Gym Routine

[Rds1983]

7 hours ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I know lots do the PPL, but I think I will stick with FBW every other day. I just like it.

Guess I have to change the programme up a bit though, to include some arms.

I used to do FBW and Stronglifts as it's fantastic when you just start out but found it was too much to hit the intensity needed and get the volume needed and adding more isolation helped with mass/definition. 

As you progress more and gains get harder to achieve you usually find that 5x5 on it's own becomes less effective. It's a standard powerlifting routine but even that then gets edited to include different rep/set combos and adding in isolation exercises. 

I think Jeff Nippard has a FTW programme that's meant to be pretty decent (if somewhat controversial to some - isn't everything in weightlifting). 

Ultimately just find something that works for you, only you know your body and what does/doesnt work. Give something a try and see how you respond. 

Maybe mix it up once or twice a year though to keep things fresh. 

I'm curious though, what is your main target, do you want to be big, strong or cut? 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Rds1983

[KenjiOgiwara]

6 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

I used to do FBW as it's fantastic when you just start out but found it was too much to hit the intensity needed and get the volume needed and adding more isolation helped with mass/definition. 

I think Jeff Nippard has a FTW programme that's meant to be pretty decent (if somewhat controversial to some). 

Ultimately just find something that works for you, only you know your body and what does/doesnt work. Give something a try and see how you respond. 

Maybe mix it up once or twice a year though to keep things fresh. 

I actually have gone full circle. I started out with FBW. Moved on to splits, then the last 3 years ish I've gone back to FBW.

Must admit I've never put in a lot of thought into my workout program. I just added and added exercises for a while in the end I was in the gym for 3 hours doing about 20 tons of lifts, while having no energy. Then with a new gf that changed obviously, so now I'm back to FBW and trying to be more effective.  Think I might try the 5 x 5 though. If anything just for a few months and see how I like it.

[KenjiOgiwara]

19 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

1500 cals per day?! Jesus, I would be barely functioning.

You need to looking at your TDEE to calculate the amount of calories you should be consuming to maintain your current weight.

https://tdeecalculator.net/

Once you have this, you can then drop off calories to either bulk or cut. Generally you would drop off between 300 - 500 calories to cut, and increase by 200 - 300 to bulk. In extreme cases you can run a mini cut and drop 700 calories, but this should only be for a week or two if you require.

If you are finding that you aren't losing weight with a 500 calorie deficit, then you should look at increasing your cardio before you begin dropping more calories.

As for muscle mass, it will come back with continued workouts, it just takes time. Muscle memory will mean you will eventually grow back to the pre lockdown size as long as you continue lifting.

I don't get these calculators. According to this:

"Based on your stats, the best estimate for your maintenance calories is
2,618 calories per day based on the Katch-McArdle Formula, which is widely known to be the most accurate when body fat is provided. The table below shows the difference if you were to have selected a different activity level."

And I'm absolutely sure if I ate 2618 calories a day I'd gain weight for sure. Unless I'm massively underestimating how much I'm eating in general, which is possible.

[Rds1983]

9 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I actually have gone full circle. I started out with FBW. Moved on to splits, then the last 3 years ish I've gone back to FBW.

Must admit I've never put in a lot of thought into my workout program. I just added and added exercises for a while in the end I was in the gym for 3 hours doing about 20 tons of lifts, while having no energy. Then with a new gf that changed obviously, so now I'm back to FBW and trying to be more effective.  Think I might try the 5 x 5 though. If anything just for a few months and see how I like it.

What's your main objective. 

Size

Strength 

Definition 

Or a combination of all three? Once you've figured that out you can try and find a workout to suit it. 

Also, hate to break it to you but the hip issue might be due to being late 30s. My flexibility has vanished in the last few years, especially in my hips /hamstrings. Sitting down so much of the day doesn't help. I try and do a fair amount of yoga to aid the recovery and flexibility and 'built by yoga' has a good yoga for weightlifting series on YouTube. 

