Current Events > How are your fitness goals coming along ce? II

(+) Yeah! (+)

I planned on hitting the gym four days a week.

So not well. Been losing weight though from not eating out as much.

Bah, ate too much today for lunch. Gonna try and skip dinner today
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lol at the guy who thinks running destroys your spine

Anyway, did my biggest ever single day of ski mountaineering at 9,000 vertical feet of gain. So impressed how much my running has carried over to mountaineering. I felt weirdly fine at the end

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BreezyExcursion posted...

Aside from my desire to pick apart @The_Scarecrow 's running stats if he's not too scared to post them, I have been a member of the forums at both bodybuilding.com as well as letsrun.com and it's funny to see the contrast between guys who are adamant that running at all will "destroy your body" vs. guys who successfully build up from 0 to 70mpw in a few months without issue.

Taking high mileage advice from a bodybuilder who does not run distance is dumb, like taking bulking advice from an marathoner.

Guys who want to acquire and maintain 30lbs of muscle over their natural weight are not going to have a good time while running, not exactly shocking.

Bonus: LR thread about Tiger Woods recently saying running 30mpw destroyed his body:
https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9991380&page=1

Well, look at you, a member of a bodybuilding and letsrun forum is suddenly an expert on these things.

In late April, you completed a 20:51 5k, correct? I don't run nearly as much as you and my time is still far less than yours. Drop the ego. You get so defensive when challenged by people going as far as to tag me thinking I wouldn't respond. Chill out, tough guy. No, I'm not posting links to my track results because I don't want randoms to know who I am in real life. I think that's pretty obvious. If I cropped out all personal information, you're still going to call bullshit so I would be wasting my time. There's already a user on here who follows me around relentlessly. The less I talk about my personal life, the less he'll have against me.

A common lesson in sports(and anything) is that you're never too old or too experienced to learn something from other people. Maybe you should think about that next time before you start becoming aggressive just because people disagree and are keeping your best interests at heart, player.


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The_Scarecrow posted...

You get so defensive when challenged by people going as far as to tag me thinking I wouldn't respond.

I didn't think you would respond with recorded times, and I was correct.

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Ran 3.5 miles this morning and ust got back from a 3.5 mile walk In the park with the dog.

Feels good man

6mi @ 7:49/mi

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3 weeks into insanity and it sucks mad dick fitness makes me want to keep myself safe however i dont want to have immeasurable heft like i used to so its a sacrifice i have to make
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5.5 m at, uhhh ... 5.5 mph

nice and relaxing treadmill run, and on a slight incline

and I did 3 reps of 145 on the bench press for the first time! Usually I can only do 2. It's pretty weak and embarrassing, but I'm happy.

Onward and upward!

Did any of you guys do Starting Strength? Wondering what you thought of the program and what gains you saw from it. I have some grudges about what it made my body look like back in 2011, but would be interested in hearing other experiences.

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BreezyExcursion posted...

Did any of you guys do Starting Strength? Wondering what you thought of the program and what gains you saw from it. I have some grudges about what it made my body look like back in 2011, but would be interested in hearing other experiences.

I did it like a decade ago. I saw some newbie gains for sure, but honestly the appeal to me was always its brevity. For someone without a ton of time, programs that promise real gains for like 30 minutes 3 times a week are very tempting, even though in reality it doesn't work that way.

Honestly, I think that its not as bad as people like to say, but you really have to take the "starting" part seriously. It's a short, focused series that introduces you to a lot of major exercises you'll be doing and (for better or worse) ingrains the whole "never skip leg day" mentality, but you shouldn't linger on it.

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The_Scarecrow posted...

No, I'm not posting links to my track results because I don't want randoms to know who I am in real life. I think that's pretty obvious. If I cropped out all personal information, you're still going to call bullshit so I would be wasting my time. There's already a user on here who follows me around relentlessly. The less I talk about my personal life, the less he'll have against me. I am a baby back bitch.

posting your time in a post is so hard huh, at least you admit you're a baby back bitch

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I also did SS a decade plus ago and thought it was fine but I do think the beginner routine I did this decade was better in every way.


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Balrog0 posted...

I also did SS a decade plus ago and thought it was fine but I do think the beginner routine I did this decade was better in every way.

Honestly the best piece of advice I've seen is that the number 1 thing is consistency. Find a workout, find a healthy diet, find a routine... it doesn't matter if it's theoretically the most efficient, or the most calorie dense, or the most anything... you have to like it or you'll quit. Better to cut 400 calories a day out of your diet eating things you like than cut 800 calories out of your diet eating things you can't stand. Better to do a routine that gets you to the gym every day than one you're going to resent after 2 weeks and go back to couch surfing.

If you can nail the routine... everything else is bonus.

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I think my issue with SS was that I just did it for too long. I bought into squat, squat, squat, and followed the recommendation to not do accessory work.

My goal was to not have toothpick arms anymore, over half a year in I still had toothpick arms, but a woman's ass and a fridgelike body. At this point i picked up a bro routine and started looking a lot better.

