The Halls of Valhalla - Brodin's Fitness Thread

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Come and seek the ancient knowledge of picking things up and putting them down. Praise be to Brodin as you earn your glory to the halls of Valhalla!
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
@harryron

So in answer to your post from TGPWS -

In general, for strength you want lower rep schemes with higher weight. So you'll typically find that a 5x5 (5 sets of 5 reps) with about 80-90% of your 1 rep max is where many people go with this. However, I find it is dependent on each person. For me, I do 5x5 on my compound lifts like deadlift and squat, but for most everything else I stick to an 8-10 rep scheme.

Question: How do I decide what's what?

Answer: Compounds = 5x5. Benchpress, Squat, Clean, Jerk, Deadlift, Snatch. These are the big 6 imo.

Question: How do I know what my 1 rep max is?

Answer: Figure it out the old fashioned way (see what you can actually do 1 rep only with) OR calculate it using an online calculator

Question: How do I calculate my 5 rep schemes?

Answer: Take your 1 rep max, multiply by .8 or .9 and there's your "working reps weight"

Question: When do I increase the weight?

Answer: When you can do all your sets of all reps to completion without failing out.

Question: What about everything else?

Answer: 8-10 or 10-12 reps depending on what your goal is. I like 8-10 personally, I go a little heavier and do 3 sets of 8-10. I usually like to increase the weight by 5lbs when I hit all my lifts consistently for a month.

Question: My "insert body part here" won't grow/isn't getting stronger...what do I do?

Answer: First, check your form. It's plausible you're not doing it correctly. Second, is the weight too low? Lift more.

Question: I want to lose fat and gain muscle. What do I do?

Answer: Lift

Question: I want to "tone" up. What do I do?

Answer: Lift

Question: I want abs. What do I do?

Answer: Stop eating shiat. Stop drinking shiat. Everyone has abs. They are covered under belly fat. For truly visible abs you need to be around 10% bodyfat or lower. Diet is key for shredded goodness.

Question: I read online I should follow a trendy diet. What do I eat?

Answer: My most successful diet has actually been macro based. Each person's macros are different based on their goals. Some good things to start with are If It Fits Your Macros, and Leangains. If you want to pay for a coach, I highly recommend StrongerU. Ask me for a referral.

Question: What supplements should I take?

Answer: Multivitamins. Protein if you can't get enough through normal food.

Question: I don't want to get "big and bulky." Can I not lift?

Answer: There is a huge misconception here and I try to stop it as much as I can. Lifting in and of itself does not make you big and bulky. It will make your muscles grow, but you will never look like Arnold in his prime unless you eat and train like he did. Big and bulky are the results of high volume training and extremely high caloric intakes. We are talking people eating 5000-10000 calories a day, every day, and lifting for hours a day. Prime example, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He eats insane amounts of food every day and lifts for 3+ hours a day. You are not Dwayne.

Question: Will my muscles consume fat while I lift?

Answer: No. You lost fat through energy burn. This is enhanced with proper caloric intakes. To keep the science out of it for simple explanation, it goes like this: Your body takes food in. It doesn't care what it is - it sees energy. It converts the energy into use for use. The food breaks into sugar, fat, and protein. Sugar gets stored in fat cells. Fat either gets burned up, or if excess, goes to fat cells. Protein goes to protein stores. Any extra is either excreted or stored as fat as well.

The key here is that this is all excess. If you eat more than your body needs of anything, fat stores increase. Body fat goes up. If you limit intake of excess sugar, your body will burn up the fat stores (aka fat loss) since this is specifically used for energy. Simple stuff really.

Question: So can I just eat protein and fats since carbs "turn into sugar" as many think?

Answer: While there are many conflicting diets and information about all of them (Keto/Paleo/Atkins/Fruit-only/etc/etc/etc) I can't answer that directly. You need to find what works for you. Personally, I don't agree with keto that is not being watched by a nutritionist or doctor as many people do not understand what constant ketosis can do to the body.

I have done paleo strictly before and it is very difficult to do, however, I had great results. These days, I eat moderate intake of fat to under 80grams a day, but my protein and carbs are higher (goal based - so it changes season to season). Diets are person specific and there are too many to follow. I like to eat, and I like variation so I stick to my macro based flex diet which allows for all of this.


Anything I missed, just ask.
 

