2017 Health and Fitness Thread

2nd consecutive day In the gym killings myself with cardio and lifting. My goal is to do 5 days per week and rest 2.
 
RaydiantDetail said:
Ugh 2016 was a bad year for me health wise. I was in great shape prior but then my daughter was born and I did not have a lot of time to train and we were eating unhealthy and out a lot I ended up gaining 30lbs last year. About a month ago I started back up with home cooked meals and recently I am back to training 3-4 times a week.

I have been focusing on the Ketogenic diet which is similar to Atkins. High healthy Fats, moderate protein and low carbs. My macros look like 70% Fats - 25% Protein - 5% Carbs. I am down about 10lbs so far and have about 20lbs more to go to get back to my healthy walking weight. Need to get back down to 170lbs to compete at Middle weight.
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Honestly, having kids really does change everything. My wife and I had no problem staying in shape before we had kids. I have a hard time taking any time away from them, so I don`t like doing it while they`re awake, but by the time we get them to bed I`m zapped.

I`ve contemplated doing the keto thing before, but I`ve ready a lot of people have, uhh......odor issues. Any comments on that? How do you feel energy wise throughout the day?
 
ShaneB said:
208lbs. 2nd highest weight I`ve been. (212 back in or around 2011). Dropped 30 lbs here, gained, dropped, gained. I go in streaks. Starting P90X today. Aiming to be back down to 180 by april. Done it plenty of times before.
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I`ve done the p90x thing before. It absolutely works, but I just cannot get into doing the whole videos thing. I don`t know, just always dreaded doing it when I did. My wife on the other hand loves videos. She needs somebody actively telling her what to do to workout
 
RaydiantDetail said:
I was and still am a huge proponent of Stronglifts 5x5 , Wendler 5-3-1 and similar programs. I could do cardio and targeted weights for days but it was not till I started focusing on compound lifts like Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Press, Cleans, and barbell rows that I started seeing strength gains and changes in my body composition.

With stronglifts I am in the gym 3 days a week (1.5 hours a session start to finish including warming up and stretching, usually planks during cool down), 1 day of sport specific KB training, and then once every two weeks I would do a Tabata protocol in place of the KB training. https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-new-tabata-workouts-for-fast-fat-loss

Also a big part of gains/ fat burning and an important part of results is the appropriate rest which follows. Getting the 8+ hours of sleep if possible, taking the rest days off and eating clean etc. thats when you give your muscles the adequate time to repair and grow.
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Zelfiris said:
@House of Wax - I have done 5x5 stronglift and I really enjoyed it until I hurt myself. It was user error. I was extra tired one day and wanted to maintain my progress on deadlifts, ended up pulling my lower back. My advise is to adjust accordingly and don`t outdo yourself if you don`t have the energy.

As for myself, I`m at 172 lbs and I want to get back to 150-155 lbs range. 2016 was also a bad year for me (since I hurt my lower back) and I had purchased my first place, meaning I needed to spent a lot of time I didn`t have to cook healthy meals for myself. Diet is a big thing to work on this year.

I`m sitting at 25% BF and I`m making `mental` progress to get myself back to 15-17% BF.

Thanks for starting this thread
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Glad to hear others have success with this. I started Starting Strength last night. I`m already getting more and more pumped to really get going on this and see some changes. Didn`t feel to bad last night or even this morning when I woke up, but have gotten more sore as the day has gone on lol. Did a quick 15 minute beginner yoga thing tonight. I really want to get my flexibility back as well. Do you guys feel like your biceps were neglected at all through the program? Thats the one area that seems like it doesnt get much work
 
House of Wax said:
Glad to hear others have success with this. I started Starting Strength last night. I`m already getting more and more pumped to really get going on this and see some changes. Didn`t feel to bad last night or even this morning when I woke up, but have gotten more sore as the day has gone on lol. Did a quick 15 minute beginner yoga thing tonight. I really want to get my flexibility back as well. Do you guys feel like your biceps were neglected at all through the program? Thats the one area that seems like it doesnt get much work
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To be honest you can supplement with additional bicep/arm work outs however i only did this maybe once a week with barbell curls and pull ups/ chin ups.
The compound lifts really work your entire body and after a while you will feel it ;) I also have very long bicep head, thanks genetics, so really nothing i do makes them look bigger until i flex and point people in the direction of the beach.

If you are doing any type of strong lifts or strentgh training at some point id really recommene getting yourself some fractional plates. They came in 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1lbs. When you start hitting plateaues they will help you safely and slowly break them without having to increase your total weight by 5lbs.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
House of Wax said:
Honestly, having kids really does change everything. My wife and I had no problem staying in shape before we had kids. I have a hard time taking any time away from them, so I don`t like doing it while they`re awake, but by the time we get them to bed I`m zapped.

