Good lifting plan?

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I also don't believe your body fat is 6-7% unless you're sporting an ethiopian physique.

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I had an electronic body fat test at UK's fitness center last week. They told me it was 6.5%. Kenyan runners have about 3% body fat. Bodybuilders also often have percent body fat lower than 5%.

 

This estimator gives me an estimate of 8 percent.

 

Edit: I try to eat about 4,000 calories a day, too.

 

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/pi.shtml

 

Not to mention your advise is to add more muscle where-as mine is telling him how to lose the belly.

 

And I'm telling him that doing a buncha crunches isn't going to get rid of his belly as well as burning fat & amping up his metabolism.

 

If what you're doing is working for you, then more power to you. I'm telling him what's worked for me.

[Failed Bridge 0]

And I'm telling him that doing a buncha crunches isn't going to get rid of his belly as well as burning fat & amping up his metabolism.

 

If what you're doing is working for you, then more power to you.  I'm telling him what's worked for me.

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Oh I agree about the crunches. You can do 250 crunches a day and if you eat nothing but terrible foods then nothing will happen.

 

I'll probably look back on what you're doing when I reach an ideal weight and am ready to add muscle.

[Damaramu 0]

Does anyone find it helpful to keep a record of what you eat, how much you lift, what you lift, what kind of exercise you do, and how much you weigh everyday?

[Guest Brian]

For eating and workouts, yeah. If you weigh yourself daily on an electronic scale, do a weekly average, because calibration of the scale can throw things off. But the one thing to keep in mind, is that muscle mass is heavier than fat (about 1.5-2 times), and that there are alot of other factors, some of which are intangible, that are as important as weight in the long run (body fat, general measurements, how much energy you have, how you feel)

[Guest Leelee]

I used to do all that shit of tracking what I ate every day, and looked good while doing it...

 

It's not worth it.

 

As long as you're not getting obese like say... Vader... it doesn't matter.

 

Have fun.

[eiker_ir 0]

don't track your progress by the scale, i used to do that when i began and it fucks with your mind and it's not accurate. Track your results by what you see in the mirror.

 

by the way i've gone from about 246lbs to 178 this year, i could've probably dropped more but i'm trying to add muscle at the same time.

 

just eat clean, no soda, no fried stuff*, no fast food*, no candies/chocolates*, alcohol from time to time, eat lots of protein, drink lots of water.

 

lift heavy and keep doing your cardio (try not to do these on the same session) and you'll see results in no time.

 

 

 

*** add a couple of cheat meals during the week if you want, but at least make them worthwhile.

Say instead of eating a gallon of ice cream and 2lts of Coke which do nothing for your body, eat a nice pizza or ribs or something that still feeds you

[Adam 0]

I'm about to get some dumbells, a bench and a rower from a family friend, so I'm well on the way to setting up a decent little home gym in my garage. At the moment I'm 6'3 and about 220, but realistically I'd like to get down to under 200, which is possible.

 

I totally agree with Brian, I'm the kind of guy who can't run on pavement. My dad had a knee replacement 8 weeks ago, and if I run on pavement I'll be there in 40 years as well. I'm going to start running along the beach, seeings as its coming up to summer here. Is grass pretty safe to run on as well?

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I agree with eiker. Body weight is not a great indicator of fitness, especially if you are doing heavy lifting. Go by how you look and feel.

[CanadianChick 0]

Going by the scale isn't a great indicator I found. When I was at my fittest in the last two years, I weighed the most. But that's just my body type I suppose.

 

And if you are decent at it, swimming is a great fucking way of staying in shape. That's all I'm doing right now (well, Waterpolo included), and I'm in way better shape than I have any right to be in with the amount of effort I put in.

[Failed Bridge 0]

That's all I'm doing right now (well, Waterpolo included)

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It must be hell getting the horse in and out of the pool.

[Failed Bridge 0]

oh, and I did about 3miles of walking today. I can't recall the last time I was able to do that, let alone did do that. I felt completely fine although I was quite hungry when I got home.

 

Still, I feel great.

[CanadianChick 0]

That's all I'm doing right now (well, Waterpolo included)

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It must be hell getting the horse in and out of the pool.

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We push them in. They find their own way of getting out. Call it survival of the fittest.

