OT: Pfft Do You Even Healthy Body Transformation? (General Lounge Style Discussion)

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
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I dont know wtf is happening but I feel my body is freaking breaking down. Injured my shoulder while OHPing, injured my knee while hiking, my calves are like ultra tight like in constant cramp form, my lower back is in meh shape because i have a slight anterior pelvic tilt.. Im only 24 ffs.

Peaks/Valleys/luck. Honestly probably overdoing it or just very unlucky. But ultimately maybe the body just needs rest to get right back at it. :yo:

I don't think your body is breaking down. You may just be overtraining. I make the mistake all the time. I think a few of us have talked about it but that insatiable need to workout is sometimes just as bad as any other thing you can do.

I'd say rest, but any time I tell myself to rest I cannot stand it. We are all just built that way.
 

Phion Keneuf

Bang Bang
Jul 4, 2010
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Humans can overtrain, but machines cant

When you step into the gym, you must become a machine

if not, why are you even there?
 

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
107,022
67,647
Pittsburgh
I work out 4 times a week max. Ive took a two week break when I hurt my shoulder.

I do not overtrain. Thats the problem.

Do you attempt higher weights than you should? Or hey.. maybe it's just flat out bad luck.

Also do you have a job that has physical demands?


Humans can overtrain, but machines cant

When you step into the gym, you must become a machine

if not, why are you even there?

:laugh: Here's the truth - you aren't a machine. ;) But I love the mentality! Great mentality to have. Just not real.
 

Captain Bowie

Registered User
Jan 18, 2012
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I found I have plateaued both weight loss and working out wise, so I am going to start adding more protein to my diet and see how much of a difference that makes.

Also did deadlifts for the first time last week. Man were my hammy's sore (in a good way), and my back wasn't sore (in a bad way) so I think that my form wasn't completely terrible.

Since I made an effort to add more protein to my diet, it has had a great positive affect on me, mainly in weight loss, but some improvements in the gym too.

Last 5 weeks:
Lost about 10 lbs.
1550 cals. average
100g protein average

5 weeks prior:
lost about 2 lbs.
1550 cals. average
65g protein average

I know, I know "CALORIES TOO LOW!!". Whatever, it's working for me, I am happy and active and losing weight, not starving in any way. I haven't eaten breakfast in about 5 months, don't miss it one bit. Eat about 500 cals for lunch, mostly a salad with some kind of protein (can of salmon, couple boiled eggs, or just some leftover meat on the side) and about 1000 cals for dinner. Meat and veg, still low carb trying to stay under 50g a day.
 

M.C.G. 31

Damn, he brave!
Oct 6, 2008
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lowering my cals down to 2300 or so for a bit to continue my cut now that i've decided on continuing with it rather than a slow bulk

was going to drop to 2000 but seems like a lot quick. that'll be in the next two weeks or so (dropping currently from 2900).
 

Mrb1p

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Dec 10, 2011
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Do you attempt higher weights than you should? Or hey.. maybe it's just flat out bad luck.

Also do you have a job that has physical demands?




:laugh: Here's the truth - you aren't a machine. ;) But I love the mentality! Great mentality to have. Just not real.

Obviously my training is powerlifting oriented so I'm moving big weights but using the 5/3/1 template, the volume is low and the weights are right. 90% of my max base weights, never go over 90% of my 90%, so it's a pretty safe weight distribution. Started really, really low on weight even, im probably training at 75% at the heaviest.

maybe form?

I'm not a machine, it could be. But I've been doing the same moves for almost a decade now, and I've been using everything I learned as usual. I doubt my form is the problem as it mostly feels like wear and tear.

Post your routine and typical activity schedule for the week.

Every day starts with a 14 to 50 minutes yoga practice, usually light, sometimes intense, I see where the day takes me.

Every day in the gym starts with mobility also, limber 11/agile 8, other movements I incorporated in there also, foam rolling, myofascial... Then every day is a big move squat/dead/ohp/bench with emphasis on technique to work up to a max of 75 to 90%.

