Yeah it was an impromptu photo. Been getting stronger, and as far as looks go, shoulders, abs and upper part of the chest are getting more and more defined recently. Good improvements.

Sick of dieting. Eating more food, working on getting my deadlift up from 415 to 455. I'll probably diet again after that.

Well, unfortunately I was a bit too enthusiastic regarding my new gymnastic ring stuff. It is def. a lot (!!!) of fun, don't get me wrong.
But it seems to demanding for my body. It's not that I was sore after working out. Some old problems in my upper back started popping
up again. After being pain free again I worked normally at the gym which was ok and then after that again at the rings for some kind
of "test" again. Aaaand the pain was there again. It really wasn't your normal soreness/aching but just felt wrong.

So, I'm back at my normal gym stuff. It's cool and such but the rings really was sth new and I wished I could have kept training on
them.

Generally I'm making good progress but still struggle a bit with my long arms and as a result to this a rather slow biceps growth
(triceps grows great, though). Still a bit unpleased with my little gut but I won't go to the gym more than three times a week and
going to work by bike. There is a life and wife besides working out and I won't throw running etc into additionally

Just for "completeness" here's the latest pic of me (taken about two months back, IIRC). Looking grumpy and tried (ok, I was when taking the pic)

Been phasing in a new exercise lately... after my main lifts for the day, I'll load up a barbell and do a clean+press with 135 lbs and just hold the weight above my head locked out for as long as I can. Feels like a plank in the standing position, but also burns the shoulders really nice. I do 4 of 'em with a minute rest in between.

it's definitely a demanding apparatus.
but there's still a lot of ring-like stuff you can do on neutral bars at the gym if they have a dip station or something like that.

I just moved into a new house, and now my bench press is mere feet from my computer, egging me on to work on my chest (it's winter, it was easy to ignore when it was in the garage). my thumb hasn't fully recovered yet, but I'm managing light weight ok.

I'm about to start kind of the same routine, and eventually I'll throw weight on my back when it comes time to add some resistance (probably using sandbags rather than actual free-weights). I'm trying to avoid going to the gym for the most part, and this just sounds ridiculously practical in comparison.

Testing my 1RM for the main lifts this week, then a week off. Then I intend to begin Wendler's 5/3/1 program. If anyone here has tried that program, I'd be curious to hear how you felt about it.

I used Wendler's when I first began lifting for numbers. I definitely liked it for what it was and there is a lot of room for variation, but it got very stale after a while. It seems to be good for "getting on your feet" but other than that I wasn't a fan. I found that it was very easy to plateau and injure yourself for some reason. I think it was due to not keeping an up to date 1RM to go off of and instead just increasing weight over time, even if it meant sacrificing form. However, I still base my current routine on the principles of that program and some of Jim's philosophy.

I also tested my maxes last week, but I intend to do (and finish) Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 (pretty much Strong Lifts with accessories). I've lifted for over a year, but lacking discipline, I'm still a novice, and I want to milk my noob gains for a few months. Then do Madcow 5x5.

5/3/1 is a great program, and the best thing is that you can tailor it to your needs, but I think increasing the weight every 4 week is waaay to slow for a novice or early intermediate. Novices (as I still am) can add weight every workout.

I assume that's not this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJVSNhkvTQ

Yeah, I'm a bit apprehensive because some of my lifts are in advanced territory, while others are not. For example, my bench press is about 315 (last max test was 295, but it went up easy -- I'll try 315 on Thursday). But -- the bad news -- my squat is also about 315. But still, if I stick with 5/3/1 for a year, I might be able to avoid stalling on squats altogether. If so, then I can add 120 pounds, and be squatting well over 4 plates. That's just fine by me. And increasing my bench more slowly should be welcome. I had been stalling at ~225 for 5x5 for way too long.

Maybe I should have tried Madcow, but I've been so fixated on 5/3/1 for so long that I'm really itching to get started. And I intend to stick with it for many months before passing judgment. Looking forward to it.

