Stay/get back in shape...Vol: Motivation

[sneakerking757]

I found an old pic of me from last year, so I decided to take an after shot to compare...

Last year...

Today... (I know my abs look like @##$, but I haven't done ANY type of cardio in at least 3 months and I don't plan to until I reach my desired weightfrom this bulk.)

 

[wj4]

For those who are trying to lose weight....words to live by: "eat to live, not live to eat". It's pretty clever and effective when tempted to eatjunk food.

 

[i3]

Good progress.. are you doing a clean bulk or a mix? Im afraid of ruining all the progress ive made by bulking too much haha..

One other thing, ive seen peoples before/afters etc.. and are they meant to be tensing or just relaxed?

 

[sneakerking757]

Thanks. I'm doing a dirty bulk.

There's no way I could handle a clean one.

And with before and after pics, I've seen both flexed and not flexed. I'm pretty sure it's not meant to be either or.

 

[i3]

Yeah dirty bulk is always tough..., sike lol

I want to do a clean/dirty bulk haha..

Its just weird when people pose flexed.. im not sure why, but I always thought that the body is best shown while not flexed.

 

[verynecessary]

Originally Posted by I3

Originally Posted by verynecessary

Originally Posted by I3

Originally Posted by verynecessary

Originally Posted by wawaweewa

Originally Posted by I3

Whats better for strength - or for a basketball player

I.E. Squats 3x10 (challenging weight but quality over quantity)

or

Squats 3x10 (light weight) x8 (moderate) x 6 (heavy)

.. would it be ideal to train every muscle group this way (dropsets) or would a 3x10/4x10/5x10 with a comfortable weight suffice and then mix in a dropset/failure every once in awhile to spice them thangs up?

Unless you're training for looks or secondary exercises you should go heavy.
If you're training for sport you need to do heavy squats. You're looking for strentgh and speed and you increase those traits by consistently placing more and more stress on your body.

i agree. go with the heavy sets to recruit the most fibers at one time. playing ball should be enough to get that light work in from jumping, changing direction, etc. plyometrics will help you better utilize your strength gains.

Thanks for the heads up.. so basically just go heavy and stick consistent with reps and sets - increasing the weight when I can?

Another thing, do you have any good sources or articles on Plyos? I've been doing the P90x plyometrics programme, but im getting used to it, the only thing I can do to get more out of it is possibly concentrate more on technique more. Is it possible to do Plyos with weights? That would be my worst nightmare...

yea since your goal is to gain strength, you can just go heavy and increase poundage steadily until you plateau. no real need to deviate from that until you get stuck. lighter weight will help you with strength endurance if you do high reps, but that should come anyway with conditioning.

i never considered the p90x "plyos" real plyos... not to say they don't work, but for athletics you want to doing low volume, high quality plyos. from a performance standpoint, you shouldn't overload on plyometrics because the emphasis is on the speed of execution, maximal explosiveness/reactiveness. once you get fatigued, it becomes a conditioning exercise, so ideally you should be doing these right after your warmup, and not at the end of a workout. if you perform plyos slow, it's turns into cardio. plyo routines should be short, with lots of rest inbetween reps and sets. you should come away from it not feeling like you did a whole lot really.

plyos with weights are possible, but if anything very minimal weights. think medicine balls type of weights. what's good about med balls is they translate to better coordination. a weight vest would work also, just as long as it isn't heavy enough to slow you down. the key here to train for greater and faster muscle fiber recruitment as well as reactiveness. i'd say it's better to keep the weighted exercises separate from plyos. you can do clean & jerk, snatch, jump squats, etc. after a plyo session... high weight, low reps. i like one arm dumbbell snatches

for basketball, the main plyo exercises i'd focus on for jumping are box jumps (jumping off a box and rebounding as quickly as possible into a max effort jump) and altitude drops/drop jumps (jumping down off a box and landing silently with as little movement upon ground contact as possible). set your box jump height about where your rebound jump is highest, and then increase the box height as you improve; you can probably use the same height for altitude drops. there are a few random plyo-type exercises that also have some benefits (like jumping side to side or front to back consecutively as many times as possible in a short interval (10-20sec).

Awesome read man.

I have the VJB - do you think thats a great place to start?

I did the P90x - as it was part of the package, and i've got some good results (more good than harm) - but yeah like anything im already used to the routine, ive just finished P90x, so im in the midst of writing up my gym programme at the moment, as well as starting a mild slowbulk. I feel I once im eating slightly over maintenance most of my lifts should increase, because i've found it hard to really push my lifts in a deficit.

I would consider my vert pretty solid, I can probably dunk 1 in every 10 goes, but theres always room for improvement. I like the leg weights earlier in the week then plyos later in the week.

yea vjb is legit. i've read a lot from kelly baggett's site and it's very good info for athletics. i'm trying to get enough vertto dunk, but i'm only 5'9" and my running jump is still a good several inches less than my standing vert, which is fingertips on the rim. that's before the squats and plyo training though, so i'm optimistic. my speed/acceleration are not bad, so at least i got something to work with

. my biggest problem is staying consistent.

