Yumcha

Keep it up, dude!

How do you feel?

Mizouse

Sore?

Doom878

Have your strength figures increased in the last 2 months? And out of curiousity, how many sets are you doing each lift?

Mizouse

Definitely, when I started I was squating like 30#, I wasn't even using the barbell.

Bench was like 65. Etc

Sets, I started off at a 5x5 but it was taking WAY to long to get thru my workout, especially my training sessions, so we switched to a 3x6

Yumcha

If I'm understanding you correctly, M, maybe change up your sets? I would suggest 4 sets with reps of 12, 10, 8, and 6...so, since this is higher reps, you may want to reduce your weight a bit more.

Try this out to see if it results in more fat loss...?

cM3go

Clean eating is key! You can still eat out and make healthy choices. I dropped 50 lbs now over 11 years ago and kept it up. I can lose weight just by eating right even when I get tied up and don't make it to the gym. Diet or should I say, eating lifestyle is 80%, working out is 20% to health & fitness. Good work so far, keep going!

Mizouse

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not currently having any issues

Yumcha

Oh, good! I misunderstood your post and perceived that you wanted to get leaner...? Goes to show, I should not multitask.

Mizouse

Well I would like to go leaner, but at an unrealistic pace. I'd like to be at 15% like by end of today!

Doom878

Wow those are huge gainz!!! Keep up the good work!

Mizouse

well just an update. injured my back last weekend. thought i was ok last night to work out. nope. so i dunno. maybe wont be able to do any lower back intensive stuff anymore for a LONG time

last working set i was able to complete were
squat 175
deadlift 175
bench 150
bent over row 125
overhead press 95

such a shame because i finally got a real good routine and diet working for me

cu2wagon

Keep going with the diet. Bad back or no, that should stay on track.

Trade the lifting you can't do for a while with some low impact aerobics? Stationary bike, swimming, or even just a 30 or 45 minute walk every evening (jogging if feasible) so you can still get some good blood pumping.

It sounds like you've built a bit of muscle mass, so this might be a good time to hit a cycle of aerobics to cut fat faster.

Just be smart about whatever you do and don't further aggravate the injury.

Doom878

How did you hurt yourself exactly? BTW, I twinged my back during upper body last week Monday. Tuesday, did my usual leg routine with squats, deadlifts, and leg press very carefully with less weight and a few more reps. Back was fine on Wednesday. It's as if it just needs the muscles around it to work to warm it up and it felt fine.

Mizouse

I suspect it was from Last weekend. I was doing paused deadlifts.
Thinking about it now I picked a too heavy of a weight.
Was reading online I should be doing 50-70% of my 1RM, which is calculated at 205lb, I was doing 170
Strange thing was the pain came 2 days later.

Friday I was feeling fine. No pain at all. Tried to do squats. Not even close to my working set of 180lbs. 2 reps into 155lbs and I started to feel pain again. So I shut it down and left the gym.

I'll see how things go today. If it still hurts i suspect I might have slipped a disc.

Doom878

Slipped a disc? That's a little extreme. Do you have a history of back issues?

Honestly, I've never done many deadlift variatons except for sumos. I don't know the proper technique for paused deadlifts though I'm not a fan of it staying in that position. But yeah you may have arched your back instead of keeping your stomach tight and back straight which is a common occurrence. What does scare me is that even with a good formed squat you still felt back pain.

Majofo

You'd know if you had a slipped disc.. the pain can be debilitating..

Mizouse

Are you speaking from experience?


Like how bad are we talking? I have no idea.

Devil Dog 21

You've had the pain for a week?

If so, that's more than muscle pain.

Any time you're learning to squat or dead lift I'd advise getting a second set of eyes on your technique to make sure you're moving correctly. Both movements and their variations should be done pain free besides muscle soreness the days following your workout.

Mizouse

No the pain was only for 2 days. Worked out Friday. No pain until Sunday. Pain lasted until Monday evening. By the following Friday I was still feeling fine. So that's why I attempted to do some work outs again.


And Ive had a personal trainer since I started this about 3 months ago.

