The Damaramu Gym-o-Rama

[Guest Vitamin X]

Very true, Dama. Quads, chest, and shoulders are the core rugby muscles, at least I think so. Don't forget to cross-train a little bit, though. None of that fat is going to burn if you don't get some cardio in- if you run, say, 5-10 minutes to warm up, and then 15-30 to cool down ( I know it seems like a lot but do it at a slow jog first then gradually build up) your conditioning will get better plus you'll burn fat in the process. Both things are great to have for rugby and for life in general.

[Damaramu 0]

Actually I don't think bicep curls can help you in any sport really. My friend tried to say it could help you escape an arm-bar in MMA and I told him that was more technique and your chest and back.

 

Maybe they're good for intimidation in like high school sports(before people wise up) because to most people big arms=strong.

 

I've been doing some good cardio. Yesterday I played basketball for 30 minutes, then rode the exercise bike at a high RPM for 3 miles, then played basketball for 30 more, then I hit the bike again.

 

Today I was feeling kind of funny from allergies and my throat was killing me but I went to workout anyway. I did a lot of chest and back exercises and I was feeling kind of weak while doing them. So I decided to start working the squats. I did it with a free bar for 3x8 at 135 pounds (yeah i'm a weakling, stop laughing), then I did 4x8 on the safety bar at 155 pounds (stop laughing!) and then I did 3x18 of just body weight squats with my arms crossed over my chest.

 

I wish I could squat my body weight (255) but since I've only started seriously doing them recently it's going to take a while. Plus, I've always been told it's better to do it right with low weight than wrong with high weight.

[Maztinho 0]

My 11th grade gym coach who was the wrestling coach called doing bicept curls was for Beach Bodies and didn't do anything real strength wise other than look good.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Actually I don't think bicep curls can help you in any sport really. My friend tried to say it could help you escape an arm-bar in MMA and I told him that was more technique and your chest and back.

 

Maybe they're good for intimidation in like high school sports(before people wise up) because to most people big arms=strong.

 

I've been doing some good cardio. Yesterday I played basketball for 30 minutes, then rode the exercise bike at a high RPM for 3 miles, then played basketball for 30 more, then I hit the bike again.

 

Today I was feeling kind of funny from allergies and my throat was killing me but I went to workout anyway. I did a lot of chest and back exercises and I was feeling kind of weak while doing them. So I decided to start working the squats. I did it with a free bar for 3x8 at 135 pounds (yeah i'm a weakling, stop laughing), then I did 4x8 on the safety bar at 155 pounds (stop laughing!) and then I did 3x18 of just body weight squats with my arms crossed over my chest.

 

I wish I could squat my body weight (255) but since I've only started seriously doing them recently it's going to take a while. Plus, I've always been told it's better to do it right with low weight than wrong with high weight.

I think your sets are hurting you some, to be honest. Muscle conditioning (which is what you're doing there with the high number of reps, low number of sets) is great for your arms- in fact, I'd recommend it- but not so good for places you actually want to get stronger in. For example, I would do something pretty light, like 50% of your max first for 8 reps, then 65-70% for 5, then 80% for 3 reps instead. I did this during football offseason conditioning in high school and it bulked me up and got me in excellent shape in a short amount of time (granted, this was everyday for 3 months and 2-a-days at the end, but it's not unheard of or anything)

[Damaramu 0]

So you're saying I'm doing too many reps of the same weight? 165 isn't my max, it's just what I can get up comfortably without a spotter.

 

I'll give that a shot though, I have no clue what my max is actually.

 

I didn't know 3x8 was high reps though, I thought around 12 is where you got into high reps.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well I always figured 10 or more was high, but doing 8 for three sets won't get you stronger, it'll get your muscles more conditioned or toned. The way I remember learning weight-lifting was pretty much like this:

 

High Reps, Low Weight (for example, 3x10, 3x8, or 3x12) = Conditioning/Toning

Medium Reps, Medium Weight (such as the pyramid 3x8,5,3 or 3x6,4,2) = Strengthening

Low Reps, High Weight (3x5, 3x3) = Bodybuilding

 

It changes up a bit from that obviously, but that's what I'm aware of.

[Damaramu 0]

Hmmm......I've been doing 3x8 for a while now. I was talking in that PX90 thread about muscle confusion. Maybe just changing the weight and doing the pyramid for strenght will shock my body into doing something different.

 

Now how does the pyramid usually go? The weight gets progressively higher as you go down?

[Damaramu 0]

VX? Anyone?

 

I joined a new gym and I get one of those personal assesments for free. They claim they'll come up with a workout plan tailored to me. I never trust those people because it seems the workout plan is more often than not a circuit workout.

