FIT.Y.E.R.O. (Meathead, wellness, fitness, diet, exercise) Thread

[warrior-cat]

I did not.

I did take notes on the latest Mindpump Reverse Diet (Bulk) vid. I have been increasing calories from 1800 to about 2400 over then past month… I have basically added mainly more protein with an additional turkey on carb balance tortilla Sammy a day… Outside of my 40-hr fast. With lifting heavy, I notice that my appetite has gone bonkers. Maybe it’s the seasonal change?

whatever, I am stronger on many lifts (overhead shoulder press, hack squat, bench) look better even though my stupid effing scale tells me my BF% ain’t trending in the correct direction.

plugging away.

I am not sure how a scale could accurately assess BF%. I don't know mine and don't have a scale that is made for that either.
Have not been to a doctor in a while and never had my BF% calculated anyway. Probably should one day. I am sure I probably still have a pretty high percentage even though I have lost some pounds over the past couple of years. When I hit 185lbs I will probably do it unless something happens beforehand to make it happen. As of this morning, I weighed in at 197lbs.

 

[anthonys735]

If you're hungry that's your body telling you what you need to know.

 

[pretzel__logic]

If you're lifting heavy on a regular basis you need more calories. Kook, I don't know if you've exploring the concept of recomp, but it would be worth a look for you. Easy start would be:

1) find maintenance calories (may take a few weeks of trial and error)
2) structure diet based on macros of carbs/protein/fat
3) cut fats first and up protein (so, 5% reduction in fat macros and corresponding 5% increase in protein so you're still reaching the same calories every day)
4) profit.

 

[Johnnie Africa]

I’m not sure what my health is - but about a month ago, as pool szn was winding down - I decided I was just going to start eating more. Not ****** - just more food in general. I’ve now gone two weeks actually eating a lunch at work instead of a protein bar and nuts. I stopped eating protein bars and am just doing whole food, I actually eat breakfast now. I wake up feeling hungrier and I’m hungrier throughout the day. I haven’t gained anything significantly weight wise, but I do seem to be stronger in my lifts. I’m assuming I’ve increased my metabolism because I used to not eat until like noon and feel fine. Today my stomach was literally growling at 9:30. Guess we’ll see what happens.

 

[Bonzo_Cat]

Yes, the more you eat, along with routine exercise, the hungrier you will be*. You're keeping your metabolism active and burning calories, thus creating a positive cyclical cycle.


*until, as Pretzel lays out above, you find your maintenance level, and plateau out. From there, you'll have to adjust as she mentioned for Kook. Then comes reverse dieting, cutting, body dysmorphia and all the other fun stuff that we obsess over in here.

Welcome, Ron!

 

[anthonys735]

Took me a decade to figure it out. But you have to feed your body. Can't live in a constant roller coaster or caloric deficit. Doesn't mean eat tres leches and churos 2x per day but eat at least maintenance everyday and if you're killing it in the gym, eat more.

 

[Kooky Kats]

The one thing this new Whoop knockoff does (Hume Band) it supposedly tracks you’re metabolic state and if your overtaxing yourself and need to recover/rest.

looking forward to bitching at it 🫩

 

[anthonys735]

The Hume wearable is getting solid reviews.

 

[Hank Camacho]

The one thing this new Whoop knockoff does (Hume Band) it supposedly tracks you’re metabolic state and if your overtaxing yourself and need to recover/rest.

looking forward to bitching at it 🫩

An actual whoop might be perfect for you. It has this new Whoop Age function that creates a composite age based on the factors it detects and, if you have the withings scale, weight and body fat percentage.

Your sleep quality, actual recovery as measured my multiple metrics, daily strain, etc are all taken on a 6 month and 30 day rolling average. When it first started, I was slightly over my actual age. Now I'm obsessed with keeping mm aging rate in the negative. That low key is one of the MAJOR driving forces in my current obsession with step count.

For someone who needs some to obsess over, it might be a way to obsess over something that is a little more well-rounded with fitness and health.