 

[joe camel smooth]

Originally Posted by SNEAKERKING757

I found an old pic of me from last year, so I decided to take an after shot to compare...

Last year...

Today... (I know my abs look like @##$, but I haven't done ANY type of cardio in at least 3 months and I don't plan to until I reach my desired weight from this bulk.)

nice build bro, tri's look huge

 

[wj4]

Originally Posted by I3

Yeah dirty bulk is always tough..., sike lol

I want to do a clean/dirty bulk haha..

Its just weird when people pose flexed.. im not sure why, but I always thought that the body is best shown while not flexed.

I'm willing to bet that most people flex when they take pix.

I see a lot of dudes get into that pose like Wolverine did when he got outof the water tank from the experiment, arms bent with that angry face, lol.

 

[mastamind89]

Does anyone deadlift at the beginning of their workout?
I know my friend started to do this and he likes it a lot.

 

[joe camel smooth]

Originally Posted by Mastamind89

Does anyone deadlift at the beginning of their workout?
I know my friend started to do this and he likes it a lot.

when i do back yeah of course

 

[carlos tevez]

Do not dirty bulk, its a bad path to choose. Just take a look at the PYP section on BB.com. A lot of rail thin dudes who went on dirty bulks and ended up beingfat as he.ll

Another problem with dirty bulking is that you put on too much fat that is completely unnecessary. You can only add 1-2 pounds of muscle on your body per week,what's the point of gaining 15 pounds in a month when most of it is going to be fat anyways? You're going to be hating your decision when you arestarving yourself and doing tons of cardio trying to cut down your weight.

Edit: This doesnt apply to sneakerking though, he has a good build (nh). How much do you weigh? You look like you're around 170 in those pics.

 

[sneakerking757]

Thanks JOE. I'm trying to get on your level.

Carlos - Thanks. I agree with you about dirty bulking. I say that's what I'm doing because I'm not eating super clean, but it's not likeI'm eating a bunch of junk just to put on weight either. But I think if someone really wants to put on weight in a short amount of time, knows whatthey'll be in for when it comes cutting time and is dedicated to putting in the work, then dirty bulking isn't so bad.

And I'm 6'0, 185. I was around 170 in the first pic.

My goal is 200.

 

[mastamind89]

Originally Posted by JOE CAMEL SMOOTH

Originally Posted by Mastamind89

Does anyone deadlift at the beginning of their workout?
I know my friend started to do this and he likes it a lot.

when i do back yeah of course

I've always done it last and it worked well for me.
But it makes a lot of sense to do it first. I'm gonna try it on Wednesday.

 

[wj4]

Sneaker-what size shirts and waist are you, bro? I'm asking because you still look pretty lean, but brolic at the same time...similar build to Lurkin IMO.

 

[sneakerking757]

I wear my clothes fitted, so all of my shirts are M or L, depending on the brand. M fits me too small in a lot of brands since I have really broad shoulders.

My waist is 32".

 

[damnthosejs]

Originally Posted by SNEAKERKING757

Thanks. I'm doing a dirty bulk.

There's no way I could handle a clean one.

And with before and after pics, I've seen both flexed and not flexed. I'm pretty sure it's not meant to be either or.

is the worst thing ive ever done to my body. i regret it.

I finished watching Pumping Iron today to get some good motivational speeches and lines from the great one...here's my favorite:

"The greatest feeling you can get in a gym, or the most satisfying feeling you can get in the gym is... The Pump. Let's say you train your biceps. Blood is rushing into your muscles and that's what we call The Pump. You muscles get a really tight feeling, like your skin is going to explode any minute, and it's really tight - it's like somebody blowing air into it, into your muscle. It just blows up, and it feels really different. It feels fantastic." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
funniest line would be:

"Franco is smart but Franco is a child, and when it comes to the day of the competition, I am his father. He comes to me for advices. And you know, it's not that hard for me to give him, the wrong advices" - Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

[steve fsd]

Can someone post their workout schedule for the week? I'm trying to get back into shape and am in search for a good full body workout schedule for theweek. I haven't worked out since high school when I played football/wrestling, now I'm a college graduate and have a lot of extra time on my hand andneed to get back in shape. I prefer working out maybe 4-5x a week, maybe two body parts a day, 3 exercises per part, 3-4 sets and am looking to tone myself,I'm 5'7 and 170. .

 

[i3]

Damn 180lbs

Id love to get up there, but the whole weight vs. height thing and proportions just won't make it work haha. Im around 5'9 aiming for a 147-150.I'd be pretty happy with that.

I need to fuggin get my vert up as well.. I swear im plateauing, although I feel like every year I get higher, but its just not enough.. had 2 opportunitesthis past weekend. First one fast break, one hand, ball goes back-rim... 2nd chance fast break again, 2 hands, ball slips..


hanging on the rim FTW and FTL at the same time. Maybe I need bigger hands, I cant palm the ball on the fast break.. unlike when your static

 

[matt53]

Can someone clarify the difference between a dirty bulk and clean bulk? Please?

