Weight Lifting and Conditioning Thread

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G08
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Looking to mix things up a bit... what are your (anyone) thoughts on going to the gym 5x a week rather than 3x a week.

In the past I would go M/W/F and lift for about an hour and then do HIIT for another 15-20.

That was taking up too much of my time so I'm thinking about lifting MWF (can probably cut that down to 45 minutes) and doing HIIT on Tues/Thurs (maybe 30 min overall).
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Otis Day
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I workout 5-6 times a week. My workouts vary daily and I incorporate cardio and weights. Don't lift real heavy, at my age no reason to. I do some tabata, HIIT, weights, bike, stairs, body weight excercises to really just not get in a rut. Hoping the weather warms up soon so I can start jogging and going on long bike rides.
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I go 3-5 times a week depending on the "circuit" I'm on in any give 3 week period. I basically change up my workout routine every week now and I'm seeing some pretty serious gains for a 40 year old.

So I break things up into:
1. Super-setting circuits where every day I work opposite major muscle groups Bicep/tricep + shoulders; chest/back; core and legs...on this circuit I'm at the gym 3 times a week
2. Power circuit where I pyramid from a set of 12 after warmup up to 1 rep max, adding weight until failure. this circuit takes 4 days to fit in
3. Strength training circuits where I'm doing 5 sets of 20 for everything at 55-65% my max 1 rep. I'm at the gym 5 times a week to have the time to get everything done

I don't tend to take long rests, watch the clock and take no more than a minute rest between sets if I can help it and usually stay only 45 minutes. I also break up the exercises I do so for example chest: I only do declines once every 3 weeks, and only do bar work for flat or incline and do dumbells for the other exercise. then work in 1 exercise of one of the hammer strength machines of just some dumbbell flys but constantly breaking up which exercises I do on each cicuit
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G08
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So on average how long are ya'll spending at the gym each workout?

Sometimes when I'm lifting I hit this groove where I don't want to stop and the next thing I know it's been 2 hours with lifting/cardio. I'm sure it's healthy but it murders any semblance of free time at home. I don't like dicking around and chit-chatting with people when I'm there, I just want to get in, get my shit done, and get out. Maybe spend 5-10 in the steam room after.
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Otis Day
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I work out at home and try to keep my workouts under 45 minutes. I take very little rest between sets especially when doing circuits. I got shit to do so I want to get through in decent time.
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G08 wrote:So on average how long are ya'll spending at the gym each workout?

Sometimes when I'm lifting I hit this groove where I don't want to stop and the next thing I know it's been 2 hours with lifting/cardio. I'm sure it's healthy but it murders any semblance of free time at home. I don't like dicking around and chit-chatting with people when I'm there, I just want to get in, get my shit done, and get out. Maybe spend 5-10 in the steam room after.
I have my weights setup in my basement, and even then it's pretty easy to spend too much time down there. When you start failing and having to wait 3-5 minutes between sets, just a few lifts can take 1.5 hours if you're doing 5x5. I've moved to 3x5 and keeping my rest at 1.5 minutes between sets. Even though I've read you ideally want 2-3 mins between for strength, I'm not going to be participating in any lifting competitions and I'd rather finish a workout in 45 minutes.

I've really been feeling the squeeze lately - Soccer league one night, volleyball 2x/week, swimming with my wife 2x/week, lifting 2x/week, bike to work 1-3x/week - sometimes it feels like I hardly have time to eat. Then there are other hobbies/activities, professional development, etc. As a result, my lifting consistency hasn't been what I'd like, but that's nobody's fault but my own.
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Just before Christmas I decided that I was going to join a local football team (over here in the UK) and at the same time join the gym to start working out and getting stronger. Playing American football is something I've always wanted to try and also means I HAVE to go to the gym else I simply won't make the team.

Currently, I'm focusing on compound exercises as I want to build all round strength. Soon however, I plan to switch to a more explosive Strength and Conditioning type workout as I believe it will be more suitable for my football goals.

Fitting it in around work is challenging and my body isn't too keen on the sudden increase in activity! I'm also struggling with hyper extension in my knees and the effect that has on my back/glutes/posture... but we'll get there!
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G08 wrote:So on average how long are ya'll spending at the gym each workout?

Sometimes when I'm lifting I hit this groove where I don't want to stop and the next thing I know it's been 2 hours with lifting/cardio.
G08 wrote:Looking to mix things up a bit... what are your (anyone) thoughts on going to the gym 5x a week rather than 3x a week.

In the past I would go M/W/F and lift for about an hour and then do HIIT for another 15-20.

That was taking up too much of my time so I'm thinking about lifting MWF (can probably cut that down to 45 minutes) and doing HIIT on Tues/Thurs (maybe 30 min overall)..
There is no benefit to working out for 2 hours a day for a guy with like you G08. Your spending more time in the gym per workout then Dorian Yates did.

