See that right there makes me shudder! Haha I’m getting back into running again for the defence force. Since starting lifting I haven’t run or done cardio really at all. It’s a bit off a struggle, but I kind of like the challenge of a change.
2 Likes
I do metabolic stuff and I use a lot of rest-pause sets etc. so I don’t really get winded or fatigued if I’m not going for an all-out run. Really it’s just about the fact that the way I train builds your pain tolerance and teaches you how to take in a lot of air.
That’s quite usual, or at least it seems so.
I’ll have to admit, I have skipped cardio a couple of times myself, at the moment I’m doing a lot of it and I’ll continue to do some cardio when I start gaining again.
That’s a great mindset! A lot of people would just quit it and ditch the plan because it’s hard.
2 Likes
I have a question, if you only had acess to dumbells what tricep exercise would you do for gains in size and strength to help with shoulder pressing and chest pressing. But a single arm exercise as my left arm tricep is alot smaller and weaker then myright, and when doing exercises involving both arms my right takes the brute of the load. This is also a contributing factor to why my left pec and shoulder is noticeably weaker and smaller then my right so im starting to introduce sinhle arm chest and shoulder presses but i meed triceps exercise.
1 Like
If we are working with dumbbells we already have the arms working independently, so I wouldn’t limit a trainee to single arm movements, I would rather have them do either both arms at the same time and they would stop the set when their weaker side starts to give in, or they could do alternating exercises and again - stop the set as soon as the weaker side starts failing.
Dumbbell bench, dumbbell incline bench and dumbbell overhead press are some of the exercises you can do in alternating fashion in order to strengthen your bench and overhead press.
If you were to do single arm movements for tricep size, I would go with behind the neck single arm tricep extension (you want to be really warmed up for these)
If they make your shoulders feel funky you can sit on an incline bench and bring the dumbbell to your chest instead of going behind the neck (sadly this takes away from the stretch)
I don’t usually include a whole lot of tricep isolation in my programming as chest and shoulder presses tend to take care of it
2 Likes
Cheers for the help.
1 Like
General life update (once again, is there even any value to these?)
Diet is going great, I have no idea of how much I weight or what my waist measurement is at the moment, but my shoulders are getting veiny, so it’s all good.
I was asked yesterday if I could do a group training session at one of the local gyms, as the usual trainer was sick. It went good, all of the people liked what we did. (I was kind of nervous going in as I usually only work with one individual at a time)
I have noticed that after I started writing here and giving more advice in person and online to people, I’ve been getting a lot more opportunities to train people. Apparently being nice is good for business.
Oh well, now I have to go and wake my girlfriend up, she has to eat again, tomorrow is a big bench day for her.
For the record, she came off of a diet ~6 weeks ago and is now downing 2500-3000 calories per day (and that number is constantly increasing)
4 Likes
Hey! Some actual content!
For the young guys - training
Oh man, it’s here! Finally all that boring stuff has been dealt with and now I get to know the secrets!
Yeah, the secrets.
My first piece of advice is to go and read the posts about nutrition and longevity once again. That’s the stuff that makes you grow and keeps you in the game year after year.
But let’s get to the topic for the day - training.
Really, this is the simplest thing there is. If you are a complete beginner - you’ve been training seriously for under three months (now note I said seriously, if you have been skipping sessions you may be a beginner even after a year) and you do not know how exercises should be performed just pick a program - or have a trainer write one for you- and stick to it the way it’s written. Now the key here is you most likely do not know how to execute the movements properly. If you are experiencing shakiness or pain, or you catch yourself doing half reps your main focus should be on learning correct technique. After that’s done you can move onto trying to gain strength with a proper form. (Of course you can already progress on the movement that you have nailed technique wise, there is no point in waiting to develop a perfect squat form before progressing on curls)
Now, after you have perfected all of your lifts (or gotten decent at them) what should you do?
