On September 23 2012 03:55 Emnjay808 wrote: Im trying to lose weight. Ive been hitting the gym regularly for about 2 years now. Been on protein shakes for 1 year. I want to slim down and lose mass, I dont really like how big Ive become, but I am happy with how strong Ive become.
Any tips on how to slim down more other than being off the protein shake? Diet plan, exercise work out, anything.
Are you saying you want to lose muscle or you want to lose fat?
If the former, I'm confused And if the latter, then start eating at a ~500 kcal deficit per day, keep lifting and keep up the protein to preserve muscle mass
I want to lose muscle but maintain some strength. Ive developed stretch marks around my shoulders and chest and many of my shirts feel tight whenever I wear them (not really complaining, just saying).
Ive been aiming for hypertrophy but then I realized that I want to slim down instead. I used to do my sets by increasing weight every progressive set. Like 3 sets of 7 reps and maybe add on 10lbs or so each time. But maybe now Im thinking of just going semi-heavy and keep it to 4 sets of 20 reps.
Also dieting, Ive gained a bit of a belly and some love handles. I want to get rid of them asap like before Thanks Giving and Christmas lol. Not really priority. But any quick diet plans would be appreciated ^_^
On September 23 2012 03:55 Emnjay808 wrote: Im trying to lose weight. Ive been hitting the gym regularly for about 2 years now. Been on protein shakes for 1 year. I want to slim down and lose mass, I dont really like how big Ive become, but I am happy with how strong Ive become.
Any tips on how to slim down more other than being off the protein shake? Diet plan, exercise work out, anything.
Are you saying you want to lose muscle or you want to lose fat?
If the former, I'm confused And if the latter, then start eating at a ~500 kcal deficit per day, keep lifting and keep up the protein to preserve muscle mass
I want to lose muscle but maintain some strength. Ive developed stretch marks around my shoulders and chest and many of my shirts feel tight whenever I wear them (not really complaining, just saying).
Ive been aiming for hypertrophy but then I realized that I want to slim down instead. I used to do my sets by increasing weight every progressive set. Like 3 sets of 7 reps and maybe add on 10lbs or so each time. But maybe now Im thinking of just going semi-heavy and keep it to 4 sets of 20 reps.
Also dieting, Ive gained a bit of a belly and some love handles. I want to get rid of them asap like before Thanks Giving and Christmas lol. Not really priority. But any quick diet plans would be appreciated ^_^
If u want to lose weight and mantain strength, do low volume/HEAVY WEIGHT/High frequency training, on a caloric deficit and with lots of protein. That means 10 singles/5 triples/2 sets of 5, 3-5 times a week or somth. Maybe read Power to the People by Pavel Tsatsouline, its about getting stronger without getting bigger. Also favor OHP/Deadlift over Squat/Bench press, as the latter build more mass.
On September 23 2012 03:55 Emnjay808 wrote: Im trying to lose weight. Ive been hitting the gym regularly for about 2 years now. Been on protein shakes for 1 year. I want to slim down and lose mass, I dont really like how big Ive become, but I am happy with how strong Ive become.
Any tips on how to slim down more other than being off the protein shake? Diet plan, exercise work out, anything.
Are you saying you want to lose muscle or you want to lose fat?
If the former, I'm confused And if the latter, then start eating at a ~500 kcal deficit per day, keep lifting and keep up the protein to preserve muscle mass
I want to lose muscle but maintain some strength. Ive developed stretch marks around my shoulders and chest and many of my shirts feel tight whenever I wear them (not really complaining, just saying).
Ive been aiming for hypertrophy but then I realized that I want to slim down instead. I used to do my sets by increasing weight every progressive set. Like 3 sets of 7 reps and maybe add on 10lbs or so each time. But maybe now Im thinking of just going semi-heavy and keep it to 4 sets of 20 reps.
Also dieting, Ive gained a bit of a belly and some love handles. I want to get rid of them asap like before Thanks Giving and Christmas lol. Not really priority. But any quick diet plans would be appreciated ^_^
If you think that where your body and strength is at is not what you bargained for when you started going to the gym, then I'm quite confused. Didn't you start working out because you wanted to be bigger and stronger? Of course your shirts are going to feel tighter, but I'd argue that to be a very small price to pay.
On the other hand, if you think that you accumulated a lot of fat in the process, then yes you may want to cut. Because you said that you wish to maintain your strength but lose fat, it's simply eating at a 500 calorie deficit while lifting as normal. If you haven't really got desire to get stronger, then maybe just don't add weight.