I've stopped doing programs altogether and have just been focusing on paying close attention to how my body responds to certain stimuli. It keeps things in a constant flux and when I stagnate I don't feel confined within a program's walls to get out of it. For example I've just been lifting three days a week with cardio days in between, hitting as many sets as possible of the main lifts, and finishing the day off with assistance/body weight/abs. I will change the reps for the main lifts every week and go between strength to bodybuilding assistance depending on energy levels and body image. My one guideline is to practice form over weight, however. Since I started doing this instead of a program I have gotten in the best shape of my entire life and have avoided injury. But then again I guess it all depends on how well you know your body.

Great post... refreshing to see some sense return to this thread.

It's true that allowing oneself flexibility and customization can be good. You can tailor things to your perceived needs, and if you are highly self-aware, these will be your actual needs. But to some extent, programs exist to tell us what to do when the full effects of various stimuli are too slow to consciously manifest, when research about what bodies generally respond well to can be used to clear gaps in our subjective knowledge. This is of course part of why people are told to stay on programs for long enough to give them a proper try -- months. Sometimes we need simple numbers to tell us what our self-perception cannot. However, I suspect that if a program puts someone at risk of injury, that should be one of the things we can notice on the spot. One way to address this might be to just quit when your form starts slipping, even if you haven't done all the prescribed reps -- just count it as a failure.

Perhaps the moral of the story is that we should just seek programs that seem to work for us. If we construe "program" loosely, then you're on a kind of program, but just one that works for you. I, however, suspect that the accumulated wisdom out there about programming and periodization has something to teach me about what my body responds to, something that I couldn't learn if I never had faith to try out particular programs in the first place. In essence, I see myself as doing basically the same thing: Finding what my body responds best to, and doing it. But I'm going to test if what my body responds best to might be already more-or-less described in a program. Maybe the objection is just that programs are too rigid and don't allow for on-the-fly adjustments. To some extent, sure. But for most people, that freedom will just allow for acute anxieties to dominate, and to determine what they do on a daily or weekly basis when their decisions probably _should_ be based instead on data about how things affect us long-term. In short, the relative rigidity of programs allows us to compensate for the failings of our self-knowledge.

If I had the time, energy, and mental strength I would program, do periodization, and count calories in a heartbeat. However, science only goes so far til the rigidity of the lifestyle starts fucking with my OCD and anxiety. At one point while I was "programming" (we'll define it as following a pre-made routine rather than what I'm currently doing), I specifically remember telling myself I COULDN'T go to the gym for the rest of the week because I missed my Monday workout on multiple occasions. I thought somehow it would throw the entire program out of loop. I had the same problems with my diet. If I ate anything that I considered "unclean" I would just not lift for the rest of the week and eat like shit. Now that I'm off of a program and doing my own thing all of these anxieties are gone for the most part. I still feel like an asshole sometimes if I eat shitty on a day I'm supposed to lift but that usually happens only during the winter time when depression is a motherfucker.

Long story short I'm a huge proponent of what is going to keep anyone in the gym and eating well for a long period of time, i.e the rest of their lives.

That all makes sense to me.

I started tracking my diet in conjunction with a cut I'm doing, and it's really shown me how shit I eat. I use MyFitnessPal. I used the set calorie amount of 2,410 calories to lose a pound a week. The ratio is 35/40/25 carbs, protein, and fat. I've gone over on carbs and fat before, but I gotta say that was during really busy days where I had to eat out, like on the way back from a weekend run for a gig in Chicago. I also realized how little protein I eat, not nearly as much as I thought I did. Nowhere near the amount that I should. I also sometimes eat less than 2410 calories, just eating what I'm comfortable with. Makes me realize how terrible my bulks were.


Is there some aspect of these things I should change? Is 241g of protein a day a good amount to shoot for, or am I way off on that front? The nutrition side of lifting is something I've only recently started taking really seriously.

241g is way, way too high and pointless - especially on a cut. Also, remember that whatever calculation you get online (and they are oftentimes way different) is by no means static. It depends on so many factors.. daily stresses, basic activity level not counting extraneous cardio and working out, etc. Just doing the math off of the top of my head, your calculations are saying that you would need roughly 3k calories a day just to maintain, which is probably overshooting it a bit. Try and have a decent deficit from diet alone (300, just to throw a number out there) and let all of the cardio and extra activity serve as "bonus" - that way you aren't forced to live or die by it.

This is what worked for me.

