Workout: What did you do today?

[DJChameleon]

I trained legs today at the gym. My new coach has me doing some sort of cardio before I do any weights, I guess it is to keep my heart rate higher while I'm doing the weights? On any of my old plans I never used to get so sweaty/tired and the only difference I can think of is that I'm doing a decent amount of cardio before I lift anything.

How much cardio did you do? Like 10 mins. I see some gym bros doing it and my old trainer used to make me to it too. Cardio to get your heart rate up then doing the circuit.

If you do more than 10 mins worth of cardio it tires you out and you end up lifting less than you would without doing cardio.

[jimmy jazz]

You can always do cardio after you lift.

[jadis]

I trained legs today at the gym. My new coach has me doing some sort of cardio before I do any weights, I guess it is to keep my heart rate higher while I'm doing the weights? On any of my old plans I never used to get so sweaty/tired and the only difference I can think of is that I'm doing a decent amount of cardio before I lift anything.

Could it be just a warm-up? Based on what several trainers have told me over the years, it makes more sense to do weights first, then cardio. Your metabolism skyrockets after weights and then cardio would have a much greater effect. 

[Guybrush]

Didn't like the bench much as I figured it was for exercising abs/back and not for bench presses, so threw that out and bought a new (well, second hand but unused) from someone who lives right by here. The new one comes with a barbell rack for bench presses and was quite a bit more fancy.

Then I picked up a straight barbell from a sports store as the ez/curl thing we had was small for the rack and anyways seems a little less suited for the squats and bench presses.

So I got the gear buying part of fitness pretty much down and it's a lot of fun.

[jimmy jazz]

Didn't like the bench much as I figured it was for exercising abs/back and not for bench presses, so threw that out and bought a new (well, second hand but unused) from someone who lives right be here. The new one comes with a barbell rack for bench presses and was quite a bit more fancy.

Then I picked up a straight barbell from a sports store as the ez/curl thing we had was small for the rack and anyways seems a little less suited for the squats and bench presses.

So I got the gear buying part of fitness pretty much down and it's a lot of fun.

You will outgrow this eventually but even if you're lifting five times a week you will be cool for a year or so.

If you look to upgrade or want something better, I'd recommend something like the following:



+



Obviously use the squat stands for your benching as well as squatting. Mine have a weight capacity of 300kg and my bench is 250kg so I'm well within those limits even with myself included in the bench. Basically all you need in a bench if you're training at home is something you can set to incline and with a good weight capacity, plus separate stands as ones that are part of the bench don't tend to have much capacity, also you can't move them around to suit your grip.

[Guybrush]

The one I bought now is pretty much like the first image you posted, but does have the stands sorta integrated. It seems useful enough for me, at least for a while I'm relatively weak and not lifting a lot of Kgs, so it'll probably last for a while and then I can swap it out later. Something I love about the second hand market is how easy it is to sell for the same-ish price as you paid earlier.

The free stands look really useful. I'll keep an eye out for those.

So I have the beginnings of an exercise program that I made myself. It could be shit, so maybe you guys have some tips. I don't have any particular problem areas in terms of strength that I want to address. My fitness goal is basically to be a little stronger, better mobility, a little sexier maybe and better condition overall.

So this is what I have sketched out so far:

I plan to start each session with some short warmup, like maybe 5-10 minutes on a treatmill or perhaps some power yoga. Then I have:


Monday (cardio day)
Situps
Reverse situps
Biceps curl
Jogging (main focus)


Tuesday (compound day)
Pendlay rows
Squats
Bench press


Wednesday (rest day)
Being a slob
Watching TV
Stuffing face
Masturbation (but not too rigorous)


Thursday (Mobility day)
Situps
Reverse situps
Biceps curl
Yoga (main focus)


Friday (compound day)
Pendlay rows
Squats
Bench press


Saturday (rest day)
Gettin' my chub on
Playing video games
Daytime napping


Sunday (compound day)
Pendlay row
Squats
Bench press


Besides squats, maybe I need more leg exercices, although I will be doing a fair bit of jogging as it's the most likely warmup to each session.

