[floridaorange]

Back in the gym after a 2 month break, leaned out a little, did rubber band work and airdyne work and focused on shoulders and core to keep my frame in solid form. Did a full body workout yesterday and lost a little strength in my legs. Taking a small amount of creative serum, and bcaas. Also enjoying protein isolate powder alot will never go back to regular non isolate, worth the extra cost.

[Dang3r]

After the passed 8 weeks of military exercise my muscles told me meanwhile clearly, which sections were undertrained and just left out - and at shooting which one to improve for the next time, particular in the back. But tbh after a very long day I hadnt the will to put on my running clothes and shoes and go for a trail.
On the flipside Im now paying the price for this, cant have it all, keep going.

[JP10]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

Back in the gym after a 2 month break, leaned out a little, did rubber band work and airdyne work and focused on shoulders and core to keep my frame in solid form. Did a full body workout yesterday and lost a little strength in my legs. Taking a small amount of creative serum, and bcaas. Also enjoying protein isolate powder alot will never go back to regular non isolate, worth the extra cost.

2 months!?!? Slacker haha. Good to see that you're back after it!

[King Rudi]

Didn't feel like going to the gym last night. Stayed at home and hit chest/tri's on the parallettes and rings. My titties hurt like I've been shot with bean bags today. No word from the tri's yet, they are being quiet so far; which is sad. They should be screaming at me considering the beating I gave them last night.

[JP10]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

Didn't feel like going to the gym last night. Stayed at home and hit chest/tri's on the parallettes and rings. My titties hurt like I've been shot with bean bags today. No word from the tri's yet, they are being quiet so far; which is sad. They should be screaming at me considering the beating I gave them last night.

My biceps and triceps rarely get as sore as a major muscle groups like back, legs, and chest. Think they're just use to the constant abuse over the years haha.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by JP10

My biceps and triceps rarely get as sore as a major muscle groups like back, legs, and chest. Think they're just use to the constant abuse over the years haha.

Good to know. I can tell when they grow as the skin feels tighter and they are slightly sore, but bi's and tri's never really get sore like the rest do. My back is constantly killing me. Mostly lats and traps. I do a lot of callisthenic work though. Lots of hanging from bars and pulling movements.

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by JP10

2 months!?!? Slacker haha. Good to see that you're back after it!

I know haha - I did stick to push-ups, dips, band work, airdyne, jogging every day during break, so it was a nice break from the gym. We visited Chicago and Austin and I just focused on family and work more.

[chassis]

Gym today. Stationary bike and weights targeting the shoulders. Did dumbbell work on triceps, traps and deltoids.

No bumps in the road yet getting the right shoulder in better working order.

[UncleWede]

It's been a year, but my local (ie close to house) gym is re-opening in the next week or two. I never did find a replacement, although I found lots of extra 'Rona fluff.

We have to go in and sign up again, but they SAY they will honor previous plans. I had a legacy account for full access to everything but classes, $15/mnth.

[Oldgixxer]

After a brief hiatus I picked up where I left off training and dragged myself back into the gym Monday. Switched things up quite a bit with some unconventional training and now hitting each body-part twice a week with Sunday as my day off.

Nutrition has been adjusted accordingly. Doing split-sessions at 4am and then back for the second round at 3pm has made me realize how fucking old and decrepit I am. I'll either make some decent gains with newfound motivation or I'll fizzle out within a few weeks.

Stay tuned....

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

After a brief hiatus I picked up where I left off training and dragged myself back into the gym Monday. Switched things up quite a bit with some unconventional training and now hitting each body-part twice a week with Sunday as my day off.

Nutrition has been adjusted accordingly. Doing split-sessions at 4am and then back for the second round at 3pm has made me realize how fucking old and decrepit I am. I'll either make some decent gains with newfound motivation or I'll fizzle out within a few weeks.

Stay tuned....

I wish my schedule accommodated me to go twice a day. I'd love do my weight resistance training in the morning, rest, then go back and do my cardio in the evening. Props to you sir.

