The Fitness Thread

[Soly]

I know that over the last several years, magic players I am somewhat close to have been losing weight/getting in shape.  Is there any interest in a Fitness thread?   Let's be real with ourselves...  Magic Players are often times fat slobs (Thankfully this isn't a big issue for Vintage)

I've lost 40LBS(~16Kg) but still am around 285LBS (130Kg).   I have a long way to go, but I also am weightlifting.

Anyone else working out/looking to work out and need encouragement?  I have studied different diets/fitness/workouts/steroids etc for about 4 years now. 

[DubDub]

I did the New Year's Resolution thing and signed up at a gym across the street from where I work.  I was very fit in college because I did Crossfit and powerlifted, but that was several years ago, and just playing Ultimate Frisbee every summer hasn't been consistent enough for me to stay fit.  I think joining the gym is going to turn out to have been a wise decision.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Get a "working breed" dog. My lab/shepherd mix needs 5 miles a day and running that with him seems to keep me fit.

[Bill Copes]

I've been sticking to the stronglifts program for the past month.  With a clean-ish diet, I've lost 10lbs since December (started at 236) and my shirts are starting to get tight in the shoulders / chest area again (gettin' swoll).

I eat like a dog -- essentially the same thing every day:

Breakfast meal replacement:  2 scoops of whey protein and about 20oz. of skim milk.  Multi vitamin.

3 egg omlette with a tiny bit of cheese for lunch.

Dinner is popcorn and some cheese, chicken and asparagus, salmon and asparagus.  Most of the time it has been popcorn and cheese, due to laziness.

[Soly]

I have lost a total of 38LBS (am at 285 currently) in the last year.  During this time, I've been doing a lot of bodybuilding/powerlifting workouts, and my bench is back to what it was when I was playing football and wrestling.  My squat has gone up and am currently doing boxsquats 315 for 3x10 (I am really afraid of maxing since I have bad knees).  My deadlift has gone through the roof; I can deadlift 2x my bodyweight which is awesome for a beginner.  However, the cardio has just never been a strong point, and my diet is still horrendous.

However, I am joining a 12 Week Challenge at my Gym that is going from February 17th to May 2nd.  I have decided that I will clean up my diet and be incredibly strict about it during this time (and beyond), and will have a really good routine.  I am doing a Push/Pull/Legs/Core workout  which to me isn't really enough.

Starting next week, here are my rules:
16oz Water first thing in the AM
192oz Water total during the day (1.5 gallons)
Ephedrine/Caffeine Stack will be in effect.
4 meals a day + 2 Protein Shakes.  ~ 2400 kCal.
20 Cardio
Upper-Lower workout split.  Upper/Lower/Cardio-core/Upper/Lower/rest day/rest day

Once the contest starts:
  I'm stealing the routine from here (minus the Jump rope, cuz knees).
DTP for the last 4 weeks
Incredibly strict Diet (I already go through ~3  pounds of chicken a week;  I am expecting to double this)
8 hours of sleep MANDITORY


I will be taking a Hiatus from Magic to focus on my fitness during this time.  I have some really solid goals, but we'll find out how strict I can be.
-8% Bodyfat (currently at 24%) 
-50 LBS (want to be 235)
+20 LBS on my Bench (want to hit 340 BAD while dropping weight) 
= Squat (Want to keep my Squat Strength while dropping weight)
= Deadlift (if I keep my deadlift, it will be 2.5x my bodyweight at my goal weight)

After I get to 235 and hopefully win this competition, I will start a serious Cut down to probably 215 or so, and then Bulk back to 235.  That's my goal.

Now that I've written this, I'll be a huge bitch if I don't follow through!

[quicksilvervii]

I've been sticking to the stronglifts program for the past month.  With a clean-ish diet, I've lost 10lbs since December (started at 236) and my shirts are starting to get tight in the shoulders / chest area again (gettin' swoll).

I eat like a dog -- essentially the same thing every day:

Breakfast meal replacement:  2 scoops of whey protein and about 20oz. of skim milk.  Multi vitamin.

3 egg omlette with a tiny bit of cheese for lunch.

Dinner is popcorn and some cheese, chicken and asparagus, salmon and asparagus.  Most of the time it has been popcorn and cheese, due to laziness.

Going keto?  Have you considered adding a carb up day once a week after your initial phase of forcing ketosis?
You should be able to fall back into Keto pretty easily after staying there for a few weeks.


I'm about to go on a cutting cycle after bulking since October.

