OD's training log

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BigPecsPeter said:
I'd first like to say that I am very impressed with the level of knowledge on these boards, and that the majority of the advice given to OP from what I've seen in this and related threads has been excellent. You're a good bunch, and I'm not easily impressed, especially with a lot of the absolute rubbish lurking around fitness websites. It's refreshing to see that there seems to be more decent knowledge here than on many wholly fitness oriented discussion forums!

As for me, I was a squad level competitive gymnast who had to quit at 16 due to a whinge-ury. Since then (the past 10 years) I've been bodybuilding and am an 'advanced' lifter. I coach people, but my main specialization/qualifications are on the nutritional side (optimizing performance, fat loss and the like).

I would like to say that I really do not wish to come across as trying to bait people. I don't intend that at all, and my motivations are more along the following lines:

From the posts he's made, I'm led strongly to believe that OP is, to put it in no uncertain terms, a quitter. He's the type, not uncommon in the training world, that will give up when fed with even the slightest doubts or discouragement. It seems that in recent times he's come across a training method that actually works for him. For him, that's a major breakthrough. It's also a really good thing and he seems quite motivated with his routine. If he is really THAT reluctant to squat, where's the good in making him feel as if his training is wildly deficient due to that reason alone? It just makes him feel rubbish about what he's doing, and is disheartening. At least he's doing something, and something that's getting him results. That's a whole world better than doing nothing.

Of course, the point that he is asking all these questions shows that he doesn't feel confident that what he is doing is good enough. He wants validation from you guys. This is probably a bit silly, as he must realise that he's not going to get validation for ideas he already knows popular opinion is at odds with. And yet, he still asks. Now, I'm not suggesting that anybody should give him validation. People should stand by what they believe in. That's important...

...BUT I think people should cut him some slack.

If he's not going to do something, then he's not going to do it. So I think it's better to at least be as encouraging as possible on what he is willing to do, particularly if he is finally finding that he's getting results and getting where he wants to be.

My apologies if anything I've said or done has been interpreted as baiting. I just like to view and consider things from as many perspectives as possible.
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Thank you Bigpete for brining a little bit of balance to this.

I plan to speak to my physio next week, but I dont see any problem supplementing my routine with some sort of body weight squats to start of with. Maybe I can do wall squats just to start.

Regarding my leg routine, Im cutting it down. It took me about 2 hours today which is too long. Not even my upper body takes that long.

I'v reduced leg routine to this:

Squats (wall squats bw) 3x10
SLDL 4x8
Lunges 3x12
Leg Press 3x10
Split Squats 3x10
Calf Raises 4x8
 
BigPecsPeter said:
I'd first like to say that I am very impressed with the level of knowledge on these boards, and that the majority of the advice given to OP from what I've seen in this and related threads has been excellent. You're a good bunch, and I'm not easily impressed, especially with a lot of the absolute rubbish lurking around fitness websites. It's refreshing to see that there seems to be more decent knowledge here than on many wholly fitness oriented discussion forums!

As for me, I was a squad level competitive gymnast who had to quit at 16 due to a whinge-ury. Since then (the past 10 years) I've been bodybuilding and am an 'advanced' lifter. I coach people, but my main specialization/qualifications are on the nutritional side (optimizing performance, fat loss and the like).

I would like to say that I really do not wish to come across as trying to bait people. I don't intend that at all, and my motivations are more along the following lines:

From the posts he's made, I'm led strongly to believe that OP is, to put it in no uncertain terms, a quitter. He's the type, not uncommon in the training world, that will give up when fed with even the slightest doubts or discouragement. It seems that in recent times he's come across a training method that actually works for him. For him, that's a major breakthrough. It's also a really good thing and he seems quite motivated with his routine. If he is really THAT reluctant to squat, where's the good in making him feel as if his training is wildly deficient due to that reason alone? It just makes him feel rubbish about what he's doing, and is disheartening. At least he's doing something, and something that's getting him results. That's a whole world better than doing nothing.

Of course, the point that he is asking all these questions shows that he doesn't feel confident that what he is doing is good enough. He wants validation from you guys. This is probably a bit silly, as he must realise that he's not going to get validation for ideas he already knows popular opinion is at odds with. And yet, he still asks. Now, I'm not suggesting that anybody should give him validation. People should stand by what they believe in. That's important...

...BUT I think people should cut him some slack.

If he's not going to do something, then he's not going to do it. So I think it's better to at least be as encouraging as possible on what he is willing to do, particularly if he is finally finding that he's getting results and getting where he wants to be.

