CAG Health and Fitness Thread

[quote name='Thomas96']I need to find a Cheapassgym... or some deals... anyone know of any good deals?[/QUOTE]

The Planet Fitness near me keeps rolls out a $10/month deal every few months. Not sure if you've got one in your neighborhood but they've opened a bunch of them in the Northeast recently.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']My goal for the year was to just be able to run again. I had a bad back injury in Dec 08 where I couldn't even walk for a while. I'm able to run now again, but my stride is messed up. My endurance is gone, but I don't care. No other weight goals for me except to gain more range of motion.

Weight wise, I've dropped about 6 pounds, going from 176 to 171, but I've toned up in general.

Overall it's been a good year for recovery so far.[/QUOTE]

Just keep on chipping away at it bit by bit and in time you will be back to 100%. I've been very lucky never to have had any serious injuries that kept me out of the gym for more than a week, but I can sort of imagine how frustrating it must be to get a large setback like that. Stay with it.
 
[quote name='EDiddy0042']Just keep on chipping away at it bit by bit and in time you will be back to 100%. I've been very lucky never to have had any serious injuries that kept me out of the gym for more than a week, but I can sort of imagine how frustrating it must be to get a large setback like that. Stay with it.[/QUOTE]

Thanks.

Yeah, at this point, it's rather frustrating. There was definitely nerve damage, so I'm not so sure how much more it can recover. I've read that everything stops healing between 12-18 months after the injury, so I've got a bit of a ways to go.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']I need to find a Cheapassgym... or some deals... anyone know of any good deals?[/QUOTE]

LA Fitness is a good deal if you don't mind a fairly big one time sign up fee and will be using the gym long term.

When I signed up in July I had two options. $300 sign up fee, $19.99 a month for life after that. Or $149 and $29.99 a month for life.

Access to any LA Fitness in the country except NY--there was an added fee for that. But I seldom go to NY and would never move there so I skipped it.

I did the $300 option as the sign up price difference pays for itself in 15 months, and I'll be living here and using that gym for at least 2 or 3 years, and possibly permanently if I stay in Atlanta (and there are a lot of LA Fitness in the city and metro area if I move in the region), and lots in the country if a move to another city.

Prior to moving down here I was at Golds. It was $100 sign up and $45 a month, so I was very happy with this deal as the gym is bigger an nicer, and some of the branches 5 or so miles away have swimming pools, basketball courts etc. that I can use whenever since I have access to all the facility (sans NY).
 
So I have a sort of a weird goal. I want to be able to do a set of 3-5 one armed pull ups.

Not the kind where you hold your wrist with the other hand I can do those. But genuine one hand holding the bar and the other arm hanging down. I can't even do one. But! Today out of nowehre I was at the playground with my daughter and just fooling around I grabbed one of the monkey bars with one arm and started pulling myself up!! lol I couldn't believe it. I didn't get full motion but I got more than ever have before.

thought that was pretty cool :) gotta keep tryin'!
 
[quote name='HowStern']So I have a sort of a weird goal. I want to be able to do a set of 3-5 one armed pull ups.

Not the kind where you hold your wrist with the other hand I can do those. But genuine one hand holding the bar and the other arm hanging down. I can't even do one. But! Today out of nowehre I was at the playground with my daughter and just fooling around I grabbed one of the monkey bars with one arm and started pulling myself up!! lol I couldn't believe it. I didn't get full motion but I got more than ever have before.

thought that was pretty cool :) gotta keep tryin'![/QUOTE]

Not a weird goal at all. In fact, I would love to be able to do 1. I think single limb exercises (pushup, pullup, squat) are the definition of overall strength. I have more admiration for someone who can bust out 2 or 3 one arm pullups than I do for someone who can bench press 315 pounds for reps. That is a great goal to have for yourself, and make sure to let us know when you hit it.
 
:) Glad to hear I'm not as weird as I thought!

What I've been doing is taking a towel and throwing it over the bar. Then one side I grab at the top near the bar and the other hand/side i grab near the bottom of the towel as low as I can putting most of the stress on the arm that is higher up. eventually/(hopefully!) not needing to grab anything at all with the other/lower hand :)
 
One armed pull ups have been a long term goal of mine (as in it will probably take me at least a year to reach). I'm also interested in how your progress goes, HowStern. It sounds like you have the right idea with the towel.

