In Fitness and in Health
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Doug, I too found your post helpful… Going to look into the yoga first. My wife has done yoga occasionally and we already have some cheap mats.
Going to see if I can get her on board doing it together as I've been meaning to do yoga for a while and DDP yoga is the first yoga I can see myself getting excited about. Also I've messed around with kettlebells before but haven't ever tried to really focus on it an learn proper KB form which I'm sure makes a big difference.
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I'm glad my post was helpful to you guys. In my mid 20's, I used to go to the gym 5-6 days a week with the same bunch of meatheads and we'd spend hours trying to outdo each other (actually, most of the time was spent talking shit to each other). I don't have that much time anymore, and the guys moved on years ago to other gyms, so moving crazy weight just isn't fun anymore. I really have enjoyed these two systems and have experienced good results with them
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I don't take any anymore
My diet is mainly protein and veg. I do take in some carbs, but not a whole lot. Usually only a muffin or croissant at breakfast. Maybe some rice with my lunch. I tried the no carbs diet, but my body didn't respond well. I think it's because I'm Asian and our diets have revolved around carbs for a long, long time
My family and I try our best to stay away from processed foods. That's been a big thing for us. We also eat a lot of organic foods, not for nutritional value, but more because we prefer the taste. And because we like the way our unprocessed organic foods taste, we eat more of the healthy foods (whole vegetables, lean protein)
Edit: I DO take Metamucil, but that's mainly for my cholesterol. My wife doesn't believe me as I'm chowing down on a pork chop and I say my cholesterol is on "E"
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Did you find that supplements added to your growth? I lift 3 days a week and have done for 8 years or so. I've pretty much plateaued and I'm in the midst of deciding what I want to do. Do I want to be happy where I am or push for gains. I'm not overly strong (bench 225, squat maybe 245), and just can't seem to push above those numbers. And maybe it's hidden underneath a thin to middling layer of fat, but I don't really put on any noticeable size.
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I found that creatine was helpful with my overall energy levels, and protein added to size and some power, but what I found to be most helpful in changing a couple of things:
- more sleep
- more water
- changing out routines (if I'm stuck at barbell bench press, change to dumbells, or start with incline bench instead of flat bench) When I got back to what I was stuck on, I usually "unplugged" that "clog"
- reverse pyramids. Most of the time, I would start light, knock out 8-10 reps, then go heavier, with my heaviest around 2-4 reps. If I'm stuck at a plateau, I would start heavy, then go light. That REALLY makes a difference in getting out of a rut. NB: you MUST MUST MUST have an adequate warm up for this or else you're going to hurt yourself
- when lifting compound joint exercises, you're only going to lift as much as the weakest chain in the link. If you can figure out what that is, work on it and you will increase your max. ex: my right shoulder is weak from a couple injuries doing martial arts. Focusing a little more on my anterior deltoid helped with my bench
I'm sure there are other tips for getting out of a rut, but that's all I could think of that worked for me
Oh yeah, one more thing, taking a break from the gym once in awhile will "recharge the battery". When you go for months on end (4 months was usually my limit), you get to the point of diminishing returns. At that point, I would take a week off and do nothing except go for walks)
The bad news is: there's no magic bullet for getting out of a rut. You're just going to have to find out what works for you through trial and error
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Oh yeah, one more thing that came to me: changing your schedule can help too
I used to have a five day split: chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs. In that order
When I was in grad school, I could only make it to the gym four days a week. I changed it to chest and tris, back and bis, shoulders and tris, legs and bis. I immediately saw growth when I did that. I didn't do all of my bicep or tricep exercises in a single day, I split them up amongst my two designated days for them, if that makes sense
I did abs every other day
PS-the weight that you're doing is perfectly respectable. I'm not even sure I was doing that much by the time I quit barbell/dumbell training
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Making a friend at the gym that's considerably bigger and stronger than you makes a big difference too. When I was lifting my heaviest, I was trying to keep up with guys that a little guy like me didn't have any business trying to lift with. But the encouragement of my friends helped me tremendously. The biggest influence on me what my buddy Dwight. He was 6'3", 280lbs, and squatted seven plates (45lbs per plate for the uninitiated) on each side. It was a sight to behold, the bar would bend across his back and he needed three spotters
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I lift with a trainer once a week, but otherwise I prefer to lift on my own. I think of lifting like tai chi, where I'm trying to lift as much as i can, while performing each each motion perfectly. Probably why the only time I ever hurt myself was when I was doing pull downs and broke my brain because I kept holding my breath. Now that was a headache.
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I'm completely the same with this - sleep changes everything.
Sleep affects my overall physical well being tremendously, especially my ability to lift
If you want supplements I'd say stick with the basics. Whey protein, creatine and glutamine are a good holy trinity. I like Optimum Nutrition HydroBuilder, sorta has everything in it already, don't have to mess around too much.
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How much are you guys sleeping out of interest? I get about 8hrs a night, but man could I go for more!
Woke up feeling a bit sore in spots I'm not usually sore this morning. Call that an early success for the KB's. Just back from a nice unwinding/opening vigorous swim before a rest day tomorrow.
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Its not just the duration but the quality of sleep. The room must have absolutely no light whatsoever (a mask/cover for your eyes does not suffice) and minimal sound/noise level. Going in earlier so you dont wake to an alarm makes a big difference too. Obviously this is not always easy to do. Go for as good as you can get…
If you want to be strong, get Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength". It works.
