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Fitness |OT9|...You looked better before

mdsfx

Member
My gym has been really empty in the morning now....

I think this might be the calm before the storm.
I'm worried about the new year's rush too. I keep hearing people in LA Fitness talk about how bad it's going to be. I'm just hoping I work out early enough to avoid the crowd.
 
I've been getting fat these holidays but it's ok because I'm consistently lifting and increasing my numbers. I hope you guys are too. Happy holidays ^_^
 
I'm worried about the new year's rush too. I keep hearing people in LA Fitness talk about how bad it's going to be. I'm just hoping I work out early enough to avoid the crowd.

MOST will hang out in the cardio area that's where those lose weight resolutioner will be. i remember earlier this year new people came and stood around the free weights area... just stood. i hope there's some big guys slamming weights to scare them off lol.
 

BumRush

Member
Hope everyone had a quality Christmas. I decided to put the holiday food to good use tonight. Deadlifted 500. I haven't attempted anything over 475 in at least 6 months. It wasn't pretty but I got it. At this point I'm wondering how I ever got 550 and at ten pounds lighter no less. Goes to show how strong motivation and enthusiasm can be. Back then I was driven and focused.

500 is still incredible at your weight dude. Merry Christmas to you too, and have a great new year (that goes for the entire fitgaf fam).
 

lenovox1

Member
My gym has been really empty in the morning now. Beside my gf and me there's only 3 or 4 other people working out.

Usually there is around 9 people doing weights at 5am in the morning.

I think this might be the calm before the storm.

People leave town and take a break from fitness for the holidays.
 

ACE 1991

Member
My mother bought me slim fit dress shirts for christmas at my normal size. I tried one on this morning to wear to work and they do not fit properly around my chest/lats/shoulders.

I am by no means swole but I'm pretty psyched about this wardrobe malfunction.
 

KillerBEA

Member
So I got a Slingshot for Christmas and I finally got a chance to test it out. Just did some volume because of where I am with my training right now. Got 135lbs for 2 sets of 10 and then a final set of 7.
 

mdsfx

Member
I was at an Anytime Fitness early this morning along with a guy having a personal training session. What a joke.

I didn't hear any feedback at all from the trainer. Everything was on a machine even though they have free weights and a real squat rack, which I can understand for a beginner, but it gets worse. The trainer would just tell him to do something and immediately walk back to his office for a bit until the guy was done, not even keeping an eye on him. What's the point?

"Do this."
"OK"
"Now do this."
"OK"
"See you tomorrow"
"OK"

The guy probably didn't learn a damn thing.
Edit: I'm starting to wonder if that's intentional.
 
Have beaten my 1 month cycling record for distance, and my 1 week record for altitude gain... Tomorrow's ride should see my 1 week record for distance beaten too. Sadly breaking my 1 month record for altitude is out of reach, but I've come close, which I'm pretty happy about as I only really had the last 10 days in the month for cycling.
 

ACE 1991

Member
Have beaten my 1 month cycling record for distance, and my 1 week record for altitude gain... Tomorrow's ride should see my 1 week record for distance beaten too. Sadly breaking my 1 month record for altitude is out of reach, but I've come close, which I'm pretty happy about as I only really had the last 10 days in the month for cycling.

I can't wait for it to get warm again so I can enjoy my Allez again. My dad hooked me up with a long sleeve cycling jersey and a pair of gloves, so I should be able to start back up again earlier than I usually do.
 

mdsfx

Member
Have beaten my 1 month cycling record for distance, and my 1 week record for altitude gain... Tomorrow's ride should see my 1 week record for distance beaten too. Sadly breaking my 1 month record for altitude is out of reach, but I've come close, which I'm pretty happy about as I only really had the last 10 days in the month for cycling.
Nicely done! That's awesome. Always a good feeling to hit new records.
 
Considering the hospital setting...

Try athletic brands and golf brands - brands that design their clothes with stretch and comfort in mind and utilize technical fabrics and athletic fits.

My favorite are the Lululemon ABC Pants, but ubiquitous brands like Nike (Dri-FIT Flat Front Pants) and Under Armour have plenty of options. Prices should range between $40-$120 or what you would pay at Macy's.

Or try Bonobos. Those are designed with an anatomical shape, and always get raves over their fits.

For shirts, again brands that use technical fabrics and lots and lots of stretch are my preferred brands. So... athletic brands. And "extra slim" is beginning to become a widely produced thing even as men's silouettes are trending looser. Brands like Calvin Klein (Calvin Klein X Extra Slim Fit) will add stretch materials to the fabrications of their "extra slim" stuff, too.

Thanks, managed to get 2 pairs of stretch slacks and an athletic fit dress shirt. I have a Calvin Klein X Extra Slim Fit and I really like it (for how swole it makes me look :p ). They weren't on sale though.
The only thing now is feeling like I couldn't find any better deals though, I had two gift cards and only came out with 3 items. It is Macy's though.
 