Has anybody here tried to make a bodybuilding.com account? It seems like a great way to keep track of not only muscle/strength increases but also fat loss and your goals. You can upload progress pictures and it keeps track of your stats (measurements, weights, how much you can lift, body fat % etc) over time.

Also my flu is almost gone. I plan to go back to working out Saturday even though my legs are still quite sore from Monday.
 
Has anyone here ever taken a lifeguard certification course? I had to drop Physics @ school (I was in WAY over my head with Physics and Bio) and to stay a full-time student, I needed two credits, so I signed up for a lifeguard certification course (through the PE dept.). Now I'm no Michael Phelps, but I like to think that I'm in pretty decent shape and would be able to successfully complete the course with ease. Anyone have input? Specifically what requirements I might have to satisfy in order to pass?
 
I just got a 3 month pass to my city's Rec Centers. They have pools, weights and equipment for $12.50 a month. No other fees


You can't beat that.
 
[quote name='EDiddy0042']Has anyone here ever taken a lifeguard certification course? I had to drop Physics @ school (I was in WAY over my head with Physics and Bio) and to stay a full-time student, I needed two credits, so I signed up for a lifeguard certification course (through the PE dept.). Now I'm no Michael Phelps, but I like to think that I'm in pretty decent shape and would be able to successfully complete the course with ease. Anyone have input? Specifically what requirements I might have to satisfy in order to pass?[/QUOTE]

I worked at a summer camp right out of high school and we had to take the lifeguard exam. It was awhile ago but two things I remember doing were treading water for a pretty good length of time and having to swim ALOT of laps. I ran cross-country in high school so I thought I was in pretty good shape, but the long swim portion completely kicked my ass. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
 
[quote name='usickenme']I just got a 3 month pass to my city's Rec Centers. They have pools, weights and equipment for $12.50 a month. No other fees


You can't beat that.[/QUOTE]
My University has two free gyms with everything you could ever want. OK technically their cost is part of the $5,000 or so I pay a semester but I'm still saying it's a better deal somehow.

Also dmaul, damn your plans Mondays with their squats and dead lifts. I'm going to hurt so much tomorrow.
 
Yeah, I'm doing that today as I missed yesterday. Squats, Walking Lunges, Calf raises and Dead lifts followed by some light cardio.

I'm always pretty sore after that workout.
 
[quote name='DrFoo']My University has two free gyms with everything you could ever want. OK technically their cost is part of the $5,000 or so I pay a semester but I'm still saying it's a better deal somehow.

.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't competing but I think the scenery alone would give the uni gym the edge.
 
OK I have a question for the experts here. What's the difference between training for mass and training for power? From what I've heard to train for power the key is doing explosive movements and including plyometric exercises in your workout. I've also heard you should do around 6 reps per set for mass and closer to 4 for power. Does anybody know what truth there is to any of this?
 
[quote name='DrFoo']OK I have a question for the experts here. What's the difference between training for mass and training for power? From what I've heard to train for power the key is doing explosive movements and including plyometric exercises in your workout. I've also heard you should do around 6 reps per set for mass and closer to 4 for power. Does anybody know what truth there is to any of this?[/QUOTE]

Power training is explosive plyometric movements that emulate movements used in sports. For example, the clean and press, hang clean, deadlift, snatch, squat, etc. Basically, power movements will involve almost all of the body's primary muscle groups in one move. For power, you should stick with 1-3 reps for 6 or 7 sets (that has been my experience with it). The key for the moves is to force your muscles to work maximally for a few reps, so you want to really explode with the weight while maintaining good form.

As for mass training, the reppage will depend on the person. Some people can add mass with 6-8 reps, while other require 8-10 or 10-12. Obviously, with the lower rep range, you'll be able utilize more weight, but you may have to do an extra set to get the full benefit. The only way to figure out what is right for you is to work with one rep scheme for maybe 4 weeks, and then see how much you've gained. Then switch to another for the next four weeks. Hope this helped, and if you have any ?'s, just ask.
 
Thanks for the link HowStern and thanks for the great explanation EDiddy. It sounds like what I've heard is mostly true.

Also it's kind of surprising to me that the way bodybuilders build their muscles up doesn't necessarily make them stronger. I've always assumed larger muscles meant more strength.
 
The do get stronger--not like they were always lifting the crazy amounts of weight the do. :D

They're just more focused on maximizing adding muscle mass for cosmetic reasons for competition than maximizing strength like competing power lifters would.