BEEFY

I Smile when Gasoline Can Freeze
Great thread idea. I have been on a weight lose goal for about 45-50 days now. Started around 205lbs and as of this morning i am at 184.4lbs. Goal Is get to and maintain between 180-175lbs. I have managed this with just a diet change and not following any specific diet fad. The first thing I did was cut back on my beer :( I would easily drink a 15-18 pack a week. Now I just get myself a good 6 pack on the weekend and now dont usually finish it by the end of the following week. And for meals I cut out almost all pre packaged foods. All meals are home cooked, breakfast is usually a veggie omelette with occasional side of bacon or home made hash brows. Lunch is generally left overs from the previous dinner. Now dinner is the big one, being able to plan ahead to have stuff ready that is quick to prep but not bland and repetitive is the hard part. I have found that my slow cooker and instapot have been my friend with this. For example if I cook a roast or chicken in one of them for dinner. I leave it going am turn the already ready broth into a soup, stew or chilly that is ready for the next day. and it is usually easy to make enough to freeze or can extra for when you are running short on time or ideas.

Hope you dont mind me putting my 2 cents in on what is working for me.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
I have been using myfitnesspal for almost a month now. They calculated out how much calories I can consume in a day (1,830 calories). I'm generally about 200 - 500 calories below that. They also gave me macros to try to hit each day. sugar is the worst for me I cut almost all my pop out but about 1 1/2 drink one one the way to work and about half of one on the way home from work ( I don't drink coffee).

I need to really figure out my maximum for lifting weight. Last night I increased all the weights I was lifting like 40 to 60 pounds and still feel I can do more. I was doing 1 set of 8 with ease on most lifts. I may just see what my max weight is tonight after we get back from my daughter's taekwondo practice.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
So of I'm looking at this "workout routine" correctly the first half of it is building mucle or bodybuilding and the 2nd half of it is straight training correct?
Screenshot_20181004-193519_Chrome.jpg
For the strength training part why would they have you starting off with one set? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose even if you fail completing 2 Sets of 5 you would have a gage to see if you are improving.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Most likely this is their version of a beginner setup. Start easy and slowly increase over the 12 weeks, without having a manual or booklet in hand from Bowflex, I couldn't tell you for sure.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Great thread idea. I have been on a weight lose goal for about 45-50 days now. Started around 205lbs and as of this morning i am at 184.4lbs. Goal Is get to and maintain between 180-175lbs. I have managed this with just a diet change and not following any specific diet fad. The first thing I did was cut back on my beer :( I would easily drink a 15-18 pack a week. Now I just get myself a good 6 pack on the weekend and now dont usually finish it by the end of the following week. And for meals I cut out almost all pre packaged foods. All meals are home cooked, breakfast is usually a veggie omelette with occasional side of bacon or home made hash brows. Lunch is generally left overs from the previous dinner. Now dinner is the big one, being able to plan ahead to have stuff ready that is quick to prep but not bland and repetitive is the hard part. I have found that my slow cooker and instapot have been my friend with this. For example if I cook a roast or chicken in one of them for dinner. I leave it going am turn the already ready broth into a soup, stew or chilly that is ready for the next day. and it is usually easy to make enough to freeze or can extra for when you are running short on time or ideas.

Hope you dont mind me putting my 2 cents in on what is working for me.


I meal prep bc a. single and b. I am weird and can eat the same thing for days on end. That said, I am a big fan of slowcookers/instapots.
Typically, I grill or bake up my protein portion it out by the ounce and then do my carbs and fats. If you see my MFP log - I really eat the same thing week to week and day to day. However, with bulking season shortly approaching, this will change for me and I will incorporate more carbs and red meats into my diet to make up for the new macros.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Most likely this is their version of a beginner setup. Start easy and slowly increase over the 12 weeks, without having a manual or booklet in hand from Bowflex, I couldn't tell you for sure.
This was not from the bowflex manual this is a beginner routine someone created for the bowflex. There are lifts you can do that are not in the manual; I still have not found the proper way to set it up for dead lifts. Here is a link to the website that it on.
http://www.weight-lifting-complete.com/free-workout-routine-for-bowflex/
And here is the link for the bowflex manual for the modle I have.
bowflex motivator - Nautilus PDFhttps://download.nautilus.com › Bowflex
I have all the attachments for it and have 310 LBS but I can add another 100 lbs in the future.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Hmmm...based on that site it looks like it's something that was meant for beginners who have never really worked out seriously.