[Dandy 0]

Depends on if they are actual certified trainers or not, and what their personal philosophy is.

[Damaramu 0]

Depends on if they are actual certified trainers or not, and what their personal philosophy is.

Yeah he didn't come up with the circuit but he came up with something I'm a little bit wary of. But, I haven't changed my workout in like 2 months so I'll give it a shot. The change should at least produce results.

 

Before I was doing full-body 3-days a week. My full-body consisted of: squats, hamstring curls, bench press, lat pull-downs, bent-over row, shoulder presses and front pull-ups (where you hold the bar in front with a close grip and pull it up).

 

He suggested doing upper body twice a week and then lower once, and then the next week do lower twice a week and upper once. And he said do abs 5-days a week and do 30 minutes on a treadmill 5-days a week. And he showed me some core building exercises with a medicine ball.

 

His upper consisted of: bench press, lat pull-downs OR bent-over row, shoulder presses, skull crushers OR kickbacks, bicep curls (gag) and lower back raises. His lower consisted of lunges OR squats, hamstring curls, leg extensions and calf raises.

 

It doesn't seem like I'll get too much stronger doing that. I guess if I put a lot of weight on the bench and the squats it would help build strength. And he wanted me to do 3x10 of everything.

 

Sometimes I think these guys come up with the same thing for everyone and just claim it's for that one person.

 

Just like the enrollment fee. Every gym I've ever gone to has waived an enrollment fee. I think they just have those there incase someone doesn't protest to make extra money. If the person does protest they say "You know what buddy? I'll waive it just for you if you join today!"

[Guest Desensitized]

I'm gonna spin off the exercise stuff in here into its own thread.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm gonna spin off the exercise stuff in here into its own thread.

 

Dude, you just gave me an idea for a new gym. I'm going to have to open one now.....

[Guest Vitamin X]

Hmmm......I've been doing 3x8 for a while now. I was talking in that PX90 thread about muscle confusion. Maybe just changing the weight and doing the pyramid for strenght will shock my body into doing something different.

 

Now how does the pyramid usually go? The weight gets progressively higher as you go down?

 

Hey, I thought I had written a response to this. I must not have actually posted it.

 

Anyways, yes, that's exactly how it goes. the way it would work is something like my workout yesterday I did on the leg press (which is a total joke of a machine, IMO).

I did my first 10 reps at 285

Then 8 reps at 325

Then 5 at 375

 

Those are higher reps because I'm training my legs to be more conditioned, not necessarily stronger- and the leg press machine isn't great for strength anyways. And I was mostly doing it because I was bored. I could easily hit twice what I did on that thing, but I needed to kill time before my weight training class was over, so I just sat on it and took a really long time while all the douchebags in my class worked on their KILLER BICEPS BRO~. It also works when you're not doing free weights, though. I did the row machine, which looks like this:

And I did 90, 100, then 110 doing 3x8, 5, and 3. It was a really good workout for my back and shoulders, as well as my triceps.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't know if I could get 5 reps of an extremely high weight. I was benching with a friend and I could only get 2 reps of 195 up. Yeah yeah, I'm a weakling. I need to get stronger obviously. So what would a pyramid for me on bench look like judging by that weight?

 

This workout the guy suggested to me at the gym (posted above) seems like it'd help condition me, but I don't see myself getting much stronger doing it. I guess if I did high weight, but I doubt I could do 3x10 of a really high weight. I swear they have this workout for everyone and just suggest it to newbies like they think they don't what the hell is going on. Whatever, I'll give his method a shot to see if it helps me get leaner, I probably need to get leaner and in better cardiovascular shape first for rugby. I may not be weight lifting strong, but I've been told I tackle pretty damn hard. Then again, a lot of that is technique.

[Matt Young 0]

I didn't read everything, but I skimmed. I can say two things with certainty:

 

1. As far as running goes, improving your cardiovascular conditioning and losing fat are two different things. They're not completely independent of each other, but there's a reason treadmills/ellipticals have a cardio setting and a fat burn setting. High intensity is for cardio; low intensity is for fat burning.

 

2. The workout that the trainer gave you is about 100x better than the one you were doing before. Just give it a chance. Doing full body workouts exclusively is not going to help much at all.

[Damaramu 0]

How is it 100x better? Before I was doing full-body 3x a week. Now I'm doing one week upper 2x and lower 1x and the next lower 2x and upper 1x.

[Damaramu 0]

Well, maybe you're right Matt.

 

I tried this dude's method today and I felt like I was going to puke for the first time in like forever.

