The get fit, stay fit thread

[Boostin' Kev]

Good distance even for a regular swimmer, that's almost a mile.

[DigOutYourSoul]

Had been off the gym since July 2015 when I started a new job. Before that I was in decent shape and had been working out for about 18 months on and off.

In January I decided enough was enough at 14 stone 4 and I got myself back into the gym. Done 4 weeks of 4 days full body workouts in January to get myself back into the swing of things. in February I started a 4 days split: back/bis, chest/tris, legs, shoulders - with rest days wed, sat, sun (golf on Saturday counts as rest).

Planning on doing this programme until the end of April, as I'm seeing some decent results. Lifts getting heavier and maintaining form. A friend asked me to film my deadlifts and even I was surprised at the form - just need to sink my hips a little lower.

Then I'm going to start jim stoppani shortcut to shred from the second week in May to July (going on holiday on the 1st). Will struggle to stick strictly to the diet in that programme but will give it my best shot - struggle at work on low carb days. Going to split it over 7 weeks as I think I'll struggle to make the gym 6 days a week so will take the total 36 workouts and split them over 7 weeks.

Currently trying to get around 230g of protein a day to help build muscle, 2 tins of tuna at lunch helps a long way. But needing to split my meals out into having 2 lunches rather than all at once - again not always possible with meetings etc.

Feel like I'm getting there but enjoy my weekends too much, which does halt progress a little.

[Unleash The Nade]

Been overdoing it lately tbh.

Been going to gym almost every day for the last 3 weeks doing cardio ( mainly Wattbike) and low weights with high reps, plus all my cycling.

Despite being given advice to do so  , not been taking enough rest days to let my body recover, so feel totally fucked now .

Lesson learnt !

 

 

[Boostin' Kev]

11 hours ago, DigOutYourSoul said:

Had been off the gym since July 2015 when I started a new job. Before that I was in decent shape and had been working out for about 18 months on and off.

In January I decided enough was enough at 14 stone 4 and I got myself back into the gym. Done 4 weeks of 4 days full body workouts in January to get myself back into the swing of things. in February I started a 4 days split: back/bis, chest/tris, legs, shoulders - with rest days wed, sat, sun (golf on Saturday counts as rest).

Planning on doing this programme until the end of April, as I'm seeing some decent results. Lifts getting heavier and maintaining form. A friend asked me to film my deadlifts and even I was surprised at the form - just need to sink my hips a little lower.

Then I'm going to start jim stoppani shortcut to shred from the second week in May to July (going on holiday on the 1st). Will struggle to stick strictly to the diet in that programme but will give it my best shot - struggle at work on low carb days. Going to split it over 7 weeks as I think I'll struggle to make the gym 6 days a week so will take the total 36 workouts and split them over 7 weeks.

Currently trying to get around 230g of protein a day to help build muscle, 2 tins of tuna at lunch helps a long way. But needing to split my meals out into having 2 lunches rather than all at once - again not always possible with meetings etc.

Feel like I'm getting there but enjoy my weekends too much, which does halt progress a little.

Don't worry about number of meals a day it's the overall daily macro intake that's important.

[Boostin' Kev]

10 hours ago, Unleash The Nade said:

Been overdoing it lately tbh.

Been going to gym almost every day for the last 3 weeks doing cardio ( mainly Wattbike) and low weights with high reps, plus all my cycling.

Despite being given advice to do so  , not been taking enough rest days to let my body recover, so feel totally fucked now .

Lesson learnt !

 

 

Happens to me all the time.  I always take 1 day off a week but it's sometimes not enough.

[Al B]

21 hours ago, Dee Man said:

This is my gym program for the next 4 weeks. One body area per day with a rest on 4th day. 

Too easy.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Don't mean to seem nosey but I'm curious to where you got this programme from?

I'm sure others will disagree but that's faaaaaaarrrr too much each day. Also it's a strange split...chest and triceps make sense as you are using tri's in pressing movements. You use biceps in pulling movements through so pairing them with another push day in shoulders wouldn't be ideal. Back/Biceps would make much more sense.

If you're using splits like that, chest/tri's, back/bi's and shoulders/abs would be more ideal.

I still reckon that volume per day is counter-productive though, although as I say I'm sure some would disagree.

[Dee Man]

1 minute ago, Al B said:

Don't mean to seem nosey but I'm curious to where you got this programme from?

I'm sure others will disagree but that's faaaaaaarrrr too much each day. Also it's a strange split...chest and triceps make sense as you are using tri's in pressing movements. You use biceps in pulling movements through so pairing them with another push day in shoulders wouldn't be ideal. Back/Biceps would make much more sense.

If you're using splits like that, chest/tri's, back/bi's and shoulders/abs would be more ideal.

I still reckon that volume per day is counter-productive though, although as I say I'm sure some would disagree.

It's a 12 week fitness programme/competition that's done twice a year in Australia. It's split into 3 x 4 week phases and this is the final phase. I've had tremendous results so far but when this final phase was released the other day I thought "Fucking hell, no wonder they guarantee you results if you stick with the programme". 

It's pretty intense but I'm going to get stuck in for the last 4 weeks. I don't think anyone would realistically attempt to carry on that level of intensity on a regular basis.

Btw, the last 4 weeks had pulling and pushing exercises on separate days. What's the problem with having both on the same day?

[Al B]

No real problem as such, just your biceps are getting worked massively as part of your back workout (or any pull exercise), so it tends to make sense to keep them together. If you do biceps separately on a different day then you're eating into their recovery time.

Just different ways of doing different splits, some people do push day/pull day/leg day, some people do opposites whereby you work opposing muscles one after the other (bicep exercise followed by a tricep exercise, chest exercise followed by back exercise), some people do whole body workouts with rest days in between. As long as it's safe then it's really down to whatever works best for the individual.

