BG Fitness Fanatics II: We Work Out

[Moss]

As above, just eat more.

I've been doing cardio 3-4 times a week for most of the past year (more than my usual 1-3 times of the years before), and haven't had too much of an issue bulking/maintaining. It's important for me to maintain a level of cardiovascular fitness as I play soccer, run and have goals oriented towards an overall level of fitness. I'd really recommend everyone does at least some cardio; it definitely helps with flexibility, reducing injury and overall health and such.

yeah I forgot you play soccer, that would be pretty similar to playing pickup basketball on off days. as it is now I lift 3 days a week and get in my tennis on saturdays. it just occurred to me today when my friend asked, since I'm increasing my previous all-time max every workout on back squats. I don't want to hurt my squat tomorrow by playing basketball

[Moss]

If it does take a break, I doubt it will though are you planning on running for 4hrs or something? My only cardio besides sports is just going to the track and running up the stairs for 20-30min. And all 6 of my lifting days are heavy days for me. In the immediate term it might be exhausting but your body will get used to it quick. Just make sure to eat so you aren't wasting your bulk.

1.5-2 hours of basketball but yeah you answered it with your last 2 sentences, thanks

[thetruepandagod]

cardio; it definitely helps with flexibility, reducing injury and overall health and such.

I started doing this this week and it has been helping me more than anything.(barring sitting in a pc chair less)



I just love all of thrall's video's in general.

[Cream Soda]

As above, just eat more.

I've been doing cardio 3-4 times a week for most of the past year (more than my usual 1-3 times of the years before), and haven't had too much of an issue bulking/maintaining. It's important for me to maintain a level of cardiovascular fitness as I play soccer, run and have goals oriented towards an overall level of fitness. I'd really recommend everyone does at least some cardio; it definitely helps with flexibility, reducing injury and overall health and such.

Ruke beat me to it. Too many people associate cardio simply with burning calories. Cardiovascular health is very important. What's the point in being the biggest fucker around when you can't jog half mile w/o wanting to die? (I used to be that guy). Now Cardio is as an important part of my routine as lifting is.

[thetruepandagod]

If you ever feel like you are doing too much cardio that it will impede your gains just remember that CS bikes like 1000 miles every week and lives off rancid chicken and halloween candy.

[RKenshin]

^ indeed, anytime I worry about too much cardio I remember that lol.

My edit might've got lost in the 6 posts that followed before I finished it, but to repeat:

Per your added comments - scientifically, not sure. But I'd imagine it's better, as your overall health, circulation, and flexibility should improve. Less frequent injuries too. Anecdotal and such, but the healthiest/best-shape people I know combine strength and cardio (even if only minimal amounts of cardio) as opposed to just strength and nothing else.

[Moss]

Ruke beat me to it. Too many people associate cardio simply with burning calories. Cardiovascular health is very important. What's the point in being the biggest fucker around when you can't jog half mile w/o wanting to die? (I used to be that guy). Now Cardio is as an important part of my routine as lifting is.

I don't care about jogging but I agree, I don't want to hurt my athletic performance by avoiding cardio.

If you ever feel like you are doing too much cardio that it will impede your gains just remember that CS bikes like 1000 miles every week and lives off rancid chicken and halloween candy.

true but CS has the dirty bowl of superbacteria that he eats for his powers

[BerenTebogo]

That was a long ass video. I should consider adopting some of that though.

[Meresgi]

Viking Strong

[Chrius]

I'm adding chins / dips to my stronglifts workouts to help out my weak upper body. Unable to do a full dip/chin unassisted. Unsure if there's a better strategy or if it's 99% just getting any work in on those areas.
After squat/bench/row I do dips
After squat/OHP/dead I do chins.

Playing around with a couple variations I'm currently going to continue with this plan unless it's woefully unproductive
Negatives until I'm not in control
3 min break
3 assisted sets - when I can do 3x10 with 3 minute breaks, do 5lbs less assist next time
3-5 min break. Attempt a 1 rep max type thing. On success, do 5lbs less assist next time, a failure will probably be close but not a complete lack of movement.

[Osede]

Chrius, you can try this way and see if would help in short term.

Light weight work out (2 to 3 types, semi-warm up purpose) then go for dips, then follow by squat/bench/row
Light weight work out (2 to 3 types, semi-warm up purpose) then go for chins, then follow by squat/OHP/dead

The reason I suggest to switch is that you might feel exhausted if you put dips/chins at the end. Instead, do them first before you running out of gas, especially due to squat and deadlift. For me, I always do pull up first during back day. But have not been doing any dip for long time before always getting neck muscle issue.

I just realize that your workout is all whole body cover in each day?

