Need tips on shedding the spare tire and love handles

[-jb-]

Good job on keeping with the weight loss DRM, it's tough to stay strict in diet/exercise

I've switched my routine up a tad. Doing 4x week at the gym, averaging 1hr30mins each time. I train two body parts a day, do 10-20mins of cardio and do at least 2 ab exercises 30x3sets. I've got my eating down even more then what I was doing.

I need to get a scale at the house so I can track numbers, but I know clothes are fitting a lot looser now.

[leben_sie_gut]

Originally Posted by prosonic

Weight's not cheap anymore, and the price just keeps climbing.

That's the damn truth. I bought a set back in high school off the classifieds, paid $50 for a set of 5-10-20-25-30-35-40-45-50's. Now they're asking $400 for a used set.

[BayAreaWheeler]

Originally Posted by DRM

I saw those adjustable weight stacks... nice, but HOLY COW they are not cheap!

worth every penny buddy

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...45689077_n.jpg

on slickdeals right now

http://slickdeals.net/f/4908112-Bowf...8-70-at-Amazon

[DRM]

Ate out with the family last night, was a bit worried I would backslide...


Still 197 post workout - BAM!

About to head out to the shop to work on the Jeep today... that should drop some form the sweat alone

I am looking forward to 196 in the morning

[Turbos10]

Good work! It's all about the averages and yours says you are in fact losing weight and doing it at a rate you can maintain. Keep it up!

[krazykiller]

if you are still looking at dumbells look at powerblocks they are better than the bowflex ones. they are expandable and feel better in your hands and balanced better.i have a set that are 5-50 and getting ready to do upgrade to 90 pounds and three other guys i know own them.

[DRM]

With a 24hr gym literally three minutes drive from my house, it is easier just to keep using that instead of spending a bunch of money to build my own home gym... Plus, I think trying to work out at home will kind of ruin my set "gym time" and I would probably start slacking.

[misfitcj]

Originally Posted by Mudinyeri

kipping

don't do it, its not worth having your shoulders rebuilt trust me.


ltr Pat

[realmencutfenders]

Originally Posted by Turbos10

I dont want to get into a chiropractic debate, but I am just gonna say that dumbells with squats or deadlifts is MUCH harder than doing them with a bar. Not when you have 300+lbs on the bar Those are my two favorite lifts and I am a bit of a nazzi on form and technique. If they are causing your back issues you only risk making it worse using dumbells. I like dumbells for both in some instances, but it is because they change the balance point and increase the need for core stability. This is something that you do not want with a nagging back injury. However, your form could be an issue:

With back squats there are two major issue that will cause back injury; lack of hip and hamstring flexibility or strength and improper foot placement. If your hamstrings are too tight or weak they will tend to rock your pelvis back and compromise your low back. The next issue can be taking too narrow a stance. When you do full range squats your pelvis has to drop through your femurs. If your feet are too narrow this can not happen so the only option is for your low back to give. Forcing you knees out while descending alleviates this, as well as the proper foot placement

Another thing that can help on squats is to do a low bar placement with the bar across your shoulder blades. At first it seems weird, but with this placement the bar has less leverage on your back and will be more comfortable in some cases once you are used to it. This is how all pro olympic lifters do squats. No. The majority of Olympic lifters use the high bar placement, also known as the Olympic back squat. The higher the bar is the more upright your torso must be in order to keep the bar over the middle of your feet.

As for deads, the biggest issue is rounding your back. A coach or buddy watching this is the only way to fix it cause you cant see it by yourself. Your spin should be locked in alignment with your pelvis and should never deviate. All of the movement should be in your hips. And your knees.

As for pull-ups, I am gonna disagree and say you should always open up your shoulders unless you have an injury preventing this. I did partial range pullups for years...and lots of them due to shoulder issues. Just recently I have been retooling and going to a full open kipping pull-up. It has taken months to get connective tissue to catchup in strength, but it is getting better. Kipping has been proven to be entirely detrimental to shoulder health. Research SLAP tear.

If you want to get better at pull-ups the best thing is to add a resistance band. Bands are useful in the event that one cannot complete 1 full pullup. If you can do pullups the best way to get better at them is to do them and progressively do more until you can add weight, just like any other exercise. If you check out rogue fitness they have bands for this. You can get two weights so you can combine them first then stage down. I have alot of guys and ladies that we have staged up just like this. I have one lady that did a workout a couple weeks ago that included 183 pullups. She did all of them with full body weight and full shoulder extension. There was a pile of guys that did it too, but seeing her was the most impressive.

What do you mean by full shoulder extension, and what do you mean by an open vs. closed shoulder?

[realmencutfenders]

Originally Posted by DRM

Oh yeah, forgot to mention this morning I tipped the scales @ 197.

