Search the Community

Recently I made a topic about rejoining the gym after a considerable hiatus - some 18 months, I forget how long exactly. Anyway, at the end of (roughly) 5 weeks, iv managed to achieve my first big goal namely being able to deadlift my Bodyweight- not only did I manage that, I felt I could manage more and went up to 120KG! Baby lifts in the grand scheme of things I know but I'm pretty happy with the progress for just over a month. As a side note, I progressed to doing free squats instead of using the smith machine, as my form and flexibility have improved. Good things all round! Matt

Today, I set foot in a gym, walked to the free weights area, and didn't care who was looking! My form is absolute shit under more than 20 -25 lbs though. Especially my bench press. That bar was moving all over the place, and my wrists insisted on shifting under the bar. *Le sigh*

Hello everybody, I'm preparing to rejoin gym and resume working out after a gap of almost 6-7 months. My main aim is to lose weight and build muscle. My weight currently is 136 kg's or 299 pounds. And my height is 5 ft. 5 inch. I've prepared a workout plan of my own after I felt the regime that my gym had made me follow was lacking variety and I couldn't stand to do the same exercises again and again. I hope this workout plan I created is enough to aide me in my quest to lose weight and build muscle. Here's the plan: http://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwtMh_crRmAuSU1mclljT3JGTzg/edit?usp=sharing I hope you take a look at it. I'd be grateful for suggestions, corrections and if I could improve my workout sessions everyday in any way. Also I have this doubt of whether I should slow down my intensity and speed for a week or few weeks until I get back into that old swing of working out as I'm rejoining it after such a long gap. I'd also be honored if you guys can provide me motivation or inspiration in any way. Here's hoping that you reply. Thank you !

Hey everyone! Been checking out this forum for a while and decided to make an account and become active on here! So Here is a little about me. I am 21 years old. I began weight lifting and going to the gym at age 19 when I realized how overweight I was. I lost 65 pounds, and began my bodybuilding journey! I finished my first real bulk in February and now I am about 6 weeks in to my first cut and it is going awesome. My real plans are to pursue a career in professional wrestling and work for the WWE. In May I will be moving to Canada for three months to train with former WWE and ECW superstar Lance Storm at his wrestling school. I have fallen in love with bodybuilding and fitness and want to learn as much about it as I can. Currently I have some big stuff going on in my life! As many of you know, the supplement brand Cellucor has been hosting a contest to name their new "mystery" flavor for their pre workout C4. My submission of "DYNAMELON" has made it to the top 32! The public now votes for their favorite. It will be narrowed down to 16, 8, 4, 2 and then a winner. The winner wins 25k. This is huge for me. I am up to my neck in student loan debt. This money would help more than anyone can imagine. I could pay off my student loans and really pursue my dream of wrestling and bodybuilding. If anyone reading this has the spare time, it only takes a second. Please go to cellucormystery.com and vote for my submission of "DYNAMELON". It only takes a second. You can vote once per round and the first round is ending soon! Thanks guys! I look forward to talking to all of you and learning from/with you all. Thank you or having me! Take care.

Just a small woot, but today marks my second week of gym sessions after a two year hiatus (lack of funds!)- last summer I lost over 3 stone without a gym membership and as a result, lost as much muscle as I did fat. I looked exactly the same at 14 stone as I did at 17.5, I just took up less space! It feels great to be back doing what I love, and of course adding 30KG to my deadlift in the space of a week feels glorious, gotta love beginner gains/muscle memory. Cheers to everyone on here for keeping me motivated with your success stories, your all awesome lads and lasses, Matt