My apologies if anything I've said or done has been interpreted as baiting. I just like to view and consider things from as many perspectives as possible.
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Fair enough :)

I agree with large swathes of what you've been saying, but I think there are further aspects of this situation that will become apparent. I hope you're planning on sticking around btw, it's nice to have new voices around here from people who seem to grasp reasonable discussion!
 
icecold said:
Fair enough :)

I agree with large swathes of what you've been saying, but I think there are further aspects of this situation that will become apparent. I hope you're planning on sticking around btw, it's nice to have new voices around here from people who seem to grasp reasonable discussion!
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+1
 
I have realised that I am currently deadlifting the 30kg barbell i'm using for my SLDL's, so putting DL in is a distinct possibility.

The way I see it, a DL is similar to a Leg press. It's a push away from the body, which doesnt put strain on the knee joint (well as far as I can tell in my limited capacity of doing it whilst picking up barbells), but a squat is the opposite movement, its a compression, which puts all the strain down on to my knee.

Does that make sense? I would love to add DL in to my routine and I think I have seen a way to do it, now having watched one of the PT yesterday with a client. I could even use one of the EZ bars or a smaller barbell to start with.

As for my legs routine currently. I did bw lunges yesterday just as a feeler and I think they are good and will be adding dumbells next.

I don't know if it's worth my time to carry on with the step ups tho. They dont seem to do much.

Current routine of Leg press, Lunges, BSS and SLDL is ok, if I can add DL in there it would be looking much healthier.

As im already picking up 30kg off the floor I bet I could start at 40kg and go from there.

But can you DL twice a week? I am thinking tho, that having done an upper routine the day before, and then doing DL on the day after, isnt that asking too much of my upper body? The way it would work is I would do DL on the lower body day. Do think it would be overtraining the upper body tho. Im sore from my Monday session.



So my routine could look something like this:

Mon/Thu:

Bench Press 4x8
Dumbbell Rows 4x8
Shoulder Press 3x10
Pull up's 3x10
Dips 2x12
Barbell Curls 2x12

Tue/Friday

Dead Lifts 3x8
SLDL 4x8
Lunges 3x10
Leg Press 3x10
Calf Raises 4x8
Weighted Crunches 3xamrap
Plank 1 set
Olique crunch 3x10
Flutterkick 3xamrap

From what I gather on the net, DL twice a week is not advisable, but as I'm going light (like 40kg) it should be doable for a while?
 
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opethdisciple said:
I have realised that I am currently deadlifting the 30kg barbell i'm using for my SLDL's, so putting DL in is a distinct possibility.

.......

As im already picking up 30kg off the floor I bet I could start at 40kg and go from there.

But can you DL twice a week? I am thinking tho, that having done an upper routine the day before, and then doing DL on the day after, isnt that asking too much of my upper body? The way it would work is I would do DL on the lower body day. Do think it would be overtraining the upper body tho. Im sore from my Monday session.

.......

From what I gather on the net, DL twice a week is not advisable, but as I'm going light (like 40kg) it should be doable for a while?
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Errmmm... Dude... You're talking about deadlifting the equivalent of an Oly bar with 10kg on either side. Some might pick up that much weight or more in usual daily activity. Are you seriously asking whether you could end up overtraining with THAT?! Your average novice female trainer can easily do that.

As for deadlifting twice a week as a general thing, it's more than possible, even with greater loads. And many people make such routines work.

You seem fixated with this absurd notion that you are risking overtraining your upper body. This is unrealistic, as your routine is extremely minimal compared to what even your average gymrat does. Overtraining is just not going to happen for you, at your present stage. So stop worrying about it. And so-called muscle soreness and whatnot is more a connective tissue thing. It does NOT mean you cannot lift until the soreness has gone. If you think this, you are fooling yourself out of a decent training intensity and will end up going nowhere fast.
 
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BigPecsPeter said:
Errmmm... Dude... You're talking about deadlifting the equivalent of an Oly bar with 10kg on either side. Some might pick up that much weight or more in usual daily activity. Are you seriously asking whether you could end up overtraining with THAT?! Your average novice female trainer can easily do that.

As for deadlifting twice a week as a general thing, it's more than possible, even with greater loads. And many people make such routines work.