Doom878

Not sure if you lift at a chain gym but I STRONGLY suggest Alan Thrall on YouTube.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...05454873,d.eXY

Devil Dog 21

DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness) is fairly common when utilizing new movements or higher than normal weights on familiar movements so I wouldn't read too much into it. With deadlifts many people will load their back too much rather than their hamstrings, especially as the weight gets heavier. Loading incorrectly can easily cause muscle soreness and pain in your lower back that lasts for several days.

Good to hear you have a trainer and are feeling better!

Mizouse

due for an update. my back is doing great now, but im still taking it easy on moving up in weight.

deadlifts i just hit 200lbs working set tonight.
squats at 175lbs.
benchpress is 170lbs

body weight hasnt moved much, but my BF% went up 1%... the damn holidays



im definitely really enjoying lifting weights, but i need to make time to squeeze in more cardio to help get my BF% down again. Also need to adjust my macros and stuff

D's Up

If you're into the whole coaching thing, I would contact Ryan Miller of GST. Stupid cheap prices and he actually gets you results. When I was training consistently before getting dumped and getting knocked off my bike at 70mph, I weighed ~235 at 6'2. Bench - 335, Squat - 425 (low bar, ATG), Deadlift - 565 raw (no belt or straps, only chalk). Not to mention I was full looking all the time, never depleted, steady ~15% body-fat while bulking and my strength just kept going up. Life got in the way and shit happens so I fell off, but I wholeheartedly believe in the guy. I'll be starting up my routine again soon aiming for short term goals of benching 315, squatting 365 and deadlifting 455 within the next 3-6 months at 215lbs or less.

Doom878

Your legs should be much stronger than your upper body. Is it because of your back giving you problems?

Good God. Are you natty? How long have you been training? I take it you were 21-22 when you hit those?

Devil Dog 21

Exactly....and if they aren't I'd set a goal to get them stronger. Having strong legs has significant long term health advantages in addition to burning tons of calories daily since they are such a large muscle group.

To put it into perspective, I weight 160 and bench 245 but deadlift 420, and squat (below parallel) 320 for 5. My one rep from early 2015 is 335 but should be around 360 now. Benching is fun, but strong legs prevent lower back problems in the long run!

Doom878

Are we all sharing our stats today? Honestly I prefer legs day in the sense of bang for the buck. Squats and deads are really tiring and hit so many places all over the body and make me look leaner. Mind you even with 3 minute minimum breaks and low reps, still sweating in an air conditioned gym.

Devil Dog, if your bodyweight was higher, your bench would likely be higher. Bench is affected greatly from bodyweight. BTW if you're hitting 320x5 then yeah I think 360 is feasible.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

I actually love leg day..... Says no one ever... No, seriously, I don't mind it. I agree Miz, I just moved my gym time up to 4:30 A.M. so I can get 20-30 mins of cardio in. Whether it be 15 mins, lift then 15 mins again, or straight through 20-30 mins.

I've been lifting heavy 3 sets 8 reps. I won't go into my stats because I don't keep track like that, I should start though. I'm usually good at remembering USUALLY. I know I started off bench pressing like 105 and then moved up slowly. I just started doing squats too. (I know, I know.) Guess I also need to incorporate dead lifts.

So my question is... Do you guys take a small notepad so you don't forget what you're lifting or do you track it in a App in your phone such as weight training logs etc?

Doom878

My buddy does a notepad. I do memory but long term that sucks. I wouldn't say 3x8 is necessarily lifting heavy. A lot of strength programs do have 8 rep sets but most seem to vary between 1-5 reps per set. Also the 3 sets should be the actual work sets, not including the warm up sets. I always have to tell folks I have like 8 sets to go.

BTW, you don't HAVE to do anything to be honest like adding deadlifts. If you are happy with your gains, continue your path. I actually lately prefer front squat vs traditional squat. If you want to be a stronger overall person rather than a bodybuilder, then you definitely want to incorporate deadlifts in there.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

Yes, I try to go off memory.

There is the little Asian dude that's ripped.

He was saying that I should do more weight 3-5 reps 5-6 sets or something along those lines. Dumbbell incline bench instead of doing 75 pounds 8 x3. He said go to what you can handle, put it up 3-5 times. I'm reading up more and more daily on workout routines, etc.

