[quote]LoRez wrote:
I dunno. Meat/eggs/milk every meal, vegetables most/all meals, and starchy carbs here and there. Adjust quantities and number of meals based on the direction you want to take your weight.
I haven’t found much value in getting a whole lot more complicated than that. If you want to get fancy about things, I’d put that energy toward “optimizing” your peri-workout nutrition. For all the rest of the meals, I think that’s about as complex as it needs to be.[/quote]
The best results come from the basics for sure. This applies to training and diet. I can’t remember the last time I did more than 3 exercises on a leg day, and often times all I do is squat. As far as diet goes, I drink the same 130g protein in shake form everyday, I drink around a half gallon of milk, and I get a little variety at lunch and dinner.
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
I think you’ve probably hit the nail on the head here.
I would also say that this is an easy trap to fall into, most people in most gyms I’ve been to are fat or weak and put in very little effort, and it is therefore very easy for someone with limited experience to be the hardest working/strongest/biggest in the gym. If you don’t spend time around people who are motivated and working hard, how do you know what it looks like?[/quote]
I find that, in many cases, the is the result of the declining amount of emphasis being placed on childhood sports. It used to just be accepted that you played at least ONE sport growing up, and even I as an uncoordinated fat kid swam, played football, soccer, ice hockey did Tae Kwon Do, wrestled, and probably some other activities I’ve forgotten. I was bad at just about all of them, but at least learned what it felt like when I really pushed myself versus just phoning it in. A lot of folks coming into adulthood now never really got to learn those feelings.[/quote]
Boom, spot on. And I remember being one of those kids that threw in the towel when it got tough. Took me a very long time, and some harsh life lessons to change something that should have been sorted as a kid.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I dunno. Meat/eggs/milk every meal, vegetables most/all meals, and starchy carbs here and there. Adjust quantities and number of meals based on the direction you want to take your weight.
I haven’t found much value in getting a whole lot more complicated than that. If you want to get fancy about things, I’d put that energy toward “optimizing” your peri-workout nutrition. For all the rest of the meals, I think that’s about as complex as it needs to be.[/quote]
The best results come from the basics for sure. This applies to training and diet. I can’t remember the last time I did more than 3 exercises on a leg day, and often times all I do is squat. As far as diet goes, I drink the same 130g protein in shake form everyday, I drink around a half gallon of milk, and I get a little variety at lunch and dinner.[/quote]
I find I have by far the best results from having all my meals up to around 7pm everyday exactly the same, and leaving my evening meal as my one source of “excitement”, food wise for the day. It means my diet is already 75% “perfect”, before I even get to the more social evening meal.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I dunno. Meat/eggs/milk every meal, vegetables most/all meals, and starchy carbs here and there. Adjust quantities and number of meals based on the direction you want to take your weight.
I haven’t found much value in getting a whole lot more complicated than that. If you want to get fancy about things, I’d put that energy toward “optimizing” your peri-workout nutrition. For all the rest of the meals, I think that’s about as complex as it needs to be.[/quote]
The best results come from the basics for sure. This applies to training and diet. I can’t remember the last time I did more than 3 exercises on a leg day, and often times all I do is squat. As far as diet goes, I drink the same 130g protein in shake form everyday, I drink around a half gallon of milk, and I get a little variety at lunch and dinner.[/quote]
I find I have by far the best results from having all my meals up to around 7pm everyday exactly the same, and leaving my evening meal as my one source of “excitement”, food wise for the day. It means my diet is already 75% “perfect”, before I even get to the more social evening meal.[/quote]
That’s essentially how it works for me. My wife cooks dinner, and what she cooks is entirely her choice. My lunches are generally leftovers from the previous dinner. All other meals are repeated daily.
ok, so now im fat and weak. And as i read all your advices im starting Sl 5x5 from next week and i figured out my maintaining calories and going to clean my diet add vegetables and fruits.
for the next 6 months or so. but for the people doubting my hard work for the last year i really really worked hard never missed a workout maybe its my diet. also im not ready to gain any more fat.
anything else i should put in mind before starting. i really want this change and im going to do anything to reach my goal
also i tested my 5rm last week it was about 200lbs squats
[quote]Ronaldinho92 wrote:
but for the people doubting my hard work for the last year i really really worked hard never missed a workout maybe its my diet.[/quote]
Perfect attendance is not an indicator of hard work. I know people who never miss a day of work and have mediocre performance, and I know folks that are rarely able to be found yet still get the job done well. It’s the same with the gym.
I realize this is an odd judgment call, but dude, you don’t even use capital letters or punctuation when you’re trying to ASK about how to get bigger and stronger, and we had to drag information out of you to help you get better. From my perspective, you aren’t putting in effort out of the gym to get better, and it would be difficult for me to believe that you are putting effort IN the gym.