You seem fixated with this absurd notion that you are risking overtraining your upper body. This is unrealistic, as your routine is extremely minimal compared to what even your average gymrat does. Overtraining is just not going to happen for you, at your present stage. So stop worrying about it. And so-called muscle soreness and whatnot is more a connective tissue thing. It does NOT mean you cannot lift until the soreness has gone. If you think this, you are fooling yourself out of a decent training intensity and will end up going nowhere fast.
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Ignores top notch Internet advice, trusts bad physio and bad logic. :(

Has a current routine incuding SLDL, lunges, leg press and (I don't believe it) BSS and claims he can't squat. :eek:

If you think you can't squat because of some knee dodginess, what do you think deadlift ing will do to your knees? :confused: :(

And seriously: please revisit your logic on leg-press versus squat because it makes NO SENSE and is genuinely starting to hurt my head with your wilful ignorance. Apologies if this is blunt, but seriously? :confused: :eek:
 
To be fair though, why would he not trust his physio? Or his GP or doctor? Sadly there seems to be a ridiculous bad amount of them around but unless you happen to know someone who is ridiculously good at what they do, you're bound to take their word as gospel
 
Another thing I was going to ask is regarding this:

I don't know if it's worth my time to carry on with the step ups tho. They dont seem to do much.
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When you say "they don't seem to do much", what are you getting at exactly? If they are reasonably challenging and you can add weight to the exercise over time, then they ARE doing something. Why would you think they were not doing anything? Please clarify ::confused::
 
mrthingyx said:
Ignores top notch Internet advice, trusts bad physio and bad logic. :(

Has a current routine incuding SLDL, lunges, leg press and (I don't believe it) BSS and claims he can't squat. :eek:

If you think you can't squat because of some knee dodginess, what do you think deadlift ing will do to your knees? :confused: :(

And seriously: please revisit your logic on leg-press versus squat because it makes NO SENSE and is genuinely starting to hurt my head with your wilful ignorance. Apologies if this is blunt, but seriously? :confused: :eek:
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Yeah I don't believe for a second he's doing BSS, I think I had a little IRL lol when I read that in Gym Rats.
BigPecsPeter said:
Another thing I was going to ask is regarding this:

When you say "they don't seem to do much", what are you getting at exactly? If they are reasonably challenging and you can add weight to the exercise over time, then they ARE doing something. Why would you think they were not doing anything? Please clarify ::confused::
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:D
Indeed.
 
:(

So easy to gain weight.

On Friday I was 63.4kg. I went out Friday night had a couple of drinks a beer and thought to my self "you dont cheat often and you work out 4 times a week you can have a muffin if you want one".

On Saturday morning I weight 63.9kg. Then I went to a Christening on Saturday and tried to eat as clean as I could. Sunday I had a few nuts which werent on the diet plan, and this morning I weighed 64.5kg!

So in the space of Friday morning to Monday morning I have gain 1kg!

Not good!

I don't do well when Im not on a diet (ie deficit) as I end up eating things not on the diet plan....

---

My downfall seems to be nuts! They maybe healthy in small quantities, but from a pure calorie/fat point of view they are as bad as any oher junk food. I need to stay away! If I need to binge, eat an apple or an orange, nuts need to be off limits!

Otherwise Im going to be a fat sod again in no time.

Im setting the bar at 67kg. If I reach this weight, it's straight back on to the deficit diet for me.

----

I definetly have a self destructive streak tho. It's like I purposefully want to destroy my hard work. Even after I relaised I should not be binging on nuts...... I still carried on. :confused:
 
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Yep, just be water and bloat and stuff.

Depends how much you want to lose the weight and how quickly, go tea total or have the odd treat really.
 
Well im actually meant to be at maintannce transitioning in to a bit of a bulk....

But the rate im gainining, Im gona be back at 70kg in no time at all, far to quick to actually gain any muscle.
 
You're at maintenance, with a 'slight' bulk and you say you aren't good at dieting.. That's because you aren't currently dieting if you're trying to bulk? :confused:
 
Figure out if your dieting, staying at maintenance, or bulking OD.

If you're cutting, weight should be dropping.
If you're staying at maintenance, weight should stay the same give or take.
Bulking, weight goes up steadily but not ridiculously quick.
 
opethdisciple said:
Im setting the bar at 67kg. If I reach this weight, it's straight back on to the deficit diet for me.
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That's called 'spinning yer wheels'.

- You reached a level of fat you were pleased with and so were happy to go to maintenance, by the sounds of things.

- You want to gain muscle

- You need to eat to gain muscle, sounds like you're pretty tiny as a male at 63kg

- If you gain the weight too fast, you will be gaining more fat than muscle

- So you keep cheating and bingeing, gain a bunch of fat (and probably some muscle), then freak out and start dieting again

- So you diet again, and then will have poor progress in your weightlifting

- Cycle repeats

And repeats...

And repeats...
 
Yea I know the above.

I am meant to be at maintanence at the moment, but then I seem to have binge moments, when my weight has been fine for a week, then suddly goes up by a 1kg.

Rinse and repeat. The problem is Me. I need to stop the nuts, they are my go to binge food.
 
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