My unsolicited two cents. Dunno if the Hume has something similar. Because I have a job.

 

[Kooky Kats]

Yep it has all that, sans step tracker. Plus no monthly. Integrates info off my BodyPod Scale. We’ll see. Comes in Saturday.

Comparative study

also, after discount codes applied, the Hume w/tax and shipping costs $212. All in.

 

[anthonys735]

Wait until you see your sleep stats after just 1 or 2 drinks.

 

[Hank Camacho]

How is my HRV 9?!? My resting heart rate is 85?!? Am I going to die?!?!

^that or something similar the first time he ties one on, guaranteed.

 

[Kooky Kats]

Don’t make fun, Hank. I’m a poor simple country boy, trying to get along.

 

[anthonys735]

2 bourbons increases my rhr 10pts minimum and decreases HRV at least 20.

 

[Wodie sloot]

My usual 100+ HRV is under 20 when I have more than 2 glasses of wine. And normal mid/high40s HR is over 70. Don’t even think about enjoying ‘spres marts after 5p.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Just finished my first workout with the 32k (70 lb) kettlebell. Started with ten minutes Original Strength, Turkish get-ups at 18, 26, 35, and 44 lbs on each side, and then the goofily named Humane Burpee which is 5 rounds of 15 swings, 5 goblet squats, and 5 pushups. You do 15 swings per round and count down the goblet squats and pushup down to 1 on the last round (15+5+5, 15+4+4...15+1+1). Ends up being 75 swings, 15 goblets squats, and 15 pushups in a nice doable little workout.

With the 70 lb bell, I found the cardio hit more of an issue than any strength deficiency, so that is good.

Don’t make fun, Hank. I’m a poor simple country boy, trying to get along.

No one is making fun. If you've not had a quality fitness tracker before, the effect of alcohol on your stats is dramatic. Eye-opening. It bottles the mind. In all seriousness, seeing the effect has made me drink less and consider whether any particular drink is worth the hit to the system that can linger for more than a week if you go hard -- at least for me.

I will say that as I've gotten in better shape, the occasional drink or two is no longer noticeable in my stats, as long as it doesn't get me out of my sleep, exercise, or diet routine. The real effect, after I've gotten things more dialed in, may be that alcohol makes it SOOOOO easy to let things slide for days at a time.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[warrior-cat]

Just finished my first workout with the 32k (70 lb) kettlebell. Started with ten minutes Original Strength, Turkish get-ups at 18, 26, 35, and 44 lbs on each side, and then the goofily named Humane Burpee which is 5 rounds of 15 swings, 5 goblet squats, and 5 pushups. You do 15 swings per round and count down the goblet squats and pushup down to 1 on the last round (15+5+5, 15+4+4...15+1+1). Ends up being 75 swings, 15 goblets squats, and 15 pushups in a nice doable little workout.

With the 70 lb bell, I found the cardio hit more of an issue than any strength deficiency, so that is good.


No one is making fun. If you've not had a quality fitness tracker before, the effect of alcohol on your stats is dramatic. Eye-opening. It bottles the mind. In all seriousness, seeing the effect has made me drink less and consider whether any particular drink is worth the hit to the system that can linger for more than a week if you go hard -- at least for me.

I will say that as I've gotten in better shape, the occasional drink or two is no longer noticeable in my stats, as long as it doesn't get me out of my sleep, exercise, or diet routine. The real effect, after I've gotten things more dialed in, may be that alcohol makes it SOOOOO easy to let things slide for days at a time.

Your mileage may vary.

I don't have a fitness tracker; my wife does but I haven't given in to getting one yet. Was looking at the Hume and the Whoop knock off mentioned in earlier post and am not convinced they are beneficial for me at that price. Although, a couple of articles I read said that the Whoop was better. I can afford it, but I just don't know if they are worth the little extra effort to monitor.

