Yeah I guess all my fat is stored in my ass and gut

For swimming, The best IMO for boardshorts is a speedo. They are comfy and hold your guy in the right spot...even if you get happy.

Don't mock it until you've tried it. You'll never go back.

you know that's not a terrible idea. speedos are really low cut so you wouldn't have to worry about the top showing, but they have the support I need down there. I may have to look into this idea.

Why wear board shorts if you have a speedo on? That's what you're working out for right?

Yesterday was supposed to be my off day but it was finally dry enough to go mountain biking. I rode for three and a half hours. My legs are absolutely dead today. I won't be running but I'll probably lift upper body. Is it a good idea to take a week to lift lower weights to recover?

any of you guys get sore shoulders from doing bench? I've had to skip doing bench today because I think I pushed it too hard earlier this week. Instead I did light cable rows and tricep pulldowns. bummer, I love doing bench.

I f your getting sore shoulders from bench your form may be incorrect. watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTAYAl4g7HE

I joined a gym a few weeks ago. It has a couple of locations in town.. one is really nice near my house, and the other is not as big, but open 24 hours which is a huge plus. I've been mostly using the elliptical machines, as I've gotten fat after I quit smoking and I need to lose some weight.

28-40 minutes of cardio every other day should help increase you caloric burn. If your interested in starting to work out with free weights the correct way start learning how here; http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=115643271 If you want to get your diet rite go here; http://www.precisionnutrition.com/

I did some Mtn Biking this weekend as well. I only rode for about an hour but it was good fun.

I got two weeks left before my Sprint triathlon and I think I about ready for it. Kind of nervous because I have never really done any kind of racing before. My main goal is just to finish in at least 1:30. We'll see how realistic that is.

Back to the gym tonight for some swimming and cycling!

I don't know how into mountain biking you are, but if you are fairly serious and are looking for a vacation check out Moab, Utah. It is the best biking in the US. The trails are amazing. You ride on slick rock which makes it extremely fast. The trails are fairly technical with a lot of 3 feet plus ledges and rocks to climb over.

I've decided to take is somewhat easy this week by lowering my sets from 4 to 3 and I decreased weight by by 5 -10 pounds. My body is just worn out from four months of lifting six times a week. I've seen some decent gains in that time. I've increased most of my lifts by 15 to 20 pounds, my bench went up from 165 to 210, and I can see a few abs. My half marathon is in two weeks so I'll do one more long run then start to scale back my mileage until the race. I' not that excited about it since my friend bailed on the race so I'll be doing it alone. It's been fun to have a goal to look forward to though.

thx for the vid, but it's hard to hear what the guy is saying over the music.

I'm fairly sure it's not my technique though. I prob went a bit too heavy so when my shoulder gets better I'm going to lower the weight a bit. I was benching 225, I think I'll go down to 205 or something like that. I got up to 225 fairly quickly, maybe too quick, gotta take a step back now.

guess I'll focus on other things like back and bi, tris, legs and cardio for a while. my right should even hurts now when I'm typing. crap.

Hey thanks, avs! I didn't know you were back! Welcome back..

I have to say, having another "fan" in this thread that also roots for a team I like is a little unsettling.

Welcome to the new posters here. Hopefully you guys can motivate Mexico to not be a lazy POS because it appears Sal and I have failed miserably in that regard.

Not super into it ... but we go out about 2-3 times a month and hit up some spots around here. I have heard GREAT things about Moab and if I ever got a little more into it ... that would definitely be on my list of places to go to. I am still working on my uphill endurance.

My trainer cancelled on me today, so instead of my usual arm workout on Mondays, I just did cardio and we'll be doing arms on Wednesday.

I didn't get out to hockey yesterday because a) I forgot about having to go out of town Saturday and didn't get a chance to get my skates sharpened, and it was at 7am which is bloody early. I'll try to get up for it next Sunday though.

I drank lots of beer this weekend. I failed. Well, less than what I can usually do be still. good to see that you still workout without the trainer. Do you think it would help me to get a trainer? I like to think I don't need one as the trainers in my gym don't look anymore fit than I do and i can prob lift more than most of them. and sorry if this is posted in this thread and it's ok if you don't want to answer but how much does personal training cost?

Umm I'm not really sure of what your goals are, but it sounds like you're doing a good job on your own. There are a few reasons I got a trainer that sound like they wouldn't apply to you:
1) Motivation - Someone to keep me accountable and to push me on when I would have given up on my own
2) Knowledge - They know a lot about nutrition, how to use the machines, what order to use the machines in, et cetera. I was clueless before I started on most of that stuff.
3) A teammate - I know this is really cheesy, but I've tried to do this a few times on my own before. I've had friends as workout buddies, but schedules would always clash and you'd want to go at different times, and then eventually stop going again. I needed someone who would be there for me and get mad at me if I stopped going because I realized I can't do it on my own.

