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Weight Training


Zane

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So I've done a few things to set myself up for success: 5000 IUD of Vitamin D every day, 15 mins of blue light (morning & night), cardio + weightlifting exercise (5 days/week), clean diet (very low sugar, real natural food) + a green juice (no fruit) every few days. A bit of extra sleep each morning. I'm basically religious about this. I've also just reintroduced 200mg of 5HTP each night.

That's a lot of vitamin D! Hey man, what kind of exercises do you do, specifically? Like, walk me through a typical work out for you, if you don't mind. I'm curious :)

I rotate three workouts. Arms/Chest, Triceps/Back, Legs, 3 sets, 6 exercises, 4-5 days/week

I always do 15 minutes of cardio at the start.

Arms/Chest Day:

1. Pushups
2. Dumbbell flys
3. Barbell curls
4. Barbell forearm curls
5. Standing cable chest flys
6. Benchpress

Triceps/Back:

1. Barbell skull crushers
2. Barbell shoulder press
3. Dumbbell bent-over row
4. Bench dips
5. Seated cable row
6. Lay pulldowns
7. Tricep pushdown
8. Back extensions (light)
9. Resistance band shoulder rehab exercises (light)

Legs:

1. Deadlifts
2. Calf raises
3. Bodyweight Squats
4. Squats
5. Bodyweight Lunges
6. Leg Press 

 

Edited by Zane
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Thanks Cam!

How long have you been following this plan? How did you find/ develop it? What kind of success have you found with it? 

What's your diet like (what do you eat and do you count calories or not), and what kind of weight training goals do you have? Are you trying to build muscle, increase strength, focus on aesthetics, or is weight training for you more a means of stress relief and health? I'm sure all of the above sounds good, but what is your main focus?

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How long have you been following this plan? How did you find/ develop it? What kind of success have you found with it? 

Since the beginning of September. When I committed to being back in the gym, no excuses, for the long-term (The Slight Edge style), I put together a few of my favorite exercises for each different day, which would inspire me to go to the gym (the gym is a happy place vs. I hate going to the gym.)

I should also mention I do a core workout every day too of crunches, bicycles and v-sits (w/ medicine ball).

Overall my physique and strength are improving well. I'm a fairly skinny guy (have been around 145lbs constant since the 8th grade, never been over 150), so lots of compliments lately on "my arms looking bigger" "you've been working out" that sort of thing.

My traditional workout before was this one from bodybuilding.com, which I found worked really well but I didn't have as much fun at the gym, so over time I went away from it. I might re-introduce it for a cycle here at some point. 

My main goals for weight training in order are:

1) Be healthier overall (stress relief, etc)
2) Look better in my clothes
3) Increase my strength and stamina (apocalypse, hiking, etc)
4) Break through the 150lbs mark at some point in my life.

I don't count calories right now - I have in the past. I may instill it again soon now that I have more of a gym/cooking habit built from so many years on the road without either.

I eat the same breakfast every day: 4 eggs and an avocado. For lunch and dinner I have the same thing: two large scoops of quinoa (half a small tumberware), quarter pound of organic lean meat (beef, pork or bison), bok choy, peppers, one full yam. I eat 2-4 bananas most days.

My system is fairly sensitive so I can't do protein shakes or too much protein (ie: a few weeks ago I was eating 6-8 pork chops with each meal instead and it was overwhelming my system.) I have to avoid beans and be careful with nuts as well. 

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Since the beginning of September. When I committed to being back in the gym, no excuses, for the long-term (The Slight Edge style), I put together a few of my favorite exercises for each different day, which would inspire me to go to the gym (the gym is a happy place vs. I hate going to the gym.

Thanks Cam!!

When I first got into weight training earlier this year, I was more concerned with getting bigger/ stronger (bulking up) tha anything else. I wouldn't say it was that I was overly unhappy with my body, but I started focusing on the body because it seemed like something I could fix up/ change, and I definitely needed that. I felt weak and unhealthy (comments from coworkers didn't help) and weight training seemed like the next logical step toward self improvement. Your respawn guide helped me affirm that this could be a goal to work toward to replace unfulfilled needs in my life.

