General Workout Routines and Questions

[Pako]

Nice! Seems to be a popular creatine product. I have some on my shelf also. I just put a dabble in my preworkout drink and another dabble in my shake.

^Nice on Omnis! Some of those benches really suck! I wonder how most people are supposed to stay in good form and squared up with they are designed for nephilims where no mere mortal could ever possibly use them correctly.

I am curious how your 255 will go. Keep us posted!

 

[Omnis]

Be careful with creatine. Get whichever one dissolves best, even if it's more expensive. I got a really great deal on some creatine, but it turned out to be so frickin' mealy and grainy that I could never use it. It wasn't soluble in anything I put it in... would always just precipitate out and it was like drinking sand. Totally gross.

Not such a great deal sitting in my cupboard not being used.

 

[shmogt]

Be careful with creatine. Get whichever one dissolves best, even if it's more expensive. I got a really great deal on some creatine, but it turned out to be so frickin' mealy and grainy that I could never use it. It wasn't soluble in anything I put it in... would always just precipitate out and it was like drinking sand. Totally gross.

Not such a great deal sitting in my cupboard not being used.

Use my hot water technique. The ON brand that was mentioned is micronized which means it's finer cut but for some reason I find it doesn't dissolve as well. Takes literally 5min to stir in room temperature. I am hot water its 5seconds. Hotter the water the faster it dissolves. I also get better results that way too.

 

[Omnis]

Yeah, I'll have to try that. My muscles feel so pumped and it's hard to raise my arms above my head. Chest is poppin' out so much after one chest day-- I have more cleavage than 18% of girls on campus. Hypertrophy brah. Adult-male testosterone levels brah.

 

[Luminis]

Did the GVT routine yesterday again. Biceps, triceps and my abs. I ssually don't feel that sore, probably because I'm so used to the feeling. But dang, my arms feel like someone drove over them with a semi...

 

[Pako]

O-M-G! I completely ruinated my legs today. I am talking about complete ruination!

Every set was slow and controlled. Every set was about pressure and blood volume. Every set was to complete failure. Every set had intensity.

I did the standard Squat, then leg press, then leg raises routine but really wanted to concentrate on slowing each rep down and never releasing the pressure throughout the range of motion. This kept constant pressure in the muscle throughout the set. It was incredible. That was at noon today. Tonight I tried to run on these legs... HAHAHA what a joke that was. I ended up walking for most of the 20 minutes. The left quad wouldn't stop cramping on me. Calves and shins were on fire. Legs were trashed. After dinner I died for a couple of hours, complete zapped! I would say, mission accomplished!

 

[nk4e]

How many different variations of Push-ups are there?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I might have to try the warm water technique. This ON creatine does disolve better than others, but still not as fast as I would like. When I workout I take a spoonful with my post workout shake. On days I dont workout, I take it in the morning with about half a glass of oj. I think I am going to substitue grape juice in place of the oj. The oj is too acetic to me and I heard grape juice works better with creatine anyway.

 

[shmogt]

How many different variations of Push-ups are there?

Like a million. Hands close, hands medium, hands wide, fist grip, elbows super tight whole time, elbows slightly wider, incline, decline, one hand slightly higher on one side, other hand slightly higher, push with one arm up first than the other side, one arm ones, all different widths of these variations. Jump up ones, clap ones, one hand on a basket ball than switch, it literally goes on forever.

I might have to try the warm water technique. This ON creatine does disolve better than others, but still not as fast as I would like. When I workout I take a spoonful with my post workout shake. On days I dont workout, I take it in the morning with about half a glass of oj. I think I am going to substitue grape juice in place of the oj. The oj is too acetic to me and I heard grapefruit juice works better with creatine anyway.

Ya they made it micronized to disolve better but I do not find that the case at all. I put it in my protein shake and just mix it all up but putting it in its only glass than filling it with hot water and mixing till all dissolved is the best. If you want juice after have it in another glass. Or I guess the glass you just used to take the creatine lol. If it doesn't mix well enough you can stir longer or just add hotter water the next time. Ideally you want it to look like a totally fresh glass of water, that's how dissolved.

 

[Omnis]

O-M-G! I completely ruinated my legs today. I am talking about complete ruination!

I did the same thing today but I don't feel bad at all. In fact, my hamstrings used to KILL ME from sitting all the time when I was sedentary for the past 2 years. Now, they feel great. I wonder if they were in some kind of over-contraction where the sarcomeres were starting to overlap or crash into each other. I'm scared of DOMS though. Hopefully tomorrow isn't awful.

I tried to squat 155 but I still don't have the ankle flexibility to properly settle in the hole without falling backwards. Also, I need to grab some weightlifting shoes since my running shoes are awful and are throwing my knees into valgus.