Standard breakfast is cereal/oats and 30g protein shake with water, multivitamin.

Snack is a qtr cup of almonds 90 min later, usually some BCAAs.

90 - 120 min later is usually some sort of chicken and rice (8 oz or so for 25-30g protein) and some side vegetables, between asparagus, broccoli, whatever is available, multivitamin.

2 hours later I will have another 30g shake.

An hour or two later I will have something like greek yogurt+some fruit or half a baked sweet potato to get me through my lift, where I have a post workout shake of 30-40g protein and ~40-45g carbs (blend, but mostly waxy maze) and a multivitamin.

I'll then eat either a turkey burger on some protein bread or half a tub of cottage cheese for another 30g of protein before bed.  Aiming for 150-160+g/day.


Rinse, repeat.

Cheat days are weekends, but that is slowly turning into Saturday/Sunday only, and after March, one meal a week, into May, where will be clean until mid June.

I'm in decent shape, but am not aiming at a weight in mind.  I want to cut about 5% bodyfat or so before the summer, I think I'm about 15% or so at the moment.

Currently 4 day split training routine, adding one day of cardio, and another day of a carb deplete in the coming weeks.

[Soly]

Mike;

Just oral some Clen/T3 and then blast some Tren/Dbol.   Cruise on that by April while doing slin.   You'd be ripped as faurk.

[quicksilvervii]

Mike;

Just oral some Clen/T3 and then blast some Tren/Dbol.   Cruise on that by April while doing slin.   You'd be ripped as faurk.

Not into controlled substances so much.

In any case, my heart murmur worries me when it comes to things like clen (not sure how I would react to such stims/jitters).

[Justin]

If you guys want any tips when you get your weight down, I can help (been grappling since 11, 48" back, 30" waist, 19" arms).

While there are a number of ways to get the weight down, the last bit is going to be the toughest (getting from a 6 to an 8 pack)

Also, there are a number of excellent supplements that will speed this along. I use Cellucor products after having tried everything else over the last 22 years of lifting & grappling. I also have some recipes that will help remove excess estrogen from your blood which are actually pretty delicious.

Best of luck guys

[Godder]

I'm a fattie as well, was 132kg, now "down" to 127kg. I've bought an exercycle and we have a dog, and I've been watching the calories as well. It seems to be working so far. Aim is to get below 100kg.

[Soly]

I'm a fattie as well, was 132kg, now "down" to 127kg. I've bought an exercycle and we have a dog, and I've been watching the calories as well. It seems to be working so far. Aim is to get below 100kg.

If you can handle the headaches, Keto diet is amazing.  I also cannot recommend enough drinking water.

Also, if you're not in the US, you might be able to find ephedra or ephedrine (Bronkade over the counter in the US)...  Mix that with a caffeine pill and you'll never be hungry again.

[Bill Copes]

Going keto?  Have you considered adding a carb up day once a week after your initial phase of forcing ketosis?
You should be able to fall back into Keto pretty easily after staying there for a few weeks.

I never really thought of it, but I suppose my current diet leans that way.  I need to drink more water, which I'm going to start doing as of this morning.

I don't have a goal weight in mind.  I just want to not have a gut anymore.  A six-pack would be swell and all, but not necessary for my life purposes.

As for workouts, I'm on a version of the stronglifts 5x5x5 program:   A - rest day - B  (A squat, bench, row, abs, light cardio;  B squat, deadlift, overhead press, pullups, cardio).

Pre-heart surgery, I was benching 225, dead-lifting 400ish, and squatting around 265.  After physical recovery, depression, taking a year off, starting over, taking another break, and starting over yet again my numbers are:

185 x 5 x 5 Bench
315 x 3 Deadlift
205 x 5 x 5 Squat

Not too shabby.  I'm feeling great, aside from some runner's knee, so I'm staying consistent and see improvements weekly.

[Soly]

Bill.. those numbers are pretty impressive post-heart surgery and such.  Especially with you losing weight.

I flipped and totalled my car today, which means I won't be lifting for awhile.

[Bill Copes]

Bill.. those numbers are pretty impressive post-heart surgery and such.  Especially with you losing weight.

I flipped and totalled my car today, which means I won't be lifting for awhile.

Jesus, dude.  You okay?!?

[Ten-Ten]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Hope you are doing well, Soly.