So I am back at work and back at real life. Brazil was a blast, and although I didn't eat gluten free (please tell me how, when the Brazillians seem to worship at the alter of gluten), i ate as healthy as i could and i still managed to lose a ton of cms and kgs. I came back from holiday with clothes that don't fit me because they're too big now - story of my life at the moment, lol. I think i also melted some of it away, because of Rio's heat. I am not complaining mind you, because it's prepped me for my hot summer in Cape Town So as i'm literally starting this challenge mid way through week 3, i am doing a modified challenge and focusing on just getting back into the swing of things. Like getting back to eating better, getting back into gym and just finding a rhythm in my routine again. An easy challenge i know, but sometimes just building a base is a good restart. Main Goal (for the next year): Get in enough shape to complete the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in 2015. When i was in my teens i had done the Argus Cycle Tour religiously every year (making it 5 that i've completed thus far). It happens over the second weekend in March and is a 100+km cycle around the rather mountainous peninsula of Cape Town. Last year after being with NF for almost a year, i promised my cousin that for his 18th birthday i would cycle the Argus with him again. He reminded me the other day that it's his 17th bday this March Which means that for the next year my focus would need to be getting in shape to be able to make that 109km before the cut off time (7 hours). My best time while in high school was 2h54m but i just want to finish before cut off time this time around 1. Gym Routine (2 on, 1 off) - towards the end of last year, the general fatigue of a hard working year saw my gym activities take a bit of a nose dive. I was going as often as i could, but the willpower wasn't always there. I am just using the next 3.5 weeks to work out a routine that will work for me. I will be spending a lot of time over the next few months alternating between my apartment and JV's apartment, so i need to find a way that gym works for me. When we're at my place, it's pretty easy to just pop down to the gym at 5.30 as it's across the road from me, but it's a little more difficult when i stay at JV's place because the gym isn't nearby (although their building as a gym, i can't access it as a non-tenant). I want to get back into the routine of 2 days on, 1 day off. I don't mind what i do at the moment, but i need to get into a routine. 2. Cut down on the gluten again (70% gluten free) - I didn't do too badly while in Brazil on this, but it's hard to eat around the gluten. There's a padaria or pastelaria on every corner and i drank a shitton of beer (mmmmm, Brahma) - some days i just went without food cos i couldn't find anything not so gluteny. I didn't eat much in the way of snacky things (although i alternated happily between water, beer and soda - you had to keep well hydrated). I craved salad and meat like it was no one's business though and in my second week, i discovered a local churrascaria (brazilian BBQ) and I was in heaven. My diet however did lack a little on the veggie front. Since coming home i've done pretty well. I'm still teaching JV to eat out less, and he'd like to start learning to cook a few basic things so that all the homemade meals don't fall on me. 3. Intermittent Fasting (Mon - Fri) - i ate pretty sporadically in Brazil (and even since getting home). Dinner last night landed up being at 10.30 (that's late). So i want to get back into the routine of eating 12pm - 9pm again and train my body to adjust back to it. I will do IF Monday to Friday and be a little more relaxed over the weekends (i generally don't eat until a few hours after a workout so it should coincide nicely, but i need to build in wriggle room for those exceptions). And that's it. I am taking it easy getting back on the horse after my holiday, but still getting back on it Also for some of you who know Shoobie (another NFer) here's a pic of us before a night out at the Irish Pub. Edit: Anyone have any good training plans for long distance cycling. 13+months so it doesn't have to be intense or anything. I haven't done long distance, endurance cycling in over 10 years (and 60kgs ago), so some help would be appreciated.

Hello guys ! So i got myself a gym membership valid for the next 6 months, i was very excited about going back and may have overworked myself. . . i'm 21 years old, barely 5 pounds overweight, i used to workout on a regular basis 3~4 years ago. Doctor said arthritis on both arm joints. . . what did i do wrong ? here is my program -> 15 min cardio 3x15 series for 2 muscle groups with no interval and 30s between series ( shoulder/abs , biceps/chest, etc ) 15 min cardio am i using too much weight, wrong form or both ???

I am going to check in here for the next week and a half. Goal is to get to the gym five times between now and Jan 3rd. Gotta start building up the habit again before the next challenge! Let's do this, mini challenge! ALLONS-Y!