So, instead, I did some deadlifts at 135x3, 185x3, then 205x4. On my 2nd pull of 205 I made the quickest, highest-pitched fart and almost lost it on the inside. That one must've been chillin' in my back pocket somewhere-- don't know where it came from! Anyway, I could probably do heavier but I want to get in better cardiac shape before I go full-Valsalva trying to pull the earth. Don't want to stroke out. And I don't have a belt or anything so I'm making sure my lifts are picture-perfect before putting anything more on the bar. My low back right now is the limiting factor. As that gets stronger I think my lifts will increase. BTW, I LOVE bumper plates! The best part about lifting at the weightroom is that if I see or feel anything wrong with my tech I can just drop the weight right on the floor and it bounces without much drama. Don't have to worry about damaging property. 👍

As an added bonus, you can also pretend to be a really cool Oly lifter. I did my best Ilya Ilin and Lu Xiaojun impressions while racking the weight.



After I finished pulling, I did quad extensions and ham curls each 3x10 at 100lbs. Then I went to the leg press and pressed 250 pounds until I got bored and hungry. Probably like 30-something reps of that all together-- I was going fast so I didn't really keep count. Good cardio though.

There's this girl with an amazing body that's always on the elliptical or the stepper when I'm there too. I don't know what she is though. Looks like some kinda yellow-undertone-skinned asian, but not with an asian figure at all. Maybe she's like asian/brazilian or some other kind of south american mix. The reason I bring this up is that when I was running a blood drive at my junior college, there was this freaking hotttt girl that I asked to donate blood. She was giving me reasons why she couldn't and I was joking with her and we had a nice chat. Unfortunately, I was busy hustling blood so I didn't get her number ( I'm not like that though) . Forgot her name too. But, I think it's the same girl. Hopefully we get to talk again. Need to lose this weight first though!

 

[Luminis]

Haven't been to the gymn in three four days. Longest break for me for months, actually. I hate sitting att home and waiting for all kinds o furniture deliveries to be made

 

[Pako]

There's this girl with an amazing body that's always on the elliptical or the stepper when I'm there too. I don't know what she is though. Looks like some kinda yellow-undertone-skinned asian, but not with an asian figure at all. Maybe she's like asian/brazilian or some other kind of south american mix. The reason I bring this up is that when I was running a blood drive at my junior college, there was this freaking hotttt girl that I asked to donate blood. She was giving me reasons why she couldn't and I was joking with her and we had a nice chat. Unfortunately, I was busy hustling blood so I didn't get her number ( I'm not like that though) . Forgot her name too. But, I think it's the same girl. Hopefully we get to talk again. Need to lose this weight first though!

Pics or it didn't happen.

As far as getting back at it, keep doing it man! 👍

 

[Omnis]

I wish I could get pics. It's hypnotic. Also saw another stunner in Boca today but with not as athletic a figure. If I knew I wouldn't get arrested I'd bag 'em like Borat.

Recommended workouts for a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday split? The first week I did Legs and Back on Tuesday and Chest and Abs on Thursday. Now that I'm on the 2nd week I'm going to make it a 3-day split since I'm not so sore. Already did legs tuesday... so should thursday be back? (Already got my low back dialed in from deadlifts, btw.)

I'm thinking maybe to do Chest/triceps/abs on Thursday, then back/biceps/obliques on Saturday. Pulldowns should help me stretch a sore chest.

 

[Pako]

I haven't done splits like that since high school, but

I'm thinking maybe to do Chest/triceps/abs on Thursday, then back/biceps/obliques on Saturday. Pulldowns should help me stretch a sore chest.

looks good!

 

[Omnis]

What do you do? /commence broscience.

 

[Pako]

What do you do? /commence broscience.

I have six major routines but only workout 5 days a week. That gives one major body part an entire week off.

Monday - Chest/Abs
Tuesday - Bi's/Hams
Wednesday - Tri's/Calves
Thursday - Legs/Legs
Friday - Shoulders/Abs

Sat - Sun Rest

Monday - Back/Back
Tuesday - Chest/Abs
Wednesday - Bi's/Hams
Thursday - Tri's/Calves
Friday - Legs/Legs

Just keep the routines in rotation. Every previous week's Friday workout will be skipped that week, and the Monday workout of that week will be the workout that skipped the prior week. You get to start a new routine fresh every Monday. Gives each body group a fresh Monday every 6 weeks.


Email sent with more details....

