Mighty_Rabite Member

I think as long as you are eating relatively healthily, you probably don't need to worry about playing the role of forensic accountant as far as calories go. I keep somewhat of a loose watch on mine personally, but my biggest watch is focused on strength gains/plateaus, as well as how I see myself in the mirror. IMO, the…

400 calories in 20 minutes would be a phenomenal exertion level - at 180lbs and keeping my heart rate generally into the 160s on the ellipticals at my gym, my readout is generally around 300 calories for 20 minutes. 400 in 20 I would say is possible, but approaches superhuman standards, haha. You do burn a smaller…

I sometimes get some toe numbness myself, but it usually takes me 40+ minutes to develop that. It only happens once in a while and it could be shoes, but I've never really pinpointed it myself.

My motivations: Initially - the opposite gender (mostly it was my desire to make those who treated me bad or passed on me wish they hadn't) After a few initial weeks of that - it became a habit that I felt bad if I missed much on. Now - my dad has been at the hospital for almost two months due to probably the most…

I remember my first day doing P90X. I lasted basically half of the workout (Chest and Back). I started feeling really hypoglycemic and got close to vomiting a few times, but thankfully never did. Keep pressing play - better days will come!

In general for most any of those exercises, I would say to find a weight that you can do 8-12 repetitions on, and to where you struggle on the last couple of reps. It should burn. Don't be afraid to use a heavy weight either if that idea calls for it - no fears about "getting bulky" because even us guys have to REALLY try…

My only real time frame lately has been in and around 9PM, since for the last two months I have been working 9-6 weekdays and then usually at the hospital visiting my dad from about 7-8:30ish. If not for that, however, I'm usually at the gym by 6:30 at the latest, get it in right after work. I have to admit though, the 9PM…

I'd say give them a session off. I had some minor pain tonight with my legs workout that didn't quite feel like the typical muscle burn, so I cooled my jets a bit on a couple of sets. I'm about 95% sure mine resulted from not being fully recovered from the last legs workout I did.

I agree with it being a bit more difficult to measure oneself - I measure myself once in a while, but I might also just be confused by my measurements. The three areas I use as outlined by ACE Fitness are abdomen (about an inch right of the navel, skinfold made horizontally), upper chest (about halfway between nipple and…

I've been studying ACE Certification myself and I don't recall reading anything damning elliptical trainers. I would definitely say you want a good machine to work out on, and it is definitely a preference thing. I find I am on the elliptical versus the treadmill at about a 5:1 ratio - I'm not a fan of steady state cardio…

Have you ever done or tried a plyometric workout? I have been increasing weights lately across the board on leg workouts myself, and have decided once I hit a two session plateau that I will shake it up by throwing in some kind of plyometric workout, be it from P90X / P90X2 / One on One or custom made. Plyo is more…

If it's a rare treat, I wouldn't sweat it too much. But it does seem like all the bad foods out there are geared towards addiction - I know I definitely get fast food pangs if I keep eating fast food, so I try to stay away from it as far and often as possible.. same with ice cream and whatnot.. though once in a while it's…

I usually go for 1g protein per pound of body mass per day. I've been a bit off the last three days.. 7910 calories and 872g over that span, lol.. this 44% would be tough to sustain but my muscles love it the once in a while when this happens.

I have definitely noticed some of this, especially between the gym I go to and the gym one of my buddies goes to. I find his gym's lat pulldown rack to be significantly easier at the same weight than at mine, and the various chest press machines are also drastically dissimilar in difficulty - two of them at my gym in fact,…

For the fourth legs session in a row, I was able to 12-rep all sets on my leg press (this time 440-530-620-710 lbs), and thus will be bumping those AGAIN next time. Just for good measure I threw in one more set (at 800lbs), but so drained by that point that five reps was enough! I may have deadlifted 245x5 before, but not…

Can P90X get you ripped in 90 days? I did P90X myself. It works. BUT.. some of those transformation pictures that are often flaunted are most definitely NOT just from 90 days of work. I think the ones who get ripped out of their minds within 90 days are the people who are already fairly trim - I was around 25-27% body fat…

I think for most people, abs section is the last to go. It is definitely linked to your overall body fat percentage - I have the arms and legs of a man with probably 6-7% body fat, but I still only really have a decent four-pack because basically all of my body fat is in the lower 1/3 of my abs and back.

I think ever since I started working out, I've gained a little bit on the calves, but far more than anything else, I have gained definition. I still haven't noticed any remarkable increase in calf size even when targeting calves specifically (perhaps that is from doing 15-20 rep sets on them, but I am putting them through…

Great comparo, I will probably have a similar one in January - I took one 1/23/11 at 183lbs and probably 25-27% body fat, one 1/23/12 at around 161lbs and probably 10-12% body fat, and will be taking one 1/23/13 (I am currently 179lbs, but same or less body fat than at 161).

Initially, I was motivated some by thoughts of all the women in my past who have passed on me or turned me down, even though appearance was probably not a major factor in that. I wanted to become the guy that they would see again, do a double-take, then more or less have the idea of "what was I thinking?" I kept that up…

I pretty much do what I feel, but lately I start with two lighter sets of 10-12 reps and then go for two more increasingly heavier sets for however many reps I can do. On bench press for instance I have been 115x12, 135x10, then 200lbs (usually 7-8 reps per) - I find on legs I will do whatever weight I can for 12 reps and…

Went up to four plates per side on my iso-lateral high rows today - drew some stares and lowered my rep count to 8.. always enjoy finding a new niche! Also finally hit 12 reps on all four sets of my plated hyperextensions (45, 70, 90, and 115lbs). Last night knocked out both of my strength sets on bench at 200lbs eight…

I have used Jack3d lately on most strength days and have been destroying my personal bests almost every time. I think part of it too, though, is somewhat from nutritional timing - I've been eating some good protein around two hours before working out, so by the time I start to work out, it's already in the bloodstream.…

I think both your diet (preferably not fad dieting) and exercise levels are important, but if I had to rank one more importantly.. it is definitely what you eat. It is very difficult to out-exercise a bad diet.

I find myself on the other end of the spectrum, I salivate at legs day - make it a habit and it really starts to not hurt all that much. I have gotten to greatly enjoy being able to do decent weights on upper body, but then when it comes time for lower body.. blowing everyone else out of the water who could edge me on…

I think it is good to do cardio here and there, but I have to admit I also place more importance and precedence personally on resistance workouts. As long as people stay moving, that's the biggest factor in fitness, I think. After all.. the people that let age dictate how much they think they can do.. ever notice they hit…

When punching with weights.. make sure not to bang your joints! Stop the punch short of 100% extension and you should be good to go. Also, hold onto them suckers, don't want them flying anywhere.

When using free weights, I re-rack everything I can. On machines.. I'll leave it where it was at. On some machines (such as the seated triceps press or when I use the lat pulldown for scapular retraction) it is already at or near the max load so no option to put on a facade anyway - but even on machines where I could go up…

Bumped up the legs workout a bit today across the board. I'm still 12-repping all of my leg press sets even with the fourth set at 690lbs and still 12-repping alternating single leg press with final set at 260/leg, so those will be up next time around. Couldn't quiiiite 12-rep the 215lb leg curls/extensions quite yet but…

They say for men to start around 25lbs (~11-12kg) on a kettlebell, but I would suggest checking some moves out online, then maybe testing a few kettlebells at your local fitness store. I think it's good to include everything for a well-rounded workout - barbells are great at training your arms to work together in a push.…