[Guest Leelee]

oh, and I did about 3miles of walking today. I can't recall the last time I was able to do that, let alone did do that. I felt completely fine although I was quite hungry when I got home.

 

Still, I feel great.

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I suggest not being this ambitious, because it won't last.

[Damaramu 0]

I was going to ask about swimming. It builds muscle as well as losing weight correct? So as opposed to running like a prison bitch I should swim like I'm jumping the border?

[Failed Bridge 0]

oh, and I did about 3miles of walking today. I can't recall the last time I was able to do that, let alone did do that. I felt completely fine although I was quite hungry when I got home.

 

Still, I feel great.

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I suggest not being this ambitious, because it won't last.

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Sure it will. I plan on continuing with this and seeing it the whole way through. Before I went through everything I was an absolute work-out freak. I plan on doing my best to get back to all of that.

 

My goal is to get down to around 180lbs and then start adding muscle mass.

[Matt Young 0]

If you mentioned itearlier, I must have missed it, but Dama, do you have access to OU's athletic facilities? I'm sure they have tons of great equipment.

[Failed Bridge 0]

I wouldn't let Dama near the OU athletic facilities. He'd probably try to bottle the football team's sweat to pour atop himself later.

[CanadianChick 0]

I was going to ask about swimming. It builds muscle as well as losing weight correct? So as opposed to running like a prison bitch I should swim like I'm jumping the border?

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Well, it builds lean muscle. Don't expect to be all body builder like with just swimming. But yes, it's great cardio, and you lose so much more calories than you would running. It's easier on your knees too.

[Guest Leelee]

I guess.

 

But, for most of the people I see in this thread, they're all still in school.

 

Once the evils of working all day, and having a significant other in your life ensue (or at least knowing you can easily obtain one)... the constant worries about staying in shape subside. At least they did for me. And then I just got angry when I tried forcing myself to stick to the routine I once had.

 

But, whatever. I'm lazy. Just do whatever makes you happy!

[Matt Young 0]

I guess.

 

But, for most of the people I see in this thread, they're all still in school. 

 

Once the evils of working all day, and having a significant other in your life ensue (or at least knowing you can easily obtain one)... the constant worries about staying in shape subside.  At least they did for me.  And then I just got angry when I tried forcing myself to stick to the routine I once had.

 

But, whatever.  I'm lazy.  Just do whatever makes you happy!

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That didn't happen to me, but my appearance is only one of the reasons I want to get in better shape. But even just in that area, I'm way too self-conscious to not worry about how I look.

[Failed Bridge 0]

But, for most of the people I see in this thread, they're all still in school. 

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That's true, and due to the amount they study and all the classes who knows if they'll be able to stay on a strict routine.

 

Once the evils of working all day, and having a significant other in your life ensue (or at least knowing you can easily obtain one)... the constant worries about staying in shape subside.  At least they did for me.

With me I always enjoyed working out and got my frustrations out through it. When I was with my ex-fiance and also working 60hrs a week I didn't go about doing any cardio but I kept up with my weights everynight.

 

But, whatever.  I'm lazy.

I highly doubt that if you're still playing tennis from time to time. Not to mention in all the photos of you I've seen you look to be in great shape.

[Guest Leelee]

I'm mostly done with tennis... although, the temptation to play is high since I can all year now in Tempe.

 

I'm starting to let myself go, though. And it feels good! I'm pushing 175 lbs. now.

[Failed Bridge 0]

with your height and the muscle in your legs I'm sure you still look fine. I was going to say "have a nice body" over "look to be in great shape" but I figured the latter sounded better. Unless you hit close to 200lbs I don't think you'll really show at all.

[Guest Brian]

I found the old thread here: http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...pic=61348&st=30

 

I'm not going to act like I'm not going to take stuff from there, because I don't have the time to type everything up again. And I am not an expert.

 

I'm going to pre-face this all by saying that actually, I look back on the thread and realize that though some of the fundamental things I've done have changed. I'm going to describe what I recommend as the two basic types of lifting programs. The first is one I have already described a good deal in the previous thread; it works great for bulk and bodybuilders but can be augmented for other types of athletes as well. The basic premise is that you exhaust one muscle group on a single day of the week; essentially the muscle has small tears, and then is given proper time (one week, 3-5 days is essential) to repair itself and build on as it expands. That's the short side of it. The second is derived from reading about how alot of amateur wrestlers and MMA artists train, and reading articles about the benefits of single-set workouts (which fit under this genre). This routine allows you to work multiple muscle groups in a single day, and work a muscle group on two seperate occasions during a week (and I wouldn't recommend more than two). Not as much bulk obviously, good for tone, good to keep fit, really good with cardio and plyometrics.

