Author Topic: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...  (Read 4066 times)

Offline Pugnate

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If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 06:36:59 PM »
Do not make the mistake of thinking you can lift the same as you left off.

For the past four months I've just been concentrating on cutting down fat. I am at a 175 pounds and am nearly 6 1. I'd like to get to 165 hopefully.

I also used to bench 120 kgs. Ummm... so after a 4 month layoff... I thought I could lift the same... big mistake. I nearly crushed my throat.

Offline idolminds

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #1 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 08:11:28 PM »
I am at a 175 pounds and am nearly 6 1. I'd like to get to 165 hopefully.
Stop showing off.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #2 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 09:15:59 PM »
Seriously, asshole. I'm not going to post my weight here, but we'll say it was substantially more than that at roughly the same height even after dropping 40 fucking pounds.

Fuck I hate you skinny motherfuckers.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline iPPi

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #3 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 10:07:51 PM »
I'm 6'1" also and hover between 165-175 lbs. 

It's a good range I think.  I used to weigh about 185-190 when I didn't exercise.  When I started to exercise I dropped down to 155 lbs (metabolism got kick-started; most of my old clothes don't fit well now or are just too big on me), and now I've stabilized in the 165-175 region.

Edit:  Is that a typo pug?  You bench 120 kg?  That's nearly 260 lbs. 

Offline idolminds

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #4 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 10:45:44 PM »
Damnit, I'm 6'3" and 230lbs.

But its all muscle and awesome, which is heavy you know.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #5 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 10:51:05 PM »
Damn, I'm the little guy around here, at a mere 6' even and about 170 lbs.

Offline K-man

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #6 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 11:07:57 PM »
I'm 5-10 245.

My beer gut is substantial

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #7 on: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 11:25:14 PM »
I'm 6' and down to 209 from 217. I'm dieting right now and I exercise 3 times a week, I don't lift weights though, I just run a little over 2 and half miles. I've been hovering around 220 for a couple years now due to beer and eating like crap. My goal right now is to get back down to 180.

But yea, careful with the weight lifting. I don't even try unless I have someone to spot me, like you, I almost crushed my throat once.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #8 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 05:02:13 AM »
The fucking problem is the food culture in North America. When I left for Canada, I weighed about 96 Kgs, which is about 212lbs... which was very much overweight. After eating two fast food meals a day (a typical fast food meal is at least 1500 calories), I ballooned to 258lbs... in 4 years.

The other problem is that clothing sizes in North America are just wrong when compared to the rest of the world. If you go to Europe where people are generally taller and bigger in terms of bone structure, an L size at something like Dockers or Levis is often XL, XXL, or even XXL in brands that are generally found there.

That is a huge difference. Think about it... L in American clothing brands is on average the same as XXL in European clothing brands, or XXL or non equivalent in brands found in Asia.

Again, Europeans are generally taller and with larger bone structures, so yea.

Anyway I decided I'd get my weight down. I stopped lifting weights, and started only hitting the treadmill. It started with 15 minutes and then 20... and now I do 45 minutes a day, 4 days a week. I basically do 4 kilometers in every session.

I changed my diet only to veggies and grilled meat.

It was hard. I basically lost about 1kg a week. Now I am finally at 176 pounds... but I am not skinny... I am average. My waist is down to 35. I'd love for it to be at 32ish.

Essentially, in total, I've lost 36kgs. It feels great.

It would have been much harder to do this had I been in the states. I really feel for you guys trying to lose weight there, because the food and clothing culture has just made it easy to be so overweight. I know it is easy to blame everyone but yourself, but it is harder to be fat in Asia or Europe, where you have tons of delicious and healthy food choices. And then you can't get away with being obese at clothing stores as much.

You have a meal at MCDs... and a burger is 600 calories, fries are about 400 calories... if you get a shake you are looking at a 1500 calorie meal, which often doesn't even feel filling. Then you eat again the same day and you are basically fucked for life.

That's why I agree with imposing some restrictions on these fast food portions like super sizes etc. I know it is a free country, but food like that can be so addictive. I know... I've been there. And again, the other problem is that sadly, American culture fools people into thinking they are only overweight, when they are obese. It was shocking for me to go from Canada to London, or Thailand, and not even fit properly into an XL shirt. :(

Anyway, if you guys plan to lose weight, I hope this motivates you somewhat.