As far as costs go, they can be expensive, but I didn't care about the money since you can't put a price on health and I also figured gaining my confidence back and gaining endurance would benefit me more money-wise longterm with poker being my job. There's also different levels of trainers who cost different amounts based on how long they've been doing it and stuff. My trainer is a level 3 and costs me about $60/1 hour session.

thx for the advice.

motivation- i have
knowledge- i think i have, i try to get this by reading stuff on the internet, I also have arnold's encyclopedia of bodybuilding. bodybuilding.com also helps a lot
teammate-got a couple of workout buddies but I still go on my own if they bail.

you are right, can't place a price on health. I'd rather pay for a good one than pay less for an inexperienced one.
you are def right about the sceduling thing though, it's hard to get the buddies to go at the same time as you. plus mine are both less motivated, thank god I have 2 of them. I try to go 7 days a week and at least do something, so i have a weekday workout buddy and a weekend one lol. one won't go on weekdays and the other one won't go on weekends.

now, if i were to get one, i wonder if getting a hot female one would be counterproductive/distracting? cause there's one of those at my gym.

boy have we ever. if only he had somebody at the gym he could tip, he'd never leave!


your trainer sucks. this is the second time he or she has canceled, no? I don't know much of anything about what it is that personal trainers do, but I would think that the number one priority they should have should be to make sure their clients stick to their plan. canceling sessions and letting the client slip seems to me to be pretty irresponsible. anybody else have an opinion on this? other personal trainer experiences?

Yeah I agree with you, I give her a little leeway though since she just got promoted to fitness manager and she's actually had to give up some of her clients due to all the extra work she has now. Plus, with me letting her off means that if I ever need to miss a session for some reason, I won't get charged for it.

TIWWP (I think I got that right)...And by TIWWP I mean of the trainer...is she hawt?

She's older, I'm not really sure how old, but def out of my age range, probably in her mid 30's or something. So not really imo

Ask her if she has a younger sister...and if she would take a picture of her for the interwebs.

I hate using this word, but what type of "routine" does your trainer have you doing?

Today's Workout:
Squat
1x5x135
1x5x185
1x5x185
1x5x225
1x5x275

Bench
1x5x155
1x5x185
1x5x205
1x5x225
1x3x245

Row
1x5x95
1x5x115
1x5x135
1x5x135
1x5x155

Some HIIT for 30 mins. Probably going to masturbate later and contract my ab's for a core workout. jk

We've been doing upper body on Monday's, Lower body on Wednesdays, and cardio on Fridays then whatever cardio I do on my own which is usually 2 other times a week. So far we do the same routine two times then switch it up.

Whoa, way to make me feel weak (I mean I am anyways but)
Squat
(warmup sets)
1x5x45
1x5x75
1x5x95
1x5x115
(Work sets)
3x5x140
Bench
(warmup sets)
1x5x45
1x4x65
1x3x75
1x2x95
(work sets)
3x5x105
Pullups
1x4
1x3
1x3

well hopefully she's just trying to adjust and it won't affect you much more, just keep in mind that sticking to your routine and schedule is one of the absolutely most important things in working out. it's so ridiculously easy to let one workout slip, then the next, and then take the week off, and then you're completely off the routine.


wow, this is such a great idea that I'm ashamed I never came up with it.

the key is to make sure your arms are pressing up in a upside down V shape if you have your arms out like a T you are going to over stress your shoulder. It use to be a debate between power lifters and bodybuilders. Body builders would believe keeping their arms out like T emphasized their chest. when in fact it places unneeded stress on your shoulder and will lead to rotator cuff issues. The bench should be performed with arms in a upside V position. This video is clearer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcjOIZc80c...feature=related

GL...and protect your shoulders!

Thanks BigDMcgee!!! It is good to see you again . I also suggest using the rowing machine instead of the elliptical. It will help get the whole body into the cardio workout. The rowing machime will look something like this: http://www.waterrower.com/en/waterrower_natural.htm

GL

I see you are doing 5x5 training. If others are interested in this style on training check here; http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=5x5Training It is an excellent training style for beginners to advance lifters. Sorry if I am posting redundant info.

Hai! How is it unsettling? I liked your write up on beer. The best thing for healthy ppl to do is seek out higher alcohol content drinks. that way they will ultimately drink less. If i drink beer I drink Chimay or La fin du Monde. If i drink vodka I go for Smirnoff Black....This ultimately causes me drink less calories to get the buzzzz.

It's actually not unsettling in the least, I just make bad jokes. Nice to see another Avs fan, although I'm sorry you had to suffer through this season.

Hope you stick around and help keep all of us in line.



As for me, I've got something weird going on with my ear so I took last night off but, as Sal said, that can easily become a pattern so I'm going tonight regardless.

Swam for 30 minutes last night then jumped on the bike for another 15 minutes.
When I am done with the Triathlon i am going to try to get back in and do some lifting. I have basically just been on the cardio train for about a month getting ready for this. It is a good thing, but I feel that I need to get some strength back to my arms and chest. Of course, my shoulder was off for the first part of the year. I am hoping by the time it is over, my shoulder will be back to 100%.