Doom878

Follow some guys on YouTube. I follow strength guys so I watch Alan Thrall (excellent for form and strength training), Omar Isuf (another strength guy that makes funny videos but you learn), and Jason Blaha (knows everything between anatomy, nutrition, training, very opinionated and blunt).

Don't judge the bro dude at the gym because lord knows what he's done or taken. A lot of the massive bodybuilders on the web are clueless or trying to sell products. After a while you'll see that some of us here echo what some of the respected guys know. Def do your research, read the scientific findings, see what works for YOU.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

In addition, I slacked off, I lost a ton of weight then I got married. I just started back up in the gym back in August.

I try to eat clean, with the knowledge of what I know. My BIL best friend owns a couple gyms out here, I've thought about asking him. I know that some of the food that I should be eating I don't like. Such as; oatmeal, cottage cheese.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

Oh definitely. I don't trust them, I honestly thing bro man is on roids.

Mizouse

My legs are definitely stronger, I honestly could've done like maybe 10-15lbs more for both deadlift and squat.
I'm just taking it conservatively due to my prior back injury 2 months ago in October.

Devil Dog 21

I just put them out there so Miz could see a range between lifts. I compete in Olympic Weightlifting so my body weight will stay around 160-165 until I drop to 69kg to compete. I don't bench a ton, although I do enjoy it...not as much as squatting or hitting lifts, but it's cool.

I use a training log. It's a little tedious but it makes me really think about my programming and I like to look back from time to time to see how I felt and prepared on a particular day when I hit really good or bad numbers.

Completely agree! Strengthening the glutes and hamstrings can be done in a variety of ways. I do think truly learning proper deadlifting technique and adding them in is a huge boost to any program though.

Good to hear Miz! Risking injury for a PR isn't worth it.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

Devil, which app do you use I knows there's tons out there.

Doom878

You can ask him just to get a feel. Oh and to clarify I'm not against drugs. I personally don't use them. And because some people are on drugs certainly doesn't discount their knowledge. I just hate when some people are like look like me by doing/taking this.

Devil Dog you weightlift compete? Yeah that's a different animal. How are your c&j and snatch?

D's Up

Still natty, breh. I was toying with lifting weights when I was ~17, before it blew up and became the fad it is today. I got out of it from 18-21 and hit those numbers after a year of training @ 22 years old. I will eventually get "on".. Probably something mild, I.e. - 500mg of Test-E for 12-weeks but that's way further down the road. Probably in my late 20's or so.

Also, you guys know eating clean and meal timing are pure and utter BS, right? All your body knows is whether or not you're in a surplus or a deficit. Progress is simply a matter of progressive overload.

Devil Dog 21

Good old fashion pen and paper for my training log and track certain maxes in MyWOD mostly because it will graph any movement and the progress you've made over time.

118kg C&J and 91kg snatch. If all goes according to plan I should be able to hit a 227kg total this year and 2017 I'll be competing in Masters Division where 227kg's would be really solid.

Doom878

Lifting weights been popular a little bit longer than that :wink:

So let me understand you better. You said you worked out while 17 years old for I guess a year. Took off doing nothing from 18-21 and then jumped back at 22? And then sometime while you were 22 you got to your numbers, stopped until you turned 23 and then got down to your current totals? Did I understand you correctly?

Good shit man! Good luck I think you were doing crossfit before, are you still on that?

D's Up

@Doom - Yeah, I know what you mean. Bodybuilding as a sport blew up in the 70's if I'm not mistaken. I guess I didn't word it correctly. I should've said that I liked lifting weights before everyone in my demographic viewed it as something trendy or "cool" per se'. If people do it for themselves or for sport, that's great. If you do it just to post it on IG, Facebook, etc then you're posing.. But, I could just be bitter since I'm small right now hahaha. Sorry for the misunderstanding, that was my bad.

I was training from 17-18, essentially till I got into cars and lost interest in the gym.
Stopped training from 18-21.
Started training again a little after my 21st birthday and then trained up until recently (October of 2015) when I got knocked off my GSX-R on the highway. Hit and run too. That bastard.

Those were my PR's sometime around January-April of 2015, I'd have to check my training notebook for the exact timeframe. Now, I'd be happy to hit 70% of the numbers listed above, which is why I set new short-term goals.