kerwinray

Hi guys, just wondering. How many of you have personal trainers in the gym? I know most of us are self-help advocates when it comes to fitness, but someone approached me in the gym last night and helped me correct my form. He then offers to become my personal trainer (of course, for a fee). It might be beneficial for a starter like me. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the helpful tips, guys. Tomorrow will be Week 2. I'll let you guys know where it leads.

Those sound good. I've been doing 5x5 for at least 2 weeks now, I think. I try to lift heavy as much as I can, and when I'm "resting" between those heavy lifts, I do some cable exercises.

This is my biggest pet peeve. I can forgive "your/you're" or "its/it's", but this. I cannot even.

Aiming for "bigness," so I guess more weight is the right direction. Not too strong, I think. Yeah, I think I read that somewhere. Maybe from Steve Kamb himself. Something about shocking the system so it keeps on guessing.

Hahaha, read it from Steve Kamb's guide, who got it here: I'm currently 130 lbs with 15% body fat, so *math math compute compute* = 16 lbs muscle mass to gain, 5 lbs fat to lose.

Thanks, I-Jo. I'm leaning towards MOAR weight myself. But I guess the more important question is: should I go for muscular strength or endurance? If I have to gain more muscle mass than lose fat (based on some estimates, I need around 16 lbs of lean mass to gain vs 5 lbs of fat to lose in order to reach ideal weight/body composition), is it more beneficial to go heavy+low rep or not-as-heavy+more reps?

I'm curious. Once you've reached a certain level of manageability in terms of lifting weights, does this signal that you should add weights, or does this mean you should do more of them, but at the same weight level? Or does this depend on your fitness goals (endurance vs strength, or something similar)?

LOL. I just want to reach that point where those two say the same thing. Hahaha. Or maybe I just need new glasses or a new camera, dunno. And yes, more work to do. Today's my rest day, tomorrow it's gonna be gym time once again.

Yes, alongside the Paleo+HGOMAD diet I'm doing, I'm also doing Barbell Battalion Cycle B, so that's 4 days out of 7 that I'm doing deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, lunges, push presses, the works. The schedule's pretty much work out on M-Tue-Thu-Fri and then rest the other days. I'm actually excited for next week's session since they'll be a repeat of this week, but with additional weights. I have a feeling I could add around 5 lbs-10 lbs more on some of the exercises. But boy, did I underestimate that barbell lunge exercise yesterday.

I started reading Anthony Mychal, and I realized that his and Steve Kamb's advice don't really contradict each other, so that's good. I'm kinda thinking these two might be friends in real life, LOL. Did you purchase his products-- Chaos Bulk, X-Physique, etc? Also, what are "beginner gains"? One thing that's been drilled to me by these two is to STICK TO THE PLAN, so I might do just that. I'll stick with lifting all things and doing this Paleo+milk diet for the next 6 weeks, probably 2 months, and see where it takes me. Thanks for the comment, Timmy.

Thanks, Paul. That's why sometimes I get confused by my body. I feel good, and when I look at myself in the mirror, I think I look good enough. But when I take pictures of myself, it almost always doesn't comes out as satisfying. And they say the camera does not lie... so I like to work on the "half-empty" assumption so I'd be motivated to work out harder, and even the camera won't be able to deny the change.

Thanks, Amy. I'm doing Paleo + not-so-GOMAD. Hahaha. I'm trying to ease my way into GOMAD, so just drinking around 1/3 of a gallon now.

Hahaha, I like that: "eat and lift all the things". Yep, I know I won't be seeing results instantaneously. Better stick to one then. I wish it was morning here, with the gym having just opened and no other people in sight, but alas, I'm on the other side of the world, where it's evening and people have driven in flocks to the gym after work.

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, AngelBlaidd! Yes, I think I'll pop over to that section of the forums to see what advice I can get. This seems like a great community.

Thanks, I-Jo. I'm definitely going to read some of that guy's articles. I came across it once, and it did intrigue me. Some of it seems different, even contradictory, to what I've been reading elsewhere. And now I'm off to the gym!

