For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Meat]

Been working out 3-5 times a week for about past year trying to get in shape. The exercises I've been doing I gathered from friends/internet and I was looking to add some to my routine. Can you guys recommend a good site with some guides? (preferably with pics on how to perform the exercises ). Looking mostly for some good back exercises.

back's a funny thing, since you cant really train that in front of a mirror a lot of ppl have a hard time making that mind muscle connection that's needed. you're going to have to play around and find what work best for you.

anyway i do

3x10 pullups
4x8 barbell rows
3x8 v-bar pull downs
3x8 hammer strength low row
1x5, 1x3, 2x2 deadlifts

[Sanoske]

@Sano-- Obviously your friend > you. He has good taste in shoes.

I've done sumo deadlifts before. For me at least, it does help distribute some of that weight to my legs. But then again, my regular deadlifts don't really hurt my back... BUT THEN AGAIN, I'm not lifting as heavy as you I'm sure. I do switch up the kind of deadlifts I do, so...can't really tell you whether or not sumo deadlifts have helped. I just like to alternate workouts.

Shoes? All I saw was a camo condom for your feet. (Which add nothing to walking barefoot except for compensate for people having sensitive feet.) But I already got into with him, don't need a second coming. lol

@Residue - Really? I never knew people had problem with back. There are one or two exercises that are a bit funky to get form, but I always thought back was one of the easiest for getting the mind-contraction hook up.

[Meat]

well it's hard to do back in front of a mirror or directly looking at the muscle contract. then you get the whole i'ma pull with my biceps thing

[Sanoske]

well it's hard to do back in front of a mirror or directly looking at the muscle contract. then you get the whole i'ma pull with my biceps thing

Yea, I can understand that. You're going to use your bicep regardless, but the back always seemed relatively easy to concentrate on for me. I need to get back in the gym asap, finals are killing my schedule. Also.. going to a jazz club where the bartender makes fantastic shots doesn't help. (First night going, I'm drunk, have exam reviews in the morning, fuck me. Goodnight.)

[archibaldcrane]

...damnit. I think I'm trashing my right shoulder with my workouts. It's always been bad (loose tendons growing up compounded by 4 years of HS volleyball) but after the past couple of bench workouts it just feels wrong, despite the fact that I'm dominating my routine (had another test today, did 7 reps of 195, have to jump up another level).

I dunno what to do about it

[Moss]

Rest for a week and see how it feels?

[archibaldcrane]

I hadn't lifted at all since Friday, so it had been 5 days...I dunno. I've been building back up really fast so I don't really want to break too long

[Moss]

I know it sucks to take an extended break but I would give it another week, just consider that if you really fuck your shoulder up it will be a lot longer than that before you can lift again. If it is worrying you this much you should probably get it checked out for peace of mind.

[archibaldcrane]

Eh, I went through the whole physical therapy thing back in undergrad. Tendons are stretched from when I was a kid since I could pop out both my shoulders at will and it didn't hurt, so I did it to show off all the time, sometimes I'd wake up and one of them would be out of socket, and then I aggravated it by hitting volleyballs for 4 years but it's not bad enough for surgery. They gave me exercises to do with bands 10 years ago to strengthen the muscles around the tendons, but they never really were a solution. It's always been off and on as far as being comfortable in the right shoulder since then, it'll probably come back around.

I hope.

[wagon]

Not sure if this is off topic, a friend's telling me yoga helps with flexibility which is not one of my fortes (I can't touch my toes without bending my knees). Are yoga classes worth it ($30 for two weeks unlimited)?

[Maaglin]

Yoga is more than worth it. It's also a good workout. When I did P90X, the workout I hated the most was the plyo, but yoga was a very close 2nd.

See if you can download the P90X yoga dvd somewhere and give it a go if $30 is breaking you.

[Meat]

...damnit. I think I'm trashing my right shoulder with my workouts. It's always been bad (loose tendons growing up compounded by 4 years of HS volleyball) but after the past couple of bench workouts it just feels wrong, despite the fact that I'm dominating my routine (had another test today, did 7 reps of 195, have to jump up another level).

