NorCal Gym Thread

[steezypenguin]

Sup fellow NorCal twin owners!

Since there was a slight interest about what gyms we go to in another thread, I decided that it would be best to create a new thread about gym/health/fitness. We can use this as the official thread for anyone who has diet tips, lifting techniques, special deals pertaining to this topic, eating habits, current goals, progress, supplements, ideas, etc.

I guess I'll start off with myself.

Recently got back into the gym after like a 5 month break in September 2013. (I guess you can consider this as my unintentional "bulking" phase ) First 3 weeks I just ate "clean." Then I decided it was better to count calories and macronutrients to make sure I was on track. And now I had just started Intermittent Fasting. (10-21-13) Definitely "losing all kinds of fat." Anyways, post away!

As always, take care everybody!

-Johnny

[doggieboy09]

Awesome, a gym thread! My body is ready!

[sdlynx]

I can only share what's working for me. I've been eating 90:10 Paleo for the past 6 months and having incredible results.

I also do Crossfit workouts 4-5 days a week. I've been doing Crossfit for about 2 and a half years. I'd like to stop, but honestly, I can't find anything that works quite as well, as quickly. I like the variety of the workouts and the great encouraging people at our local CrossFit gym. The workouts are vicious, but it's like a bad addiction. I know if I stop CrossFit, I'd have to change my eating habits and watch calories more. :-P

I wasn't very fit 4 years ago. I was a very weak 274 lbs. at 5'9". I'm now at 185 lbs. and stronger than I've ever been.

I love hearing people getting into fitness! Whatever works for you, and gets / keeps you fit, DO IT!

[B2FiNiTY]

Great thread.

currently not gyming it lately but it is in the plans.

Just been eating healthy and staying active. Enough to keep my weight in check but not enough to get fit.

[steezypenguin]

Originally Posted by sdlynx

I can only share what's working for me. I've been eating 90:10 Paleo for the past 6 months and having incredible results.

I also do Crossfit workouts 4-5 days a week. I've been doing Crossfit for about 2 and a half years. I'd like to stop, but honestly, I can't find anything that works quite as well, as quickly. I like the variety of the workouts and the great encouraging people at our local CrossFit gym. The workouts are vicious, but it's like a bad addiction. I know if I stop CrossFit, I'd have to change my eating habits and watch calories more. :-P

I wasn't very fit 4 years ago. I was a very weak 274 lbs. at 5'9". I'm now at 185 lbs. and stronger than I've ever been.

I love hearing people getting into fitness! Whatever works for you, and gets / keeps you fit, DO IT!

Hey man, congrats on the weight loss! I personally haven't done any cross fit workouts, but I can tell that it's very intense :-p

[steezypenguin]

Originally Posted by B2FiNiTY

Great thread.

currently not gyming it lately but it is in the plans.

Just been eating healthy and staying active. Enough to keep my weight in check but not enough to get fit.

What I've learned is that diet is much more important than the actual workout. Think the ratio is 70% diet, 30% activity? Anyways, good job man! Keep it up

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by sdlynx

I can only share what's working for me. I've been eating 90:10 Paleo for the past 6 months and having incredible results.

I also do Crossfit workouts 4-5 days a week. I've been doing Crossfit for about 2 and a half years. I'd like to stop, but honestly, I can't find anything that works quite as well, as quickly. I like the variety of the workouts and the great encouraging people at our local CrossFit gym. The workouts are vicious, but it's like a bad addiction. I know if I stop CrossFit, I'd have to change my eating habits and watch calories more. :-P

I wasn't very fit 4 years ago. I was a very weak 274 lbs. at 5'9". I'm now at 185 lbs. and stronger than I've ever been.

I love hearing people getting into fitness! Whatever works for you, and gets / keeps you fit, DO IT!

Holy crap Tom. thats crazy.

I used to work out with a trainer about 3-4 years ago and was just under 180 and the strongest I had ever been. Moved off for college for a couple years and then commuting stopped me. We would do some crossfit workouts like Annie (for warm-up), filthy 50, and Murph. It is a sick addiction as I loved feeling that freakin spent. My favorite workout though was Fight Gone Bad by far.