For a guy your size, 2600 calories a day for maintenance might sound a lot but it depends how much you move about/ burn off and that calculator should have considered that. My brother in law at 6 foot and about 90kg had his tested by a Dr recently and has a maintenance target of 2700 as a minimum, not factoring in any calories he burns during the day. I just tried that one and have a calorie target of 3,450 a day. The body fat bit is a tricky one as that's not the easiest to get 100% correct. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Rds1983

[KenjiOgiwara]

2600 calories was including 4 workouts a week.

But ye. I'm going for the lean build tbh. I've been big and fat due to lifting and I'm not going back to that. My goal is to simply get back where I was before covid cause I was the fittest I've ever been. Only time I've ever felt big and defined a the same time.

[Rds1983]

1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

2600 calories was including 4 workouts a week.

But ye. I'm going for the lean build tbh. I've been big and fat due to lifting and I'm not going back to that. My goal is to simply get back where I was before covid cause I was the fittest I've ever been. Only time I've ever felt big and defined a the same time.

Id say 2600 sounds pretty accurate then as the supposed average intake for a man is 2500. That does mean that 1500 would be 900 calories a day under, you'd lose weight very fast but it would be brutal and you'd potentially struggle to maintain the new weight. They recommend cutting by dropping 500 calories max. Personally I feel doing it slower and at 100 to 250 is not only easier but more sustainable for the long term. It would also be easier on recovery and maintaining muscle mass. 

If lean build is what you want then I wouldn't do 5x5 as that's a strength building routine (hence the strong in stronglifts). I'd do more of a hypertrophy workout with 6 to 7 exercises (1 or 2 compound lifts max), 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps (8-12 on the compound lifts) at a RPE of about 6 or 7, with rests of 60 to 90 seconds. That gives much higher volumes to build muscle and also works a little like cardio and will burn some fat off. 

However if you want to keep doing full body try something like this:

https://www.coachmag.co.uk/full-body-workouts/6343/the-four-week-lean-muscle-workout-plan

No ideas if it's effective as literally just Googled it, but at a glance looks sound as it's got the compounds (only one big one a day) in but then supports with isolation exercises which you'll be able to smash out and knacker yourself with. 

[KenjiOgiwara]

Moderna vaccine caused havoc on my muscle, so had a pure leg day.

Not sure what I feel about only legs during a workout, but may I just say how much I hate lying leg curl. ****. That. Shit.

[KenjiOgiwara]

Feel like I'm piling on questions in this thread, but I don't care haha.

I've always wondered about leg press (machine), whether it's a mistake supporting your thighs and knees. Not sure if this is understandable, but say I put 150 on it's very easy if I rest my hands on my upper knees/lower thighs. To be honest when I do that I can max the machine on sets pretty easily, but if I hold the bars next to the machine (which is indicated on the manual demo sheet), that's not possible at all. 

I also wondered how much angle you should have on it. I have toothpick legs so I can maximise the angle and have a pretty insane length of movement, but that makes it really REALLY heavy, and I think it might be a bit iffy in terms of getting injured. 

[Rds1983]

4 hours ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Feel like I'm piling on questions in this thread, but I don't care haha.

I've always wondered about leg press (machine), whether it's a mistake supporting your thighs and knees. Not sure if this is understandable, but say I put 150 on it's very easy if I rest my hands on my upper knees/lower thighs. To be honest when I do that I can max the machine on sets pretty easily, but if I hold the bars next to the machine (which is indicated on the manual demo sheet), that's not possible at all. 

I also wondered how much angle you should have on it. I have toothpick legs so I can maximise the angle and have a pretty insane length of movement, but that makes it really REALLY heavy, and I think it might be a bit iffy in terms of getting injured. 

Leg press can be a great exercise and will let you lift some great weights (compared to squatting for various reasons). If you think of it as similar to a deadlift (which will actually help your deadlift) in that your smashing your feet through the board and using the handles (or bar for DLs) to brace against you should get decent power and use this to think about angles (what would you do in a DL). 

It's a leg exercise so you want to ensure the legs are lifting the weight not your hands /arms. But if the help a bit (with legs as the main driver) it's not the end of the world (a bit like doing cheat curls) if it helps you get a few more reps out. 