My reasoning for including the biceps curl is I think the compound exercises don't cover them that well (?) and we have this curl bar anyways, plus a few dumbbells. Not sure what else I'd use the curl bar for, but I'm aware an abundance of answers are just a google search away.

My reasoning for including situps and the reverse variety is I also don't think lower back and stomach are greatly targetted by the compound exercices (?).

There was a time when I could do 10-12 pull-ups, but that's a long time ago. Now it's more like 3 so until I get a little stronger, I've left those out. The pullup bar is so that you can put it on the floor to do pushups with and that's quite nice as I have a wonky wrist. I guess I might trade some of the bench pressing for pushups.

[jimmy jazz]

Wednesday sounds great.

You can do Romanian deadlifts and hip thrusts for hams. And you can add Bulgarian split squats for quads. They are challenging but fine to do with just your bodyweight.

Good shout on switching between bench press and pushups as that's what I was going to suggest. You could do that with everything BTW. Switch between two exercises each week. So have a week 1 routine and week 2. Week 1 squat, week 2 Bulgarian split squat. Etc.

BTW, you use the curl bar for bicep curls and also you can use it for skullcrushers.

Other than that it looks OK, keep reps to no more than 12 and sets to 3 for the first month or so, if you don't have debilitating muscle soreness that stops you moving around the next day then you're safe to increase. Remember, slow and perfect form and mind to muscle connection. And progressive overload.

Good luck Tore, post if you need anything.

And remember physique pics.

[Guybrush]

Wednesday sounds great.

You can do Romanian deadlifts and hip thrusts for hams. And you can add Bulgarian split squats for quads. They are challenging but fine to do with just your bodyweight.

Good shout on switching between bench press and pushups as that's what I was going to suggest. You could do that with everything BTW. Switch between two exercises each week. So have a week 1 routine and week 2. Week 1 squat, week 2 Bulgarian split squat. Etc.

BTW, you use the curl bar for bicep curls and also you can use it for skullcrushers.

Other than that it looks OK, keep reps to no more than 12 and sets to 3 for the first month or so, if you don't have debilitating muscle soreness that stops you moving around the next day then you're safe to increase. Remember, slow and perfect form and mind to muscle connection. And progressive overload.

Good luck Tore, post if you need anything.

Thanks for the tips for alternate exercises. Skullcrusher sounds like the name of orc, so I guess I'll have to check out what that means.

I made and printed some sheets that I've hung on the wall where I write down every exercise, so that's already useful.

I've done two days so far, my mobility Thursday and compound Friday. Both days were good and I noted how to adjust the weights on the coming days. I've started safe, so they felt a little light for a couple of the exercises.

And remember physique pics.

The pressure!!

As a way to find motivation and keeping track of progress, I have a before picture here.

I'll share it somewhat reluctantly, but don't expect it to stay up long 😅

[DJChameleon]

As a way to find motivation and keeping track of progress, I have a before picture here.

I'll share it somewhat reluctantly, but don't expect it to stay up long 😅

Your arms already show some definition. I think you'll do a great job.

it's the weekend so I just came in from my 20 min walk but I'm still on the no gym time on the weekends thing.

has anyone ever tried 1 on 1 coaching like online?

I stumbled upon an ad recently and ended up setting up a phone appointment with someone that does it.

They wanted to charge me 7k for the top notch guy or 3.5k for his lackeys that will help but just not as good as the top guy.

Anyways, I know my budget for the month and it wouldn't allow such a big expenditure.

I doubt I will go through with it, I was tempted to get on a monthly payment plan for it but well one I was denied and two I'm glad I was denied because I really don't need this extra expensive in my life at the time being.

[jadis]

That sounds way too expensive

Is there only one gym in your area? You live in Jersey, right? How far from NYC?

