For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Lucavi]

Ugh, so I took a 2 day break over the weekend to rest and to EVOOOOOO. Spent the time just doing a few sets of pushups and some wall dips here and there.

Come Monday I'm feeling lethargic as shit. So lazy. How do you guys keep these small little breaks from turning into full-blown lazy benders?

[Meat]

Ugh, so I took a 2 day break over the weekend to rest and to EVOOOOOO. Spent the time just doing a few sets of pushups and some wall dips here and there.

Come Monday I'm feeling lethargic as shit. So lazy. How do you guys keep these small little breaks from turning into full-blown lazy benders?

once you get back in the gym the testosterone will start to flow again in abundance and you'll be back to normal

[Weiing]

Ugh, so I took a 2 day break over the weekend to rest and to EVOOOOOO. Spent the time just doing a few sets of pushups and some wall dips here and there.

Come Monday I'm feeling lethargic as shit. So lazy. How do you guys keep these small little breaks from turning into full-blown lazy benders?

Frame of mind, I guess? For me, I really hate taking one week breaks from lifting, but I force myself to do it. I actually feel weird/awkward/grumpy when I don't get some form of workout done. So, I'm always very eager and itching to get back to the gym to lift after 1 week.

Working out/being active/lifting weights/sprinting/HIIT has become my way of life, it's not for the purpose of "losing weight" anymore. I used to try to get active and lose weight, but it fizzled out after a month. I've been active for close to 2 years now, and it's all because of my shift in my frame of mind. It's not about losing weight for me anymore, it's about just being healthy, active, and doing things I enjoy.

Maybe you feeling lazy/tired means your body has been enjoying the rest and needs some more of it? Just a thought.

[Zoolander]

I started out buying Under Armor ( lose fitting) shirts but then I learned that Starter @(Walmart) was 1/3 the price. I normally buy the tight fitting shirts w/ sleeves but I buy them a size or 2 big.

Also Wei your doing the Strongman 5x5? I've been thinking of trying something new. I'm probably going to give this a try over the next 2 months and see how that goes.

I like stronglifts so far.

I started out pretty ambitious with the weight totals, honestly because I was kind of impatient and didn't want to take any steps back. I took one step back on the squat after I realized I wasn't going down as far as I wanted, but the gains are still there. I'll gladly take 40lbs improvement on my squat in a little over 2 weeks. And those are real gains, 175lbs was what my limit was at first.

I started at, and am currently at after 7 workouts:
Squat: 175 <---> 215
Bench: 110 <---> 125
Standing Press: 50 <--> 65 (I started a tad low on this, but I continue to see gains and I really like this exercise now. Make sure form is right.)
Deadlift: 175 <---> 195

Inverted Rows are getting better, although I will say I don't like them nearly as much as I thought I would.

I love the reverse crunches and planks, if you are a beginner they will be outstanding for your core strength.

Results overall are pretty solid, my only issue lately is my lower back is having trouble adjusting to the constant working out it gets from the squats every workout and dead lifts every other. I think this is more on an individual basis though, as I think my issues are exacerbated by the fact that I spend a lot of time in my uncomfortable car seat for work and am currently sleeping in a bed that I think is fucked up. Lower back getting overworked is something to pay attention to though.

[Ariall]

Ugh, so I took a 2 day break over the weekend to rest and to EVOOOOOO. Spent the time just doing a few sets of pushups and some wall dips here and there.

Come Monday I'm feeling lethargic as shit. So lazy. How do you guys keep these small little breaks from turning into full-blown lazy benders?

I feel ya, a couple days off usually puts me into a lazy phase come the start of the week. To get out of the funk, I just give it all I have on the first day of the week. I look at my numbers from that same last workout, and try to improve in weight by a few pounds, or if I'm doing heavy cardio, try to hit my target heart rate faster and sustain throughout the workout. Once i get through that first day, the rest of the week is cake. Its just a mental thing more than anything.

[richardd]

hang in there gelwain. but im sure you noticed by now that this really is a lifestyle change lol. When i took my week break for my joints to catch up, i was itching to pick up something heavy and do things with it, or just go out and run for 20 min with my headphones on. It sucks listening to music and just sitting there.. lol.. doing nothing.. ugh. i just usually went for walks to calm me down lol


im sure when 14 comes out, my lazy days will be 10x easier

[Meat]

Results overall are pretty solid, my only issue lately is my lower back is having trouble adjusting to the constant working out it gets from the squats every workout and dead lifts every other. I think this is more on an individual basis though, as I think my issues are exacerbated by the fact that I spend a lot of time in my uncomfortable car seat for work and am currently sleeping in a bed that I think is fucked up. Lower back getting overworked is something to pay attention to though.

That's always going to be a problem, legs are such a strong huge muscle that more often than not the thing that's going to fail is going to be your core\lower back. and between heavy squats and deads every week imo something has to give.

I do a combo either front squats+deads or back squats+db hyper-extensions just to keep from taxing the lower back

[Gustave]

Ehh Lower back... that's my only worry. I have ruptured disc @ L5/S1 and the pain has mostly went away since becoming more active. I'd really like to be able to do squats/deadlifts again but I'm worried that it may floor me. (Power-cling was my Fav! in highschool)

[Meat]

this is an unpopular opinion, but i don't believe squats are that hot of a leg exercise, great for cardio, amazing for core strength and overall power. but imo legpress, hacksquat, front squat and leg extensions all beat squat when it comes to building massive legs. on squats it's almost always either your lungs or your core that fails 1st. On the others you're really able to take your quads to failure.

[Nyx]

this is an unpopular opinion, but i don't believe squats are that hot of a leg exercise, great for cardio, amazing for core strength and overall power. but imo legpress, hacksquat, front squat and leg extensions all beat squat when it comes to building massive legs. on squats it's almost always either your lungs or your core that fails 1st. On the others you're really able to take your quads to failure.

