My workout

[jetblack]

Originally Posted by ZxHunteR

Guy...just stop. Going past parallel is not bad for your knees and Im not talking about some stupid atkins diet.


Dont eat fat...dont go past parallel...atkins?...these are all blanket comments.

Wtf? I never said "don't eat fat." I said fat should be kept to a minimum, otherwise known as not the maximum. You've twisted my words every post. I have personal experience with injuring my left knee with below-parallel squats (and a couple of teammates with inflamed knees). My mother (and I, for a short time) did the Atkins diet, and it's terrible for several reasons, so I was saying if that's what you meant by ketosis (which is usually induced by a low-carb diet, so that the body burns fat instead, theoretically).

The only blanket statement was the below-parallel squats, which I may have been wrong to make a blanket statement about. I should have just disagreed instead.

If you have perfect form, deep squats aren't the devil, but if done even slightly wrong they can be destructive. The latter describes the majority of people that work out. Also, I was told by my physical therapist that once you go past parallel the extra benefit is largely negligible for the average weightlifter.

[stevo_x]

....cocaine....you'll look like a star in no time!

[bpmull]

Originally Posted by jetblack

The only blanket statement was the below-parallel squats, which I may have been wrong to make a blanket statement about. I should have just disagreed instead.

If you have perfect form, deep squats aren't the devil, but if done even slightly wrong they can be destructive. The latter describes the majority of people that work out. Also, I was told by my physical therapist that once you go past parallel the extra benefit is largely negligible for the average weightlifter.

Now I agree with your opinion. Form is definately more important on these types of squats. Yes, a majority of people probably couldn't perform them correctly so it is a danger in some cases.

I've been lifting for 8 years now. I had an injury from squatting in the past that prevented me phyically and mentally from doing them for about 5 years. I started back up after my motorcycle accident a year ago because I couldn't train upper body for a while and needed something to do during recovery.

I started off doing paralell but I wasn't seeing much difference in strength or size. After a couple months going ATG, I saw gains in both areas so I can't say enough about them. Plus, hardly anyone in my gym even squats so the weird looks you get when you sink your ass to your ankles and do sets of 20 are awesome.

[vrecksler]

Personally, I am a minor calorie counter in that I keep a rough tally of what I consume and where those calories come from (fat, carbs, protein, fibre) and attempt to keep them at a certain level, a level that I am positive is below the number of calories I expend. So this should allow me to lose weight, and with my diet and exercising I can avoid losing this weight as muscle, and concentrate more on the fat. Ultimately I find that just reading a lot, asking questions a lot, and trying a few things is the way to find out what works best for you.

I prefer multiple-joint exercises rather than a series of single joint, 'isolation' type routines. Things like squat-presses (doing squats with dumbells while executing shoulder presses) and pushup-rows (alternating pushups holding dumbells and single sided dumbell rows from the pushup position) activate multpile muscle groups and core stabalisers so I can spend less time in the gym and still hit my targets. It works for me, it might not for the next person, but I also think its important to enjoy what you do and this way I can make up new programs and keep things fresh.

[Goin Ape Nutz]

Originally Posted by vrecksler

...

I prefer multiple-joint exercises rather than a series of single joint, 'isolation' type routines....

+1 me too.

And ATG squats should give you more gains because of the increased range of motion, but i've never seen them recommended for a beginner which means it does take proper form and lifting technique to do them correctly.

As far as knee problems associated with ATG squats, I know some who have and some who haven't. The ones who have don't do them anymore and the ones who haven't still throw them in. They are more intense on certain ligaments in the knee, so take that into account when putting them into a routine.

[Rascus]

Originally Posted by vrecksler

Personally, I am a minor calorie counter in that I keep a rough tally of what I consume and where those calories come from (fat, carbs, protein, fibre) and attempt to keep them at a certain level, a level that I am positive is below the number of calories I expend. So this should allow me to lose weight, and with my diet and exercising I can avoid losing this weight as muscle, and concentrate more on the fat. Ultimately I find that just reading a lot, asking questions a lot, and trying a few things is the way to find out what works best for you.

I've been doing that as well. I've been checking fat content, calories etc to make sure i stay in and around the 2000 a day. I've lost weight on that alone.

[1quick1]

I would suggest switching to a push/pull/legs. It's almost what you have but do chest/tris/shoulders day 1 (push), back/bi's day 2 (pull), and legs/abs day 3 (legs).

It's much better and favorable to train your body in terms of movements rather then isolations.

On your leg day do Squats and Lunges first for 3-5 sets each then move on to 1-3 sets of leg curls and extensions. Always start with compounds first.

Remember you will have more progress doing 4 sets of squats then you will doing 8 sets of leg extensions whether it's building muscle or burning fat. You want to burn some fat trying doing some 20 rep squats with 90 seconds rest inbetween sets. This applies to any compound movement. It comes down to the best band for your buck. Nothing wrong with throwing some curls or whatever in but you will make more progress in less time doing 4 sets of rows or pullups then you will doing 14 sets of curls.

[yamirider]

I do upper/lower split and I have had really good results with that.

Mon - Light lower body - 50% of my 1RM. Concentrate on speed
Cardio beforehand (bout 10 minutes or so)
Deadlift
Squat (parallel)
Abs
obliques

Tues light upper body 50% of 1RM
flat bench
rows
pullups/pulldowns
military
dips

Thursday
same as monday but heavier. I work up to a 5 rep max.

Friday
same as tuesday but heavier. I work up to a 5 rep max.

Personally I've found that less is more when it comes to weights.

[vr4playa]

I'm lookin for kind of the same results only I want to take some more bulk off... I'm 6'4" 260 now and would like to get to 205-210... and oh yea, I'm in week 6 of a 30 week program training for the Chicago Marathon.

So I need to have some weight/strength training and of course core(abs)...

the Body-For-Life nutrition plan looks good, right now I got a "diet" based off of a typical day recommended for someone in a Runners World article which is...

Breakfast- OJ, Milk, Oatmeal/Cereal, Banana, Lunch- Turkey Sandwich w/ Lettuce and Tomato, carrot sticks, yogurt, Lunch 2- graham crackers and PB, Dinner- grilled chicken, sweet potato, brocolli, and fig newtons.... with the portions they have it comes out to about 2200 calories... in my case though I need to get 2600-2800 calories so more of the chicken and turkey!!!

[yamirider]

Low reps and cardio is your best friend ^^^^

Most people don't realize that you don't change the shape of your muscle and that you can really only change the size of it. So you lift heavier weight so that you are in the range that stimulates hypertrophy (6-12 reps) if you want to make your muscles bigger. (tone)

Bigger muscles make it much easier to drop fat.

[ZxHunteR]

Everybody wanna be sexy but dont nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight!

[nibbs]

Originally Posted by ZxHunteR

Everybody wanna be sexy but dont nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight!

i do!!!!

[1quick1]

Originally Posted by nibbs

i do!!!!

These don't count

[nibbs]

ooohh...you meant the REAL big ones.

[1quick1]

yup, not the ones with sand in them either lol.

I remember my first weight bench was those plastic ones with sand in them.