[quote]Digity wrote:
Hmmm…I was doing my spinning on Thursdays and deadlifts on Fridays. I guess I’ll put an end to that. On that note, I really need to work on my deadlift form. Should my back hurt when I do deadlifts? I heard if you’re using proper form then it shouldn’t…not even a bit?
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Yeah I used to Spin on Sundays and squat or deadlift Weds, that gave my low back enough time inbetween. If you can’t change your Spin class time then maybe move your deads to Mon or Tues…will give you something to look fwd to at the wkend lol!
It depends what you mean by ‘hurt’. When you deadlift you should feel your back muscles working. It is not a ‘comfortable’ exercise and esp near the end of a set you should certainly be feeling some work going on in your back.
HOWEVER, there is a difference between good muscle effort pain and risking injury pain. Think about how your other exes feel, when you do Rows or Presses for example is the ‘hurt’ similar? You should not feel like your low back is straining in an unnatural way or that it hurts only on one side.
Spend time getting your form right and build the weights slowly, cos a fucked up low back will haunt you for years!
I totally made a rookie mistake today. I had a huge lunch, because we had a pot luck at our work and people brought food. Anyway, I decided not to eat between then and my workout. However, I did have a quick snack of celery and an apple. I basically went four hours after my big lunch with nothing in my stomach except the apple and celery.
Anyway, when I went to workout I felt faint and hungry…stomach was growling. I thought because I ate so much at lunch I’d be good. Long story short: didn’t have a good workout.
Typically, I do eat something before my workouts, but what’s best? I hear oatmeal a lot, but I’m at work and cooking oatmeal wouldn’t be possible and I don’t like it cooked in the microwave. I only eat the steel cut after cooking slowly on the stove for 30 min.
Also, the sleeping issue has become a problem again. The past three nights I’ve went to bed at 1 am and woke up at 4:15 am (almost on the nose each time) and was unable to get back to sleep. I don’t think I need a lot of sleep, but 3 hours a night is just too little. Surprisingly, I don’t feel tired during the day. If I could get in a good 5-6 hours I’d be happy.
I think the problem might be with wanting to urinate. Because when I wake up that early I usually have to go badly. I pee a lot…I’m going to the doctor to get it checked out because I’ll go over 10 times a day. I’m actually keeping track of how much I drink today and how frequently I go.
If I could get this sleep problem under control I think I’d have much more energy to hit the gym, but after the third night of waking up that early I start to get frustrated. I couldn’t get up and have my breakfast of eggs & oatmeal, because I just didn’t have the energy. It ends up effecting everything…including my diet.
I could still get a workout on 3 hours of sleep, but shit…I want more! So today, I’m not going to the gym so I can get some rest. It’s frustrating and I hate how it screws with my schedule. End rant
I even mentioned I was afraid of getting fat eating 3000+ calories a day. I’m going to aim for 2750 (5 x 550) for now and see how my progress goes and adjust things as I see fit.
okay well ill tell you why you arent as high as 18%
you can clearly see your collar bones
your lower back has no visible ‘handles’ or any overhang at all.
the reason you think you have a stomach fat problem is because you have seen to many ‘concave’ ab models on health magazines.
if i suck my gut in and tense up my stomach looks solid and defined…not alot of people post pics like yours - you are relaxed and this lends a ‘big stomach’ impression.
ill tell you know - most people have more of a stomach than yould think.
my advise would be to concern yourself with getting a little bit more top heavy (shoulders, chest, upper back) - which will give you a little bit more balance and address your perception of your ‘fat’ stomach.
ive recently come off a 500 deficit diet, and am working my way slowly up to maintainance.
id do the same if i were you - give your body time to aclimatise to new amounts of available nutrients.
I found some online body fat percentage calculator and typed in my info…it spit out a number which, now that I think about it, was actually 17%. That’s what I based it on…I guess those online calculators are stupid or I don’t know how to use them…one or the other. I guess I should invest in some calipers.
Anyway, I appreciate your advice. I see what you’re saying about the lack of upper body muscle and how it would even out my body composition. I hadn’t thought of that before. Heck, at one time I was just doing cardio trying to lose the stomach.
That would have resulted in a really scrawny guy. I think I’ll be extra motivated now next time I do an upper body workout…and I hate to admit this, but I was somewhat ignoring shoulder exercises not thinking they were that important, but I see now that they are.
I didn’t understand your last point about giving my body time to assimilate the new amount of nutrients.
[quote]Digity wrote:
I found some online body fat percentage calculator and typed in my info…it spit out a number which, now that I think about it, was actually 17%. That’s what I based it on…I guess those online calculators are stupid or I don’t know how to use them…one or the other. I guess I should invest in some calipers.
Anyway, I appreciate your advice. I see what you’re saying about the lack of upper body muscle and how it would even out my body composition. I hadn’t thought of that before. Heck, at one time I was just doing cardio trying to lose the stomach.
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I wouldn’t worry about specifics of bodyfat percentages right now, every method of calc bodyfat (except water immersion tanks) have some inaccuracies …calipers, electrical impedance whatever. So if you want to keep a check you should always compare like with like and use the same test method.