Image

In the body building world 2 hour workouts may have a place, but for a normal person it's pointless. My current schedule doesn't allow for a consistent 5 day a week plan. I have used it though and liked it. Generally I keep weight training to about 30 min, and cardio to 20-30 min. I have a problem where I work out to hard. So I force my self to keep workouts as brief as I can. Otherwise I will go until I puke.
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mmmc_35 wrote:
G08 wrote:So on average how long are ya'll spending at the gym each workout?

Sometimes when I'm lifting I hit this groove where I don't want to stop and the next thing I know it's been 2 hours with lifting/cardio.
G08 wrote:Looking to mix things up a bit... what are your (anyone) thoughts on going to the gym 5x a week rather than 3x a week.

In the past I would go M/W/F and lift for about an hour and then do HIIT for another 15-20.

That was taking up too much of my time so I'm thinking about lifting MWF (can probably cut that down to 45 minutes) and doing HIIT on Tues/Thurs (maybe 30 min overall)..
There is no benefit to working out for 2 hours a day for a guy with like you G08. Your spending more time in the gym per workout then Dorian Yates did.

Image

In the body building world 2 hour workouts may have a place, but for a normal person it's pointless. My current schedule doesn't allow for a consistent 5 day a week plan. I have used it though and liked it. Generally I keep weight training to about 30 min, and cardio to 20-30 min. I have a problem where I work out to hard. So I force my self to keep workouts as brief as I can. Otherwise I will go until I puke.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27433992

The purpose of this paper was to systematically review the current literature and elucidate the effects of total weekly resistance training (RT) volume on changes in measures of muscle mass via meta-regression. The final analysis comprised 34 treatment groups from 15 studies. Outcomes for weekly sets as a continuous variable showed a significant effect of volume on changes in muscle size (P = 0.002). Each additional set was associated with an increase in effect size (ES) of 0.023 corresponding to an increase in the percentage gain by 0.37%. Outcomes for weekly sets categorised as lower or higher within each study showed a significant effect of volume on changes in muscle size (P = 0.03); the ES difference between higher and lower volumes was 0.241, which equated to a percentage gain difference of 3.9%. Outcomes for weekly sets as a three-level categorical variable (<5, 5–9 and 10+ per muscle) showed a trend for an effect of weekly sets (P = 0.074). The findings indicate a graded dose-response relationship whereby increases in RT volume produce greater gains in muscle hypertrophy.
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G08
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I am struggling to find any motivation to get back to the gym. It's been about 7 or 8 weeks I believe at this point and I feel like dogshit. The thing I love/hate is that I become a creature of habit and especially with the gym, it runs everything in my life. If I'm working out then I'm immediately eating better, then I like the results I see and it turns into a feedback loop. On the flip side, if I miss a few days or even a week I snap out of that routine and get back into being lazy or eating like shit (Chicago makes it fucking tough to be on a good diet, for me anyway lol).

I'm thinking of trying to get up an hour earlier each day and go work out. 4-5 days a week, lift one day and HIIT the next. Rinse repeat, shouldn't take more than 40 minutes.
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mmmc_35
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G08 wrote:I am struggling to find any motivation to get back to the gym. It's been about 7 or 8 weeks I believe at this point and I feel like dogshit. The thing I love/hate is that I become a creature of habit and especially with the gym, it runs everything in my life. If I'm working out then I'm immediately eating better, then I like the results I see and it turns into a feedback loop. On the flip side, if I miss a few days or even a week I snap out of that routine and get back into being lazy or eating like shit (Chicago makes it fucking tough to be on a good diet, for me anyway lol).

I'm thinking of trying to get up an hour earlier each day and go work out. 4-5 days a week, lift one day and HIIT the next. Rinse repeat, shouldn't take more than 40 minutes.
I am there myself. I tore my meniscus and while it's good enough to go light I can put to much on it yet. That's what happens when a bunch of old high school wrestlers get together. Agro shit.

I have been eating like shit and just unmotivated. I plan to start back up tomorrow. Unfortunately I can't push hard. Which generally I do every time I go to the gym. Literally I can't stop myself sometimes.

You want motivation just get yourself through the door. If you need help getting there listen to the link below. Your welcome.