I am starting StrongLifts 5x5 next week and need some gear advice. Currently I have the same general types of gym gear that I've been using since high school: - T-shirts/Tank Tops/Under Armor - Standard Running Shoes with both ankle and regular socks - Basketball Shorts Are there any modifications or additions that I should make for a heavy lift focused routine? I'm not a fan of the lifting belts or w/e they're called or the neck padding for squats. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

So, I've started rebelling in this community for just under 2 weeks now, and (like most people) love working out to music. I was writing this list for another user, when I realized I would love to know what everyone's been listening to... There's got to be a thread here about it, but I can't find any, so I decided to make a new one! Here are some of the tracks this week that I've been listing to! (TIP: Try to post the youtube link, following brackets of reasons why you like the track. Why? Curiosity, my friend, curiosity... :-) Here's mine! http://www.youtube.c...h?v=nTEIsrBJJRM (Great active track) http://www.youtube.c...h?v=o92cbKpfPu4 (Gets me pumped!) http://www.youtube.c...h?v=R9Fi0JMAMSU (Great to wake up to) http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Zx1_6F-nCaw (A classic imo) http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ZQksmI8kFbA (Euro-love) http://www.youtube.c...h?v=83_CoukIAi4 (Indie love) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Z2Eo7__kI (Gets me in the mood) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-b1Q8wwREo (The geek in me likes this track! :-D ) I'll make future posts with other music I'm listening to if this is a popular thread! Get posting people! :-)

im a college student at Northeastern University, and i have trouble finding time to hit the gym between classes, homework, and my job. im looking for some good quick upper body workouts that i can pump out if i only have 20-40 min to workout. usually i work out for at least an hour or two if i have time. I am trying to gain mass right now, and in a few weeks will be looking more at tone and fat burning. Any ideas?

I filmed myself doing some back squats so I could check my form. Overall, I think it's pretty good except that I round a bit in my back as I drop below parallel in the squat. Also I could make less of a 'pain face' in the later sets. Any feedback is welcome <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z_qzfEKELIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I started working out at home in Feb I was 230ish at the time. I've currently weight 190, I'm 5'2" and 35 year old female. I've recently gained access to a gym for free so I plan on using it but I don't have much experience with gym equipment and there is no one at this gym to advise me so I'm wondering what machines I should use. My goal is to be able to do a full sit-up, I can barely get my shoulders off the mat now and to be able to do full push-ups I can do about 20 modified now. Up till now my workout schedule has been to jog on a manual treadmill and to do p90 (1 not x) with 5lbs dumbbells which are getting too light for me. I'm thinking of doing the following as I quickly get bored. Sun- stationary bicycle 1hr-2hr Mon- p90 with 7.5lbs dumbbells and 1hr treadmill Tue- off Wed- strength machines, I need help here not sure which ones, and 1hr treadmill Thur- off Fri- repeat (mon) Sat- elipitical 1hr-2hr Not having much experience in strength training I'm not sure if this is right. I'd like to lose about 60 more pounds and build some muscle. I'm okay diet wise so I don't need advise there. If anyone could give me advise or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Looking at getting some more barefoot-style shoes for gymming. I do a basic bodyweight circuit right now, but as I get stronger I hope to intensify and work on flexibility, strength, and general athleticism, assassin-style. I am using a pair of Brooks running sneakers for gym time right now, but I'd like to move into something closer to barefoot. My body prefers being barefoot as much as possible. Does anyone have any thoughts on/experience with these shoes? http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pd/free-run-2-shoe/pid-683268/pgid-654028

Hey all, About six months ago, I started getting up very early to go workout in the gym. Even though I tried to compensate my sleep time by going to bed earlier, I found myself getting sick a lot more often (just colds). It became bad enough that I really had to stop waking up so early and working out. All the weight came back, but I am motivated to give it another go. I am worried about getting sick all the time again. Do you think I was getting sick because of the early rise? Any suggestions for how to keep these “workout colds†(if that is what they are) away? I am usually a very healthy person and never get sick. It is really hard for me to workout after work, and if I go too late I worry I will not be able to fall asleep, so I don’t know another time I could hit the gym. Thanks all! Adam

Hello, all! I'm JP from Saint Petersburg. I just moved here from Los Angeles, and joined Anytime Fitness. I really like the gym. It's my first ever membership and, though I've always been "active", I feel great after joining. I developed a three-day workout based upon the knowledge that I've found here on Nerd Fitness. Looking forward to utilizing the site more as time goes on. Cheers!