However, at the moment it doesn’t really much matter whether you are 17% or 10% or 20%, what you need to do is decide on your first goal i.e. build muscle, get your prog sorted and plan your meals. Keep a track of exactly what you eat and log your protein, carbs, fat & cals. Read some of Berardi’s stuff like his ‘7 habits’ article.
Once you have been sticking to a training and eating plan for a good month or so you will start to see if you need to make adjustments up or down with your cals. You need to start with some kind of ball-park figure in order to have something to work from.
As well as bodywt, one of the easiest things to do is to take body measurements every couple of weeks (chest, arms, thighs, waist) which will help you to see whether you are gaining muscle or putting on too much fat. If you really want to add some muscle, then a ‘little’ extra fat gain is usually necessary (it is very hard to build up and stay cut up at the same time as you’re asking your body to do 2 opposite things). Don’t worry about a little extra fat, with increased muscle mass later on you will be able to burn that off much easier.
Workout A
3x5 Squat (Front on Smith)
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
Workout B
3x5 Squat (Front on Smith)
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Barbell Rows
You train on 3 nonconsecutive days per week.
So week 1 might look like:
Monday - Workout A
Wednesday - Workout B
Friday - Workout A
Week 2:
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B
Do you have an opinion of which is better? Starting Strength or WS4SB? Also, note that I’m doing front squats on a Smith, because I don’t have access to a power rack. The program says not to use machines, including the Smith. Damn, I wish I had a power rack…maybe I should build one.
Today I actually did workout A just to see what it was like. I was done fairly quickly. I ended up doing more deadlifts…mostly to work on my technique. I think it’s gotten better, because my back didn’t feel strained and I felt more pressure in my legs on the lift up.
I do like the simplicity of the “Starting Strength” Program. My only concerns are that I’m using the Smith machine and that I always have the urge to stay longer at the gym, because I feel like my workout wasn’t long enough. Today I think I finished in about 25-30 minutes. Usually, I like to have a 45 min workout. Is this a stupid thing to worry about?
[quote]Digity wrote:
Do you have an opinion of which is better? Starting Strength or WS4SB?[/quote]
I wouldn’t say that either is better, they are just different. Both are well proven progs, so I’d just pick whichever one you fancy most at the moment. Remember eventually you’ll need to change your prog up, so you can always do the other later on down the line.
Yes, but understandable as we’re conditioned to think more is always better. At the start it may feel short on time, but as the weights you’re using get heavier you’ll def feel like you’ve done enough work…esp by the end of the week!
Don’t fall victim of ‘analysis paralysis’ and over think things, flip a coin, pick one of the progs and start. Remember, there is no such thing as the perfect prog which will suit you forever, you just need something that is proven to be effective. As you progress you will be able to choose progs based on your needs at the time.
I’m no expert by any means, but I’ve been using ws4sb for around six months and I’ve put eighty pounds on my deadlift and added around twenty pounds to my bodyweight. It’s been working for me. The good thing about it is it isn’t exactly a program; it’s more of a template. That means you could use it for years without stagnation, but programs will go stale in a much shorter time.
On the other hand, because of the conjugate periodization, you would get as much practice with the deadlift and bench press (if you’re limited to a smith machine, you won’t get much practice with the squat either way.) With a 5x5, you’ll get plenty of opportunity to drill the motor skills of the big barbell lifts into your head.
If you are already comfortable with the lifts, I would say go for ws4sb. There’s a lot more variety. If not, use a 5x5 until you are comfortable with them. Either way, you can’t lose. Just stick with something for a long time, increase your weights, and you’ll see progress.
Also, if I were you, I would focus on deadlifts and deadlift variations. As long as you’re squatting in a smith machine, deadlifts will give you a bigger bang for your buck.
My plan is to do the “Starting Strength” Program (alternating between Workout A and B). I’ll do that for about 3 months and then I’ll see how things are going. When I’m done with that program I’ll follow it up with the WS4SB. At the moment, WS4SB seems a bit too much for me. I’m not comfortable with all the workouts it requires. I want to master the bare basics and currently compound workouts is where my head’s at.
Okay, so I have my workout selected. Now, I’m a little confused about my diet. What should my macro nutrient breakdown be? Should it be 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein? Should I be doing that Anabolic diet where I cycle? Should I be doing something else?
Today was my second day on the “Starting Strength” program. I failed to finish my last rep of my squat. Does that mean I should back off on the weight a bit. I’m wondering if I should be going to total failure on this program.
[quote]Digity wrote:
Today was my second day on the “Starting Strength” program. I failed to finish my last rep of my squat. Does that mean I should back off on the weight a bit. I’m wondering if I should be going to total failure on this program.[/quote]
I don’t know the specifics of this prog, but there’s a really thorough article on it here:
Outlines all the freq asked Q’s including weight selection, so hopefully it’ll help you out.
The one thing that’s reeeeeally bothering me at this point is that I have to do squats using the smith machine. The squat seems to be the foundation of this program and I’m doing it on a machine. I’m wondering if I should switch to WS4SB for this reason. BTW I’ve been doing front squats exclusively on the smith for this program.
Tomorrow I’m going to try front squats using a barbell, but cleaning it from the ground. I’ll see how that goes…hopefully, I don’t drop it!
