2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

You shouldn't have the same workout program for more than three months, and you should alter your exercises every 3 workouts of 'x' muscle (do incline before flat, do cable flies instead of db, do a superset, max out, etc).

I agree with everything and great post but I don't agree with that bit.

I know not everything suits everyone best etc but most of the biggest and most in shape guys I know don't do this and do you really buy all that 'muscle confusion' bs? I can see changing things up every 3 months to keep things from getting stale but there is no real need to do so from a physiological point of view.

Progressive load and good form with quality (ie mostly compound) excersises is what works, not chopping and changing every 3 months. 3 months is barely even enough time to truly gauge a program's success imo and most people who jump from one the the next all the time seem to get mediocre results for the most part from what I have seen.

My buddy Manu (a natty sponsored fitness model)

Spoiler

has changed his program a grand total of 3 times in the last 10 years and it seems to be working ok for him.

I can see changing up the accessory exercises fairly regularly but most people would do well if they stuck with the main big lifts (squat / deadlift / OH pressing / Chest pressing / pullups) and just stuck with those day in and day for a long period of time.

[eF 5ive]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

i didn't mean don't do your mass producing lifts. but i'm not going to do concentration curls for 5 years when there's other lifts that'll produce length for my bicep.

it is what it is. i have about 3 different rotations i put in every 3 months that let me focus on weak point training and effectively lift each muscle group.

but i didn't mean to not do bp, or sp, squat, etc. but your sub lifts to me should/can be rotated every 90 days.
you're not going to be doing 90lb lateral db raises.

as far as muscle confusion i'm not sure what you're saying. i just go by knowledge of anatomy as an occupational therapist and stuff i pick up from books.

it is what it is tho'.

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

i didn't mean don't do your mass producing lifts. but i'm not going to do concentration curls for 5 years when there's other lifts that'll produce length for my bicep.

it is what it is. i have about 3 different rotations i put in every 3 months that let me focus on weak point training and effectively lift each muscle group.

but i didn't mean to not do bp, or sp, squat, etc. but your sub lifts to me should/can be rotated every 90 days.
you're not going to be doing 90lb lateral db raises.

Sorry my mistake I thought you were saying people should be rotating their whole programs every 3 months but if it's just the sub exercises than yeah I can see the merits to that. Lower carb day for me today, brain might not be operating at 100% capacity.

as far as muscle confusion i'm not sure what you're saying. i just go by knowledge of anatomy as an occupational therapist and stuff i pick up from books.

Muscle confusion is generally a bodybuilding term you see in magazines, hear at gyms etc where people think they can 'confuse' the muscle by always hitting it with different exercises all the time rather than just sticking with the most proven movements and just slowly adding load / reps etc over time.

This sums it up better than I ever could....

http://articles.submityourarticle.com/Scott-Abbett-1949/muscle-confusion-62320.php

[Feared]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Yeah you should probably always stick to the tough Compound exercises for mass gaining.. I.E the Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Pull Ups, Cleans. Exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once.

Your secondary, Isolation exercises it's always good to switch those up.

[eF 5ive]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Sorry my mistake I thought you were saying people should be rotating their whole programs every 3 months but if it's just the sub exercises than yeah I can see the merits to that. Lower carb day for me today, brain might not be operating at 100% capacity.

Muscle confusion is generally a bodybuilding term you see in magazines, hear at gyms etc where people think they can 'confuse' the muscle by always hitting it with different exercises all the time rather than just sticking with the most proven movements and just slowly adding load / reps etc over time.

This sums it up better than I ever could....
http://articles.submityourarticle.co...sion-62320.php

lol yeah i got what you were saying i took it out of context. :O

[TarHeelMan]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Just bought myself a Vitamix, and going to start incorporating green smoothies into my program. I made myself a shake of kale, spinach, pineapple, strawberry and mango, along with some chia seeds and agave nectar. Pretty good. Going away with wifey tomorrow for the weekend, so I'm gonna be bad diet-wise, getting back on course on Monday. I'll probably start adding some protein powder to it too.

Mental note; can't make the shakes at 10:30 like I did last night. This blender is so powerful it woke up my wife and kids who were sleeping upstairs...

[Rules]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Next week I am going to go back to P90x as I was able to get some serious results.

I'm also going to start lifting heavier with less reps as I have stalled on the cardio / endurance side. Time to go after building more muscle and maintain my conditioning. Once it warms up more, I will go back and hit the track again.

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Sunday - Back / Bis / Forearms / Traps / A
Monday - Chest / Tris / Calves / Traps / Abs
Tuesday - Legs / Forearms / Traps / Abs
Wednesday Back / Bis / Calves /Traps / Abs
Today - Chest / Tris / Forearms / Traps / Abs

With about 10-15 minutes of cardio each day, that was how my week went. I won't be able to get back in the gym until Monday, so I tried to get back around as far as I could with my rotation...

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

^^^^ Like training traps and abs I see?

I have realised that I really can't have 'free' or cheat days on the weekend and hope to lose fat. If I do have a day off the diet on saturday my weight stays exactly the same if I have a really healthy low cal diet the rest of the week but it only goes down if I stick with it 7 days per week. Damn you crappy metabolism!!

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

^^^^ Like training traps and abs I see?

I have realised that I really can't have 'free' or cheat days on the weekend and hope to lose fat. If I do have a day off the diet on saturday my weight stays exactly the same if have a really healthy diet the rest of the week but it only goes down if I stick with it 7 days per week. Damn you crappy metabolism!!

Unless I'm just unusually sore, I don't like to give my abs or traps a day off.. they're fun to work out and I can usually get them in every day.

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I've seen heaps of people do abs every session but never seen anyone do traps. Whatever works for you man.

Reminds me of this :

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I keep it pretty simple with traps and just do shoulder shrugs. I started with using 50lb dumbells, but now I'm up to using 75...

I'll skip a day occasionally, if I feel the need, but usually I don't work them hard enough to where I can't do it every day.

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

I keep it pretty simple with traps and just do shoulder shrugs. I started with using 50lb dumbells, but now I'm up to using 75...

I'll skip a day occasionally, if I feel the need, but usually I don't work them hard enough to where I can't do it every day.

Just curious why you don't just smash them hard one day a week like every other muscle in the body? No hate just seems like you'd get more bang for your buck just smashing them hard 1 or 2 times per week rather than 5 very small sessions. Either way I'm sure it'll produce gains just different from what I usually see.

I gotta admit I kinda lagged on training traps for a while but have picked it up in the last 6 months or so. Still got a bit of work to go though:

[AUChase]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

Just curious why you don't just smash them hard one day a week like every other muscle in the body? No hate just seems like you'd get more bang for your buck just smashing them hard 1 or 2 times per week rather than 5 very small sessions. Either way I'm sure it'll produce gains just different from what I usually see.

It's crossed my mind, actually.

I've been thinking about incorporating it with my usual back/bi days.

[Jonesy]

Re: 2012 FITNESS CHALLENGE

It's crossed my mind, actually.

I've been thinking about incorporating it with my usual back/bi days.

Yeah I find back day the easiest day to do them as well. I just do them after deadlifting. The bar is already loaded so I just pick it up and do heavy shrugs then later when I am using heavy DB's for DB rows I use those for DB shrugs. Only takes a few extra minutes that way and I don't have to load up a bar specifically for them etc...

On an unrelated note I think I'm going to have to go back to dumbbell pressing rather than regular bench press on chest day which is destroying my shoulders. I just think the ROM is more natural with the DB's so I'll be less likely to injure myself that way.