As far as eating well, I tend to eat the same each and every day. At least every two-three hours.
Chicken breast, rice, beans, avocado, eggs, whole wheat bread, and lots of cheese and greek yogurts. I snack on almonds and cashews. Sometimes bananas, strawberries, and oranges

Problem is at night. I do not sleep early (or much) and so, I tend to seek out junk foods at that point. Which I avoid buying but sometimes I simply just cook something an hr before I actually head to bed.

Not doing so well in the physical fitneas dept. though.
My three younger brothers are in better shape now than I am.
One is a marine. One works at a ymca and the other frequents the ymca our bro works at.
They recently did a challange which I said i would do but totally forgot. Week later they asked if i was keeping record...

At this point I dont know how to fit in working out while i am caring for my son all day and work all night all week long...

Any ideas?

[Onslaught]

Seek out intermittent fasting, maybe "Leangains." The concept of eating several times a day to stoke the fire of your metabolism is pseudoscience, I lift weights on an empty stomach most of the time and my performance rarely suffers.

Intermittent fasting will probably sound too good at first because it infamously advocates eating stuff like cheesecake, but the science and results are there. We used to think it was calories in vs calories out, that turned out to be wrong. Then we thought it was restriction of certain macronutrients (specifically carbohydrates), which is also quite wrong (if you are cutting anything from your diet completely it should be sucrose, which just happens to be under the carb umbrella. Don't cut all carbs). Then emergent science discovered that when you eat is equally as important as what you eat - we just got it in the wrong direction. Eating several small meals a day has no proven benefit, while eating almost all of your calories in short window promotes muscle gain (and some say simultaneously cuts fat but that is going to be based on your caloric intake).

I'm typing this from my phone so I won't say much more, but just keep in mind the human body is extremely complex and we still do not fully understand nutritional science to the point where there is one true path to your own personal fitness. Avoid sugar, eat a lot after you work out, have progression in your weightlifting routine (always add weight to the bar or do one more rep every week), stay hydrated, and on your 3-4 non lifting days a week do something that gets you active (basketball, a vigorous hike, bike riding, whatever). For 99% of people this will lead to their most realistically sustainable healthy body.

[TheWhiteDragon]

1 word...meth.

Keeps me lean and full of energy.

[Soly]

So I'm really sore, but I am going to the gym today.  I am going to be decreasing my Weights/Increasing my reps, so right now my goal is:

Bench:  3x12 at 225
Incline Bench 3x12 at 185
Dumbell Fly 3x12 w/45's
Dips:  3x12 at Bodyweight (285)
pushups 3x25 at Bodyweight (^)
Tricep Pushdowns 3x12 at ~130ish
Skullcrushers 3x12 (probably 100?)
00:30:00 HIIT cardio.

[Justin]

The concept of eating several times a day to stoke the fire of your metabolism is pseudoscience, I lift weights on an empty stomach most of the time and my performance rarely suffers.

Eating several small meals a day has no proven benefit, while eating almost all of your calories in short window promotes muscle gain (and some say simultaneously cuts fat but that is going to be based on your caloric intake).

It's worth noting that you will only digest between 35 & 45 grams of protein at a clip, so if you're attempting to build muscle, you will need to eat every few hours to reach your daily protein intake requirements. This is less of an issue of you're not competing as you'll probably be happy with being in shape (not fat), but if you're looking to bulk up your muscle (which will in turn burn more calories daily), this will need to be taken into consideration. Personally, to get the amount of protein i need in a day to maintain my size, I do need to eat about every couple of hours from when I wake until I sleep.

As far as lifting on an empty stomach, this is the best way to lose the final few lbs of body fat which are the most difficult to get rid of.

Ultimately, I realized once I hit 30, you can't out-train your diet (ugh), but it seems everyone here has that well under control.

Best of luck guys

[Bill Copes]

Ultimately, I realized once I hit 30, you can't out-train your diet (ugh), but it seems everyone here has that well under control.

This.  Also, it taking forever to recover from injuries.  I remember when I could bounce back from a sprain in a week or two.  Now, it's like a month and a half.

[Onslaught]

It's worth noting that you will only digest between 35 & 45 grams of protein at a clip, so if you're attempting to build muscle, you will need to eat every few hours to reach your daily protein intake requirements.

This was a long held belief due to some dubious studies, and just sort of became accepted as common knowledge. Almost all research indicates that this is not the case, and digestion is far too complicated to accurately set a cap of how much protein you can utilize "in one sitting."  Even the fastest digesting protein takes several hours for just a few grams, so there really isn't any limit. If you eat enough protein, your body will use it (and actually use it far more effectively if you do it in big chunks with proper timing).