Squats day, OHP/Bench, Dead, OHP/Bench.

I take a hike once a week on tuesdays usually, from easy to hard, depends on the day, if I don't hike I play Tennis or some other sport. Not hard just for fun.


I'm a chef, so long hours standing up shouting at people.
 

UnrealMachine

Registered User
Jul 9, 2012
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Obviously my training is powerlifting oriented so I'm moving big weights but using the 5/3/1 template, the volume is low and the weights are right. 90% of my max base weights, never go over 90% of my 90%, so it's a pretty safe weight distribution. Started really, really low on weight even, im probably training at 75% at the heaviest.

Every day starts with a 14 to 50 minutes yoga practice, usually light, sometimes intense, I see where the day takes me.

Every day in the gym starts with mobility also, limber 11/agile 8, other movements I incorporated in there also, foam rolling, myofascial... Then every day is a big move squat/dead/ohp/bench with emphasis on technique to work up to a max of 75 to 90%.

Squats day, OHP/Bench, Dead, OHP/Bench.

I take a hike once a week on tuesdays usually, from easy to hard, depends on the day, if I don't hike I play Tennis or some other sport. Not hard just for fun.


I'm a chef, so long hours standing up shouting at people.

First off, you realize that powerlifting has a very finite lifespan, right? Don't confuse the large-framed, juiced-out lifers for the norm. Most powerlifters have very short career. Your joints can only handle so much pressure being put on them, repeatedly. Personally, within a year of quitting powerlifting I quit doing flat (or any) benching and my shoulders were never happier. I get by just fine with weighted push ups. I did do dips for several years after, but eventually those bothered my shoulders too much as well. C'est la vie.

Second, I would ask if all of this warm-up/pre-hab you are doing is both sustainable (you'll stick with it forever) and effective (diminishing returns)? It sure seems like lot to allow you to do the rest of your activity, which would bring into question whether a powerlifting routine is right for you or not. Anyway, think of where you want to be 5 or 10 years from now. At some point you will be an ex-powerlifter and the only question will be if the damage you did to your body during powerlifting is chronic or not?
 

Mrb1p

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First off, you realize that powerlifting has a very finite lifespan, right? Don't confuse the large-framed, juiced-out lifers for the norm. Most powerlifters have very short career. Your joints can only handle so much pressure being put on them, repeatedly. Personally, within a year of quitting powerlifting I quit doing flat (or any) benching and my shoulders were never happier. I get by just fine with weighted push ups. I did do dips for several years after, but eventually those bothered my shoulders too much as well. C'est la vie.

Second, I would ask if all of this warm-up/pre-hab you are doing is both sustainable (you'll stick with it forever) and effective (diminishing returns)? It sure seems like lot to allow you to do the rest of your activity, which would bring into question whether a powerlifting routine is right for you or not. Anyway, think of where you want to be 5 or 10 years from now. At some point you will be an ex-powerlifter and the only question will be if the damage you did to your body during powerlifting is chronic or not?

Obviously, I understand the ins and out of training for performance and I know it puts immense stress on the body and mainly the CNS but still wouldnt expect my body to break down like that, especially after I bailed on football for that reason.

And yes, its sustainable, a 10 minutes warm up is perfectly adequate IMO. Emphasis on tighter parts of the body for balance, not blindly stretching or stretching to become a gymnast :laugh:.

I guess I underrated the long term effects of a decade of weightliffting.
 

Suiteness

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Mar 14, 2003
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Intermittent fasting is legit AF. Started three weeks ago at 215 lbs, wanted to cut to 190 so hopped on the IF bandwagon. Calories were set at 2300 for gym days and 1800 for non gym days, I train 4X a week.

