Weight Loss Thread

Noodleface_sl said:

Decided to start using my home gym. Went back into my old weight-lifting routine. Was kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to hit my body like I wanted.. well, after two 1.5 hour sessions I am definitely feeling it - in a good way of course.

Need to weigh myself and take a picture tonight. Slightly worried about what I'll do on leg day. I have a gym membership so maybe I'll just go there on leg day .

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So what are you doing for an hour and a half? I don't mean to be condescending, but that sounds like a long time for weight lifting in a single day. Genuinely curious, as I'm a home lifter also.

McCheese_sl said:

Speaking of bench press being dangerous, I saw two guys today using a thumbless grip while benching 225. I don't understand why so many people do that, as it seems needlessly risky.

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Never understood people that do the thumbless grip. 225 isn't all that much so maybe if it was a warmup set it would be less stupid, but still stupid

They actually taught us, and made us use, the thumbless grip in high school for football training. Stupid shit.

Add me to those that stay light on Squat and Deadlift. I don't really care about adding mass to my legs, just toning and shape. Stick 45s on each side and concentrate on hitting perfect form. Still exhausting and shreds my legs, but that is more due to ignoring them for almost 10 years outside of running.

Also, 6'3'' 205 lbs. Ultimate goal is to fill out my frame without getting that bulk look, just muscular. Figure that will be around 220.

Foggy_sl said:

I don't really care about adding mass to my legs, just toning and shape.

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First of all, squats aren't a leg workout. Quads/hams/calves/glutes/lower back/abs/upper back. You really think a man with a weak core could squat two plates? That's why squats are a beast of a compound lift!

Second of all, what do you think "toning and shape" is? Do you understand that you need to add muscle to your legs for them to look "toned"? The muscle doesn't transmogrify into a good looking muscle... it gets fucking bigger/denser.

I'm willing to bet most of you guys with your girly squats are just spinning your wheels thinking you're doing something productive. When you "feel the burn" during a workout, that's your glycogen stores depleting. You can do that with any amount of weight, it just takes time.

Workout A) 200 reps of body weight squat. Yea feel the fucking burn. Total weight lifted: bw(200)
Workout B) 25 reps of "a weight heavy enough that you probably cant do more than 6-7". Total weight lifted: bw+x(25)

Workout A is substantially more weight moved, but its not intense. Its a waste of fucking time. Its the shock/stress of an intense workout that prompts your body to adapt by adding mass. Intense is a combination of weight (relative to your 1 rep max) and volume (3-8 reps is optimal). If you were squatting 135 a month ago and you're squatting 135 now, then you're probably long past the point of it being beneficial for "toning/shape"... you're wasting time. Nothing I have read has indicated this is effective for any goal aside from making you more proficient at squatting 135lbs, and even then... those gains will run out too. You can't ride that train forever.

Pro tip: working to failure or super sore the next day (delayed onset muscle soreness) has NOTHING to do with actually getting stronger or bigger. Here is what matters:

1) Progressive Overload (adding volume/weight at set intervals)
2) Nutrition (eating enough protein)
3) Proper Recovery (good nights sleep, letting your body rest properly so its not too fried to whip it on for the next workout)

And I know y'all have this conception that if you accidentally pick something heavy up you'll look like Mr Olympia but let me assure you, it takes drugs and years to do that to yourself.Final point: Aesthetics = MORE muscle mass, LESS fat.

Mass is a product of diet

Cad,

The things I notice most (not counting the tan) in your pic and that guy is chest and arms. I don't think you need to cut anymore, you need to start eating and building mass. This guy has bigger pecs than you and a little bit more bicep/forearm/shoulder. Body fat looks the same to me.

That "guy" is Rafael Nadal and he's a professional tennis player (and arguably one of the best that ever lived). I'm actually surprised he isn't more shredded.

I can definitely appreciate that different people have different fitness goals. But I wonder how you can go into the gym week after week and be content squatting or benching or whatever the same weight with no progression. I'd lose motivation in a hurry.

I feel like the gym is an excellent place to have a competition with yourself. It's a very primal feedback method for improvement. You either lift more than you did last time (in reps or weight) or you don't. More is progress. It's why I continue to move the bar further away on my goals.

