The Gym Thread...

[endofreak]

I'm trying to lose some fat at the minute. Dropped around 2 1/2 stone last year, from 14 1/2 stone down to 12. I did it all wrong though. Dropped my calories too low so lost lean tissue and when I started eating again before christmas I piled on the pounds (back at 14 stone).

So this time round I'm only dropping my calories by a few hundred. Maintenence is around 2800, so dropping it to 2500.

Workout is as follows. Losing around 2 pounds a week on this so far.

This workout has a lot of supersets to make it a bit more intense. On Tuesday for example I would start with a set of flat dumbell press and then get straight into a set of seated rows, rest for 30 secs and repeat. Tuesday and thursday are low weight, high rep. Saturday and sunday are slightly heavier with less reps.

Tuesday - Upper body - 12-15 reps; 60 seconds rest, gradually reducing to 20-30 seconds

A1 - Flat Dumbbell Press x 4

A2 - Seated Row x 4

B1 - Dumbbell shoulder press x 4

B2 - Close grip chin ups x 4

C1 - Dumbbell Curls x 3

C2 - Dumbbell Tricep Extension x 3

Thursday - Lower body - 12-15 reps; 60 seconds rest, gradually reducing to 20-30 seconds

A1 - Leg Press x 4

A2 - Stiff legged Deadlift x 4

B1 - Leg Extension x 4

B2 - Leg Curl x 4

C1 - Seated Calf Raises (30 seconds between sets)

Wednesday - Rest

Saturday - Upper body - 8-10 reps; 45-60 seconds rest

A1 - Flat Bench Press x 4

A2 - Bent Over Row x 4

B1 - Dumbell shoulder press x 4

B2 - Wide grip chin ups x 4

C1 - Barbell Curls x 3

C2 - Skull Crushers x 3

Sunday - Lower body - 8-10 reps; 90 seconds rest, reducing to 45-60 seconds.

A1 - Squat x 8

A2 - Stiff legged Deadlift x 8

C1 - Standing Calf Raises (30 seconds between sets)

Easing myself into some cardio at the minute too. Straight after an upper body workout I'll do 20 minutes on the treadmill and after a lower body workout I'll do 20 mins on the cross trainer (sod trying to run after 8 sets of squats on sunday). Gonna work this u to 30-40 minutes.

[Gavyn.]

kev were you talking about thai boxing camps? if so i've been to a similar one for 2 weeks when i was younger and i'm never going again it's brutal if you've ever seen the programme sas:are you tough enough, it's exactly like that, 3 nights we were woken at 12:30 just after you've got to sleep then taken 10 miles from the camp and told to be home in 2 hrs or you've got to do it twice

usual daily routine was up for 5:30 run to a freezing cold river about 3 miles away cross the river touch the bank and run home in soaking clothes (the most uncomfortable thing ever) then shower breakfast 1hr to have our tent's and gear all laid out military style for an inspection 15 mins to be ready then taken into the woods where we had to climb a high tree as fast as we can god knows how many times some times you can only use your arms others 1 arm and legs it was hard then take logs and run up a massive hill with them. shower lunch then hour or 2 of structured katas and then few hours of weapon training, and disarming people dinner then circuit training basically until you were sick before bed at the end of the 2 weeks i was so run down I could hardly move was in a real bad way health wise but i'd become way more strong not just physically but mentally aswell

it's randomisation that gives you real huge gains being made to work past your limits constantly is much harder than making yourself work hard at the gym.

endofreak i'm surprised your losing much weight at all i would have thought doing all that might have even made you put on weight

Edited January 26, 2008 by G4vyn

[Fish-Finger-er]

kev were you talking about thai boxing camps? if so i've been to a similar one for 2 weeks when i was younger and i'm never going again it's brutal if you've ever seen the programme sas:are you tough enough, it's exactly like that, 3 nights we were woken at 12:30 just after you've got to sleep then taken 10 miles from the camp and told to be home in 2 hrs or you've got to do it twice

aye, thats the kinda thing. and bearing in mind you where only young, its no where near as brutal as itd be if your 22-25, out of curiuosity, where you with a load of english people, or where you in like a thai group and the only english one? (just one of the lads went to one in puket which was basically all english/american/australian people, and it wasnt that bad, but he went to another one elsewhere, where it was him, an american lad, a lad from singapore(kimzach whos on the contender asia, if anyones following it), and everyone else was thai, and he said it was stupidly hard)