 

First, I'm not going to describe everything in this post. I'll save that for a later post where I look at each specific upper body muscle.

 

Second, FORM, FORM, and more FORM. Most important, ist hat you do the exercises properly, and take your time. Workouts utilizing speed and explosiveness can have their place, but tend to bne best fit working with small amounts of weight (such as body weight).

 

Third, a short aside on muscles. Everyone knows chest (pectoralis) and biceps. As a man, and having worked out with a number of different guys, we love the chest and the biceps. My goodness, I cannot believe the absolute obsession. I always, always strees balance. For one, body moves in two directions; the elbows, hips, and knees all flex and extend (flexion and extension). The arms push out and pull in. These motions of the body are linked; are as the muscle groups that control such motion. Therefore, the biceps that curl (flexion) are linked with the triceps that extend the arm out; similarly with the chest and back muscles (and, not to be forgotten, the shoulders that act as a third dimension), the quadriceps and hamstrings (and like the shoulders, the gluteals), and the hip flexors. So, to maintain balance and aid the growth/strengthening of muscles, you need to maintain balance. When you're in the gym, if you ever see someone with their shoulders caved in, often times it's a result of focusing on the chest and/or neglecting the back.

 

Also, as it pertains to muscles, many of the smaller muscles (biceps, triceps) work in coordination with larger muscle groups (chest, back muscles, shoulders). Imagine benching or military presses, pushing something out, and the type of motion that the arm uses (an extension). And pulling something in like a row uses flexion of the arm muscles. Flexion of the arm uses the bicep, and extension uses the tricep. Therefore, in the midst of working larger muscle groups, smaller muscle groups will serve to supplement.

 

For first-time weight lifters, I recommend that you go with the second-form of workout unless you are already previously athletic and have a good idea of what you're doing in the weight room. There are about three or four ways of going about things, but I'll defer to Kurt Angle in this instance. Angle used to have an old wrestling-season routine up at his former website. I still think it's extremely effective and feel that it works out perfectly for most beginning weightlifters or those trying to pair this with cardio (like I do during cycles, which I'll talk about later). In fact, I recommend it to the amateur fighters out of Gracie Barra, my little brother included. Before I get into the meat and bones of this workout, I have a little aside from what I've done in physcial therapy. In physical therapy, when patients first come in with trouble or from surgery, we begin with simple exercises geared toward natural motions. A good weight routine does the same; we start with exercises, such as a bicep curl, that are more natural movements, than as we increase workload and the muscles gets stronger and more used to work outs, we start moving in different directions, such as reverse curls or curls on a bench. This a little different from what I (assume I) recommended earlier, where I sorta said that you could jump right into scalding water, and I've since amended my position.

 

As for the Angle routine, it's pretty simple. Angle works on a three day cycle: first day is upper body paired with heavy cardio routine; second day is lower body coupled with drills; third day is a period of activity. This three day cycles through a second time during the week before an off-day. This three day cycle is common in all these types of workouts. Three day caycle, coupled with a not-so-intense lifting routine (at least not intense on each single group of muscle, but intense as a whole), tends to give adequate rest. On to the basics of the workout.

 

For the upper body workout, the routine progresses from larger to smaller muscle groups. The larger muscle groups get six sets of exercises, the smaller muscle groups get four. Under the Angle routine, this was coupled with a very intense cardio workout, which I will describe as it pertains to the workout. Focus on the lifting for your purposes, but take a look at the Angle starts out with stretching, something very important. I stretch both at the end and beginning of workouts; it helps to prevent injuries and stretch muscles at the beginning, at the end it helps to redistribute lactic acid that has developed in the muscle and relax the muscles as well. Next, five-minutes of jumping rope. Jumping rope is an excellent way to get your heart-rate up and you muscles war; as well, it helps for the often neglected forearms (for forearms, like rotator cuffs, I'd recommend doing lightly once-a-week, and not overworking, because the muscles often get a slight workout during each day, but often get neglected in terms of isolation). Then, Angle hits the streets for fifteen minutes (two miles) of running, followed by ten 100-yard windsprints.

