Workin' out brah!?

[Rowan]

^ smith machine bars are different from olympic bars because it's supported. Everything I've read and everyone I've asked basically don't count that weight, or considers it too minimal to consider.

oh i skipped the part about smith machines. Hmmm.. I think though that if you havn't got anyone to spot you, you are better off using dumbells or any kind of machine if you want to lift heavier. Sucks when you're trying to hit that next level on the bench only to have it rest on your chest cause you cant make that last rep.

[Tifa]

Joined the two plate club! ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨
Hit a 225lb deadlift on the 20th. Super happy, but now I need a new year-end goal lmao

[Rowan]

Joined the two plate club! ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨
Hit a 225lb deadlift on the 20th. Super happy, but now I need a new year-end goal lmao

how many reps? My max is 2 plates (each side) with 5 reps

[Tifa]

Just one! Targets for these numbers are 1RMs. But also that was at the end of a 2.5 hour workout lol. I'm a little surprised I could hit it but also that I could 5rep my 1rm from the 7th.

[Robbo]

@ Tifa Gj That's a lot of weight to shift, proud of ya ^^
@ Rowan The more I read of you in this thread, it seems like you've been lifting weights with a solid routine for a very long time.

So the update is I've lost another half a stone and my weights are steadily getting easier or heavier, smith machine is still the thing i'm struggling with the most although if it was a bench i feel like i'd be able to lift more due to panic and fear rather than skill.

Also i got really close to hurting my shoulder, the guy I train with is stopping coming to the gym for a while due to family issues so I was on my own and was doing shoulders I lifted the 20kg for 3 sets then I usually do a set of each until I drop down to 14KG then move on. I had hold of the 18Kg in the air and when my arm outstretched the weight moved my arm backwards luckily I fought against it almost immediately and corrected it i still felt a little pain but nothing serious and it's fine now, It annoyed me for a couple of workouts but nothing bad.

[Rowan]

@ Tifa Gj That's a lot of weight to shift, proud of ya ^^
@ Rowan The more I read of you in this thread, it seems like you've been lifting weights with a solid routine for a very long time.

Ive tried many different routines as well.


So heres a little update on my progress. I am currently changing things up and its a big deal to me because it means a lifestyle change. I am now in a cutting stage where I aim to lose 10kg before I continue muscle building. So the way I am going to achieve this without losing muscle is to continue lifting as heavy as I was before, but ultimately with fewer reps and fewer sets at a caloric defecit. This ensures I'm stimulating my muscles to my maximum, whilst burning calories and eating less will create the defecit I need to gradually lose the weight. Adding cardio (running) to the end of each day is going to be very important not only for burning those extra calories, but for my overall health.

I am aiming for 2km within 20 minutes (my previous best was 17:22), although I am highly open to sugguestion here. How far do you run?

Joined the two plate club! ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨
Hit a 225lb deadlift on the 20th. Super happy, but now I need a new year-end goal lmao

Make your new goal not to increase the weight, but to be able to do 3 reps with it or something.

[Tifa]

I'm always looking to increase my 1rm but doing multiple reps is always a given.

[Rowan]

I'm always looking to increase my 1rm but doing multiple reps is always a given.

When im building mass I use the rule "three sets of eight, up the weight". I made that up and it rhymes , makes me feel clever and that it has a higher legitimate purpose.

[che]

So, I just learned that our Major League Soccer team, which has been really successful in the past few years, (1 MLS cup, 1 Open Cup in the past 2-3 years), has a new USL team. Think of it as like, the league right before major league. They get paid. Not much, but still. The point is the people that are playing want to be there. This is where the competition is before MLS.

I'm 29, so I've basically written off trying out for any MLS teams, as the average soccer player age is like 21-30. After that, only the really athletic and genetically superior people who are fit continue to play until about 35-37 at the latest. It really is a young sport at the top tier. However, in USL, it's possible to play until like 40ish. So a few of my friends brought to my attention that they are having tryouts in a month. Now, I've been not running, not working out (except periodically, randomly running a mile, etc). Drinking soda, drinking beer, and sitting on my ass playing games. I may not make these tryouts, but does anyone have any like...core workouts (core/legs/squat type stuff, burpees)? I've not actually trained for soccer in YEARS. I think I do have what it takes to play, but I'm incredibly out of shape (In the sense that if I stopped eating halloween candy, lost 10 pounds of fat and gained 10 pounds of muscle, and could run more than 3 miles at a time without dying, I'd be back in there, minus my muscles not being as developed as they were in the past).

[OceanEyes28]

che, you'd probably benefit from HIIT. Sprints and shit. Hill sprints, too. Steady state cardio will be helpful to you, but that takes a bit longer to build up. Since your sport of choice is soccer, being able to sprint and recover quickly so that you can sprint again seems like the most important thing to focus on, imo.

