Gym And Supplement Discussion

[Flynnn]

What motivates me the most is looking at other people who are more physically developed, fit, muscled and chiseled. I then use this drive, determination, and want as my motivation.

I set my self certain goals to achieve which never ends, this is how i get by my gym routine for the past 7 years i've been working out.

Say i achieve my goal, i set my self another one to next level up. I work hard to get to that goal and once i think i've reach that goal, i look at my body in place which would need improving.. it's a never ending pattern.

Another great motivational tool is listening to others around you envy your fit athletic body, getting endless compliments.. to be honest, it feeds my ego hahahaha. It makes me feel superior and the girls love a rock hard athletic body wanting a bit of touch and feel of you.

Edited January 20, 2010 by Barbarian

[TTT]

from what I've read so far, it's best to do really hard excercise for say an hour a day to increase base metabolism whilst modifying diet accordingly?

exactly mate.

focus on doing difficult movements. the ones that take the most out of you.

example - heavy squats.

it uses heaps more energy and muscle groups than bicep curls.

get your workout done within an hour or 45 minutes.

then just eat like a horse and sleep.

it's that simple.

simple on paper (or pixels in this case) but very hard to do.

Google "starting strength" and read up on that.

it seems simple.

Monday

squat 3 sets of 5 reps

Bench 3 sets of 5 reps

deadlift 1 set of 5 reps

Wednesday

Squat 3 sets of 5 reps

Standing Overhead press 3 sets of 5 reps

Power cleans 5 sets of 3 reps

Friday = same as Monday

easy yeah?

try it.

each time you can get the number of reps for the number of sets, you make note to increase the weight next time.

so if you did 3 x 5 squats with 60kg on Monday, wednesday you try for 3x5 of 62.5kg or 65kg if it was really easy on Monday

etc.

to work out what you should start at, get under the bar and keep doing sets of 5 reps of squats and increasing the weight each set.

when you get to the point where you can't get the 5th rep, go back to the weight you were using 2 sets ago and make that the starting weight for that exercise.

same for the other movements.

and eat!

[bozodos]

so to start the ball rolling on this, I'm going to need a gym membership aren't I

[TTT]

well... if you want to lift weights and get strong, you either go to a gym or buy equipment for home.

I got sick of glove wearing, dumbell kick back doing drop kicks so I got stuff for home.

all up it set me back about $1K

and it's good for life.

[bozodos]

lol I'll have to start scrounging then, good food for thought though, I know a surprising amount of people who own weights but never use them in favour of doing light cardio!

[dezz]

Squats 3 x 20

MP 3 x 10

Rows 3 x 10

BP 3 x 10

SLDL 3 x 20

Curls 3 x 10

[TTT]

big work load

how long does that take you?

[rev210]

so to start the ball rolling on this, I'm going to need a gym membership aren't I

If you want, to start with you can get away without the gym membership if you haven't done anything in recent years and will be good to prepare the body for greater loads. So you can hit the gym and get greater value from it.

There are some simple movements that require little or no equipment that will start the ball rolling and then there is basic stretching. There is plenty of info around on some of these movements and I am sure some of the guys on here can suggest some too. One thing to address early that is essential to developing more muslce is range of motion (ROM).

Sometimes the job and lifestyle can lead to a big lack of flexibillity.

If you sit at a desk alot then the hips, lower & upper back, shoulders and hamstrings will most likely need a little work to get to a point where you have sufficient ROM to perform excersises without issues. There are some minimums you want to get sorted in that regard before you jump into any heavy compound routine or really any routine. Not being able to touch your toes is a good sign you need to get some daily stretching in 'before' you go nuts. If you can't touch your toes then squats, deadlifts and a bunch of other things are out for you till you can. A basic stretch between sets is a good idea and certainly during the week to offset the reactions the muscles have in terms of swelling and the resultant reduction of ROM but, if you can't touch your toes you are going to be going backwards or get injured when the spine is taking up the slack.

Easy to get started. Find some stretches for hips, back, legs and whatever else you are going to train that need some basic ROM help. Set goals such as 'touch you toes' and do a few stretches every day / second day to get there. Shouldn't take long. You might find however that if you have had a desk job for many years you will need a session at a physio to get the knotted muscles relaxed (prepare for some pain). It won't be unusual to find everything from your rotator cuff to the calf muscles are knotted up if you have had the classic sit at a computer job.

Excersise wise, things like squats and deads can be performed without any weight or with light loads from around the house when you start out, it will develop you and help with form training and give the slow developing skelatal and nervous systems time to prepare for the faster developing muscles it has to support when you go harder. Variations of simple things like pushups can provide loads equivalent to gym based excersises. For example, doing push ups with your feet up on a wall, you can vary the angle to increase the force all the way to hand stand ones (impress your friends and you WILL have shoulders that indicate you can do this). You can do chin ups with a pergola, chuck a towel over the cross beam to prevent splinters etc. Lots of stuff to do and I reckon there might be a bunch of movements the guys on here can suggest also.

Later, even if the money runs out for the gym , you can train at home even up to a fairly advanced level with some plyometric movements that require little or no weight but, will apply forces of the same magnitude as weight loaded bars. Like anything caution to good form and rest is required. The bonus with these is you develop muscle speed. I do a cycle every once in a while.

Before having a good go at anything though you need to get someone to tell you or preferably show you how to perform things with good form, so you don't get hurt.