I`ve contemplated doing the keto thing before, but I`ve ready a lot of people have, uhh......odor issues. Any comments on that? How do you feel energy wise throughout the day?
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So I probably smelled even prior to starting keto lol but no you will for a short while due to the ketones. So you get what is called keto breathe and keto odour and it almost has a fruit like smell.

Initially you will feel like pure crap and get what is called the keto flu. While your body is getting into ketosis and purging itself of glucose usually last 1 to 2 weeks. The first 4 days for me were rough.

Get yourself some keto sticks from the pharmacy to monitor if you are in ketosis.

Id also suggest slowly decreasing carb intake and increasing good fats instead of all at once to help alleviate the energy drain.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
House of Wax said:
Honestly, having kids really does change everything. My wife and I had no problem staying in shape before we had kids. I have a hard time taking any time away from them, so I don`t like doing it while they`re awake, but by the time we get them to bed I`m zapped.

I`ve contemplated doing the keto thing before, but I`ve ready a lot of people have, uhh......odor issues. Any comments on that? How do you feel energy wise throughout the day?
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I dont typically get the keto breath, but it has happened. Doesn`t last long.

The first few days can be difficult, but the real energy issue people complain about is easily fixed with... salt. When your body starts flushing glycogen, it also dumps sodium from the liver, leading to energy loss. Eating salty things like cheese, stir fried meat and veggies, salted nuts and making sure to season salads will combat this and make any energy issues minimal.

The biggest part about getting started is dealing with the mind game. Your body notices something different, and you`ll convince yourself you feel really crummy and need carbs to survive. Keep eating approved stuff, get plenty of salt and water and push through for a few days and you`ll be fine. When people tell horror stories of being miserable on low carb, 99% of the time they went about it all wrong and just wimped out before they could adjust.

It takes a couple weeks(or so, depending) to fully switch into ketosis, though you`ll feel normal much before this point. But when your body launches into 100%, you will have energy and mental focus like you can`t even believe.

2 years ago, I had just started working out again and was far from being in great shape. On my day off, I did 2 p90x workouts(plyo and chest/back), hiked 7 miles and rode my bike for an hour. I had energy to burn and I couldn`t believe it, like unbridled energy if a 12 year old.
 
RaydiantDetail said:
To be honest you can supplement with additional bicep/arm work outs however i only did this maybe once a week with barbell curls and pull ups/ chin ups.
The compound lifts really work your entire body and after a while you will feel it ;) I also have very long bicep head, thanks genetics, so really nothing i do makes them look bigger until i flex and point people in the direction of the beach.

If you are doing any type of strong lifts or strentgh training at some point id really recommene getting yourself some fractional plates. They came in 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1lbs. When you start hitting plateaues they will help you safely and slowly break them without having to increase your total weight by 5lbs.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
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sweet. thanks for the tips
 
jrock645 said:
I dont typically get the keto breath, but it has happened. Doesn`t last long.

The first few days can be difficult, but the real energy issue people complain about is easily fixed with... salt. When your body starts flushing glycogen, it also dumps sodium from the liver, leading to energy loss. Eating salty things like cheese, stir fried meat and veggies, salted nuts and making sure to season salads will combat this and make any energy issues minimal.

The biggest part about getting started is dealing with the mind game. Your body notices something different, and you`ll convince yourself you feel really crummy and need carbs to survive. Keep eating approved stuff, get plenty of salt and water and push through for a few days and you`ll be fine. When people tell horror stories of being miserable on low carb, 99% of the time they went about it all wrong and just wimped out before they could adjust.

It takes a couple weeks(or so, depending) to fully switch into ketosis, though you`ll feel normal much before this point. But when your body launches into 100%, you will have energy and mental focus like you can`t even believe.

2 years ago, I had just started working out again and was far from being in great shape. On my day off, I did 2 p90x workouts(plyo and chest/back), hiked 7 miles and rode my bike for an hour. I had energy to burn and I couldn`t believe it, like unbridled energy if a 12 year old.
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hmm, interesting. gonna have to look into this some more
 
@House of Wax

If you are using the 5x5 stronglift app to track your progress, it does actually have bicep workouts in the form of pull ups. Its in the extended version (or paid version) for tracking. They advise to do the pull ups after you go through the whole session first.

If you search/Google 5x5 stronglift, you will find a lot of info behind the creator. All of it can be tracked by paper and pen if you wanted it to :)
 
jrock645 said:
Accumulator-

Thats very Arthur Jones type approach to your workout. Makes a lot of sense. If it works, it works.
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IMO it`s more Mentzer than Jones, but yeah ol` Arthur first got my thoughts headed in that direction.

Just as I`m all about preserving clearcoat thickness and maintaining my vehicles (very) long-term, my diet/exercise stuff is all about the long haul.