Both adds strength, one just adds more strength more quickly than the other.
 
Yeah I just meant to say that it sounds like body builders mostly undergo sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which apparently just increases the volume of their cells without any strength increase. I'm sure they still go through plenty of myofibrillar hypertrophy as well.
 
Yeah as their bodies get used to the weight they do they will have to increase it and they'll have minor increases in strength/myofibrillar HT

Not as much as those training directly for myo HT/strength though :)

I try to mix it up. High rep med weight. Low rep heavy weight. Something different all the time.
 
That's how I work as well- I'll do a week of heavy training with a 5x5 routine, and then I'll go to more hypertrophy focused training with lighter weights. It's been working out really well for me.
 
Nice :) It's the way to go!

A couple of my recent routines that I've been digging. Both upper body.

Routine 1 - 200 rep workout for endurance/mass
Do alternating sets of chest dips and pull ups with 30sec or less rest in between until you reach 100 reps of each.
so it goes dip-pull up-dip-pull up back and forth.

I usually start this one out with very light weight on a dip belt and after I get to about 50 reps each drop the weight a little. When I get to about 75 reps I drop all weight doing just bodyweight. At the start you'll be doing like 15+ rep sets and towards the end 8- rep sets.

I;ve been finishing this in about 30 minutes time so after I will do

4x Side raise/reerse flye supersets for shoulders.
3xoverhead tricep extensions or skullcrushers.

Routine 2 for strength
This one I load the weight on like crazy so I am only able to get about 4-6 reps each set
3x wide grip pulls ups
3x med grip pull up
3x close grip chins

3xReverse grip curls
3xHammer curls
Max weight. Sometimes I skip the hammers. I'm mainly doing these for the extra forearm kick they give.

4 or 5x DB flyes
4 or 5x DB press
3 or 4x weighted tricep dips
again all as heavy as you can for 4-6 reps
sometimes i change the number of sets I do of these as noted depending on how I'm feeling. =P

4x Shrugs

I like doing upper body/lower body because I can hit everything sooner again once I'm rested thn I could if i broke everything up. (i.e. having to wait a week to get to chest day or back day again etc.) Also this is cheesy but your whole upper body always looks huge after these because every muscle is pumped lol.

Neither of these routines are set in stone. I'll change stuff up almost every time but it's the basic idea :)
 
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I don't even like calling my workouts routines because it makes it sound repetetive. I think too many people get into a routine with their weight training and that is where they hit plateaus. That 200 rep workout looks like a good one. May have to borrow that and give it a try.
 
Nice yeah. Good call about routine being a bad label. Variation is def the key to plateau and boredom busting :)

The 200 rep workout is a killer :) I did it yesterdy actually and this morning when i was getting clothes out of my beaureau(sp?) my lats felt like fire just from pulling the drawer open.
 
I have a question about the 100% whey protein, or any protein shake. Can I prepare it several hours before I take it? I was thinking about working out at the school gym, and I was wondering if it was okay to make the shake at around 8:30am but drinking it at around 2PM. I have classes from 9AM to 1PM, then I'd work out to approximately 2PM.
 
It would probably get pretty clumpy.

Get a shaker bottle and just put the powder in it, then add water at a water fountain and shake it up when you're read to drink it.

I do that as I work out in the mornings and just add water and drink it on my way to the office.
 
So that's the worst that can happen? I don't mind clumpy.

[quote name='dmaul1114']It would probably get pretty clumpy.

Get a shaker bottle and just put the powder in it, then add water at a water fountain and shake it up when you're read to drink it.

I do that as I work out in the mornings and just add water and drink it on my way to the office.[/QUOTE]
 
I suspect that's the worse that can happen. But really, getting a $2-4 shaker bottler from a nutrition store (online or off) is the way to go then you can have a nice, freshly made shake anywhere.

But yeah, I don't think it would make you sick or anything (assuming you're making it with water (not milk) and not adding fruit etc.
 
I take it with water, and I have a decent water bottle. I could just add the powder to the water bottle and fill it up with a school water fountain I guess. Well thanks for addressing my question.
 
If it's only for a short period of time you could splurge on some muscle milk RTDs or something. They're pretty pricey though I wouldn't continually buy cases of them.

The shaker is the way to go $$ wise.

Or put they whey powder in a baggie and dump it in a gatorade bottle after your WO. Is it at school though? A baggy of powder might look suspicious.
 
