anybody into bodybuilding/powerlifting?

[Thizzelle]

you gotta change up your exercises or do some drop weight. drop weight is what I do to see good gains.

get a weight were you fail at 10 reps, do 2 sets and right after 2nd set drop half weight and pump out as much as you can do.

also every 2-3 weeks you should be upping weight 5-10 pounds per exercise

[drumad]

Holy cube king heavy DL day

DL - 400x5x2
From Blocks - 435x2x3
From 2" deficit - 375x2x5

Then pull ups until I passed out.

[MR E30 325is]

I always see that people get super lean and skinny first (lose the fat), then they bulk up from there (gain the muscle). Don't know if that's the way to go but it's what I've seen.

That's my approach, but I started lifting primarily for aesthetics and not amount of weight moved.

I find it loads easier this way to stay motivated and focused day after day.

There is just about an infinite amount of information out there on lifting and eating. Some of it is standard across the board, and more of common knowledge. But some of it is very varying and confusing.

My approach is sticking with something for a while. Constantly getting frustrated and switching up how you workout because you don't see mad gainz is not helping you out.

30% Gym, 70% Diet.

[cale]

I'm stuck between this thread and the weightloss thread. I'm trying to reduce some pretty stubborn fat on my hips but also build lean muscle in my upper body. My chest and legs are probably the most muscular looking parts of my body, really trying to work on my arms while still working my core and legs.

Tried some concentration curls last night, as simple as they are they felt weird with my left arm, not sure if I'm doing them right. My left is still noticeably weaker than my right.

Muscular imbalances are normal if you have only recently stepped into the gym. Even regulars have imbalances which go uncorrected.

As for the fat loss, it's 100% diet and how your body chooses to store fat. Some guys look shredded at 15% while others will have a ring around the midsection until they close in on the low teens. Track your macros to get an idea of where you stand for caloric maintenance and then adjust from there. It's hard to guesstimate what is "enough" in terms of eating to loose weight or eating to gain, the only sure fire way to know is to count what's going in. If you don't shed any weight after a week or two, drop around 250 cals a day until you start seeing results. Anything less than a few hundred under your caloric maintenance level and you're going to start loosing muscle quicker as well unless you're on vitamin S.

[RondoAcapriccio]

hope to hit 420 DL @ 140 BW these next 3 months...

as for muscular imbalances... lol DL 2.5x BW with 13 inch arms lol. never train arms hehe. but really the only ones you really need to watch for are back / legs/ and core imbalances. They can translate to other problems... as far as arms..mainly just aesthetics.

[Jand3rson]

As for the fat loss, it's 100% diet and how your body chooses to store fat. Some guys look shredded at 15% while others will have a ring around the midsection until they close in on the low teens.

Yep. I'm at just under 15% and 209 lbs., and I've still got what's left of the love handles and gut, but they're still shrinking. Pecs, back, arms, shoulders, and everything above the gut is looking great, so are my legs.

[IronFreak]

Yep. I'm at just under 15% and 209 lbs., and I've still got what's left of the love handles and gut, but they're still shrinking. Pecs, back, arms, shoulders, and everything above the gut is looking great, so are my legs.

What happened to your name?

Side note, My wife did her first figure competition this last weekend. She didn't place in the top 5 but man am I proud of her. She got bit by the bug too and plans to continue training and do another show in the fall. Here are a few pictures from the show!

Kind of grainy but this was an awesome shot. Her back and legs are her strong point, she needs to work on capping her shoulders and building her core.


This was after pre-judging and before the award ceremony.



Getting her pump on back stage



A shot with her posing coach



She was disappointed, but motivated at the same time. There is a local trainer that moved up here from the metroflex gym. About every person hes trained has gotten their pro card, including a gal last night......and it was her first show. He approached my wife afterwards and asked if he could trainer her because he see a lot of potential, I think that really boosted her confidence. Shes going to talk with him this week but most likely train with him over the summer. Maybe there will be a pro card with her name on it in November!