My bro routine was probably successful partially *because* of SS, But I looked ridiculous and I was not anywhere near the point where the purists recommend to stop SS and move on to something else.

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BreezyExcursion posted...

I think my issue with SS was that I just did it for too long. I bought into squat, squat, squat, and followed the recommendation to not do accessory work.

My goal was to not have toothpick arms anymore, over half a year in I still had toothpick arms, but a woman's ass and a fridgelike body. At this point i picked up a bro routine and started looking a lot better.

My bro routine was probably successful partially *because* of SS, But I looked ridiculous and I was not anywhere near the point where the purists recommend to stop SS and move on to something else.

I bought into this too -- 'you ONLY need deadlift! King of the exercises!'

Well my 2.5bw deadlift gave me a refrigerator body and I don't give a shit how much I can lift. Much happier doing pullups and dips

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Colorahdo posted...

I bought into this too -- 'you ONLY need deadlift! King of the exercises!'

Well my 2.5bw deadlift gave me a refrigerator body and I don't give a shit how much I can lift. Much happier doing pullups and dips

I actually really enjoy deadlifts and still would be doing them if I had access to a gym. I haven't squatted in god knows how long however.

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Did it in 2013...lifts all went up, was satisfied. But I ate alot and gained alot of fat. The problem is the whole time I was feeling impatient and wanted to do a variety of lifts.... Cuz lifting is fun. I wanted to train arms, and target my lats, and shoulders, etc. SS just made me disproportionate. Would I do it again? Hell no. Since then I've periodically tried getting back into lifting. I tell myself I'll do 5x5 or SS for 3 months then switch. Each of those times my consistency fell off. Currently I restarted lifting with a modified PHUL and it's a ton of fun. I modified it to fit all the lifts I l enjoy doing. And this is the most consistent I've been since 2013. Even on miserable days I have the motivation to still get up and lift....again coming back to the concept of FUN which almost never gets talked about.

Right now I do heavy legs, heavy upper body, then volume legs, volume chest, volume back.... I have bro lifts like curls, skullcrushers, I have power lifts... Deads, squats, rows, bench, press... I also started doing power cleans twice a week. Once on heavy leg day and once on back volume day. Why? Because I genuinely enjoy doing them. This routine is fun as hell. And my programming is very simple. I'm not in a rush to increase my weights by 10 every time. I've been doing 2.5lb plates every week.

My mentality is so different now. I care less about wanting to hit a target lift PR and I care more about just day to day consistency and completing my reps without failing and without breaking form.

Balrog0 posted...

I also did SS a decade plus ago and thought it was fine but I do think the beginner routine I did this decade was better in every way.

Yeah, I liked it (and thought I looked good on it >_>) but it's a bit long in the tooth.

I like a lot of the fundamental ideas though and think squats and DLs will always be beneficial for their effect on the CNS and growth hormone levels, co-ordination etc., but these days I'm more likely to recommend something like Greyskull LP to a beginner

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Colorahdo posted...

I bought into this too -- 'you ONLY need deadlift! King of the exercises!'

Well my 2.5bw deadlift gave me a refrigerator body and I don't give a shit how much I can lift. Much happier doing pullups and dips

Deadlifts are good in the beginning. Ended up getting a minor injury (didnt fuck anything up too bad nor need surgery) a few years back, switched to weighted pull ups and never looked back.

InYourWalls1 posted...

Yeah, I liked it (and thought I looked good on it >_>) but it's a bit long in the tooth.

I like a lot of the fundamental ideas though and think squats and DLs will always be beneficial for their effect on the CNS and growth hormone levels, co-ordination etc., but these days I'm more likely to recommend something like Greyskull LP to a beginner

Any routine that incorporates compound lifts is going to be half decent. Its not so much growth hormone levels, effect on CNS or anything like that as much as it is just getting enough stimulus to break down and rebuild muscle. Things like leg extensions wont ever build the mass squats will, same goes for shoulder press vs lat raises, etc. Being an iso champ or hopping around from machine to machine is gonna end up with a beginner spinning their wheels and having huge development flaws and weak points.

I think ice cream fitness 5x5 is a good routine for beginners although Im not a fan of the guy who made it for many reasons lol. Once you get some decent strength you can start doing more volume and stuff like 4 sets of 15-20 squats at 225lb.

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I did not like how I looked when I was doing SS. My triceps and rear delts were underdeveloped. Because of weak triceps, I would plateau on bench. I was actually pushing decent numbers for my size but tbh I don't care how much I'm moving.

Here's some pics I dug up to show the difference between my accessory heavy workout where I look in a mirror and work towards what I want to be better looking. I still incorporate most of the lifts in SS. It's just not my end all be all.

Left is SS me. Right is fairly recent. My shoulders are much more rounded now. I've built some triceps. You can't see in those pictures but I had no chest on SS. Also, I'm not injuring myself anymore which is ideal. I'm oddly moving similar numbers in both pics.

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Man, I'm craving carbs so bad
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emblem boy posted...