[Gavyn.]

mine wasn't actually thai boxing, it was through my karate club run by the ninjitsu people it's part of a selection process to pick up people from local karate clubs and train them in china, I had to win competitions at area level in order to be allowed in, we started off as a group of 10, 5 asians and the rest all from here and by the end we were knocked down to 5, 3 asians me and another guy from aberdeen, I never got in because i wasn't sure i wanted to go and miss out on school for 2 years and leave all my friends and relatives (I was only 12-13 at the time).

mine was in this country my parents had to sign a release form to give the guys who ran it parental rights

Edited January 26, 2008 by G4vyn

[Muel]

Altered it a little, added more compound exercises and taken some out.

This is how i would do it if i was to do it

DAY 1 - Chest + Biceps

Bench Press

Incline Bench Press

Dumbell Flys ( Flat and Incline )

Barbell Curls

Hammer Curls

DAY 2 - Shoulders + Traps

Shrugs ( 5 sets barbell 5 sets dumbbell )

Shoulder Press to Front

Lateral Raise

Bent over reverse flys

DAY 3 - Back + Triceps

Wide grip pulldowns

Bent Over Rows ( dumbell & barbell 5 sets each )

Deadlifts

Skull crushers

Cable pressdown

DAY 4 - Legs

Calf Raises

Squats

Legpress

OPTIONAL Leg extensions

DAY 5 - Rest in time for the weekend.

DAY 6 - Ride.

Day 7 - Ride.

And thats a damn good workout guaranteed.

Sets, it's really up to you but i'd say try and do at least 4 sets if possible, i normally do 5.

Reps, id say 6-10 reps per exercise, you decide how many but i'd recommend do as many as you can, train to failure so use a weight that you will definetly NOT be able to lift more than 10 times.

Someone might want to add, but i tried to keep it simple ish!

Cheers

Thanks dude, big help.

But I can't do leg presses, or pull downs. And I'm guessing Cable pressdown. I have no machinery, and the gym at college is just cardio stuff.

[I'm hungry]

if you cant do legpresses theres nothing similar to it... so just add 2 more sets of squats to kind of make up for it.

latpull down is a biggy, best exercise to widen your lats. umm you could do wide grip pull ups but it wont give you the same stress on the muscle, never the less it will be a good replacement.

and for the pressdowns just do two arm tricep extensions or some kickbacks.

or just have a search around for different exercises and try different stuff and see what works best for you.

[munkee]

and for the pressdowns just do two arm tricep extensions or some kickbacks.

french press is a good un to substitute with

Edited January 28, 2008 by Spacemunkee

[Muel]

Whats the difference between normal shoulder presses, and shoulder presses to front?

And is there anywhere I can find out how to stretch properly? I must be missing something as they don't feel right.

[Conor the basher.]

Muelio im not claiming i no everthing about body building but i no that no one on here is 100% right everyone has there own way of doing things, if you go to the gym and afterwards are feeling sore and tired the chances are that you have done a good days work.

your muscles can hold a maximum stress load so the only way to make them bigger, stronger is to push them. in a way you want to be breaking the muscle so that when you rest it in grows back bigger and stronger ... belive me alot of the people on here talk shit soo i would do what you doing if i where you just make sure your upping you weights very couple of weeks and that you working everything you what to be working

cheers conor.

[Ash-Kennard]

killa sesh today

[manxrider]

Mine wasn't... I need a squat rack or to get to a proper gym

[Muel]

Muelio im not claiming i no everthing about body building but i no that no one on here is 100% right everyone has there own way of doing things, if you go to the gym and afterwards are feeling sore and tired the chances are that you have done a good days work.

your muscles can hold a maximum stress load so the only way to make them bigger, stronger is to push them. in a way you want to be breaking the muscle so that when you rest it in grows back bigger and stronger ... belive me alot of the people on here talk shit soo i would do what you doing if i where you just make sure your upping you weights very couple of weeks and that you working everything you what to be working

cheers conor.

Cheers man, new routine is beasty, the Day 1 bit felt really good.

I've never done incline anything before, but they feels gurd.

Mine wasn't... I need a squat rack or to get to a proper gym

Count yourself lucky, the gym at college doesn't even have barbells, let alone a bench press bench, or a squat rack.