Hopefully going to do some trail running tonight. If not I will probably get to the gym and get some treadmill action instead.

What triathlon are you training for? What trails are you running here in SD?

It's the Sprint Triathlon on May 3rd that starts in Mission Bay.

The trail running is at Torrey Pines. Start at the Golf Course and run to the beach, then up the beach to the parking lot, up the hill and then back to the Golf Course.

I ran 10k on the treadmill for the first time ever yesterday. took me 62 min. slow but I did it!
in Jan I couldn't even run 10 min without dying.

I'm 36 so perfect for me!



thx. this video was much better. I"m going to try the elbows in thing and arching my back. Some people say arching the back is bad. or maybe I should just bench decline instead of regular bench to save the shoulders.

NICE!

That's a hell of a lot of progress.



I ran 5k tonight, 22:10. Pretty winded afterward, but really happy with the pace and also with the lack of dying when I finished.

The main things to do are the positioning of the arms and the packing of the shoulders. The arching of the back is done so you can get your feet under your body for more foundational support from your legs and back. Arching your back to bounce the weight up is what is The Bad. And NOOOO don't do decline instead of flat bench! There is a superior alternative to flat bench though. It is the Dumbbell press! Most beginning routines don't suggest dumbbell presses because they consider it too hard to master for a beginner in comparison to exercises with a bar. You know ppl slamming them self in the head because of the additional stability, coordination and general muscle control required to use dumbbells. Imo any exercise done with dumbbells except squats is superior to the same exercise with a bar.

Side tip; Do Dips. They are the squat of the upper body.

and feel free to email the diesel crew the are very helpful and nice ppl.

You should watch Rippetoe's video on bench press positioning/arch. The arch is basically enough so that while you're on the bench I would be able to slide my hand underneath your back. Your butt is planted on the bench and is never lifted off (you don't want to look like a silly power lifter)

Bench Press Setup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQutODgl2J4...feature=related

Arch/Lordotic Curve:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBNeeeTId1M...feature=related

Avs,

Deadlift's done with a BB are superior to doing it with DBs in my experience.

I can concede to this point. I was going to added that but forgot..ooops

and Everyone loves Mark Rippetoe. To protect your shoulders make sure you lower the weight to where your ribcage and upper stomach meet under your pecs. Upside down v not T with your arms and pack those shoulders. Rippetoe excellently explains the arch.

My week of taking it easy hasn't been as easy as it probably should. I lifted lower body lightly on Monday then decided to run stairs afterward. I Life in a 9 story apartment building so I ran the stairs for 21 min. This is one of the hardest workouts I've done. Both of my calves are really sore so I may use the elliptical today. That looks like it wouldn't bother them too much.

I had another good upper body workout yesterday day. One of the guys I used to play hockey with in high school is now a body builder and a rep for Cellucor. He sent me some samples of NO N-Zero extreme. That stuff jacks you up and gives you a lot of energy in the weight room. I probably won't take anymore sine I'm a little worries about supplements like that. He also sent me som M5 extreme creatine powder. It says it contains Kre-Alkalyn which is supposedly a better creatine that monohydrate.

Nice work everybody. It seems like everyone is workign hard and seeing improvements.

thx. you run fast! 8 miles/hr? or something like that? I'd like to get there.



thx guys for the links, I'm going to watch them later. I'll try more dumbbell stuff. My shoulder feels better today so we'll see how it goes. my legs are really sore from running so think I'll take a break from it today.

and Troyomac, pics pls of your trainer.

Lately I've been averaging about 8.2-8.3 mph for 5k. I'm trying to figure out what pace I can sustain for the 10k and that seems to be my range for now. Ideally, I'd like to run it at 8.4-8.5-ish but I don't know if I'll get there.

Today was just awful. I was tired when I got to the gym, just had 2 packs of oatmeal for breakfast because I need to get groceries (don't have any fruit in the house or break) I realize now I could have had a protein shake at least. But yeah, everything I did today I struggled with, some of the things I finished all of my reps barely, but most of them I pretty much quit at the end, I just couldn't do it. So it was a frustrating day, and my arms are just exhausted right now which I guess is good, but doesn't feel good today.

That seems ridiculously fast to me.. I think I ran one lap (400 metres) last time I was on the treadmill at 5.0 and was tired after.

It might have been frustrating, but at least you still know you got some good work in if you're exhausted. Some days are just tougher than others, it happens. I know the feeling.





I guess it's all relative. For somebody that doesn't run much, it's fast. For somebody that runs a lot and really doesn't do anything else, I feel like I could be doing better.

In the same regard, the amount of weight people in here can lift seems insane to me since I haven't lifted regularly in years.

we all have bad days but you still survived, that's what counts so good for you.



dolfan is really fast. i can sustain 8 miles/hr for maybe a couple of min but that's it and then I have to slow down to about 6 or even 5 for a little while before I can pump up the speed again.

Awwwww shucks.