[Jand3rson]

Started following this program again today, mainly just because I like the workouts, but it gave me a killer muscle base when I finished it about a month or so ago.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-swole-cory-gregory-muscle-building-trainer-day-1.html

I'm also giving Intermittent Fasting a try, I hate eating in the morning to begin with, so I think it will work out well for me. I tried it before and it didn't go that well, but I think it's because my eating habits weren't totally dialed-in yet. I'm a very clean eater now, so I think it will be easier not to screw up. Planning on only eating between noon and 8pm, since I workout fasted in the morning at about 5:30am Monday - Saturday.

By the end of the Get Swole program, I should have totally eliminated the rest of the spare tire around the midsection, and all the rest of the little areas of fat still left here and there. Shooting for 10% BF or less at the end of 16 weeks. Going for more of a shredded look and good strength, not so much huge size.

[IronFreak]

Started following this program again today, mainly just because I like the workouts, but it gave me a killer muscle base when I finished it about a month or so ago.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-swole-cory-gregory-muscle-building-trainer-day-1.html

I'm also giving Intermittent Fasting a try, I hate eating in the morning to begin with, so I think it will work out well for me. I tried it before and it didn't go that well, but I think it's because my eating habits weren't totally dialed-in yet. I'm a very clean eater now, so I think it will be easier not to screw up. Planning on only eating between noon and 8pm, since I workout fasted in the morning at about 5:30am Monday - Saturday.

By the end of the Get Swole program, I should have totally eliminated the rest of the spare tire around the midsection, and all the rest of the little areas of fat still left here and there. Shooting for 10% BF or less at the end of 16 weeks. Going for more of a shredded look and good strength, not so much huge size.

Right on man, I would say the one key thing with IF is make sure you're hitting your macros when it's time to eat. IF works, I want to get back on that routine again because I hate breakfast. But if you're not getting your macros and calories you'll hurt your gainzzzz......

[Jand3rson]

But if you're not getting your macros and calories you'll hurt your gainzzzz......

This kills the gainz.

[drumad]

I liked IF, it was easy and convenient to eat just two or so meals a day.

Holy glute DOMs. Explosive DLs today.

325x3x8, competition form
350x2x5, off blocks
300x2x8, 3" deficit

Then sleds till the verge of pukage. HOW DO I CARDIO?

[Jand3rson]

I liked IF, it was easy and convenient to eat just two or so meals a day.

I like it because I can eat more in a short amount of time. Kind of a more mentally satisfying way to eat.

[ak-]

HOW DO I CARDIO?

you lift faster

[Roysneon]

Started following this program again today, mainly just because I like the workouts, but it gave me a killer muscle base when I finished it about a month or so ago.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-swole-cory-gregory-muscle-building-trainer-day-1.html

I'm also giving Intermittent Fasting a try...

By the end of the Get Swole program, I should have totally eliminated the rest of the spare tire around the midsection, and all the rest of the little areas of fat still left here and there. Shooting for 10% BF or less at the end of 16 weeks. Going for more of a shredded look and good strength, not so much huge size.

That sounds awesome. I'm going to print that whole program and try it out. Probably not going to get that big off it though as I can't bring myself to eat as much as they set out.

Starting tonight I'm trying IF as well, gonna be tough though as I'm already relatively lean and I do get hungry. Since I've cleaned up my diet I don't go into hypoglycemic lows if I don't eat shitty carbs every 3 hours, but I still get hella lethargic if I don't eat regularly. Worth a try.

Also started doing HIIT after lifting, it's a 1.5 km walk home from the gym so I sprint a block then walk a block. Just started so I'll see what the results are after a week or two.

[Shangsta]

I decided to switch it up for a bit and am on my 2nd week of Chris Gethins 4 week dtp and all I can say is its fucking hard. The cardio elements is really beating me up as my cardio has been severely lacking.