Exercise Log Thread 2: Who ate all the pies?

[xor]

Bah I've been on and off at the gym for a while but I've been going a fair bit over the past 4months. About 3-4times a week
Taken my bench up to 80kg and squating 120kg. I was about 79,80kg mark but now around 84-85kg. Mainly due to eating heaps as I was only 5ft10 on 79kg, now 85kg

I mainly do core weights like Squats, Deadlifts, chinups

[[HO]-Kahn]

You probably know most of this, but my usual eating day is
1. cup of rolled oats and low fat milk, fat free yogurt, apple
2. grilled chicken breast + brown rice (sometimes add some veges if i can make room)
3. shake - low fat milk, oats, whey, low fat cottage cheese, natural peanut butter, blueberries
4. scrambled eggs + low fat cottage cheese
5. whole wheat pasta + chicken or low fat mince
6. shake - milk, p butter, olive oil, whey, cottage cheese OR p butter, cottage cheese, whey and yogurt mixed together

Trying to gain some weight here too - currently hovering around the 50kg mark (I'm about 1.8m tall (!)) - looks like I have to be much more serious about eating heaps more during the day. Hitting the multi gym at home every couple of days.

I can't usually have a lot of milk - what's a decent substitute for whey/milk?

[cEvin]

Originally Posted by [HO]-Kahn

Trying to gain some weight here too - currently hovering around the 50kg mark (I'm about 1.8m tall (!)) - looks like I have to be much more serious about eating heaps more during the day. Hitting the multi gym at home every couple of days.

I can't usually have a lot of milk - what's a decent substitute for whey/milk?

are you sure you can't have a whey supplement??

for protein try eating one of the following at every meal - lean chicken breast, fish/tuna/salmon, nuts, eggs, sesame or pumpkin seeds, soy, beans (assuming you can't have cottage cheese or yogurt too?).
also your 'multi gym' might be holding you back, focus on compound movements with free weights if you can..

[Dweeb]

If your looking at making gain in muscle mass- you need to be eating portions of carbsnwith every meal. complex prefferable ie your darker grains, brown rice, wholemeal bread....

as above try using single weights and work shorter and heavier reps. If you can have someone spotting you through out your whole work out you'll be able to push your self as hard as possible.

Try using creatine (monohydrate powder form) stuff is cheap and your not paying for extra packaging. I use it 30minutes before a work out, and then 30 minutesz after a work out in my protein shake. This shit is great and helps your muscle recovery time to be a hell of alot faster giving you greater potentioal to push harder for longer.

hmmm well thats my two cents.

[Whiplash]

Originally Posted by Dweeb

as above try using single weights and work shorter and heavier reps. If you can have someone spotting you through out your whole work out you'll be able to push your self as hard as possible.

^^
(just to clarify)

If you're trying to gain mass then control the weight on the way down.

i.e. bench press -- explosive on the way up, slow/controlled on the way down.

Not slow on the way up ;-)

[Whiplash]

Originally Posted by cEvin

focus on compound movements with free weights if you can..

If he's starting out and the core strength isn't there, he'd get more benefit from machine weights. Once theres core strength - free weights all the way. Otherwise theres a risk of getting an annoying, lingering injury.

[Whiplash]

p.p.s

www.menshealth.com

And the more local version:

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/mens-health/ <-- Buy the mag. Heaps of good ideas for workouts and food.

[Dweeb]

Whiplash _ I found within first two weeks the core strength is gained enough by using lighter singles first, to be able to go onto the heavier singles. PLus training yourself on the correct way of doing a certain set. With someone spotting me at the end, In two months I went from 12kgs to 40's on singles.

(kinda sad now, havent been for ages. Too many cookies and movies at night lol)

But make sure you have someone there with knowledge to ensure you are you complete the set properly. You don't want to injure yourself from incorrect form.

[cEvin]

Originally Posted by Whiplash

If he's starting out and the core strength isn't there, he'd get more benefit from machine weights. Once theres core strength - free weights all the way. Otherwise theres a risk of getting an annoying, lingering injury.

sitting on a machine doing leg presses will not help anywhere near to a squat, and will just enforce the fact that the stabiliser muscles are weak when someone does start to squat. the machines can't build core + it's likely anyone using machines will probably do stupid shit like bicep and calf exercises.

agree on the injury thing though, form/trainer/partner is incredibly important

start by just pressing or squatting the bar to make sure the form is 100% good~

[Whiplash]

No argument here.

