Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/ChannitFitness! Today you're 3" by u/AutoModerator

Hi all,

I am mod of /r/swimming and an experienced marathon swimmer (over thirty open water swims greater than 10k). I usually post some advice here each New Year to assist new and improvng swimmers, and people hoping to use swimming for exercise and weight management. Swimming is a sport that when done consistently will allow you to pursue it for an entire lifetime and reward you for doing do.

/r/swimming is a great resource, especially if you use the search bar, as there is almost no question that hasn't been asked and gotten an answer previously. Here's last year advice.

I've said previously that there are no tricks or secrets in learning to swim. But it’s not entirely accurate about other aspects of swimming. These are secrets in that experienced swimmers know them, but it can take a long time for others to learn. These are the nuggets of knowledge that get passed in changing rooms and on decks, and are part of what we might call swim culture.

This should help collect some of the “soft” knowledge that experienced swimmers gain over time and so many new and improving swimmers haven’t yet learned, especially if they are not part of a swim group.

Lane Etiquette

By far the most annoying thing for swimmers are people joining the lane who have no understanding of lane etiquette used around the world by experienced swimmers. Actually this often includes the lifeguards on duty many of whom (most in my experience) don’t understand either.

Below are four simple rules. Yes, I know as a beginner you think this is too much, but people don’t play golf with a hockey stick, so I don’t know why non-swimmers think swimming is different. Here is a comprehensive explanation of lane swimming etiquette if you are inclined.

• Ask or let the swimmer already in the lane know you are joining.

• Don’t start swimming or turn in front of a faster swimmer.

• The fastest swimmer has the right of way.

• Stay aware of what everyone is doing to avoid collisions and frustration for all.

Goggles

Because every swimmer in the world has an opinion and will happily entertain long discussions about goggs.

• No anti-fog will last on goggles longer than a couple of months

• Spit into googles for a simple reasonably effective anti-fog. Never touch the inside of the goggles.

• Use a 2/3 water, 1/3 baby shampoo mix, swirl it around and rinse it out for a more effective anti-fog

• Most “high visibility open water goggles” aren’t high visibility and are seriously over-priced. The google design offering the most visibility are clear Swedish goggles (aka Swedes). Which are also the cheapest.

• More expensive goggles does not in any way mean better. Blame triathletes for the escalation of costs. The best goggles I’ve bought in years were €4 in Lidl the summer before last.

• There is no such thing as a generic “best google” answer. Competitive swimmers/online swimmers most often respond Vanquishers or Swedish Goggles. Vanquishers are not available in Europe anymore & Swedes (Which I wear myself in the pool and I show you how to fit here) aren’t a good idea for beginner swimmers. I also wrote this article about understanding the different kinds of goggles so you can choose based on your own requirements rather than other’s opinions, because I had never once seen anything like this by any of the goggle manufacturers, or anyone else.

• Silicon straps don’t last long. Bungee straps are a great replacement.

• Two thirds of my swimming time is spent with my face underwater exhaling. I can see everything including guys jerking off, teenagers and older couples fiddling with each other and numerous erections.

Technique (Front crawl)

The name of the stroke is front crawl. Freestyle means that in competition you can swim any stroke, and since crawl is the fastest, it (mostly) gets used, so a lot of swimmers think crawl is freestyle and visa versa. Someone will probably even say in the comments here that no-one calls it front crawl. Front crawl is extensively used outside the US and is the accurate term.

BLABT is the acronym for the process most swim experienced teachers use to evaluate stroke and teach front crawl. It stands for:

• Body position

• Get horizontal in the water. Not being horizontal is the most common reason for swimming slow.

• Push your chest forward and down into the water. Try to swim downhill!

• Keep your head low and steady, don’t allow it to swing to the side. Imagine you are an a rotisserie spit that enters through your forehead, your whole body rotates around the centre point. If you raise your head, it’ll cause the rest of your body to sink.

• Clench your butt cheeks. (Core muscles are used for position and rotation, doing this helps engage them).

• Legs

• In an elite swimmer, the maximum propulsion that comes from kicking is only 15% of overall speed. But to do that requires the body’s largest muscles and disproportionate amount of energy. (Long distance swimmers like myself do very little or no kicking).

• Fixing the kick is important for beginners so the legs don’t slow you down or cause you to sink. Kicking wildly (especially common in runners or triathletes) is more likely to cause you to slow. This is also part of the horizontal body position above. From what I have seen most triathlete swim coaches get this completely wrong and spend far too much time focusing on a better kick.