241g of protein a day is a bit much haha. Even 1g per pound of lean body mass is technically overshooting. The most recent studies on the issue say that all that is necessary is somewhere between .64g to .82 grams per pound.

http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myt ... ybuilders/

If you end up consuming an excess of protein - more than you might need - it's just gonna get pissed out. It doesn't get stored, so what a waste.

Slowly - but steadily - my gut is slipping away Seems like I have found my personal way to do it. First: I left aside the dextrose (took some in my whey in the morning and post workout shake), second: I'm doing super sets of antagonizing body parts and put the saved time in cardio, third: taking a longer way to work by bike, fourth: more bodyweight than iron stuff. So far I'm pleased with the results

Thanks guys! I've fiddled with my macro goals a bit, and brought the protein down to approximately .86g/pound, and when I start a bulk I think I'll bring it up to 1g/pound. That should be a lot easier to achieve.

Down to a 31 inch waist and down from 185 to 178 pounds in the last month. Still making good gains on the weights, and ready for the winter bulk.

EDIT: Pic from today. No pump this time either. Pardon the environment... Only mirror here and it sucks.

had a lot of fun yesterday at a new calesthenics gym near my home: finally figured out how to back roll into handstand; learned how to swing/hop over straight and parallel bars; and started learning how to do front and back flip having not been on a trampoline in 15 years

I'd post a progress pic, but all the ones I take are shirtless and with rolled up boxer briefs. I crop my face out, but still not sure I want to put those types of pictures up on the internet for everyone to see.

Finally got my fiancee in the gym and on a diet, though. She needs a lot of work.

another Sunday, another step in the right direction
http://youtu.be/iZYb9adJSeo

didn't even realize until I reviewed the footage that I threw up the horns in celebration

Today was the first time in a few years I clocked myself when I was out running. It is far from exact in regards to both the time and how far I was running. But it was roughly 8 km in about 41 minutes. At my peak I remember doing 10 km in roughly 43 minutes (probably somewhat faster since that was an average calculation of my km time when I ran 16 km in total). Now, it is hardly surprising that I'm worse off now. Since I started doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 4 years ago my focus has been on that and even if I'm in good shape doing grappling won't make you run faster. I also had a pain in my knee for several months this year so I haven't really been out running as I should. But I still enjoy getting out every now and then. Much like martial arts sparring running clears my mind most of the time.

I debated posting this in the regular "Post your picture!" thread but it is more relevant here. Might as well document my "starting point" since I regularly started going to the gym about two weeks ago. This is no pump, but after cardio.

fuck were you doing before that, conquering the European continent?

Small pic, but them pec striations are poppin' big time!

Used to be nearly 30 pounds heavier, with slightly higher BF (I surprised myself with how lean I got just watching my diet over the last 9 months). Has been a tough road but I promised myself I will beat my personal best by the time I am 30. I don't care about how much I can lift, but how efficiently I can lift it to get bigger without grinding my joints to dust. I don't do overhead press, all laterals.

Just for reference, I was well over 200 pounds a year ago, with a skinnyfat gut and all. I regret not taking a "before" pic but for reference, here is someone that looks almost exactly like I did:

Started training again in January this year after a 6 year lay off. I'd hit 40 and 200lbs at 5'7". I pretty much just did some conditioning style workouts for the 1st 2 months and some light weight work to relearn the movements, then moved on to a modified 5/3/1, which is basically, 5x5 , 3x3 , 1x1 then the deload week, which i really feel i need now i'm a bit older.

Mon - Bench/Back
Tue - Squat
Thu - Front Squat
Fri - OHP/Back
Sat - Deadlift

BW is now down to 180 lbs (Target weight) and lifts are moving along well. I pretty much don't touch alcohol anymore only some milk, water and green tea.
Food wise, plenty of good protein (Eggs, fish, steak) plenty veg, some porridge and some carbs with my meal after training.
Things i've learnt since making a return to the gym which may help others :

Posture is everything - if you sit at a desk, see about getting a standing desk, only 2 years of desk work was enough to cause shoulder and hip problems for me - i don't think people realise just what long term bad posture can do to your body, and putting it back to normal is no quick fix

Low bar squats are great, but may cause golfers elbow if shoulder mobility is crap (posture!) Neutral grip chin ups - clears this in no time - 20 sets of 1 rep, twice a week and wear wrist straps when low bar squatting. Also keep back tight as possible and grip as close as possible.