 

If it's some kind of competition/challenge type thing that explains the volume, but in terms of general training I'd always say that's far too much per session.

[Al B]

Additionally just another point on the back/biceps thing. As with anything (not just the body), any movement is only as strong as it's weakest part. Therefore if you have done a biceps day and then try to do a back day before your biceps have fully recovered, you'll tend to find that you won't be working your back to it's full potential as your biceps will tire before your back is getting the chance to get there.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Al B

[Dee Man]

These two posts have explained a fair bit as to why certain things are (aren't) happening in the gym. Not being able to do as many reps as before in some sessions, for one.

[Al B]

You can actually use that realisation to your advantage as a training technique though.

For example if you're doing bench press, for the most part you're actually lifting until your triceps fatigue, as opposed to your chest...which means your chest isn't always being pushed to it's full potential. What you can do though is "pre-fatigue" your chest by doing a movement that doesn't involve the triceps...bench-fly's or machine fly's for example. Then when you move on to bench press your actually working your chest a lot harder within the capability of your triceps.

You won't be able to push as much weight....but the actual weight doesn't matter in the gym, it's just the way used to reference the ratio between reps and muscle capability, and keep that balanced. Effectively about how hard you work the muscle as opposed to how much you can lift; there's so many ways to work a muscle harder that don't involve adding weight.

[The Minertaur]

Have been cutting back on all the crap I eat and doing some cardio stuff at the gym.  In February I was 15 stone 3 but when I weighed myself last night it was down to 14 stone 7.  Delighted but haven't noticed that much of a difference in the mirror.  Will keep doing the cardio stuff for a little while before moving on to weights.

Biggest thing for me is cutting back on alcohol.  Been out for tea a few times and I would almost always have a beer or two with dinner.  Been out for tea a few times since February and have stuck to water or diet coke.  Haven't missed it but know when I do finally cave and have a beer (next Friday) that I'll enjoy it all the more!

[mjw]

Have been cutting back on all the crap I eat and doing some cardio stuff at the gym.  In February I was 15 stone 3 but when I weighed myself last night it was down to 14 stone 7.  Delighted but haven't noticed that much of a difference in the mirror.  Will keep doing the cardio stuff for a little while before moving on to weights.
Biggest thing for me is cutting back on alcohol.  Been out for tea a few times and I would almost always have a beer or two with dinner.  Been out for tea a few times since February and have stuck to water or diet coke.  Haven't missed it but know when I do finally cave and have a beer (next Friday) that I'll enjoy it all the more!

Are you noticing a difference in your clothes?
Belt a little looser or a T-shirt that fits better?
That's always my guide when I'm at the cardio.

[The Minertaur]

2 minutes ago, mjw said:

Are you noticing a difference in your clothes?
Belt a little looser or a T-shirt that fits better?
That's always my guide when I'm at the cardio.

Slightly. I've just bought a new belt so haven't noticed a difference with that but at the gym yesterday I noticed my top was fitting better.  I'm delighted anyway as that's basically half a stone in a few months with the gym only being used in the last 10 days.

[Boostin' Kev]

That routine posted by Dee Man does look like overkill.

[Mr Hahn]

I'm inclined to agree, how do you manage 5 x 12 back squats with only 30 secs rest?! Even for my warm up sets for squats I take at least a minute and the highest reps I ever do on it is 8 (though I'm passed that point of the training cycle).

Squats are becoming increasingly tough for me as they come after my olympic lift practice and my quads are generally quite burned after that. Did manage a 5 rep front squat PR the other day though.

[DigOutYourSoul]

What are people's thoughts on supersets?

I don't use them at all as part of the programme I've been following but yesterday I was a bit short on time so to cut down rest periods I supersetted part of my back/bi routine.

Barbell row/ez bar curl
Single arm pull down/preacher curl
Seated row/seated curl

This morning I noticed a big difference in how I felt, guessing this is as much to do with shock as anything else? Didn't change weights at all from last weeks routine.

Might add super sets in occasionally just to change things up. On this programme until the end of April so might mix it up a little.

[Diamonds are Forever]

On 30/03/2017 at 21:24, Unleash The Nade said:

Been overdoing it lately tbh.

Been going to gym almost every day for the last 3 weeks doing cardio ( mainly Wattbike) and low weights with high reps, plus all my cycling.

Despite being given advice to do so  , not been taking enough rest days to let my body recover, so feel totally fucked now .

Lesson learnt !

 

 

 

I've had this issue before, I find going to the gym far easier if it's part of my daily routine, as soon as I start going 4-5 days a week I find end up with the 'I'll go tomorrow' attitude and quickly tail off. Now I go more or less every day but will have 'recovery days' where I do very little, some light cardio or a swim.

[The Chlamydia Kid]

Agree with the above. I seldom lack motivation to go but when I train 6 days a week- which I have all year then I just he's to the gym automatically when I finish work. If I had the luxury of more than one day off I would use my rest days on unplanned off days.

I'm down from 17-5 at new year to 15st dead on Saturday. I am going to diet till I get to my old fighting weight of 14-4......for a day and then I will eat myself into a oblivion and undo it all.

[Unleash The Nade]

2 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I've had this issue before, I find going to the gym far easier if it's part of my daily routine, as soon as I start going 4-5 days a week I find end up with the 'I'll go tomorrow' attitude and quickly tail off. Now I go more or less every day but will have 'recovery days' where I do very little, some light cardio or a swim.

Yup, I've decided to start doing " recovery" days too

Went for an hour today and just did lots of stretching and a 10 minute gentle Wattbike spin the  sauna and swim