stumblinthrulife Member

You might look at Wendler 5/3/1 and read a bunch of his articles at jimwendler.com. He's a big proponent of doing more when you're having a good day, and less when you aren't. He also keeps the accessory work flexible - he does have exercises he recommends, but ultimately he says just work body part x with whatever…

I've only 18 months under my belt, so still finding the right schedule. Since lifting isn't my primary focus I'll probably only test once a year. Anyway, I tested deads this morning, and set a new 1RM @ 345lb, then another @ 365lb. That's a 50+lb improvement from the start of the year. I did not go to failure, so it's…

ok, what I'm hearing is that since I already had a recent deload week, I may as well test on my 5/3/1+ week next week. Done. Thanks guys.

That's the thing - my 5/3/1+ week is next week. I'm not looking to move it up, I'm wondering if I should move it back in order to insert a deload week. For the tri, I didn't train balls to the wall right up to raceday - I had an easy week before the race. Does the same apply to lifting, or am I better 'primed' for the 1RM…

You always drop a lot at the beginning. Stick to the plan for six weeks, then measure your average weekly loss. If it still looks too fast, adjust. If you start adjusting now based on one data point, you're never going to get it right. Most people can easily fluctuate 2lb of water weight in one day, never mind one week.

Very interesting. So conclusion is that considering hypertrophy only, 50 reps is 50 reps, regardless of whether it's 5 x 10 or 10 x 5? Presumably need to be normalizing the weight to keep intensity the same, e.g. benching 225 x 5 vs. 205 x 10 (strstd.com equates these both to a ~265 1RM). Were any measures taken of overall…

Start light, go slow, watch videos, and even video yourself. There is an MFP group called 'eat, train, progress' run by some very knowledgeable lifters who are happy to provide free form assessment and advice if you upload a video of yourself. An alternative to regular straight bar deadlifts is the hex bar. It puts less…

Yeah, that certainly seems high. I'm a 5'11 guy and I float in the 155-165 range. Unless you are carrying a lot of muscle mass, I think its pessimistic in the extreme to say you can't go lower than that. So long as you can do it in a safe, sustainable way there is nothing wrong with aiming lower. In fact, you probably…

Yeah, fluctuations are normal. I find protein bars to be a little constipating, which would cause a quick (and temporary) gain.

Utterly astounding. Well done.

I'll echo the comment that 3 days a week is ideal. Rest days are when your body adapts, you don't want to over stress it. Once you have a year of running under your belt, you might want to add more days.

I use a fitbit, for which I paid $100. I don't pay the monthly fee for the premium features. It gets me a good enough estimate of my daily expenditure that I can control my weight. I do have a premium Endomondo account, which is about $25 a year, I think. It's of value for the training plan that tracks progress and…

That's what I did. Just be aware that running outdoors is harder than a treadmill (especially if you keep the treadmill at 0 incline), and you may fail your first 5k attempt outdoors even after achieving it on the treadmill (I did). My advice (assuming we can't convince you to do it outside from the start) - Put the…

True and False. True, because a calorie a unit of measure. It is a measure of the energy it provides your body. A calorie of coming from chicken doesn't have more energy than a calorie from spinach, any more than a ton of bricks weighs more than a ton of feathers. But also false, because the sources of calories - protein,…

Swimming is a very tiring exercise, and even with a good aerobic base it will take it out of you. I already had a good base when I started swimming, but still couldn't swim far without a breather. So what I did was just swim as far as I could, rested, and repeated for about 30 to 45 minutes. Over the weeks, the distance…

I prefer to workout alone. I exchange a few words between sets, and will ask for a spotter when necessary, but beyond that I'd rather be left alone to get on with it. I don't like gym partners yelling at me that I can do one more rep. A. If my muscles are out of ATP, shouting at me won't generate more. B. Even if I can do…

And there I was thinking all the good chemistry jokes argon.

You can go round and round in circles on which particular foods/nutrients are good/bad and get nowhere, or you can just eat balanced, varied diet with consumption appropriate to activity levels.

I'll take a spot from anyone prepared to give it. I've worked hard to learn to leave my ego at the door when I hit the gym. It's probably just as well, since we have a dude that pulls 765lb ("I'd do more, but I can't fit more plates on the bars here"), and another guy that benches 400+lb, which is more than me and my max…

I guess I'm lucky. Mostly I just get compliments on the progress I've made. Though I've had a few "I wish I could have the discipline you do", to which I answer something along the lines of "It's easier than you imagine. You just have to decide to start, and then decide to not stop." I try not to criticize people that…

Congrats on surviving another orbit. Quite the accomplishment.

Around 30 minutes after graduating C25k. My very first 10k time was around 1h5m if I recall correctly. Hard to say on my deadlift - I started with Strong Lifts, so was on 95lbs at first. I obviously could have lifted more than that, but I wanted to start carefully and I was in no rush to test my 1RM. 225lb is perhaps a…

Either you are way over-thinking this, or your hubby is so ridiculously sensitive that it's amazing he can function. I'm going to go with the former, since it's more charitable. Just say "You lost weight, you look great." Then jump his bone.

Sure hope you're right, or my plans for 2017 are going to all go a bit Pete Tong.

It was a joke. I actually agree with what you said. I too enjoy cardio and lifting and do both - lots. But OP did exactly what he set out to achieve, got everyone arguing.

Welcome to the human race. You must be new.

Most personal trainers do circuit training, which is hybrid strength/cardio anyway.

Here's a comparison of what a year of serious strength training, and a year of serious run training can achieve. Same year, by the way. Over the past year, I have progressed to deadlifting 2x body weight (330lb, yesterday), running a 22m 5k, and a 52m 10k. So if you could run a 22m 5k with strength training only, I'd agree…

I can only speak from my experience, and what I would do. I am at my goal weight. I am in good shape - I completed an Olympic distance triathlon last month, with full effort all the way, no walking on the run, no stopping on the bike, no resting on the swim. I do not have type 1 diabetes, or any other illness. My resting…

Chipotle are saboteurs! Tasty, tasty saboteurs.