How about a permanent monthly fitness skills thread?

I'm sitting here (yeah, it's late) reading this and it's actually starting to really get to me. J williams started a monster with this, and it's really, really having an impact on people. I want to buy everyone here a beer! I'll have a scotch and soda water, I'm on a diet)

Seriously, read the results and the sumbles in this thread and there's some momentum. And hell, it's keeping me honest, too.

C_Kyle: I've noted soem recent reseach indicating that some of our ancestors did huge amounts of body work as a matter of course. I vacillate a bit on how heavy I should be working out, even. It's possible to overdo it, but knifemaking is actually a relatively sedentary trade compared to, say, construction work.....

for anyone who is doing kettlebell work, the first part of a study done by ACE is worth reading:

http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/Kettlebells012010.pdf


(I have no idea where the rest of the article is)
 
You got me inspired. I need to loose 15 lbs. I am 5'7" and weigh 210. Fairly thick, like a square. Fitness is good, lifted and run all the time. I want to get down to 190-195.
 
C_Kyle said:
I'd also like to add that we (everyone) refrain from telling someone they're wrong about how they're eating or exercising. Why? We're not each other, and have no way of knowing each other's bodies. What might be right for you may be wrong for someone else.
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If you are referring to my reply to Jenner, my intention wasn't to insult or hurt anyones feelings. You are right in that everydody is diffent, but there are some universal truths regarding dieting (and exercising during dieting), protein requirements being one of them. ~1g/kg of BW might be around the RDA, but that is for sedentary people and for maintenance diet. During calorie resctriction protein requirements go up, and even more so when VLC dieting.

Sometimes truth hurts, and by sugarcoating things you get only ... fat :D When it comes to dieting he's the man. Clicky the articles.
 
All advice is appreciated, it gives me questions to ask the doc/dietician (I'm on his diet BTW)

I knew that at btwn 60-80g of protein a day I'd lose muscle mass...I never figured it'd be this much.

That being said. I'm down 8 inches in the waist of my Jeans and down from XXl shirts to XL shirts. Like I said, all my labs show marked improvement so losing the weight has been a good thing. I probably have another 30 to go.

I am not however "Fit" I walk daily but am averaging only about 30 minutes a day...that needs to improve.

I lift couple times a week, I have shifted from More weight to More reps...we'll see how that pans out.

Most importantly I feel better. I can't feel my Hypertension in my neck and temples anymore. I no longer have the sleep apnea, and with an improvement in sugar numbers my retinopathy has gone into remission and I no longer worry about losing my eyesight.

Now I am not going to give ALL the credit to W&SS for causing this to happen. But you guys did help at least by giving me another place to share progress questions and concerns.
 
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HawGorn said:
If you are referring to my reply to Jenner, my intention wasn't to insult or hurt anyones feelings. You are right in that everydody is diffent, but there are some universal truths regarding dieting (and exercising during dieting), protein requirements being one of them. ~1g/kg of BW might be around the RDA, but that is for sedentary people and for maintenance diet. During calorie resctriction protein requirements go up, and even more so when VLC dieting.

Sometimes truth hurts, and by sugarcoating things you get only ... fat :D When it comes to dieting he's the man. Clicky the articles.
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There were some other posts earlier that were...abrasive. Just so you know, I don't believe in universal truths, just universal generalizations and personal opinions; which, if they're not my own, mean absolutely nothing to me. Nobody's sugarcoating anything here, especially me. If someone has personal fitness goals that they are in the progress of achieving, who am I to tell them they are doing something wrong? If it's working, it's working, despite how it shouldn't be working at all.

Back on topic. I'm particularly interested in the Convict Conditioning book. I read all that crap on Dragon Door about the book. The concepts of the book go against modern, conventional physical fitness. You can probably infer from my previous paragraph, that I enjoy the abnormal, and going against the grain a bit; so, you can see how the book has me curious.

I, for a long time, refused to go to the gym. I always felt that physical fitness was free, and you didn't need a bunch of special crap to exercise. I still feel that way, even though I'm working out in the gym. Full of contradictions, huh?:D
 
Jenner 515 said:
All advice is appreciated, it gives me questions to ask the doc/dietician (I'm on his diet BTW)

I knew that at btwn 60-80g of protein a day I'd lose muscle mass...I never figured it'd be this much.