As for a diet plan, I can't really tell you much about it. I know nothing about your life's circumstances, budget, how often you are able to eat etc. You really know the best yourself. Just consume less calories per day, and you will lose it naturally. If you go for 500 kcal deficit per day like someone suggested, you won't lose much muscle in the process (if at all)
When I squat now, my left knee feels a bit funny and the muscles around my quads hurt a little (like an ache). My right leg is usually fine. As I work through the set, this all subsides and by the last set, I can't feel anything unusual. The trainers at the gym have said my form is good and I had someone with me today who said it was fine. I can feel it regardless of the weight (even BW). Any advice or ideas on what's happening?
On September 23 2012 07:55 Flicky wrote: When I squat now, my left knee feels a bit funny and the muscles around my quads hurt a little (like an ache). My right leg is usually fine. As I work through the set, this all subsides and by the last set, I can't feel anything unusual. The trainers at the gym have said my form is good and I had someone with me today who said it was fine. I can feel it regardless of the weight (even BW). Any advice or ideas on what's happening?
Can't tell much without more info... comment in the injuries thread and answer the questions in the spoiler of the OP if you want a guess.
So, after having an emergency deloadweek to stop the decline in strength I've been experiencing I have now designed my training schedule for the next three weeks and was hoping on some input from the tl ppl. I put this schedule together with wendlers 5/3/1 Triumvirate program as a foundation but made some alterations and additions. I didn't manage to fit all my wishes (2x benchdays/week and 4x heavy upper back exercises) into the schedule since I know it's one thing to plan to do something and another one to have the energy for it lol.
Monday Squat 5/3/1 Leg press 3x10 GHR 3x10 Standing calveraises Pinch and curl grip training + gripper
You made too many additions on the Tuesday and Friday... I would suggest dropping some of the isolation work, especially the ones like overhead triceps extensions and skullcrushers which are notorious for giving people overuse injuries like tendonitis.
On September 23 2012 03:55 Emnjay808 wrote: Im trying to lose weight. Ive been hitting the gym regularly for about 2 years now. Been on protein shakes for 1 year. I want to slim down and lose mass, I dont really like how big Ive become, but I am happy with how strong Ive become.
Any tips on how to slim down more other than being off the protein shake? Diet plan, exercise work out, anything.
Are you saying you want to lose muscle or you want to lose fat?
If the former, I'm confused And if the latter, then start eating at a ~500 kcal deficit per day, keep lifting and keep up the protein to preserve muscle mass
I want to lose muscle but maintain some strength. Ive developed stretch marks around my shoulders and chest and many of my shirts feel tight whenever I wear them (not really complaining, just saying).
Ive been aiming for hypertrophy but then I realized that I want to slim down instead. I used to do my sets by increasing weight every progressive set. Like 3 sets of 7 reps and maybe add on 10lbs or so each time. But maybe now Im thinking of just going semi-heavy and keep it to 4 sets of 20 reps.
Also dieting, Ive gained a bit of a belly and some love handles. I want to get rid of them asap like before Thanks Giving and Christmas lol. Not really priority. But any quick diet plans would be appreciated ^_^
I know what you mean Emnjay, it's nice to get stronger but sometimes it feels strange to get bigger! I would echo suggestions to count calories, and if your not losing weight, lower your calories some and keep working out.
On September 23 2012 21:02 eshlow wrote: You made too many additions on the Tuesday and Friday... I would suggest dropping some of the isolation work, especially the ones like overhead triceps extensions and skullcrushers which are notorious for giving people overuse injuries like tendonitis.
Thanks for the input. I agree that the bench and overhead press days are stacked but without the amount of accessory work on those days I feel like I wont hit my arms sufficiently. I will probably have to remove a couple of exercises.
Important questions concerning my squat.... First of all, it has been improving at a very good pace, and I've had hardly any pains at all. Every time I go to the gym I add up 2.5kg as per SS suggests, and on wednesday I'm hitting 80kg squat weights (and 120kg DL)
However, I have some concerns over my squat form. According to Mark rippetoe for example, in the squat my knees are supposed to go to the direction where my toes point out to, and with my toes pointing slightly out. However, I have a bit of flat feet. Not bad, and not something that has ever given me pains or bothered me with running etc, but something that definately is there, at least for my left foot. I believe this makes it very hard for me to actually perform a squat with heavy weights where my knees go where my toes point out to. My knees seem to generally point straight ahead, whereas my toes point slightly away. I asked for a more experienced lifter to check my form in my gym, and he also mentioned that I can really screw up my knees with heavy weights if my knees dont point to the correct direction. However, it should be mentioned that I can perform a squat with proper form as long as I don't go to the heavier weights. I do not have weightlifting shoes. For squats I lift barefoot with a piece of wood under my heels atm. Similar to how runners with flat feet use proper running shoes to fix their problems and potential pains, should I also try to find weightlifting shoes with a proper support for my feet?
Also, just recently I started to get minor ache near my groin when I squat, where my inner thighs connect to my torso pretty much (Sorry, english isn't my first language). I thought I should ask about this too, in case it is for a different reason. Should I be worried about this? For now, the pain doesn't last, and it's not really so much that gets in the way of my squats. Could it be because of the problem I mentioned before, or maybe if I should put more weight into my heels etc?