So I have the opportunity to travel on a pretty regular basis and I've found a couple of pretty cool gyms to lift in. Figured I'd post the links and photos here and see if others have things to share. Since I hang with the Warriors, mine will be lifting related. The one that inspired me to start this thread is "The Gym" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (http://thegymftl.com/) It is a one store wide entrance in a strip of bars right off the beach. 2nd story is 4 stores wide indoor gym. 3rd story is a 4 stores wide open air gym with a view of the Atlantic Ocean! $15-20 for a day pass depending on where you are staying, or $40 for a week. Here are some pictures I took while working out there on July 24th. The series is of the sun rise over the Atlantic while I was doing some squats. Toward the ocean Toward Fort Lauderdale Lights turn off because the sun is up These 2 shots are looking back towards Fort Lauderdale The canopy is used for spin classes. Apparently on certain days they spin while watching the sun rise. This shot is from our hotel. The gym is on the top of the pink building. You can just see the end of the canopy right in front of the trees on the right side of the photo

Hey Rebels, I live in Sacramento, CA. I'm about to join the Crunch Fitness gym. I was wondering if there are any novice, beginner, and even advanced exercisers who believe in free weights and are looking for somebody to work out with? A little about me: Name: Jerome Height: 6'0" Weight: 260 lbs (Goal weight: 230 lbs) Goal: Taking it one step at a time. Want to be 30 lbs lighter by June 2013 and be in better shape for Taekwondo. Then set a new goal after the first 30 is gone. Steps I'm taking to get there: 1) DIET: Slowly but surely looking to convert to Paleo. Will be seeing a Nutritionist this Thursday to be put on a program. And I plan on buying Paleo recipe books. Reason I'm going this route: belly fat is my main issue and I feel that starchy carbs, as well as my sugar addiction are the reasons why it hasn't disappeared. 2) EXERCISE: a) Free weights: Build strength, stamina and to ensure I use the correct form for getting in shape. Purpose: To build muscle. Running: Cardio purposes and for endurance. Purpose: To burn fat and because I love running. Doing both of these should help me accomplish my goals in learning the art of Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo. To be specific: I'm looking for workout partners for the purpose of motivation and hopefully to establish a brotherhood. Like Steve says, it takes a team to help accomplish goals. Novices: We can help each other as iron sharpens iron. Experts: I can learn from you so I can get better. So if you're looking for somebody that you can either teach, or train with, I'm game! One Love NF