All that "once you get older..." [crap] that people used to say to me just never happened. Gee, guess why :D
 
Some sorta-random thoughts follow:


-recent technological advances have made it possible to glean info previously unavailable and have disproven a lot of Conventional Wisdom
-IMO there`s more useful info in (real, peer-reviewed) Medical Journals than there is in the Bodybuilding Media
-Metabolic slowdown is not inevitable with age (and now we think we know why it happens, but people still believe...)
-The Age-Adjusted Maximum Heartrate idea was merely a hypothesis and doesn`t apply across the board
-Same with the "drink X amount of water/fluids daily" (though I do *really* hydrate)
-IMO bodyfat oughta be lost at the same rate it was put, *or slower*, on but many people are too impatient for that
-any injury related to exercise or other physical activity indicates something`s *really* wrong
-adding a few extra daily calories *from FATS* (mixed nuts, whole milk instead of skim) resulted in my losing bodyfat
-I`m a True Believer when it comes to (*therapeutic doses* of) Fish Oil, based on personal experience (wouldn`t spend the $ otherwise)
-Same with Creatine, but I don`t need *nearly* as much as is usually recommended
-I`m *not* a believer in the need to consume huge amounts of protein; I only need about 1g/lb lean weight daily but I *do* need that much
-Anybody interested in this stuff oughta have their Body Composition tested, at least enough times that they have a knowledge base
-The BMI scale is BS
-Maintaining and reviewing a Training Log is of vital necessity
-What works for one person might not work for another, but baseline = people are mammals and some rules do apply
 
[FONT=&quot]Finished up second workout of the week tonight. This is good.....I`m already looking forward to working out and not dreading it. Plus side is if I can keep myself motivated to stick with working out, it automatically makes me want to eat better. Junky food just doesn`t even sound good.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It was hard not to do anything last night, but everything I`ve read about this Starting Strength program (and others like it) is they`re not joking when they say you need the day off in between workouts. Did a short yoga video I found on youtube last night. I loathe yoga, but I think it`ll pay off in the long run. Not lifting anything heavy yet (not really supposed to as the weight goes up every session), but have a good general soreness all over. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I can`t freaking wait to see/feel legit changes. I can`t even fathom what 185 feels like at this point. Makes me disgusted thinking about what 25 lbs. feels and the fact that i`m carry that in fat around every day

Plus I had some good helpers tonight:

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Just keep moving forward House of Wax! Do not get discouraged or bogged down! 10 push ups before bed and first thing in the morning will go a long way for mental health. Just priming your body for your workout is a big key to my success.
You are going to have bad days, but don`t let those keep you down... if I am lifting and don`t feel it or am injured and can`t lift hard (broken spine) then I cardio on a bike for an hour and get my head in the game for the next day!
 
House of Wax said:
It ..they`re not joking when they say you need the day off in between workouts. .....have a good general soreness all over.
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Taking time off to recover is just as important as doing the workout in the first place. The whole process takes a *LONG* time between stimulus and adaptation and if you rework the muscles before they adapt you don`t accomplish much adaptation-wise. Took me forever to learn/accept that :o

I can`t freaking wait to see/feel legit changes. I can`t even fathom what 185 feels like at this point. Makes me disgusted thinking about what 25 lbs. feels and the fact that i`m carry that in fat around every day..
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Yeah, even little improvements can make a big diff. I always think along the lines of "just lose one pound a month and keep it off" and folks say "that`s nothing!" But if you hold twelve pounds of hamburger in your hand it`s quite significant.

jrock645 said:
I`m already lighting up ketone test strips. Seems way too early for that.
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I know plenty of people who`ve done the ketogenic thing (and only one has ever kept her weight in check that way), but !oh man! I just can`t see that being the right way for ```` sapiens to eat. Eh, maybe it`s just because of the way *I* need carbs for proper functioning and have zero problems with them resulting in bodyfat, but still... Please be careful.

[EDIT: what, I can`t enter H...O...M...O...?!? How do anthropologists post anything about people? Sheesh..my G...A...Y friends would be the first to roll their eyes about such nonsense.]
 
Accumulator said:
If anybody has read this book I`d like to know what you think of it as I generally subscribe to the that idea, and HEY it has Arthur Jones on the cover ;)

LINK: If You Like Exercise ... Chances Are You`re Doing It Wrong: Proper Strength Training for Maximum Results by Gary Bannister, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
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I have to laugh reading that book title thinking about back in the day when I had a gym membership. It use to kill me seeing people screwing around on their phones, or talking to their friend, or reading a book/magazine while they`re "working out". I couldn`t help but wonder how in the heck they could be getting any useful work done while being able to still do those other things
 
House of Wax- Heh heh, yeah....exactly. I can`t quite decide whether I like that book title or not, though I do find it amusing.

I mean..it kinda sounds like "hey wimp, you`re not hard-core enough" and I *hate* that kind of [crap]. BUT, I *do not* enjoy one moment of my exercise, it`s simply too hard (for somebody like me who`s sure not a masochist). Well, OK I can kinda enjoy my warmups, and cooldowns aren`t bad, but the stuff that accomplishes anything sure isn`t fun. Even just the concentration that`s required...sheesh.
 
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