Three weeks in and I'm down to 204 lbs. Craziness, weight just melts right off. I'm also in a happy place with my diet as of now. I do the 16/8 split. I've been lifting fasted, first thing in the morning for years so my feeding window starts with a protein shake after my workout. While I do watch calories, I mostly make sure to hit my 1 gram of protein per lbs for the day. So a typical day would be:

- Protein shake (1 cup 1% milk, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter and 3 tablespoons of hemp hearts) (64g of protein)
- 2 eggs omelet with 30g of cheese ( 21g of protein)
- 1 cup of Greek yogurt with 2 tsp of honey (23g of protein)
- 2 cups of shredded lettuce with 30g of cheese and 2 tablespoon of dressing (10g of protein)
- 250g roast beef with 1/2 lbs of roasted white creamer potatoes (70g of protein)
- 1/3 cup of dry roasted peanuts (13g of protein)

Which adds up to 2100 calories and 204 grams of protein.

I'm getting great results right now so I'll keep the macros as is. When I plateau, I'll be looking into carb cycling.
 
Last edited:

Danko

You have no marbles
Jul 28, 2004
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Im trying to find time to get back into the gym. I don't think i can stay for an hour and a half /two hours 4-5 days a week like i used to when i was losing 20 pounds a month. So i think i need to plan out my workout a little better to use my time most efficiently.

I used to do 45-60 minutes on Elliptical burning over 700 calories and sometimes around 1100. I mix in once or twice a week going at a much higher interval (20) for two minutes at a time going full speed then dropping back down to my normal pace of 14. I would then do 4-5 machines with very little break in between reps. (4x12).


My goal is to lose weight, my job is very sedintary, i try and get up ever 30 minutes or so and take a quick walk up and down the hall.

Any advice for modifying my workout routine to better fit my goal of losing 30 pounds this year?
 

Suiteness

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Mar 14, 2003
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Im trying to find time to get back into the gym. I don't think i can stay for an hour and a half /two hours 4-5 days a week like i used to when i was losing 20 pounds a month. So i think i need to plan out my workout a little better to use my time most efficiently.

I used to do 45-60 minutes on Elliptical burning over 700 calories and sometimes around 1100. I mix in once or twice a week going at a much higher interval (20) for two minutes at a time going full speed then dropping back down to my normal pace of 14. I would then do 4-5 machines with very little break in between reps. (4x12).


My goal is to lose weight, my job is very sedintary, i try and get up ever 30 minutes or so and take a quick walk up and down the hall.

Any advice for modifying my workout routine to better fit my goal of losing 30 pounds this year?

You don't mention dieting once. 90% of the work is done in the kitchen. You have to track what you're eating, anything else is just guess work.
 

Danko

You have no marbles
Jul 28, 2004
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You don't mention dieting once. 90% of the work is done in the kitchen. You have to track what you're eating, anything else is just guess work.


I did last page:
Im trying to get a routine going for eating during the work week but im trying to focus first on my 8am-4:30pm schedule at work.

I'll start by getting a Scrambled Egg and Bacon bowl from Wawa which is

Amount Per Serving
Calories 210 Calories from Fat 130
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 5g 25%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 260mg 87%
Sodium 610mg 25%
Total Carbohydrates 3g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 1g
Protein 14g

Im trying to kick my energy drink habit, currently im drinking a 16 oz can of Monster Energy Ultra Sunrise (Zero Cal, Zero "Sugar").

Then i usually have a Blue Diamond Almonds ( around a 1/2 cup) mixed witha handful of sunflower seeds.

If im still hungry i have a sandwich bag full of skinny pop popcorn.

lunch, im usually either doing chicken noodle soup and a bag of chips, or a salad with chicken or ground turkey as a topping and chips. Im also trying to kick a habit of drinking a 22 ounce fountain diet dr pepper with lunch, which i do most days.

Afternoon i usually have a sweet tooth so i started buying Halo top ice cream which is low calorie, low sugar, high protein. a full pint is like 240 calories but i usually have a 1/4 of the pint.