I'm still on my six days a week routine. Feels good man

[jimmy jazz]

Thanks for the tips for alternate exercises. Skullcrusher sounds like the name of orc, so I guess I'll have to check out what that means.

I made and printed some sheets that I've hung on the wall where I write down every exercise, so that's already useful.

I've done two days so far, my mobility Thursday and compound Friday. Both days were good and I noted how to adjust the weights on the coming days. I've started safe, so they felt a little light for a couple of the exercises.

The pressure!!

As a way to find motivation and keeping track of progress, I have a before picture here.

I'll share it somewhat reluctantly, but don't expect it to stay up long 😅

Well done mate , you are not out of shape to start with. But even if you were it doesn't matter. We all start somewhere.

When I started again (2020) I took a pic and you're in better shape now than I was then. I'll post the 3 years progress pic later if anyone is arsed.

[jadis]

The forecast said it will be 37C today, ended up peaking at 41.

I was outside for maybe 20 minutes (the walk to and from the gym), have AC at home and at the gym but still feeling increasingly listless. Felt great after the workout but the more the day wears on the more I have second thoughts about having gone outside.

[Guybrush]

Well done mate , you are not out of shape to start with. But even if you were it doesn't matter. We all start somewhere.

When I started again (2020) I took a pic and you're in better shape now than I was then. I'll post the 3 years progress pic later if anyone is arsed.

I'd love to see your progress 🙂

I'm not in awful shape as I live a semi-active life with occasional exertion, but I definitely have let myself go. Let's say I was hooking up with someone new. I'd be embarrassed, so it does affect my self-esteem.

Throughout my life, I've tried various things like swimming regularly, rock climbing, yoga, but they've been highly temporary arrangements in my life 😅 The last time I exercised regularly was 2018 when I was jogging a bit and doing tabata twice every week. But then I got a promotion and tons more work stress plus the extra kid.. I've never had a period of such prolonged slobbing as now.

I'm very determined and feeling good about this, though. I've noticed that making things super accessible / easy is key for me and having a very basic gym at home fixes that. At least for the time being.

[jimmy jazz]

I'd love to see your progress 🙂

Here they are 😯 the first one is literally the day I decided to start lifting again, would have been the first week of January 2020. The other two were taken within the past few months:

https://ibb.co/bKwYyYK
https://ibb.co/WGvRJX6

I'm not in awful shape as I live a semi-active life with occasional exertion, but I definitely have let myself go. Let's say I was hooking up with someone new. I'd be embarrassed, so it does affect my self-esteem.

Throughout my life, I've tried various things like swimming regularly, rock climbing, yoga, but they've been highly temporary arrangements in my life 😅 The last time I exercised regularly was 2018 when I was jogging a bit and doing tabata twice every week. But then I got a promotion and tons more work stress plus the extra kid.. I've never had a period of such prolonged slobbing as now.

I'm very determined and feeling good about this, though. I've noticed that making things super accessible / easy is key for me and having a very basic gym at home fixes that. At least for the time being.

If you can make a small change or commitment, stick to that for one month, you are more likely to succeed. Could be going for a walk three times a week, cutting out soft drinks or not skipping breakfast etc. Once you start to see some progress and your body changing you will find it easier imo.

Enjoy the journey and not just the end destination. Looking forward to seeing how you get on mate

[Guybrush]

Here they are 😯 the first one is literally the day I decided to start lifting again, would have been the first week of January 2020. The other two were taken within the past few months:

https://ibb.co/bKwYyYK
https://ibb.co/WGvRJX6

If you can make a small change or commitment, stick to that for one month, you are more likely to succeed. Could be going for a walk three times a week, cutting out soft drinks or not skipping breakfast etc. Once you start to see some progress and your body changing you will find it easier imo.

Enjoy the journey and not just the end destination. Looking forward to seeing how you get on mate

Holy crap.. You're humongous! And looking good too 🙂

Thanks for sharing and for being such a good motivator!