medman

You say you want to get ripped without gaining weight, but I'd have to say that is literally impossible if you're 5'5 and under 100 pounds. For someone with a good amount of fat on them, it's possible to improve body composition without changing overall weight (e.g. losing 10 lbs of fat, gaining 10 lbs of muscle). Especially when you talk about bulking your arms...bulking = adding weight. The easiest, simplest, and fastest way to build muscle is to lift heavy and eat a lot (bulking), then increase cardio and restrict the calories a bit (cutting). It's a two-phase process but works a lot better for most people than trying to build muscle while not gaining any fat at all. Also, for health reasons, some fat would actually be a good thing if you're truly 5'5" and under 100 lbs (BMI < 16.5!!).

WOW, awesome job with that last rep! That was brutal!

Before getting into the long spiel, I thought I'd just post my numbers from this past week: Bodyweight: 137 lbs Squat: 5x5 @ 190lbs [PR] Bench Press: 5x5 @ 140 lbs [PR] Pendlay Rows: 3x5 @ 130 lbs [PR] Weighted Dips: 3x5 @ 50 lbs [PR] Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 95 lbs [PR] Deadlift: 1x5 @ 245 lbs [PR] Chinups/pullups: 3x5 @ 40/35 lbs respectively [PR] So, here's the spiel. I took a few weeks off from doing squats/deadlifts and worked on my physio and stretches to help with my piriformis syndrome, and I'm recovering well. A few weeks ago, I started incorporating squats and deads back into my workouts, but started with low weight and worked back up slowly. For squats, I worked on changing my form - my feet were really wide apart before, so I brought them closer to shoulder width and focused on increasing the depth compared to what I used to do. My hip flexibility has been improving ever since I started 5-6 months ago, and I am finally getting depth I am actually happy with. After all these weeks of laying off the lower body exercises and the slow rebuilding of my form and strength, I finally hit new PRs on the squat and deadlift today! I definitely let out a few growls as I got those last reps up, haha. I'm at new PRs for all my upper body lifts as well, since they were all I had to work on for a couple of months. Now that I have heavy deads and squats back in my routine, I'm going to up my calories and protein and try to start bulking again. My goal is to be a lean 150 by next summer - which would thrill me since I remember not all too long ago being 110 and thinking 130 was a pipe dream! So here's my official goal for the coming year: Hit a lean 150 lbs bodyweight (13 to go), hit 2X BW on the deadlift (300 pounds, 55 to go), and 1.5X BW on the squat (225, 35 to go). I think those numbers are definitely doable. Not sure what my goals are for the upper body lifts...bench has always been a weak point and my 5x5 at 140 has been a real accomplishment after 5 months of hard work...I'd like to think I could hit 175 for my 5x5s but it's hard to picture.

Keep up this level of intensity and I'm sure we'll be seeing those 400 pound squats and 500 pound deadlifts in no time! Awesome work!

Yeah, bodybuilder and powerlifter are terms that seem to apply to people who actually compete...it's like calling someone a marathoner if they just run for fun and exercise. But you're right, there's no specific term for what many people do...just tell people you're a badass motherfucker and leave it at that

Ok, that's not what your original response conveyed, so I'm glad you're making that distinction. I don't know if you meant it that was, but your previous message said hating the person because of their viewpoint was ok - which is definitely different than simply hating their viewpoint. As for my background, I was a Montrealer and Torontonian before I ended up in Ottawa for school . I have never been able to align myself with any political group, because they always seem to have an ugly side that I'm not ok with. Like the way that many left-wing groups have anti-Israeli tendencies that spill over into overt anti-Semitism. I'm half Israeli myself, and would like nothing more than peace in the middle east, but when these groups do crazy things like petition to ban Israeli academics from giving guest lectures here (this actually happened in Ottawa this past year), I have to throw up my hands and say "how does this have anything to do with anything?"