 

I did 3x10 of bicep curls with the machine (90 lbs for 2 sets and then 70 for the last), 3x10 shoulder press (90 lbs), 3x10 behind the head pull downs (90 lbs), 3x10 front lat pull-downs (90 lbs.), 3x10 tricep pull downs with a rope (90 lbs), 3x10 bench press (135 pounds) then i did 20 with the bar, 2x10 incline bench (only 110 lbs and i was about to die at this point), 3x10 lower back extensions, 3x10 seated row machine (120 lbs) and then I tried to do my abs on that chair where you hang and kick your legs, but I got through 10 and I was spent and felt the puke rising.

 

So I guess it was a good idea. Although, for some reason, my forearms and wrists ache when I do a lot of the pulling exercises. I don't like that feeling at all.

 

Also seeing how I can only do 90 lbs. on most things I feel like a weakling, but we all gotta start somewhere (despite the fact i've been doing this seriously for like 2 months now).

[Matt Young 0]

It's a good plan for several reasons:

 

(A) While you work the same body parts, you're switching up how you do it each week, and that variety allows for more growth.

 

(B) Doing a split is generally more effective for gaining muscle (not sure about fat loss, but that's what the running is for) than is a full body workout.

 

© With the full body workout, you're doing the same thing every day. That stunts growth potential, and contributes to your boredom in the gym. Also, your muscles aren't getting as much recovery time as they would/do with a split routine, further limiting potential growth.

 

The trainer, of course, knows more than I do on the subject and can offer a lot more insight, but I'm trying to give what advice I can based on a little more than 2 years' experience, a lot of reading of bodybuilding sites and forums, and the advice I've gleaned from the trainers at my gym.

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah his way of working out was a real ass-kicker Matt. I was dead tired afterwards.

 

I went to the gym Saturday (he told me to take the weekend off, but i'm OCD) and I ran 2 miles, worked my abs and did a core workout with a medicine ball. I rested Sunday, and I'm hitting the gym today.

 

Today I started a workout log too. I just bought a spiral bound notebook. I hear it's a good way to keep track and make sure you don't cheat on eating or working out. Because if it's written down(eating wise) it just looks bad if you ate like a pig, and if it's not written down working out you start to fill bad the longer it goes without something being written in there (like say you're being lazy and not going).

 

I also decided once a month I'd do my waist, bicep, thigh and chest measurements. And I'll do my weight once a week in there.

 

I noticed something almost immediately. I haven't tried the 6 small meals a day thing yet, but I realized I am eating too far apart. Because my log looks like this right now:

 

Meals

Breakfast: bowl of cereal (10:30 a.m.)

Lunch: can of spaghetti-o's (2:30 p.m.)

 

Not only are the spaghetti-o's not good, but that's nearly four hours apart! I'm having grilled chicken for dinner, but it's still like 4 hours after lunch. I think I'll go eat an apple to get things going.

 

 

I saw in a magazine this guy said he eats a big plate of veggies for lunch everyday. That just seems kind of boring and not filling to me. Then I've also heard it's good to cook enough dinner(healthy dinner) so you have leftovers to eat for lunch. Then I heard a basic sandwich is good too.

 

 

Thinking of my workout kind of stinks though. I don't have the money for a personal trainer, so I really just have to rely on what I learn here, at other websites and what I was told on that free consultation you get when you join the gym. But, I guess I'll just piece it together and keep going at it. I'm just worried about going hard with weightlifting and then stagnating in a month (which i've done in the past when i was taking kickboxing classes) and not gaining anything or losing anything and then being stuck not knowing what to do next. I'd be afraid of not figuring out what exercises to change to. Then again I guess the good ole' bench press and squat are something that can stay constant while you change everything else up. And I've learned medicine ball exercises are pretty killer too. And while I try to get a career going here (i quit my job at the paper in Dodge City) I'll be temporarily working with my friend in a factory lifting 50 lb. air conditioners all day. That should help a bit.

[Vampiro69 0]

I am thinking of giving this a shot to try and cut some wieght this summer. Has anyone ever tried this before? And if so did it work for you?

 

If not what would you recommend taking along with an exercise program?

[Damaramu 0]

My new gym habits will really be put to the test tonight. I took a job to get some extra cash flow while I look for a job in my chosen field. The extra cash job? Assembly line building air conditioners. I work 10 hours a day building hotel air conditioners in a 100 degree factory. I sweated like mad today and my feet are now killing me. But, I have to work my upper body today so I'm going to the gym to do it anyway. Oh and I have to wake up at 5 a.m. to be at work at 6, so that kind of sucks too.

[Damaramu 0]

What do you guys think of tofu? Is it a good food to eat? A good substitute to meat?