I had another physical today.
I've lost eight pounds in a year. Another five years and I won't be overweight.
My cholesterol went from 198 to 140.
My triglycerides went from 456 to 205.
My EKG says my heart rate went from 69bps to 54bps.
 
[quote name='fatherofcaitlyn']I had another physical today.
I've lost eight pounds in a year. Another five years and I won't be overweight.
My cholesterol went from 198 to 140.
My triglycerides went from 456 to 205.
My EKG says my heart rate went from 69bps to 54bps.[/QUOTE]

That's great. Too many people focus on the visible aspects of losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle, but it's the improvement inside your body that matters the most. Keep chipping away at it, and keep us posted.
 
Alright I need to slow down the exercises for a while. I'm getting burnt out and I need to study more for school. I'm thinking of switching to a 3 day split for a while (probably until Christmas break). It isn't helping that I got sick again. How does this look:

Tues: squats, straight legged dead lifts, shrugs
Thurs: bench press, chest flys, dips
Sat: pull ups, dumbbell curls, shoulder press

Three sets of each until exhaustion aiming for ~6 reps and then half an hour of cardio afterward.
I'll do just cardio and crunches/bicycles/leg raises two days each week also.

On a more positive note I've made a little more progress. I don't really know how I'm making more progress than when I was working out and eating well more consistently but I'll take it.

9/1/09
201 lbs
27.6%
55.5 lbs fat
145.5 lbs lean


10/22/09
199 lbs
25.3%
50.3 lbs fat
148.7 lbs lean
 
DrFroo, if you want, simplifiy it further by doing an upper body/lower body split. If you look online you'll find tons of great upper body/lower body splits.

Another good way to save time is to superset. This is a workout I did the other day.

1 set Dips
1 set Pull ups
do this back and forth with 0-30 sec rest until you hit 100 reps of each.

Now do 1 set hammer curls right into 1 set skull crushers with no rest
repeat 4 or 5 times.
Now do 1 set side raise right into 1 set of reverse flyes with no rest.
repeat that 4 or 5 times.

It takes about an hour and you've hit your entire upper body thanks to huge compound movements. Now next upper body day switch dips with bench press and skull crushers with military press.

For lower body day just do what you wrote in your post that looks perfect, Except switch shrugs with power cleans maybe? And throw in some reg deadlifts.

Then your week could go

mon-upper
wed-lower
fri-upper

then next week

mon-lower
wed-upper
fri-lower


Definitely look into lower/upper splits. There are a ton of great routines online. Your body builds muscle quicker this way too. I'm not sure how it works but my friend is a personal trainer and was saying that the central nervous system promotes more growth when you do big compound movements. Something like that heh.
 
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I'm going to start to get into actual running, as opposed to 20 or 30 mins on the elliptical after I work out or as the only exercise for a day. Anyone have good advice on how to blend core strength training and weight lifting in with that?... run solely a few days a week or on the same day I lift?... any info would be good. thanks.
 
I think I'll try a 2 day split routine for a while like you recommended HowStern. I don't think I could really pull the routine you have off without hogging the assist machine for half an hour but I've found a couple of other promising routines at the somethingawful forums. Thanks for the advice.

Also I got a new scale since the old one had gotten jumped on and submerged in water. With the new scale I now weigh 4 pounds less hehehe.
 
[quote name='DrFoo']I think I'll try a 2 day split routine for a while like you recommended HowStern. I don't think I could really pull the routine you have off without hogging the assist machine for half an hour but I've found a couple of other promising routines at the somethingawful forums. Thanks for the advice.

Also I got a new scale since the old one had gotten jumped on and submerged in water. With the new scale I now weigh 4 pounds less hehehe.[/QUOTE]

Heh yeah luckily I have a power tower and stuff in my basement. I would def feel like a jerk doing some of my workots at a smaler sized gym because I'd be hogging the same thing for almost an hour.

Had a great workout yesterday I did
1.Heavy weight bench press x 50 reps (broken into about 6-10 rep sets)
in between the first 5 sets I would do medium weight skullcrushers instead of resting

2.Weighted pull ups x 50 reps (again broken up into 6-10 rep sets)
in between sets I did lightly weighted dips instead of resting

3.Military press->Hammer curl supersets x 5

4. A few sets of lateral shoulder raises for good measure.

I'm definitely sore today. First thing I did when I woke up was down a big whey shake and eat 2 giant pancakes haha. I figured I earned it :)
 
[quote name='HowStern'] I would def feel like a jerk doing some of my workots at a smaler sized gym because I'd be hogging the same thing for almost an hour.[/QUOTE]

That sir, is exactly why I dislike most gyms.
smile
A lot of people have a favorite machine and hog it, they may not even know it, but it happens.
 