Man, I'm craving carbs so bad

Yum

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I'm not too bad right now.

Made some steak last night that turned out terribly. Tried doing some kind of korean bbq flavoring and the entire thing was botched haha

Starting the new program today. allegedly its pretty tough so we'll see. I have a day of rest behind me which is more than usual so thats good.

prob end up drinking a little bit tonight since its friday but we'll see

squarion posted...

Yum

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I think I'm gonna try not to drink tonight. I've had alcohol every night this week so I really gotta cut back.

Just a bike day today thankfully. Gonna try to take it easy so I can lift goods tomorrow

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i cannot remember how i used to drink every day

or go to the bar, literally every day

or snort booger sugar every day

or do any of the stupid shit i used to do every day, every day

thinking about working out after any of that makes me feel sick...but strangely after a #chill sesh, I'm not so bad.

i cant remember how i used to get double meat burritos at chipotle 3x a week when now a measly regular bowl will do me in for a day
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I felt like I took it easy but I went 7.48 miles, my best ever is 7.49

So feeling pretty dang good today

Romes187 posted...

i cannot remember how i used to drink every day

or go to the bar, literally every day

or snort booger sugar every day

or do any of the stupid shit i used to do every day, every day

thinking about working out after any of that makes me feel sick...but strangely after a #chill sesh, I'm not so bad.

Tbf I haven't been drinking heavy, only a couple natty lites a night. But I feel like I can still feel the difference lol

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girlfriend restocked my whole liquor supply @_@

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BreezyExcursion posted...

girlfriend restocked my whole liquor supply @_@

Thank the gain goblin goddess
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Ok this new program kicked my ass for day 1

much more cardio involved as well

i wasnt able to get through without quitting on some moves. Did these one pushups where you use sliders and bring your knee up to do a clap in between

https://youtu.be/eE7bYlZwn_w

kinda similar to when he claps under his knees but with sliders to bring your knee forward

kicked my ass

I've been focusing more on distance than speed, but I tried a couple mile runs today on my treadmill. 8:06 for the first, and 7:51 for the second. Still not really turning it loose. Hoping to slowly work myself toward my previous best of 6:42, then get below 6:30. I can do 11-12 chin-ups with a 22-pound backpack. Without backpack I'm up to 21, surpassing my previous best of 19. Adding some weight has helped. Feeling pretty good.

NotYou posted...

I've been focusing more on distance than speed, but I tried a couple mile runs today on my treadmill. 8:06 for the first, and 7:51 for the second. Still not really turning it loose. Hoping to slowly work myself toward my previous best of 6:42, then get below 6:30. I can do 11-12 chin-ups with a 22-pound backpack. Without backpack I'm up to 21, surpassing my previous best of 19. Adding some weight has helped. Feeling pretty good.

Damn that's great dude. I can't wait to be strong enough for weighted chins again

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We need @mikhail here for a one armed pull up

@g980

Lmfao Mikhail omg what happened to him?

All dat diet soda

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who Knows

Busy day today with errands unfortunately. Haven't been able to weigh myself or eat yet much less lift

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took yesterday off, it was my first fully off day (no running, no biking, no calisthenics) in over two weeks.

today did 4.6mi with harder half mile intervals in the middle of it to get more comfortable at 6min/mi pace. brutal while wearing a mask.

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Decent workout today. I'm consistently improving my AMRAP volume between my first and second bench/squat days, which is good, but I'm starting to notice it's harder to finish my accessory work. I'm not sure if it's just losing weight or if other factors are involved though

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Anyone here do yoga? If so, any good YouTube recommendations or videos in general?

For those of you who lift, check out this app called Personal training Coach. It's pretty awesome, its simple no fluff, tracks every workout, it times your rest periods, tells you how much weight to do next session.

LameFAQs posted...

Anyone here do yoga? If so, any good YouTube recommendations or videos in general?

I know a lot of people were into something called DDP Yoga a few years ago. Maybe @Romes187 has some insight.

Billy__Beane posted...

For those of you who lift, check out this app called Personal training Coach. It's pretty awesome, its simple no fluff, tracks every workout, it times your rest periods, tells you how much weight to do next session.

Interesting, I'll check it out.

Weighing whether or not I wanna do my bike today or just relax. Might take the day off

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I don't exactly have a scale so it's hard to measure my progress but my diet has improved dramatically since lock down. I'm eating very well every day and I've dropped some weight. I'm also going on 1 mile walks around 3-5 times per week. Overall my health is improving dramatically.

Ive never tried yoga but want to.

took yesterday off and maybe today depending on if the kids let us workout. Lil fuckers...

home gym just lying on the floor if I have to press. Not ideal but sacrifices must be made during the great 2020 pandemic

jeffhardyb0yz posted...

Where are you guys benching and stuff! Gyms open where you are?

I've got a weight bench at home. Got it for free, but it's a little awkward because it's slightly crooked. Barely noticeable, but it feels just a touch off. Still, free is free and it's nice to be able to bench right at home.