The Fitness Guide

[#12]

eat cereal and drink milk and you are guarenteed to have a good lower body

[---]

Man, I was in the shop the other day looking at a bench that I'm buying tomorrow, and that thing the guy has his arm resting on was part of the bench. I was wondering what it was (I'm finally starting weight training) and I was pretty sure you sat on it or leaned on it... I just couldn't get comfortable on it so I asked the guy at the store and he just started laughing and walked off. I must of looked so stupid

[Fenix]

In your post, is it really true pushups and situps really useless if I can don't struggle to do more than 12?

What about this question?

I did mention that doing more than 12 reps is basically cardio. Even though push-ups and situps are used in basic training for decades, it's pretty much cardio for your chest + arms for endurance and stamina and maintaining strength rather than increasing strength. Unless you're doing like 500 pushups then maybe something good would happen, but I'd rather do 8 reps of bench presses.

That's true... in theory. But in practice, pushups can be very helpful when trying to get a great chest. I do my chest workout with weights only, but I also do a light pushup workout on my 6th day (5 sets: 25, 20, 15, 12, 12). It won't tire my upper body, quite contrary - you'll find that your chest workout is going to be much easier and your progress (as far as strength and mass goes) will be faster. Conclusion is: pushups won't give you huge pecs, but they will help you with your weight training and definitely up your bench press.

[cyanide]

That's true... in theory. But in practice, pushups can be very helpful when trying to get a great chest. I do my chest workout with weights only, but I also do a light pushup workout on my 6th day (5 sets: 25, 20, 15, 12, 12). It won't tire my upper body, quite contrary - you'll find that your chest workout is going to be much easier and your progress (as far as strength and mass goes) will be faster. Conclusion is: pushups won't give you huge pecs, but they will help you with your weight training and definitely up your bench press.

Always good to hear it from an experienced perspective. So you're saying it's basically a supplement to chest development, much as warm-ups and stretching does for additional development and lifting benefits?

Note: I also added Fenix's progress report on the first post, and I encourage anyone who's starting or working on a routine post theirs too. It'll help with motivation for anyone who needs it.

[[Q]]

well when i have time, I usually lift 3 days a week. I don't like focusing on an area in a whole day, so i usually switch after each exercise so i don't get fatigued as easily. ex: bicep curls, squats, then i hit the roman chair.

I don't like doing a lot of weight at once (because i don't feel the need to try to be macho) so i like to make sure it's heavy enough that it gives me a workout and it's light enough I can do 10 good solid reps. usually do 3 sets for upper body, 4 sets for lower body (because it's stronger and needs more work)

[Fenix]

Always good to hear it from an experienced perspective. So you're saying it's basically a supplement to chest development, much as warm-ups and stretching does for additional development and lifting benefits?

Exactly.

(Disclaimer: In the next paragraphs I'll be talking about EXTENSIVE stretching. OF COURSE you do some light stretching before and after the workout. But in order to trully improve your flexibility, you'll have to do some extensive stretching. And that's what I'm talking about here.)

Also a tip about stretching for all the newbies: don't overstretch if you're trying to gain mass. I did that last year, but now I know better. You don't stretch before the actuall workout, because you'll lose some of your strength and you don't stretch after the workout, simply because your muscles will be tired and streching will have no real effect. You do simple and easy stretching excercises between sets or - even better - between different excercises. I use only one stretching excercise per muscle and I do it 3-4 times (it depends on how many excercises the workout is consisted of) for about 15-20 seconds. Nothing hc, just to additionally tear your muscle and help your growth.

If you're trying to improve your flexibility and you're mainly working out for muscle definition, then you can stretch basically every day. But it shouldn't be a part of your workout (remember, I'm talking only about weightlifting, not aerobic training. You have to stretch BEFORE and AFTER aerobic workout). You do it either in the morning (if your trained with weights in the evening) or in the evening (if you trained with weights in the morning or afternoon). Your muscles have to be relaxed and not too tired to get the best results.

When trying to gain mass, you shouldn't stretch as much. There's nothing wrong with stretching during the workout, but stretching every day will hurt your regeneration and therefore slower your muscle growth. And that's not what you want, especially if you're a guy with extremely fast metabolism. So if you're just beginning with weightlifting, I recommend you to take the first 3-4 months easy, learn the proper form, get in shape, improve your flexibility and THEN start working out for mass, while keeping your flexibility with extensive stretching 2-3 times per week.

[Matt]

damn Fenix, i envy your 7-8% body fat.....i'm at 22.6% at the moment.

Anyways, i just bought a protein shake, bout to test that bitch tonight!!!!

[Fenix]

Well, it won't stay that way for long. I'll end up at 12 or so percents before all is said and done. I eat something like 2kg of food per day and a lot of that are carbs.

[[Q]]

yeah i'm about 8% body fat as well, but I didn't do much to get there

it really sucks when it gets a little cold though. good thing i live in sunny southern california

[mvpshaq32]

Carbs as in carbohydrates? So too many carbs are bad for you??.....
Thought they were your main source of energy.

[Matt]

how often should i drink the protein shake....i got some natural one and it tastes bad.