I was at an Anytime Fitness early this morning along with a guy having a personal training session. What a joke.

I didn't hear any feedback at all from the trainer. Everything was on a machine even though they have free weights and a real squat rack, which I can understand for a beginner, but it gets worse. The trainer would just tell him to do something and immediately walk back to his office for a bit until the guy was done, not even keeping an eye on him. What's the point?

"Do this."
"OK"
"Now do this."
"OK"
"See you tomorrow"
"OK"

The guy probably didn't learn a damn thing.
Edit: I'm starting to wonder if that's intentional.

At my gym a few weeks ago, a trainer was working with someone on barbell movements. Good start. She took him through deadlifts, everything looked good. Then she took him over to bench. He started at 95, couldn't go all the way down. Then she bumped him up to 115, didn't even get close to going halfway down. He did one rep and she was like "good job, we'll put more on next time."

After that, they went over to squat, and they put something like 185. I'm near someone else, exchanged a look of bewilderment, because there's no way dude could do that. He got the weight off the rack, but the squat reached a depth of (estimating) 6 inches. From the top. Then they went up to 205...

After they wrapped up the session and the dude left, I went up to the trainer and asked her why she let the guy do the lifts with too much weight for him and no range of motion. She said the guy wanted to feel strong. I was like, screw that, tell him to swallow his pride and start at the bottom and do it right.

She's a good person and all, but that type of training is bound to backfire and get dude injured.
 
y'all i have a front squat problem.

I was going for some heavy front squats for the first time in a long time. My legs can easily push the weight up, but my chest/torso keeps falling forward. I was even wearing a belt, too. Anything I can do to fix this?
 

Brolic Gaoler

formerly Alienshogun
y'all i have a front squat problem.

I was going for some heavy front squats for the first time in a long time. My legs can easily push the weight up, but my chest/torso keeps falling forward. I was even wearing a belt, too. Anything I can do to fix this?


Abs, upper back, and make sure you're squatting like high bar. Straight up and down. Not hips back.
 
Hope everyone had a quality Christmas. I decided to put the holiday food to good use tonight. Deadlifted 500. I haven't attempted anything over 475 in at least 6 months. It wasn't pretty but I got it. At this point I'm wondering how I ever got 550 and at ten pounds lighter no less. Goes to show how strong motivation and enthusiasm can be. Back then I was driven and focused.

Shit is crazy, isn't it? Shows what you can really achieve when you are focused and have a goal in mind.
 

KillerBEA

Member
y'all i have a front squat problem.

I was going for some heavy front squats for the first time in a long time. My legs can easily push the weight up, but my chest/torso keeps falling forward. I was even wearing a belt, too. Anything I can do to fix this?
Like Brolic said abs and upper back strength. Also Initiate the movement by breaking at the knees first, not pushing back onto your hips.
 
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J

Jpop

Unconfirmed Member
Guys ,

What are some good ways to build up my strength for pull-ups?

I struggle to do them even though I'm in decent shape.
 
Guys ,

What are some good ways to build up my strength for pull-ups?

I struggle to do them even though I'm in decent shape.

An assisted pull up machine. It looks like this:

assisted-pull-ups2jpg.jpg


There's also one with a pad that you put your knees on instead of your feet.

Do five sets of ten, increasing the assistance each set so that you can make it to ten. If you can do ten, next workout give yourself less assistance in that set.

Voila.
 

Exokell

Banned
My mother bought me slim fit dress shirts for christmas at my normal size. I tried one on this morning to wear to work and they do not fit properly around my chest/lats/shoulders.

I am by no means swole but I'm pretty psyched about this wardrobe malfunction.
Lmao people always think I wear small or medium coz all my t-shirts are fitted tight when in reality I'm wearing XL. So half the clothes I get are in small or medium.
 

f0rk

Member
Hi. I've joined a gym for the first time with semi private training (groups of 3) once a week. I'm 5'9" (apparently, I thought I was 5'10" :( :() and 60kg so looking to put on some muscle.

I had my first proper session on Thursday doing some basic weight exercises. I couldn't quite finish the last couple of sets of push ups but took that as something to work on. I'm supposed to go in and try the same workout a couple of times myself before another session next weekend where we'll go through another one.

I woke up feeling sore on Friday which I was kind of expecting, but today it got worse. I'm struggling to stand up / sit down and can't fully straighten my left arm. Google suggests this can be normal for beginners, but should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to recover quicker?

I would have asked my trainer but I've lost the post-it he put his number on and it's obviously a difficult weekend to get a hold of someone. I'll go into the gym on Monday to speak to him whether I do any actual exercise or not.