My reference to gynic and andric as potentially insulting was because of their latin roots of "gyne" meaning feminine, and "andro" meaning masculine. And I stand by my list of epigenetic traits. Calling it a "genetic quality" doesn't make any distinction. If it's being expressed, it's epigenetic. The epigenome is just the portion of the genome that is transcriptionally active, i.e. the DNA is unmethylated and its histones are acetylated. That was my point. But, I'm getting the sense from your post that your genetics background isn't very formal so I'll just stop here because I don't want to start sounding like a dick, though it might already be too late for that.

Wow, where do I begin? I seriously doubt I should spend any time getting sucked into this car crash, but here it goes. The "if you disagree, go move to ______" thing is extremely childish. That whole "you're with us or you're against us" type of attitude gets us nowhere. And actually, the western world wasn't built on "freedom and secularity" at all. Freedom, yes. Secularity? Are you kidding? The crusaders, the conquistadors, the pilgrims, the British empire...none of these world-shaping groups of people were remotely secular. I'm glad to hear that you're on board with discriminating against people who have "irrational religious viewpoints". Even more thrilled to hear that you think it isn't wrong to hate them for trying to shove their views down your throat, while surely you must be justified in shoving your views down the throats of others. Let me share a little life lesson with you. Hate is the most unproductive and destructive emotion there is. Hate gets you nowhere. And just because you deem religion to be irrational, doesn't mean religious people can't be rational. I don't know if your avatar is of yourself, but I get the impression that you're very young. I've heard all the cliche bits about religion being the opium of the masses, blah blah blah, when I was in high school and undergrad. Hell, I even believed some of that crap for a while. Then I grew out of it when I realized that most of the "enlightened" people saying that stuff were more hateful, violent, homogenized and prejudiced than the "religious sheep" they were so opposed to.

Setting aside the eugenics debate (???), I'm curious as to how scientifically this data is going to be collected, and what the OP actually intends to do with it. I'm just confused as to the point of all this, especially considering how much debate it has stirred up, lol. I won't pretend it's offensive for me to be told I'm a skinny guy with a small frame (I know this already!), but I do have to say that the terms "gynic" and "andric" are really something most men and women wouldn't want to hear, respectively. "I'm a gynic man" and "I'm an andric woman" are not too flattering-sounding. Not to mention the fact that the term "epigenetic qualities" somewhat pisses me off. EVERYTHING is epigenetic when you get down to it. So in keeping with that, here are my epigenetic qualities: -cowlick toward the left side of my scalp -deviated septum, toward the right side -Left thumbnail slightly rotated inward -left foot slightly longer than the right now -I can roll my tongue

Bahaha, I stopped reading this thread after the first post. The irony of that quote tells me it would be more trouble to read through this thread than it's worth. Good job defending one group of people while showing extreme prejudice against at least two others.

I'll play devil's advocate and say that some of those people are right, in a way. Think of the number of people who don't understand anything about nutrition, and have no idea what nutrition is found in legumes etc etc. With their knowledge base, if they were to cut out dairy, meat, and eggs, they'd be eating peanut butter on wonderbread for every meal. Of course, I'd be happy if more knowledge was available about veganism and vegan nutrition, but think of how screwed most people would be if the sale of animal products suddenly became illegal. They literally wouldn't know how to feed themselves. Don't mind me, I'm just trying to be a shit disturber

I agree with cubby. You're deconditioned. Your body probably hadn't recovered from the cardio and bodyweight exercises you had just done, so you were starting at a defecit to begin with and burnt yourself out quickly as a result. Maybe take more rest between gym days to start off, or take it easier (I don't know how much/how fast/how long you did your cardio) until your body is in better condition. It will take time to get back what you lost by taking 10 months off, but if you keep at it, you'll get where you want to go

You're talking about the traps (trapezius). It takes so much work (and eating and testosterone) to get insane traps, that I can guarantee you that a girl will never get them "by accident". For female bodybuilders to get even close, they're injecting steroids and working harder on their traps than you ever will. Cold Fission is right, shrugs are the main exercise people use specifically for their traps, though other things like deadlifts work them (but not in isolation). You don't have to do shrugs, but to avoid something like the deadlift for fear of Brock Lesnar-type traps would be unnecessary. There are plenty of women on this forum who rock the deadlift and have never struggled with looking masculine I can't remember which thread it was in, but there was a good post regarding women and weightlifting, which attacked the myth that it will make you bulky and masculine. You're a woman, and unless you start injecting steroids, you will continue to look like one no matter how much you work out!

