thread of getting sw0le

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How can the floor dumbbell press be a triceps exercise and the bench dumbbell press be a chest one, getting swole is so weird

It's great though I love itttt

Gravel Puzzleworth, Tuesday, 8 March 2016 02:52 (eight years ago) link

So I have reincorporated dips and pull-ups/chin-ups into my routine, and my bad shoulder is starting to hurt just a little more. Nothing serious or alarming but gotta keep an eye on it. Man I hope I don't have to cut those exercises out though; they are really effective.

Evan R, Tuesday, 8 March 2016 04:55 (eight years ago) link

There's pain and there's pain. If you're not certain that this is "good" pain (stiff or crampy from exertion, will lead to muscle growth) see a doctor.

Three Word Username, Tuesday, 8 March 2016 05:49 (eight years ago) link

xxp - you can also use a doorknob for assisted squats, one hand on each side body perpendicular the door edge

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 8 March 2016 05:49 (eight years ago) link

How can the floor dumbbell press be a triceps exercise and the bench dumbbell press be a chest one, getting swole is so weird

It's great though I love itttt

― Gravel Puzzleworth, Monday, March 7, 2016 9:52 PM (Yesterday)

i think it's bc of the reduced range of motion since your elbows have to stop at the floor idk though

#amazing #babies #touching (harbl), Tuesday, 8 March 2016 12:16 (eight years ago) link

i know some people think it's antiquated/based on old school ideology, but the first book i bought when i first started lifting was this:

http://www.amazon.com/Strength-Training-Anatomy-3rd-Edition/dp/0736092269/ref=pd_sim_14_5/178-8186630-4175835?ie=UTF8&dpID=51mZtLjh1zL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR123%2C160_&refRID=08A5DH5ESVT2SWK0NBQ9

and i have to admit, it helped me learn what movements engage what muscles

it does have some bad advice, in my experience, but as a biology/physiology book, it taught me to understand my body (movements) better

F♯ A♯ (∞), Tuesday, 8 March 2016 19:21 (eight years ago) link

I think I might be sidelined for a few days. My shoulder hurts like hell; it's one big tender ball of knots, some of which are running down my spine.

That's not really consistent with my AC joint injury, so it could be a coincidence (maybe I slept wrong or tweaked something?) but the correlation is too strong for me to ignore. I may be done with dips and possibly assisted pull-ups and chin-ups :(

Evan R, Wednesday, 9 March 2016 16:21 (eight years ago) link

It really sounds like you need to see a doctor and/or get a referral to a physical therapist.

Brad C., Wednesday, 9 March 2016 16:24 (eight years ago) link

Yeah I'll check in with my orthopedist again if it doesn't feel better in a few days. But I think I just got greedy, and tried to do some exercises I knew might be iffy. My shoulder had been doing much better when I was avoiding them.

Evan R, Wednesday, 9 March 2016 16:33 (eight years ago) link

yday was first day at gym! Someone flirted with me I think which was hilarious and kind of weird. It was rly weird bcz some muscles were sore that had never ever been sore before, like I felt like someone punched me in the pecs

I bike 4 mi to the gym from work and 1.5 mi home after so I'm thinking of cutting down on cardio while I'm there, still doing like maybe 10 min warmup on the treadmill, but focusing most of my energy on weights

Ate meat loaf and a protein shake when I got home too, felt v gym

i went to an adult gymnastics night last night (nb - i have never done gymnastics) and learned to do some flips, it was p cool

not really swole related

jason waterfalls (gbx), Thursday, 10 March 2016 12:33 (eight years ago) link

it's a continuum

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 10 March 2016 13:11 (eight years ago) link

Thanks harbl!

What's a realistic newbie mass gain goal for a month? Like 2lb? I'm super skinny-built, gonna force myself to eat though.

Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 11 March 2016 22:33 (eight years ago) link

hi Gravel!

draxx them sklounst (dog latin), Saturday, 12 March 2016 09:28 (eight years ago) link

two pounds of lean mass, sure, doable but takes work + 5 to 10 lbs of water, fat depending on how clean you're eating depending on how you're lifting depending on your age depending depending. keep track of what you're eating, make sure you're getting good rest.

dylannn, Saturday, 12 March 2016 10:50 (eight years ago) link

I don't like setting goal numbers for the physical results. Everybody's bodies are different. Improvement is improvement. Goals about things you can control -- how often you go, what you et, how completel you work out -- are way more helpful, your body becoming more swole is a happy surprise after-effect.

