Logros

Thanks for the advice there coffeeandbacon. It'll take some consideration I guess. I have given some careful thought to whether I'd like to lift, and I'm not entirely opposed to it. I know it will help aesthetically, and will help with overall relative strength. But as far as it goes at present most of my goals are bodyweight based instead of lifting X amount of weights. Although I have lifted before, and I do kinda miss it. I have considered doing maybe 3 days a week lifting, and some more advanced bodyweight training over the weekend, but I think as far as that goes, I'll see how it goes and go from there. I'll probably take an invitation to the gym and just see how it goes. If I enjoy the lifting I'll do a bit more of it. But I'll definitely keep with the bodyweight too, I love what it's doing for me at present. At present I'm doing 3 circuits a week, and one sequential training session over the weekend, like you mentioned above. I have started to make a few more gains in strength since adjusting - I'm trying for lower reps (6-8) and better form and I'm feeling better for it - my pull ups and lever push ups have both advanced very well - still working on my pistol squats, though I have a plan for those too. I think I'm now on the right track as far as those progressions go, I've got a lot of material to work with - I've checked Al Kavadlo, found some great progressions at fitness666.com as well, Waldo's blog too, and I think I'm going ok. Thanks for your help, there's some good ideas there. I'll post again if there's any other help I need.

Yeah ok, maybe a little pressure then

No pressure Waldo, it's great reading so far anyway.

No pressure Waldo, it's great reading so far anyway.

Hey guys, I have been looking for some answers for a few weeks now as I've been getting really frustrated with stalling in my workouts. I've done a few searches, asked a few people and want to really fine tune my workouts to make some further progress. So, what I'm working with is 5ft4, 78kg, round about 25% body fat. I eat primarily paleo based meals complemented with some protein, and extra carbs and calories where needed. I've just started to take bulking seriously, and while it's harder eating paleo I'm doing ok. My maintenance calorie intake is pretty low as I'm pretty short and not too heavy, so I can get almost all of my maintenance calories from a single shake if I try hard enough. What I'm doing for exercise at present is primarily bodyweight. My flatmates are powerlifters and have suggested doing some work with them. I am tempted, but I have no spotter, haven't lifted in years and don't want to get stuck doing 6 day/week split routines like they do. I like my down time. Plus I like the flexibility and handiness of bodyweight/calisthenics workouts, and as far as legs, bodyweight gets me way more than weight work. My current routine is pretty well circuit training. It generally goes like this: Rowing machine 3-5min at max resistance for warm up Lever push ups Hanging straight leg raise Squats (either pistol or barbell - I can load 40kg max, thats all the weight I have) Wide grip pull ups Plank 1 min Rest Rinse and repeat x4, followed by stretching. Reps I'm keeping between 6 and 10 atm, and on some off days I'm working on my pistol squat form, back bridges and pseudo planche push ups. Now I have no problem finding a whole raft of bodyweight exercises that I'd enjoy doing, what I'd really like is for someone to help me restructure my routine to take some focus away from cardio and zero in on , as circuits tend to. I've only ever really done circuit style workouts, so if someone could point me in a different direction that'd be great. I don't want someone to tell me what to do, I want to know how to find out what will work for me, and how to build a plan that I can scaffold or evolve as necessary. I'd happily do split routines if necessary, I could probably do 4 days exercise tops. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for any advice. Love, Logros.

Yeah I'll second that. I jumped over from here yesterday and read start to finish during a slump at work. Very well done Waldo. Only thing I was bummed about was not seeing a 'building blocks pt 3' article. All in good time, great reading so far anyway.

Ok, so I did some research over in the "help me plan my routine" section (I probably shouldve posted there first, sorry) and came across the sort of info I was after. If anyone's still following, this is what I picked up: Am I correct in assuming that: With bodyweight goals are much more important than a program per se - so aiming towards specific movements rather than making sure I'm exercising all the different body parts - it will happen as a matter of course due to the fact that these are compound exercises. Low reps of any exercise in a progression will be much more conducive to pure strength than endurance and mass, as seen in higher reps. I think thats pretty close, I'll work on these assumptions for now, and see how I go.

So is anyone able to suggest what sort of changes to make in my routine that might help me make some progress? Even a link in the right direction would be great. I've talked to a few friends about it who suggested upping reps to 12 and cutting the rowing machine out as well as working back with some light deadlifting, but otherwise they didn't think I had any problems. So now I'm confused as to who's right and who's wrong, or what I should be doing. Ideally I don't want someone to tell me just what to do, I want to know what I can do to progress, but also why. And that will help me to continue to progress into the future. Any takers?

