Official: Exercise/Losing The Gut Thread

[derosabomb]

hitting the gym in a few min after a couple days off. cant wait.

felt so much better today then i did the last time i was in the gym. i guess i needed a couple days...

 

[Anytime23]

Sometimes people need a few days off to recover.

 

[derosabomb]

Sometimes people need a few days off to recover.

yeah 3 times a week full body workout for about 2 and a half months. taking a day off felt great today.

 

[Anytime23]

Ever think about going more days a week but doing only 1-2 body parts?

 

[nvanprooyen]

If you guys want to check out a site w/ great information, I highly recommend BodyRecomposition.com. The guy who runs it (Lyle McDonald), really knows his shit. There are so many sites out there with terrible, unfounded advice that are usually trying to sell you something. This is one of the best resources I've found to date. Also some forums there too - BodyRecomposition Support Forums - Powered by vBulletin

 

[nvanprooyen]

One thing to remember: don't get caught up in competition. Use what fits you. Repetition and proper form/execution is much better than more weight and horrible form.

+1000. Form is critical.

Excellent book on this subject is Starting Strength - [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-2nd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0976805421]Amazon.com: Starting Strength (2nd edition) (9780976805427): Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore: Books[/ame] . You could probably find a PDF copy floating around out there someplace if you looked

(sorry, I'm reading through the entire thread now so I might have a few responses in a row)

 

[nvanprooyen]

yeah 3 times a week full body workout for about 2 and a half months. taking a day off felt great today.

You definitely want to back cycle periodically and come back up (especially if you've been adding weight to your lifts incrementally over that whole 2.5 months).

 

[nvanprooyen]

Alright, made it all the way through this. Great thread, really glad I found it. Will start contributing to it regularly and posting progress as well.

 

[derosabomb]

Ever think about going more days a week but doing only 1-2 body parts?

yeah i have but right now im just trying to add some muscle mass focusing on compound lifts. when i started a few months ago i was a stick, i had just lost like 70 pounds and im fairly certain i lost alof of muscle along with all the fat. im planing on doing what im doing for a couple more months, working my squat, dead, and presses up. i want to get to like 2x my body weight for deadz, and 1.5x bw for Squatz, if i could get to anything close to BW for bench id be estatic. my presses are pathetic.

 

[derosabomb]

+1000. Form is critical.

Excellent book on this subject is starting strength - amazon.com: Starting strength (2nd edition) (9780976805427): Mark rippetoe, lon kilgore: Books . You could probably find a pdf copy floating around out there someplace if you looked

(sorry, i'm reading through the entire thread now so i might have a few responses in a row)

coach rip ftw!

 

[derosabomb]

You definitely want to back cycle periodically and come back up (especially if you've been adding weight to your lifts incrementally over that whole 2.5 months).

yeah ive been adding alot. noob gains!!!!

 

[nvanprooyen]

I don't know about you guys, but I love lifting and I despise cardio. Which is kind of funny because I used to be a long distance runner. Anyways, any of you tried playing racquetball? It burns an assload of calories and it's a shit ton of fun. Highly recommend it.

 

[Anytime23]

Uh oh, you know im really getting back into gym mode when i see other kids there and i smh when i see them training other kids. I wouldnt have a problem with it if the kids had even the slightest clue about how to properly train. I feel bad for the kids they train too because theyre either going to get hurt, messed up and most likely wonder why they havent gained progress over time.

IDK, maybe im just one of those pompous workout guys because ive been doing it for so long and went to school for it. I just hate to see people waste their faith in the wrong people....

Anyways had a killer arm workout. Short head of my right bicep is tight as hell. I need to get a massage asap! Oh and i highly recommend massages to anyone who works out frequently. IDK if i mentioned that already or not.

 

[zack54attack]

Alright... I need some help/advice.

I'm trying to lose my gut... IT's not a huge gut, but I want a flatter stomach. But I want to gain muscle.

How should I go about this?

 

[nvanprooyen]

Uh oh, you know im really getting back into gym mode when i see other kids there and i smh when i see them training other kids. I wouldnt have a problem with it if the kids had even the slightest clue about how to properly train. I feel bad for the kids they train too because theyre either going to get hurt, messed up and most likely wonder why they havent gained progress over time.

IDK, maybe im just one of those pompous workout guys because ive been doing it for so long and went to school for it. I just hate to see people waste their faith in the wrong people....