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Ya they made it micronized to disolve better but I do not find that the case at all. I put it in my protein shake and just mix it all up but putting it in its only glass than filling it with hot water and mixing till all dissolved is the best. If you want juice after have it in another glass. Or I guess the glass you just used to take the creatine lol. If it doesn't mix well enough you can stir longer or just add hotter water the next time. Ideally you want it to look like a totally fresh glass of water, that's how dissolved.

Oops I had a major type at the end of that. I said grapefruit juice and meant grape juice. Yes I am going to mess around with the different methods to get it to disolve. Might even try it in hot water, get it to disolve, then pour in the juice. Take that. Then follow that with my protein shake. Usually I just put a spoonful of creatine in my mouth, drink the juice, then have the shake. But I dont think its disolving as well that way.

Pako,
Are you still working out on your hour lunch break? I know that was working very well.

 

[Pako]

Oops I had a major type at the end of that. I said grapefruit juice and meant grape juice. Yes I am going to mess around with the different methods to get it to disolve. Might even try it in hot water, get it to disolve, then pour in the juice. Take that. Then follow that with my protein shake. Usually I just put a spoonful of creatine in my mouth, drink the juice, then have the shake. But I dont think its disolving as well that way.

Pako,
Are you still working out on your hour lunch break? I know that was working very well.

Yes, still working out on my lunch hour. I take an hour and a half for lunch so it works out good for me. Work outs are still done in the 45-50 min. range. Now I'm running at night after work twice a week. I wish I was good at it, and wish it was easier, I might consider cardio more than twice a week.

 

[XS]

I've had the same muscle building routine for about three months now. I know it's time for a change up, but I was very ill for most of this month and missed three weeks worth of workouts. Lately I've been eating like never before, I can't satisfy my appetite. However, I'm losing weight, I dropped from 179 to 155 when I was sick (did I mention I was very sick LOL), and now I'm down to 152! I don't know if it's because I'm not quite back in my groove yet, or if I'm eating wrong, or if I'm overdoing the workouts so close to just recovering from a bad illness. I'm getting concerned though. I have little body fat so it's muscle mass I'm losing, yet I only lost ten percent of my max weight on reps, and about 15 percent on my one-rep max. And this week I'm back up to my pre-illness squat, dumbbell row, and glut bridge. How can I be losing muscle mass if all i do is eat and eat and eat meats, fruits and veggies, and only lost ten percent in rep max?

 

[Omnis]

Came back from back day. Did a lot of proper, Somerset-taught pulldowns.



Was so hard to hit the lats since my arms were pretty fried. I wish I could go heavier, but it's hard as hell to do a proper pulldown with more than about 60-70lbs. Went and did some one-armed dumbbell rows on a bench, then some face-pulls...



... followed by some lighter pulldowns and some elbow adduction (basically, the bottom position of a pulldown, but just squeezing your elbows toward your sides) on those cable pulleys machines.

Ended the session as the gym was closing with some dumbbell curls since everyone else in the gym seemed to be curling too. Had to laugh at some of the guys in there-- especially the students that work there. I think an hour before the gym closes all the work-study people get their swole on. They loaded up the squat rack with 250-280lbs, but they didn't even squat worth a damn! I bend my knees more to step on the brake pedal in my car. I bet they couldn't even ATG an empty bar.

I can't, so I don't try. My hips are pretty good since I worked a lot of shiiko, but I still need to work on hamstring and ankle flexibility so I can dorsiflex well enough to not fall backwards. Also, I tried throwing my elbows under the bar to do a proper oly-style power clean, but, alas, I can't move them forward with the bar still on my chest. I don't know if it's because I'm sore or what, but I need to work on mobility a lot before I can start doing complex movements like that.

Also, I got some Pendlay Do-Wins on the way. Will try to work on my squat once I get them in.

 

[Pako]

After watching Ronnie Coleman's 6 meals for the day, clearly I need to eat more and by stock in Craft Masterpiece BBQ Sauce!

I thought I had a pretty good tricep/calve day though my neither feel too fatigued tonight. I also ran for two miles after work tonight. In any case, gearing up for legs tomorrow.

 

[Pako]

^Man, my late night posts are just garbage!

Anyways, great leg day today. Tried some different techniques that seemed to work out nicely.

Started with hip sled. The difference from other days on hip sled, I would bring it to the bottom, just above 90 degrees and pause for a moment then back up, but you don't lock out. Slowly lowering it, and slowly pushing it back up keeping constant pressure in your quad the whole time.

265x20
465x20
665x20
865x10
1045x10
1225x10
1405x10

Next was the leg press machine. This time I wanted to do partial reps but more of them. I found the sweet spot in the middle of the rep where I was able to just work on the tear drop.

350x10 Full Range, slowed down.
355x30 Partial Range
355x25 Partial Range

Then Leg Extensions. Applying the same concepts, I did two full range sets then 3 partial, high volume sets.