I just started back up with him last week and am looking to drop hopefully back down into the 180-185 range which is about 40 pounds for me right now. I am not great with food habits so it'll be small steps that way. I wasn't eating that great back then but better than I am now by a long shot.

Figure this will be one of the better driver/weight reduction mods. Lol

[brownboi]

I used to just go to the gym and just lift for a while but then started on that 531 program. my max's increased pretty steadily and I loved it! couldn't sandbag any day since I was writing it out haha. wanted to cut so I switched to the intermittent fasting and it worked pretty well! got rid of that pouch that was always there. takes a lot of discipline but after around 3 or 4 months I stopped because I hated seeing all my max's drop so much now I'm back to just going to the gym to lift since i've moved back to the bay. Probably going to start 531 again really soon.

btw, can someone explain macronutrients??

[Veloist]

Ride a bike I'm 5'8 128 pounds




...Can't lift many large things though

[steezypenguin]

Originally Posted by brownboi

I used to just go to the gym and just lift for a while but then started on that 531 program. my max's increased pretty steadily and I loved it! couldn't sandbag any day since I was writing it out haha. wanted to cut so I switched to the intermittent fasting and it worked pretty well! got rid of that pouch that was always there. takes a lot of discipline but after around 3 or 4 months I stopped because I hated seeing all my max's drop so much now I'm back to just going to the gym to lift since i've moved back to the bay. Probably going to start 531 again really soon.

btw, can someone explain macronutrients??

Good job man! Yeah I know what you mean by max's dropping when you're in that cutting phase, haha. Macro-nutrients are essentially fats, carbs, protein. Pretty much it. What people have been doing is figuring out how much of each they should consume in a day. For example, I consume 60g of fat, 150g of carbs, and 200g of protein on a daily basis. Of course you're not gonna hit these numbers spot on everyday. But somewhere around that range is good enough. You can research more online and find a calculator to figure out what your "macros" would be.

[Veloist]

Originally Posted by steezypenguin

and 200g of protein

I hope you meant 20g because no matter how much you work out your body can only metabolize like 1/5th of that and the excess be peed out. Superfluous amounts of protein will also decay your kidneys over time...

*unless you are a committed body builder weighing over 200 lbs.

[mou]

i started working out 3 months ago. I'm 5'11, started at 200lbs and lost 50 lbs after 6 weeks by keeping saturated fats and sodium to a minimum, and cutting out carbs from my diet. After the 10th week, I realized how small I looked and started bulking up since then.

[BigFatFlip]

Although I don't look like it, I actually try to hit the gym at least 5x a week. Used to be 310 lbs but have since gotten down to 245 from the past 6 or so years, it was definitely a long term change. Have done the whole range, from working with a trainer to "insanity" at home, even went the pre-prepped meals route (which was kinda nice, no cooking or dishes!)

I don't really attribute the weight loss to any workout or diet in particular, it was more eating right and finding what you like enough that you will stick with it. For me, it was prepping to do a sprint triathlon, so I go swim & spin class during the week, with jogs in between/weekends (I'm still a big guy, so my joints take a beating). Been maintaining 245-250 now for the past year or so, so unfortunately, I think I've plateaued, but on the good side, I have not gained the weight back, so I must be doing something right

[Antheezy]

My tips are to just keep active in whatever youre doing, with working, or hanging out with friends. Just dont take the lazy way. Smarter choices are always encouraged when eating. You dont have to overanalyze, most smarter decisions can be done on the spot. Exercise atleast 4-5 hours a week if you arent physically active in 2-4 sessions! 2 years ago I was 5'5" 180 lbs and today I stand 5'5 160lbs with more muscle and a lot less fat. I wasn't monitoring anything like crazy and went to the gym on average 2-3x a week.

The hardest part for me was portion control and fighting cravings. I realized first 2 weeks are the hardest because the stomach and mind is adjusting and once you are on a roll its' cake after that.