Just make sure you do not lock your legs on the press as this is a recipe for disaster. 

[KenjiOgiwara]

I see BLK Box, which seems to be a Belfast company, is the weights providwr at BMH.

Eleiko isn't used in England?

[KenjiOgiwara]

Today's exercise completed:

Rowing warmup, squat, bench press, chins, arnold, lateral raise, bicep curl, tricep dips.

Knackered. Time to hit the couch.

[KenjiOgiwara]

Been doing really well lately. After 12 months off I'm now at the 5th week with sessions every other day.

Not at where I was by any stretch, but have increased a lot in all compounds. Lovely feeling.

Only annoying thing is that I feel my old shoulder injury is there and I still feel a real groin tightness on my left side during squats.

While it's annoying we're going on a 3 week vaca now, maybe it's good to rest a bit too.

Think I might add some yoga to the programme too, cause these injuries keep following me.

[Rds1983]

1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Been doing really well lately. After 12 months off I'm now at the 5th week with sessions every other day.

Not at where I was by any stretch, but have increased a lot in all compounds. Lovely feeling.

Only annoying thing is that I feel my old shoulder injury is there and I still feel a real groin tightness on my left side during squats.

While it's annoying we're going on a 3 week vaca now, maybe it's good to rest a bit too.

Think I might add some yoga to the programme too, cause these injuries keep following me.

Adding in more dynamic stretching and yoga will help with the injuries. 

Enjoy the break but make sure you keep active in some way as this will help you keep your gains. 

[rodders0223]

Mrs wants me to accompany her to the gym as she's too anxious to attend body tone class on her own.

I usually just hit the weights and the machines - so this class - am I going to be the only dude there or what?
 

[Tegis]

8 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

am I going to be the only dude there or what?

One always hope. And that the class is a scene from "Call on me"

[Rds1983]

1 hour ago, Tegis said:

One always hope. And that the class is a scene from "Call on me"

Unfortunately I think the Call On Me workout only builds up your forearms. 

[KenjiOgiwara]

6 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

Mrs wants me to accompany her to the gym as she's too anxious to attend body tone class on her own.

I usually just hit the weights and the machines - so this class - am I going to be the only dude there or what?
 

I dunno what you're doing, but one of the most embarrassing and awful gym experiences I've had was when I joined a body pump class as a student.

Only women in the class and obviously I chose waaaaaaaay to heavy manuals to make a point.

What I didn’t know was the amount of repetitions involved and that my muscles were used to fewer reps.

Only time I've vomited in the sink post workout. Unfortunately the sink was in a common area so the women in the class saw it. Must have thought I was a giant fool.

Edited July 1, 2021 by KenjiOgiwara

[El Zen]

Had the jab yesterday, but haven’t felt any real side effects so will try the gym in a bit. Just hoping my arm can take a good BP set. 

[YLN]

What is everyone's gym doing in terms of masks and distancing? My gym is pretty much as you were pre covid. It's all people younger than me who haven't had any vaccines, but then again are also at low risk. It seems odd that we (ireland) haven't opened indoor dining yet, but my sweaty gym is full of heavy breathing young people on benches and squat racks all close together. 

In other news I've been to the gym three times now and I haven't injured myself. I'm being very sensible and lifting weights lower than I ever lifted before. I'm setting new PWs every day

[Rds1983]

2 hours ago, YLN said:

What is everyone's gym doing in terms of masks and distancing? My gym is pretty much as you were pre covid. It's all people younger than me who haven't had any vaccines, but then again are also at low risk. It seems odd that we (ireland) haven't opened indoor dining yet, but my sweaty gym is full of heavy breathing young people on benches and squat racks all close together. 

In other news I've been to the gym three times now and I haven't injured myself. I'm being very sensible and lifting weights lower than I ever lifted before. I'm setting new PWs every day

I work out at home, can't stand trying to do it in a public gym. From what I've heard and seen online people are supposed to be social distancing and wearing masks over here.