Health & Fitness, I think this is a first...... Options

[Robert]

This may be the 1st Health and fitness type post in MOBclan's 5+ year history.
Which is kind of interesting all by itself seeing as how varied the topics tend to be.

A person at the gym recommended a fitness site to me a few month ago.
So now I'm passing on the suggestion.
If anyone is interested in general fitness/weight lifting.
You should give this site a look
http://stronglifts.com/page/2/
It's a fitness/weight lifting blog with tons of great information.

The whole site is built surrounding whats called
StrongLifts 5×5 ( 5 sets of 5 reps )
http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beg...aining-program/
While this is contradictory to most lifting routines, a lot of people have had great results following this guide.

My history.
40 years old.
A little over 2 years ago I decided to get serious about my health.
The 1st thing I did was stop smoking.
Which always tends to put on some weight.
Right about that same time I switched jobs, going form a labor intensive production job to a desk job.
So within a few months after I quit smoking, I had the predictable 15 lbs spare tire around my midsection.
A few months after that I started jogging and hitting the gym to get the weight off
Not real seriously but I was trying.
After about 3 months of working out, my endurance level was up but I still had my spare tire.
So I took the next step, signed up for a mini triathlon to help get me motivated.
5 mile run, 1 mile swim. 20 mile bike.
Needless to say, I thought I was going to die.
It was a real humbling experience, seeing a 65 year old pass me by without breaking a sweat.
Not to mention the overweight soccer mom who did the swim in half my time.

So I turned up the intensity of my workouts but I still wasn't happy with the results.
Just as I was about to get rid of my spare time, lighting strikes.
I developed small tears in my Achilles tendon.
Something which still hasn't healed all the way.
It forced me to switch from mostly cardio to more weight lifting.
I spent the next 5-6 months hitting the weights pretty steady.
With very small gains and the tire started to come back
One day I just happen to mention to the person who was using the squat rack right before me that my goal was to NOT need to remove weights after he used it.
He was a average size guy but was squatting 80lbs more than my norm.
He laughed, said that was never going to happen because I was doing it wrong.
He was real nice about it, gave me some tips and recommended I start over using the
StrongLifts 5×5 guide.
Long story short.
In 14 weeks after switching to this and using the information available on the site, I easily passed my initial gains which took me close to 6 months to do the 1st way..
In the same period I haven't lost a single pound but have dropped 3 inches from my waist.
So I'm slowly converting any excess fat to muscle.

Doing 5x5 has shown great results for me.
Not claiming to be a body builder by any means. In fact, size wise I can't really tell any difference except I'm missing my spare tire.
The real change is I'm definitely stronger than I have probably ever been.
I'm on pace to hit the magic number of squatting 2x my weight in the next few weeks.

Sorry for the long read, just thought I should offer some background.
BTW if anyone does this, post back with your results.
Or for that matter, share any fitness/lifting info you have.

[Robert]

BG take this info with a grain of salt but this is what I've educated myself about so far.
Creatine - unless your doing any sport at a competitive level, creatine has little or NO use
The ONLY two benefits from creatine are speed and power.
For example....
It gives a tiny fractional increase to muscle twitch. So if your running/cycling/swimming in a race and .001 of a second may make the difference between winning and losing. Then creatine would not only be useful, it would be a requirement.
It also adds to your muscle's explosive power potential, alloying you to swing that bat/golf club/whatever a little harder
We're talking tiny increases in ability, the kind everyone needs in competitive level sports.
The idea it will help increase muscles mass is a myth.
This myth probably comes from people who used creatine as a mental crutch. They started taking it as they got serious about lifting.
So they tend to think what a big difference taking creatine made.
Not really, it was because they were probably hitting the gym more an at a higher intensity.
The other reason people misbelieve creatine helps muscle mass is if they have a low body fat level to start with.
Then they may see increased muscle definition, which ISN'T from more muscle. Slight water retention inside the muscles is a known side effect of creatine.
This is one of the reasons, professional athletes who take creatine, also take a diuretic before competing.
Every supplement place selling creatine makes the statement "creatine is needed for muscle growth."
Which is true, what they leave out is the creatine levels required for muscle building is very low compared to the dosage they recommend
Low enough anyone except vegetarians get it from their diet.
The other big benefit is it tends to reduce recovery time, the other reason pro-athletes use it.
If you do decide to use it as a supplement, just remember it a naturally occurring compound already in your body and in any meat or fish you eat.
There is no need to get the more expensive "designer" brands.
It doesn't matter what form, it's all the same after you ingest it.

That was actually one of the reason I like the stronglifts site.
He didn't recommend a dozen different supplements, all of which the other places just HAPPEN to advertise for.

As far as the protein shakes.
There are 2 types.
1) Straight protein ( usually whey protein ), adding protein while limiting fat and crabs.
2) Mass Gainers, Same as the protein shakes but they also include built in fats and calories.

In my opinion gainers are more for actual body builders, people who may easily need 4000-5000 cal's/day.
This is actually one of points I disagree with from stronglifts.
Stronglifts recommends 1g/lb of protein per day, To me that's unreasonably high except for a pro body builder
BTW this is all based off of LBM ( lean body mass ) not actual weight. Your weight minus any fat.
My aim right now it .75g/lb. Which is a total I couldn't reach without a protein shake or sometimes 2.
Just remember, while every place sings the great success of using protein shakes.
Excessive or unused protein gets tored as fat.
To much protein via a shake or protein bar is no better for you than drinking a milkshake at Mcdonalds or eating a candy bar.
Figure out how much protein you regularly take in from your diet, then start adding to it if needed.
Another useful site is
http://fitday.com/
Lots of great nutrition information is available there.
Including the nutrition info for all the foods you eat and
calories burned for just about anythig you can do.
http://fitday.com/WebFit/burned/calories_burned.html


Again, this is all just my opinions form what I've looked into for myself.





Viper.
I'll be very curious to hear what kind of results you get after 8-12 weeks.
For me I think the biggest advantage of 5x5 is I'm more likely to work to fatigue.
The 1st set is a strain but with only doing 5 reps, I can push and struggle my way through the next 4 set.
My other biggest mistakes was I previously relied to much on machines.
It was easy to sit down in a machine an do leg presses. Squats by comparison sucked ass.
Now I realize the squats were so much harder because they really were harder.
Which explains the increased results from doing them.


FYI
The stronglifts site is going to be up and down a lot for the next few days as they transition to a new host.
You may also see a lot of talk about paid subscriptions. The pay side is only going to be the forum when the author & founder
will act as a virtual trainer for those interested in paying the money.
Personalized instruction about lifting/fitness/nutrition.
The other 90% of the site will remain free as always.

[realdeal]

1) Straight protein ( usually whey protein ), adding protein while limiting fat and crabs.

Why limit crabs? I heard that they are an excellent source of protein.