[Fenix]

Meh, don't over do it. I drink one (Optimum 100% Whey + 50-60 grams of maltodextrin) after the workout and I also add circa 20 grams of protein dust into my oatmeal in the morning. You can also take casein (30 grams or so) before you go to sleep. But that should be more than enough if you eat proper 'normal' food.

As far as brands go, I recommend the one I use now - Optimum 100% Whey. It's one of the best ones around and it's extremely tasty, especially if you mix it with low fat milk and some maltodextrin.

Carbs as in carbohydrates? So too many carbs are bad for you??.....
Thought they were your main source of energy.

Sure. But unused energy will turn into fat.

[cyanide]

how often should i drink the protein shake....i got some natural one and it tastes bad.

I only drink one shake right after I work out on the days I work out. Other than that, I use food instead of shakes.

I remember my first one (vanilla) tasting bad. After that, I tried what flavor I think I would like and I got EAS strawberry, and goddamn, it tastes great.

I'm gonna add that a recommended daily nutritional breakdown is about:

50% carbs
25% protien
25% fat

You can decrease the carbs to 40% and up the other two to 30%, depending on what fitness level you're trying to achieve.

[---]

cyanide, I'm planning on starting my workout on February 1st after I get some weights. It would be cool if you could chuck my "log" up on the first post and I'll get my current weight, etc in the next couple of days.

As of right now I'm sorta stuck on exactly what to do. I have never had a regular weight workout so I'm not sure whether these will be too hard, but these are some of the ones I have been looking at:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/animals8 ... omeabs.php

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/8weektricepsblitz.php

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/8weeksto ... iceps2.php

I want to target chest, abs and arms. I have to go to physio for my knees so he will probably tell me whats good for me in terms of working out my legs.

Anyway, would it be to tough to do all of these exercises?

[cyanide]

Flite_23: That sounds awesome Will add your name to the log.

My advice, though, is don't do all of the 8 Weeks program, only do one at a time, because they are very physically demanding. If you're a beginner, don't start on one just yet, but do basic muscle groups as suggested (Mon - arms, Wed - chest/back Fri - legs)

Here's an example of Monday for arms:

3 sets of front dumbbell raises (deltoids)
2 sets of side dumbbell raises (deltoids)
3 sets of barbell curls (biceps)
2 sets of concentration curls (biceps)
3 sets of standing triceps extensions (triceps)
2 sets of dumbbell kickbacks (triceps)
3 sets of reverse forearm curls (forearms)

All of these exercises above can be performed with only dumbbell weights (preferrably PowerBlocks or adjustable) and a bench.

Arms are probably the toughest to keep it at or under 1 hour, so make sure you time your breaks well, but never rush your exercises.

[Matt]

i got an excercise that i use at the end of my workout just to really burn my muscles out.

1. no weights needed for this bit. simply extend your arms in front of you at about chest height and pretend that your punching a speed ball. do this for about 60 secs or until your arms get tired/burn

2. do dumbbell curls as quick as you can....you'll find that in 10-15sec your arms will burn.

rest 30 secs, repeat 2 more times.

I picked this up from kickboxing.....alternatively for step 2 you can do 10 pushups...just as effective.

[[Q]]

i got an excercise that i use at the end of my workout just to really burn my muscles out.

1. no weights needed for this bit. simply extend your arms in front of you at about chest height and pretend that your punching a speed ball. do this for about 60 secs or until your arms get tired/burn

I'm trying out shadowboxing with like 15 lb dumbbells (a la Bruce Lee, though he probably did it with a little more weight)

gives you a crazy workout on the lats.

[Matt]

i've dont that too, works well, although i cant remember why i stopped.

[[Q]]

the nintendo wii my roommate got gives me a similar workout too. it also gives me a sore shoulder so i should stop to rest before my next bball game

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

I love how people are getting injured by playing the Wii. And I'm not picking on you Q, I've just heard so many stories in regards to injuries with it and it makes me laugh...injuries from a game console.

[Nick]

You're a very good influence on me, Cyanide. Haha.

[bigh0rt]

I love how people are getting injured by playing the Wii. And I'm not picking on you Q, I've just heard so many stories in regards to injuries with it and it makes me laugh...injuries from a game console.

www.wiihaveaproblem.com

[cyanide]

You're a very good influence on me, Cyanide. Haha.

What did you do now, Nick?

[ixcuincle]

Anyone know the average weight for 22 year olds , in pounds? I'm concerned about my weight...it's 135 lb which I am pretty sure is far below the average for 22 year olds.

[Oznogrd]

Hey cyanide can you add me to the list? i'm not working on weight or body fat but i've finally got back to working out from a shoulder injury and am now trying to get back to my "athlete" lifestyle. Long story, PM me if you wanna hear it but its not that interesting so i'm not putting it here; anyway i've had about 2 weeks of traing

Before Injury
Bench Press Max-210
Max Speed in chair-24.1

Post injury
Bench Press Max-Unknown
Goal: 210 or greater
Max Speed in chair
Currently-18.9
Goal: 25+


I realize my goals are pretty lofty but i think i can do it. If i could just teach myself to eat right it'd probly be a lot easier...

Peace guys.