Stay/Get Back In Shape.... Vol 2.0

[BranchLifestyle]

Originally Posted by nikestreetdotcom

So I've been cutting for about a month now and my upper abs are taking shape again.  However, I'm still having issues with my lower back (love handles) and lower stomach.  It's not significantly bad, but I want to eliminate it fully (I know you can't spot reduce

 ) 
My diet is really clean and I'm doing a variation of HIIT and steady state cardio 4 times a week.  I'm also doing a single bodypart SS workout, something that is new to me but really gets my heart rate up.  Any other advice?
Alex

Love handle fat is the last to go in terms of fat loss.  Keep at it and it will be gone in no time...don't get discouraged because of that.

  

 

[nikestreetdotcom]

Originally Posted by ShadyKay NT

Originally Posted by nikestreetdotcom

So I've been cutting for about a month now and my upper abs are taking shape again.  However, I'm still having issues with my lower back (love handles) and lower stomach.  It's not significantly bad, but I want to eliminate it fully (I know you can't spot reduce

 ) 
My diet is really clean and I'm doing a variation of HIIT and steady state cardio 4 times a week.  I'm also doing a single bodypart SS workout, something that is new to me but really gets my heart rate up.  Any other advice?
Alex

Love handle fat is the last to go in terms of fat loss.  Keep at it and it will be gone in no time...don't get discouraged because of that.

  

Thanks bud.  It's really tough because like you said, it is the last to go in terms of fat loss.  My fear is losing too much muscle mass while getting my abs back.  Hopefully the high dosage of BCAA's, creatine, and protein will help.
Alex

 

[BranchLifestyle]

Originally Posted by nikestreetdotcom

Originally Posted by ShadyKay NT

Originally Posted by nikestreetdotcom

So I've been cutting for about a month now and my upper abs are taking shape again.  However, I'm still having issues with my lower back (love handles) and lower stomach.  It's not significantly bad, but I want to eliminate it fully (I know you can't spot reduce

 ) 
My diet is really clean and I'm doing a variation of HIIT and steady state cardio 4 times a week.  I'm also doing a single bodypart SS workout, something that is new to me but really gets my heart rate up.  Any other advice?
Alex

Love handle fat is the last to go in terms of fat loss.  Keep at it and it will be gone in no time...don't get discouraged because of that.

  

Thanks bud.  It's really tough because like you said, it is the last to go in terms of fat loss.  My fear is losing too much muscle mass while getting my abs back.  Hopefully the high dosage of BCAA's, creatine, and protein will help.
Alex

Not an expert by any means, but if you continue to lift heavy when working out, you shouldn't lose too much muscle.  Also protein intake is important from natural sources (mainly fish, chicken, turkey, beef)

 

[chiefwiggum]

Just mix it up guys. I mix it up in all of my workouts. Low reps/Heavy weights, Lesser weight/Heavy reps/sometimes even failure, I switch up my speeds a lot (during the exercise), the angles to target my muscles in different area, number of sets, amount of rest. Get tricky and diverse with it.

If you think about it, how can ONE routine be the best one out there when there are millions. It's like social or religious philosophy, one of them can't possibly be right, so I incorporate all of them lol.

 

[nikestreetdotcom]

Originally Posted by ChiefWiggum

Just mix it up guys. I mix it up in all of my workouts. Low reps/Heavy weights, Lesser weight/Heavy reps/sometimes even failure, I switch up my speeds a lot (during the exercise), the angles to target my muscles in different area, number of sets, amount of rest. Get tricky and diverse with it.

If you think about it, how can ONE routine be the best one out there when there are millions. It's like social or religious philosophy, one of them can't possibly be right, so I incorporate all of them lol.

The only issue I have with this (IMO) is how will you get stronger with a specific exercise if you're switching it up too often? If you mean once a month or so, I somewhat agree.  But I know some people who change it up every week and barely have gains.
Alex

 

[club29]

Originally Posted by scshift

Originally Posted by dgk3188

Originally Posted by knightngale

Originally Posted by Club29

Originally Posted by man listen

nt meatheads quick question......squats and deadlifts, same day, good idea?

NO.

never.

does that apply to romanian deadlifts as well?

really? i been doing squats and deadlifts on the same day since i started lifting. any reason why?

Same here. 2 workouts a week with squats and deadlifts on each day.

I guess it's probably because you can probably lift more and get better results doing them on separate days. Does this mean I should just do them 1x a week if I workout twice per week?

Yeah, I would personally.

dont get me wrong if you're getting gains from doing both on the same day, by all means.

but you central nervous system is going to be fried after a while of doing them like that (assuming you're really giving it your all on both and lifting heavy)


  

 

[scshift]

Originally Posted by Club29

Yeah, I would personally.

dont get me wrong if you're getting gains from doing both on the same day, by all means.

but you central nervous system is going to be fried after a while of doing them like that (assuming you're really giving it your all on both and lifting heavy)

Yeah that sounds right, I was making gains, but lately I've just been struggling to put up the weight and now my workouts vary with some days where I just can't do it.

