Workout advice thread

[jae]

I want to get as much workout advice into one thread as possible for quick reference. Feel free to debate anything, fitness is rarely black and white.
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1. First off, I have the most important thing I have ever learned is where to get advice and information from. I've established quite a few good sources for training advice and motivation, I've also found some that are just plain bad.

-Mens Health (magazine+site by country)
Sucks hard. Scaled in such a way that everything seems very obtainable... Because it is. The hardest exercises I've ever found in Men's Health (I used to read religiously) I've managed to achieve within a year. So from Beginner to Advanced in their programs usually takes about a year. Where are you supposed to go after that? On top of that there is frequent contradictions and the "professionals" they cite often aren't actually qualified. As in, at all. On top of that they offer terrible advice with women.

-Building the Gymnastic's Body (book+site+forum) gymnasticbodies.com/
The absolute best bodyweight training resource I've found. I train predominately bodyweight and from this site and the book I pieced together a routine at least as effective as any weight program. The book is somewhat advanced, I'd recommend at least a years experience before attempting.

-http://www.beastskills.com/
The main site is sparse but great motivation. Features bodyweight tutorials which are easier and faster than any other site. The guy lifts weights really well as well.

-Dragondoor (site+forums)
Incredibly repetitive and self contained. Only worthwhile resources are the books I mention separately, occasional good article but no references and the information is available elsewhere with them. Occasional bad advice, few qualified contributors. Having said that the sources they draw from are very good and the books I mention below are too.

-Convict Conditioning (book).
Everything released on Dragondoor gets over-hyped IMO. This book was, it has only sixty exercises across six main progressions and is very limited. The progression numbers are also pointless, but if you follow these progressions with the set up of BtGB then you get very effective workout variety. Tries to sound scientific and hardcore, comes across as neither.

-Pavel Tsatsouline (every book).
Very sound logic and current research backs up nearly all his training methods, even though the books were released from 1998-2006. The writing is irritation in essence but is worth the read because the advice and methodology is so solid. Very good combat training. Best flexibility training I have found.

-http://forum.bodybuilding.com/
An occasional source of good information. Without a high rep value though, you will get flamed. A lot.

-Starting Strength (Book+wiki) startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki I've never been on the site before. Widely considered the absolute best beginner program.

-Scooby's Workshop (site) scoobysworkshop.com/
I found the vast majority of advice on this site is terrible. His advice is far outdated on everything to do with nutrition and most his programs are exceedingly easy. Also, his form on pull-ups is so bad it deserves its own mention. Decent for home body-building but there are far better bodyweight resources, sports training resources, strength training resources and nutrition resources to bother listening to his shoddy advice on these subjects.

-Ross Enamait (books+site) www.rosstraining.com/forum/
Very diverse range of information on combat training, features a lot to do with body weight training. However the result of being so diverse is that it lacks in substance, very little evidence backs up anything he recommends and his bodyweight training method is exceedingly easy. Would recommend before Scooby's Workshop but there are better resources out there. Only really worth looking into if your interest lies mainly with "MMA style" training. Isn't really MMA training though.

-Bill Starr's 5x5 (book, online) madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm
He doesn't have a site but he published a book that is good if old. The program above is really simple and easy to follow, it gives a good outline of the whole method. Works well with SS. I use it as a template for a lot of bodyweight progressions, works extremely well for this purpose. I'd go so far as to say 5x5 is the best general template for bodyweight moves

-Chad Waterbury Huge in a Hurry (book)
deceptively bad name. Sound research, although very simple detail and it doesn't really list references. Further examination revealed it was up to date, no thanks to the book itself. I found the programs boring but they worked well.

-Eddie Baran/Matt Furey (every book+both sites+forum)
The absolute worst resource I've come across. Avoid. No research, Matt Furey has a mediocre body and claim to have trained for more than a decade and the system is very easy and dangerous. It doesn't even train the full body, basically just shoulders and abs. BTW, I put the two together because they publish exactly the same information, I wouldn't be surprised if one person writes all the books.

-Crossfit (forums+sites+other resources) board.crossfit.com/
The proverb "if you chase two rabbits both will escape" comes to mind. Not the most efficient way to reach any one goal, or even several goals, but if you have no idea what you want or are trying to maintain fitness in all areas it works. Otherwise look at other resources.

-Testosterone Nation (site+forums) www.t-nation.com/
Very mixed. Some information is excellent, some is poor. The forums were more beginner friendly than BB.com's but still weren't the best. The advice is usually limited. The main site publishes both good and bad articles but it's easy to tell the difference, the good ones often have very in-depth citations.

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That's pretty much everything I've read into that's worth mentioning. May think of more later. Will put up more specific advice as well.

[RMO]

i was just gonna go searching for these kinds of sites, thanks for saving me the time

[DanZy]

I think there's a few you've missed:

Martin Berkhan (site) www.leangains.com
The best resource for information on intermittent fasting in the world. Good advice, well researched, effective. He's not trying to sell you anything either.

Lyle Macdonald (all books, site, forum) www.bodyrecomposition.com
This man is brilliant. Everything is researched and well written. I'd reckon he's the best mind in the business. He gives feedback etc. Lots of information can be a tad confusing though.

Rusty Moore (site, haven't read books) fitnessblackbook.com
I like quite a lot of what he writes, referencing is a little lacking though. Pretty decent and fairly interesting.

Brad Pilon (all books, site) bradpilon.com
Another brilliant guy. His books are great too. A different form of intermittent fasting is his biggest thing. Lots references, solid information.