My post got ate but, im 160lbs, no six pack and I cansquat 245 for my max 5x. Squats are awesome but they arent some miracle worker. If I posted my body I would be considered a wimp by the bros of the forum. I have almost no upper body, it's all lower for me. Still I have no definition, it's really 100 percent diet if you want abs.

fifey_sl said:

My post got ate but, im 160lbs, no six pack and I cansquat 245 for my max 5x. Squats are awesome but they arent some miracle worker. If I posted my body I would be considered a wimp by the bros of the forum. I have almost no upper body, it's all lower for me. Still I have no definition, it's really 100 percent diet if you want abs.

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The trainer for the show Spartacus, who got all those guys to have visible abs, says abs are 80% diet. I'd agree with that, from personal experience. As a dancer I've always had a great core, but it wasn't until I changed my diet that I got my six pack. But I know people who are great on what they eat who just don't have enough muscle mass for anything to show.

And I know y'all have this conception that if you accidentally pick something heavy up you'll look like Mr Olympia but let me assure you, it takes drugs and years to do that to yourself.

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No one here thinks this. I'm not sure why you keep harping on it.

I can definitely appreciate that different people have different fitness goals. But I wonder how you can go into the gym week after week and be content squatting or benching or whatever the same weight with no progression. I'd lose motivation in a hurry.

I feel like the gym is an excellent place to have a competition with yourself. It's a very primal feedback method for improvement. You either lift more than you did last time (in reps or weight) or you don't. More is progress. It's why I continue to move the bar further away on my goals.

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You answered your own question. Different people have different goals. For me, I don't give a shit what weight I'm lifting. My goal is to look and feel good, not push my lifts as high as I can get them. I don't need to push my lifts into super high numbers to accomplish my goal (which seems to be the main point that Eidal doesn't understand).

Thought I'd post this up here as I think I've stalled a bit and some outside tips would help me get on to the next stage.

Quick info - last year I lost 4 stone and I've started to try and tone up. My goal isn't to be huge but to be defined / cut which I know is what all ex-fattys like me say.

I'm working out 4 days a week for about 70-90 mins each session. My program is based around supersets / keeping my HR as high as possible whilst still lifting big and increasing the weight each week / 2 weeks. I'd like advice on how to push my training further as I'm pleased with my progress on back / shoulders / arms but chest and stomach aren't where I want to be at this stage.

Diet wise I'm trying to keep a deficit each day - meals are mainly high in protein with a low amount of carbs. I take a preworkout shake before sessions with a tiny amount of creatine and 2 protein shakes a day on workout days (1 after 1 in the evening) and 1 on non-workout days to keep protein levels high. I'm thinking about taking some BCAAs but haven't ordered them yet. I do have a bit of a sweet tooth and my fiance loves to spring a chocolate bar on me some nights which I can never resist.

Arm day - Superset pairs: ezbar curls and tricep rope pull downs, overhead extensions and hammer curls, dips and preacher curls, skullcrushers and reverse curls with ezbar. All for 3 working sets of 12.
Treadmill run 1.5k as fast as possible (currently 8minutes 30secs) and then interval training on a bike 45secs normal 15secs sprint for 15mins (going up 1 min each week).

Chest and back day - Bench 4 working sets (12,10,10,8 - weight increasing each time finishing with 95kg), deadlifts 4 working sets (8,6,6,5 weight increasing each time finishing with 120kg)

Superset pairs: Incline dumbell press and bent over row, incline and decline cable flys, lat pull down and close grip row. All 3 working sets of 12.
Farmers walk - 3 sets of 60sec walk as heavy as poss (currently 32kg dumbells).

Legs and shoulders day - Squats 4 working sets of 10 reps at 80kg / 90kg focusing on form, shoulder press on smith machine 4 working sets (12,10,10, 8 weight increasing each time - at 50kg for final set), lunges with shoulder press 3 sets of 20 reps (10 on each leg - only pressing 8kg dumbells).
Superset pair: Max time under tensity leg press and calf raises on leg press (5 reps then slowest possible 1 rep three times so 18 reps total), Lat raises and rear delt flys (lats 3 sets of 10, delts 3 sets of 20).