Thanks elastigirl. I've looked at a few progressions, I think ill try non assisted, parallel to floor and see how I go. If not ill try taking a step back and see how I go. Al kavadlo is great, his progressions are always excellent, thanks for the link!

Yup sounds like you guys are right. Yes I'd like to lose the last if my fat, but that's an aesthetic thing that should really be secondary. I have the means now to work on strength and gains, money may be a little tighter in the future so it probably makes sense to cut later. I have been teetering between bulk and cut for a while and didn't know which way to turn. Am I right in thinking cutting will be a lot easier when I've built up more muscle? In terms of changing my workout structure, I'm not 100% sure what to do there. Any suggestions? Am I better to work on specific areas each day , like the traditional chest/leg/back day arrangement you generally see in powerlifting? It seems like with body weight they'd sort of bleed into one another a little anyway. And I'm increasing rest between sets to 2-3 mins yes? And working on reps between 6-10? Elastigirl ill give it a go, I guess I have kinda stalled the true pistol squats a little. Legs have never been my strong suit. Thanks for the input so far everyone.

Hey guys, I've posted a few times about improving the efficiency of my workouts, and now that I've hit a plateau it's time to call upon your sage wisdom once again. I'm doing circuit training 3 times a week, round about 45 mins per circuit. It's kicking my butt, but I'm no longer seeing the gains in muscle mass or strength that I was. Here's what I'm doing at present: 7-8 mins rowing machine warm up 10 x Incline one arm press ups each arm (round about 45 degrees) 10 x Hanging straight leg raises 10 x door assisted pistol squats each leg (parallel with floor at present, still working on going deeper) 10 x pull ups - or until failure ( recently moved from chin ups) 1 min decline plank 1 min rest Times 4, then full body stretch for 5 mins and hit the shower. Like I said, it gets me sweating that's for sure. The main problems are that I'm no longer progressing as well as I had been and am not feeling the muscle or strength gains I feel I should be, and I'm finding it hard to drop the last little bits of body fat I want to - I'm probably stuck just over 22% and I've got some belly fat I want to go away - I realise this one's diet, but I'm being REALLY good. Now to me, there's a few possible theories: I'm being impatient. I'm biting off more than I can chew - either with too long a workout, too much cardio, or working on too many different progressions at once. I need some variation - which I have been thinking of adding - maybe one day over the weekend doing some full body exercises and flexibility things like back bridges, handstands....hadnt really thougt it through fully but it's an option. I'm not working on all of the areas I should be - I know shoulders are kind of lacking in this circuit. Those are my best guesses. I have a feeling I am being impatient, but I dont think it's just that. I'm open to any suggestions at this point. I'd rather stick to strictly bodyweight stuff at this point, or minimal weights. Simply because since moving to strictly bodyweight I've noticed a vast improvement in my flexibility and I'd like to keep exploring that. But any suggestions or comments at this point would be very welcome. Thanks

Thanks! One small goal ticked off the list, now I just wanna keep working on 4 sets of 10.

YEAH BOOII!!! It's been a minor goal of mine for a little while. I do them as part of my bodyweight circuit, alternating every set between pull up and chin up. This morning I managed 8 pulls, 10 chins next set (followed by victory lap), 7 pulls and 7 chins to finish. Next goal is 10 pulls, and I'm not too far away either. Maybe 10 pull ups with good form or no kipping is a better idea.

There are many but I had to weigh in: Latest favourite author is definitely Steven Erikson. You either love him or hate him in my experience talking to people about him. Just the most epic fantasy series of all time under his belt, and prolific as well. He was smashing out a book every 12-18 months at one point, and the series is now 15 books long. Others include Pratchett, Feist, Tolkien, Sanderson, Le Guin, and Bernard Cornwell. I would've put George RR Martin in there at one point, but he pissed me off with the delays on a Dance with Dragons. I think he wrote himself into a corner to be honest. I used to LOVE Stephen King (Dark Tower series especially) - there has never been a book that has given me nightmares like It. Except for Lovecraft, who I also love, and his stuff is creepy in a way that no one else has ever managed since. Sci fi wise my favourite is Philip K Dick hands down. Do androids dream of electric sheep? is a fantastic read. I also like original Dune, and have Asimov's Foundation series on my to do list. I dont read a lot of non fiction, although I'm currently reading a book of anatomy and physiology. Yes, for fun. It ties in to work but I've wanted to read it cover to cover for a long time anyway. Work wise I read ophthalmic and diabetic articles, and the occasional epidemiological book or journal.

Rammstein - Reise, Reise. It's awesome. Nuff said. Also Dethklok - The Gears. Brutal.