[Justin]

This was a long held belief due to some dubious studies, and just sort of became accepted as common knowledge. Almost all research indicates that this is not the case, and digestion is far too complicated to accurately set a cap of how much protein you can utilize "in one sitting."  Even the fastest digesting protein takes several hours for just a few grams, so there really isn't any limit. If you eat enough protein, your body will use it (and actually use it far more effectively if you do it in big chunks with proper timing).

So my daily intake is appx. 400 grams of protein....I should eat that at once? Along with my daily assortment of cruciferous vegetables, cabbage, bok choi, brown rice, etc., this would seem impossible. Also, if the fastest digesting protein takes several hours to digest just a couple of grams, how many hours is it taking me to digest 400 grams daily? That's not including what I get from 3/4 gallons of skim milk daily.

We used to think it was calories in vs calories out, that turned out to be wrong

Eating several small meals a day has no proven benefit, while eating almost all of your calories in short window promotes muscle gain (and some say simultaneously cuts fat but that is going to be based on your caloric intake).

I don't know how to reconcile those 2 statements, but If you cited where you're getting this info from, it would help.

As far as eating all your calories in one sitting, how are you accomplishing this without insulin spiking? What time of day are you eating? (You mention "proper timing" without any description of the time. I'll set my feeding alarm for "proper"

At any rate, maybe all of your respective milages will vary, but after reading everyone's training methods & advice, I think we're working towards different goals (perhaps you guys are focusing on building slow twitch & losing fat over fast twitch & gaining a competition ready build). Ultimately, the longer you work out, & the more research you do, you will ultimately find what works best for you & your body. Wish all of you the best, and look forward to throwing down at SCG's next steel cage match =)

[Onslaught]

Of course you can't get all of your macros in at a single meal, but you also don't need to be eating around the clock to get your daily intake in. Some people on IF take it to the extreme and only have a two hour feeding window, but even a simple 18 hour daily fast gives you plenty of time to consume a lot of food. For example I get 300g protein in with a post workout shake, a large meal after, and a large meal before sleeping. In regards to a spike, that's actually a very good thing to create an anabolic state after hypertrophy training...BBers aren't injecting insulin in concert with Hgh/IGF-1 just for fun. It sounds like you are more geared towards performance than appearance (powerlifting competitions?), and no offense but it seems that the goal there is just to eat as much as possible whenever you can so intermittent fasting is not ideal for that niche. Those guys are strong as fuck and elite level athletes in their own right, but it's not something to recommend for a very broad fitness thread for a bunch of guys who probably just want to shed some middle age flab.

Proper eating time refers to the basics that you already know (get a lot of protein post workout), with the caveat that it comes in a restricted window to get as close to possible to the sweet spot of preventing catabolism. In very nebulous terms, the overwhelming majority of people would benefit from restricting themselves to a six hour feeding window. For someone with more advanced training methods/needs such as yourself, there is a wealth of information you can find by searching for leangains or intermittent fasting. Some things to get you started:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html?m=1
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/08/06/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/
http://rippedbody.jp/2012/03/02/why-is-leangains-so-effective/

Even in Arnold's day they were doing stuff like this intuitively without knowing the science behind it, a lot of it comes off as too good to be true snake oil salesmen but your skepticism has to wane if you go through the mounds of scientific evidence supporting it.

[Soly]

I think it's natural that everyone has different goals.  I don't plan on competing on a fitness stage or getting inside a ring or cage anymore, so for me, it's about being healthier and looking better obv.   That said, my job makes it hard to actually count macros because I am eating on the fly and/or with clients a lot, so I am just doing an EC STack (fuck Aspirin), doing Jamie Eason's 12-week Livefit for now ( my girlfriend is doing it, and it's a pretty good routine at least 2 weeks in), and just making sure my protein is good and my fats are low, with my carbs being from Sweet Potatoes and such instead of chips etc.

[Godder]

As far as I can tell, there is no one best method. It's an old saw, but different stroke for different folks really does seem to be the case for diets, weight loss etc. I'm a vegetarian, so ketosis seems difficult, and at least some studies have shown that functionally vegan diets are pretty good for people, just to go totally the other way from Atkins etc.

[Justin]

It sounds like you are more geared towards performance than appearance (powerlifting competitions?), and no offense but it seems that the goal there is just to eat as much as possible whenever you can so intermittent fasting is not ideal for that niche. Those guys are strong as fuck and elite level athletes in their own right, but it's not something to recommend for a very broad fitness thread for a bunch of guys who probably just want to shed some middle age flab.

