The ~New~ SWF GYM! Newbies and New Years Resolution Peeps Wanted!

[Pluvia]

Yeah, or stuff like cheese is high in protein but don't eat too much cause it makes you fat. I'm like, well I'm slim, does that mean I should gorge on cheese?

Anyway I saw this from a girl on my facebook and it made me laugh, I'll copy and paste it:

So I saw that vibro plate thing on t.v that you strap to your middle and it's supposed to build your abs. 20 minutes is supposed to equal 125 sit-ups. Figured I would be the better person and do it the free way, so 125 sit-ups a night didn't sound THAT hard. Day 4, and I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach by a kangaroo. It hurts when I sneeze and if I lie down, I cannot for the life of me get up again. This is hardly exercise and it's killing me! Aaaaooooowww!!

 

[Shade]

Yeah, or stuff like cheese is high in protein but don't eat too much cause it makes you fat. I'm like, well I'm slim, does that mean I should gorge on cheese?

Anyway I saw this from a girl on my facebook and it made me laugh, I'll copy and paste it:

Wow I don't have words to describe that. People are so...ugh... hysterical though I'll give you that.

 

[Chill]

Well there's a lot of weight loss advice but not so much weight gain, and a lot of "Do this but if you do to much of them you'll end up out of proportion" but not a lot of "Well to get this medium build do X amount of this".

That's because it's up to you to decide where you want to stop. It's not possible for someone to give you such overly specific advice. By the time you have the body you want you should be able to figure out on your own what you need to do to maintain it.

 

[Darkshadow7827]

Yeah, or stuff like cheese is high in protein but don't eat too much cause it makes you fat. I'm like, well I'm slim, does that mean I should gorge on cheese?

Anyway I saw this from a girl on my facebook and it made me laugh, I'll copy and paste it:

Hahahaha, it's a good thing she didn't buy that rip off plate. I love commercials that advertise some amazing effortless way to get fit.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I have to agree with you there. I don't want to be super-omega jacked. I just want to be fit, but every site assumes you want to get into pro-bodybuilding.

You won't get jacked quite so easily though. Seen people who do the same exercise routines, or remotely the same, have different levels of fitness. It's dedication to it and your diet that gets you super omega jacked. I could post you my routine, and you'd think I'm some serious stuff, while in the meanwhile I'm just a little bigger and stronger than the average Joe imo.

 

[Attila_]

ok, im gonna put a few things out there.

- muscle either get bigger or smaller, you can't shape them.

- building muscle is a slow process

- bodybuilders look that way because of years of scheduled training, perfect eating, and lots and lots of steroids

- training wise, getting big and getting lean are not too dissimilar, the main difference lies in the diet (cardio also plays a minor role)

- if your calories output is higher than your calorie input, you must lose weight

it's all basic, but it's all true. the answers to most questions are written there.

 

[Shade]

Oh ok then, I guess I get the picture.

One question though, would you guys suggest start lifting? I may have access to a gym in about two weeks, but I've never lifted before in my life so its a bit intimidating. Not that I want to avoid it per se I just want to know how good it is for you and how well it works as a workout etc.

 

[himynameisruss]

Oh ok then, I guess I get the picture.

One question though, would you guys suggest start lifting? I may have access to a gym in about two weeks, but I've never lifted before in my life so its a bit intimidating. Not that I want to avoid it per se I just want to know how good it is for you and how well it works as a workout etc.

you're asking how good lifting is and how well it works as a workout?

 

[Shade]

you're asking how good lifting is and how well it works as a workout?

Only to some extent, more so asking for advice on how to begin lifting and how to overcome being intimated by it. I know lifting itself is a good workout but I was just curious on how important you guys viewed it.

 

[himynameisruss]

Only to some extent, more so asking for advice on how to begin lifting and how to overcome being intimated by it. I know lifting itself is a good workout but I was just curious on how important you guys viewed it.

well, if you're serious about actually gaining and building muscle, then weight lifting is the way to go.

i only bench once every few days, other than that i don't touch weights. i just do bodyweight exercises. but i'm not going to deny it's much easier and faster to gain muscle by lifting weights, it's just not what i prefer.

as for a routine? i guess i'd suggest starting strength by mark rippetoe (sup /fit/)

but of course, to gain muscle you're still going to need to be taking in more calories than you are burning and take in enough protein to really get the results you want.

 

[Keblerelf]

Only to some extent, more so asking for advice on how to begin lifting and how to overcome being intimated by it. I know lifting itself is a good workout but I was just curious on how important you guys viewed it.

Start very light and just work on getting the basic movements down.

As you get the hang of it, increase the weights in small increments as you progress.

Get over intimidation by just doing it more.

 

[Pluvia]

Though I'd say once you've got the movements down and you've seen how much strain your current workout gives you (which shouldn't be too much if you start light, especially after a few short weeks) then buff up the weights to about 70-80% of your max.

According to someone in this thread you're supposed to be able to do at least 6 reps, and if you can do 12 it's too light.

 

[himynameisruss]

According to someone in this thread you're supposed to be able to do at least 6 reps, and if you can do 12 it's too light.

6-12 is optimal for muscle growth, anything above that and you're working for endurance and not muscle gain

 

[theeboredone]

I think I'm FINALLY getting my Vanilla flavored whey in the mail today. I haven't been this hyped for protein since...ever.

This is what happens when you order a product that was expected to be at your door step in a few days, but have to wait a week. Will let you guys know how it tastes with both milk and water.