Thanks for any advice, I'll probably be in this thread asking stupid questions every now and then.
 
Have a grand new year, fam! Eat food and be excited to leave 2016 behind!

This is nice dude. Excellent piece of kit! Grats!

Guys ,

What are some good ways to build up my strength for pull-ups?

I struggle to do them even though I'm in decent shape.
Lowering yourself from the pullup bar slowly to focus on the negative helps.

Hi. I've joined a gym for the first time with semi private training (groups of 3) once a week. I'm 5'9" (apparently, I thought I was 5'10" :( :() and 60kg so looking to put on some muscle.

I had my first proper session on Thursday doing some basic weight exercises. I couldn't quite finish the last couple of sets of push ups but took that as something to work on. I'm supposed to go in and try the same workout a couple of times myself before another session next weekend where we'll go through another one.

I woke up feeling sore on Friday which I was kind of expecting, but today it got worse. I'm struggling to stand up / sit down and can't fully straighten my left arm. Google suggests this can be normal for beginners, but should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to recover quicker?

I would have asked my trainer but I've lost the post-it he put his number on and it's obviously a difficult weekend to get a hold of someone. I'll go into the gym on Monday to speak to him whether I do any actual exercise or not.

Thanks for any advice, I'll probably be in this thread asking stupid questions every now and then.
Welcome!

Key for me to help with muscle soreness: food. Eat a proper bulking diet. Helps.

What routine does your trainer have you on? Has he been receptive to what you are looking to do (bulk) and what is his plan for you? Has he gone over diet? The compound lifts?
 

f0rk

Member
Welcome!

Key for me to help with muscle soreness: food. Eat a proper bulking diet. Helps.

What routine does your trainer have you on? Has he been receptive to what you are looking to do (bulk) and what is his plan for you? Has he gone over diet? The compound lifts?
It is a strength routine, I was doing dumbbell squats and lifts and some barbell hip thrusts. He changed a couple of them, introducing a box to the squats as my knees weren't feeling too good and taking a box away for the hip thrusts as I struggled with getting the pivot movement right and had to reposition after each one.

We will be going over diet but he said he wanted to get me comfortable on the gym floor first which is a good way of easing me in but given how my bodies reached might need looking at. I know you guys are going to be a bit skeptical of PTs but I do think this one knows what he's doing.
 

SeanR1221

Member
Hope everyone had a safe, happy and healthy new years eve. My wife went up 5lbs last night...I went down 2. I won't be telling her that ;)

Good luck at the crowded gyms these next couple weeks. Unless you're Brolic and you get to bask in the glory of your own personal gym
 
It is a strength routine, I was doing dumbbell squats and lifts and some barbell hip thrusts. He changed a couple of them, introducing a box to the squats as my knees weren't feeling too good and taking a box away for the hip thrusts as I struggled with getting the pivot movement right and had to reposition after each one.

We will be going over diet but he said he wanted to get me comfortable on the gym floor first which is a good way of easing me in but given how my bodies reached might need looking at. I know you guys are going to be a bit skeptical of PTs but I do think this one knows what he's doing.
If you are a beginner, strength is the right approach, however, it sounds like he might have you doing more accessory work vs the basic compound lifts.

I would suggest reading up on Starting Strength as a beginning routine - you can find more info there about it and on diet in the OP.

I believe it's paramount to not get too involved with accessory movements early on as you will want to build a strong foundation, first. Basically barbell: squats, bench, overhead press and deadlift.

If you need help with knee issues while squatting I would suggest adjusting your knee travel during a squat either outwards or inwards, based on how your feet are pointed. I have to have my feet fairly close and toes barely pointed outward maybe 10-15 degrees and bring my knees up to my nipples, quad pressing against my core and hamstrings on my calves at the bottom, then back up. This alleviates my knee issue and my hip issue. I do deads the same way with close footing.

But, yes, any trainer that shows you a myriad of exercises if you are a beginner will look like he knows what he's doing when the reality is for a beginner, stick with the core lifts and a starter program, then work your way into intermediate routines with more accessory work after a solid year of strength training.

Deads, squats, OHP will work your core and glutes, too. Not much hip thrusts needed for a beginner. Your glutes will make gains regardless as will your core, stabilizers and main muscle groups from your whole body. You can probably build a damn amazing body from just variants of those core lifts as they are your body's natural movements like standing up, lifting shit over your head, pushing shit away from you, lifting crap off the floor, etc.

That's just my .02 - if you are new, keep the workout plan simple, focus on strength and make diet your number 1 priority. You can work out all you want but food is what makes the body you want. You will be making "noob gains" with an improper diet but you'll hit a wall fairly fast. Supercharge the early stages with a tight diet plan, IMO, and stick to the basic lifts with a well-documented and time-tested program like Starting Strength and ignore the fluff exercises as a beginner.
 
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