But things like pullups, for example - most people can't do them to start off with. And will probably just hurt themselves trying, so a machine (like the lat pulldown) is the best option to build up to the free pullup stage. That sorta thing.

[Juju]

Also ecto's want to only work out one body area per week. Like say legs on monday, chest & biceps on wednesday, then back and triceps on friday.

[xor]

sounds like everyone is a pro when it comes to the weights. pics or you're all shit!

[cEvin]

Originally Posted by Juju

Also ecto's want to only work out one body area per week. Like say legs on monday, chest & biceps on wednesday, then back and triceps on friday.

that sounds a bit bs, but everyone's different. i've done squat and press 3 times a week for the last year and haven't burnt out from it.
smaller muscles like bicep only once a week though, if that, just do pullups once a week instead and consider that your arm workout..

[[HO]-Kahn]

I used to go to the uni gym with a guy whose dad is a professional weight lifter so I learned the correct techniques from him and was doing free weights although not very seriously (especially when it comes to eating properly)

Just can't be bothered hitting the gym anymore though (not enough time + cost too much) there's just something about being able to go to the spare/exercise room and have it all done within 1/2 hour

I guess I can still get somewhere using a home gym just not as effective - I do miss doing squats and proper bench presses!

btw typed in my weight wrong in my previous post - it's more like 58kg not 50!

[leadinjector]

Originally Posted by Juju

Also ecto's want to only work out one body area per week. Like say legs on monday, chest & biceps on wednesday, then back and triceps on friday.

that isnt really true and people are very rarely pure ecto/endo/meso so it is different for different people.

i cant really think of any exercise other than pull ups where you would want to start by doing it on a machine. remember, machines are the devil. the devil.

[cEvin]

i found this to be the shit~

[]- Volatile -[]

What do you guys do for your core,abs etc?

i just got one of those beans from the Warehouse and its quite good,refreshing change from swiss ball.

[MACHINE]

Your abs wont start showing until you drop your body fat down. You shouldn't really need to work them that hard but make sure you work them at the end of your workout.

[Simon]

Abs aren't for show. Squats + no abs = fucked lower back.

[Helious]

Originally Posted by Whiplash

If he's starting ut and the core strength isn't there, he'd get more benefit from machine weights. Once theres core strength - free weights all the way. Otherwise theres a risk of getting an annoying, lingering injury.

^^^ I agree, I remember when I first went to the gym, using free weights I found I was shaking a lot, my PT said my stabilizers weren't quite up to scratch and that lighter free weights and/or machines would help me out..

Probably spent no more than a month doing machines while trying to keep the weight stable.. then I was exploding onto the free weights.

Haven't been in 4 months now -- due to car accident(passenger). Start back next week(meant to be last week -- but it's so hard to crank back into the routine when you've been off for 16 or so weeks)

[Sgt Seb]

do you guys who do cardio, find that you sweat less after improving your fitness?

i sweat uber in summer, tis very annoying

[wugambino]

I run / cycle and now and again give the rowing machine a go.

I find I sweat more actually , you don't notice when you're cycling on the road but in the gym after 20 mins im sweating like a rapist ... I can operate a lot longer at 70 - 80% of my max heart rate which probably contributes.

I spent about 8 months usuing soley machines and have switched to free weights in the last two months. So much harder , on the chest press machine I can push the entire stack ( 120kg's ) first time on a proper bench press I loaded it up with 70kg for my first set and just about killed myself haha.

I still use machines for tricep / lat pulldowns

Helious: that sucks bro , hope everything is sweet~!

[PiNg`]

Originally Posted by Sgt Seb

do you guys who do cardio, find that you sweat less after improving your fitness?

In the last few months I've found I sweat way more doing excercise. Obviously at the gym I push myself harder each week so can explain sweating more, but I also play tennis/squash/basketball and have found I produce a lot more then as well. I am fitter as it feels like those activities require less effort, and my resting heart rate is down. God knows why I sweat more

[leadinjector]

i sweat like a priest in a kindergarten, but thats where i drink buckets of water... on days where i havent i find i sweat noticeably less

[Mazon]

Don't drink caffine within a few hours of your workout, it raises your heart rate and makes you sweat like a rapist. Unless of course you are trying to drop some weight, then it helps.

[MadMax]

^ is that for real? surely the calories in sugar &/or milk would provide more energy than you'd use with an increased heart rate?

source?