I feel like my hamstring flexibility is holding back my squat. I have started stretching my hams for ~5min per ham every night, but it feels like all the flexibility is lost when I do deadlifts or squats.
Anyone who have had great success doing something for improving hamstring flexibility?
On September 26 2012 05:04 KOVU wrote: I feel like my hamstring flexibility is holding back my squat. I have started stretching my hams for ~5min per ham every night, but it feels like all the flexibility is lost when I do deadlifts or squats.
Anyone who have had great success doing something for improving hamstring flexibility?
I don't have experience stretching for your specific reason but I've found I gained the most flexibility when I did this particular style of stretching. On your back have someone hold your leg pushing it towards your head (pretty standard). There's no need to have the knee locked, I think its actually more dangerous that way and isn't particular functional anyways. Just have them push it until you can feel the stretch, nothing extreme. Hold it there for like 15 seconds or something. Then you push against them, trying to bring your leg back down to the ground next to your other leg, as hard as possible for 10 seconds. Then relax and have them push against it very gently. You'll probably gain a couple inches from where you were before and feel the stretch the same. Repeat the process. I'm sure this has a name that someone will enlighten me with
On September 25 2012 02:17 Ahzz wrote: Important questions concerning my squat.... First of all, it has been improving at a very good pace, and I've had hardly any pains at all. Every time I go to the gym I add up 2.5kg as per SS suggests, and on wednesday I'm hitting 80kg squat weights (and 120kg DL)
However, I have some concerns over my squat form. According to Mark rippetoe for example, in the squat my knees are supposed to go to the direction where my toes point out to, and with my toes pointing slightly out. However, I have a bit of flat feet. Not bad, and not something that has ever given me pains or bothered me with running etc, but something that definately is there, at least for my left foot. I believe this makes it very hard for me to actually perform a squat with heavy weights where my knees go where my toes point out to. My knees seem to generally point straight ahead, whereas my toes point slightly away. I asked for a more experienced lifter to check my form in my gym, and he also mentioned that I can really screw up my knees with heavy weights if my knees dont point to the correct direction. However, it should be mentioned that I can perform a squat with proper form as long as I don't go to the heavier weights. I do not have weightlifting shoes. For squats I lift barefoot with a piece of wood under my heels atm. Similar to how runners with flat feet use proper running shoes to fix their problems and potential pains, should I also try to find weightlifting shoes with a proper support for my feet?
Also, just recently I started to get minor ache near my groin when I squat, where my inner thighs connect to my torso pretty much (Sorry, english isn't my first language). I thought I should ask about this too, in case it is for a different reason. Should I be worried about this? For now, the pain doesn't last, and it's not really so much that gets in the way of my squats. Could it be because of the problem I mentioned before, or maybe if I should put more weight into my heels etc?
Strengthen your feet intrinsics and start to work your way off of the piece of wood if you can.
Weightlifting shoes are a decent option if you're weight lifting but you do want the range of motion.
And yes, it's harder to have knees out if you have flat feet /pes planus / so that should be the main thing you focus on so you don't ingrain bad mechanics in your body.
Is this a good exercise to strengthen my instrinsics?
I will have to focus on proper form it seems. That's all fine though. I guess I'll do all my warmup sets without the wood and while focusing on proper knee movement, and eventually try to drop the wood I suppose.
I'm quite sure my gym does not have foam rollers, and I don't have one either... The ache appeared very recently while doing squats, and so I have not really tried streching between sessions etc. When I am back home recovering, I hardly even feel it anymore, so when I strech I don't notice much of a difference. I figured I should ask though, because when doing barbell training I gotta fix this stuff asap.
I'll be at the gym today and I'll give an update if it aches, if streching immediately helped, etc.
ok, an update: I studied the starting strength book concerning squat. Especially the knee section. It seems like having your knees in is actually a very common problem. I did some raw squats without weights, and to my embarassment, I was struggling with my flexibility. I hadn't paid attention to that much before. I could squat deep, but I would indeed have trouble keeping my knees out. However, after some practise it got much better. Also, in the book Mark explains that at first when you do squats with proper form, knees pointing where your toes are etc, your groin muscles are going to feel stress, which MAY be what I'm experiencing as well. I also got rid of the wood under my heel. Needless to say, I couldn't up the weight, but I guess I'll pay more attention to my form and see if I can fix these things. However, just by paying attention to it, I was able to have my knees point out mostly to the correct direction even in my work sets
I'm going to record some lifts soon to check form and whatnot (one light, one heavy). What angles should I use to shoot from? I think it's mostly side but what's the best option.
EPT
And if the latter, then start eating at a ~500 kcal deficit per day, keep lifting and keep up the protein to preserve muscle mass