Duncan_Idaho, I disagree with your description of Krav Maga as "just a judo inspired patchwork". It has some things in common, but the unique part of Krav (IKMF krav, not the bogus commando strip mall kind) is that every move is simple, and builds on your natural reflexes. Nearly every technique is taught in the context of fighting multiple opponents as well - because that's what is most likely to be encountered. Every technique is also taught in the context of wanting to turn around and run away as soon as the attacker is disabled/stunned enough for you to be able to run without being chased. I do agree about the good sparring partner though. Krav doesn't involve a tremendous amount of traditional sparring, because it's so focused on getting away from the fight - but what you do need is someone who puts in realistic effort. Like when you practice the defense from someone choking you from behind...you need a partner who is actually choking you, not giving your neck a gentle massage .

I used to think the same thing. The truth is, you are rpobably eating fewer calories than you think. Try tracking it, as well as your protein intake. To gain mass, you need a ton of food. You have to cover your energy expenditures (including the exercise), and then eat at least 500 kcal more each day if you want to put on any mass. And starting strength is great...if you follow the lifting advice properly, and eat to support it, you will gain weight like crazy, but only if you eat like crazy.

This just in - ignorance is hard to combat. I would have thought most people had figured this out on their own. Racism, sexism, political partisanship, and most of the other bullshit out there perpetuates itself despite many years of "enlightened" people trying to fight it. What it comes down to is that most people think their opinion makes for a convincing point-counterpoint debate against actual facts. Everyone here has been guilty of it at some point. Try to think of the last time somebody blew you away during an argument or debate and you said "Wow, you're actually right!" about a major issue.

Brutal. Feel better soon, but at least this is just a temporary annoyance. It'll be out of the way soon enough!

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I've gone to see a sports med doc and have my first day of physio on tuesday...I'm hoping for the go-ahead to resume squatting and deadlifting, but we will see what the physiotherapist has to say! Rob - It felt pretty damn good! Even better than the first time I put the plate on the bar for squats (which at the time was an accomplishment!). Using a full plate on weighted dips is a kick too. The other day at the gym, I was alternating sets with this random guy who was bigger than me, and after I finished my first set he said "Damn that's hardcore!" I'm switching to weekly increases on my upper body lifts as I feel I've hit that "intermediate" level where adding weight each session becomes impractical. Pendlays are up to 125 lbs, OHP was a near miss (failed last rep of last set!) at 90 lbs, and pullups/chinups are up to 30 lbs weighted. Oh, and did I mention I've been cutting weight at the same time? Down 3 pounds from my all-time high about a month ago of 137, while still hitting PRs on my upper body lifts. I did this mostly through diet, as I've been a little nervous about most types of cardio given my hip problems. Waiting for the physio's opinion on which activities are safe and which aren't. I'd be happy with dropping a couple more pounds, but I don't want to start losing muscle or sliding backwards on my lifts. I figure I'll start eating big when I can get back to heavy squats and deadlifts, since bulking without squats or deadlifts seems like a recipe for getting fat.

STAY AWAY. STAY THE HELL AWAY. I've been doing IKMF Krav Maga and love it. But the Commando Krav Maga stuff is total BS. The IKMF instructors generally spend years training before getting their teaching certificates. Commando Krav Maga is a money grab, plain and simple. The instructor course is what, 2 weeks? I got my P1 (practitioner level 1) in about 2 months, which was a record at our club. There are 5 Practitioner levels you have to pass (each more technical and stringent) before you can even take an instructor course or test for the instructor certificate. The head of Commando Krav Maga is known for running instructor courses in order to make money; the "krav" he teaches is watered down, impractical, and just plain doesn't work. I can't be against it any more passionately, lol. But seriously, CKM is the type of thing that will get someone killed. They spend a few months learning sloppy techniques from a guy who spent 2 weeks learning Krav (while assuming their instructor is an expert), and expect to be able to defend themselves. It's pretty much criminal.