I'd personally scrap it and go with a more tried and true 3 set 8-10 rep scheme. Not sure how much resistance you get from bowflex as I've never used one, but I can't imagine that it gets so high you can't do it if you lift free weights.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Great thread idea. I have been on a weight lose goal for about 45-50 days now. Started around 205lbs and as of this morning i am at 184.4lbs. Goal Is get to and maintain between 180-175lbs. I have managed this with just a diet change and not following any specific diet fad. The first thing I did was cut back on my beer :( I would easily drink a 15-18 pack a week. Now I just get myself a good 6 pack on the weekend and now dont usually finish it by the end of the following week. And for meals I cut out almost all pre packaged foods. All meals are home cooked, breakfast is usually a veggie omelette with occasional side of bacon or home made hash brows. Lunch is generally left overs from the previous dinner. Now dinner is the big one, being able to plan ahead to have stuff ready that is quick to prep but not bland and repetitive is the hard part. I have found that my slow cooker and instapot have been my friend with this. For example if I cook a roast or chicken in one of them for dinner. I leave it going am turn the already ready broth into a soup, stew or chilly that is ready for the next day. and it is usually easy to make enough to freeze or can extra for when you are running short on time or ideas.

Hope you dont mind me putting my 2 cents in on what is working for me.
I meal prep bc a. single and b. I am weird and can eat the same thing for days on end. That said, I am a big fan of slowcookers/instapots.
Typically, I grill or bake up my protein portion it out by the ounce and then do my carbs and fats. If you see my MFP log - I really eat the same thing week to week and day to day. However, with bulking season shortly approaching, this will change for me and I will incorporate more carbs and red meats into my diet to make up for the new macros.
I think that one of my biggest problems with my diet is that I take in all my calories in manly one meal. Typically I eat one meal a day, it stems from being on 3rd shiat and not eating lunch on break. I have been trying to incorporate a snack/lunch while at work that consists of two hardboiled eggs and a snack before bed. As far as macros go I am trying to meet them but not always possible or I exceed them. Here is my meals for today and the macros they have set for me.
Screenshot_20181004-204952_MyFitnessPal.jpg Screenshot_20181004-205055_MyFitnessPal.jpg Screenshot_20181004-205112_MyFitnessPal.jpg Screenshot_20181004-204848_MyFitnessPal.jpg
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Holy shat man. That’s a very low intake. Did MFP calculate that for you? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re actually not eating enough.

If you want I can pm you and calculate using nonMFP calculators. I think you’ll find you can actually eat more than you thought.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Holy shat man. That’s a very low intake. Did MFP calculate that for you? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re actually not eating enough.

If you want I can pm you and calculate using nonMFP calculators. I think you’ll find you can actually eat more than you thought.
Really? Yes myfitnesspal did the calculations for me. You can PM me if you want. without drinking pop in having hard enough time getting close to my calories as it is unless I just totally just go for junk food. I forgot to take my lunch with me today ( 2 hardboiled eggs) which would have gave me 180 calories. For dinner I had 2 tilapia fillets, half of a crab and shrimp stuffed potatoe, and a salad and still have 850 calories left for the day. I seriously thinking about going out and getting a 6 pack of hard cider to get me closer to my goal.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
Really? Yes myfitnesspal did the calculations for me. You can PM me if you want. without drinking pop in having hard enough time getting close to my calories as it is unless I just totally just go for junk food. I forgot to take my lunch with me today ( 2 hardboiled eggs) which would have gave me 180 calories. For dinner I had 2 tilapia fillets, half of a crab and shrimp stuffed potatoe, and a salad and still have 850 calories left for the day. I seriously thinking about going out and getting a 6 pack of hard cider to get me closer to my goal.


Yea but alcohol is actually where most people get destroyed...they go okay its X carbs but it's basically all going to sugar waste. PM incoming...I'll need some basic info from you that will be in there.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Ok I did this routine tonight day 1 and actually felt like I got a workout. One question what would be a good substitute for the rear deltoid rows? I just don't like them.
Screenshot_20181008-214822_Word.jpg
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
What's a good protein drink that could be recommended? I was looking tonight at the grocery store but there is a lot of options. I did try one of the Gatorade whay protein bars after my workout today, it did not tast bad but it was a lot to eat.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
What's a good protein drink that could be recommended? I was looking tonight at the grocery store but there is a lot of options. I did try one of the Gatorade whay protein bars after my workout today, it did not tast bad but it was a lot to eat.

