How is everyone's training going?

[Belligerent]

Free of charge, pm me with your address.

[muzmaze]

Originally Posted by krampus

christ almighty

i need to hire some of you hulks to just carry me around whenever i need to go somewhere

somewhere?...like to the bedroom? Sorry K, I tease cause I love.

[damnromulans]

harharharharhar

[Overwatch]

Originally Posted by Belligerent

My new job allows me to go to the gym for at least an hour every day on lunchbreak. Basically i'm where i want to be, huge j/k. My max bench was 320lbs last week and gaining. I've been taking this supplement called Maximize V2, very similar to N.O. Xplode but stronger. It really helps me focus while lifting and pushing out those last 2-3 reps more which is very important. Plus it keeps me energized for the rest of my work day.

Nice. Only taking creatine and protein, but have gotten my flat bench back to 245, and my incline to 225. I do incline first, if I did flat first I could probably move more.

I have some NO Xplode but never take it.

[muzmaze]

Originally Posted by krampus

harharharharhar

I mentioned meds earlier...was more talkin illegal substances etc...jokingly.

Also, you mentioned proper diet / diet pills. Other than vitamins or natural fish oil suppliments...I stay away from pills including painkillers unless its something to subside swelling? I'd rather feel the pain, know and then deal with the problem naturally than try to hide / ignore it. I've had a gradual change in diet...simply eating more fruits and veggies...replacing icecream, other crap-food etc...though I believe it is healthy to indulge once in a while.

[damnromulans]

I was joking about the diet pills. I'm a firm believer in "eat less move more" for weight loss and "eat right and lift stuff" for building muscle. People make it more complicated than it should be.

[Hez]

You americans all have beastly bench presses as usual, dammit ;D

320 bench is sick, great job. At what body weight was that, outta interest?

[Overwatch]

Originally Posted by krampus

I was joking about the diet pills. I'm a firm believer in "eat less move more" for weight loss and "eat right and lift stuff" for building muscle. People make it more complicated than it should be.

True, although I believe "weight loss" is over rated. Fat loss =/= weight loss.

[Alongside Death]

I work out 4 days a week, at least I'm trying to be consisten. On wednesdays and saturdays I play basketball so the sunday is the only day I bust my balls. I weigh 185 pounds and I'm 5'9 and my bench record is 253 so it is average I suppose. I'm working on it though and by the end of this summer I want to beat the record to 275 pounds.

Originally Posted by Belligerent

I've been taking this supplement called Maximize V2, very similar to N.O. Xplode but stronger.

N.O. Xplode did a great job for me. My endurance was far more better when I took 2 scoops before training, I just couldn't get tired. Now I'm taking Xpand from Dymatize, I heard that it is as good as N.O Xplode, but hey, I had to get Xpand since it's much more cheaper than N.O., hope it'll do as much good.

[Mathiäs]

I workout a lot. My typical routine includes tons of pullups, pushups, weight lifting etc. I mix it up pretty well. If you are looking to build muscle, I start with body weight exercises (pullups, pushups,etc). That's how I got strong.

[muzmaze]

Originally Posted by krampus

I was joking about the diet pills. I'm a firm believer in "eat less move more" for weight loss and "eat right and lift stuff" for building muscle. People make it more complicated than it should be.

Sensible and true. I think too many people these days look for the quick fix or quick method results. Wether its surgery for weight loss / supplements etc. A natural proper diet with an actual commitment over a period of time can do wonders.

[Uneasy_Conscience]

Originally Posted by Mathiäs

I workout a lot. My typical routine includes tons of pullups, pushups, weight lifting etc. I mix it up pretty well. If you are looking to build muscle, I start with body weight exercises (pullups, pushups,etc). That's how I got strong.

good post. body weight exercises are some of the best. historically, bench press has been considered the 'mother' of all exercises. i dont know why, really. im more inclined to say the pullup is pretty much the best demonstration of strength, and am more impressed when i hear someone can do a massive amount of pull ups than how much they can bench.

[Hez]

Pullups are definitely a great indicator of strength, and they never seem to get any fucking easier >_<

Bench is way overrated, although I'd consider squats and deadlifts a decent indicator of strength.

The problem with basic bodyweight exercises for size gain is that it's hard for the average joe to perform difficult enough exercises to promote growth. Most fit strong people can do more than 15 pushups, which is already getting past the rep range for hypertrophy. Variations are valid and useful, but are never going to have as great a range of motion as say dumbell flys or full ROM dumbell press. + it's harder to tailor the resistance to fit closely to a progression curve - you just end up being able to bust a load more reps then finally move onto the next variation and start again from a max of 5 reps or whatever, which isn't as efficient as picking the weight to force failure at ~10 reps ever session for a long period of training.

