Off Topic The Fitness Thread

sm1ke

2018 Mazda CX-9 Signature
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Canada
With the new forum switch completed, I figured I'd try to make more use of the Lounge instead of posting unrelated stuff in model-specific subforums.

Since there's no fitness-specific subforum here, I started this thread so we could post anything "fitness-related" in here. I know there are one or two active members here who pick things up and put them down, but it seems like most of the others posted more actively over 10 years ago. Maybe in time, if there are enough active members interested in fitness, we can make a case for a new sub, but for now let's start with this.


They say the hardest part about working out is getting started, which I agree with 100%. Before I started, I looked like your average skinny filipino kid who played too many video games, only I had a good sized belly going and I actually weighed about 220 lbs (I probably looked like I weighed 160 based on my wiry arms).

I started getting a little more serious about lifting about 4-5 years ago, mostly due to the convenience of a new job in an office that had a small gym in the basement with an annual membership fee of only $60. I started working out there every day during my lunch hour. After a few weeks it became a routine, something to look forward to every day.

Soon enough, I progressed to the point of wanting to lift more than the 80 lb dumbbells available. I started a garage gym and shifted towards building what I call "functional strength" in the deadlift, bench press, and squat. Before I moved into my new place, I had pegged my max lifts at 285 lbs for the bench press, about 335 lbs for the squat, and about 375 lbs for the deadlift. I put on a good amount of size while dropping down to about 210 lbs. I also became a bit of a gym equipment nerd and stopped spending money on video games. Instead, I spent that money on more gym equipment.

That was all about a year and a half ago. The new place doesn't have enough room for the power rack, and lifting has become less of a priority after becoming a father, so I'm sure that I've lost some strength over the past couple of years. That said, I've been able to make enough room to set up a functional trainer, a bench and a pair of Powerblocks, and a makeshift deadlift platform. I also scored a pair of free squat stands. With my daughter nearing 2 years of age, she's becoming a lot more independent and its becoming a little easier to find the time to work out.

Anyway, that's my story. I'm currently just doing some general workouts to get my ass back in gear, and I've set a personal goal of a 3-plate bench, a 4-plate squat and a 5-plate deadlift while aiming to build a body that doesn't jiggle so much when I'm chasing down my kid :ROFLMAO:. I'll get some updated pics of my basement setup posted later in the week.

I'm turning 36 in February and I look forward to becoming better than I was yesterday.
 
Here are some photos of the gear I have set up at the moment.

Functional trainer, adjustable bench, 45-degree back extension, and makeshift deadlift platform.
IMG_20191231_214244.jpg


Squat stands, trap bar, parallette bars, flat bench, bulgarian sand bag.
IMG_20191231_213710.jpg


Powerblock "Pro Rexan" 5-85 lb adjustable dumbbells with stand.
IMG_20191231_214109.jpg


Old-ish York weight plates.
IMG_20191231_214223.jpg


Ivanko OMEZH "Revolver" plates with my favourite barbell, a Vulcan Absolute 2.0 power bar.
IMG_20191231_213555.jpg



In storage, I've got the rest of the rubber flooring, a power rack, battle rope, a push/pull sled and a pullup/dip station.

I lucked out pretty hard on the functional trainer (got it for free, just had to disassemble and move it myself). I happened to check Kijiji at just the right time, and saw that the seller had listed it less than 5 minutes ago. I called them and asked them to hold it for me until I could pick it up after work. Luckily, they agreed, and were true to their word even though they were getting cash offers after I had called.
 
I'll bite in the spirit of getting this lounge rolling.

I thought Unobtanium was a big meathead? How is he not here?

Started riding my bike this fall and when it the cold came, I joined our Rec Center which has an amazing fitness center. So I'm going 3 times a week just trying to fight off age and keep up with my kid. :D
 
I'll bite in the spirit of getting this lounge rolling.

I thought Unobtanium was a big meathead? How is he not here?