[Oldgixxer]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

I wish my schedule accommodated me to go twice a day. I'd love do my weight resistance training in the morning, rest, then go back and do my cardio in the evening. Props to you sir.

Early retirement has it's benefits

[StealthF32]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

Correct. I'm on a calorie deficiency. Between 1500-1800/day, don't eat past 5 p.m. and gym 5 days a week. This is how I dropped the weight so quickly.
Gym days consist of weight resistance and cardio after. Weights for about an hour focusing on only a few groups each session doing drop sets and then cardio for about 65 -80 minutes usually around 4-4.5 miles and burn between 850-975 calories per session depending on how I feel.

Now that I'm actually close to what the national standards for ideal weight are for my height (155 @ 5' 9") I'm still jiggly in the ab area and would like more muscle definition. I wanted to drop the weight first as I see all these guys at the gym that are big, but have a lot of body fat. Sure they may be strong or can lift big weight, but they just look fat regardless. I wanted to be lean so I went with dropping the fat and then trying to build the muscle. I do realize that I went the hard way but I'm not afraid to put in the extra work to get exactly what I want.

I do feel like I need to be eating more at this point but the thought of gaining the weight back that I've spent the past 3 months working my ass off to drop is kind of depressing. I'm thinking eat more, lift more weight, do less cardio. Does this sound about right?

*Keep staying focused, nothing wrong with fueling your body with the right food choices (even if it's after 5pm), which I'm sure you know what food sources, that would come from vs over indulging in "junk food"....drink plenty of water, so you avoid dehydration....

You can't run a car without gas & your body is the same concept, so fuel it with good food choices & decisions (sh*t, if you feel like having a cookie, just don't over-do-it)..... moderation is key & don't get caught up with what others are doing in the gym, stick to what works for you & change up the workouts, so your body doesn't plateau & become use to exercises (increase weight gradually) to challenge yourself - - all the best bro!!

[chassis]

Gym day. Increased some weight on the shoulder workout. I need to be careful not to create a flare up. I can feel things crunching around, probably scar tissue. Still making progress, hope to swim a mile in one go before biking season in late spring.

[///d]

Anyone have tips on how to get someone consistent with their reps, count, and breathing? The guy I work out with and have been trying to "teach", while he is still learning, really struggles with consistency. He is a pretty small dude, he has been working out for a while but has never progressed because, like so many others, didn't understand anything about muscle groups, never pushed himself, so he wasn't meeting any goals. So I came in, we started a basic bulking routine, and he has been progressing, but slowly and I think that's because he can't find consistency. He either tries focusing on breathing and his form goes to shit, next set focuses on form and ends up holding his breath. He loses count, pauses between reps to regain his focus and reset his form... I've been trying to get him into that "muscle memory" on form and breathing but he really struggles with multiple things at once.

Like I stated he is still learning, but we have been steadily working this same type of routine since October with small changes in exercises to not plateau, but I have to keep reminding him to breathe, I have to keep count for him, tell him to slow down or speed up, remind him about proper form, etc. It's frustrating.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by StealthF32

*Keep staying focused, nothing wrong with fueling your body with the right food choices (even if it's after 5pm), which I'm sure you know what food sources, that would come from vs over indulging in "junk food"....drink plenty of water, so you avoid dehydration....

You can't run a car without gas & your body is the same concept, so fuel it with good food choices & decisions (sh*t, if you feel like having a cookie, just don't over-do-it)..... moderation is key & don't get caught up with what others are doing in the gym, stick to what works for you & change up the workouts, so your body doesn't plateau & become use to exercises (increase weight gradually) to challenge yourself - - all the best bro!!

