February Sly Fitness Challenge

[mrzed]

I've been sticking with my plan.  On track with sticking to foods on my eating plan. Weight is coming down .

Had my annual physical today.  Labs were good.  Need minor work on cholesterol. Need to resume taking niacin. Good strong D3 levels.

And lower back pain is getting less each day.

[Viking]

Just checking in, fell off the wagon last week and felt terrible, both mentally and physically, unlike previous times I'm not looking at it as having failed, just a bump in the road and have jumped back on the wagon.

Just done some time on the bike followed by some weights, 15 reps 4 sets of bicep curls, shoulder press, shrugs, think I need to up the weight a bit as I'm not really feeling "the burn". Mind you at the moment I'm still working on form/technique, I'm finding when I'm doing barbell or curl bar work I'm still very right sided dominent. Maybe I need to switch to more dumbell work?

P.S All my weight work is free weights, I don't go to a gym, just the spare bedroom!!

[geeman]

I prefer free weights than going to a gym, my local ones are always busy when I'm free, and no one wipes off their sweat!!
so i'm buying a new mtb, I used to ride nearly every weekend, and plan to cycle to work a couple of days a week, when the weather improves, 18 mile round trip...that should do it lol

[Beardman]

Just checking in, fell off the wagon last week and felt terrible, both mentally and physically, unlike previous times I'm not looking at it as having failed, just a bump in the road and have jumped back on the wagon.

Just done some time on the bike followed by some weights, 15 reps 4 sets of bicep curls, shoulder press, shrugs, think I need to up the weight a bit as I'm not really feeling "the burn". Mind you at the moment I'm still working on form/technique, I'm finding when I'm doing barbell or curl bar work I'm still very right sided dominent. Maybe I need to switch to more dumbell work?

P.S All my weight work is free weights, I don't go to a gym, just the spare bedroom!!

That's the right attitude mate! Glad to hear you jumped right back on the horse.

If it feels like the weights are getting too light, then move up a bit, I know I personally find it difficult with some exercises to get my form right if the weights are too light. As for the dumbells, if you think your left is falling behind, then dumbells will help catch it. I think it goes without saying that you do the same weight with the left and right, and to do the same reps.

Geeman, I hear you about the not wiping their sweat down thing, I've been noticing that the past couple of nights at the gym, it's not what you want to see when you are saddling up to a bench. Unfortunately it's just something that you have to deal with from time to time at the gym.

My mates have been thinking about getting mtb's / getting them back up and running again, and I've been thinking of seeing if mine is worth fixing up. Then heading out to the local regional park and testing out some of the many tracks running all through the park.

[Viking]

Upped the weights today and it feels better, not painful but I can feel where I have worked. Still worried my workouts aren't really long enough, I start with 15 mins on the bike then after going through 4 sets on 4 different areas is only taking another 15 mins, kinda feel I should be doing more!!

Did bicep work with dumbells today instead of the curl bar, ol' lefty bicep aint piggy backing on righty no more!! 

[sahil15]

Upped the weights today and it feels better, not painful but I can feel where I have worked. Still worried my workouts aren't really long enough, I start with 15 mins on the bike then after going through 4 sets on 4 different areas is only taking another 15 mins, kinda feel I should be doing more!!

Did bicep work with dumbells today instead of the curl bar, ol' lefty bicep aint piggy backing on righty no more!! 

Viking glad you are back on the saddle. Finishing your weight session in just 15 min is somewhat a cause for alarm... it means you are not taking enough rest between sets. this can lead to injury

  if you are doing at least ten reps on each set then aim for a 45 sec-1min break between each set... im not sure what you mean by 4 different areas... do you mean 4 different muscle groups? If that is the case then I strongly suggest you focus on two muscles during every session. for example chest and triceps. This method is far more effective and will get better results.

Also do at least 5 exercises rather than 4.

Best of luck
Sahil

[Beardman]

Upped the weights today and it feels better, not painful but I can feel where I have worked. Still worried my workouts aren't really long enough, I start with 15 mins on the bike then after going through 4 sets on 4 different areas is only taking another 15 mins, kinda feel I should be doing more!!

Did bicep work with dumbells today instead of the curl bar, ol' lefty bicep aint piggy backing on righty no more!! 