Since I'm doing power/speed work now, I'll probably just use less (but still heavy) weight, low reps and more sets, once per week for each lift.

 

[brettthejett]

Originally Posted by krazyg

Brett. What's your chest routine like? I was stuck at only pushing 185 on the barbell bench-press for about 6 reps about 2 months ago. I switched to doing chest twice a week. On my first day I would do incline dumbbell bench press first and I would hit them hard every week along with some hammer strength machine presses and cable flyes. On my second chest day I would do heavy weighted dips and heavy close grip barbell bench-press along with some dumbbell flyes. Each chest day didn't have too many exercises, but I would do high volume with 4-6 sets per exercise. After the 2 months I decided to try out the flat barbell bench-press again for fun and I was able to put up 215 for 8 reps for 2 sets. Felt good man. I would pick incline dumbbell bench-press over flat barbell bench any day. I feel my chest working a lot much harder than the flat barbell.

good stuff thanks man
I start with bench

5x95, 5x115, 5x135, 5x155, 3x175, 1x185

then drop it down to 135 again and do 3 sets of 10

incline press: 3x10x55

incline fly: 3x10x35

then a bunch of cable exercises. I mix it up alot though (aside from the flat BB bench)

thats good advice though, I'm gonna start doing that

 

[skyflydul]

all these numbers about using dumbbells for bench and bar benching, i might as well put in what i can do. up until i started doing more squats have my flat bench numbers gone up:

flat dumbbell that most i've picked up was 65, but i think if i skipped a warm-up set i can MAYBE hit the 70s

on bar bench not too sure about my max, but last time i repped 205 4 times (spot on the last one). i've been stuck repping 185 about 6 times, i feel like i can get it a solid 10 now

 

[atlfootballer]

A routine that has worked for me is doing barbell bench on modays and fridays and dumbell bench on wednesdays, I go heavy weight with low reps on the barbell but on fridays I end it with a set of 10x225 to work on my endurance, this has made my numbers sky rocket from a couple weeks ago as the most I could do was 5x285 now I just hit 5x315 and on dumbell the most I did last week was 3x125 but I couldn't get past 5x115 this week, all in all I say the low reps gave me a big jump in numbers i'm talkin abt 1 to 5 reps

 

[BranchLifestyle]

Originally Posted by SKYFLYDUl

all these numbers about using dumbbells for bench and bar benching, i might as well put in what i can do. up until i started doing more squats have my flat bench numbers gone up:

flat dumbbell that most i've picked up was 65, but i think if i skipped a warm-up set i can MAYBE hit the 70s

on bar bench not too sure about my max, but last time i repped 205 4 times (spot on the last one). i've been stuck repping 185 about 6 times, i feel like i can get it a solid 10 now

Just to comment...I feel like BB flat bench is very different than DB flat bench.

Yes, both excercises hit the chest but thats as far as it goes I feel.

With BB, tris, shoulders and chest are hit all together, so if one muscle is lagging in strength, thats as far as you can go with it.

With DB, less strain is put on the shoulders, and I definitely feel my chest getting punished more.

My take, do BB for 4-6 weeks, then do DB for 4-6 weeks. 

Also keep in mind the Muscle-Mind connection is very important with every lift...the more aware you are during lifts of the muscles involved...the better it feels too.

/endrant

  

 

[brettthejett]

It's going to be a major life accomplishment to bench 225x5 regardless of how or when I get there. I'm gonna start pushing harder on the DB for a couple weeks. Should I go heavy flat for 3 sets and then heavy incline for 3 sets?

 

[syxth element]

Originally Posted by ShadyKay NT

Originally Posted by SKYFLYDUl

all these numbers about using dumbbells for bench and bar benching, i might as well put in what i can do. up until i started doing more squats have my flat bench numbers gone up:

flat dumbbell that most i've picked up was 65, but i think if i skipped a warm-up set i can MAYBE hit the 70s

on bar bench not too sure about my max, but last time i repped 205 4 times (spot on the last one). i've been stuck repping 185 about 6 times, i feel like i can get it a solid 10 now

Just to comment...I feel like BB flat bench is very different than DB flat bench.

Yes, both excercises hit the chest but thats as far as it goes I feel.

With BB, tris, shoulders and chest are hit all together, so if one muscle is lagging in strength, thats as far as you can go with it.

With DB, less strain is put on the shoulders, and I definitely feel my chest getting punished more.

My take, do BB for 4-6 weeks, then do DB for 4-6 weeks. 