For shakes I will always recommend Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey if you can handle dairy.

Harryron I feel like you don’t eat at all based on your comments about hitting low macros and all that. Many of the protein bars are super taffy like. Try to get as much of your macros from real foods as you can. Supplements are there to make it easier when you are eating huge macros to deal with
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Harryron I feel like you don’t eat at all based on your comments about hitting low macros and all that. Many of the protein bars are super taffy like. Try to get as much of your macros from real foods as you can. Supplements are there to make it easier when you are eating huge macros to deal with
I eat as much as I can. I have had 14 years of really only eating one meal a day while working 3rd shift. Yeah once in a while I would grab something easy to eat in the mornings when I got home from work but not very often. It's a hard habit to break, this weekend I'm going to smoke some boneless skinless chicken breast to take to work with me to eat for lunches among many other things to eat as meals.
 

TheFauxFox

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Huntsville, AL
I've been doing 5-3-1 for the past year now with a coworker. I've gained significant strength over just showing up to the gym 3 times a week and thinking I was doing something right. 5-3-1 is based on 4 common lifts and percentages of your 1-rep max. Then do lighter, but higher rep auxiliaries to work on the other areas. I use an app to calculate these percentages after I found my max. My modified routine is on a 4 week rotation. I don't recommend this to someone who has never or infrequently lifted before.

Week 1: 70-80%
Monday Primary Workout: Back Squats
-70% x5 reps
-75% x5 reps
-80%x x5 reps
Monday Auxiliaries (4 by 8's):
-Front Squats
-Lunges
-Leg Extensions
-Leg Curls
-Calf Raises

Tuesday Primary: Bench Press
-70% x5
(follows same routine as Monday in terms of % and qty)
Tuesday Auxiliaries (again, 4x8):
-DB Bench
-DB Incline
-Incline Bench
-Decline Bench
-Pec Flies

Wednesday: Rest
-Sometimes cardio
-Sometimes abs
-Sometimes yes
-Most of the time, sleep (I'm up at 5:45a for this workout, usually)

Thursday Primary: Deadlifts (not Romanian)
-Same routine
Thursday Aux (4x8):
-Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
-Narrow Grip Lat Pulldowns
-Bent-Over Rows
-(I forget the name of the workout, but its an upper-back workout)
-Back Extensions

Friday Primary: Military Press (Standing Shoulder)
-Samesies
Friday Auxiliaries (4x8):
-Seated DB Shoulder Press
-EZ Bar Curls
-Skull Crushers
-Tricep Pushdowns
-Wrist Curls
-Shoulder Shrugs

Week 2: 80-90%
The workouts here are the exact same, except the primary lifts increase weight and reduce the reps to 3 per set.

Week 3: 75-85-95%
This is what we call "heavy week." Here is where 5-3-1 gets its name.
Set 1: 75% 5x reps
Set 2: 85% 3x reps
Set 3: 95% min 1 rep. Do as many as possible. Our criteria has been that if you can do 3, go up in (primary lifts) weights for the following week. If you don't know your 1-rep max, this is a good way to find it as long as you start reasonably low.

Continue doing the auxiliaries. Don't be ashamed to go down a little in weight this week. Burn out on the primaries.

Week4: 60-70%
This is rest week. Keep doing all the lifts, including the primaries.

Every 4th or 8th week we'll switch up some of the auxiliaries, but for the most part they stay the same. We found it was beneficial to really move around Tuesday. I have drastically increased my bench press and squat weights by 80-100lb over the past year, even after missing multiple weeks at a time due to work, vacation, whatever. It is usually difficult to get back into the swing of things after this, but it balances out after a week.

8/10 recommend.
 
Last edited:

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
So a little update I have been weighing in in the 222 - 227LBS range. my pants have been definitely been fitting looser which is a good thing.
 

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
I need to figure out effective lifts for my back. The ones I have been doing don't seem like they are doing anything for me. I did add one lift that would help strengthen my lower back which was not included in the routine I'm following. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
I need to figure out effective lifts for my back. The ones I have been doing don't seem like they are doing anything for me. I did add one lift that would help strengthen my lower back which was not included in the routine I'm following. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Lifts for back are usually rows, lat pulls, face pulls, front pulldowns, good mornings
 
Top