There are 'core control' and muscle control techniques which are a part of 'good form' which ideally should be mastered before you go silly on a variety of the big load compound movements. Things like scapular retraction (pulling the shoulder blades together , chest out), you need to develop control with this one, lots of movements require it to ensure safety and maximum efficiency. Good form will not only keep you safe from injury ( I haven't had a single one yet and have lifted pretty heavy) but, will ensure you extract the maximum from your lifts.

Hope that helps

Edited January 21, 2010 by rev210

[bozodos]

thanks rev210, I'd seen some 25L water buckets around the house that I figure I could use at least to start off with (with varying amounts of water), I had assumed that good stretching would be integral to not being hurt - luckily I have not worked at an office job - my sedentary lifestyle has only been kicked off by unemployment - I can still touch my toes thank god, but starting off with stretches sounds like a good idea.

[rev210]

thanks rev210, I'd seen some 25L water buckets around the house that I figure I could use at least to start off with (with varying amounts of water), I had assumed that good stretching would be integral to not being hurt - luckily I have not worked at an office job - my sedentary lifestyle has only been kicked off by unemployment - I can still touch my toes thank god, but starting off with stretches sounds like a good idea.

The 25L buckets = upto 25kg when full of water so thats a pretty decent amount to get you going.

Face down and side facing bridges are good to throw in as stretches as well. Work up to being able to hold them for 3 - 5 minutes as a good base. If you can do that then you will have a starting step for the core control training and it's good for your lower back.

[dezz]

big work load

how long does that take you?

I'm not doing that program any more while pre-season is on as with the 3 nights of running a week, the 3 squat sessions take their toll, as do the deadlifts when you've already strained both hamstrings in the past.

But it took me about an hour when I was doing it.

[Flynnn]

I had a good squat & leg press session yesterday.

140kg Squat using the smith machine and 410kg leg press, oh my, ass cheeks are killing me now

Edited January 21, 2010 by Barbarian

[topher_]

I had a good squat & leg press session yesterday.

140kg Squat using the smith machine and 410kg leg press, oh my, ass cheeks are killing me now

You sure that's from the squats?

[Leif]

Great thread chaps, it's been a really interesting read for me. There's obviously a lot of knowledge in this thread, so I'll explain my scenario and maybe you guys will have some good advice for me.

I play squash two or three times and week, and cricket a couple of times a week. I run a couple of times a week if i'm bored, but prefer to play sport than run if I can. I'm 6'6", and only weigh 88kg, so i'm lean.

For strength training, all I do is pushups, military presses, and situps.

What i'd like to do is improve the power in my legs to get that little extra court speed. A little extra strength never hurt either. I notice you guys all emphasise the importance of rest/recovery between sessions. I find it hard to fit weights routines in between sport, and so I don't think my body's getting adequate rest time. Can you suggest a way that i can improve my overall strength, most importantly leg strength, without compromising my sport performance too much?

[Birds]

On what days do you play what, and at what times during the day/night? If you can give us that information it'll better help us fit in a proper routine for you to do exercise. If you're getting inadequate rest days perhaps you should be doing your exercises on days when you play sport...then you have the next day to recouperate.

I know you prefer to play sport than run but for body speed IMO there's no better training than the motion itself. Static leg exercises will give you stronger leg muscles and it's better than nothing, but the motion of running is rather unique in the muscles and joints that it uses - this is what I think you should target. Perhaps try increasing the resistance of your running, i.e. fast sprints up hills and/or extra weight added on. Given your requirement for short agile movements (e.g. squash court), an emphasis on lots of short sprints is probably more ideal rather than long distance running.

[TTT]

Squats and Milk.

you need lots of both.

for your requirement of power/strength and for your 88kg on 6'6 frame.

you'll get heavier but you'll also be more powerful and explosive.

[rev210]

Great thread chaps, it's been a really interesting read for me. There's obviously a lot of knowledge in this thread, so I'll explain my scenario and maybe you guys will have some good advice for me.

I play squash two or three times and week, and cricket a couple of times a week. I run a couple of times a week if i'm bored, but prefer to play sport than run if I can. I'm 6'6", and only weigh 88kg, so i'm lean.

For strength training, all I do is pushups, military presses, and situps.

What i'd like to do is improve the power in my legs to get that little extra court speed. A little extra strength never hurt either. I notice you guys all emphasise the importance of rest/recovery between sessions. I find it hard to fit weights routines in between sport, and so I don't think my body's getting adequate rest time. Can you suggest a way that i can improve my overall strength, most importantly leg strength, without compromising my sport performance too much?

small amount of plyometric training will be the go. There are excersises to look up that will get what you need around those specifics. Look up plyometrics. Hope that helps.

[Flynnn]

I had another gut wrenching leg work out tonight, although my body could only tolerate a hard 160kg squat work out.

By the time i was finished i was perspiring in in the bucket loads, feeling dizzy, very pale and had this massive urge to vomit out...

Thought that's it, i've finished all my energy for tonight so head home. After i got home i took a nice dump and felt my body return back to normal.

Contemplating on going back again right now to finish off leg press, leg extension and calf workout

I've also begun cardio these days making sure i do a 2.5km jog before i head out of gym

trying to get my self into the mood by watching Johnnie Jackson

Edited February 3, 2010 by Barbarian

[Birds]

He did an isolation exercise! Somebody stop him!

[TTT]

yeah..

and he did quarter depth squats, quarter depth leg presses, half arsed leg extentions with no 6 second holds up top (shock horror)

good genetics and but load of drugs do wonderful things don't they.

Why would you follow the routine of someone like Johnny Jackson?

do you have the muscularity that he has?

where doing isolation exercises might be of some use?

Do you also do your leg ext with that ROM?

and do you squat and leg press with that tiny ROM?

you'll do well.