Get ready for an overdose of text... Ok so a little bit about me so you understand where i'm at fitness wise Basics: Gender: Male Age: 26 (almost 27) Height: 5' 11" Weight: 188lbs Current bodyfat: roughly 15%(based on visual analysis, single site calipers put me at 16-18% and an electrical bio impedance thingy at the gym says i'm about 13.5%) Fitness Background/History: Wasn't into sports much at school (for the standard geek reasons: unpopular and bullied, also uncoordinated and more interested in computer games than sport) Have always had very sedentary jobs since leaving school (all IT related desk jobs) Maxed out at about 217lbs early last year and decided i needed to exercise. Since then i have mainly focussed on bodyweight exercises (the basics like pushups, pullups, squats, leg raises) although my house is pretty much a graveyard for random bits of fitness equipment i use now and then. I got down to about 178lbs but really lost my focus near christmas and have been hovering around 190lbs since then with a very inconsistent exercise regime. Fitness Goals Strength and muscle size are my main goals currently although i also want to develop agility and be able to control my body well (bodyweight, gymnastics, parkour) I'm fairly happy i know what to do for the secondary goals, it's just the main ones i am less confident with (information overload has been my problem, i like to read!) Current Training Now to the nitty gritty. Recently i joined a gym, partly in order to get out of my fitness funk and partly to encourage my other half to exercise more (she likes the classes and the idea of "couples" exercising). It was also dang cheap due to a corporate discount. Due to the nature of the membership i am tied in for at least a year so i may as well put it to good use. The induction was pretty rubbish ("here's how to turn on the treadmill, that's the fire exit, any questions?") until i asked about the free weights area and the guy's eyes lit up like i had said the secret passphrase for entry to an ancient brotherhood or something... He showed me a few exercises and got me to try out a few to see "where i was at". I managed to deadlift 120kg for one rep (we ramped up from around 50kg) and about 70kg for 3 reps for the squat (my range of motion is pretty good from lots of air squats but i'm not used to so much weight at the sticking points and struggled a lot with that, nearly dropped the bar completely. We did some others (i cant remember the weights/reps) and i was so smoked that i could barely get up out of my chair for the next few days. Today i had my complimentary slot with a personal trainer to sort out a workout programme and this is where i'd like advice. The programme is as follows(this is what we did today with the idea that i will slowly add weight as time goes on): 5 minute warmup on any cardio machine (I used the treadmill) Chest Press - 3-4 x 12 (12kg) Deadlift - 3-4 x 12 (40kg) Barbell Row - 3-4 x 12 (25kg) Barbell Squats - 3-4 x 12 (17.5kg) Cardio intervals - Any machine, 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow for a total of 4 minutes We did it where you do the whole thing as one set, rest for a couple of minutes and then start again from the top. He didn't really listen to what i had to say in terms of my goals and basically just asked me whether i preferred free weights or machines and then wrote the above. My question to all you knowledgeable folks is: How good is this programme for my described goals? I am a newbie to lifting weights but have been doing bodyweight stuff for a while (30 pushups max, 5 strict pull ups max, 50 air squats max) I hear a lot of good things about 3x5 / 5x5 programmes but i guess they may be for different goals to mine, i have read a lot of conflicting information about them. I am happy to stick to this if it's decent but it seems fairly different to the "popular" beginners programmes i have seen on nerd fitness / elsewhere. Following the template, here is some other potentially useful information: Current Diet Roughly 80/20 Paleo right now. It varies a bit between 50/50 and 90/10. I aim for about 2000-2500 calories a day although i am not strict with this and don't monitor closely. Current Resources/Limitations As mentioned above, i have access to a fairly basic gym (few barbells, weights, dumbells, lots of cardio machines and a swimming pool) I also hoard fitness equipment at home that i have bought to "spice up" my bodyweight routines, they are as follows: EZ Curl bar and dumbells with around 35kg of weight plates total, kettlebells (5kg, 8kg, 16kg), skipping rope, set of resistance bands, gym ball (the giant squishy air filled things),5kg medicine ball, doorway pull up bar, 25kg heavy bag with mitts, 3 section wall bag, cheapy motorised treadmill, cheapy rowing machine, yoga mat, crash mat. (I appreciate i pretty much have a gym at home but i have my gym membership now and intend to use it!) No real limitations. I work a 9-5 style desk job so can always make time to fit in 30mins to an hour of exercise each night. Any advice is really appreciated and if i am being a complete noob and there is somewhere i should have looked before posting with decent info, just point me in the right direction.

Hey All. I'm in need of a workout routine that can help me excel as a fighter/warrior/martial artist. At the moment I'm extremely fat, and it needs going now. I just need a plan that will include what to do, for how many reps then the next item! I'm initially looking for strength and cardio workout. Currently I just dally about the gym picking random machines and random stuff to do!

HI I'm PK. It's a long story and I'm not going to tell it. Last time I weighed myself was 8 days ago and I came in at 90kg / 199 lbs. I'm not looking to lose weight, only lose fat and strengthen (not bodybuild or sculpt) muscles. I've never tried to do pull ups or chin ups, or even dared to bench press. I am young, 16, and therefore not looking to gain "sex appeal" although it would be nice to be noticed. I believe I have terrible form due to spine problems, and I need to start a program for training compound muscles and not relying on machines like tricep extentions and leg press. The only compound exercise I do is probably squats on this type of equipment: Squat Machine (it's not the exact machine but its practically the same) If any trainers or anybody could sort me out with a program, I'd be amazingly grateful. PK