 

[dabuddhawitjays]

Originally Posted by I3

Damn 180lbs

Id love to get up there, but the whole weight vs. height thing and proportions just won't make it work haha. Im around 5'9 aiming for a 147-150. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I'm the same height but weigh 164 pounds and I'm happy whereI'm at. I want to be a lean 160 though.

Sometimes I feel like I fill in my shirts too much... Other times. I feel skinny.

EDIT*

Props sneakerking.

You look great. (nh) I'd want to gain just a bitmore weight though.

 

[vkhoj]

Originally Posted by Steve FSD

Can someone post their workout schedule for the week? I'm trying to get back into shape and am in search for a good full body workout schedule for the week. I haven't worked out since high school when I played football/wrestling, now I'm a college graduate and have a lot of extra time on my hand and need to get back in shape. I prefer working out maybe 4-5x a week, maybe two body parts a day, 3 exercises per part, 3-4 sets and am looking to tone myself, I'm 5'7 and 170. .

Here's a basic hybridized hypertrophy/strength program (Be sure to add weight each week).
The key is actually following the program...periodization works wonders and everything else you would usually do while lifting: watching macronutrient intake,sleeping etc
I've followed this program and definately gotten stronger and packed on some muscle mass with minimal fat.

Week 1: 3x12
Week 2: 3x10
Week 3: 3x8
Week 4: 4x6
Week 5: 5x5
Week 6: 8x3
(You will do this on ALL lifts)

Lower
Upper
off
Lower
Upper
off
off


Upper Day 1:
- Bench Press
- Close Grip Bench
- Military Press (standing)
- Pendlay Row

Lower Day 1:
- Conventional Deadlift
- Narrow Stance Squat
- Goodmornings
- Barbell Shrugs

Upper Day 2:
- DB Bench
- Narrow Grip Incline
- Plate Raise
- Pull-Up w/ weight

Lower Day 2:
- Narrow Stance Squat
- SLDLs
- Reverse Hyper
- Dumbell Shrugs

** This is the program, DO NOT SUBTRACT any of the exercises! If you dont know howto do them, learn how to do them! The only reason you should ever pull out any of these during the whole 5 week cycle is if you feel pain doing them. If youdont know the lift I'd suggest doing an alternate pattern with the movement. Basicly rather than progressing with the given rep/set pattern I've showedcontinue to do:

3x12
3x10
3x8
3x8
3x8

Once you start the cycle over again after the 5th week, you can then continue the same rep/set pattern as the first outline (with the regular lifts) andprogress in the lower reps. This will 1. Keep you from getting hurt, 2. Teach your form, and 3. Break the learning chain/curve. Its key that if you dont knowanything about the movements that you spend as much time working with them and do as many reps as possible with the given movement. This is where motor skillsdevelop and intra-inter neuromuscular coordination develop w/ the movement.

** Biceps/Abs, Upper day's throw in a bicep exercise if you want. On lower days throw in some Ab work. This is an accesory work, so its not that important.Keep the reps around 3x8-4x6 if you want.

** Keep a journal that I'll have access too. I'll look at how your progressing. If you have any before pictures send them to me or save them. Once yourdone with the first meso cycle compare your progress from before you started till then w/ pics and lift achivments. Do the same when you repeat the cycle. Thisis key in mental motivation, and that is where to many people fail.

** Once you get a whole meso cycle Wave (12 total weeks) you'll take some low volume work to help recovery. Its key that you dont take ANY time away fromthe gym. To many people just walk away for a week or two weeks, this makes coming back a sore painful mess for atleast 2 weeks. Now you've spent 4 weekswithout making any progress. This is a typical deloading pattern. By trianing under your adaptive threshold (ie low volume) then you will not adapt, thereforyou will recover. This is the fundomental bases of periodization!!

** During the first few 4 weeks you can add in failure work. Dont do it on all lifts and dont do it on squats, squat variations or deadlifts. Rows,Shrugs, db benching are all ok. Another thing to keep note on is during the WHOLE cycle you want SHORT rest periods. Im talking 30-60 seconds between sets,this comes key when you get to the intensity portion (8x3). Fatigue has a positive effect on IGF-I and other singaling for hypertrophy. On weeks 4-6 this is a big factor in the program. This willhelp with conditioning the muscle and overal work capacity.

 

[mf doomer]

Can someone clarify the difference between a dirty bulk and clean bulk? Please?
Basically dirty bulking method is like "see food" and eat it. Although your eating to gain weight it doesn't exactly mean yourconsuming the right foods for your body.

Clean bulking is opposite of that, your eating the right proteins,carbs, and healthy fats for your body.

For someone who has a hard time to gain and has low money for instance may just mix it up a bit and eat healthy, but at times will not neglect an whopper fromburger king. It really wont hurt.

 

[laced up jordans]

Can anyone post their CARDIO workouts for the week? and if possible their diet that they eat on a daily basis? Im really looking to lose weight and body fatfrom my midsection and my hips and thighs?

And is it true that if I lift weights WHILE I'm trying to lose weight that it would be easier to shed that weight?

Any help is appreciated

 

[ebay 23]

Some of you dudes are trying to get up to 200 while Im trying to get down to 200

 

[chrisshouraisei]

^Thats what I am sayin fam