Hey Howstern, I got a question for you- you seem to really incorporate a lot of pullups into your workouts, and I was just curious how many you are getting per set. The reason I ask is because I'm a pretty big guy ( about 6'5 and close to 240 lbs) and I'm only able to get 6-8 on my first set and then 4-6 on all my successive sets after a minute or so break. You have any recommendations as to how I can boost this number? I understand from a lot of my reading weight training books that taller guys tend to have a more difficult time with pullups due to the much longer armspan, so many tall guys just stick to lat-pull downs, but I don't feel like I get the same benefit from pull-downs as I would from pull-ups.
 
[quote name='EDiddy0042']Hey Howstern, I got a question for you- you seem to really incorporate a lot of pullups into your workouts, and I was just curious how many you are getting per set. The reason I ask is because I'm a pretty big guy ( about 6'5 and close to 240 lbs) and I'm only able to get 6-8 on my first set and then 4-6 on all my successive sets after a minute or so break. You have any recommendations as to how I can boost this number? I understand from a lot of my reading weight training books that taller guys tend to have a more difficult time with pullups due to the much longer armspan, so many tall guys just stick to lat-pull downs, but I don't feel like I get the same benefit from pull-downs as I would from pull-ups.[/QUOTE]

Hey man yeah height may be a factor I'm almost a foot shorter than you at 5'8 and 160 lbs. I can blast off around 16+ reps on my first set at bodyweight.

But like you said you'll get more benefit from the pull ups and because of your longer range of motion from being taller you'll be able to get some insane strength.

So, I have 2 ideas that I think would be definitely worth a shot.

Have you tried that 200 rep workout? The one where you do 100 reps of pull ups and 100 reps of dips by alternating sets? It really will get to the point where you are doing like 2 reps of pull ups near the end. And it may take 15-20 sets of each/45 minutes-hour to finish. But it's a solid workout that I think will increase your pull up rep volume fast.

The other route I think would be good would be to do the same workout but with added weight. As much weight as you can put on a belt and still get 3-4 rep sets. And do a total of 50 reps of each since your sets will be smaller but heavier.

Maybe do the first workout a few times then the second a few times. Maybe even repeat it as soon as you aren't sore anymore from last time. You may get away with doing it every 3 or 4 days this way. You could do shoulders and legs on the other days.

You'll probably start seeing an increase pull up strength fast this way. :)
 
It's nice to see this thread get bumped up to the first page.

It's been awhile since high school (so I lost most of my lifting drive). However as of late I've gotten back into the swing of things and started a goal of my one rep max bench to be 300. I started lifting again in may, and mid august did a one rep max of 285. I'm looking forward to trying out a max of 300 either tomorrow or Friday. We'll see how that goes lol.
 
Thanks for the advice Howstern. I appreciate the input and I will probably give one of those routines a try today when I hit the gym. I'll inform you of my soreness level tomorrow.:bouncy:
 
[quote name='HowStern']Nice :) Looking forward to hearing how it went![/QUOTE]

So I tried that workout last week- and I am still a bit tender in my back and especially in my arms. I'll probably try to use that one as a mix-up workout every month or so, so thanks for passing that off to me.

On another note, have any of you guys ever done jump squats (w/ a barbell)? I gave them a try on a whim yesterday (getting bored with regular and front squats). If you participate in any kind of sports and you are looking for that extra couple inches on the vertical leap, extra power on your drive or a little more "mmph" behind your kick, give these a shot. You have to use a much lighter weight than you would for normal squats (I was @ approximately 50% of 1RM), but if you really drive out of the bottom and get a couple inches off the ground, they are a killer.
 
BUMP
Alright quick question. Are straight legged dead lifts good for you? My cousin did them for a couple of months and said he got to the point where you couldn't tie his shoe without sitting down and when I told my mom about them she started telling me not to do them (mostly because of the whole "lift with your legs" thing, she thinks it could mess up your back but she really doesn't know very much about exercising). Anyways do you think my cousin was just doing them too often or are they going to hurt your back either way?
 
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