I dunno what to do about it

take the bench out, come on. ppl and their flat bench, it's a horrible moment. inclines, dips, declines, hell even some hammer strengths machines> flat bench

[sephir]

Anyone got tips on muscle recovery in endurance sports? Essentially after my laps I stretch all the muscles that were used in the exercise, drink lots of fluids, and eat something that has high protein and carbs.

I recently upped the volume of my workout, but the slow recovery time has always been a factor for me in anything I did. I usually do a day on, then a rest day, repeat as a result of this slow recovery. It doesn't hurt or anything, I just see a tapering in the effectiveness of my next workout. eg. I might average 205 watts of energy with fresh legs, but 2 days later I will average about 190.

[archibaldcrane]

take the bench out, come on. ppl and their flat bench, it's a horrible moment. inclines, dips, declines, hell even some hammer strengths machines> flat bench

but..but...I have to bench 150% of my body weight by the end of the year!



Anyway, I do all that other stuff you listed as well. What do you think makes decline and incline to be superior movements to flat bench?

[wagon]

Yoga is more than worth it. It's also a good workout. When I did P90X, the workout I hated the most was the plyo, but yoga was a very close 2nd.

See if you can download the P90X yoga dvd somewhere and give it a go if $30 is breaking you.

Thanks, I will give p90x a try, downloading now :D

[Moss]

Not sure if this is off topic, a friend's telling me yoga helps with flexibility which is not one of my fortes (I can't touch my toes without bending my knees). Are yoga classes worth it ($30 for two weeks unlimited)?

P90X is good, but depending on how flexible you are to start with I don't know how much you will get out of it. $30 for two weeks unlimited sounds like a good deal, it is probably worth it if you are just starting.

[Osede]

Anyone got tips on muscle recovery in endurance sports? Essentially after my laps I stretch all the muscles that were used in the exercise, drink lots of fluids, and eat something that has high protein and carbs.

I recently upped the volume of my workout, but the slow recovery time has always been a factor for me in anything I did. I usually do a day on, then a rest day, repeat as a result of this slow recovery. It doesn't hurt or anything, I just see a tapering in the effectiveness of my next workout. eg. I might average 205 watts of energy with fresh legs, but 2 days later I will average about 190.

To me, I would say get enough sleep, and don't sleep too late. You may want to try to avoid take any nap too. I'm usually force myself go to bed around 12, no later than 1am, and wake up around 7am. This allow me to do 6 days workout in a row with additional 1-2hrs sports.

[Weiing]

@sephir--look into your diet... perhaps something is wrong with it. Enough calories? Enough/sufficient % in your macronutrients? Are you eating more processed foods/other crap?

Maybe you upping your workout volume has hindered it. Remember, more doesn't always necessarily equal better. In fact, less is more. What exactly is your current workout like?

also, naps are really good for the body. It allows some additional time for muscle recovery and rejuvenation. But like Osede said, you should look into seeing whether or not you are actually getting enough sleep.

[sephir]

my current workout consists of biking a hilly 90km loop 3 times a week, with a much slower paced 40km loop on a resting day. Typically I do the 90km loop in 2 hours 45 minutes and the 40km in about an hour and 20 minutes.

My sleep seems to be alright, I usually average about 7 to 9 hours consistently. Calorie wise, I think I am running a deficit on biking days, but I run a surplus on rest days. Typically I am burning about 2100 calories with the workout so it is rather hard to eat that much volume of food in a day (2500 + 2100 calories is a lot) - at least healthy food - I hate most processed food.
I've done something like this for a month and so far I've been maintaining my weight so that is ideal. I don't want to pack on pounds because it will mess with my kg/watt ratio or lose weight as I am already considered borderline underweight.

[Weiing]

Would it be possible to eat more during biking days and eat less during rest days? It's not hard to eat more calories, even with "healthy"/whole foods. (fat. ;o)

hmm. You should really test various things out just to see exactly what's going on/why you're unable to perform roughly the same.