I have just started adding a couple of extra items to my black coffee in the morning. Normally have nothing, but I have read about the benefits of Cacao and Cinnamon and have started adding them to my coffee. They suggest a tablespoon each (I believe meaning one or the other) to help with blood flow and other benefits. So, I use a half tablespoon of each to each cup (drink 2 in the morning) and it has me a little warmer than normal and sweating. Gets the system going better than just a cup of coffee itself. Will see if my workout sessions improve. Just started this week so still working out moderately during leg workouts as I am still healing from a torn calf muscle.

As far as alcohol, I have cut my intake down a lot and will go days (working on weeks) without a drink. However, Wednesday night after the Reds typical extra inning woes, I had 2 shots of scotch to lessen the pain.

 

[Kooky Kats]

Friday disclosure:

I’m changing…

Also… after an intense lifting session, I finish up doing my daily straight leg lifts on the dip rack… 3 sets of 25ish.

In the last set, I was tapped on the shoulder by the master trainer to join her group to do abs/core her style… let me tell you that I was humbled quickly in 10 seconds with a medicine ball. She is the final boss.

 

[anthonys735]

Up 3# and decrease in BF%? Let's F*cking Go!!

Very slightly bump those calories again.

 

[anthonys735]

Had a whoop and got rid of it. The insights are nice but I hate **** on my hands or wrists. Took years to get used to a watch. So now my garmin watch gives me workout data and the 8Sleep gives me sleep data. I do think sleep data is pretty important and more important than your awake activity.

I know Hank loves KBs but that workout sounds miserable too me.

 

[pretzel__logic]

Humane Burpee sounds absolute foul, and I would like to try it. Perhaps as my next bonus day (outside of my planned 4 days of lifting).

 

[Kooky Kats]

Was basically this with a 16 pound ball…. Then, doing a continued leg lift rolling the ball underneath from side to side. Foul indeed.

 

[ROGUE_]

I totally get the desire for a whoop or all those techy things but personally, touch that. It seems like an expensive device that is designed to get you to overly stress about things. My lady has one that tells her how she slept. She wakes up and looks at it, “well I didn’t sleep great last night”… no ****, you need a watch to tell you if you slept well or not? I don’t get that, I know if I didn’t or did. Plus, then I think she starts her day off with thinking from the moment she woke up she didn’t sleep well which I think is going to affect how you think and feel the rest of the day.

Why do you need a watch to tell you drinking makes you sleep poorly? We all know that, maybe seeing it helps some people though idk.

To me, it’s a waste of time and causes unnecessary worry. Maybe it’s because I eat the same thing every day, except eating out on the weekend once or twice, don’t drink, go to bed the same time and get up the same time except a rare occasion when we stay out late watching a band or something. I don’t really have a lot of variables I guess.

I do miss gummies before bed but they’re not hurting my sleep, know that.

It’s the same to me as anth said about eating, if you’re hungry your body is saying to eat. If you feel like you slept like garbage well you didn’t sleep well… who cares if the watch says you did?

**addendum**Not saying these don’t work or help, I’ve just wasted money on a ton of things like this, I just personally don’t get them being a huge asset unless you just need the occasional reminder that drinking, eating like poo, going to bed late, etc as you get past 40 takes a tremendous toll.

 

[Johnnie Africa]

How TF do I get bigger arms? Granted my arms are long as hell, which was great for bball, but sucks for trying to add mass. My issue is the one day I can go to the gym I dedicate it to chest and legs and the other days I do the cable machine in my home gym. Is there one thing I can buy for the home gym so I can really get my biceps?

 

[anthonys735]

Pretty good listen.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Is there one thing I can buy for the home gym so I can really get my biceps?

A chin-up bar and a pair of adjustable dumbbells ought to be pretty cheap on Amazon. Chin-ups, i.e. with your hands facing you rather than away when they are on the bar, are better for bicep growth than pull-ups. If already have a TRX or something similar, you can do bicep curls with those, too, and just change foot positions to increase the strength demand required.