That being said. I'm down 8 inches in the waist of my Jeans and down from XXl shirts to XL shirts. Like I said, all my labs show marked improvement so losing the weight has been a good thing. I probably have another 30 to go.

I am not however "Fit" I walk daily but am averaging only about 30 minutes a day...that needs to improve.

I lift couple times a week, I have shifted from More weight to More reps...we'll see how that pans out.

Most importantly I feel better. I can't feel my Hypertension in my neck and temples anymore. I no longer have the sleep apnea, and with an improvement in sugar numbers my retinopathy has gone into remission and I no longer worry about losing my eyesight.

Now I am not going to give ALL the credit to W&SS for causing this to happen. But you guys did help at least by giving me another place to share progress wuestions and concerns.
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Jenner, It sounds like your on the right track. Keep posting progress reports here; it's great to see health risk issues vanishing with diet and exercise.
 
FWIW- the USRDA has been based on a fairly active lifestyle- not athletes, but more than sedentary. The recommendations are also....."influenced" by Ag interests. Further, there's a TON of conflicting facts about protein requirements.

Not saying anyone is or isn't getting enough, but I can find verified studies that are all over the place.

One True is a great meme character in a Barnes novel, but not that great IRL :D

The Convict Conditioning book... the hype is pretyt intense, but the meat of the book is really sane. I don't think the progressions themselves are set in stone- but the scale, rate, and idea of the progressions is rock solid, even if you do them slightly differently. It's also hard to place youself in the scale- which is one reason people are recommending starting on step 1 of everything and doing at least a couple workouts on each move before progression testing.

In your case, Chris- it could not replace your workouts, but it's be worth taking a few days a week at first and running through the steps because- especially at the lower levels- it's very therapeutic. Except when I overtrain my back a little, everything about my body feels better doing this stuff.

I've picked back up my snatches this week- the 15:15 progressions (actually, that article I pasted earlier is based on the Viking Warrior 15:15 VO2Max snatch progressions)- and I'm picking the swings back up slowly. I've gotten far enough in CC that I can hang and work the levels a bit more slowly while trying to increase my work capacity with the kettlebells more.

I want to progress beyond the jacknife pullups to the half pullups level quickly, but everything else I'm doing well on. Well, the crow stands are still rough.
 
koyote said:
In your case, Chris- it could not replace your workouts, but it's be worth taking a few days a week at first and running through the steps because- especially at the lower levels- it's very therapeutic. Except when I overtrain my back a little, everything about my body feels better doing this stuff.
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Therapeutic sound good to me. I know I want to develop a good morning program that involves stretching and some body weight exercises.



Update: I felt like crap during tonight's run. The run was the same as Mon and Wed, 2.75 miles, walk for a few minutes, and run 1 mile. I'm not sure what my deal was, but I had multiple issues going on that made me feel like crap. I wanted to stop after like 3 minutes. LOL I pushed it, and finished the run.

So, tonight was the end of week 2, and I'm very pleased with my running results. Next week's running goal is 3 miles, walk, and 1+ miles. So, maybe a combined total increase of like 1/2 mile.


I put together a new Shoulders/Arms workout for tomorrow morning. I'll report on that tomorrow. Time for sleep. I know, it's early, but I made a fatass omelet with turkey, spinach, swiss cheese, onion, and lots of tobasco, and I'm ready for a nap.:D
 
One more thing. I read today on bodybuilding.com that it's important to flex in between sets...something about helping to stretch and expand the muscle. I never knew there was a technical reason for it. I still don't think I'm going to be one of "those" guys at the gym. I'll do it when I get home.
 
Don't get down if you run is not the same as previous. Sometimes you have it, some times you don't. For me running is a progressive thing in that each time I try farther or faster. Sometimes though, the run is torture. Tough it out and maybe go slower. Galloway has some good books on running. This summer I was up to a 10 miler on the weekend.
 
Jenner 515 said:
All advice is appreciated, it gives me questions to ask the doc/dietician (I'm on his diet BTW)
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Most docs/RD's don't know much bout nutrition.

