps at 215 on the smith machine. Was close to 250 on reps before that. Also had to stop doing dips, as those seem to re-irritate my shoulder quickly. Current routine is as follows:

Bench- 4 sets of 10 (often ends up more like 6-7 by the last set) @215

Triceps extension- 4 sets of 10-12 @177

Chest flys- 4 sets of 10-12 @227

Reverse flys- 4 sets of 10-12 @ 127

Low cable rows- 4 sets of 10 @145

Lat pulldowns- 4 sets of 10 @145

Weighted crunches- 4 sets of 20 @207

Leg press- 4 sets of 12 @327

Leg extensions- 4 sets of 10 @150

Back extensions- 4 sets of 12-15 @200

Preacher curls- 4 sets of 10 @ 115 (new preacher curl machine at the gym has a shitty angle for my body, was doing 150 on the old one)

Triceps rope pulldown- 4 sets of 10 @ 75

Face pulls- 4 sets of 10 @75

Neutral grip chin ups- 20

+some resistance band shoulder rehab work

Dayaan · January 21

2 hours ago, Camacho said:

Had to back off weight on the bench pressing due to jacking one of my shoulders up pretty bad- now doing reps at 215 on the smith machine. Was close to 250 on reps before that. Also had to stop doing dips, as those seem to re-irritate my shoulder quickly. Current routine is as follows:

Bench- 4 sets of 10 (often ends up more like 6-7 by the last set) @215

Triceps extension- 4 sets of 10-12 @177

Chest flys- 4 sets of 10-12 @227

Reverse flys- 4 sets of 10-12 @ 127

Low cable rows- 4 sets of 10 @145

Lat pulldowns- 4 sets of 10 @145

Weighted crunches- 4 sets of 20 @207

Leg press- 4 sets of 12 @327

Leg extensions- 4 sets of 10 @150

Back extensions- 4 sets of 12-15 @200

Preacher curls- 4 sets of 10 @ 115 (new preacher curl machine at the gym has a shitty angle for my body, was doing 150 on the old one)

Triceps rope pulldown- 4 sets of 10 @ 75

Face pulls- 4 sets of 10 @75

Neutral grip chin ups- 20

+some resistance band shoulder rehab work

Very impressive!

Vhozite · February 3

Anyone here into martial arts/combat sports? I’m looking for a new activity and thinking about picking up boxing.

Emptyeyes_ · February 3

19 minutes ago, Vhozite said:

Anyone here into martial arts/combat sports? I’m looking for a new activity and thinking about picking up boxing.

I'm into that, but I'm pretty casual about it. Im a bit too fragile for it regardless, especially due to an endocrine disorder, where my hormones are just out of order from galbladder removal and other factors from genetics. MMA for me will only be used for the set. Outside of that, I look at it as daily philosophy.

Edited February 3 by Emptyeyes_

Dayaan · February 5

On 2/3/2023 at 11:47 AM, Vhozite said:

Anyone here into martial arts/combat sports? I’m looking for a new activity and thinking about picking up boxing.

Yeah I have boxed and dabbled in others. Right now I'm casually training Muay Thai and trying to get a job so I can start doing Jiu Jitsu.

Boxing is great. Has a lot of reach in the US and you'll likely find a decent place that'll put you to work. It's relatively inexpensive compared to a martial art what with the Gis and the laundry and stuff, and you'll get a healthy community to boot.

Keep your head down, your feet spread, firm and fluid and remember to roll with the punches.

Happy punching!

purbeast · February 10

Been trying the 5x5 routine for my first chest exercise as I had kinda been stuck around the same weight on my incline barbell presses for a little while.

Yesterday I got up 225lb 5x5 pretty damn smoothly which felt great. Doing 5x5 though I do have to drop weight slightly on my flat bench dumbell presses that I do right after though, due to the volume/weight of the incline press.

But I'm just thankful that my shoulder is actually feeling good consistently after nagging injuries for years. I hope that as long as I keep doing what I am doing that I don't reagrivate anything.

Getting old sucks.

Dayaan · April 19

So I got the Big Bar from BaseBlocks (a pull up bar). It's been amazing. I brought it to my dorm room and my grip strength has increased, as has the size of my lats and traps. I can do core workouts during pullups as well. It's just great in general. I love it. Hopefully I'll buy some home weights too so I can grow my biceps and forearms since there are no efficient ways to build either in calisthenics.

Yes, I know you can significantly work both on a pullup bar, but wouldn't it be nice to have an actual weight to curl and lateral raise?

Vhozite · April 19

9 hours ago, Dayaan said:

Hopefully I'll buy some home weights too so I can grow my biceps and forearms since there are no efficient ways to build either in calisthenics.

If you want to save space you can buy a set of those adjustable dumbbells. My mom owns a set that go from like 5-25lbs, and they sell ones on Amazon that go from 25-50+, though and those are a bit expensive.

Your school doesn’t have a student gym?

Edited April 19 by Vhozite

Dayaan · April 20

14 hours ago, Vhozite said:

If you want to save space you can buy a set of those adjustable dumbbells. My mom owns a set that go from like 5-25lbs, and they sell ones on Amazon that go from 25-50+, though and those are a bit expensive.

Yeah, just strapped for cash as usual.

14 hours ago, Vhozite said:

Your school doesn’t have a student gym?

We do, but it's always full and I work 13-15 hrs a day so whenever I get free to use it, it's closed. On days that my workload is easier, it doesn't change the fact that I need to walk 2 miles to and from the gym, and the only access to food to replenish that lost energy is also just as far. It's just not sustainable until I move back on campus next year.

