Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[Induveca]

Pancakes, upon waking this morning I can say that routine is as good as advertised. Haven't been this sore in years. Definitely going to stimulate a lot of growth. I'm a happy man.

In terms of lat pulldowns depends on the machine, but cable based 160 is pretty easily doable. Much higher on bar based pulldowns. The cable one tweaks my elbow for some reason, always has.

[fishercob]

Common misconception that soreness is a good thing. It's actually your body telling you that you've overdone it.

[Nivek]

For anyone interested, Warrior Dash is coming to Mechanicsville, MD on May 21-22. Register Here.

I will be running again.

[Induveca]

Fisher you're actually completely wrong........if bodybuilders never got sore they'd never grow beyond a certain point

I've been working out for years, the only reason *muscles* get sore is when you overwork them, they have miniscule tears all over......and they are entering repair mode. At that stage by loading yourself up with protein and solid nutrition your muscles grow.

The real challenge for anyone like me after years of lifting is shocking the body and overloading it to the point where the muscles are forced to grow to keep up, and not hurting connective tissues (only way to do that is perfect form and listening to your body). I'm throwing down 200 grams of protein daily for the next week.......

This is something I only do every 3-4 months. After a while my body simply becomes accustomed to a certain weight level and adapts, only way to break that plateau is to shock your muscles with a radical new approach.

Explanation:
http://www.muscle-pro.com/weight-traini ... reness.htm

Read up on this to learn about DOMS/delayed onset muscle soreness and why it is actually the sign of a great workout. It really only applies to serious weightlifters, if most people get sore it's simply because they overdid it. Most guys in the gym get injured because their form is horrible and even though a certain body part can only lift a certain weight, they contort their bodies all crazily to get a weight up that's vastly too heavy for the body part they think they are working. That's why maintaining perfect form is so crucial. If you can't lift a weight with perfect form, plain and simple it's too heavy for you and you're going to hurt yourself and get the type of sore you're talking about. Tendon/connective tissue soreness is very different from muscle soreness.

[pancakes3]

Pancakes, upon waking this morning I can say that routine is as good as advertised. Haven't been this sore in years. Definitely going to stimulate a lot of growth. I'm a happy man.

In terms of lat pulldowns depends on the machine, but cable based 160 is pretty easily doable. Much higher on bar based pulldowns. The cable one tweaks my elbow for some reason, always has.

i know what you mean. that weird feeling like there's a tendon sliding over your elbow? bar-based pulldowns are probably easier because of the counterweight mechanism?


as for soreness, as far as i know, it comes down to body ache vs joint ache: dull vs acute. when the muscles are sore, it's the muscles being torn (which will rebuild). if your knees, elbows, wrists, neck, are sore then you did something wrong. also if the pain only comes when you're in a particular position, then you probably strained a muscle. the "good" sore comes no matter what.

[dobrojim]

sore as a mother-father this afternoon. Feeling pretty satisfied with finishing the MCM
in 3:27, good for top 50 in my 5 year age-group. Still looking for that elusive marathon
negative split though. Boston qualifier for an old man like me. Solid effort.

[nate33]

sore as a mother-father this afternoon. Feeling pretty satisfied with finishing the MCM
in 3:27, good for top 50 in my 5 year age-group. Still looking for that elusive marathon
negative split though. Boston qualifier for an old man like me. Solid effort.

Fantastic job, dobro!

3:27 is damn impressive (for an old fart like you)!

[dobrojim]

sore as a mother-father this afternoon. Feeling pretty satisfied with finishing the MCM
in 3:27, good for top 50 in my 5 year age-group. Still looking for that elusive marathon
negative split though. Boston qualifier for an old man like me. Solid effort.

Fantastic job, dobro!

3:27 is damn impressive (for an old fart like you)!

well put and truer words...at least the part about bein' an old fart

[montestewart]

sore as a mother-father this afternoon. Feeling pretty satisfied with finishing the MCM
in 3:27, good for top 50 in my 5 year age-group. Still looking for that elusive marathon
negative split though. Boston qualifier for an old man like me. Solid effort.

Fantastic! i should stop coming here and reading about your exploits, because it's depressing where I am in contrast, but on the other hand, it's kind of motivational too, so maybe I'll just keep reading about it and sucking it up. Nice job.

[w dumseld]

Nate,

Just wanted to thank you. My wife just ran the NYC marathon for her first marathon and I showed her your post from the marathon you just ran. You were really fast in the first half if you walk ran towards the end and still had that time. Anyway, she ran a perfect split and really resisted the temptation to run fast in the beginning. She said NY was just awesome with all of the people cheering along the road and the other runners were great and it was so tempting to increase the pace in the beginning, but she stuck to her plan and said she smiled the whole way it was so much fun. Anyway, just wanted to let you know your post helped.

[nate33]

Thanks w dumseld! It's nice to know that others have learned from my stupidity.

I can't wait to do another marathon. I'm absolutely dying to correct my mistakes.

[no D in Hibachi]

Question for all my Wiz brethern. I've been reading up on the official workout/fitness thread lately and am inspired to change.