Anyways had a killer arm workout. Short head of my right bicep is tight as hell. I need to get a massage asap! Oh and i highly recommend massages to anyone who works out frequently. IDK if i mentioned that already or not.

Yep. It bugs me too. Even worse, is when you see people working with "trainers", with awful (and sometimes dangerous) form...while the trainer is texting away on their fucking iPhone paying no attention to the person they are working with. My gym forces training down people's throats, charges tons for it and there is like 1 person there who seems like they know what they are doing. Makes me mad.

Re massages, have you ever tried foam rolling? I haven't personally, but I've heard good things.

 

[nvanprooyen]

Alright... I need some help/advice.

I'm trying to lose my gut... IT's not a huge gut, but I want a flatter stomach. But I want to gain muscle.

How should I go about this?

Diet

First and foremost, diet, diet, diet. It's not impossible to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously as a beginner, but eventually you'll have to begin to tailor what you're eating and how much to what your specific goals are for the particular phase you're in (bulk, cut). In the beginning, I would recommend you eat at close to maintenance, making sure a good chunk of your kcals are coming from protein. First, you need to know where you're at in terms of maintenance though so you can tweak things as you move forward. I would recommend the baseline diet outlined below.

Reading on this subject:

The Baseline Diet: Part 1 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald
The Baseline Diet 2009: Part 2 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

Training

Lifting - Generally, I would recommend that you start with full body workouts, 3 times a week, focus on large compound movements (bench / deadlift / squat) and really make sure you pay attention to form. This will give you a solid training base to start from. You want to make sure that your body is properly conditioned and your form is spot on before you begin to intensify (if you choose to go that route). Here's some good stuff on this subject:

Beginning Weight Training Part 1 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald
Beginning Weight Training Part 2 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald
Beginning Weight Training Part 3 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald
Beginning Weight Training Part 4 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

Cardio - You can do this on the days you aren't weight training. 30 mins or so at a decent intensity should suffice. I hate running now, so I mostly swim and play racquetball (which is fun as hell and burns loads of calories). You might want to look into high intensity interval training for one of your cardio days to mix it up a bit and accelerate results. If you search for that, you'll be able to find a bunch of info on it.

E.g.

Mon - Full body lifting
Tue - Cardio
Wed - Full body lifting
Thu - Cardio
Fri - Full body lifting
Sat - Cardio optional
Sun - Rest

Recovery

Know your limits and don't overtrain. This isn't a race. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Give yourself a full day off once a week. Make stretching a part of your daily routine (I like to do it when I first get up in the morning and again before I go to bed).

Misc

I'm no expert on the subject, but the stuff above definitely got me going in the right direction when I was first getting started. Also, I'd check out that Starting Strength book I mentioned earlier. It's one of the best things I've ever read regarding form. Give yourself 3 months doing all the stuff above and I guarantee you will be ecstatic with the way you look and feel.

Hope that's helpful.

Bear down!

:buttrock:

 

[Anytime23]

Yep. It bugs me too. Even worse, is when you see people working with "trainers", with awful (and sometimes dangerous) form...while the trainer is texting away on their fucking iPhone paying no attention to the person they are working with. My gym forces training down people's throats, charges tons for it and there is like 1 person there who seems like they know what they are doing. Makes me mad.

Re massages, have you ever tried foam rolling? I haven't personally, but I've heard good things.

Yeah there's some awful trainers out there. At the gym I used to work out at in Fl there was this guy that was featured on MTVs true life: I'm on steroids The guy was a big juice head but he really wasn't that big. He was a trainer and I would see him train old ladies like they were high school football players.

I love foam rollers, especially when I'm sore. They're great to use pre-workout on leg days

 

[Anytime23]

Zack, it's always tougher to lose fat and put on muscle. Why not try to bulk up and then cut down?

 

[nvanprooyen]

Yeah there's some awful trainers out there. At the gym I used to work out at in Fl there was this guy that was featured on MTVs true life: I'm on steroids The guy was a big juice head but he really wasn't that big. He was a trainer and I would see him train old ladies like they were high school football players.

I love foam rollers, especially when I'm sore. They're great to use pre-workout on leg days

What part of FL? Still live in Boca?

Cool - I'm going to have to check that out then. Leg days kill me, I never seem to fully recover when I go heavy on the previous one.

 

[Anytime23]

No I live outside of PIT right now but I'm moving back to Boca in a couple months.

Definitely look into them.