I knew that at btwn 60-80g of protein a day I'd lose muscle mass...I never figured it'd be this much.
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Well that should tell you something. Like I said earlier, even on VLCD you really should not expect to lose much strength or muscle if done properly.

That being said. I'm down 8 inches in the waist of my Jeans and down from XXl shirts to XL shirts. Like I said, all my labs show marked improvement so losing the weight has been a good thing. I probably have another 30 to go.
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Good for you.

I lift couple times a week, I have shifted from More weight to More reps...we'll see how that pans out.
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IMO you should keep the More weight. Intensity (% 1RM) is what maintains strength and muscle. Add some More reps to get some work capacity work. But everything in moderation when in calorie deficit.
 
C_Kyle said:
There were some other posts earlier that were...abrasive. Just so you know, I don't believe in universal truths, just universal generalizations and personal opinions; which, if they're not my own, mean absolutely nothing to me. Nobody's sugarcoating anything here, especially me. If someone has personal fitness goals that they are in the progress of achieving, who am I to tell them they are doing something wrong? If it's working, it's working, despite how it shouldn't be working at all.
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OK, thanks for clearing that. But, if Jenner has lost that much strength and muscle, then it's clearly NOT working properly unless the goal was solely to lose bodyWEIGHT and not bodyFAT.
 
koyote said:
FWIW- the USRDA has been based on a fairly active lifestyle- not athletes, but more than sedentary. The recommendations are also....."influenced" by Ag interests. Further, there's a TON of conflicting facts about protein requirements.
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Active and active. What most are describing even in this thread is more than USRDA active (not that I've bothered to look, I'm going by memory). And like I said, when in calorie deficit, protein requirements go up, RDA is for status quo.
 
C_Kyle said:
One more thing. I read today on bodybuilding.com that it's important to flex in between sets...something about helping to stretch and expand the muscle. I never knew there was a technical reason for it. I still don't think I'm going to be one of "those" guys at the gym. I'll do it when I get home.
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Don't read BB.com, it's full of idiots and "brotards". By and large, Alan Aragon is the one good source in there, if he still writes there.
 
C_Kyle said:
One more thing. I read today on bodybuilding.com that it's important to flex in between sets...something about helping to stretch and expand the muscle. I never knew there was a technical reason for it. I still don't think I'm going to be one of "those" guys at the gym. I'll do it when I get home.
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There are stretches that you can do during a workout for the different muscle groups that aid in flexibility and muscle growth; flexing is not one of them!! There is a bunch of BS out there regarding weight training. A BUNCH!!
I waded through all of that years ago when I was serious about weight training and fitness.

12 years ago I got married to a wonderful woman, got a house and a yard to take care of, got a desk job and got fat and out of shape. The new job took up a large portion of my day. After that I now had responsibilities with home ownership that I had not had before as a renter so my time in the gym was less and less. It didn't happen over night and kinda snuck up on me, but one day I looked in the mirror and I was a slob. I sadly let it go because, despite my poor outward appearance I was still in pretty good shape. We like to take a yearly trip to the mountains and I can still go up a mountain trail at a good clip with no ill results. I haven't paid a lot of attention to this thread until today. I noticed last week that my pants seemed to be a little bit tighter than usual and I stepped on the scales last night to discover that I indeed have added some more pounds to my already fat ass. I have decided that enough is enough and it is time to get moving.
From my dedication to being in shape years ago, I know what to do, I just have to make myself do it. I decided to get involved in this thread to get me started and keep me motivated. I have read a lot of "this works and that doesn't" while catching up here. As many of you know, what works for me may not work for you. I let myself get fat and out of shape in my 30's and spent a while figuring out what worked and what didn't......for me. I have to watch what and how much I eat and walk miles and miles to burn the fat. In addition I need weight training to keep everything firmed up and to improve flexibility. I find dumbells are best.......again, for me. After my comments on flexing above I am going to try to not make any more comments on what doesn't work.
 
HawGorn said:
Don't read BB.com, it's full of idiots and "brotards". By and large, Alan Aragon is the one good source in there, if he still writes there.
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I don't really read BB.com. I like that there are a ton of different exercises with videos. That's mainly what I use it for. With that said, I just use it to get ideas, and create my own workouts and technique based on my body.