Viking glad you are back on the saddle. Finishing your weight session in just 15 min is somewhat a cause for alarm... it means you are not taking enough rest between sets. this can lead to injury

  if you are doing at least ten reps on each set then aim for a 45 sec-1min break between each set... im not sure what you mean by 4 different areas... do you mean 4 different muscle groups? If that is the case then I strongly suggest you focus on two muscles during every session. for example chest and triceps. This method is far more effective and will get better results.

Also do at least 5 exercises rather than 4.

Best of luck
Sahil

That's some good advice there. Also you might be doing your reps too fast, you should be doing at least a 2 up 2 down count, or if you want to really feel it 2 up 4 down.

Also if you you should definitely be only working 2 muscle groups a day, with a total of 5-6 exercises. An example on how I would do this for a 3 day lifting week would be:

Day 1: Chest and Triceps
Day 2: rest/Cardio
Day 3: Legs (Quads, Hamstrings and calves all in the same day, or move calves to a different night)
Day 4: rest/cardio
Day 5: Back and Biceps.
Day 6&7: Rest and/or cardio.

On the lifting nights you can still do your bike thing as warm up, or maybe even a run. Another important thing though are you doing a warm up set (50-75% of your normal weight) before you start a new muscle group? That will really help you lots too, and help prevent injury too.

[Viking]

Thanks Sahil and Beardman, real useful couple of posts!!

So let me get this right, say working chest and triceps, do 3 different exercises that work each muscle??

[Beardman]

YOu are most welcome Viking 

That's it, 3 chest, 3 triceps. My last 3 day lifting routine I only did 5 exercises, did flat bench , incline bench, dips, Triceps press and triceps pull downs. I was using the dips as both  chest and triceps exercise by leaning forwards a bit, if you keep a straight back you are almost exclusively using triceps.

[Beardman]

So, it's the end of another month.

This month has seen heaps of activity, so lets check in and see how everyone has gone!

I've settled into my new program really nicely, and have started seeing some new PBs since my shoulder injury last year, so I'm stoked. I had a bit of an injury niggle at the start of the month but I bounced back really well, and I'm looking forward to seeing some good lifting achievements in the new month.

Unfortunately though, I personally feel off the bandwagon foodwise towards the end of the month, I started succumb victim to a bit of junk food, and that coupled with a realtively inactive work week I saw a MASSIVE weight gain, I'm kinda embarrassed to say I packed on 5 kilograms in a week... Normally I can fluctuate 1-2 kilograms +/- a week, but I've never done 5... So I really need to step back and have a big look at my bad eating habits that are starting to form.

SO yeah, that's my month! How did everyone else go?

[TyMoore122]

Good Job Beardman!!!

Mine went good, avg about 8 hours a week, would like to have got more mile but will take what I can get....injury free month works just fine! On to March!
Cheers,
Ty

[Beardman]

Good Job Beardman!!!

Mine went good, avg about 8 hours a week, would like to have got more mile but will take what I can get....injury free month works just fine! On to March!
Cheers,
Ty

Oh well, you can't be makin those miles every month, especially with how busy you've been! Still sounds like a more then successful month!

[Viking]

YOu are most welcome Viking 

That's it, 3 chest, 3 triceps. My last 3 day lifting routine I only did 5 exercises, did flat bench , incline bench, dips, Triceps press and triceps pull downs. I was using the dips as both  chest and triceps exercise by leaning forwards a bit, if you keep a straight back you are almost exclusively using triceps.

Cheers man, I think I'm getting the idea of it now. Probably why I wasn't really feeling it during my past workouts as i was working each muscle with one exercise then moving on to a different muscle, combined with too low a weight I think I was essentially warming myself up instead of working out!!

As a guideline, how many sets are you doing for each exercise?

[Beardman]

For the most part I normally do 3 sets of 8-12. So basically, you are aiming for 12, but no less then 8. When you go up a weight it is totaly ok if you can't initially get 8 reps even on your first set. With this new program though I am doing 4 sets of 10, pretty much no comprimise, because I am going for pure gains.

But yes, that is essentially what I think you were doing haha

[Viking]

Taken on the advise from you guys for todays work out and feel better, increased rest times between sets, slowing down each rep and focusing on two muscles (biceps and shoulders today) has made me feel like I've had to work for it today....which of course is a good thing!!