Also HIIT is touted for getting people to drop weight quickly, so there's that, for the short term.

If you can sprint up an incline and then jog back down to recover before sprinting up again, for example. Then again, you do live in ****ing Kansas, so finding a hill might be challenging.

You could play with Tabata style workouts, too. Burpees for 30 seconds, rest 10 seconds, another 30 seconds of burpees, etc. You can super set that with push ups, squats, situps, planks, pull-ups, so on.

I would say, yes, definitely do planks for core strength and stabilization.

If you have access to strength equipment, that will help, too. Adding in squats, deadlifts, and straight-leg deadlifts helps a lot with my running days, and would help with your fast twitch muscle fibers, which you'll need for sprinting (go heavy for 1-5 reps).



Also congratulations, Tiff! My hero. <3

[noxious.sunshine]

I walked my dog.... A whopping 6 miles. A little more than 6 miles actually.

w00t!

[Rowan]

Lost 4kg so far.

COME AT ME, TUNA SALAD AND VEGE FRITTERS!!!

doing the vegan thang (except fish). Serz. no dairy, no meat, just fishyfishy with rabbit food.


...kill me.

[Pete]

Pescatarian mofos!

I'm going to be changing my diet shortly. My breakfasts and lunches are usually healthy, but I have to cut out garbage dinners and beers. Maybe switch to only weekend drinking

[Rowan]

Pescatarian mofos!

I'm going to be changing my diet shortly. My breakfasts and lunches are usually healthy, but I have to cut out garbage dinners and beers. Maybe switch to only weekend drinking

we need a support group for this shit.

[OceanEyes28]

Cry more

And then cook better. <3



I'm just teasin, bros, I am happy that you are getting results from your diet. I do feel that being a pescetarian was super easy, but I have always sort of leaned that way (never did eat much chicken, pig, cow, etc). Have you been trying veggie recipes or just winging it?

[Rowan]

Cry more

And then cook better. <3



I'm just teasin, bros, I am happy that you are getting results from your diet. I do feel that being a pescetarian was super easy, but I have always sort of leaned that way (never did eat much chicken, pig, cow, etc). Have you been trying veggie recipes or just winging it?

My fiance' is really supportive and doing it with me. She made us vege fritters using coleslaw and breadcrums, they actually tasted really nice after adding some brown rice to the dish. So yeah, coleslaw fritters, guess you could say we are winging it LOL. we are gonna just use corn, carrot, onion and celery next time. But that couples with tuna salads and other kinds of coleslaw salads have been really helpful, where otherwise I would be eating some form of bread-burger-cheese combo.

[OceanEyes28]

Haha well that sounds pretty good. Curries are really easy to make vegan, you could try a few chickpea curry recipes! And it's easy to make "taco meat" with walnuts, oil, and spices and then you can load it up with avocado, salsa, shredded veggies, etc.

Bean burritos. And red beans and rice. And curries, chilis, soups.

I followed a recipe for a killer beetroot burger patty once. All my friends who ate meat were like "whaaaaaat" and one friend in particular is always asking if I'm making something with beets any time soon. Dude loves beets now.

Try beets if you want purple poo.

[Rowan]

Can confirm I have dropped from 91.5kg to 86.1kg

it sucks lifting to maintain, cause thats the best i can hope for in this state of weight loss.

But im starting to see shapes that I've never seen before, where the muscles been hiding under this layer of fat. It looks pretty awesome, so im gonna lose about another 5kg's and then upload a photo to show y'all. Might take me another 6 weeks to lose that weight depending on how my body reacts to losing weight, at this weight. As I've learned, its slightly more complex than calories in>calories out, but I think i've got the hang of it...

[Clint]

I walked my dog.... A whopping 6 miles. A little more than 6 miles actually.

w00t!

This is about the extent that I work out. I have to resort to exercising at work, which is pretty easy, because I'm always lifting heavy things and squatting down and shit, but that and walking my dog is the extent of my exercise regiment.


It's the best I can do. It's not like I can join a gym. I don't think they'll let my dog in.

[noxious.sunshine]

This is about the extent that I work out. I have to resort to exercising at work, which is pretty easy, because I'm always lifting heavy things and squatting down and shit, but that and walking my dog is the extent of my exercise regiment.


It's the best I can do. It's not like I can join a gym. I don't think they'll let my dog in.

For once, my back wasn't in excruciating pain, so I did it.

My "little sister" was here last week and we walked around Manhattan a bunch... 8 miles one day, 12 another. Went to the Dir en Grey concert and was smooshed in so hard and forced to mosh with the people around me. Not doing so was too uncomfortable and was making my pants fall down my ass a bit. I was completely soaked in sweat by the end of the night. So there's another good workout I suppose.