[Gavyn.]

college gyms and that are always shite though just because you get some cocky little squirt come in thinking he's rocky and dropping a huge weight on his head, then his parents sue the college for not supervising him

[Muel]

college gyms and that are always shite though just because you get some cocky little squirt come in thinking he's rocky and dropping a huge weight on his head, then his parents sue the college for not supervising him

Free for the cash flow challenged.

[I'm hungry]

muel, shoulder presses behind the neck put alot more stress on the shoulder joint ( for me ).

try it out and see what you prefer, altho nothing beats presses to front right down till the bar touches the chest... nice and slow

[Muel]

muel, shoulder presses behind the neck put alot more stress on the shoulder joint ( for me ).

try it out and see what you prefer, altho nothing beats presses to front right down till the bar touches the chest... nice and slow

Yeh I've stopped doing them behind, it hurt my neck and shoulder joints too much.

Down to nipple height? Hell yeh!

12.5kg today as well.

EDIT: No it wasn't, today is the chest and biceps day. Last time I did them then.

Edited January 29, 2008 by El Muelio

[I'm hungry]

just above the nipple on the upper chest, gives me such good stretch and pump.

try doing presses with dumbells aswell, evens the strength in both shoulders.

i hit a pb in bent over barbell rows with 86kg, 2 sets 6 reps ... was well chuffed

[Muel]

I just invented a post workout meal!

A full tin of tuna, mixed with half a tin of beans, microwave it, then you could put some cheese on I suppose.

Tastes a bit bland, much better when hot.

[Biff...]

I just invented a post workout meal!

A full tin of tuna, mixed with half a tin of beans, microwave it, then you could put some cheese on I suppose.

Tastes a bit bland, much better when hot.

id try a few more tins, usually i have 3 for breakfast, along with my shakes and other suppliments, 28 grams of protein in 1 tin roughly, but the body can only take so much protein in at a time so even it out i suppose, just saying i dont think 1 tin is enough for you. a good postworkout meal for me is steak and brown rice.

Edited January 29, 2008 by Notorious Biff

[Gavyn.]

Thats not really a great post work out meal to be honest the beans are really high in salt and sugar.

I got a full set of free weights and dumbells tonight for nothing 120kgs plus 10 kilo bar and 4 dumbell bars i'm getting the bench too so should be good and save me trailing to the gym all the time.

Edited January 29, 2008 by G4vyn

[Biff...]

like ive said before, eat and eat more and more, in the marines we have around 8000 calories a day. But we burn nearly most of that in training alone lol!

[Muel]

Thats not really a great post work out meal to be honest the beans are really high in salt and sugar.

I got a full set of free weights and dumbells tonight for nothing 120kgs plus 10 kilo bar and 4 dumbell bars i'm getting the bench too so should be good and save me trailing to the gym all the time.

b*****d!

But yeh, it was a post workout snack, I don't make the tea, so I can't really say, hey Dad, make something that's rich in protein, so I can get stronger than you, faster!

He beat me in an arm wressle the other day, just, we were stuck in the middle for over a minute.

I'm not that serious about them, certainly not enough to be eating 3 tins of tuna, and supplements with my breakfast. That is dedication!

I do eat tuna butties and stuff whenever the oppoutunity arises. But seeing as I have just started, I'm taking it easy, changing a little bit at a time.

[Biff...]

b*****d!

But yeh, it was a post workout snack, I don't make the tea, so I can't really say, hey Dad, make something that's rich in protein, so I can get stronger than you, faster!

He beat me in an arm wressle the other day, just, we were stuck in the middle for over a minute.

I'm not that serious about them, certainly not enough to be eating 3 tins of tuna, and supplements with my breakfast. That is dedication!

I do eat tuna butties and stuff whenever the oppoutunity arises. But seeing as I have just started, I'm taking it easy, changing a little bit at a time.

you will find the more you train the bigger your appetite will get, i remember having a while of training and struggling to eat even 1000 calories a day, your still young with training you will grow and as you grow so will your body and appetite along with it, treat your muscles like a car, they need fuel!

[Ash-Kennard]

you will find the more you train the bigger your appetite will get, i remember having a while of training and struggling to eat even 1000 calories a day, your still young with training you will grow and as you grow so will your body and appetite along with it, treat your muscles like a car, they need fuel!

james, atm im eating f**k loads haha, i guess thats why

[Muel]

Good advice, I am eating whenever I feel like it, but trying to eat healthy stuff. It's working, My arms and chest are visibly slightly bigger since xmas, and I have lost 3 pounds in the process.

My arms have gone from 10" to 12", without them being all pumped up.