305x10
305x10
305x20 (partial reps)
195x30 (partial reps)
305x25 (partial reps)

Lets are destroyed!

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I mentioned a couple posts back that I started doing more cardio. I also cut my calories. Well I decided to weigh myself after doing this for the last couple weeks and oopps!!! I lost over 10lbs. Now I am down to 180lbs. I also hurt my shoulder really really bad last week while I was plowing. So the combination of all 3 of these things removed 10 lbs like nothing.

Soo I need to start keeping better track of my calories per day. The combination of cutting out 2 meals and cardio was a little too much too quick. Plus not being able to workout with weights is also not helping. You use your shoulder for EVERYTHING. So I will stick with the cardio but I need to get more calories. I will start keeping better track this week of the calorie intake and adjust accordingly. I also need to start weighing myself more often again. If my shoulder does not show signs of improvement, I might have to go to the doctor. My shoulder has been hurting on and off for a long time but this is real bad now. I think its a pinched nerver or something with the shoulder socket. Getting old sucks.

 

[shmogt]

Been doing my pull up routine and it seems to be getting results better than I thought. Lats are pretty wide compared to before. I'm trying to get a little more thickness so pull ups aren't the best but pulling the shoulder blades fully down and back than pulling up really has helped a lot. The quantity went down but results went way up so definitely will continue that way.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

As a follow up to my reply in post 953 I have decided to see how my body will respond taking in 2,500 calories per day. I have each meal and the time of day setup on an excell spreadsheet. I was around 2,200 and dropped 10lbs in 2 weeks. Way more than I wanted to drop in such a short amount of time. So I will experiment to see what happens with 2,500. Currently 180lbs and dont want to go any lower. Once I figure out my perfect number for "maintenance" then I can adjust higher for bulking and lower for cutting. Hopefully this is making sense and I am not speaking some foreign language in here.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Hopefully this is making sense and I am not speaking some foreign language in here.

Yup, perfect sense. Just out of interest, have you ever tried one of the methods for calculating your caloric needs?

I tried this one out (pretty in-depth) and I only needed to tweak the result by a few hundred calories to get a good result.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/massive_eating_part_1

I'll post part 2 as well, but I can't remember if it was relevant to the equation.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/massive_eating_part_2

Bear in mind I don't agree with everything that Berardi says.

I'd be interested to see how your result compares to what you actually need to gain, maintain, or cut.

 

[Omnis]

Banged out 150lb pulldowns and rows tonight. Did some bent-over rows and facepulls at 95 and 70 lbs respectively. That was because I missed back day on saturday.

Today was leg day, so instead of doing deadlifts (I take it easy with my low back), I blasted my quads and hams with 200 lb extensions and curls. That's a 50 pound to-failure gain in a week. Helps when you're not worn out from pulling though.

I feel like most of my strength is already there in my muscles. The hard part is figuring out how to get my nerves to recruit the greatest amount of motor units possible. Week 1 was twitchy as hell and I could move a lot of weight, but not for more than a set of 10, for example. Things are improving now though.

I was warming up on the elliptical and my heart rate was almost 150-- didn't feel a thing. First time I deadlifted 2 weeks ago, my heart was pounding like hell. Barbell aerobics ftw.

 

[Pako]

Good info in here and great to see your progress Omnis! 👍

 

[Luminis]

Did a chest/shoulders workout today, but I wasn't up to snuff. Still recovering from a flu I caught a week ago, which kinda made me keep my weights down. For example, I never managed more than 165 lbs for chest presses today - I usually manage to hit about 190 lbs. Same with neck presses - I should've been doing 130 lbs and almost blacked out at 110 lbs

Anyways, I decided to stop my weight loss. I could cut some body fat down if I really wanted to, but I'd rather put some mass on at this point. Plus, eating is fun

 

[Omnis]

Pushed 185 on the bench today like nothing. Didn't push my luck going heavier since no spotters available. I still want to press 225. One of these days I'll get around to it.

Instead, I was inspired by Dean Somerset and did some overhead presses.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...smart_overhead_pressing#.URPxb1MWOWE.facebook

Did all the exercises in that article. It was amazing how hard it was when I kept my back from assuming the load. You have a tendency to lean back into a press when your shoulders can't get it up. It's a workout just to stabilize yourself. The dumbell get-ups and overhead lunges were a treat.

Between my chest and shoulders/back progress, my mass is slowly but surely lifting upwards. Neck bloat is gone, manboobs diminishing, and shoulders/traps gettin' swole.

Celebrated afterwards by going to the Mack House for 3 of their new batch beers, then had to go walk to eat some nearby Mexican because I was too wasted.