Hello everyone! shaffnut here, and this will be my FIRST NF six week challenge. I am a high school teacher in Virginia, and having been born and bred in the Steel City, I will be going home for the second half of June and July, so this challenge is PERFECT!! My attributes are as follows: Race: Half-Ogre Profession: Scout (I know, not usually a combo you see, but I swear IT WORKS!!!) Strength: 4 Dexterity: 2 Constitution: 2 Charisma: 1 Wisdom: 3 Stamina: 2 Total: 14 Level: 1 Here are my goals: 1. I would like to start my first challenge with a goal that I believe I can obtain: I would like to lose 10 lbs. I have been losing weight since February after getting off my butt and working at it. Coming from being 376 lbs in November of '11 to my current weight of 280 has been hard and rewarding, but since then the weight loss has leveled off. I want to focus on returning to that achievement by setting a 10 lb goal, or 270 lbs by July 14. I will do this in a variety of ways including: REWARD: +1STA, +1 WIS 2. 5k Time Decrease: I recently began running as a tool to help get back in some form of physical shape after a somewhat heartbreaking episode back in February. (Shot down by a girl whom I had developed feelings for; but, we talked it out, and have become very close since, so it worked out). ANyway, this kinda kicked me in the pants, helped me to discover NF and I started doing some good things. I ran my first 5k on April 8, and came in at 30:10. I have run in the interim, and have since completed a 10k as well! I've lost weight and really started feeling better. So, my goal is now to better my overall 5k time, and I want to complete one in 28:30. I feel this is obtainable with some different training ideas, and please if anyone has any input or advice, obviously hit me!!! REWARD: +2 STR, +2 STA 3. Dedicated workout time I would like one way to achieve my weight loss and time decrease goals to be maintaining a schedule of working out. I would like to make sure that I work out 5 days a week for the six week period, hoping that it will become my lifestyle, not just a challenge. I would like to: a. combine the NF strength training regimen for beginners with my existing running regimen b. three days of running with two days of strength training (freeweights and dumbells) with two rest days a week (one being sundays) REWARD: +1 DEX LIFE GOAL: 4. As you read earlier, I had a bit of a disappointment hit me in the relationship department, my first real venture into that world since high school, really. It didn't end well. My life goal for this challenge is to simply go on one date. One. Success here is for me to successfully ask and accompany someone (not sure who yet) on a date out on the town. Easy right? I wish. REWARD: +1 CHA I will keep all updated, and I really look forward to being a part of this challenge. Thanks in advance for everyone's advice and support. If there's one thing I've learned, its that the best part of leveling up in life is having the support of friends and family to urge you on. I look forward to meeting all of you here on the message boards!!! LET'S DO THIS!!!!!

Hi all, so lately I've been paralysed by choice. Reading around on NerdFitness, I've read a LOT of articles about Body Weight training. However most articles have been prefaced with something along the lines of "Want to get fit but don't have a gym membership?" which has lead to some confusion. My goal is simply to lose weight and build muscle. I have a consistent schedule, as a student and I can make time to go to the gym for 30-60 minutes 3/4 times a week. I also don't have many weights at home (Although I have a pull up bar and have all I need to easily do both the Beginner and Advanced workouts) So I guess my question for the Nerd Fitness community is: Which choice is optimal for losing weight and building muscle? The gym, with free weights or at 'Home' with Body Weight circuits? (Sorry if this has already been covered or I simply didn't get the point of some articles)

Hey Everyone, So I've been coming on to this website for a while and I've read basically everything that's been written so far, but I at this point, have not idea how much I should be lifting, or what to work out when. I'm currently 5'10 240 with a body fat percentage of over thirty. I'm not trying to get skinny as much as built. When I go to the gym what should I be doing? I've done the body weight and it is great, but how do I start to incorporate weights, what would that circuit look like. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Totally got a job at the gym I attend. Hoping this will lead to me getting eve more lifting in to me daily regimen. Hoping to get the most huge, and lift all the weights! I call this a win!