Complexes day - 6 reps of front squat, shoulder press, deadlifts, bent over row and upright row for 4 working sets. Weight is only 50kg (light for deads, squats but heavy for shoulders). Really hard workout which really gets me sweating.
Superset: Dumbell flys and press ups - 3 sets of 12 / failure.
Tabata tricep push downs - 4 mins of 20sec reps 10secs rest with bar pushed down
Tabata bicep cable curls - as above.

Interval training on bike - 15 mins of 45secs normal 15 secs sprint.

I do abs every session - 80 russian twists (with medicine ball), 30 full crunches (with medicine ball), 80 side stretches and 100 bike crunches.

Photos are of me before weightloss (fiance and my faces blurred coz I'm a pussy) and then before / afters from when I started this program 5 weeks ago / today. Yes I am a freckly fuck!

Tilluin_sl said:

I'm working out 4 days a week for about 70-90 mins each session. My program is based around supersets / keeping my HR as high as possible whilst still lifting big and increasing the weight each week / 2 weeks. I'd like advice on how to push my training further as I'm pleased with my progress on back / shoulders / arms but chest and stomach aren't where I want to be at this stage.

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What is your height and weight? That will make it a lot easier for me to give pointers.

Mens Fitness 12 Week Body Plan (Mens Health): Amazon.co.uk: Nick Mitchell, Joe Warner: Books

Everyone hates me plugging this book but a) I've used it so I know it's an intensive program that is structured well and will eliminate the guesswork out of designing your own program b) the kindle phone app version is very cheap c) The diet/nutrition guide alone is worth the money and it's designed for someone like you that wants to lose fat/gain muscle d) there's also a supplement guide - as you've mentioned BCAAs I assume you're not adverse to supps.

The program is 4 sessions a week and each session should last roughly 60 minutes, so in terms of efficiency it's probably better than spending 90mins per session

Tilluin_sl said:

Diet wise I'm trying to keep a deficit each day - meals are mainly high in protein with a low amount of carbs. I take a preworkout shake before sessions with a tiny amount of creatine and 2 protein shakes a day on workout days (1 after 1 in the evening) and 1 on non-workout days to keep protein levels high. I'm thinking about taking some BCAAs but haven't ordered them yet. I do have a bit of a sweet tooth and my fiance loves to spring a chocolate bar on me some nights which I can never resist.

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I would aim for 4g protein per kg on non workout days with carbs from green, leafy veg only. Fat comes from oily fish and red meat. Start the day with meat and a handful of nuts.

On workout days, lower the protein to 3g per kg and add in slow release carbs post workout - e.g sweet potato or oatmeal. The amount of carbs you introduce depends on what you've done at the gym. I eat more on a leg day and less on a chest/arms day.

Typical none workout day for me from this week was:

460g chicken breast: 635 calories 0 c, 8g fat, 141g protein
200g Sweet Chilli Chicken Breast slices: 262 cals, 7g carbs, 3g fat, 53 protein
200g Chicken breast slices: 264 cals, 0g carbs, 3g fat, 59g protein
2 x 275g duck breast fillets: 720 cals, 12g carbs, 26g fat, 66g protein

1882 cals, 19g carbs, 40g fat, 319g protein (note, I supplement with fish oil and cook with coconut oil to keep fats up but don't track these)

A workout day would be pretty similar, except I would replace the fatty duck breast with leaner white meat or fish and add in the slow release carbs post workout. If your fiancee has some chocolate waiting, save it for post workout and eat it with your protein shake or when you get home - the insulin spike will be beneficial to drive nutrients to the muscles

I can't say too much about your program except give some general pointers

Don't do abs on consecutive days - give them time to recover and grow. Abs are all about diet and I have zero doubt that if you follow the guidelines and work hard in the gym, the fat will come off and you could gain some muscle too (how long have you been lifting for?)

The HIIT stuff is great for fat loss - just save cardio for days you're not lifting weights. You could also do fasted walking for 20-45 minutes on off days, just make sure you take 10g of BCAA before hand

Thanks for the advice - I've not committed to calculating exact protein per kg etc but I guess keeping that precise will ensure I'm making the right gains. Supplements I'm fine with but I wouldn't go for HGH or anything.