 

Then, onto the weightlifting. For lifting, Angle starts on the bench press for chest (pectoralis major and minor). In my estimation, this is the most natural movement regarding the chest, as opposed to a fly, and best suited for beginning weight lifters. Stick to the freeweights, but don't be afraid of a spotter. Freeweights, because the movement requires alot more control, uses the rotator cuffs in keeping the bar balanced and straight. Angle chooses to do a set of warm-ups, followed by three sets of 8-10 at a heavy-weight, and two sets of 10-12 at moderate weight. Next, back muscles. Regularly, I would recommend three different workout for balance, as there are three different muscles in the back (dorsi (think dorsal fins, running down the sides of the back), trapezius (from about mid-point up the spine or so bridging out to the neck), and rhomboids (very small, involved in rotation outward). The most natural movements are the rows (with variations) and pull-ups, compared to the types of motions that target the rhomboids (e.g. reverse-fly). Angle goes with three sets of pulls ups (one set of 12-15, two more with resistance of someone pulling down or weight of 8-10) and three sets of 8-10 rows. Most places I know of now carry assisted pull-up machines, which I would use for the first set only if you can't do as many reps. Then shoulders. Angle likew to do three and three of shrugs and military press. I'm not so much sold on shrugs for beginning lifters; I like the idea of using a lateral raise. The shrug has a weird feel at first and you have to roll your shoulder without stressing on your neck, all the while the amount of weight is hard to correctly choose. I just feel it’s too much for a beginner, though that changes from person to person. Next, we are in the smaller muscle groups, the triceps and biceps. For triceps, I would recommend the dips, in a 15 rep range for four sets. Assists, or a seated dip, can be used to accommodate. Pullovers, shotguns, and skull crushers all seem to be a little more advanced. For biceps, just stick to the normal curl, four sets around 8-12 reps. Singe or double arm, and don’t bring your hands back down to the side but rather keep your wrists pointed out.

 

Once a week, I’d do four sets of something for your rotator cuffs and four sets for you forearms, high rep, low weight, slow counts both ways. The common motion for the rotator cuff is, using the elbow as an axis with the forearm perpendicular, you basically rotate in and out. For forearms, let your elbow rest on your knee, and with a dumbbell hel loosely, let your wrists go up and down, and the weight will naturally roll to your fingertips.

 

Angle finishes off with more cardio (hills), followed by burn-outs on both the roman chair and the sit-up. The problem I have with this is that, like the bicep-tricep relationship, abs are linked to the lower back area. Reverse crunchers on the stomach (think opposite of sit-ups, with hands behind the neck) can be paired with regular crunchers; though I recommend different types of abdominal workouts that stress balance and lower back strengthening. Sit-ups on the inflatable exercise balls do wonders and offer support to the lower back in addition. A sit-up where your back doesn’t rest on the ground/mat/bench does the same, though is often too stressful on the back for most. Lower abs are good too, but one shouldn’t neglect the lower back.

 

I’ll do lower body for this workout later, then I’ll do another workout along these lines, then revise/finish what I’ve written previously on isolation-style workouts.

[Damaramu 0]

We hae our own gym for students at OU that's really good.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Everyone knows chest (pectoralis) and biceps. As a man, and having worked out with a number of different guys, we love the chest and the biceps. My goodness, I cannot believe the absolute obsession.

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Triceps are where it's at if you wanna pack some real guns~!

[eiker_ir 0]

Everyone knows chest (pectoralis) and biceps. As a man, and having worked out with a number of different guys, we love the chest and the biceps. My goodness, I cannot believe the absolute obsession.

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Triceps are where it's at if you wanna pack some real guns~!

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yieaaah, triceps are the ones that give actual size to the arm.

[Guest Brian]

This isn't the current events forum Smitty, you can't misquote me. My point was that this fascination with biceps have lead alot of guys to just focus at that area, and chest. It's a strange, homoerotic fscination. That and the insane amount of mirror-checking.

[Sass 0]

Pecs, biceps, triceps, and deltoids are like the only parts Carrot Top works out.

 

DO ANY OF YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE HIM???

 

I nearly puked in my mouth after I saw CT's bodybuilder pics...

[Guest Leelee]

No, but I'm guessing it's kinda like seeing Kevin Nash's legs.