The first week is the fucking hardest. But once you get in the groove, it is so easy. Suddenly those burgers seem nauseating.

Quote
Edit:  Is that a typo pug?  You bench 120 kg?  That's nearly 260 lbs. 

I was at 100 kgs body weight when I could bench 120. I was able to do 8 reps a session... like 10, 10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6.

I thought I was doing pretty well, until I went online and saw people saying I should be able to lift 1.5x my body weight at some point.

Quote
But yea, careful with the weight lifting. I don't even try unless I have someone to spot me, like you, I almost crushed my throat once.

Yea, my room is pretty big, and I have a bench and stuff in the corner. I just assumed I'd be able to do it. Having lost all that weight, I guess I lost a lot of muscle as well.

It was 6 in the morning, my room was locked, and I lifted and went OOOOOOMPH... the bar dropped on my chest basically and started rolling towards my throat. I couldn't lift it to save my life. Then I pushed it at an angle... it was scary.


Offline shock

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #9 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 06:10:37 AM »
I'm 5'11" and 160. I look fit, but I don't feel that great. I haven't worked out seriously for a few years, but I am pretty conscientious about what I eat (mainly just avoid the excesses, fast food, enormous portions, never have sodas/sweets, don't snack, make veggies with most meals, etc).

I'm going to start working out again seriously this fall when I start school up again. No excuses when the gym is right there on campus.
Suck it, Pugnate.

Offline ren

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #10 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 01:23:06 PM »
I can't do bench press without a spotter for that exact reason. I've tried it a couple of times but I never push myself just because I'm afraid of going too far and going through what you did. I got around that problem by doing dumbbell bench press when I'm by myself. That might not be doable for someone who can bench so much though, when dumbbells get over a certain size they're too awkward to use.


Fuck I hate you skinny motherfuckers.

You're going to hate me then.

I seem to have the exact opposite problem as all of you when it comes to weight gain, I can't stop losing it. For most of the last year I was quite busy and stopped going to the gym and went all the way down to 130lbs. I've been working out a lot and eating as much as I possible can and managed to get myself up to 155lbs which is pretty reasonable for my height. A couple of weeks ago I took about ten days off from the gym and shot down to below 145.

It was much worse in high school but now my metabolism seems to have slowed down a little bit.


Offline ren

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #11 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 01:27:24 PM »
The fucking problem is the food culture in North America. When I left for Canada, I weighed about 96 Kgs, which is about 212lbs... which was very much overweight. After eating two fast food meals a day (a typical fast food meal is at least 1500 calories), I ballooned to 258lbs... in 4 years.

Not just the fast food culture but the car culture. It seems like most people here with a vehicle probably walk under a km a day. When my mum came to visit me in China for a week she lost the 10lbs she's been trying to lose for years now. She was on vacation and eating far more fast food than usual but losing her car and having to walk and use public transportation made a big difference.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #12 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 01:32:01 PM »
True about the car culture...

As for benchpressing, like with all weight lifts, you can either do as much as possible with few reps, or go for something reasonable and try to do more sets. I'd rather be toned/chiseled like Bruce Lee, than massive like Hulk Hogan. Even if you are scared to push yourself, it is worthwhile to try and do as many sets as you can with 90 second intervals between each set.

Trust me, you will look good. Heck, I'd say you'd look better that way.

My young brother hits the gym four days a week. He doesn't have huge muscles, but looks chiseled like a model. He doesn't work out like some freak, doesn't take supplements, and doesn't lift too heavy. But he does a lot of sets with long reps, and easily looks better than any of the guys there, even if they are bigger than him.

But he was naturally blessed with a skinny body, and has an exceptionally low body fat percentage. So his workout suits him.




Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #13 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 01:42:56 PM »
Damnit, I'm 6'3" and 230lbs.

But its all muscle and awesome, which is heavy you know.