Appreciate the words. As I started reading my post, that replied to, I instantly knew how old it was based off what I stated. Man have things changed in 3 years. My diet is completely different now. I still intermittent fast, but only when cutting. I eat around 2000-2200 cal/day now and do no cardio, unless cutting, and even that isn't but a few times a month. I can mentally keep up with an estimate of calories consumed daily. If I feel like a cookie, I have one; I just stay mindful of how much. Diet is basically lean protein meats and healthy carbs. Dropped the cardio completely as my goal has focused from losing weight to building mass now.

Last year at the end of my cut, I went on a 6 pack mission. To get as lean as I could for my size. Good and bad results. I got down to 8.3% body fat, I weighed 240 just 3 1/2 years ago. Problem was, because I dropped the fat before I built the muscle, I was way too small. I was below 130 pounds at 5' 9" and 44 years old. I was shredded, but way too small.

[JP10]

Originally Posted by ///d

Anyone have tips on how to get someone consistent with their reps, count, and breathing? The guy I work out with and have been trying to "teach", while he is still learning, really struggles with consistency. He is a pretty small dude, he has been working out for a while but has never progressed because, like so many others, didn't understand anything about muscle groups, never pushed himself, so he wasn't meeting any goals. So I came in, we started a basic bulking routine, and he has been progressing, but slowly and I think that's because he can't find consistency. He either tries focusing on breathing and his form goes to shit, next set focuses on form and ends up holding his breath. He loses count, pauses between reps to regain his focus and reset his form... I've been trying to get him into that "muscle memory" on form and breathing but he really struggles with multiple things at once.

Like I stated he is still learning, but we have been steadily working this same type of routine since October with small changes in exercises to not plateau, but I have to keep reminding him to breathe, I have to keep count for him, tell him to slow down or speed up, remind him about proper form, etc. It's frustrating.

First thing is first, trying to bulk while still not being consistent with form and breathing is asking for an injury to occur. Light weight is where these two things are developed. It's hard to concentrate on form and breathing if you can barely handle the weight you are attempting to move. I'd recommend changing gears to more of a cutting or maintenance phase where reps are more high until form and breathing have been ironed out.

It is also a common misunderstanding that lifting heavy weights equates to bulking. Bulking is more of a mind set and having more calories in then out. As long as that is happening you will still "bulk". You can still bulk with high reps as long as mind to muscle connection is present. The mind to muscle connection that I am referring to will not fully be apparent until breathing and form consistencies have been remediated. It is essentially having full control over the muscle group throughout the range of motion and ensuring that you are working all necessary parts (this is where form is huge).

In reference to counting, I've never been big on counting reps. I believe Arnold said "I only start counting when it starts hurting". That is essentially how I lift. Having set rep ranges often leads to laziness to an extent as you are working towards a number. True mental fortitude comes from being able to last past the difficult points.

I can go on and on, but short read would be - lower the weights, increase reps, focus on the squeeze, and move slowly.

[heitzke]

Developing mental and physical cues also takes time. Regardless of the weight on my back, my squat will look the same every single time. I think that's the slowest ramp up for new lifters, especially in powerlifting - is learning the details of your body.

The big compound lifts are inherently really complex but look easy. As long as you're not pushing/ramping up the weights too quickly into form breaking down, you're in a good spot.

Like JP10 said too, if i'm doing more of a bodybuilding type training block i'll train more according to how I feel. Could be 5 sets of 10, could be 10x10, or 4x8's. Most powerlifting programs though are very intentionally regimented and i'll follow them more closely.

[///d]

Originally Posted by JP10

First thing is first, trying to bulk while still not being consistent with form and breathing is asking for an injury to occur. Light weight is where these two things are developed. It's hard to concentrate on form and breathing if you can barely handle the weight you are attempting to move. I'd recommend changing gears to more of a cutting or maintenance phase where reps are more high until form and breathing have been ironed out.

It is also a common misunderstanding that lifting heavy weights equates to bulking. Bulking is more of a mind set and having more calories in then out. As long as that is happening you will still "bulk". You can still bulk with high reps as long as mind to muscle connection is present. The mind to muscle connection that I am referring to will not fully be apparent until breathing and form consistencies have been remediated. It is essentially having full control over the muscle group throughout the range of motion and ensuring that you are working all necessary parts (this is where form is huge).