My early attempts at weight training were thwarted by depression, an expensive court case, video game addiction, and lack of Slight Edge/ habit forming mentality. In early september I picked up where I left off, with a wealth of knowledge. It was surprisingly easy to fall back into a gym routine. I was no longer impatient about results, and I am starting to get hooked on going to the gym. One thing that helped me get hooked might be somewhat surprising. After a hard workout, going to the sauna is very relaxing and feels good. I often use the sauna right after my workout because of this, and rehydrate afterward with coconut water, which tastes delicious if you need electrolytes. Anyway, after reading the Power of Habit, I realized that the sauna was a reward after the workout, and that I could use it to form a habit of going to the gym. It worked out great, and I started being excited about going to the gym, to the point that at random periods of the day I was wishing I was at the gym instead. I'm also working on good nutrition habits; I eat healthy of course, but not as much as I should, yet. 

Right now I'm really enjoying my workout plan. It starts out with 12-15 reps week 1, and progressively turns heavier with fewer reps until week 4 (3-5 reps), then restarts at the beginning of the month. In this past month I have seen enormous strength gain. A couple days ago, I deadlifted 70 pounds heavier than I did a month ago. That's crazy. Currently, I rotate 4 workouts:

Chest, Triceps, calves

Back, biceps, abs

shoulders, traps/lats, calves

legs, abs

and sometimes I swim (Freestyle, butterfly, etc)

On a leg day, I might do 3-4 sets each:

Squats

One leg leg press

Leg extensions

Deadlifts

Hamstring Curls

Hip thrust machine

Weighted crunches

Woodchoppers

One great thing about this plan is the order of the exercises. I  begin with a complex lift, then use machines to isolate the muscle. 

Now that I'm getting stronger, I'm enjoying strength training alot more. I can't completely tell if this exercise makes me healthier/ happier, but it seems like maybe it helps.

Now, my focus is shifting once again, although not entirely. What I mean is, now that I can see what I can do with my box of legos, I want to take my time building a more aesthetically oriented structure. This is where I'm at odds with alot of what I hear or read from others. I hear alot of people say that weight training should be for the health benefits, not for looks. Others say that what matters is strength over bulk/ looks. In fact, I've read alot from Ramit Sethi recently, and Ramit is a big fan of jumping right in and getting things done, without debating minutiae, without waiting to become an expert in the field. His friend, author of NerdFitness, has a similar mentality, and he also says that rather than focusing on looks, one should focus on numbers, and how much strength is gained. And, I can agree with both of them, but I also partially disagree. If strength were what really mattered, then my goal should be to become as strong as possible. But that would mean a shit ton of work, and give me a huge unnattractive bodybulder physique (eww.) Obviously, there is a limit to how strong I really want to be. As to being healthy, yeah, that is awesome, but somehow I don't believe that a huge bodybuilder is necessarily more healthy than a slim athlete. So, yeah, I want to be strong and healthy. But, if I'm gonna be strong and healthy, I might as well focus on aesthetics first, since I will still get there. You can build a strong tower out of randomly colored legos, but if you have the time you might as well find the right colors and put things together with an artistic taste. An emphasis on certain lifts rather than others can allow you to build more lean physiques/ golden ratio/ v shape, for example.

Wow, that was more in depth than I was intending. lol.

So, with that in mind, I'll put my goals for weight training in order:

1. Have a sexy body (duh)-

2. Be healthier overall

3. Be stronger

More specific goals have changed. I'm shooting for: 150 lbs, 12 percent bodyfat, by March 1. (Currently, 128 lbs, 11 percent bodyfat)

After research based on my height and weight, I realize that my previous goal of 170 lbs might be a little more than I want.

As to my nutrition, I try to eat 3600 calories per day. At first I thought I could go without counting calories, but that's when I realized that I wasn't eating enough. 3600 calories is alot man. It's alot.

 

Edited by Zane
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I definitely know how much 3600 calories is, haha. Been there. I haven't found the perfect mix with calories yet. Now that my workouts are good and the habit is formed I'm going to work on it more. I just need to make sure I don't hate eating, or that it doesn't feel like a chore, because that's when I use willpower to do it and that only lasts so long.

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  • 7 months later...

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