Also keep in mind the Muscle-Mind connection is very important with every lift...the more aware you are during lifts of the muscles involved...the better it feels too.

/endrant

  

IMO DBs use the stabilizer muscles more than a BB does

 

[dakingii]

i swear overnight EVERYBODY at my school's gym benches 225+

Im about to start benching again to get up there, i stopped benching around the 205 mark and switched to dumbbells.

My db max(the max i have tried) is 90 now but i know i can put up 100 atleast once.

 

[bostonthreeparty]

Next time I'm back at school, where they have the reps/sets that we are doing for offseason football.
I remember, the 1st and last week of the 4 week sessions, goes like this for bench with the percentage being the percentage of your max that you've had before.
60% 10reps
65% 10 reps
70% 8 reps
80% 6 reps
90% 4 reps
95% 2 reps
100% 1 rep.

so if your max is 185 the weight would be around
60% 110 pounds
65% 120
70% 130
80% 150
90% 165
95% 175

the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the workouts I do i'll post once i get back from break and remember To do that.

 

[krazyg]

Originally Posted by brettTHEjett

It's going to be a major life accomplishment to bench 225x5 regardless of how or when I get there.

I'm gonna start pushing harder on the DB for a couple weeks.
Should I go heavy flat for 3 sets and then heavy incline for 3 sets?

I would do Incline first since it's the harder out of the two, and I feel my pecs working much harder. The pump I feel on the incline is incredible compared to my flat bench-press. I like to do 5 pyramiding sets.
Incline:
10 x 60
8 x 70
6-8 x 80
6-8 x 80
8-10 x 65

Every chest exercise after feels like my chest is being torn apart. I do switch it up every other week or so and will hit the flat bench first, but I enjoy doing incline so much more.I feel the mind muscle connection on the incline much more for some reason. I also like to do heavy on one of my chest days and then a bit lighter with higher reps on my second chest day of the week. I give myself at least 3 days of rest in between though.

 

[al audi]

so i finally got some numbers

im 181 lbs at 5.9%

wow i havnt beent this small in years................


crazy thing is im strong as hell these days too.

lol i need steroids now

wow, i mean now that i think about it i do looks slimmer and my clothes fit much different, i still appear big but damn ive been 195-200lbs, ive been using humapro for months now so the calorie deficit......geez.

edit: ive been on humapro since oct 2010. sheesh i gotta go make a post on another forum about this.

i dont believe my numbers i gotta get that done again.

 

[al audi]

btw i never bench press................i can do incline dumbbells @ 95 and flat 100 easy. dunno my max

i prolly cant bench for #(&$, dont care. yea i def lost a lot of weight im lookin at myself now, think i really am 180, im slim as hell, im not considered big anymore. i got that mario lopez physique smh x lol.

i never noticed i think cuz i have not shaved all winter, its a ritual i do anyways when im tryna reach a fitness goal. i got obliques and pack but i feel skinny as hell. i need to kick up my cals more an just eat really clean to put on some size for the nice weather.

 

[play2much2004]

before and after pics?

 

[al audi]

Originally Posted by play2much2004

before and after pics?
  

i dont have before pics from the point i really started my diet/humapro

im gonna kick up my cals an go to 6 day isolation instead of compounds i been doin an keep carbs at around 100 a day with high protein, much higher.........

 

[where are you harold miner 2]

Al Audi - If your gonna "add weight/bulk" I would recommend finding your maintenance cals probably more or less what you have been eating the last weeks and then add 400-600 cals to build lean muscle.

 

[al audi]

Originally Posted by Where Are You Harold Miner 2

Al Audi - If your gonna "add weight/bulk" I would recommend finding your maintenance cals probably more or less what you have been eating the last weeks and then add 400-600 cals to build lean muscle.

yes, i def need to pinpoint at this point...........

is there a calc. online for this? 

  

 

[j de phx]

Originally Posted by wanksta23

Originally Posted by J de PHX

Do you guys get nervous before working out? 

your self conscious about your body aren't you

Not at all. Why.

 

[philly5fan]

Originally Posted by Al Audi

so i finally got some numbers

im 181 lbs at 5.9%

wow i havnt beent this small in years................


crazy thing is im strong as hell these days too.

lol i need steroids now

wow, i mean now that i think about it i do looks slimmer and my clothes fit much different, i still appear big but damn ive been 195-200lbs, ive been using humapro for months now so the calorie deficit......geez.

edit: ive been on humapro since oct 2010. sheesh i gotta go make a post on another forum about this.

i dont believe my numbers i gotta get that done again.

I've heard a lot of good things about this humapro.. is it a powder or is it pill form?? Also do they sell it in any stores or is it only online? Preciate it

 

[brettthejett]

AAUDI what do you DL?

mannnnnn 181

my fat #%! hit 184 last night....