.......For someone with more advanced training methods/needs such as yourself, there is a wealth of information you can find by searching for leangains or intermittent fasting. Some things to get you started:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html?m=1
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/08/06/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/
http://rippedbody.jp/2012/03/02/why-is-leangains-so-effective/

.... lot of it comes off as too good to be true snake oil salesmen but your skepticism has to wane if you go through the mounds of scientific evidence supporting it.

Thank you for the links! You're absolutely right, I'm going for performance more than anything else, and that's not for anyone looking to get back in to shape. With all the crazy fad diets & misinformation out there, and having been lifting for 21 years now, I treat everything with skepticism lol.
I get unsolicited offers from people to train them all the time, but honestly I only know how to make athletes into better athletes, not bring someone back into shape.

Aside from "not being able to out-train your diet after thirty", I do have one more piece of relevant advice: Make adjustments to your diet slowly. I've seen a lot of gung-ho resolutionaries toss everything out of their fridge, only to be sick & starving a week later & giving up on the diet. Unless you're competing, these things need to happen at your own pace to be sustainable in the long term. Your happiness is your own, and even modest gains over time will give you the momentum needed to keep pushing forward.

Enjoy your day guys & happy training =)

(Wow, all this age talk just made me realize I've been playing magic for 18 years....Where does the time go!)

[Soly]

I'm pretty happy with the new program my girlfriend and I are following.   We're doing Jamie Eason's Livefit.  At first I was skeptical about it because Jamie is a female fitness model, but after looking at the routine, it's pretty solid for both men and women.  I just increased the weights and use free weights / barbell whenever applicable.   I also HATE* the no-cardio in Phase 1 (week 1 through week 4), so I added 20 minutes of cardio at the end of the routine.

I usually do all my HIIT cardio BEFORE weight, so this is a new challenge for me, but I'm liking it.  I'm not following her diet to a T because I FUCKING HATE eggs after a couple days, but this is a rough estimate of my food/supplement intake.


2 Protein Shakes (1 morning, 1 post-workout):  2 Scoops Dymatize Iso-100.

Breakfast:   Small serving Pretzels w/ humus
Snack:  Small serving Trail Mix
Lunch:  Spinach Salad w/ shredded carrots and rice noodles.  Raspberry Viniagarette dressing.  Side Quinoa
Pre-Workout:   Quest Protein Bar
Post-Workout:   1 LARGE Chicken Breast w/ White rice and a Sweet Potato.    Saute'd over a flatpan with Olive Oil


I supplement with Bronkaid + Caffeine 3x a day,  Orange Triad Multies and ON Brand Fish Oil Gels.  I also make SURE to Drink 128oz of Water minimum.


In a couple weeks I'll be going back to 200ml Clenbuterol for 2 weeks.

[gkraigher]

Diet is about 50% and exercise is the other 50%.  This last diet you posted looked pretty damn good.

I have always found that I have more energy if I eat things like sweet potatoes, beets, and squash.  They are all easy to prepare, just put some olive oil on them, stick some fork holes, and bake them in the over until they are soft and cooked.  The squash needs to have the outside removed before cooking it, and cooks faster when cubed.  They have tons of natural flavor, so you don't need to add anything more to them.  The squash is good with red pepper flakes, if you like things hot. 

Chicken and fish are great proteins that are lean with little fat, but I find portabello mushrooms to be a good replacement for meats, and are bursting with flavor.  There are a lot of great stuffed portabello recipes online, and you can scour through them for the heartiest ones.  I generally go with a brushetta filled one, with tomatoes, fresh basil, and parmesan cheese.

I try to exercise a little everyday, but that doesn't always happen.  Especially when I go out drinking the night before.  But even taking a walk around your neighborhood is something compared to doing nothing at all.  It might seem like a lot, to change your routine and do something everyday, but it sneaks up on you and before you know it, you cannot live without doing it. 

[Soly]

I did some squatting yesterday.  Forgot how much squatting 3x12 sucks.  I only had 225 on the bar, which is roughly 30% of my max, but man it's been awhile.  I am used to doing 350ish for 4x5.   Those 12 rep sets are going to KILL me.

[Justin]

I did some squatting yesterday.  Forgot how much squatting 3x12 sucks.  I only had 225 on the bar, which is roughly 30% of my max, but man it's been awhile.  I am used to doing 350ish for 4x5.   Those 12 rep sets are going to KILL me.

If the 12 rep sets don't kill you, I find the taking the stairs afterwards usually does