Biceps would, I imagine, be the easiest muscle group to train at home because it involves much lower weights and is just a one joint contraction. Get a pair of dumbbells and go ham with bicep curls like you're in an 80s action movie training montage and you'll probably be fine.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Humane Burpee sounds absolute foul, and I would like to try it. Perhaps as my next bonus day (outside of my planned 4 days of lifting).

It is not that bad actually. The level changes, i.e. getting up and down off the floor for the pushups are what really spike the heart rate.

Grab a medium size kettlebell for you and try it. It is over quick, too. Might be a nice change of pace for some iron cardio.

As I think of it, my biceps were killing me the next day, too. Holding 70 lbs in front of you while you squat 15 times adds up.

 

[anthonys735]

A chin-up bar and a pair of adjustable dumbbells ought to be pretty cheap on Amazon. Chin-ups, i.e. with your hands facing you rather than away when they are on the bar, are better for bicep growth than pull-ups. If already have a TRX or something similar, you can do bicep curls with those, too, and just change foot positions to increase the strength demand required.

Biceps would, I imagine, be the easiest muscle group to train at home because it involves much lower weights and is just a one joint contraction. Get a pair of dumbbells and go ham with bicep curls like you're in an 80s action movie training montage and you'll probably be fine.

Key to big arms is massive triceps.

1. EAT enough to build muscle.
2. Hit bi/tris 1 exercise each 3-4 times per week.
3. Progressive overload.
4. Add creatine if you're not already on it.

 

[Kennedy_UK]

Anyone tried glutathione? The internet really wants me to and I've never heard of it. Chulo got me all self conscious about internet marketing.

Yes. Helpful for all sorts of things. Really helped me with inflammation.

 

[anthonys735]

Yes. Helpful for all sorts of things. Really helped me with inflammation.

What brand/form?

 

[Kennedy_UK]

What brand/form?

Quicksilver Scientific. It’s a pump elixir that you hold under your tongue.

 

[Kooky Kats]

Get pumped, Anth.

 

[anthonys735]

Trying to do that everyday.

 

[Bonzo_Cat]

How TF do I get bigger arms? Granted my arms are long as hell, which was great for bball, but sucks for trying to add mass. My issue is the one day I can go to the gym I dedicate it to chest and legs and the other days I do the cable machine in my home gym. Is there one thing I can buy for the home gym so I can really get my biceps?

There is a lot of truth to this image…



….bigger arms have much more to do with growth of your triceps. Obviously don’t neglect biceps, work them both the same as Anth said…

…but they are a much larger muscle than the bicep and filling those 3 heads out will do more in the long run to make your shirt sleeves pop.

 

[pretzel__logic]

As a person with inspector gadget length limbs, I cosign Bonz absolutely about tris >> bis. I barely do anything directly for biceps but my arms look "big" (for my frame) because I do a crapton of tricep work. You can also reap a lot of benefit from building up the shoulders, which doesn't necessarily require going HAM with weights. Low weight, high rep and strict form will make the delts pop. also cosign anth's points on sufficient caloric intake and creatine.

 

[anthonys735]

I will say this, striving for bigger arms is a worthy goal.

 

[Kooky Kats]

Order of aesthetics (for me):

coconut shoulders > arms

 

[Kooky Kats]

Low weight, high rep and strict form will make the delts pop.

yep. That is a daily for me. Granted not 50 reps, but 3 sets of 20. Reaping rewards.

also: HMB and TMG with creatine also may promote dividends.

 

[pretzel__logic]

If you're familiar with the I-T-Y drill for shoulders, I will say I have noticed more shoulder pop since I started doing those as a warmup for every workout (including lower body, barbell squat requires healthy shoulders) holding 5 lb plates in each hand. The joints themselves have also been feeling great. if it's a new movement for anyone, start with 2.5 lb plates or super super light bands to get used to that movement.

 

[anthonys735]

I'm good with low weight on shoulders. You don't want to tear anything in that joint. That will f*ck everything up.

No reason to pick and choose which to focus on. Both are attainable.