As an example, I read about Australian Pull-Ups, and have incorporated them into my Thu and Sat workouts. For my body, they're a great rear-deltoid exercise. It's more of a row movement, so it should be an upper back exercise, but for me it works my rear-deltoids very well. It may just be my technique, which is fine, because rear-deltoids are something that I have trouble isolating. My rear lateral raise technique is not the greatest, so I end up using other muscles to compensate.
 
Saturday's workout:

Elliptical machine warm up
Medicine ball warm up
Flutter kicks, etc

Hammer Pull-Ups: 3 sets, 10 reps w/ 28lbs assistance

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press warm up: 20lbs, 15 reps
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 Sets, 8 Reps, 30/35/40lbs (only 4 reps @ 40lbs.)

Standing Barbell Curl warm up: Bar Only, 15 reps
Standing Barbell Curl: 3 Sets, 8 reps, 10/20/30lbs (only 6 reps @ 30lbs)
Preacher Bar/Bench Curl: 3 Sets, 8 Reps, 20lbs

3 Sets:

Side Lateral Raise: 12.5lbs, 8 Reps
Front Lateral Raise: 12.5lbs, 8 Reps
Tricep Kick Back: 12.5lbs, 8 Reps
Seated Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise: 10lbs, 8 Reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs: 40lbs, 8 Reps

Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl: 3 Sets, 25/15/12.5lbs, 6/8/15 Reps
Standing Dumbbell curl: 3 Sets, 30/25/20lbs, 6/8/12 Reps

Lying Preacher Bar Tricep Extension: 3 Sets, 20/30/40lbs, 8 Reps

Upright Barbell Rows: 3 Sets, 20/30/40lbs, 8 Reps

Australian Pull-Up: 3 Sets, 10 Reps

Dumbbell Rotator Cuff Exercises: 3 Sets, 12.5lbs, 12 Reps

Core Exercises, 3 Sets:

Back Extension: 25lbs, 15 reps
Oblique Extension: 25lbs, 15 reps
Oblique Extension Twist: 25lbs, 15 reps
Hanging Straight Leg Raise: 15 reps
Oblique Shrugs(?): 45lbs, 10 reps

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before; but, I don't count the bar weight when I state weights. These weights are just the plates. It's easier for me to keep track of that way. So, I'm not a complete weakling, curling 20lbs.:D

I'll be glad when I can do some decent sets and reps with the full bar and like 40 or 50lbs. Back in the Army days, I could curl 60lbs on the EZ bar, but I never had huge ripped arms.
 
I had to google Australian pull-ups. Inverted rows, yeah, they're good.

And do count the bar, that's the standard way. That way you don't have to state it explicitly and you don't look like a total noob.

But boy C Kyle, you do a lot of volume! Though with pretty isolated exercises, that's probably why you can do it.
 
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I am a weight lifting noob! I don't even know how much the bar weighs.

Google: Olympic Bar: 44.1lbs, EZ Bar: 25lbs maybe?

I'll stick with my method. I'm not giving anyone advice, just posting my workouts. I don't really care if someone thinks I'm weak or whatever. I'm doing this for me alone, although, I am participating in this thread.

You mentioned volume. I'm not fluent in weight lifting terminology. Do you mean the amount of different exercises in the workouts?

I'm always trying to learn what works for me. I've tried to do workouts where I do like 3 sets of 5 reps with heavier weight. It just doesn't feel like I've done much. I think the problem is I'm not to the point where I can lift enough weight to benefit from low reps.

I do want to try the 1 or 2 rep max weight lifts, maybe in a few months. I think I need to develop muscle memory with the movements, and increase the weight before I can benefit form the low rep workouts.

I think I'm also more concerned with stamina and endurance, and not so much with max weight. Also, the weight lifting is just to add some variety to my exercise habits so I can be more well rounded. I really just want to run; though, I don't want to be just a skinny guy who runs all the time. I'm not built that way anyways. I'm short, broad chested, and pretty solid, under a layer of fat that slowly going away.:)
 
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