[jae]

I was asked to make a post about building mass, but first, I just had an inspiration. Like a surprising number of epiphanies it came during a mundane task, I was washing dishes when all of a sudden I had an instinctual idea about training. I was considering my aches and my pains, my sore neck, my overworked shoulders... I was pondering not doing my workout. If you know anything about me you know how radical a thought that is. I started to think "Why am I not recovering? I've done far more work before..." Normally I'd just skip the day and do my workout the next, but then I came to a better conclusion. I decided to do active recovery.

That in itself is pretty normal and not particularly inspired, but my Ritalin altered mind demanded I pursue it to the logical conclusion.

So I thought for a link, while I scrubbed bowls and plates, between my soreness, my seemingly erratic recovery ability and gains and something else. Some hidden factor. I knew it was there, I has to be missing something.

Then it came to me. Something that just instinctively felt right.

Now, before I continue any further, I'm lucky enough to be so self-obsessed as to keep careful and detailed records of the vast majority of workouts I have done in the last 2 1/2 years, including not just reps/sets/weights/rest but also feelings, stretches and a multitude of other factors I thought important at any given time. So after some digging, I uncovered this treasure trove of information and found a correlation supporting my realisation strongly.

This theory is just a theory, I haven't tested it on anyone else. I couldn't even if I wanted to. But I'm not alone in believing what I believe. I'll get to that in a minute.

First off, what I believe now is:
A laissez faire approach to training. I think periodisation got it all wrong. Looking back on my gains, I recovered faster and made better gains, as well as feeling better, when my weights program was fluid. That's not to say I went in and did whatever I felt like, I made a rough monthly plan and stuck to it however much I wanted. The repxsetxweights are a mess. The rest periods were a joke. But the gains were incredible.

What I found was for the months were I was incredibly strict on what I was doing in the gym, following a formula, any formula, my gains were good. But when I had a formula in mind but wasn't strict about following it, when I didn't mind letting myself do something different because I felt like it, they were great.

The best example comes from February last year. I'd just finished reading Huge in a Hurry and had done two months worth of workouts following his template, making good gains for an intermediate and assuming it was the best I'd get. My diet was good. I wasn't stressed. Then I stumbled across Gymnastic Bodies style training and decided to combine the two, doing HiH template with GB exercises. The nature of this workout demanded I experiment, a lot. And I did. For two months I mixed up my set's, reps and rest as I pleased. I changed exercises on a whim. I repeated workouts. I did recover sessions whenever. I worked out in the morning, midday, afternoon, one session was at 8.30pm. Some sessions had more stretching than lifting. Some had cardio before. Some after. I did whatever I felt like.

I put on five kilos of muscle mass and was as lean as I am now. Which brings me to now. I recently, by dumb luck, did the exact same thing. I began experimenting and doing as I please because I had 2 weeks of exams and prior to that 2 public holidays and a wide array of social events. My gains at the moment are great. My abs are starting to pop to the point I was a hair away from a full blown 8 pack.

Basically, what I've found and explained terribly thus far is this: I feel sessions should be largely pre-planned. You should know you're going to be lifting Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday or whatever. But when you actually hit the gym you shouldn't go in with the goal of doing x sets and y reps with l weight. You should go in with a more vague goal, something allowing room to move. Something like "I want to improve x lift." Then do that. I'm not saying drop periodisation or linear progression, I'm saying it isn't going to perfectly fit into them. I'm sure anyone here who has worked out for a year or two can tell you what programs work for them. I'm following that same logic, I feel like the individual will never know better what to do then right at the moment of the workout. Sometimes it's better not to force that last set, sometimes it's better to add an extra one. Sometimes 6 reps isn't enough, sometimes it is way to much. Sometimes you just feel like doing squats isn't going to end well. So don't. Go in with a plan, go in with a structure, but don't hold yourself to it 100%. Instincts>Method.

[straightcircle]

Jae, is calisthenics a good way for me to gain muscle?

I have also partially read Pavel's The Naked Warrior book and took one of his methods and use it every time. Truth be told, I haven't got any monetary means to start going to the gym or ordering any weights for use at home. So all I got is my weight, the park and a shite load of heavy stuff that I can fit into my bag to use as weights.

I'm

- 5'5"
- ~63kg
- Body fat ~18%
- Between Ottermode and Ripped/Athletic (I think)



Thanks!

[NorwegianDJ]

If you're 18%, then you're more towards 'builtfat'

[straightcircle]

I thought as much. Mostly because the only workout advice I ever took to heart was "eat and work it off afterwards", and it 'seems' to work - fondly enough.

The thing is though, I do have abs (like I worked hard for them) but that's only when I decide to suck it in and tense it then I get definition. But anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm in ottermode, since I did my BF% last night on a full stomach. After using a lot of different calculators online now I average at ~15.5%

[NorwegianDJ]

Its best to get it accurately measured using a caliper method. However, for yourself, as long as you use the same method consistently, then you can measure your own bodyfat levels.

[jae]

15.5 would look more like built-fat, like Norway said.

Anyway, yes you can gain muscle with bodyweight exercises. Not as much pure mass as weights because if you do you'll lose strength in the lifts, but still a lot. Read Building the Gymnastics Body by Coach Sommer and use his exercises on a 5x5 template. The gains are leaner as well because you just can't put on much fat and perform the same.

I wrote a big post about this exact topic in the "15 minute workout" thread, so read that then follow these links for resources about the workout type.

about exercises:
www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=9ecb2bf5b21ce7e719e2aaa1a267a249
about routine:
www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=18
An example beginner routine on the forum is Kiillroy's. It's good, I had to trim it down to three days but it was what gave me the whole 5x5 bodyweight progression idea. It filled in the blanks so to speak.

[masonjones5711]

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