[Chrius]

Ya it's a 3x per week linear progression where you add 5 more lbs than you did last time of 5x5s until you can't add more. 10 for deadlift. Alternate the workouts so I'll deadlift once a week, then twice, then once, etc. I'm hesitant to front load it due to getting back into heavier weights in a little over a month

[Moss]

Ya it's a 3x per week linear progression where you add 5 more lbs than you did last time of 5x5s until you can't add more. 10 for deadlift. Alternate the workouts so I'll deadlift once a week, then twice, then once, etc. I'm hesitant to front load it due to getting back into heavier weights in a little over a month

what numbers are your lifts at, if you dont mind sharing? I'm doing stronglifts too

also if you didnt realize there is an incredible app for it

[Chrius]

Work weight / recent 1RM (office motivation contest)
Squat 185 / 245
Bench 110 / 175
Row 100
OHP 80
Dead 185 / 275
The app is great and even suggested a 50% deload after I took 2 months off. I've enabled the dip and chin options but have to take notes about what I did with assist weight as the program just want you to do sets of unassisted until you can 3x10 your body weight. Not a ton of info on getting there other than nebulous "try some negatives" "assists are great/terrible" and "variations exist, good luck out there"

[BerenTebogo]

As long as you can do at least 5 unassisted I think you should probably do unassisted.

Others may disagree, but I found it very helpful for motivating progress. Going from being able to only do 1-2 pullups / dips to needing to weigh myself down has been pretty good for gauging strength gain / weight loss.

[Chrius]

That's the problem, I can't do 1 unassisted and barely get to 5 negatives before I have no control over the descent

[Wulfgang]

I'm adding chins / dips to my stronglifts workouts to help out my weak upper body. Unable to do a full dip/chin unassisted. Unsure if there's a better strategy or if it's 99% just getting any work in on those areas.
After squat/bench/row I do dips
After squat/OHP/dead I do chins.

Playing around with a couple variations I'm currently going to continue with this plan unless it's woefully unproductive
Negatives until I'm not in control
3 min break
3 assisted sets - when I can do 3x10 with 3 minute breaks, do 5lbs less assist next time
3-5 min break. Attempt a 1 rep max type thing. On success, do 5lbs less assist next time, a failure will probably be close but not a complete lack of movement.

I love dips! Great for tri's and shoulders. I do 100-200 dips every gym day (both on upper body and legs days) in sets of 25 (unassisted) and can do up to 50 if not preceded by heavy tri / shoulder work. I generally disagree with Osede though on cycle implementation. I always do heavy free weight exercises before any bodyweight movement for safety. I'd rather lose steam during a run of dips than with a 245 rack on the bench. I also operate without a spotter, so to each their own. You don't need to wait to do dips / pull-ups until you can do them unassisted; assistance machines (or resistance bands if not an option) can still give you a good workout and help with the movement. I really need to rig a weight belt for weighted dips.

I still hate pull-ups though. I can do like 10 unassisted, but the reps go down very quickly with each successive set until I bottom out at like 4.

[Cream Soda]

Good clean legit pull ups never get better. If I get shit tired after 10 whether it's weightless or with +60 lbs strapped on me. If my life depended on it, I could crank out a good 20, but that's about it (and these are controlled speed up and down, all the way to a dead hang none of that I drop fast as fuck and only go halfway down shit)

[Moss]

Work weight / recent 1RM (office motivation contest)
Squat 185 / 245
Bench 110 / 175
Row 100
OHP 80
Dead 185 / 275
The app is great and even suggested a 50% deload after I took 2 months off. I've enabled the dip and chin options but have to take notes about what I did with assist weight as the program just want you to do sets of unassisted until you can 3x10 your body weight. Not a ton of info on getting there other than nebulous "try some negatives" "assists are great/terrible" and "variations exist, good luck out there"

that's funny, we're really similar on everything except I don't know my 1RM. come workout with me in Houston

Squat 215
Bench 140
Row 95
Press 95
DL 195

the most interesting thing for me has been how much little changes like grip width make a huge difference. I was repping out 135 on bench with ease in HS but my grip was closer so I think it was mostly my shoulders doing the work. with a wider grip now my chest gets worked and it's much harder. same thing with OHP.

[In Flames]

that's funny, we're really similar on everything except I don't know my 1RM. come workout with me in Houston

Squat 215
Bench 140
Row 95
Press 95
DL 195

the most interesting thing for me has been how much little changes like grip width make a huge difference. I was repping out 135 on bench with ease in HS but my grip was closer so I think it was mostly my shoulders doing the work. with a wider grip now my chest gets worked and it's much harder. same thing with OHP.

If you want a way to estimate your 1RM without having to actually do a 1RM test, this is the most accurate formula I've come across, it's bang on for me every time:

Kilograms x Reps x 0.033 + Kilograms

This way you can carry out a 5RM by yourself relatively safely on most lifts and still find out what you'd be able to lift for a 1RM. The higher the number of reps you plug in to this the less accurate it gets, so I'd never go above 6-8.

For example, my 5RM on squat is roughly 100kg. So:

100kg x 5 x 0.033 + 100 = 116.5kg 1RM.