Great job on the deads! Your form looks totally different than mine as you're setting up, though. Obviously a consequence of the fact that I'm just a touch over 5'6" . You have such long limbs, I think I need to squat down further to reach it, hehe. Could you post a video of your "strict" barbell rows? I'm doing my best to do Pendlays and would love to compare my form to yours.

Thanks for the support guys. Unfortunately, the hip issues have gotten worse. The piriformis issue is still there (but slowly improving), but while playing ultimate frisbee, I managed to pull my left hip flexor. So even light weight squats and deads are completely off the menu, probably until August. I'm angry but the last thing I want to do is go back to squatting too soon and have this go on as a chronic issue for ages. I finally figured out where these injuries came from, and it's specific to the retarded rack at the ghetto gym I'm stuck at for the summer. I had to do this weird kind of twisting motion to each side to get the bar unracked, which would stress the piriformis so much more than the squats themselves. When I'm back to 100%, it will be the end of July anyway in all likelihood, so I'll be able to go back to the uni gym I was using. However, I'm still hitting the rest of the exercises hard. Bench Press: 5x5 @ 135 lbs [PR, finally benched my bodyweight!!!] Pendlay Rows: 3x5 @ 120 lbs [PR, far better form than previously] Weighted Dips: 3x5 @ 45 lbs [PR] Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 85 lbs [tied PR] Weighted pullups (supinated and neutral grip): 3x5 @ 25 lbs -[PR] Take THAT, stupid hip! I don't need you after all. Well, obviously I do. Squats and deadlifts are my best and favourite lifts, but at least I'm making good upper body progress in the meantime! I've also been using the upper-body stationary bike at the end of my workouts. It's fun doing something endurance-based with only your arms for once. Hurts like hell though!

Not to be a spokesperson or anything, but I have one of these at home: http://www.exercise-equipment-review.com/images/perfect-pullup.jpg It also swings down so you can do inverted rows on it: http://www.bigleagueskills.com/images/strengthtraining/perfect-pullup.jpg That said, when I'm at the gym I do Pendlay rows, weighted pullups/chinups and overhead presses as my main upper back and shoulder exercises, standard Stronglifts fare.

You clearly loved your dog, and the decision to put him down was borne of compassion, so I don't think anybody could fault you. It's unfortunate he was a nervous car rider, although I think it can be even more heartbreaking when they love to go in the car, because it makes you feel like you're tricking them. If you're ever in the same position again, one option is to ask the vet for a sedative to give him before you take him in. I used to work at a vet clinic and a wildlife rehab centre, so I've seen/aided in/administered many euthanasias, and while there were some I didn't agree with, Charlie's definitely would not be one of them.

Haha, nice.

Beforewisdom did an excellent job of giving an example. But, here's a quick stat from the CDC (centre for disease control) in the US: That's just a quick, small statistic showing how inactive most Americans are. Engaging in physical activity is one of the most basic premises of healthy living. The thing I don't understand is that you seem to be assuming that the average American is making an effort to lose weight/be healthy, but that they've been somehow misled by the people giving them health advice. The reality is that only a minority of people actually put effort into balancing their diet and exercising. But more importantly, I want to point out something I find really irksome. Why is it that people making non-evidence-based claims always put the responsibility of producing statistics on those they're arguing against? Let's see you produce statistics to prove that Americans are putting in sincere effort into losing weight, but are being unsuccessful because the macronutrient ratio recommended to them has prevented that, and not because they're eating Dairy Queen and playing World of Warcraft all day.