Stick to your program. (What a surprise) If you started with starting strength, stick to it, if you started with golden six, stick to it too. Your main focus should be getting stronger with good form. Some of you may now think “man I’m trying to get huge, I need to pump my muscles!” At this stage that shouldn’t be your main concern. A stronger muscle is a bigger one, a pumped muscle just looks like it for an hour.
Okay, you’ve done everything as said to this point. Now you should be able to bench around 185, squat maybe 250 and deadlift 315 (really rough now, mileage will vary). Congratulations, you probably now know your way around the gym. Can you now design your own program? Maybe. One thing you certainly can do is to tweak existing programs so they fit your needs better. (So really small adjustments) This may mean adding three sets of face pull or hamstring curls to your current program.
So this is the smart way - pick a program and stick to it, do everything with a good form. It’s really that simple.
The hard way is the one I took - do everything yourself from the beginning. I won’t really discuss this as it is not something I wish you’d do, but it is another possibility.
I’ll leave some good programs here (just the names)
Starting strength (read the book if you do this one, actually, read the book anyway)
Golden six
Greyskull LP (you get to customize this one)
Supersquats (Not for the complete beginner)
5/3/1
I think you’ll find one to your liking from those. As always, feel free to ask anything and everything.
2 Likes
It’s funny how all of these for the young guys posts could just be three words in length.
Nutrition - Eat a lot
Longevity - Don’t be stupid
Training - Stick to it
But in reality, that’s just how simple it is. A lot of the young guys are making their training and nutrition more complex than it should be. Really, if you just started training a week ago you should not be worrying about how to cycle bands and chains for your box squat or wether you should take in 40 or to grams of carbs during training (and should it be dextrose or vitargo)
Just chill out, eat a steak and squat for fives (with a good technique)
But I understand, I was there once (and it wasn’t even too long ago, like, four years?) I was lucky enough to be taken under the guidance of older guys, but that may not happen to you (in person, at least) so just find someone who knows this stuff, and ask them if they would help you. (I’ll help you here, of course)
Man, I didn’t mean to go on a rant.
Oh well, time to eat.
2 Likes
We live in a ‘more is better’ world. People feel they need the most of the best thing right now so they can achieve a goal that took everyone else years of consistency and moderation.
I love the fact that having an impressive physique (whatever definition that is for you) takes years to achieve. Years of sacrifice and learning and applying. It takes a certain dedication to really excel at achieving high level strength, athetics or physicality.
2 Likes
Yeah, a great physique or a great level of strength is kind of a status symbol; it’s not something that’s just given to you. Sadly, people feel that it’s okay to talk shit about guys and girls who have achieved this. Really, it’s just sad how jealous people are, and it seems like almost the whole community is that way: it’s socially acceptable to put down people who are strong or muscular.
3 Likes
Kind of ironic
Just after praising about how you should stick to a program I find myself here contemplating wether I should jump back to my 3+2 day split (can be found from this log) and progress from there to training like I did for the brief amount of time when I actually logged stuff here (the dumbbell row + assistance routine)
Or if I should just stick with my current program
Now, some people would just jump right back to the 3+2 and then to the row as that worked worderfully before, but I’m thinking rationally here: (I coach myself so this is really important)
1 I’m still making progress on this current program, so why change? (This was enough for me to stick with the current routine)
If number one was not enough, I’d go with number 2:
At the moment, am I training in a way that the 3+2 requires in order to reap maximum benefit from it?
So am I doing the base work necessary for the 3+2?
No, not at the moment
After that we can conclude that I’ll stick with this until I find I’m not progressing anymore, and then I’ll move over to do base work for 3+2.
