I squat 3 days a week.
2017 Fitness and Workout Thread
- Status
- Thread starter
- #1,502
I need to finish this bathroom project and get my gym time back. Downtown office is close to my gym.
Yessir. Run a little novice 3x5
LP. Get back into some strength.
CobraX51
F-ck Yeah Baby!
Started Monday like I usually do.
4 exercises of chest workouts.
4 exercises of tricep workouts.
Small amount of abs. I increased weight on each exercise and felt good.
Went to the grocery store after to pickup some better snacks/foods. Stocked up on strawberries and pineapple. Cereal I usually go with Cinnamon toast crunch or crunch berries, but instead went with the "better" honey nut cheerios, please don't ask me to eat oatmeal, I tried it, I prefer cereal. Instead of regular chips I went with veggie chips. Grabbed two gallons of water on top of my usual 24 count of water bottles to get more water throughout the day. Lastly picked up some greek yogurt and called it a night.
Tonight I'm doing shoulders and LEGS, will do more squats and I'm definitely doing some calf raises haha. The next two nights I referee so Friday I'll hit the golf course for 9 after work and do back/biceps/abs. Weekend just golf. Going to try and work on more protein intake throughout the day.
4 exercises of chest workouts.
4 exercises of tricep workouts.
Small amount of abs. I increased weight on each exercise and felt good.
Went to the grocery store after to pickup some better snacks/foods. Stocked up on strawberries and pineapple. Cereal I usually go with Cinnamon toast crunch or crunch berries, but instead went with the "better" honey nut cheerios, please don't ask me to eat oatmeal, I tried it, I prefer cereal. Instead of regular chips I went with veggie chips. Grabbed two gallons of water on top of my usual 24 count of water bottles to get more water throughout the day. Lastly picked up some greek yogurt and called it a night.
Tonight I'm doing shoulders and LEGS, will do more squats and I'm definitely doing some calf raises haha. The next two nights I referee so Friday I'll hit the golf course for 9 after work and do back/biceps/abs. Weekend just golf. Going to try and work on more protein intake throughout the day.
Glad your getting in the gym. I'm not sure what your goals are, your age etc. But if you can get in the gym 3 days a week I can't speak highly enough of stronglifts 5x5. I know blugold likes starting strength which is a similar styled program. Either program will give a tremendous base. I ran stronglifts for about 5.5 months before I couldn't run it anymore. The key is to start out light and work up. I started with 155 bench, 185 squat, 215 deadlift, 45 ohp, and 135 row. Very good linear progression and leads in well to several great intermediate programs if you are looking to continue to make strength gains.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
My gripe with Stronglifts is 5 sets of 5 reps is very hard to recover from after a while. The Starting Strength linear progression is 3 sets of 5 reps. Add in, with the Stronglifts app, when the lifter fails to make all 5x5, it defaults the lifter to 3x5. I haven't seen any evidence that the extra two sets matter much for novice lifters. The difference is the modeling for the lifts and the understanding of the movements. There is much more analysis and understanding with Starting Strength. The book really is a must for anybody who wants to get stronger.
As someone who used the app I can say that my app never defaulted me to 3x5. It just didn't add weight for the next workout and then auto deloaded if you missed again. You don't have to deload if you don't want, just put the weight back in. They're is an option in the pay app, which I have and is cheap to rub 3x5, 3x3 or 1x3 all with warm up sets automatically put in. If 5x5 gets to be too much to recover from then you can easily change to 3x5 for that particular lift or for the entire program. I was doing 3x5 on squats and rows at the end myself.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
I'm a gym loner. Is this something I can do on my own, or do I need a partner/spotter? If I'm constantly increasing weight, seems like I would need someone for when I inevitably reach failure.
If you lift in a power rack or squat rack, there will be safety arms to make sure you don't die.
What blugold said. I also never use clips in case i have to dump the bar.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Thanks fellas. However, I can't quite tell if you're saying "Yeah, you could do it, but I wouldn't" or if its closer to "go for it, you'll be fine."
Yes. Go for it. The safety arms will guard your life.
sleuth
Active member
That's a lot of leg day
Do you only do back squats?I have Bulgarian split squats and pistol squats as part of my routine. Are you for or against these?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Thanks!!