As soon as my ID gets replaced (over Christmas break), I'm getting a membership to the Y so that I can get back into swimming. <3 It's the one thing I can do that isn't murder on my back. And I actually enjoy it. I could go for hours. I'm sure my butterfly form is horrendous now, though ha.

Speaking of backs - apparently I have sciatica, but I don't really think that's it. Went to the ER because it was just getting to be too much and the PA decided that's what it is, even though the pain isn't exactly what he was thinking it is. I just couldn't seem to get him to understand and gave up. All I got was an rx for Flexaril (I -hate- muscle relaxers. I hate being groggy for the whole day after being knocked out for 8 or 10 hours... And I still feel the back pain) & 600mg Motrin (which doesn't do shit). I need to go to an actual doctor and figure out what's really wrong. It's getting ridiculous and I can't stand it.

[OceanEyes28]

Ran 13.1 miles last Sunday what uuup

I am pleased.

[Rowan]

Ran 13.1 miles last Sunday what uuup

I am pleased.

I dont get people who can run that far. How is that even possible? thats like 30km's. Dont get me wrong, congrats n all!

I've been making some progress of my own. Im now down to 84.5kg from 91.5kg which is a total loss of 7kg.
During this wieght loss period i've been maintaining a strong emphasis on weight lifting and am still able to lift the same weight I was before I started my weight loss, which means ive managed to lose 7kg whilst maintaining my muscle mass, so naturally im pretty stoked with my results!

so im thinking maybe ill put myself back into a caloric surplus once I hit 81kg,
Any thoughts??

[loaf]

I dont get people who can run that far. How is that even possible? thats like 30km's.

Same can be said about people who lift massive amount of weights. It takes time and slow increase to that, it's not like she started doing 13 miles immediately. She started small and went from there.

[Crescent]

Personally I never keep track of how far I run, I just run till I feel better which is always 1-2 hrs. Its more a mental exercise for me than it is physical I think.

Last week my friends n I drove out to the rural areas outside of Sydney to play Paintball. It was hot enough even without the armour/gear on and the guns were ok, lil heavier than I expected. The sessions started at 10 n we stayed there till 2. Did not expect it to be such an intense workout, alot of crouching, crawling, diving, sprinting, dodging and shooting its very fast paced n strategic. I only shot 4 ppl lol 2 in the head n 1 on the shoulder n my friend on the hand xD since theres no protection on her hands there was swelling. The whole experience was so much fun bt fkng expensive! We plan on going go again tmz if its not too hot. The next day I had a wedding to attend to (wearin heels) n my legs killed esp my thighs but since it was that good kinda pain u get after an intense workout I didnt whinge to anybody haha.

Strange things always happen when I take my bby for a wk. So I was walking my dog thru the park 2 days ago after work n he wanted to rest so we stopped n sat on one of the benches that overlooks a long strip of pavement near the main road. I spotted a cute dog walking along there n his owner not too far behind waving to sumbody (one of the tradies I thought that was working on the huge grass area behind me) then all of a sudden he started busting out into a dance lmao. Hed pause n then wave at some imaginary person n then bust out some moves again the whole way along the footpath. There was an old man who passed me n was walking in that guy's direction then he saw him dancing n turned back xD.

[OceanEyes28]

Haha a year ago, I would have said, "No, I don't want to run longer than 4 or 5 miles at a time."

It just sort of happened. And yeah, I added on a little bit each week, making sure my longest runs didn't make up more than 50% of my weekly mileage. Sometimes I run with music, sometimes I run without. Two weeks ago, I did 12.35 miles without music and it was a really nice time to think about some things. I agree with Crescent that it's a mental exercise. It takes physical endurance, but I'm mostly just meditating while on the move. I find it healing. Although I do like keeping track of mileage and pace because it's like a videogame for my legs/heart haha.

Oh, and it's often beautiful. Here, look.

From yesterday morning.


From a few days ago when it was raining.


Last Saturday.

[Crescent]

^Pretty

Usual Morning run today n dancing with a friend in her new apartment to JB's new album<3 Sorry, Children and Company are my faves.

New runners are in order.

[Rowan]

So I copped shin splints about a month ago, and I'm still recovering. I've read it can take upto 2 months to heal properly depending on the severity, and lets just say I probably overdid it with my running. Instead I've been doing bike until my shins are healed.

ANYWAY

Progress in terms of overall weightloss have slowed down a lot. So I've come down from 91 and im stuck at 84. My diet is clean, I've cut down on red meat a lot and have been eating far more fish, chicken and salads. Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty good. I also somehow managed to increase my lifts despite being in a caloric defecit. Benchpress, tricep bicep and back have all seen improvements since I start this defecit about 5 weeks ago. I think i'll just keep up the pace and see where it takes me.