 

[Diddy Kong]

6-12 is optimal for muscle growth, anything above that and you're working for endurance and not muscle gain

8-12 is prefered though. 6 is in most cases not enough (to me) unless your lifting heavier.

And you gotta start somewhere. Don't sweat it.

 

[Keblerelf]

Though I'd say once you've got the movements down and you've seen how much strain your current workout gives you (which shouldn't be too much if you start light, especially after a few short weeks) then buff up the weights to about 70-80% of your max.

According to someone in this thread you're supposed to be able to do at least 6 reps, and if you can do 12 it's too light.

If you are just starting out, there is no reason to increase it to 70-80% of your max because you don't know your max yet.

Just increase the weight in small increments until you cant do the reps/sets. You can try deloading a couple of times to get past a plateau, but if after a couple of deloads you can't make it, start another program that has requires you to know your max.

 

[Pluvia]

Well I said after a few short weeks and once you've got the movements down.

 

[Shade]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll definitely take it to heart when I start hitting the gym in two weeks. (Assuming my school doesn't lag behind schedule, our gym is currently under construction because of a huge water main break)

 

[Keblerelf]

Well I said after a few short weeks and once you've got the movements down.

There's no point looking for maxes "after a few weeks" because when you are just starting out it will take several MONTHS before you even start to have a general idea of technique. Also, your gains will be really fast so your new maxes can change at the end of every month.

 

[theeboredone]

Dang, didn't get it in the mail. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

[theeboredone]

So, with 8 oz of water, French Vanilla Creme tastes just like water with a very subtle vanilla taste. It honestly just feels like drinking fresh water. Though I wish there was more of a taste. Will lower how much water I use next time. Also will drink it with milk later tonight.

Edit: 8 oz of milk with one scoop. Omg sex. 10/10.

 

[Pluvia]

Oh man pay day tomorrow, then I'm buying those heavier weights, I'm weirdly excited.

 

[Diddy Kong]

What are good snacks to eat besides peanut, and chicken, cheese or tuna sandwiches? I'm hungry all the time basically so I'd like to know

 

[eighteenspikes]

granola, eggs

 

[Evil Eye]

Pluvia, have you considered buying adjustable dumbbell handles and just using weightplates for your dumbbell needs?

It doesn't have the scientific precision in overal weight of the solid ones, since the collars and handle add a bit of weight, but ultimately you can't beat it for cost efficiency. It also allows you to make incremental increases instead of just trying to do a jump. It's infinitely easier to go from, say, 20 to 21 or 22 than 20 to 30 or even 20 to 25.

This is advice I got from mashad who although he doesn't post here has consistently been working out for like almost ten years. It's the best advice I think I've ever gotten about exercise, other than "don't start running without buying a proper tailored shoe for it."

 

[Pluvia]

Never even knew they existed.

I'm buying just weight plates though, I want to get a decent sized chest before summer. I know it's possible seeing as though June/July is months away.

 

[Evil Eye]

I didn't either until I was informed. I think it's a conspiracy to steal money from schmucks like us.

 

[Pluvia]

Though I don't mind the jumpof weights, it forces me to work harder, rather than having adjustable weights that I think would make me take it slowly.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Pushed 280 kgs with my legs today, full set. Feels good. Hopefully my shoulder heals soon though...

 

[Attila_]

subscapularis pull-ups gave me doms in a place i didn't know existed.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I'm totally gonna try that when my shoulder heals! It's also for the lower back right??

 

[Attila_]

I didn't feel it there.

All the muscles around my shoulder blades refuse to move lol

 

[Darkshadow7827]

How many did you do? Also, I wish the pull up bar at my gym was just a plain straight bar. They have the angled grips and the close grip ones :/ Interesting exercise. Never seen that before. I'll give it a try on my next cycle.

 

[Diddy Kong]

They look mighty heavy, but I think I'll try to do them in between regular pull up sets.

 

[Attila_]

i just did three sets of four, with the eccentric phase of each rep going for 10 seconds.

good stuff.

 

[Pluvia]

These weights I ordered should be here by tomorrow I actually can't wait to try them out.

Though I had a good laugh today when I realised that the poor postmen and women are going to see this smallish box from Amazon, and when they try to lift it they'll be in for a surprise as it'll weigh 20Kg. They're gonna hate me lol.

 

[Darkshadow7827]

I just tried the subscapularis pull up today. Quite interesting. It feels like I'm trying to hold a brief front lever in a way. Doesn't help that I did lats a couple days ago, that pull up phase, but hard to judge my form. I'll keep practicing these. I definitely felt a weird tension when trying to hold the position and upon exertion. Also messed around with muscle ups today too. I lifted up to the dip phase and tried to slowly lower myself to the dead hang phase. I guess I'll work on transitions this way. Using a squat rack (smith machine? power rack?) bar as a makeshift flat pull up bar catches a lot of attention though haha. I don't think the other people knew what I was going for. Oh well :D

 

[Diddy Kong]

So I said this before, but I'm really fed up with my shoulder injury. My training goes like ****, could've got gains this last month, had been doing really well, but my shoulder has been just OUT every since end December or so. Been making gains all over, chest, arms, everything but could've been much more if dem SHOULDERS would just work... Any tips on healing it up faster??

 

[theeboredone]

I feel like it's hard to "heal" it when you are lifting weights...even if it's not corresponding to your shoulders when you exercise.

 

[Attila_]

you should see a professional and listen to what they say lol