I like metal for working out, but pretty specific stuff. It's gotta be moderate tempo (~120-140 bpm), and the drummer has to be excellent. I have a 29 song playlist that covers most bases on my iphone. It consists of Pantera, Dethklok, Rammstein, Mastodon, Disturbed, and a little rage against the machine, I've been thinking about adding some Tool also. It's all about the beat, gets my blood pumping.

Cool thanks guys. Sorry for late reply, birthday today. YAY 29! I-Jo if you could post a pic that'd be great just so I can visualize what ill be using for the height. Thanks!

Ok so work on my pike form before submitting myself to gravity totally? I can understand that.

Yeah that makes sense. A wall would do surely? So long as I'm keeping that 90 degree angle?

Ok, so as far as the pull ups go, I think I'm pretty well sorted for form. I can be patient. I think I'll try my next circuit NOT dead hanging, and see how it goes, maybe throw in some dead hangs when I'm hitting the end of my run. If I feel better about my form and rep count I'll probably stick with it, if not carry on as usual. Press ups....I don't really know where to go from here. I-Jo, too many choices! I don't know which to go for. I should probably be working towards some sort of end goal which will give me an idea of what the progression is, but I really don't know what to pick as an appropriate goal. I kind of got into this as a way to build up strength and lose some weight and I haven't really totally achieved either of those goals completely, or reassessed my goals any further. I'd love to be able to work towards handstand push ups, or planches or something similar simply as a novelty, but without knowing what's required of each, which areas I'll need to work on, and how these progressions would benefit me, I'm sort of in the dark. Definitely showing my amateur side here, but any advice would be appreciated, even just a link in the right direction would be great.

Cool. Thanks for that clarification Waldo, much appreciated. Either way I've got lots to work on. I've only just started chin ups and some pull ups, and I gotta admit I'm finding it hard. I can get chin over bar but any reps over 5 I struggle. I'm thinking the position of my Barry be an issue too, as its in an inset door. So if eventually I get my chest above bar I'd be close to hitting myself in the head. May have to change doors at some point.

Ok so if I understand this right, you're saying that a) dead hang is not necessary and will affect the number of reps I'll be able to do? and IF I choose to dead hang, it will be better in the long run for achieving better pulling height? Correct me if I'm reading that wrong please! I-Jo, I totally agree, I usually push for more in a push up set too, it just feels more right. I know I'm not gaining any more significant strength out of the extra, but it does make the workout a little more intense and pushes me a little further. I tried diamond push ups, not challenging enough, so I added a decline to it and smoked 10 easy, could've hit 20 in a set quite possibly. I need something more advanced there definitely.

Oh and Paul that article is fantastic, what I've read so far at least. Definitely gives a differing perspective of what strength means and how it applies to the human body. Makes me a lot more keen to try some more adventurous exercises!

Wow thanks I-jo that's a lot of variations all at once. Ill have a look and see what fits. Paul thanks for the tips too. Good to know I'm just being impatient with pull ups. If I was doing something wrong I'd be a little more worried. As far as where I go from here, without getting on the floor at work and doing as many diamond push ups as possible I'm fairly confident. I hadn't really thought about where I was heading, I guess I was sort of looking at strength and aesthetics as my targets, but I do like the idea of working towards more challenging exercises, keeps things interesting! Can you tell me a little more about what sort of progressions I'd have to make for these more advanced exercises? Dips are kind of out of the question for me, I don't have p-bars at home, and can't afford a gym. Otherwise any more information you have would definitely help lead me in the right direction.

I'm a book nerd. More or less fantasy and sci-fi, my favourites for each would be Steven Erikson / Ian Esslemont's Malazan series - it's JUST SO EPIC, and favourite sci-fi Philip K. Dick. But I'll read anything off the beaten track really, I do love hitting the classics as well. Im a big Lovecraft nerd, don't mind Poe, currently reading through a few of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novellas, I'll also do a bit of philosophy, human physiology/anatomy/ophthalmology (for the job), and the odd bit of classic literature. My partner and I also LOVE Discworld, Pratchett is just so hilarious and profound - the one author who can make me laugh out loud - we've even got a few of the Discworld flavoured boardgames, and a lot of his readings are going to be involved in our upcoming wedding. I'm also a fiendish music nerd. I play bass, for my own enjoyment at the moment, but I'm a completist with the music I own, and I get into a LOT - Jazz, reggae, funk, afrobeat, hip-hop, soul, classical, metal, rock, prog, latin/afro-cuban, the list goes on. I guess I love it because it's the one language we all speak regardless of race or creed. It's a beautiful thing, and playing is just the best, regardless of how awesome and terrible you may be - if I couldn't play, I might as well be dead inside. These are the things that I'm truly passionate about and would NEVER give up.