The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

If you lose 20lbs you might be 10% bf but being skinny and being lean are 2 very different things. I used to be sub 150 sub 10%bf and I was a pipsqueak. I was 165 ~12%bf last spring and at least looked like I could lift a little. Now I’m 178 ~16%bf and I look leaner than before and feel better and am 100% stronger.

If your bench max is 265 right now and you drop 20lbs you’ll lose a ton of strength with it. Your goals still aren’t making any sense which we discussed before this idea of losing a shit ton of weight to just turn around and bulk again. You can work on body recomposition without sacrificing strength and other gains

Won’t be long young padawan

 

My ultimate goal is to be around 12-15% body fat. If I slim down it gives me room to bulk for a long while in a controlled manner so I can reach strength goals while not being so fat I hate how I feel (like now).

From what I understand its a waste of time to attempt to recomp as a beginner. I’m better off losing and regaining than fucking around trying to recomp for months and gaining zero strength and not losing weight. I tried recomping recently. Pissed away months getting nowhere. I don’t have the discipline to stay that perfect on my cals every single day.


Back to resolutions. I set my goals as they are for a reason. I don’t want to nit pick the details.

 

I've never seen anyone do a successful recomp. I like the idea of bulking and cutting and it's effective if you can do a controlled bulk after a cut without going overboard...I can't do this. I have the discipline to cut and I have successfully dropped 20-30 lbs on a cut, but when it's bulking time I go balls to the wall and get up to 20% bf again . Love the strength gainz that come with it though.

 

Cutting and bulking is just an excuse to get fat. @PackCon if you don't have the discipline to stick to your daily cals you won't be able to bulk in a manner that doesn't get out of control like @zacharypaul89 does. Recomp ain't hard. If you want it bad enough you'll make it happen

 

I rarely hear of a recomp working though. Bulking and cutting does work if done correctly; that's why it's the most popular method in the bodybuilding community. With a recomp, you're spinning your wheels neither gaining muscle or losing fat. Even on AAS, recomp is a waste of time. Either decide to lose fat or gain muscle...trying to go both directions at the same time lands you back in your original spot. Once you get to where you want to be both fat and muscle wise, a recomp would be okay because your physique will stay the same.

 

Hold on meow...

 

I can lose a lb. a week eating Pop Tarts. IIFYM, brah.

That's how rare it is lol...what I meant was that I don't know anyone personally who's done a successful one and even in forums and whatnot, people are rarely successful with them.

I think a recomp could be something worth doing if you're at your goal weight and muscle mass, but you want to go from like 15 to 12% body fat...and you're willing do do that over a year long process. A recomp is just a super slow cut. I think it's stupid and doing it in the cut/bulk fashion is much more efficient no matter what weight/bf% you're at.

 

The two guys I have helping me are strength coaches and one is a competitive bodybuilder and both have competed in powerlifting.

Both have recommended I not attempt to recomp for these reasons. I’m dedicated to weight loss when I need to be (short periods of time). Bulking is easy because... well its easy to eat. I don’t do well with controlled eating long term. I binge eat once a week typically during the summer. Ill go over cals easily with a day out smoking/grilling and drinking. That doesn’t work well on a recomp.

They recommend I trash the weight (not more than 2lbs per week) and then go back to a controlled bulk.

Recomp req the calories to be too low and specific each day for an extended period of time.

 

This may be a silly question but all I've ever bought in the past is "running" shoes to wear everywhere. Is there a better type or style of shoe to where in the gym when lifting? When my brother and I went to the gym while he was here for Christmas he had some Reebok shoes similar to the link below.

Reebok CROSSFIT Lifter 2.0

https://www.amazon.com/Reebok-Mens-CrossFit-Lifter-Training/dp/B00RW1B9RS/ref=cts_sh_3_vtp

 

How serious are you into lifting?

You can squat and deadlift barefoot to avoid spending that kind of money on a pair of shoes. Or just get a pair of Converse/Chuck Taylors.

Your lifts need to start getting up there before you need to start spending money on weight lifting shoes IMO. They are just really expensive for a weekend warrior to get.

 

Do you have lifting shoes?

 

Not sure what happened to that response and why it got placed in the quote. He is my response from above.

Not that I'm buying a shoe just for the gym, but I need to replace my year or so old Asics anyway and figured I would buy a shoe that I could walk(at work), run, and lift in. I'm wanting to go to the gym more regularly than what I currently do is the ultimate goal.

 

I have a pit of Nike metcons that I wear to the gym and squat and deadlift in. Hard soled and pretty stable, I like them. You can do sprints and short runs in them but if I'm running I'd rather have my sauconys on.

 

My exercise and workout routine is as follows

M,T,Th,Friday - 0600 Crossfit (60 mins)
M,W - 1730 Jujitsu (60+ mins)
Sat or Sunday I try to get a longish bike ride in, sometimes very very long.

Anybody else roll jujitsu ?

 

Popcorn.gif

 

Any athletic shoe is fine for the gym if the need isn't there. I squat twice a week and I generally go over 400 lbs and I needed them due to ankle crap and APT, so I bought squat shoes. There are no requirements for gym shoes. I did shoulders Monday in Crocs. If you don't need squat shoes, don't get them because they're expensive. My Nike Romaleos squat shoes were $160 I think...you can get some decent ones for around $75-$100, but they're ugly as hell. The Romaleos 3 are like the only good looking squat shoes, IMO:



When doing legs, you want a shoe that doesn't have a squishy bottom because it's unstable. Any hard-soled shoe will work (Vans Classics and Converse All Stars are both super popular)

 

Stop being a pussy. Just train properly

 

Weight lifting shoes are typically designed for squats, deads, cleans, snatches etc. not really for cardio or cross training. You typically only wear these shoes when doing the exercises above.

No. I’m too busy saving for a house, an Audi A7 and law school.

$180 for shoes. Bitch please. I’d have no money left over for pop tarts and I’d looze all ma gainz.