Crap man, I didn't realize you were so tall. That's a great height.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #14 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 01:44:28 PM »
This is just a guide, of course:

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

Offline idolminds

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #15 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 02:53:32 PM »
Crap man, I didn't realize you were so tall. That's a great height.
For the longest time I thought I was 6' or 6'1", but at the last meet we went to a museum and they had a spot to check your height and I was like "WTF?"

According to that BMI page you linked I need to lose 30lbs to be "normal". I can probably do that.

Offline ren

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #16 on: Monday, July 04, 2011, 07:46:14 PM »
True about the car culture...

As for benchpressing, like with all weight lifts, you can either do as much as possible with few reps, or go for something reasonable and try to do more sets. I'd rather be toned/chiseled like Bruce Lee, than massive like Hulk Hogan. Even if you are scared to push yourself, it is worthwhile to try and do as many sets as you can with 90 second intervals between each set.

Trust me, you will look good. Heck, I'd say you'd look better that way.

My young brother hits the gym four days a week. He doesn't have huge muscles, but looks chiseled like a model. He doesn't work out like some freak, doesn't take supplements, and doesn't lift too heavy. But he does a lot of sets with long reps, and easily looks better than any of the guys there, even if they are bigger than him.

But he was naturally blessed with a skinny body, and has an exceptionally low body fat percentage. So his workout suits him.

Oh I know. I just meant I don't like to push myself too much without a spotter.

BMI is a sketchy way to monitor your weight. It averages out to make sense over a population but to use it on an individual basis ignores all of the variables your own body throws in. Chances are if you look at yourself in the mirror, think back to what you've eaten over the last week and how much exercise you've done, you'll know if you're in shape or not.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #17 on: Tuesday, July 05, 2011, 12:02:00 AM »
For the longest time I thought I was 6' or 6'1", but at the last meet we went to a museum and they had a spot to check your height and I was like "WTF?"

According to that BMI page you linked I need to lose 30lbs to be "normal". I can probably do that.

You know we have that "what games you want to finish" thread... I wanted to make a similar thread for weight loss to keep each other motivated.

Well, I've gained a bit... I am at 82 kgs. Been overeating the past few days. :(

 My goal is to get down to 75kgs. :)

Idol, 30lbs isn't too bad actually. You can do it man. Get a scale.

By the way, were you wearing shoes when you were on that museum thing? Because they can add up to two inches, depending on the sole.

Yea I just checked my height and I am between 6'0'' and 6'1''. Not quite 6'1''.

Yea, I think you are the tallest person here. Anyone taller than him?

Ren., you are right, it is a bit sketchy. But I think it works well for the average person who doesn't work out. If you work out, you can add 5kgs for muscle mass.

Also, BMIs are a bit lower for Asians. For example, the average 6 foot male from Europe or USA should have a waist of 34ish. But for Asians, for the same height, it is lower.

As you said, the best way is to look at yourself in the mirror though.

The other thing with BMI is that it gives room for different body types. It says a BMI of 23-25 is normal and 17-22 is lean... but the difference between 25 and 17 is pretty big in terms of weight, so it does allow room for interpretation.

When I hit 25, I still didn't look great. At 23ish, I still have a bit to go.

It says 17-22 is where people statistically live longer. I'd like to be at 20ish.

Offline gpw11

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #18 on: Tuesday, July 05, 2011, 12:55:36 AM »
You lose strength (at least gym strength) fast.  I'll notice a difference with a week or so off.  To be fair, I usually skip out for a while due to heavy drinking and lack of sleep, so that probably doesn't help but amazing none the less.  I've been pretty slack since playoffs/summer started, and going back is just more of a chore when it feels like you're just retreading lost ground.

Fuck, I'm about to start doing double run days to make up for it now that my gym is closed this week.

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #19 on: Tuesday, July 05, 2011, 01:01:30 AM »
If anyone else is interested, I've been using this website: www.myfitnesspal.com. It's just a calorie counter and exercise tracker. It's been working for me plus you can keep track of anyone else who is on it.

Offline Xessive

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #20 on: Tuesday, July 05, 2011, 01:23:38 AM »
I am a lazy sack of crap. I need to get back to running at least!