Started riding my bike this fall and when it the cold came, I joined our Rec Center which has an amazing fitness center. So I'm going 3 times a week just trying to fight off age and keep up with my kid. :D

Lol, keeping up with my kid is part of the reason I exercise as well. I wasn't overweight by most standards, but I found myself grunting just to get off the couch, moaning and groaning to tie my shoes or put on socks, and so on. I knew I'd be miserable if I didn't start making some changes, and now life is just better overall.

I think the biggest thing people close to me noticed was not the muscle gain. It was the huge improvement in posture.
 
Same, actually. Buddy actually asked me, that I hadn't seen in awhile "WTF did you get taller?!?" LOL
 
So quiet in here lol

Going to do a small block of circuit lifting to get myself back in shape and ready for more demanding stuff in the summer. 3 or 4 days a week, I will rotate between upper body and lower body circuit style workouts.

Upper
x10 Curl to overhead press (with EZ curl bar or DBs)
x10 Pullups (or chinups)
x15 Cable chest presses
x15 Seated row
Repeat 3 times total.

Lower
x5 deadlift (or squat)
x12 alternating split squats (or jump squats)
x12 back extensions on 45* bench
 
1591797400810.jpeg


The wife is on a bit of a mission to lose some weight now, so I'm modifying my workouts so she can work out with me. I may also try intermittent fasting.

Since my last post, I've sold off a bunch of extra gym equipment I had lying around the house. I also sold my Powerblocks, which I found out were almost 16 years old! Replaced them with a brand new set. Next little project is to build a stand for them.

Powerblock Sport EXP 5-90.jpg
 
this is a good thread, i hope more people join.

I was always athletic.. but after marriage and a child- I've let myself go. My highest point was a few months before my wedding I was about 223lbs. (I'm 5'8"), i wasn't getting married weighing that much so i worked on it. Got down to 200 I think just before the wedding, and kept going for a bit after.. getting down to 180lbs. My cardiologist says I need to be in the 170lb range of which I'm currently 192-195lbs.

I have an entire gym in my garage which i don't get used because I'm too lazy to clean the s*** up around it.(tons of house renovations happening, by me). I find it hard to go from work, to work at home, dinner, and then workout instead of hanging with my child and wife. Family always takes precedent in my life.

More recently I started looking into p90x3- I did p90x before and almost finished. Hernia surgery or something stopped that. The new program is geared towards a 30 minute workout 6 days a week, instead of 1-1.5 hours 5-6 days a week per original p90x. I'll get to it soon.. I'm sure of that. I stopped drinking my crutch drink Code Red Mountain Dew, and fill that hole with just water.

I guess I just gotta press play. I'll update when i do something. Maybe I'll find more motivation... What say you @323 ?
 
I guess I just gotta press play. I'll update when i do something. Maybe I'll find more motivation... What say you @323 ?

Sounds great man. Look forward to it!

I weighed myself this morning and I'm sitting at 205-206 right now, which is only a few pounds less than what I used to weigh when I was working out consistently. In the mirror, I look like a slightly deflated version of what I used to look like, lol. I'll get back there soon enough.

My sister and her husband are doing another ketogenic diet "phase". They have been doing this for years, switching to keto for 2-3 months out of the year, but never sticking to it for more than that. My wife also just started doing intermittent fasting, and right now I believe she's doing 2 day fasts. Meanwhile I've just been working out, mostly just dumbbell and cable exercises, but no cardio.
 
I'll join the thread. I don't lift seriously or have muscle gain goals in mind. It just becomes time when I'm too inactive that I know I have to get moving and lifting again to keep myself in check. Working an office job doesn't help at all lol. Been trying to be more active as of late especially working from home now but the weather just now started warming up.

Back in 2018/2019 I gained quite a few pounds and weighed in around 179. Currently weigh in at about 165. Myfitnesspal and lots of walking helped with losing much of my weight just as it has a few other times in the past for me. Not sure if I'll make it anytime soon but I'd like to get down to about 162 and maintain it. Goal for this year is to walk, bike, and do lifting as much as possible. Car work also keeps me in check but I know it's not effective in weight loss lol.