[crocos]

1: Who said anything about sugar or milk?

2: Caffeine is well documented for raising heart-rates
http://www.mamashealth.com/exercise/caf.asp <-- More readable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine <-- Go drown in medical technobabble

[wugambino]

40km cycle yesterday, was hard 40km though ... kept up 45kph from quay street to st helliers. then in the afternoon had an unplanned 5km walk when my mates car ran out of petrol lol

After that walk he was fucked and sweating hard out and I was still breathing though my nose

[Sgt Seb]

what tips/techniques do you guys have for bench press or dumb bell press

i have made good gains on my legs and arms but chest is still basically the same..

i find when i do bench it just feels like im working my arms. i have dropped the weight down already but then it feels too easy...and not much burn in my chest. i find i get much more of a 'workout feeling' when i use the machine bench press?? but i know this is bad so i try to avoid it. any ideas???

[Sgt Seb]

Originally Posted by PiNg`

In the last few months I've found I sweat way more doing excercise. Obviously at the gym I push myself harder each week so can explain sweating more, but I also play tennis/squash/basketball and have found I produce a lot more then as well. I am fitter as it feels like those activities require less effort, and my resting heart rate is down. God knows why I sweat more

i think it might be the humidity ay. today was much cooler and i wasn't sweating anywhere near as much as last week.

[MACHINE]

Originally Posted by Sgt Seb

what tips/techniques do you guys have for bench press or dumb bell press

Try doing a couple of sets of flys after bench or doing some pressups in between sets.

[Whiplash]

Originally Posted by Sgt Seb

what tips/techniques do you guys have for bench press or dumb bell press

i have made good gains on my legs and arms but chest is still basically the same..

i find when i do bench it just feels like im working my arms. i have dropped the weight down already but then it feels too easy...and not much burn in my chest. i find i get much more of a 'workout feeling' when i use the machine bench press?? but i know this is bad so i try to avoid it. any ideas???

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/topicp...&topic=ches t

[PiNg`]

I'm using the machine bench press now as my gym partner moved overseas. I'm pretty keen to move back to the free weights as I've heard it's a much better exercise. I always used to push a weight where rep 7-8 was often too much for me and I'd depend on my partner to lend a hand. What's the story with the bench press for one, do you drops the weights, do less reps or usually get someone else to spot you?

[Juju]

Should always get someone to spot you, that's what the gym attendents are for... or just ask any bloke who's having a rest, you'll find most are more than happy to help.

If all else fails, use dumbbells instead of barbells (slightly different muscle group though).

[Helious]

Originally Posted by Juju

or just ask any bloke who's having a rest, you'll find most are more than happy to help.

Yeah! Took me a while to get the courage to ask someone else in the gym, but ho-ly _anyone you ask_ is keen to spot you, believe me!

[Hooker]

I sweat as soon as I break a stride, I pour with sweat at the gym cause there ain't no flow...which is a weird sensation because any cardio I do was usually on the bike.

[s0nic]

dunno if there is an answer to this question, but what is the recommended amount of protein (maybe in grams?) that you eat per day if you wanna put on muscle?

[Juju]

Around about 0.8-1g per pound of body weight.

But there are loads of other stuff to consider. Should talk to your PT or something about it.

[Heresy]

Originally Posted by Sgt Seb

what tips/techniques do you guys have for bench press or dumb bell press

i have made good gains on my legs and arms but chest is still basically the same..

i find when i do bench it just feels like im working my arms. i have dropped the weight down already but then it feels too easy...and not much burn in my chest. i find i get much more of a 'workout feeling' when i use the machine bench press?? but i know this is bad so i try to avoid it. any ideas???

how's your form?

try perform scapular retraction prior to beginning the lift. It's easier with a barbell than dumbells.

It basically involves lifting the barbell, holding the weight up at the top of the lift as you would when you're about to start the set, and then dropping your shoulders back, like you're trying to touch your shoulder blades together. Don't force it too much though. Keep your shoulders position like this throughout the set, this should help isolate your chest better.

Also, do flys as MACHINE recommended - if you're doing flat bench then do incline flys, or vice versa.

[Heresy]

Originally Posted by Juju

Around about 0.8-1g per pound of body weight.

But there are loads of other stuff to consider. Should talk to your PT or something about it.

I've always read/been told 1 - 2 gms per kg of bodyweight.