1 Like
Regarding the last post I made (about a minute ago) here is my current program outline:
(This is really flexible way of training)
Really this is just modified 3-way split DC, so I’ll give the credit to Mr. Trudel (but don’t blame him if you can’t get this to work, he didn’t write it this way)
That being said, I wouldn’t recommend this to a beginner, as you really need to be able to push yourself using good form (of course you can try, and it will probably work to an extent, but you would do better on this a few years from here)
Now, onto the program:
3 way split (push/pull/legs)
2 days on
1 day off
Day one and five:
Push
- A Pre-pump exercise (Some kind of dumbbell press)
1 set, 7-11reps @8.5 RPE - Main pressing exercise
1 rest pause set - Compund shoulder/chest exercise (preferably a press)
1 rest pause set - Compund tricep exercise (again, a pressing exercise)
1 rest pause set
After that, you are free to do two isolation exercises total.
Day two and seven:
Pull
- Vertical pull
2 rest-pause sets - Pullover
1 set, 11-20 reps - Deadlift variation (day two) or row (day seven)
1 set of 4-6, 1 set of 2-4 on deadlift
1 set of 7-11 and one set of 11-15 on row - Deadlift assistance exercise (not done on day seven)
1 straight set - Bicep exercise
1 rest pause set - Forearm exercise
1 set, 11-20 reps
Total of 2 isolation exercises if needed
Day three, six and nine:
rest
Day four and eight:
Legs
- Calf movement
1 straight set performed DC style - Hamstring curl variation
1 rest pause set and 1 straight set of 7-11 - Squat variation, either
1x4-6, 1x2-4 (if you are front squatting)
Or 1x6-10, 1x20 otherwise - Quad movement
1 long set
2 isolation exercises if needed
Now note that you must choose two exercises for each “slot”
For example, you cannot do overhead press as you main pressing movement on both of the pressing days. You can do it on day one and, say, incline bench on day five
So two exercises are done in an alternating fashion for each slot.
On the pull day you are alternating deadlift variation and a row variation, so choose one for both. For example you can do deficit deadlifts on day two and T-Bar rows on day seven.
I’m also doing weighted stretches straight after I’m finished with a certain bodypart but this is already complex enough
Most of the rest pause sets fall into the spectrum of 11-20 total reps (over the course of three mini sets with 15 deep breaths inbetween)
If someone wants to try this program please write it out and let me review it before you start, I’ll also help you set up your rep ranges and stretches.
Edit:
I forgot to mention, this program operates on the same principle as DC: if you fail to progress twice in a row, you have to change the movement you failed at.
So let’s say you are close grip benching 200 for a set of 12 rest paused
Nine days from now you get 200 for 12 rest paused again, no big deal, maybe it was a bad day
But if that happens again in the next training session, you have to change it.
If, however you get 200 for 13 or more, or 205 for 11 or so, you are good to go forward. (Just make sure you don’t fall under the rep bracet)
Oh yeah, and there is no such thing as going light on this program. If you did 200 for 12 last time you have to work with AT LEAST 200 this time. There is no such option as doing 17 with 180 (apart from if you did the 200 with bad form, which you shouldn’t)
We can go further in detail if there are people who are interested, feel free to ask questions.
And once again, if it works, thank mr. Trudel, if it doesn’t, blame me (but if you are not giving it your all you can only blame yourself)
The value of a good training partner
Really, I can’t even tell you how important having a good training partner is when you are truly training hard. But I’ll give you an example
Okay, so today was day two of my training cycle (pull day with a deadlift variation)
After I was done with the session (so after pull-ups, pullover, snatch grip deads, power shrugs, weighted hang and two different curl variations) I was lying there (quite literally) fatigued as hell. Now mind you I’m on a hard diet and this session took almost two hours.
Okay so I’m lying there and the only thing I can think of is this: I’m not satisfied with my performance on the snatch grip deads. And I go in and say it to my girlfriend (who is also my training partner)
She asks me why
So I tell her I didn’t think I was having enough control of my back and my grip could’ve been better.
So next thing I know is I have a barbell weighting 110kg (247lbs) in front of me. (I’m really not liking where this is going)
So she goes on and tells me to lift it 20 times, don’t use a belt or straps.
