Improve endurance. Stamina. And strength. Like when I do bicep curls. My power set is at 55 and do ten reps. Then after I do 50 pound curls and I usually do 15 reps. I do the same concept with all my workouts
@trodgers @therealdeal Now that y'all are back in this thread, any input on the workouts based on my goals? I've seen strength increase as I've maintained this routine. I've seen a good amount of toning as well but I would like to see a more lean chest/arms as I have size there (I'm 5'9 and about 170lbs). I think I'm some kind of combo between the endomorph and ectomorph body types so my goals might be unrealistic, but I know you guys are studs so let me have it.
I think a great deal of what we think we know about training isn't terribly scientific, isn't well supported by either theory or practice. Crossfit is the real deal. Other workout programs can work, too, but CF's track record is amazing.
Chill: if it has been effective, good. You learn about your specifics by doing. If you're doing that much basketball, it's probably hard to gain strength and lean mass consistently. Your diet is key. And I wouldn't do curls to failure for repeated sets. Massive inroads to recovery. Those are some of my thoughts
CF's track record also shows a tremendous amount of overworked muscles including a widespread outbreak of rhabdomyolysis. I think there's definitely a tremendous amount of science involved in staying in shape, but the techniques and workouts you do have to be dependent on the person you're training. CF flies in the face of that and uses wide net of incredibly strenuous workouts for people of all shapes and sizes. In some ways that's great (because most people are far more capable of great workouts than they think) but in some ways it's awful. I have seen intense injuries, including rhabdo from people who do CF. In it's early stages CF encouraged working out through the pain which only people who are familiar with working out understand the limitations of. People who don't know better push themselves past that limit and hurt themselves. Not to mention, the early forms of CF blew up so quickly that people with very little workout background could get certified as trainers and could (and did) teach people poor lifting technique just to make more money. Again, CF workouts themselves aren't bad at all. If done correctly and with the proper training and emphasis they're fantastic workouts. The culture of CF is something I want no part of and it spreads UNawareness in a lot of cases for proper lifting techniques in the name of lifting more quickly. I'm okay with it because my SO is a physical therapist so she gets more customers, but as a trainer I hate it because it undermines everything I know. There is a lot of science and technique that must go into training safely and effectively and unless you know what you're doing it's very easy to hurt yourself.
Agreed. I'd be afraid of overworking and burning too many calories for legitimate training. Those curls shouldn't be done for failure, they're just there to supplement your pump. The real work comes from your power lifts!
Cf deadlifts are deadlifts. Cf pull-ups are pull-ups. They're dine chest to bar, kipping, or even jumping depending upon the workout. I think y'all should check out the stats on these matters. CF lifters don't experience more injuries than other lifters. Numerous studies can easily be found. Even peer-reviewed. Rhabdo? There have been how many cases associated with CF? Next to none. Cycling? Lots.
Well they are i guess but i would rather not lift at all, than do what most of them are doing Ohh and i lol realy hard at those big a** weights
Never said that at all. CF deadlifts and pull-ups are if anything too legit There's a lack of accountability that's all. The culture blew up too quickly and it lead to mistakes. In theory I'm okay with a lot of the principles of CF but it really is a case by case thing. Nowadays it's better, but like most workout crazes (and diet crazes) it grew too fast too quickly. I've seen it myself t, I don't need the overall statistics to tell me what my special eyes have seen!
You must be a sports fan I don't pay for a box, and I don't do some of the things that happen at CF boxes either. I don't do snatches, for instance, because I don't swing weights over my head. Seems simply not worth the risk. Olympic lifting isn't to be undertaken lightly, and I don't want to do the training necessary, so I don't do it at all.
That's exactly what I mean when I say I trust you to not push it too far. People with even half a background in workouts will know not to go too far. Unfortunately I saw myself a lot of new recruits being taught power lifts without proper form training and then they were told to do as many as they could without proper form. Easy recipe for disaster. Then I read that some outlets were advertising certification for CF through a weekend course. No one masters mechanics in one weekend, certainly not well enough to teach. There are some tremendous workouts and circuit training exercises in there, but I genuinely can't stand the culture or the way it blew up so quickly.
Thanks - like I said I've see strength improvements and some toning but I seemed to have plateaued. I know diet is key - am I eating too little? I consume 4-5 servings of veggies per day, 2 servings of meat, not enough fruits, no added sugar (Except for in my morning coffee), and I don't eat red meat (chicken/fish only) so I consume mostly chicken. At least one meal per day is a gnarly salad of some sort with tons of veggies, always avocado and usually chicken and some beans or fruits as well. Dinner consists of some kind of refined carb maybe rice, or just a ton of stir-fried meat/veggies. I used to be overweight when I was a teen so I'm paranoid about eating too many calories, I probably consume 1500-1800 calories per day because most of my consumption is high-fiber foods vegetables, nuts, legumes. I want to gain lean muscle but I don't want to put on extra belly fat. Is it possible that eating too little calories is actually hurting my goals?
1500-1800 calories a day? What are you... a 12 yo girl No way you can recover and add an ounce of muscle eating like that (no matter healthy or not). You "killed" your metabolism btw.
If you're trying to build muscle, then yes it's possible. Lean proteins like turkey and salmon are great. Your calorie consumption is really dependent on your calorie burning though.
You sound just like me ha. I'm in the same boat, and I find that carbs really does affect my body composition. Can you build lean mass on a low calorie diet? Definitely. Over my personal experience, I see it like this. Eating 300-400 calories under your daily intake (including exercise), is the route for trying to lean out and get more definition. You also may start looking more muscular as you lean out. Eating the same 300-400 OVER your daily intake provides the fuel you need to build strength and recover. The way you're eating is perfect. Clean and mean. Carbs are probably your body's favorite source of energy. Everyone is different though. Some people can burn through carbs, some can't. A few days of eating carbs takes me a couple weeks off to get back to where I was. So instead, I eat more lean proteins like turkey and chicken for the extra calories if I'm looking to "gain". Occasionally I throw in some brown rice.
Good to know! It's funny because all my friends and colleagues who are into working out and getting stronger all preach "eat eat eat". And just like you said certain kinds of foods (read: refined carbs) really pack on in the wrong way and set me back in my goals. It's all about body type I guess. I know guys who generally have a slim build who start eating 3,000+ calories a day and hitting the weights super hard. They do end up putting on mass but they also just gain weight everywhere overall. Eating 3,000+ calories is not easy and can get costly. Anyways I'm of the mentality that in the US we have a problem of overconsumption in general - we just eat way more then we need. Most of it is because our food supply and culture promote calorie-dense foods over nutrient-dense ones. I'll stick to my clean and mean diet for now. I know there are different philosophies on cutting and bulking. Generally I feel the cut always comes first. I'd like to cut 10 lbs of mass and then maybe work on adding another 2-5 lbs of lean mass, which may require an additional 300-400 calories as you stated.
Crossfit "pullups" are definitely not legit pullups. Have you seen this crap, its more momentum than anything.
There's no benefit from "Kipping" pull-ups other than numbers and speed, which Cross-fit tends to be primarily about. Other than that, you must really enjoy having your hands torn up on the bar and hyperextending your joints.