I've put my mind into working out and getting fit around April this year, that's when I decided to apply for a gym membership. But there wasn't any real focus, so I just did basically machines + cardio. I dropped maybe 5 lbs, from 138 to 133. Then around May, a friend kept insisting I did 5x5, so I started to hesitantly do bench press, but on the Smith machine. Then I came across Steve's blog around June, half-heartedly started Paleo, and pushed a little more on strength training (now with squats!). Then I decided to put focus on this entire thing once and for all, so around a week ago I set out a plan to follow the barbell training guide, tracked my calorie intake, created a workout log, bought a body tape measure and body fat caliper and finally measured myself. And then signed up in this forums to hear your thoughts.

Thought as much. Haha, yeah. Okay, will do that. KEEP EATING. LIFT HEAVY. That will be my mantra. I'm just freaking out a bit because I've read Steve's Strength Training Guide about bulking and cutting and I don't know if that's necessarily applicable to me. But I went Paleo+GOMAD, anyway. All this milk is driving my stomach crazy, and I'm not even sure if this is producing intended effects. Note to self: patience, my young Padawan, patience.

From the Philippines, working in Manila, raised in Davao, born in Zamboanga, now based in Bangkok!

Thanks so much for the comment, whittierrenegade. I mean I know I'm not that skinny, and I know I'm not that fat. I think by definition "skinny fat" is when you have thin arms but also have a gut. Hi Timmy. So are you out of the "skinny fat" problem now? What did you do?

Hi guys! Not sure where to post this, but I need some help. I'm a bit confused as to what my body type is, and what I should do moving forward. Am I skinny? Skinny-fat? Fat? Some statistics to help you guys analyze me: Age: 28 yrs old Height: 5' 4.5'' Current weight: 130 lbs Body fat %: between 12% - 16% (suprailliac reading gives me 10 mm of fat) Neck: 15.4 in Shoulder: 18.9 in Bicep: 11.8 in Chest: 33.5 in Waist: 29.9 in Hips: 34.6 in Thigh: 20.5 in Calf: 14.6 in I'm currently doing strength training, using Barbell Batallion 2 Cycle B, I believe. And eating Paleo + HGOMAD (half-gallon of milk a day). I'm not sure if this is the right thing for me, though. Any help will surely be appreciated.

Hi guys! I'm Kerwin, hailing from the wonderfully sunny islands of the Philippines, but currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. I consider myself a nomad because there's really no place with a pull strong enough to reel me in and make me stay put. If I find that piece of haven, I'll let you guys know. I joined the Rebellion because I made a firm commitment to make my short stay here in Bangkok a most fulfilling one. I have set six goals for myself when I got assigned this 1-year stint (possibly extendable to 2 more years): (1) Grow my hair long; (2) Learn how to cook; (3) Save money; (4) Learn how to speak Thai; (5) Go for my ASA designation (Yes, I am a math geek and an actuary); and (6) Be fit. This space is too short to discuss the other items, but let me focus on what's relevant on these forums: fitness. I am 5' 4.5'', currently weighing 130 lbs. My heaviest point was back in 2011 when I weighed 152 lbs. My lightest point (at least after college) was 2 years before that, in 2009, when I weighed 125 lbs. I have oscillated between bordering overweight (getting "double chin" jokes from "cruel" friends) and the low end of acceptable weight (getting "you look like you're on drugs" comments from the same friends) from 2005 to now. My goal is to find that perfect balance between the two. I want to be buff, but not overweight, but I don't want to be skinny/lean, either. That said, I've been trying hard to keep my diet in check, my strength training consistent, and while I'm still not that happy with how I look in photos, I feel a lot better in general, and looking at myself in the mirror elicits some positively tingling effects. LOL. (Maybe I'm not photogenic, but isn't there a saying somewhere "The camera does not lie?") Like I said, I'm also a geek. I like math, I like problem solving, I like the entire Uncharted series (Nathan Drake is a personal idol, alongside Steve Kamb, hahaha), and I'm currently starting on The Last of Us (which terrifies me to no end). I have my own Tumblr and Wordpress websites (kerwinray.tumblr.com and thesunbakedking.wordpress.com) because I like to write. I watch Game of Thrones but have not read the books. I love movies that mess up with time-- time travel is a personal weakness. No matter how crappy the movie is, if it presents time in a non-linear way, I'll give it 5 stars. Admittedly, I also like the Saw series and Final Destination. For some reason, I find them very creative. That's it for now. Nice meeting you guys!