Three Word Username, Sunday, 13 March 2016 17:09 (eight years ago) link

yeah just get there and do your thing, especially if you're just getting started. getting on the scale can be demoralizing and not giving you a complete picture of how your body is changing. if you're mostly concerned about looking esthetic as fuck gettin swole better off taking a picture every couple days and watching your body change that way. but don't sweat it for the first little while basically.

dylannn, Monday, 14 March 2016 09:23 (eight years ago) link

my goals tend to be around the amount of weight i'm lifting, everything is like a, you know, bonus, brah

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 14 March 2016 09:59 (eight years ago) link

I similarly avoid paying attention to what gains goals "should" be. I increase weight amounts way more slowly than a lot of the conventional wisdom says, partly because I don't care about getting max gains and partly because I'm extra cautious about injury. As long as it feels challenging to me and I'm sore later, I feel that I have worked out, and that's ok by me.

on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 14 March 2016 14:34 (eight years ago) link

Man, as a skinny guy, I'd be thrilled if I could put on 2 lbs of muscle in a month. I've been hitting it pretty hard for four years, and I've probably put on at most 5 or 6 lbs of muscle? Which is dispiriting when you think about it. But there are other benefits. I feel better about myself now.

Anyway, curb your expectations.

Evan R, Monday, 14 March 2016 15:13 (eight years ago) link

I seem to be gaining weight and looking more muscular pretty quickly, I'm just not increasing my lifts as fast as the books/youtube vids say. A lot of them suggest adding a little bit of weight every week and that seems way out of the question to me.

on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 14 March 2016 15:16 (eight years ago) link

Yeah I guess I could be better about adding weight, b/c I think I've stagnated in some ways, but I've also hit a point where adding more weight feels unsafe. Are there any ways to continue to bulk up that don't involve just piling on more weight?

Evan R, Monday, 14 March 2016 15:23 (eight years ago) link

pizza?

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 14 March 2016 15:28 (eight years ago) link

Using a spotter seems like one way to do it -- so you can add weight more confidently.

on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 14 March 2016 15:31 (eight years ago) link

Are there any ways to continue to bulk up that don't involve just piling on more weight?

― Evan R, Monday, March 14, 2016 10:23 AM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if emerging wisdom is anything to go by, more volume

goole, Monday, 14 March 2016 16:07 (eight years ago) link

evan i would definitely imagine that's an eating issue. do you count calories?

een, Tuesday, 15 March 2016 02:14 (eight years ago) link

I find the volume/weight thing so confusing -- I have seen credible-sounding articles claiming that higher weight lower reps is the way to build mass and I have seen the exact reverse.

on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Tuesday, 15 March 2016 02:29 (eight years ago) link

higher weight lower reps (like Starting Strength's 3x5) generally builds more strength than mass, but for beginners either one is going to add mass.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 15 March 2016 03:06 (eight years ago) link

Pyramid style, y'all.

Three Word Username, Tuesday, 15 March 2016 07:00 (eight years ago) link

https://i.imgur.com/lzDvDTc.jpg

(•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 19:06 (eight years ago) link

i have horror stories about consuming cheap whey

one night i could've sworn i was going to get a heart attack

just mad mad palpitations

F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 19:14 (eight years ago) link

what is the deal w/whey. should you only use it after exercise? & then only after particularly strenuous exercise? fill me in

cozen, Wednesday, 16 March 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link

people have their own theories, because everyone reacts to it differently, so i'm not going to defend one over the other

my beef is that anything isolated (in this case protein) is harder for your body to absorb, i did get minor results with whey but even with vanilla-flavoured and mixed with milk, i got crazy palpitations and there was a point when i couldn't sleep for more than a couple hours a night because i felt so energised/awake. i tried it at three different times in my training (in the course of three years). the same thing happened every time. higher quality isolates worked better for me

i tried 1 hour before workouts. and then at another point i was only drinking it immediately after workout. and then at another time i was just drinking it with breakfast in the morning. i saw no difference. it did give me a jolt of energy each time, though

in the end i turned to consuming protein in its natural form -- it's more expensive, though -- so a variety of meats a week; beef or pork twice a week, beef or pork once a week (i interchange this), chicken a few times a week, veggie/low calorie one day, pig out one day

F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 20:48 (eight years ago) link

oh chicken is a couple times a week, actually. and fish once a week

F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 20:50 (eight years ago) link

evan i would definitely imagine that's an eating issue. do you count calories?