Im currently around 239 and would like to get down to 200 within the next year. Unfortunately i don't have a lot of time to go to the gym with a 10 month old baby. Im playing Ice hockey twice a week.

To follow up, i've been pretty conistant with doing healthier snacks at work. I think i need more of a variety for breakfast. Im usually picking something up on the way in. Any thoughts on Oatmeal?

Lunches i've been trying to do things such as chicken noodle soup, or an apple + a muscle milk.

I've been drinking a lot more water recently. I'd say im probably drinking about 3 liters throughout the day.
 

Suiteness

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Mar 14, 2003
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I did last page:


To follow up, i've been pretty conistant with doing healthier snacks at work. I think i need more of a variety for breakfast. Im usually picking something up on the way in. Any thoughts on Oatmeal?

Lunches i've been trying to do things such as chicken noodle soup, or an apple + a muscle milk.

I've been drinking a lot more water recently. I'd say im probably drinking about 3 liters throughout the day.

Oh ok, sorry about that. Your dieting needs alot of work though.

Go here https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator and plug in the necessary information.

This will give you a rough estimate of how many calories per day you should be eating to lose weight safely and consistently to reach your goals.

For instance, let's say you're 30 years old, 6'0 and you weigh 240 with a sedentary lifestyle, the calculator puts you at 2000 calories per day.

So build a menu that will have you eating close to 2000 per day to start and go from there.
 

Danko

You have no marbles
Jul 28, 2004
10,913
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Oh ok, sorry about that. Your dieting needs alot of work though.

Go here https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator and plug in the necessary information.

This will give you a rough estimate of how many calories per day you should be eating to lose weight safely and consistently to reach your goals.

For instance, let's say you're 30 years old, 6'0 and you weigh 240 with a sedentary lifestyle, the calculator puts you at 2000 calories per day.

So build a menu that will have you eating close to 2000 per day to start and go from there.

Thanks for sharing that, it will definitely help. What things specifically in my diet do you believe needs work?
 

Suiteness

Registered User
Mar 14, 2003
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Thanks for sharing that, it will definitely help. What things specifically in my diet do you believe needs work?

Too many sugary stuff, even if it says 'diet-light' or what have you, you should cut off most of that stuff. Lots of bad carbs with chips as well. There's a serious lack of protein and veggies.

Try to have at least 1 meal of meat per day (chicken, steak or pork is all fine), at least a serving of vegetable (Broccoli, roasted potatoes, cauliflower, some lettuce). Greek yogurt is a fine snack and feel free to add some honey or maple syrup in it if you want to jazz it up a bit.

Here's the thing, when you're sticking with good foods, you'll be shocked at how much you can eat in a day and still being short of your target. Bad foods like chips or pop, on the other hand, will ramp up the calories but don't do much for you overall.

As for exercices, a friend of mine managed to lose 17 pounds in a month doing this program. It's fairly basic stuff but they're things you can do at home just to give you a good baseline before moving on to more challenging stuff.
 

Captain Bowie

Registered User
Jan 18, 2012
27,139
4,414
Intermittent fasting is legit AF. Started three weeks ago at 215 lbs, wanted to cut to 190 so hopped on the IF bandwagon. Calories were set at 2300 for gym days and 1800 for non gym days, I train 4X a week.

Three weeks in and I'm down to 204 lbs. Craziness, weight just melts right off. I'm also in a happy place with my diet as of now. I do the 16/8 split. I've been lifting fasted, first thing in the morning for years so my feeding window starts with a protein shake after my workout. While I do watch calories, I mostly make sure to hit my 1 gram of protein per lbs for the day. So a typical day would be:

- Protein shake (1 cup 1% milk, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter and 3 tablespoons of hemp hearts) (64g of protein)
- 2 eggs omelet with 30g of cheese ( 21g of protein)
- 1 cup of Greek yogurt with 2 tsp of honey (23g of protein)
- 2 cups of shredded lettuce with 30g of cheese and 2 tablespoon of dressing (10g of protein)
- 250g roast beef with 1/2 lbs of roasted white creamer potatoes (70g of protein)
- 1/3 cup of dry roasted peanuts (13g of protein)

Which adds up to 2100 calories and 204 grams of protein.

