You could do that ... or you could just eat a serving of low fat cottage cheese as your nighttime snack. :-)

Or drink a big glass of milk. Preferably with some kahlua in it to go with your evening cigar.

Just a question on how you take your creatine, do you take it before or after the workout?

I used to take it prior to it, but for practical purposes I started a while ago taking it after the work out, mixed in my protein shake. I dont know if it really makes a difference, but just asking your preference.

Carlos.

Dont you get more of a pump by taking it beforehand?

Make sure you mix a little vodka in that milk/kahlua :-)

I went through a phase of taking it before *and* after. But right now, I take it immediately after (within minutes, at the moment; but that's not necessary).

:-):-):-)

You might. Depends on your body. To me, the idea is that you're trying to feed the muscles to help them grow. When they're in absorption mode (immediately after you're done lifting), that's when they're going to make the most out of it. If you're looking for pump/immediate effect, take an NO supp before lifting. Oh ... and lift harder. :-)

I do 5g earlier in the day and 5g right after the workout....then have a protein shake 20-30 mins after workout

Although, as stated above I might drop it down to 3-4g as I'm sure some is going to waste currently

Hit a 20lb personal record on bench for 185. :-) :-). Thanks to Gerry, Tom, Dave, and everyone else for making it possible.

Next stop, 225. :-)
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Now that I've had a chance to rest a little and take my protein, here's how it all went down after 10 minutes of warmups (stretching, tri, lat, and pec warmups):

95 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 2
185 x 1 (PR)
185 x F
135 x 10
135 x 8

The 185 was almost in slow-mo. :-) I came down quick under control with the weight on my lats. Pushed up with my whole body. In the end, my glutes strained more then my pecs, tris, or delts (which is, I guess, what actually happens when you're arching and pushing). :-) Tried 185 again; but probably didn't rest long enough and, in retrospect, I don't think I kept my form as tight. The 135 for 10 was a PR for reps, too.

After bench, I continued on with a normal workout: tate tricep presses, overhead tricep rope extensions, tricep press-downs (straight bar), and rows. Truly, I was pretty tapped by the time I tried my rows and my shoulder was bothering me a little; so I only did one cycle through close, medium, & wide. Went upstairs and did a few sets of lat pulldowns (easier on my shoulder) and cable seated low rows. Finished it all off with 5-7 minutes of stretching.

Hope everyone has a great day, today. Let's see some more PRs. :-)

PS, took two 17HDs. LoL!

Nice one Dokk.

Did some chest work myself today, flat bench, incline dumbells, then finished off with some ab and tricep work. Not bad for my second day back. My biceps are a bit sore from yesterday's 21s...

Hey guys when you list all those weights, how are you considering them, the total weight of the bar at the end; i.e. 135 would be 67.5 on each side, or 135 on each side of the bar?

just to have an idea of how far I am from you guys :-) hahaha.

This thread has been a lot of help to shape up my gym schedule. :-)

When talking about barbell lifts, it's total weight on the bar. So bar (45lbs) plus weights. As such, 135 is the bar with 45lbs on each side. When talking dumbbells, the convention is to talk about the weight of each db -- so a 100lb incline db presses are 100lbs *each* arm.

The other naming convention involved the term "pies." So on something like leg press, I might say 14pies x 8. That means 14 45lb plates loaded on the leg press (7 each side). Might use the same naming convention for t-bar rows.

Hope that helps. :-)

OK, yeah that helps. so usually the bar by itself weights 45 lbs?? I thought it was less than that. I always had that doubt.

I think the bars they have on the presses at the gym are the olimpic bars, it is aprox 1 inch more or less on the section were you grab it, and about double the diameter on where the plates are placed.


you are able to lift 14 pies on the leg press? :-)
I am only able to lift about 6 pies (3 on each side) on the 45° leg press. I still have a long way to go...:-)

The bar vs dumbell weight conventions also carry over to machines that have dual vs unilateral weighting.

45lbs is pretty standard bar weight. Your gym might also have the shorter ez-curl bars that are usually 15lbs.

IMO, if you are pushing 6 pies on the leg press, go squat instead :-)

I don't know that the choice between squat and leg press is an either or. To me, the squat works hams, glutes, spinal erectors, etc., and leg press is primarily about the quads. That said, I'd agree that squats are more important because they're a compound exercise. Leg presses aren't a regular thing in my routine. I throw them every once in a while just for the hell of it or if I need to get a good stretch going for my lower back. To each his own, though.

For the record (for Carlos) I've always had big legs and am an easy gainer mid back down. Chest and upper body I have to really work my ass off at to see good gains; hence the lopsided stats of only a 185 bench with a 315 squat and a 405 deadlift. That said, it's all been hard work over the last 1.5yrs. I started with a 50lb squat, a 40lb bench, and a 115lb dead (after lifting for a couple of months). The point is, if you push yourself and lift smart, even old pharts like me can improve. :-)
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Actually, that's not far off normal. In terms of weight, all 5RM, I'm at 185 bench, 265 squat and 225 dead right now. Someday I'll figure out a 1RM, and maybe even lift it. Honestly, I'm a bit scared to try squatting a 1RM. I'll have to go back and look at my logs to see starting weights - I started lifting a bit over a year ago. - I'm 33 btw, an older fart than Dokk...

My dead is lagging everything as I didn't do them for a while, but I'm moving it up faster than anything else. I've been moving up slowly on the squat, focusing more on the dead and upper body stuff. Me = shorter legs, long torso, so I gain strength/bulk quickly in my legs, but slower elsewhere, especially my arms.

Oh ... don't be afraid of trying a 1rm on squat. If you have to dump the bar, you have to dump the bar. I've done it many times. :-) I'd just be sure to do the squats in a full power rack so that (a) you can adjust the safety arms to *just* the right spot, (b) you have more room to fall forward, and (c) the bar dosn't roll away behind you and hurt someone else. If all you have are the L-shaped squat racks, that makes it a little trickier imho. If you're doing 265 for 5, you could probably hit 300 for 1. Just be sure you're well warmed up first. 135 x 10, 175 x 8, 225 x 5, 275 x 1, 300 x 1. :-)

The hardest thing when you start going up in weight on the squat is all your stabilizers. It amazes me how much of a difference even 20lbs can make ... especially if you're walking it out from the rack.

In terms of the deads, be VERY careful to keep your form on point. I messed up my back good a year ago training poorly for the deadlift. One false move and you'll be seeing the witch doctor for months.

I only take creatine on training days because im lazy

Congrats on the PR on your Birthday, Dokk! Very cool, I am psyched for you! :-)

I took an unscheduled day off from the gym today to try to battle this upper respiratory infection. I could have slept all day.....hoping to feel well enough to be back in the gym by Friday, but the body and meds will dictate that, I guess.

Robotussin Max DM. Get some Tom it's the bomb shiggity. :-)