:happydance:

How tall are you? What is your target weight and why?

[Chris]

I just backpacked 32 miles with 40lbs and didn't lose a single lb.

[DRM]

Originally Posted by realmencutfenders

How tall are you? What is your target weight and why?

Just under 6'2" tall. Target weight - I'd ideally like to attain 190, but I'd probably settle for 195 and *maintain* that weight.








BTW, I didn't hit 196 this weekend like I had hoped... but I did stay around 199 all weekend so I'm holding - which is better than backsliding, right?

[DRM]

Originally Posted by Turbos10

However, your form could be an issue:

With back squats there are two major issue that will cause back injury; lack of hip and hamstring flexibility or strength and improper foot placement. If your hamstrings are too tight or weak they will tend to rock your pelvis back and compromise your low back. The next issue can be taking too narrow a stance. When you do full range squats your pelvis has to drop through your femurs. If your feet are too narrow this can not happen so the only option is for your low back to give.

I did some playing around on Saturday and I think foot placement was a big part of my issue. I dropped way down in weight, moved my feet out a bit, and did a few sets and everything felt WAY more "right" than before. I plan to continue with the lower weight and work back up with better form in place now.

[Mudinyeri]

I missed Turbos' comment on kipping earlier.

Here's what I've learned about kipping and SLAP injuries. Most SLAP injuries that correlate to kipping include high volumes of kipping too early in the individual's introduction to pull-ups. Those who have built up to a point where there are capable of 20+ dead-hang pull-ups see far fewer SLAP injuries.

Much of the evidence is anecdotal at this point. To my knowledge, no comprehensive study has been done to determine the correlation or cause/effect relevance of kipping and SLAP injuries.

[DRM]

So anyone have a 5x5 type "back to basics" plan they want to recommend? I'm thinking it is time to change some things up in the gym...

[Turbos10]

Realmen,

I use 300 on the bar. Dumbells are still more awkward, much so at anything close to similar weight. Stick with barbell. As for forcing your knees out on squat, yes to some extent. Your femur should track in line with your foot but not over the end of your toes, so toes should be slightly out for this which does send your knees outward as you drop to some degree. However, if your stance is too narrow, like I stated, this does not work and the whole lift falls apart.

You are incorrect on bar placement. Alignment is better with a low bar, it is easier on your back due to the better alignment, and you can lift more weight. It is awkward at first, but is effective. Here is a random video I found in 5 seconds with a demonstration of a low bar placement. 500lbx5 Squat- Oly lifter unlearns the ATG squat - YouTube

Yes, I get that you move your knees in a deadlift. I think we all get that, but I guess I should have been more clear. My point is that the spine and pelvis should be locked in position.

As to kipping, it can absolutely be done with no injury. I have horrible shoulders with "issues" from bs bodybuilding type workouts for 10+ years, and I am able to do them. I do, however, have to be careful. The problem with kips is doing them when you have limited strength and mobility and when you are fatigued. Fast pace kipping when you are tired is a recipe for injury, but when done carefully and worked up to they can be done safely. The SLAP issue is real, however, and a good reason to learn and work slowly toward kips. Here is some info. http://fitnesspainfree.com/?p=399

Bands are very useful for low reppers trying to increase full body weight pullup ability. It is no different than any other lift; just because someone has a 300lb 1RM on deadlift does not mean that they should only work to go up in reps and that doing it over and over again will make it go up. In fact, 3's and 5's x5 are most effective for strength gains. Bands allow this with pullups. They also help with gaining ROM for kips as well as allowing connective tissue to gain strength under a partial load. All pricipals that apply to every other form of strength training as well.

[DRM]

Have I ever told you guys how much I hate deadlift - simply because it feels so awkward?

[MikeMc]

Hiking today. First time in a month. 1.5 miles, mild hills, 40 minutes. I'm very unmotivated to do anything right now so this is pretty good for me.

[Roc Doc]

Originally Posted by DRM

Have I ever told you guys how much I hate deadlift - simply because it feels so awkward?

What? Like your spine is going to burst out of your back?

Go to a powerlifting competition sometime. You'll see stuff you didn't think the human body was capable of.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Roc Doc

You'll see stuff you didn't think the human body was capable of.

And a lot of women who look like men.

[the_white_shadow]

Originally Posted by Chris

And a lot of women who look like men.

Thats not always true. I remember some super hot chicks in the featherweight classes when I lifted in HS. I remember this one chick did cheerleading style backflips to pickup her trophy during the awards ceremony. I was amazed at some of the weights those tiny chicks could lift.

Deadlift has its place and is very effective with proper technique. Now box deadlifts bring the suck.