I'm getting great results right now so I'll keep the macros as is. When I plateau, I'll be looking into carb cycling.

Congrats, well done. I started 16/8 fasting back in about March, really helped me lose weight like I needed to badly. Funny thing was I was never hungry in the morning anyways, so skipping breakfast turned out to be a really easy change to make.
 

M.C.G. 31

Damn, he brave!
Oct 6, 2008
96,268
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Ottawa
that feel when you have no energy at all because of mono, lost 6 pounds, know your strength is going away and so badly want to go back to the gym and force a workout and get back on track but your spleen just instantly goes "nope, sit your ass down" as soon as you think about going.

feels bad
 

UnrealMachine

Registered User
Jul 9, 2012
4,580
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Pittsburgh, USA
After not being able to do pull ups for 3 months due to some odd shoulder pain/tightness, I've been in full back attack mode the last 6 weeks. Also added inverted rows back into the mix, but I'm staggering the pulls to make it harder (think a 70/30 distribution between arms). Already feeling much better.

My next undertaking has pushed me towards achieving proficiency in a free handstand. Handstands are huge in acro and I'm at the point where they are basically a required element. There's so much that goes into them, but step one is to increase my shoulder flexibility and engage the proper muscles so that I can get my arms completely stacked with both shoulders touching my face while extended. I'm willing to work on it.
 

Mrb1p

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Dec 10, 2011
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After not being able to do pull ups for 3 months due to some odd shoulder pain/tightness, I've been in full back attack mode the last 6 weeks. Also added inverted rows back into the mix, but I'm staggering the pulls to make it harder (think a 70/30 distribution between arms). Already feeling much better.

My next undertaking has pushed me towards achieving proficiency in a free handstand. Handstands are huge in acro and I'm at the point where they are basically a required element. There's so much that goes into them, but step one is to increase my shoulder flexibility and engage the proper muscles so that I can get my arms completely stacked with both shoulders touching my face while extended. I'm willing to work on it.

Im able to land the pose, but cant move or breath at all or I fall over. Any tips? Basically I go up on the wall, straighten myself of it and hold but I cant move or I lose balance, I assume you went through this as well.

Also, do you recommend facing the wall or the other way?
 

UnrealMachine

Registered User
Jul 9, 2012
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Pittsburgh, USA
Im able to land the pose, but cant move or breath at all or I fall over. Any tips? Basically I go up on the wall, straighten myself of it and hold but I cant move or I lose balance, I assume you went through this as well.

Also, do you recommend facing the wall or the other way?

This is the best and most comprehensive article on handstand training that I've read: https://gmb.io/handstand/

Honestly, I'm still new to actual handstand training. When I do handstand push-ups my shoulders *are not* stacked, so I'm using way more shoulder strength than I would in a proper handstand. I also have my feet touching the wall the whole time (I'm facing away from the wall in this scenario). My best guess for you though is you need to work on the "hollow body" position and learn to breathe while still maintaining (full) body tension. It's difficult, but very much achievable.
 

Mrb1p

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Dec 10, 2011
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Citizen of the world
This is the best and most comprehensive article on handstand training that I've read: https://gmb.io/handstand/

Honestly, I'm still new to actual handstand training. When I do handstand push-ups my shoulders *are not* stacked, so I'm using way more shoulder strength than I would in a proper handstand. I also have my feet touching the wall the whole time (I'm facing away from the wall in this scenario). My best guess for you though is you need to work on the "hollow body" position and learn to breathe while still maintaining (full) body tension. It's difficult, but very much achievable.

Damn, after a quick look it seems incredibly detailed.
 

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