Edit: I should mention I get a lot of wrist/hand pain, prolly from overuse and being on a computer all day. It kind of prevents me from lifting heavy weights. It'll put me out for a couple weeks.

@Gabe710: Your turn sucka. You has a wedding to get married at pretty soon.
 
Edit: I should mention I get a lot of wrist/hand pain, prolly from overuse and being on a computer all day. It kind of prevents me from lifting heavy weights. It'll put me out for a couple weeks.

I also work at a desk all day, and from time to time I get wrist pain that flares up, sometimes in the left, but mostly in the right. I should probably get an ergo assessment done.

I also recently found out that I have developed flat feet. A couple of weeks ago I developed some ankle pain and it started swelling up a bit. I thought it was plantar fasciitis, but a quick visit to the doctor ruled that out. Got some insoles with arch support for my chucks and now I'm back to 100%. Aging sucks sometimes, lol.
 
My weak wrist is always the left. I remember a few years back I was tiling the downstairs bathroom and was propping myself up with my left hand. That effed up my left wrist real good to where I wore a brace for a couple weeks. Learned to never do that again. Tiling AND propping up myself by my left hand 😂
 
I started doing calisthenics this year, bought a set of gymnast rings which I hang from the 2nd floor banister outside my apartment. I also got this fancy weight vest I can put plates on so I can increase my weight and still be upside down etc. My flexibility is way better now and I'm getting stronger. I am currently working on the strength of a planchet and press to handstand
 
I belong to several gyms that cover my geographic areas of movement, as well as a jujitsu gym. Lately, I have gotten a touch soft. The 6 pack is more "wavy" than defined, and I'm probably hovering at 18% or so body fat. My lifts are still decent. If I had to guess, 375-385 squat and DL, 275 bench. Hanging out at 215# at present, so my Kesa game is on point at least, rofl! Working on cutting back down to 190ish, now. Actually about to leave my house for the gym.

I've been into lifting and combat arts/sports/training since I was in highschool, but never truly pursued it at a professional level. Most of my lifts qualify as "advanced/intermediate" for my body weight when I'm being serious, and that's okay. (OHP 175#, backsquat and DL 415#, bench 285#, at my best, which is attainable again with a few months of strength training focus).
 
I switched it up a bit and I'm now doing some push/pull work. Using a logbook to help keep myself accountable.

In terms of equipment, I picked up a pair of 100lb plates for a good deal. I just keep them on the bar so I can do 5 deadlifts first thing every morning before I head to work.

IMG_20201021_175603.jpg


Last year I did the same thing (deadlifts before work). I started with 225lbs including the bar, and I would do 5 deadlifts and 10 pullups every morning from Monday to Friday. Added 10lbs to the bar at the beginning of every week until I was doing 5 reps of 315lbs every morning.

This time around I'm going to do the deadlifts, but skip the pullups. I'll be starting with 245lbs, and increasing 10lbs a week until I hit 315 again, then reevaluate.
 
I also ditched the individual squat stands in favour of something more stable. Had to get the yellow floor braces custom made by a local welder as the original ones were no longer in stock (excuse the mess of crap in the background lol).

IMG_20201021_175725.jpg


It's a very solid unit that will work until I have the ceiling height to reassemble my power rack, at which point the squat rack can be bolted to the existing power rack to double as another work station or as weight plate storage, similar to something like this:

61UeBPSauCL._AC_SL1485_.jpg
 
My
Nordic Track Commercial S22i Studio Cycle
shipped today.

Decided that I have, indeed, taken this bike riding thing seriously enough I want to actually hit it even harder over the winter.
 
My
Nordic Track Commercial S22i Studio Cycle
shipped today.

Decided that I have, indeed, taken this bike riding thing seriously enough I want to actually hit it even harder over the winter.

Hey 7, how have you been liking the S22i?
 
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