I try to eat as much protein as I can everyday; I eat lots of eggs and chicken and drink lots of protein shakes. I guess I could make a concerted effort to like, double my protein intake (mostly through supplements) and see if that helps, but I don't know how sustainable that would be.

I don't count calories but I try not to eat too many empty ones (though I do eat my share; I have a sweet tooth)

Evan R, Wednesday, 16 March 2016 20:55 (eight years ago) link

like it was mentioned already, there are a bunch of variables: age, weight, height, metabolism, muscle mass, body fat, if you just started, type of work out you're doing, etc

if you just started out and are pretty thin, my best guess is that you want to make sure you are eating at least the minimum when doing weights. you have to fine-tune this number based on your knowledge of your own body and see how your body responds, then go back and revise

you also have to fine tune your fat intake in relation to your carb intake. i'm pretty sure you can get fat in the areas you are working out the most (even compound exercises) if you stuff yourself with bad/processed carbs (pastas, breads, etc.), but this is not something you want. fat is good but you should keep your body fat % at a reasonable rate. some body parts grab onto fat easier than others, so that's just genetics, imo

for fat intake, snack on nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios, etc.) -- my personal rec is get unsalted -- olives, etc. for good carbs, snack on baby carrots, have side salads, and if you're still feeling tired, eat a tiny bit extra of stuff like a baked or boiled potato or something. i find it is easy to overdo it, but you'll understand your body better as you experiment with it

honestly, i'd say cut the sweets. this is a shot in the dark but do you think your sugar levels are giving you a false signal that you are "full" or "have enough energy" so you don't eat enough protein or carbs? all this stuff is personal, so just keep in mind overdoing it on sweets can ruin your hard work

i don't have a sweet tooth. in fact, i used to only eat a chocolate bar maybe once a year. my problem, believe it or not, is that i wasn't eating enough sweet stuff, so i still felt a little tired. so now i eat dark chocolate (75%) a couple times a week, and eat sweet fruits, like apples, bananas, pears, nectarines, and oranges, once a day. i'll have a a slice of pie/cake or whatever once a week followed by an herbal tea just to help with digestion

i don't regularly drink juices but if i do, i will fill a cup with half orange juice and half aloe water. i try not to do this often because of the sugar levels. so i go a few months without doing it, and then i drink it a couple times a week (depending on how i feel) until i finish a 1 liter bottle

anyway, everyone's different. try different things.

revise, rinse, repeat

F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 21:24 (eight years ago) link

Whey protein is readily absorbed by the body in either isolate or concentrate form, isolate is good if you're lactose intolerant or don't want any fat/carbs. The old broscience rule of thumb was 1g protein/day per pound of bodyweight, apparently that's a lot more than necessary. .5g/lb or a little more is probably plenty and is way more protein than most people get in the American diet.

All the protein in the world won't add muscle/weight unless you're eating an excess of calories, though. At a deficit, protein helps protect muscle but building it is going to be tough (this is one of the most useful things about whey - you can be under calorie restriction while maintaining more lean mass than if you weren't getting a lot of protein).

You don't need to time protein intake before or after a workout or anything, all that's really important there is eating enough throughout your day.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 22:55 (eight years ago) link

i think it comes down to how your digestive system works. i understand people digest certain "things" slightly faster and others slightly slower. i feel confident in saying i digest my food pretty quickly

i think everyone should try different things and see what works for them, but my logic is the following:

However, due to possible inhibition of endogenous digestive enzymes from over-processing and rapid small intestine transit time, the average amount of liquid WPC that is absorbed may be only 15 g. The combined effect of these factors may contribute to incomplete digestion, thereby limiting the absorption rate of protein before it reaches the ceacum and is eliminated as waste.

from here http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-5-10

F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 16 March 2016 23:53 (eight years ago) link

hi Gravel!

