mike_bold Member

+1 for the Glute Guy Bret Contreras

in my opinion, front squats for bigger quads, deficit deadlifts (off two plates 50 - 60mm), surplus calories. Twice a week, one heavy, one light.

if you have only being doing them a few months or less, then you should be good to add 5 lbs every week and be able to hit the same sets / reps as you did last week. Just remember to eat plenty of protein and take every 4th or 6th week off to deload and grow. if you have been doing them a little longer, or have plateaued,…

it's not the same thing in my opinion. The coordination required to jump rope and keep the body sync'd forces you to keep up a particular level of exertion I think.

oh yeah +1 on the eats, forgot about that. and ++1 on the front squat campaign. I'm doing something similar, no heavy back squats for a year, 5/3/1 to bring up front squats. So far 12kg in 5 months.

hey first of all don't panic. 2 or 3 months really isn't long at all in the scheme of things. Patience, and a progressive overload program like you are doing will see you succeed. It is a new skill you are trying to develop, so practice practice and more practice. Re breathing, I hold my breath on the way down and in the…

This is awesome!

I wonder if people use the search function or read the stickies before asking these kind of entry level questions. There are 5 threads or more a day on this subject.

nope not me, it's all I really look forward to during the working day.

I've got a bunch of kettlebells at home for this exact reason. I use at home when I can't make the gym. Some time back I quit the gym for a year and used a pair of 24kg, a pair of 32kg and a 40kg. No significant muscle lost. 10 pounds is good as a door stop, go heavier! Marianne Kane recommends woman to start on a 6 or…

+1 for the glute guy, Bret Contreras. Hip thrusts and glute bridge variations will be your go to exercises for the butt.

+1 for chalk, even better if your gym doesn't allow it! Throw that *kitten* around! Real gyms have a layer of chalk dust over everything.

4 day 5/3/1 split? Include your hip thrusts as an accessory exercise

I initially thought it would be your diet, are you 100% sure you are getting enough protein and tracking accurately? Looks like you train once or twice a day, that's a lot of steady state cardio, which in my opinion doesn't do much for your body composition. I would lift weights 3 or 4 times a week, with an emphasis on…

generally I'll use an over hand grip to start my DL session then switch to a mixed grip when that fails. Then within my top work set I will alternate hands every couple reps or so to try and keep it even.

you cannot out train a bad diet. Channel that energy into eating a clean deficit.

F

high rep KB's, jumping rope or rounds on the heavy bag

spend 3 months training deficit deadlifts for an improved launch. Lower the weight and start pulling while standing on two plates (round about 5cm), I promise you the bar will fly up when you go back to normal.

agree, why do you need a whole workout for biceps. I don't even bother training them, they get plenty of work deadlifting and rowing. If you really want to do them, make sure you get your big lifts in first, DL's, rows, chins or what ever you are doing. Lose the bicep day, move your legs to Monday and DL Thursday. Do them…

+1 eat a clean surplus, lift heavy and strap in for the long haul. I would also cut all forms of cardio and concentrate on the lifting.

come on guys, you're all wrong. It will take precisely 671 days. Start marking off the calendar

one of the reasons I belong to a gym. Feel the need to get my money's worth. Plus I work out during my lunch hour, so any excuse to get out of work.

well honestly, that's the worst split I have ever seen. I think you would be far better suited to follow some pre-written type training schedule like Strong Curves, SL, 5x5 or 5/3/1

Just to re-iterate what others have said, eat a lot, assistance work and get smart on some kind of periodisation type training. This year I've been adding a deload week in as per 5/3/1 and it has really helped. I've cut back a little on the volume and really only do 2 real work sets per week and feel a lot fresher. I find…

Depends on how long you are away for. Personally, if it's a week or less, I wouldn't worry about it. You are not going to lose any gains in a week, and the rest will probably do your body some good and you will come back stronger.

oh man 30 pre kids, I was kicking *kitten* and taking names. You shouldn't need it, have a look at the underlying issues that might be causing this. Random guess: over trained, lack of sleep, iron inefficiency, too much partying.

How often are you doing this leg work out on a weekly basis (3 as per your first post)? You also mention you race, what kind? Running? My immediate thought was that it's a lot of work for the legs, and if you are doing that week in and week out there is no recovery time for the legs to grow. I would scale back to a single…

There are no cons. You absolutely should be using one if you want to log accurately. Digital with tare function is super handy.

I've never used a PW and I don't really see the need to be honest. Tired isn't an excuse, get your head in the game :)