I started a new job a month ago which has afforded me roughly 10-15 spare hours during the week. Over the last month I've increased my exercise ten fold from nothing to daily active exercise. I've ran for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week for the last three weeks. Typically I run about 3.25 miles so I'm at a 6-6.5 mph clip. It feels great and I'm pumped to continue.

My objective for running every day is two-fold. First, to increase overall endurance so that when I play basketball I'm not completely winded after two trips upcourt, and second, to decrease my weight (if any of you have worked in public accounting you know what it's like to pack on pounds).

After about a month of exercise I've sustained no weight loss, but I'm not depressed about it since I feel 10 times better and I figure that modifying my weight will take more than a month, and I feel like it will take roughly another year to have rec-ball inshape endurance.

On to my questions--how long did it take for you to notice a decrease in weight after beginning a sustained exercising routine? In addition to increased cardio activity, what else did you do during this period, and what were the ultimate results?

Thanks for any tips!

[pancakes3]

you won't have any appreciable weight loss until you lock up your diet. that's what i'm struggling with also though weight loss isn't my primary (or secondary) goal. getting into better hoops shape is the primary goal, and losing flabbiness is the secondary goal. weight loss means losing more fat mass than muscle mass, which is near-impossible to do if you don't diet.

you can feasibly lose inches (gradually) but still not see any major changes in your poundage.

[nate33]

pancakes3 is right. If you are not losing weight despite that much cardio, then the problem is that you are probably eating more calories. It's a natural reaction when you ramp up the cardio - you ramp up your appetite too.

I suggest incorporating more weightlifting into your routine. The added muscle mass will help burn the calories faster without the increase in appetite. I'd also try to eat more protein and less carbs. (Don't worry so much about fat. Fat has an undeserved bad reputation.) Really try to cut back on the simple carbs like bread, pasta and potatoes. Also cut back on sugar. All those simple carbs just trigger an insulin response that ultimately makes you hungry again much sooner. If your hungry and need a snack, eat some nuts, or a slice of turkey. Don't grab the chips or cookies.

One other option would be to try to work in a long run into your schedule. Instead of six 3.5-mile runs, do four 3.5-mile runs and one 7-mile run/walk. Then, build up that long run until you can go for about 90-120 minutes. When you run that long, you deplete your body of glycogen (carbs) and force it to burn fat directly. Do enough long runs and your body will adapt and start to burn a higher ratio of fat relative to carbs all the time (in an effort to conserve glycogen).

[dobrojim]

I accidentally ran 28 miles yesterday

only meant to do ~25. I did a familiarization run
on the 50 mile course that I'll be running on Saturday.
Started at the turn-around point so I could see the whole
thing without running that far. Failure to pay appropriate
attention to the detail that they moved the turn-around
resulted in the extra 3 miles. Beautiful day so it all ended
up being good.

cold water soaks really are miraculous. I am walking
down stairs normally today.

[dobrojim]

that was a hard fifty today - first of all, the leaves were just deep
enough to hide roots that were just high enough to send you sprawling.
I got to a point in the race around 25-30 miles where I started to fall
a lot (5-6x). Finally I fell and didn't get my hands up enough to protect my
head and knocked my noggin on a root drawing blood and earning
nominations for 'best blood' when I got to the next aid station.
I was just too tired to pick my feet up enough not to stumble
and fall. That was the last one though.

Went on to finish in 11:49. The course was actually longer
than 50 miles coming in somewhere over 51 miles. I started
at 6 AM and didn't finish until after dark. Long day. The 600 mgs
of ibu I took with around 8 miles to go resurrected me enough
not to do a lot worse.

[Induveca]

Finally hit 400 pounds today for 3 reps on decline (405 to be exact).

4 45s on each side, was a rush. But getting there really punished my body...great results but a bit too intense without dedicating your entire life to lifting. Going to go back down to the 275-300 level for 10 reps. It's just too scary to lift that much weight on a regular basis......one slip and goodbye rotator cuff. There is just no way to "control" something that heavy without a very strong spotter.

Anyways, next plan is to do maintenance lifting mixed with a ton of swimming for a few weeks. Back to France end of December and swimming no longer an option (unless you wear a speedo.....required in french pools...not kidding).

[nate33]

Wow! Congrats to you both. Those are incredible achievements.

[mhd]

Nate, Quick question:

I'm not obese per se, but want to lose 10-15 pounds to get in better shape (right now, 6 feet, 197). Those pounds were gained steadily over 4 years in law school. Hit the gym for the first time in a while and was able to jog 1.5 miles on an indoor track before tiring out (probably could have gone to 1.7 miles to be honest).

How far can I build my endurance? Any suggestions?

[willbcocks]

Finally hit 400 pounds today for 3 reps on decline (405 to be exact).

4 45s on each side, was a rush. But getting there really punished my body...great results but a bit too intense without dedicating your entire life to lifting. Going to go back down to the 275-300 level for 10 reps. It's just too scary to lift that much weight on a regular basis......one slip and goodbye rotator cuff. There is just no way to "control" something that heavy without a very strong spotter.

Anyways, next plan is to do maintenance lifting mixed with a ton of swimming for a few weeks. Back to France end of December and swimming no longer an option (unless you wear a speedo.....required in french pools...not kidding).

Are speedos required in the weight room too? If so, I understand why you don't have a spotter...