Sounds easy to me, and as I’m not a smart man I say it out loud.
Man, that was a mistake.
I ended up doing 20 reps with 110kg on the deadlift, without straps or a belt but here is the kicker:
I had to pause the bar one inch off the ground for three seconds, then pull it up and lower it for five seconds. After each rep the bar had to be rested on the ground for a second. So each rep took around 10 seconds to complete. If I rested the bar for too long on the ground my girlfriend yelled at me: “get it up, you worthless piece of shit!”
After the set I just fell on the floor, Christ it was horrible. (And I was reminded of how hard you can train even with very light weights)
So yeah, get a training partner that will push you to the limit, get a training partner that is even more sadistic than you.
This post may seem a bit unorganized, I’m still a bit light headed.
3 Likes
As I see it the issue with program hopping is that people often change the princibales of their training,not just the exercise selection or some specifics of the progression
Someone with your knowledge and experience could probably change his routines more frequently and still make optimal progress imo
1 Like
That is very much true. Another factor is that most of the programs tell you to start light so you end up resetting your weights every time you change your program
As an example:
So let’s say you go from a 40kg squat to 55 with Starting strength and then you change to 5/3/1 and start squatting with 40kg again and so on
I feel that’s a big factor too (and it’s closely related to what you said)
That’s true too, but a part of the process is knowing when it is the best time to change up the program
1 Like
Oh yeah, diet update once again
Third refeed will be done tomorrow
Last two times I was not really getting anywhere as full as I could with my refeeds, so I’ll up it once again
First refeed ended with around 600 grams of carbs, 300 protein and 60 fat (not exact numbers as I’m too lazy to check them)
I didn’t fill out at all, so I upped the numbers for my second refeed (9 days later)
Second ended around 800 grams of carbs, 300 protein and 70 fat, I was fuller but I feel I can push it further
Eating is really never a problem for me, and I’ve been getting the calories from “good foods” even on refeed days, which is probably a limiting factor when we are considering filling up.
But yeah, tomorrow will be a refeed, once again with higher calories
Macros for tomorrow:
950 carbs
300 protein
75 fat
So a grand total of 5675 Calories
I probably need to up them again for next refeed, but that’s just life
(Nothing is really set in stone but I’m chasing those numbers)
That’s all for now
Sadly my husband isn’t really into working out. He makes up for it in other aspects, but my mom and I can do some damage at the gym. Granted she doesn’t yell at me, but it’s fun when she has the time to come and train with me.
Everyone has their own thing and it’s usually better not to push something like gym on them
That’s one thing I really respect you for, you seem like a person who doesn’t push religion or working out etc. on other people against their will
That’s nice, and your mother is certainly a person you want to hang out with and help in any way you can
My mother asked me to help her with gym stuff ~ five weeks ago
She is a bit overweight and had never before really trained in gym
When we started she could squat the empty bar (we had to use a 15 kilo bar because the regular 20kg bar was too long and heavy) for a few reps
A couple days back she squatted 45 kilos for a clean and controlled set of 30 reps
Yeah, she hates me now
I’m just throwing this out there to show that anyone can make great progress if they have enough willpower (and that you should always try to help people if they ask for it)
1 Like
Believe it or not, what I believe in, one of the key features of Christianity is to love others. Regardless of how different they are. Being patient and shutting your mouth and accepting people as themselves is one of the top five reasons why Christians get such a bad rep nowadays because people just refuse to humble and humiliate themselves enough to do that simple task. Not to mention, the whole reason Jesus even came down here wasn’t for the non believers but for the ones who did believe because they were acting straight up disgraceful while doing everything “in the name God”. And it still happens to this day.
If people wish to have my presense around and talk or get advice I will do so. If not I have no problem giving people their space. Because it’s something I would want too.
2 Likes
I value your life updates haha
2 Likes