https://youtu.be/IdTMDpizis8
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Must be in the water. It has been about 3 weeks for me. During that time though, I have been putting on a new back porch, digging out for a new patio and doing other types of yard work. It is the end of effing May and I have not taken a bike ride yet. Now that porch is done (patio 95% done) I am sore as shit and not in the mood. I miss it. I feel worse when not working out.
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G08
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I feel a million times worse when I'm not working out and I freaking know this but still after a long day of work get home and think meh I'll go tomorrow morning. Then when I'm headed to bed I'm like meh I want to sleep in a little more, I'll go after work lol. Just awful.
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G08 wrote:I feel a million times worse when I'm not working out and I freaking know this but still after a long day of work get home and think meh I'll go tomorrow morning. Then when I'm headed to bed I'm like meh I want to sleep in a little more, I'll go after work lol. Just awful.
Dealing with this a lot lately, myself - especially because I'm hitting failure on almost every lift (going to deload soon), so I know it would be challenging even at full energy/strength. Now I've put myself into a position where I have to lift tonight because I skipped Wednesday night with the same logic you described above. I guess I'll pop a caffeine pill sometime this afternoon to give me enough energy to carry through to tonight, but it's not going to be fun.
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Otis Day
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Got down the basement for the first time in 3 weeks. Told myself to just do a few things and ease back into. Did some bench press and some curls. Nothing to hard, just did three circuits of each at a weight easily handled with 10 reps. I have to get walking and riding my bike though. Leaving on vacation this Sunday. Going to the Smokies, hiking may be more troublesome than I think.

All my outdoor projects are finally done (new back porch and patio), that took up way too much of my spring.
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G08
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Otis Day wrote:Got down the basement for the first time in 3 weeks. Told myself to just do a few things and ease back into. Did some bench press and some curls. Nothing to hard, just did three circuits of each at a weight easily handled with 10 reps. I have to get walking and riding my bike though. Leaving on vacation this Sunday. Going to the Smokies, hiking may be more troublesome than I think.

All my outdoor projects are finally done (new back porch and patio), that took up way too much of my spring.
That's funny, I went Saturday and then today morning and felt pretty good. I'm going to try and get some cardio in tomorrow morning.

Update: And I did! Thought for a solid 8 minutes in bed if I should just sleep for the extra hour, but guilt tripping myself seems to work :lol:
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Bumping this back up.

Finding cardio much easier than resistance at the moment. The only weight type stuff I'm managing is push ups to failure every other day or so and chin ups on whatever I can find when I take the kids to the park. I really need to get back into the habit of a proper full body set with the dumbells in the garage...

But more happily, I've found the motivation with running again. Got a nice 5k route from outside the house and am back under 25 minutes for the first time in a long, looong time. Down to 24:15 tonight which I'm pretty happy with. The pipe dream is to run a 20 minute 5k which won't be happening without dropping 10kg but that's no bad thing either.

Heart rate is averaging 169 and max at 197, accelerating into the last 500m hurt!
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Good job Malk. I do pushups religiously. That is kind of my go to right now. With the rainy spring that interfered with the bike riding. Building up at the moment. Ready to take the long ride which is approx. 20 miles.

You really can't beat pushups. I do variations daily. One day hands in close, next day wider. One day feet elevated. One day do one hand under should and one hand out in front. Just like mixing it up.
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Pull ups, push ups, running... That's pretty fucking good. Sure you won't look like the rock, but of consent you're doing good work.

Personally I am going to enter a BJJ competition in Sept. I have lightly trained BJJ, but it was never very technical and more of an mma style. This will be a Gi tournament. So I have to learn and get into shape. Generally I do very well in class but I tire out quick. I only get the opportunity to go once a week if that.

So I have been doing more cardio. Which I hate. Strength wise I have been in a maintenance mode for a while. So to add some grappling strength exercises I have added some sled work. I like to tie a battle rope to a weight sled and then pull it kind of like a rowing machine. Then push it back. Its exhausting and excellent strength applicantions.
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I was up to almost 265 before I started back to work. Since working from Mid April till now, I'm hitting 249 on the scale as much as 250+. I've moved roughly 100 tons of stone materials and another 60ish of bricks to do my patios and walkways.
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I haven't gone in about 5 months now and I'm in some of the worst shape in my life. I hate it.

I'm going to try to reboot this week.
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Otis Day
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Ramping up on the bike riding and walking. Doing some HIIT, Tabata like stuff in the mornings. I like those, they are intense and short. Doing a 12 minute workout lately. 20 seconds of pushups, 10 second rest, 20 seconds of burpees, 10 second rest then 20 seconds of JJ. Do as many rounds in 12 minutes as you can. May not sound like much, but it gets me wore out.
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anyone do any of this Krav Maga training? a friend of mine's wife actually teaches a class so I went along with her hubby just to get a taste

geezus

I thought I was in pretty decent shape ... apparently not as fit as I thought ... and she said she was going easy on us since she had a class of mostly newbies

I also now know why my buddy doesn't even think of doing anything to negatively impact his marriage ...
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G08
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G08 wrote:I haven't gone in about 5 months now and I'm in some of the worst shape in my life. I hate it.

I'm going to try to reboot this week.
I've gone 5 times since this post and should be going again on Friday.

Sidenote: XSport is shady as fuck. Double and triple check your credit card statements for these fuckwads.
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Otis i know people who do, and Wab did. It's good training. Personally I recommend finding a gym with bjj and muay thai. But krav maga incorporates both.
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