Low bar squatting then benching the following day may be the cause of shoulder pain

Still getting shoulder pain but not sure why, do you front squat - try a stingray and see if this helps

Do 50 reps of shoulder dislocations daily

Tight lower back, funny knees? get a lacrosse ball and hit the shit out your glutes and TFL and general hip/groin area everyday along with your foam rolling - this will hurt but help!

Can you elaborate? I ride my bike 4-8 miles a day, but weight loss is slow, and I'm fairly sure it's diet, since I'm moving around all the time at work. Unfortunately, I've been gaining muscle faster than I've been losing weight so the scale and I weren't friends for a month or two until I figured that out.

I am very into hearing about the form and efficiency priorities recently in this thread. I'm a carpenter, and I've never gymed-out, but people tend to get strong in my field because of all the small repetitions of lifting and moving things. Of course, people also have a tendency to get hurt because of bad form and exhaustion.

Right. I admit that was somewhat confusing. I meant 30 pounds more muscle, so I was a little over 200. Then I stopped working out and got overweight and atrophied a lot. Ended up around 220 or so and soft as hell. Dieted down over the last year and came down to around 170, so I've lost a lot of muscle. That is where I stand.

You can't outrun (or outbike) poor diet choices IMO. You gotta track your calories, as there is probably more room to shave surplus off. I used some online tracker for the first month of my diet until I felt comfortable enough on my own. It helped me get into a comfortable rhythm and the rest was honestly pretty easy. I find it easier to diet than to stuff my face trying to gain weight.

Nearing the end of my first cycle on 5/3/1 with the "boring but big" assistance template. I haven't been diligent enough with stretching, and am stiff and sore all over. Longingly looking toward the upcoming deload week.

In fairness, Wendler does talk about working around plateaus that will inevitably happen. When stalling he suggests moving back 2 cycles on the lift in question and I found it works just fine for solving the problem. Also if you're honest with yourself about your weak points on a given lift and tailor accessory lifts accordingly, it should help prevent injury and frequent plateaus as well. I also found it the opposite for injuries in my case. I have some injury-prone areas (from other sports) and on 5/3/1 it made it much easier to monitor and avoid re-injury especially making sure to get in a good amount of stretching and foam rolling before and after each workout. Also, just to point out that Wendler does say you should never sacrifice form just to steadily increase weight over time. If you cannot complete the prescribed number of reps using proper form, he's said to consider it stalling/failed. If it persists not being able to lift the weight for the allotted reps using proper form, then consider it stalling regardless of if you're able to get the weight up using improper form (and so the lifter should move back 2 cycles and start again from there).

I will admit I'm a big fan of 5/3/1 so I don't really see it as a programme just to "get on your feet". For the non-competitive lifter I think its a great programme (though he has also adapted 5/3/1 for powerlifting), and I agree with Wendler that a lot of non-competitive lifters do obsess far too much with the short-term and constantly wanting to check their 1 RM. I get that many people do consider the programme "stale" as you say, honestly for me I really appreciated the no nonsense, meat and potatoes approach which is why I've stuck with it.

All that said, I really agree with what you've written in some later posts that each lifter should use whatever template they find best suited for them. It's important whatever programme it is that it work not only physically but also be mentally compatible for the lifter. Anyways, not a big poster but as a big 5/3/1 fan I just wanted to jump in a bit when I saw a few of comments above because Wendler has actually taken the time to address these issues.

So I kind of want to cut down on the meat, except I don't want to lose any of the weight. I'm naturally pretty skinny but I think the protein intake over the last few years has helped thicken me out a bit. I think it's been taking a toll on my stomach and digesting though. What would you guys do? I always eat chicken too, which is supposed to be easier to digest. But I've never had the best stomach in general.

My dad recently cut out meat completely (mom has been vegetarian for years, I guess he finally caved). And it's not something to talk about with the family, but he's lost 30 pounds according to my mom. So, it's scary to think about.

I definitely wouldn't quit completely, but even a few pounds is bad enough for me.

Calories in vs calories out dude. Supplement your protein intake with something else, it shouldn't change your body composition at all.