I do only do back squats. I vary the volume and intensity per session.That's a lot of leg day
I have Bulgarian split squats and pistol squats as part of my routine. Are you for or against these?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I would never prioritize split squats or pistols over a barbell squat, of some kind. But I could see a use for light single leg variants as a means to add some stress. Most lifters I know aren't at that level yet though. I have never programmed unilateral lifts for my lifters.
arydolphin
GTHC!
I'm also a lone wolf at the gym. My heavy work is mainly deadlifts and squats. My lower back is an issue, so I use the trap bar for deadlifts (also known as hex bar), so I can just let go with my arms if it's too heavy. For squats, I mix it up between barbell back squats and other things like goblet squats, and with the barbell you can always just drop it off your back if it's too much. I don't do very much bench pressing at all, and if I do it, it's with dumbbells.
There are tons of adaptations that you can do to be safe. I don't pretend to know as much as some in this thread, but I do think that Olympic lifting isn't the greatest thing to do in the gym for the majority of the population. There are plenty of moves that you can do that give you some of the same benefits (ex: goblet squats instead of back/front squats).
Olympic lifting needs to be coached. Those movements aren't as complicated as many believe, but they are counterintuitive.
I'm not a fan of the trap bar for deadlifts. I don't believe it's any safer and doesn't actually target the low back. To make the back stronger, we have to stress it.
I know doctor's hours aren't convenient. But it can be done. I would check out barbellmedicine.com
It's ran by two MDs who are remarkably smart and passionate about strength, fitness and general health.
arydolphin
GTHC!
Agree to disagree about the trap bar. It's safer FOR ME and takes some of the stress off of my lower back. My lower back issues are related to tight hamstrings, and while I'm trying to improve that issue as well, why not do something that is safer in the meantime?
Put another way: I can continue to work out one way that you might not think is any better, OR I can not work out at all due to injury. It's a pretty easy decision.
CobraX51
F-ck Yeah Baby!
Well I never really left the gym besides the few times a year I'll take a week off to rest or am sick. But I am pretty set on my 2-3 times a week just never doing leg day.
My goal is to reach 167-170. I'm currently 160. At the gym I did 3 sets of machine squats. Just call me a beast with a 30 pounds on each side, haha. Did leg press machine 3 times of 160-170-180 and finished up with 3 sets of calf raises. I sure felt it the next 2 days and 9 total exercises really isn't a lot but to be that sore shows how much I ignore leg day, I will say it was nice doing it though.
The intake of protein, more snacks, and leg day is the only way I'm going to gain those 7-10 pounds I'm seeking.
How tall are you? How old? 170 seems little for an adult male. I know that will rub a lot of people the wrong way, but oh well.
CobraX51
F-ck Yeah Baby!
Well I never did much squatting, I was a wrestler in highschool so did a lot of running etc. and pretty much focused on upper body strength as well. Having done stronglifts I will say I very rarely was sore other than some pattella tendon pain that went away with sleeves and focusing on form.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
I think 170 is a little light. I am not going to say you need to get fat. I think eating 200g+ (aim for 220g) of protein a day will help allow things to sort themselves out. The other factor you need to consider, for muscle growth, the muscle needs to get stronger. Doing light weight lifts, split squats, lunges, or extensions will not do a very good job of adding size. You need to move more weight. I prefer squats. They will involve your posterior chain more. Allow for your low back to get stronger in the process. Strength the hamstrings at the knees, hips, and isometrically. Strong hamstrings will help stabilize your knees since the hamstrings insert on the tibial tuberosity which is just below your knee cap. Leg presses don't do that. Squats do.
sleuth
Active member
So I mentioned that i was diagnosed with tendinitis in my right knee this summer. Didn't think much of it and continued to play golf. Went back to weight training a few weeks ago and started low and slow.
Now my right knee is cracking when I walk time to time lol. Same sound when you crack your knuckles. Guys ever come across this? There is no pain but really curious wtf. Works pretty busy next week, unsure of when I can see a Dr, so looking for some premature info aside from Google.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Now my right knee is cracking when I walk time to time lol. Same sound when you crack your knuckles. Guys ever come across this? There is no pain but really curious wtf. Works pretty busy next week, unsure of when I can see a Dr, so looking for some premature info aside from Google.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Yes. I have had it and have talked with a few coaches with clients that have had it. If there is no pain, just train through it. Make the knee strong and cracking might go away. If not, you get stronger and have a neat party trick. If there's pain, different story.
- Status