I'm 6'2, 90kg and I've been lifting for a few months but only taking it seriously on this program for 5 weeks now. Until then I was just going in to bench, squat and try and go as heavy as I could for 5x5 but I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time so I got on a proper program. I have no idea my bodyfat % but I'd guess around 18-20%.

McCheese_sl said:

My goal is to look and feel good, not push my lifts as high as I can get them. I don't need to push my lifts into super high numbers to accomplish my goal (which seems to be the main point that Eidal doesn't understand).

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I understand that most of the guys here want to look good naked. The only thing I'm debating is the effectiveness of gym/nutrition routines to accomplish the goal.

Cad_sl said:

I'm 6'2 and 185lbs right now, I'd like to go down to 175 and lose mostly fat. To accomplish this I've been eating 150-200g of protein daily, 1500-1800 calories, and lifting 4 times a week and doing 20-25 minutes of cardio per day (300-350 calories worth).

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6'2 185 TDEE = ~2215 + 325 (cardio) + lifting = ~2600 TDEE

Cad, for example, needs to build muscle to accomplish his goal, yet he shows up a few pages back on a ridiculous caloric deficit (hint: this would never be good for a sub 20BF man) thinking he needs to lose 10lbs of body fat. This is assuming his goal is to look like Rafael Nadal (6'1 188lbs). Cad is 6'2 185lbs with less upper body muscle and substantially less lower body (guessing). Now, in Cad's defense, he agreed with the thread responses and decided to reduce his cut slightly. My point is: he shouldn't even have been on a cut, and had he been capable of objectively aligning his program with his goal, he would have known this and wouldn't have had to consult anyone. Seriously; the target physique is one inch shorter, three pounds heavier... this isn't hard fucking math. If Nadal was 6'2, it isn't too hard to intuitively guess his weight at 200+.

I just get riled up because some of you are super fucking vocal about HOW YOU DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT MORE MASS, yet you very likely actually do. You just have no concept of what 5-10lbs more muscle distributed across your body would look like.

The second point is this disconnect between your rationality and your comfort zone. The first time you bench 135lbs, it feels hard as fuck and your arms wobble. Eventually, it stops feeling hard and you stop wobbling. Your body has adapted by getting stronger. If you KEEP benching 135, you won't adapt any further -- there is no need. So when I hear a man say ("I just always put 135 up") I interpret that as ("I waste my fucking time because I like the feel of a pump and it makes me feel productive").

I have no problem with someone saying: ("I lift because it makes me feel good, not because I want to get stronger or look any differently.") Butnoneof you are saying that.

I respect Cad as a good poster and a professional -- but if he applied an ounce of the drive he applied to his professional live to researching fitness/nutrition/weightlifting he would see that he set himself up on a complete failure routine and then bro-scienced, with the help of this thread, his way to a half-fail routine. Do some independent research before telling me how wrong I am. Hell -- just post your pic and then rafael nadal pic to r/fitness, r/bodybuilding and ask if you should cut or bulk to look like him.

Eidal_sl said:

My point is: he shouldn't even have been on a cut, and had he been capable of objectively aligning his program with his goal, he would have known this and wouldn't have had to consult anyone.

I just get riled up because some of you are super fucking vocal about HOW YOU DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT MORE MASS, yet you very likely actually do. You just have no concept of what 5-10lbs more muscle distributed across your body would look like.

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I agree with you that people should always be looking to add weight to their lifts.

But I disagree with you that someone overweight should bulk. Best to cut to 10-12% which would improve insulin sensitivity and then start bulking.

Ossoi_sl said:

I agree with you that people should always be looking to add weight to their lifts.

But I disagree with you that someone overweight should bulk. Best to cut to 10-12% which would improve insulin sensitivity and then start bulking.

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I never said someone overweight should bulk -- read what I put in that same exact post. Cad is 6'2 188 and definitely not overweight. How in the world are you defining this as overweight? He needs to gain 10-15 pounds to hit Nadal's physique.

Eidal_sl said:

I never said someone overweight should bulk -

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Cad_sl said:

But I am also most likely 18-19% BF .

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Enough said.

And you don't have to squat heavy - but you should at least have one legs day, just because it's such an intense movement that it will really help with losing body fat. Combine squats with the leg press machine, some weighted lunges, dumbbell step ups and you'll be crawling on your hands and knees out the gym - which is a good thing