I kind of agree with you. Squats do create glorious asses though; therefore, they are amazing.

[Lucavi]

hang in there gelwain. but im sure you noticed by now that this really is a lifestyle change lol. When i took my week break for my joints to catch up, i was itching to pick up something heavy and do things with it, or just go out and run for 20 min with my headphones on. It sucks listening to music and just sitting there.. lol.. doing nothing.. ugh. i just usually went for walks to calm me down lol


im sure when 14 comes out, my lazy days will be 10x easier

Yeah I wound up doing a 2-a-day today and feel much better. I wanna do more but I'll save tomorrow for the big day.

I tend to do my stuff in short, intense bursts. I rarely work out for more than an hour straight. I don't really know if that's the way you're supposed to do it - I hear about gym rats spending 4-5 hours a day in the gym all the time - but I just jog/run/sprint on the treadmill until I'm heaving, then jump off and hit the bench to work chest/back/shoulders, alternating between sets of weights and the treadmill to keep my exhaustion up.

After that its dumbells (nothing too heavy - I need to buy more) to work bi's, tri's, chest, back, then nothing but stretches and the machine-free stuff, like pushups, dips, ect.

I'm actually terribly lazy, so if I didn't just want to be stronger and more fit, I'd be sleeping around the house when not at work like I used to.

[Atreides]

you don't need to do cardio between sets at the gym, just a quick warmup to get your blood flowing is fine. You'll either overtire yourself or start to cut into your muscle gains.

[Weiing]

@Meat - As much as I love squats, I can see where yo're coming from. Ultimately I think it depends on what people are looking for. For me, the more muscle groups I can hit at once, the better. I'mma have to try hack squats someday, along with box squats.

@Lucavi - I agree with what Atreides. There's a difference between perhaps doing a light walk/stair climb inbetween sets and running yourself to exhaustion. Are you trying to do cardio or trying to lift weights? I don't understand how people can stay at a gym for 2 hours, let alone 4-5 hours. I guess maybe for serious bodybuilders and people who love the gym? otherwise, eh... 30-60 min is good enough. Some people like to stay at the gym for long periods to feel like they're doing something...while others, like myself, enjoy efficiency and shortest time spent at a gym.

[Osede]

It just depends on the routine and how you done it. Usually my routine would let me stay in gym for 1hr and half thought. My routine usually consist of 10mins of warm up + roughly 1hr workout + 20mins of cardio.

I may stay in gym long for extra 30mins of cardio if needed. However, I'm prefering to go down to play basketball :D

[Myth]

Speaking of squats does anyone else besides me have trouble doing them because they're uncomfortable on their shoulders? I'm a fairly skinny guy, ~145 at 5'9", and I never do squats mainly because the bar will press down on my shoulders uncomfortably.

[Weiing]

Got a towel or cushion to wrap around the bar? Perhaps try goblet squats or front squats? Hack squats, as meat talked about?

Or get more meat on your body

Although after awhile, when I was getting to relatively heavier weights (135lb), it was starting to make me sore too. I think it's just something that happens?

[Atreides]

Speaking of squats does anyone else besides me have trouble doing them because they're uncomfortable on their shoulders? I'm a fairly skinny guy, ~145 at 5'9", and I never do squats mainly because the bar will press down on my shoulders uncomfortably.

it's probably a problem with where you're holding it or your form, pretty common actually

I'd definitely look over the starting strength wiki (or videos), he goes over precise bar placement extensively:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...ifts#The_Squat

SquatRx is really helpful too:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...3D688F10C4DE1F

for me, I get shoulder pain unless I keep my back perfectly tight the whole time, with my shoulder blades back (sorta like you're doing a double bicep flex and showing off back muscles at the same). Like a lot of people I tend to slightly lose tightness in my upper back at the bottom of the squat, which can cause some pretty bad pinching on the way up. Watching the videos helped me a lot.

[richardd]

he could probably do it on a smith machine, for less stress also, no?

edit: oh nvm, he said shoulders

[Myth]

it's probably a problem with where you're holding it or your form, pretty common actually

I'd definitely look over the starting strength wiki (or videos), he goes over precise bar placement extensively:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...ifts#The_Squat

SquatRx is really helpful too:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...3D688F10C4DE1F

for me, I get shoulder pain unless I keep my back perfectly tight the whole time, with my shoulder blades back (sorta like you're doing a double bicep flex and showing off back muscles at the same). Like a lot of people I tend to slightly lose tightness in my upper back at the bottom of the squat, which can cause some pretty bad pinching on the way up. Watching the videos helped me a lot.

Ok wow... Looking at those pictures in the top link definitely shows me I've been doing it all wrong whenever I tried it. I always had the bar up too high on my back it seems. When I work out tomorrow I'll work on my form and also try using the smith machine and see if that fixes my problem. Thanks.

Edit:

Or get more meat on your body

Although after awhile, when I was getting to relatively heavier weights (135lb), it was starting to make me sore too. I think it's just something that happens?

The more meat thing isn't too likely. I'm a runner by nature and so I run a lot every week. I have muscle, but it's all mostly lean muscle. And as far as sore it's not so much as soreness, but more discomfort/pain because the bar will press down on my bones.

[richardd]

Ok wow... Looking at those pictures in the top link definitely shows me I've been doing it all wrong whenever I tried it. I always had the bar up too high on my back it seems. When I work out tomorrow I'll work on my form and also try using the smith machine and see if that fixes my problem. Thanks.

there's NEVER shame in using a smith machine/ez bars (not for squatting)/etc man! whatever gets your results, push yourself for it :D