[Guest Vitamin X]

No one else here will agree, or not many at least, but I certainly love tofu since I don't eat any meat besides fish (omega-3 fats yeah!). Tofu is full of protein, low in cholesterol, and low in fat as well, so it's good just like soy milk is. It's the kind of thing I wouldn't outright totally suggest replacing everything with, but tofu is great to cook with, and easy too, since it's essentially just curdled soy, so you just have to brown the sides a bit, and it's good. It has about the same flavor, to me, as grilled chicken since that's pretty flavorless as well. You can find a lot of tofu-based products at your local natural foods store, though not sure how many of those are out there.

 

I still drink regular milk, by the way, but soy milk is great if you want to pump a lot of protein in your diet. Body builders basically live off of oatmeal (whole grains/carbs), soy-based products for protein, milk for calcium, and chicken for more protein. Grilled only, of course. It's a little much, but if you wanted to go crazy, you could there, of course.

[Damaramu 0]

They sell big blocks of tofu at Wal-Mart. I'm thinking of picking some up. I'll have to look at how much to have in a serving and how to prepare it.

 

You don't eat any meat besides fish? Not even chicken?

 

I cut out beef. If I do need ground beef or something I buy ground turkey, but that is very very rare. But occasionally I'll get a hamburger at a restaurant.

 

I usually only eat chicken and sliced turkey (for sandwiches) and t he occasional pork chop. I'm trying to completely cut out the beef and turkey beef stuff. It just gets hard to find things to cook for dinner when you're not that great of a cook. lol

[Matt Young 0]

Beef would actually be really good for you, J.R. You just have to make sure you get the 90% or more lean beef. Very little fat, TONS of protein. It's more expensive, though. But I guess the same could be said of ground turkey. if you're not getting the lean ground turkey, it can be just as bad for you and fattening as regular ground beef.

[Dandy 0]

Skimming back through the thread, I noticed a small discussion that bicep curls do no good for sports and they are good for beach bodies only. This is not true. Besides strengthening the biceps to prevent injury in sports and making you stronger overall, bicep curls are key in boxing and MMA. The stronger (not bigger) that your biceps are, the faster you can punch.

[Damaramu 0]

Skimming back through the thread, I noticed a small discussion that bicep curls do no good for sports and they are good for beach bodies only. This is not true. Besides strengthening the biceps to prevent injury in sports and making you stronger overall, bicep curls are key in boxing and MMA. The stronger (not bigger) that your biceps are, the faster you can punch.

 

When I was boxing a lot of my drive and snap came from my shoulders and me turning into it with my hips, but I can see what you're saying too.

 

VX how do you usually prepare tofu? I'm trying to figure out the best dishes I can make. Maybe use it as a meat substitute and just have it grilled instead of grilled chicken? Cook it in broth or with boulon(however the hell it's spelled) cubes and slice it so it tastes like meat and can go on a sandwich or just to eat?

 

I know you can put it in stir-fry but the noodles seem a little fattening(i was checking them out at wal-mart today).

[Guest Vitamin X]

There's tons of recipes for tofu out there, although I normally prepare tofu in a kind of stir-fry thing with some sort of sauce. There's a few here with a recipe for oven-fried tofu here (which would go as a substitute for sandwiches there). I was more thinking of Tofurky-type items and smart dogs, which are made with tofu and like I said, you could find in a natural foods store. There's got to be a Whole Foods or something close to where you are, right? They even have chicken replacements and the ground beef one is quite similar to the real thing. One of my favorite dishes is to eat sauteed spinach and tofu (marinated in ginger, soy sauce, and garlic) and serve that over white rice. Throw some hot chili sauce on that (Sriracha in my case), and it rocks.

 

Oh, and tofu and black beans go very well together. I usually saute' tofu and then serve it with stuff. Some people make tofu scrambles too, although fuck a bunch of that. I like eating eggs.

[Damaramu 0]

Alright alright. I'll have to give some of those a try.

 

Today was supposed to be my upper body day. Usually I run(or more appropriately run/walk) 2 miles for cardio and then I lift.

 

Well Thursday and Friday I didn't go to the gym because of my 10 hour days in that hot ass factory working my ass off. Saturday I ran and Sunday I ran and worked my legs. Monday I go in to do my upper body and I'm about to die. I ran my 2 miles, but I was much slower than I normally am and I went to lift and just felt weak and drained. It might be the humidity or it might be the fact I need a day where I do nothing. My body may be screaming at me to take a small break.

 

But, I'm proud of myself because I went to the movies tonight and didn't buy popcorn. Usually I get a bag of the shit covered in butter. That's not exactly good for you, so I'm proud of myself for turning it down.

[Slayer 0]

I enjoy browned tofu cubes with teriyaki sauce