As I said before, your best bet is to doubt everything you think about training, because it clearly has not been working. If you thought you were training hard, you must now conclude that was NOT the case.
[quote]Ronaldinho92 wrote:
but for the people doubting my hard work for the last year i really really worked hard never missed a workout maybe its my diet.[/quote]
Perfect attendance is not an indicator of hard work. I know people who never miss a day of work and have mediocre performance, and I know folks that are rarely able to be found yet still get the job done well. It’s the same with the gym.
I realize this is an odd judgment call, but dude, you don’t even use capital letters or punctuation when you’re trying to ASK about how to get bigger and stronger, and we had to drag information out of you to help you get better. From my perspective, you aren’t putting in effort out of the gym to get better, and it would be difficult for me to believe that you are putting effort IN the gym.
As I said before, your best bet is to doubt everything you think about training, because it clearly has not been working. If you thought you were training hard, you must now conclude that was NOT the case.[/quote]
I think these are very valid points. I know when someone says you have to work hard in the gym or push yourself it may be hard to gauge what that exactly is. I know there have been plenty of times I doubted myself and still do. As someone who has never trained with anyone else, how are you to gauge that? I think following a program with prescribed %s and reps removes some of this doubt. Think less and be able to focus on whats important.
OK, man I know nothing and that’s why i came here to get the knowledge from you guys.
Thanks man for your advice and for the time you gave in to educate me.
Thanks everyone really appreciate everything.
You may want to avoid fruit, or at least keep it severely limited. Everybody looks at fruit as this panacea of health, and end up eating shitloads of it. Its restocks your liver glycogen quite well, but that isn’t good if you’re trying to cut body fat. Small amounts on occasion are fine. Just keep it to small amounts, and only on occasion. Treat it like a treat.
[quote]medic413 wrote:
You may want to avoid fruit, or at least keep it severely limited. Everybody looks at fruit as this panacea of health, and end up eating shitloads of it. Its restocks your liver glycogen quite well, but that isn’t good if you’re trying to cut body fat. Small amounts on occasion are fine. Just keep it to small amounts, and only on occasion. Treat it like a treat. [/quote]
I really don’t think eating fruit is the big issue here. I don’t think cutting out a banana here or there is gonna transform this guy into Ronnie Coleman.
-Ron,
From reading your posts, it really seems like the gym you go to sucks. They have some expensive device I’ve never heard of to measure body fat, but how is the equipment? Are there power racks and barbells? What about heavy dumbbells? Plate loaded row machines? Chains and bands or chalk bowls?
Who lifts there? Are there any big, strong guys? You may be working harder than everyone else, but are you at a gym full of old people doing circuit training on machines? Usually, you can learn a lot just by hanging around the gym and seeing what the strong people do vs what the clowns are doing. Is there any excitement or energy in there? Are other lifters making progress and hitting big lifts?
Whats the music like? Do you like it? Is it loud and fast, or more easy listening.
I just can’t imagine going to a real gym and lifting, around other people, for a year and not making progress, or at least learning more about training.
As far as your weight loss goals; do you get much exercise outside of the gym? Going for a long walk or jumping rope a few times a week is an easy way to sneak in a little extra work.
Ron, do you do any cardio? If your primary goal is to lose weight then it seems like cardio is the logical thing to include in addition to having a good diet and strength training program. When starting off, you probably aren’t going to be lifting significant workloads to expend that many calories and that’s where cardio comes into play.
Doing light/moderate intensity cardio 3-5 times a week (can be done on lifting or rest days) will help with weight loss and will not effect strength gains if you aren’t overdoing it. If you aren’t losing 0.5-1.0 lbs each week then you either need to cut back on calories or add in a bit more cardio but it needs to be balanced to the point that it doesn’t effect your recovery. Each meal you eat should at least have some quality protein and fibers (fruits, veggies or both). Make sure to get enough sleep and find ways to reduce stress levels.
Once you get a lot stronger or strength is your only goal then I would recommend focusing only on diet and not cardio to lose weight. But at this level of experience cardio will only help. Keep track of your weekly weight and shoot for 0.5-1.0 lbs per week. The weight loss results will come primarily from your diet and cardio work because your strength training volume is likely not that high. If you stop losing weight over a 2-3 week period then you should evaluate what’s going on and let us know. Strive for consistent weight loss over a long period of time because rapid weight loss will impact your strength.
On a final note, you say you work hard in the gym and I’m not going to deny that. Just be smart and don’t always push yourself to failure if you want to get stronger. Like losing weight, going for consistent progress over the long term will help you reach your goals.