Offline gpw11

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #21 on: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 10:36:43 PM »
You know, Fitocracy is pretty cool.  Think of it as a fitness logging sites with a small social aspect (pretty much lame), but also challenges/achievements.  Super easy to use as well.  I'll see if I have any beta invites.

Offline W7RE

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #22 on: Saturday, July 09, 2011, 02:18:06 PM »
First, if you've been lifting for a while and haven't had a break (unlike Pug), you'll work your way up to your weight. If you get too much, it's never way more than you can handle, but just a little more. So if you can't lift it up to do a rep, you should at least be able to keep it from crushing you. Second, don't collar the weights. If you get too much weight or just reach failure and can't get the weights back up, tip the bar slowly to one side and the weights will fall off, then the other way and those will fall off.

It's better to drop the weights a foot or two than be trapped under them. If your form is good, they shouldn't fall off just because the collars aren't there holding them on.

Offline gpw11

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #23 on: Sunday, July 10, 2011, 11:25:06 PM »
First, if you've been lifting for a while and haven't had a break (unlike Pug), you'll work your way up to your weight. If you get too much, it's never way more than you can handle, but just a little more. So if you can't lift it up to do a rep, you should at least be able to keep it from crushing you. Second, don't collar the weights. If you get too much weight or just reach failure and can't get the weights back up, tip the bar slowly to one side and the weights will fall off, then the other way and those will fall off.

It's better to drop the weights a foot or two than be trapped under them. If your form is good, they shouldn't fall off just because the collars aren't there holding them on.

Great call on the not collaring.  I've never actually thought about that.

Offline Cools!

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #24 on: Monday, July 11, 2011, 12:06:02 PM »
I'm better than all of you, combined.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #25 on: Monday, July 11, 2011, 01:34:06 PM »
What do you mean by "collaring"?

Offline Cobra951

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #26 on: Monday, July 11, 2011, 02:09:47 PM »
By collars, I think he means the "bookend" rings that secure the weights to the bar.  I never knew that's what they were called either.

Edit:  Yeah, these things.


Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #27 on: Monday, July 11, 2011, 02:27:13 PM »
Thanks Cobra!

Hey that's pretty sound advise Wire.

Offline gpw11

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #28 on: Monday, July 11, 2011, 10:27:18 PM »
I do know that actual gyms really don't like people not collaring weights.  Now that we've kind of been talking about it, I can sort of see why.  Lean the bar to drop the plates on one side and crush the fuck out of some guy's foot as he's grabbing weights off a nearby stack or something. I mean, the chances are low that it'll happen, but fuck that would suck and it's always something I worry about whenever someone is awkwardly carrying weights near me.

So, it's shitty because 2 months ago I was hitting the gym every morning before work and firing off 8-15 km after work every day.  Now, nothing for a while. It's hard to say if there's an actual physical deterioration, but I certainly feel like shit and I can trick myself into thinking I'm in the worst shape ever because of it.  It's funny how motivation works.  All about momentum.

Offline W7RE

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #29 on: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 01:19:09 AM »
Yea I can see why they would have a problem with people not collaring weights at a gym. Also though, if you're going to a gym it's probably easier to find someone to spot you. I lift at home by myself, so I only have to watch out for my own toes. If I break some equipment, it's my equipment.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #30 on: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 08:35:59 AM »
8-15 km every day? Wow, that's something to strive for. I do about 4-5 which isn't brilliant, but better than nothing I suppose.

I go to a gym as well as work out at home, but I concentrate mostly on the treadmill there. I don't like lifting weights because the gym rats are particularly idiotic in Pak.

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #31 on: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 10:07:42 PM »
I run about the same as you Pug, just been focusing on running and trying to keep shin splints from cropping up which has been working so far on the treadmill and going just 3 times a week. I'm down to 206 from 217 which is where I started.

Offline gpw11

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Re: If you are lifting weights after a long lay off...
« Reply #32 on: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 11:57:39 PM »
Yeah, I think it took it's toll a bit too much actually.  I ran a half-marathon distance, kept it up for about another week and then just shut down.  Trying to get back into it now, but hard to find the energy.

Also, need new routes.  I'd love to find some sort of social site where people upload the routes they run in a given area.