Hi DL! Thanks everyone re: the mass stuff, going to take this advice and focus on the *transform* rather than the scale. Anyway this stuff is so FUN and it WORKS omg omg, I just like want to go every day.

Next dumb Q - I'm def increasingly conscious of my wrists while lifting as I go heavier, they're p dainty, do I need some kinda wrist support?

Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 18 March 2016 09:35 (eight years ago) link

just going to say supplementing with whey i dunno, the only time i think it's worth it is if you're trying to hit a pretty high calorie mark. everything said above about amount of protein required is good. i think part of the whey broscience thing came from marketing / reading about bodybuilders etc. who were on juice and eating 6000 calories. if you're trying to get bigger, simple remedy is: eat more calories, eat don't drink protein except maybe some whole milk, make sure you have carbs around workout times. if your lifts are stalling, make adjustments to your diet, do assistance work - switch how you're lifting with rep ranges, deadlifts start some heavy rack pulls, squats heavy walkouts, up the volume on assistance work.

dylannn, Friday, 18 March 2016 09:42 (eight years ago) link

are your wrists hurting? is it a grip issue? i don't have impressive wrists but all the tendons and shit in there just got stronger as time went by, forearm and grip strength slowly progressed. early on, i'd take time off from pulling because my grip, hands, forearms would need more rest than anything else. i'd hesitate to recommend wrapping your wrists or whatever before you give them a chance to strengthen and get gnarly but if it makes you feel better....

dylannn, Friday, 18 March 2016 09:46 (eight years ago) link

It's def with pushing not pushing (wayy better at pulling atm because climbing background) but yeah maybe it's a grip thing, like when I'm holding a heavy dumbbell for like e.g. floor press my wrist feels like it's getting crushed

Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 18 March 2016 11:49 (eight years ago) link

i dunno, i'd say check out how you're gripping the bar, make sure it's more the bar sitting on the meaty part of your palm and less rolling back onto the top of your palm/fingers. is that possibly the issue? i guess you could probably wrap or tape to work on correcting the issues that are leading to pain but probably just fuck around with how you're holding.

dylannn, Friday, 18 March 2016 12:13 (eight years ago) link

but hey, definitely ease up if you feel like you're crushing your wrist. don't wanna play with that kind of thing.

dylannn, Friday, 18 March 2016 12:36 (eight years ago) link

I'm of the school of thought that compound lifts should be, you know, compound lifts, so if one part of your body isn't strong enough to perform the lift at a certain weight, use a lighter weight rather than artificial means of "supporting" the weak part. You could also try adjusting your grip and hand position though.

human life won't become a cat (man alive), Friday, 18 March 2016 14:18 (eight years ago) link

ust going to say supplementing with whey i dunno, the only time i think it's worth it is if you're trying to hit a pretty high calorie mark.

whey is quite low-calorie (in isolate form, only having protein so 30g of protein for 120 calories) so it's very useful if you're trying to diet and maintain lean mass. Also good for diabetics, apparently.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 18 March 2016 16:43 (eight years ago) link

sure alright! i grew up in a time when whey isolate powders and zero carb was hard to find/expensive. but still a normalish diet of whole foods, couple slabs of chicken breast a day and you're at 500 calories and 100 grams of protein.

dylannn, Friday, 18 March 2016 17:37 (eight years ago) link

I am enjoying the gym so much! I bike 4 mi there from work, do all weights, and bike 1.5 mi home. I'm still figuring out what to do w diet as I want to lose some of the fat I've gained in my midsection but maybe build up my muscles a bit. I try to have a protein bar or shake when I get home afterwards and also eat a reasonable amount/til I'm no longer hungry rather than feeling obligated to clean my plate or keep eating til I'm stuffed

sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Sunday, 20 March 2016 03:07 (eight years ago) link

nice! Enjoying it is half the battle, because when you do it keeps you going back.

human life won't become a cat (man alive), Sunday, 20 March 2016 14:29 (eight years ago) link

otm. I reaaaaaally did not expect to enjoy it (I have a bit of anxiety surrounding sports and fitness, specifically cardio, bcz of v small lung capacity and a lifetime of being made to run in gym even though I simply physically cant) but it's become my little zen zone thing and I get to listen to fun electronic music and push and pull things v hard and the vibe is so chill and fitness-bro-free

sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 21 March 2016 12:30 (eight years ago) link


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