JGreen · May 4

Have you tried looking on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace and the like for dumbbells? You can often pick up some for cheap. If you can’t find adjustable dumbbells, another option is to get two fixed dumbbell pairs. Get one that’s heavy and another that’s light. Yet another option is to get a kettlebell. Lots of exercises you can do with that. Heck, in a pinch you can load up a backpack and curl that.

Dayaan · May 16

On 5/4/2023 at 4:23 PM, JGreen said:

Have you tried looking on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace and the like for dumbbells? You can often pick up some for cheap. If you can’t find adjustable dumbbells, another option is to get two fixed dumbbell pairs. Get one that’s heavy and another that’s light. Yet another option is to get a kettlebell. Lots of exercises you can do with that. Heck, in a pinch you can load up a backpack and curl that.

Checked back into this thread to update you all on that situation. I got adjustable dumbbells. They work great. I can work arms more efficiently and am looking into chest and back exercises I can do at home with them too. Just need a chair to treat as a bench and I'll be ok. My big goals right now are to increases the size of my lateral deltoids, increase the size of my biceps and triceps and bringing my body fat down low enough to show off my abs.

JGreen · May 17

On 5/15/2023 at 7:33 PM, Dayaan said:

Checked back into this thread to update you all on that situation. I got adjustable dumbbells. They work great. I can work arms more efficiently and am looking into chest and back exercises I can do at home with them too.

One good end exercise is a renegade row. You get into a push up position with a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. Keep your legs in a wide stance. Do a push up. When you get back into your starting position, do a row while keeping your torso inline and don’t twist your body. Do a row with the other arm and then push up. Repeat. Hits pretty much all of your upper body with chest from a push up, row hitting your back and your core by preventing your body from twisting during the row.

Another good dumbbell exercise is to grab a weight just above what you normally shoulder press. Rest the weight on your shoulders. Squat. On the way up, using a bit of momentum, shoulder press. Put the weight back on your shoulders and squat again. When I’m at a hotel, I can do just these two exercises to hit everything. Plus it’s quick.

Edited May 17 by JGreen

Dayaan · June 21

Update:

I have achieved some of the following since the summer break started:

10 pullups consistently.
Increased my weights for biceps and shoulder exercises (I hate training arms).
Elbow lever.
Longer tucked planche (I can just do it for really long and don't get tired. It's easy but it didn't used to be).
One arm assisted pullup.
A lot more handstand pushup negatives.
A muscle up... I need to do it again some time.
Grew my calves by 2 inches.
Reduced lower back fat by a lot. The Demon Back is coming along...
Gills are coming out better, and I walk around with a V-taper so my waist looks better.

I just wish I could see the abs that I know are powerful enough. I want a lower body fat percentage really badly. I've been cutting for a month and seeing results, and I've been tracking calories daily. It's going good and I won't stop, but I wish it was going by faster.

Hecatom · June 27

Fuck, retaking the habit of doing exercise is surely hard, lol.

At least I have been able to do cardio almost every day.

purbeast · June 27

I don't know if it's because I'm turning 42 in November, but damn I just took a week off and was on vacation so I was drinking a lot, eating kinda poorly, not exercising other than SCUBA, and taking no supplements, and damn back at the gym this week I was noticeably weaker and it sucks. It was especially noticeable on my squats today. Yesterday my shoulder dumbell presses I also noticed it. I didn't even attempt my highest weight because I could only get 6 reps of the set prior, which I got 8 the time I lifted before I was on vacation.

Camacho · June 28

8 hours ago, purbeast said:

I don't know if it's because I'm turning 42 in November, but damn I just took a week off and was on vacation so I was drinking a lot, eating kinda poorly, not exercising other than SCUBA, and taking no supplements, and damn back at the gym this week I was noticeably weaker and it sucks. It was especially noticeable on my squats today. Yesterday my shoulder dumbell presses I also noticed it. I didn't even attempt my highest weight because I could only get 6 reps of the set prior, which I got 8 the time I lifted before I was on vacation.

I've found that having more than a couple days off makes a noticeable effect. My wife has a PF black membership, so we can still hit the gym while on vacation, as those are pretty much everywhere. Barring that, I've got a set of loop style bands that travel easy.

purbeast · June 28

11 hours ago, Camacho said:

I've found that having more than a couple days off makes a noticeable effect. My wife has a PF black membership, so we can still hit the gym while on vacation, as those are pretty much everywhere. Barring that, I've got a set of loop style bands that travel easy.

When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation lol. I don't wanna workout. I also use it as a recovery week to try and help nagging aches and pains go away, which didn't really happen this time. That is definitely part of the "getting old" part.

I've taken weeks off before to try and recover but stayed at home so I kept my eating/supplement habit the same, and I think THAT is the biggest part of it versus taking the week off of lifting. I mean I go from eating like 250+ grams of protein to eating like 100 maybe, and then eating much more carbs and liquid calories than I usually do.

MillionX · June 28

that reminds me; I only took a few days off some weeks ago... and that next time I was in my usual gym class it was noticeable. On my time off all I did was sit around playing Diablo.

My usual routine is just the weekends; it's become a thing I look forward to every time; they have all kinds of the boxing training bags to and dummys to hit, and some general fitness stuff like rowing machines, treadmills, weights and those ropes that are bolted to the ground that you have to whip around. Usually I get in a good 1000-ish calorie burn each time (1-hour class sessions); at least that's the personal goal I like to hit.

JGreen · June 28

Have any of you guys tried Indian clubs for shoulder mobility and injury prevention? I’ve seen it pop up recently and curious to try it. They don’t cost much money.

Dayaan · July 14

I am planning to start training for a marathon at the start of August. I have never done any cardio endurance training before. Does anyone have any advice? I plan to begin this training with preparing for a 5K.