[Belligerent]

Originally Posted by Hez

320 bench is sick, great job. At what body weight was that, outta interest?

I'm at 192 lbs right now. My weight goes from 187 - 192 randomly.

[damnromulans]

Originally Posted by muzmaze

Sensible and true. I think too many people these days look for the quick fix or quick method results. Wether its surgery for weight loss / supplements etc. A natural proper diet with an actual commitment over a period of time can do wonders.

It's mind-blowing to me how many people actually PAY to diet, when it's all about calorie-in calorie-out if you are just looking for lower numbers on a scale. I suppose if you have severe self control issues/no motivation then a support group like Weight Watchers is your best option, but that's about where I draw the "reasonable" line. My good friend here shelled out ￥300,000 yen ($3000 US) for some Chinese acupuncture diet. She lost the extra weight (about 20 lbs) and looks great now, but then I look at my mom who dropped 30 lbs simply by eating small lunches and taking a 1 hour walk around the neighborhood 6 days a week...

[Overwatch]

Originally Posted by Belligerent

I'm at 192 lbs right now. My weight goes from 187 - 192 randomly.

Damn, weigh better ratio than me. I am around 185 right now at
5'6". But I have around 14% body fat I think, I remember you throwing out something like 5% body fat.

[Overwatch]

Originally Posted by Uneasy_Conscience

good post. body weight exercises are some of the best. historically, bench press has been considered the 'mother' of all exercises. i dont know why, really. im more inclined to say the pullup is pretty much the best demonstration of strength, and am more impressed when i hear someone can do a massive amount of pull ups than how much they can bench.

Pullups use a wider variety of muscles, but overall smaller muscle groups. It's really apples and oranges to benchpressing. Benchpress to weight ratio is the key. Someone who weighs 135 who can do a lot of pullups isn't that impressive.

[Belligerent]

Originally Posted by Dakryn

Damn, weigh better ratio than me. I am around 185 right now at
5'6". But I have around 14% body fat I think, I remember you throwing out something like 5% body fat.

Probably not at 5% anymore but definitely not above 10%. I am 5'8 btw.

[Caecius]

My training/diet is going well. I started at 241 and now down to 215 about a month and half in. I want to be around 185 lbs.

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Originally Posted by Belligerent

I'm at 192 lbs right now. My weight goes from 187 - 192 randomly.

Lets see some pics, or I'm calling BULLSHIT on you being 190 and benching over 300lbs.

[Belligerent]

are you serious. I work out alone and i'm not going to have some random person take pics. I could give a shit if you don't believe me, i've been lifting for over 11 years now.

[Overwatch]

Originally Posted by Belligerent

Probably not at 5% anymore but definitely not above 10%. I am 5'8 btw.

OK, I feel a little better now about my personal weight. Ratio is still insane though. I plan on getting there. For the last 3 years I have had to take long breaks from lifting due to injury/Marine Corps/ other shit going on. I am hoping I can lift straight for the next 2 years and break 300 benching.

One thing that hurt me in the Marines was the weight limit by height. I was at the weight ceiling almost my entire enlistment, and I started just having to do more and more reps instead of increasing weight for mass.

They had me at 5'5 and the USMC weight limit for 5'5 is 165. They did the fucking tape method for measuring body fat, and I always came out way higher by tape (neck to waist ratio) vs pinch method on body fat, so I had to just stick to maintaining weight.

It was pretty dumb, I ran PFT circles around skinny guys but I had to "watch my weight".

[damnromulans]

Originally Posted by Caecius

My training/diet is going well. I started at 241 and now down to 215 about a month and half in. I want to be around 185 lbs.

Awesome! Wasn't it you who said you subsisted on a diet of junk food but were switching immediately to light and healthy? That's great progress.

As of this morning I weigh the least I have weighed since 2007, which is not great but better than before.

I am a squishy mess with no access to a gym. My legs and butt are fairly muscular but the rest of me is like jello. Any recommendations of things to uh firm up?

[Overwatch]

Pilates and pushups/pullups/dips will do probably all you need, and all you need is a doorway pullup bar and a chair and some carpet on the floor/ a mat.

[Caecius]

Originally Posted by krampus

Awesome! Wasn't it you who said you subsisted on a diet of junk food but were switching immediately to light and healthy? That's great progress.

As of this morning I weigh the least I have weighed since 2007, which is not great but better than before.

I am a squishy mess with no access to a gym. My legs and butt are fairly muscular but the rest of me is like jello. Any recommendations of things to uh firm up?

Yes and thanks. I'm mostly focused on losing weight so I'm only taking in 1200-1500 calories a day.

You seem pretty trim from the pics you have posted.