In reference to counting, I've never been big on counting reps. I believe Arnold said "I only start counting when it starts hurting". That is essentially how I lift. Having set rep ranges often leads to laziness to an extent as you are working towards a number. True mental fortitude comes from being able to last past the difficult points.

I can go on and on, but short read would be - lower the weights, increase reps, focus on the squeeze, and move slowly.

Originally Posted by heitzke

Developing mental and physical cues also takes time. Regardless of the weight on my back, my squat will look the same every single time. I think that's the slowest ramp up for new lifters, especially in powerlifting - is learning the details of your body.

The big compound lifts are inherently really complex but look easy. As long as you're not pushing/ramping up the weights too quickly into form breaking down, you're in a good spot.

Like JP10 said too, if i'm doing more of a bodybuilding type training block i'll train more according to how I feel. Could be 5 sets of 10, could be 10x10, or 4x8's. Most powerlifting programs though are very intentionally regimented and i'll follow them more closely.

Yeah, I should clarify it's a bulking routine, but he is at light weight. I tailored a JEFit beginners bulking routine to fit what we have for equipment. So yes, it's for bulking, but he is still working with less weight and most are 3x10 vs the 3x6 that comes in the JEFit plan.

What he has been doing, is if he can complete all three sets of 10 without much of a struggle on the least set, he starts at that same weight the next time for the first set, then bumps up 5 or 10lbs depending on the exercise for the 2cnd or 3rd set. Once he gets completes all 3 sets at the same weight he then starts the bump up process again. Anytime I see him consistently struggle each set with form I move him back down in weight until he shows that he can maintain proper form.

I'll start keeping him to less weight for longer. I also think I might have him record himself so he can go back and watch some of the things he does to start losing form. I try to explain those things, but I don't think he can visualize it very well because he gives me blank stares.

I do think some of it is mental too, sometimes he gets so amped up because a set felt good that his next set he goes into it too fast and I have to tell him to slow down and focus, it's not a race, theres no girls here to try and impress.

[Oldgixxer]

Originally Posted by ///d

Yeah, I should clarify it's a bulking routine, but he is at light weight. I tailored a JEFit beginners bulking routine to fit what we have for equipment. So yes, it's for bulking, but he is still working with less weight and most are 3x10 vs the 3x6 that comes in the JEFit plan.

What he has been doing, is if he can complete all three sets of 10 without much of a struggle on the least set, he starts at that same weight the next time for the first set, then bumps up 5 or 10lbs depending on the exercise for the 2cnd or 3rd set. Once he gets completes all 3 sets at the same weight he then starts the bump up process again. Anytime I see him consistently struggle each set with form I move him back down in weight until he shows that he can maintain proper form.

I'll start keeping him to less weight for longer. I also think I might have him record himself so he can go back and watch some of the things he does to start losing form. I try to explain those things, but I don't think he can visualize it very well because he gives me blank stares.

I do think some of it is mental too, sometimes he gets so amped up because a set felt good that his next set he goes into it too fast and I have to tell him to slow down and focus, it's not a race, theres no girls here to try and impress.

Just for shits and giggles,whats his diet/nutrition look like and how old is he?

[chassis]

On the topic of body fat percentage estimation, does anyone have experience using the “US Navy” tape measurements and input them into an online calculator? The calculator uses a formula developed by, I assume, the US Navy.

Tape measurements are easy and repeatable. What do all y’all think?

[JP10]

Originally Posted by chassis

On the topic of body fat percentage estimation, does anyone have experience using the “US Navy” tape measurements and input them into an online calculator? The calculator uses a formula developed by, I assume, the US Navy.

Tape measurements are easy and repeatable. What do all y’all think?

Tape measurements are also very easy to manipulate - if it is from the Navy I wouldn't be surprised to see a tension requirement when taking measurements haha.