[realmencutfenders]

Originally Posted by Turbos10

Realmen,

I use 300 on the bar. Dumbells are still more awkward, much so at anything close to similar weight. Stick with barbell. As for forcing your knees out on squat, yes to some extent. Your femur should track in line with your foot but not over the end of your toes, so toes should be slightly out for this which does send your knees outward as you drop to some degree. However, if your stance is too narrow, like I stated, this does not work and the whole lift falls apart. So we agree here.

You are incorrect on bar placement. Alignment is better with a low bar, it is easier on your back due to the better alignment, and you can lift more weight. It is awkward at first, but is effective. Here is a random video I found in 5 seconds with a demonstration of a low bar placement. 500lbx5 Squat- Oly lifter unlearns the ATG squat - YouTubeDid you even read what I said? I said Oly lifters do Olympic backsquat more-so than not, which is how it got its name So you post a video of the exception, not the rule, and that makes my statement incorrect? All the other stuff you said about low bar is correct though.

Yes, I get that you move your knees in a deadlift. I think we all get that, but I guess I should have been more clear. My point is that the spine and pelvis should be locked in position. There are entire books on deadlifting, you cant cover it all in one sentence.

As to kipping, it can absolutely be done with no injury. I have horrible shoulders with "issues" from bs bodybuilding type workouts for 10+ years, and I am able to do them. I do, however, have to be careful. The problem with kips is doing them when you have limited strength and mobility and when you are fatigued. Fast pace kipping when you are tired is a recipe for injury, but when done carefully and worked up to they can be done safely. The SLAP issue is real, however, and a good reason to learn and work slowly toward kips. Here is some info. http://fitnesspainfree.com/?p=399Risk vs reward, kipping=great risk with little reward.

Bands are very useful for low reppers trying to increase full body weight pullup ability. It is no different than any other lift; just because someone has a 300lb 1RM on deadlift does not mean that they should only work to go up in reps and that doing it over and over again will make it go up. In fact, 3's and 5's x5 are most effective for strength gains. Bands allow this with pullups. They also help with gaining ROM for kips as well as allowing connective tissue to gain strength under a partial load. All pricipals that apply to every other form of strength training as well.

Fine, advise people to waste time and money instead of just doing pullups like trainees have done for hundreds of years before stupid bands ever even existed. Thats cool.

[DRM]

Sassy


So like I said - anyone want to recommend a nice basic 5x5 routine for me to do 3 days a week? Looking to shift from isolation exercises to pretty much "cover it all" stuff: squats, deadlifts, etc?

[Mudinyeri]

Originally Posted by DRM

Sassy


So like I said - anyone want to recommend a nice basic 5x5 routine for me to do 3 days a week? Looking to shift from isolation exercises to pretty much "cover it all" stuff: squats, deadlifts, etc?

You still don't like my workouts?

[frostytj]

I'm no expert so take it for what its worth. From the reading I've been doing lately I think I am going to start with this as I'm certainly a beginner.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...1#post70307053

Further reading says that any of the following would probably be a good choice as well for the basics. I'm sure someone much more qualified than myself can chime in but its probably a start if you want to do some reading.

Bill Starr’s 5X5 Routine In Its Original Form

Monday – Heavy
Power cleans – 5 sets of 5
Bench – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set (add 10 rep sets after 8-12 weeks on program)
Squats – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set
(set 1 35% of target set 2 70% of target set 3 80% of target set 4 90% of target set 5 target)

Wednesday – Light
Power cleans – 5 sets of 5
Incline Bench – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set
Squats – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set set 5 use weight from 3rd set of Monday

Friday – Medium
Power cleans – 5 sets of 5
Overhead press – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set
Squats – 5 sets of 5 1×10 weight from 3rd set set 5 use weight from 3rd set of Monday set 5 use weight 4th set of Monday


Bill Starr’s Beginner 5×5

Monday (Heavy Day – 85%)
Back Squats: 5 x 5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 reps across 5 sets
Bench Press: 5 x 5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 reps across 5 sets
Deadlifts: 5 x 5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 reps across 5 sets

Wednesday (Light Day – 65-70%)
Back Squats: 5 x 5 using 60% of Monday’s weight
Bench Press: 5 x 5 using 60% of Monday’s weight
Pullups: 5 x 5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 reps across 5 sets

Friday (Medium Day – 70-85%)
Back Squats: 5 x 5 using 80% of Monday’s weight
Bench Press: 5 x 5 using 80% of Monday’s weight
Rows: 5 x 5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 reps across 5 sets

Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” Novice 5×5 Routine:

Workout A
3×5 Squat
3×5 Bench Press
1×5 Deadlift

Workout B
3×5 Squat
3×5 Overhead Press
5×3 Power Clean