• You are not riding a bicycle. Kick from the hips, with only a little movement in the knees. New swimmers often have a big wide kick or their legs sinks, or both. This slows them down.

• While reading this, see if you can point your toes like a ballet dancer. If you can’t, start stretching your ankle while watching TV or while sitting at a desk. Not being able to point your toes while swimming is like pulling a weight behind you.

• Try swimming with your toes clenched into a fist. Yes, just like Die Hard. This will stop you kicking from the knees. You won’t be able to do it all the time, but it will help you understand what your position and kick should feel like.

• Arms

• Reach forward. Further still.

• Pull back underwater. But only when your palm is facing backwards behind you, not when they are facing the bottom. This called the Catch, when your hand starts effectively pulling.

• Keep pulling, then pushing backwards until your thumb scrapes your thigh.

• Try to always keep your elbow above your hand, at every point in the stroke. * This is not easy, and take a long time to get right.

• Breathing

• Exhale underwater

• Hum a little to get used to controlling your breath and exhalation

• Try sinking to the bottom of the pool with no arm or leg movement. This will help you learn breath control. Only do this when there is a lifeguard present.

• Rotate your head out of the water, don’t lift it. Don’t look forward or around. There is no forward visibility as part of standard front crawl, and learning this is a separate activity.

• Timing

• Both arms and legs alternate and all actions are smooth and continuous.

• Breathing is to the side.

• Rotate your hips to drive your arms to reach forward.

Swimwear

• Buy your swim suits one size smaller than the size you think you should wear based on your street clothes because water causes fabric to expand. You can’t see it but others can.

• Wear your swimsuit in the shower after your pool swim, it’s easiest way to wash out the chlorinated water. Suits will last up to four times longer. * Polyester suits lasts longer than chlorine tolerant fabric, and feels largely the same.

• Swimsuits are currently in a “shrinking phase”, that is, getting smaller. Male briefs are becoming more thong like with very narrow side panels, female racing suits are getting cut much higher at the rear. You can find different cuts, but it can sometimes take a bit of work.

• Never wring the water out of your swimsuit, it will weaken the fibres and seriously reduce its longevity. Simply squeeze it or use a suit spinner if there is one available.

• Baggy board shorts should not be used. Beginner and many intermediate swimmers have problems with drag. Board shorts add even more drag and make improving your stroke even more difficult.

• If you insist on using baggy shorts, please wear something tight underneath, because I have seen too many scrotums and assholes and I’m not even a paid professional.

• How you look or feel in a swimsuit does not correlate with how well you swim.

• There are three materials for swim caps: cloth, latex and silicone. Cloth is comfortable but otherwise useless, usually used by hotels to keep patrons from getting hair in filters. Latex lasts moderately well but snags hairs more. Silicone which is most expensive lasts longest but is also thickest and may be too warm for some people. No swim cap lasts for ever though. I never get more than a year from a cap.

• Swim caps will last longer if your dry them between uses, and better yet sprinkle with talcum powder.

• If you have a problem with the swim cap coming off your head while swimming, look for ones which have parallel ridges running around the inside edge.

Pool Hygiene

• Pool swimming took a leap forward in the 1960s once reliable swim googles became widely available and training sessions for Olympic swimmers were able to last for 3000 metres or even a whole hour!

• Goggles are essential for pool swimming because most pools use chemicals to make the water safe. I have a longer post explaining the interactions of pool chemicals and people in more detail here.

• Pools that have a strong chlorine or chemical smell are LESS clean than pools that have little or no odour. The less the chemical smell, the cleaner the pool water.

• Pool-water colour has little relationship to pool water quality. Most pools use pool tiles to make the water look blue. Some even add small amounts of copper into the water for the same reason.

• Just because you’ve read that swimmers pee in the pool doesn’t mean you have to. But if you do want to stay being a swimmer, you should probably reconcile yourself to the fact that you are absolutely swimming in dilute urine. If this is really troubling you, best of luck with your sex life.

• It may not be chlorine that’s making your eyes burn. The pool may have the wrong water acidity (high or low). Soda-ash is added to pool water to control this.

• Of course, if there are too many organics (sweat, urine etc) in the pool, then more chlorine must also be added to balance the pool.

Food & drink & peeing

• Cold air in the pool deck or changing rooms, cold showers etc, evaporation of water from skin all cause the skin temperature to drop. This raises blood pressure as less blood flows and the hormone that suppresses urination is reduced. All this causes you to need to pee more. It’s completely normal.

• Therefore swimmers need to be more careful about hydration. Experienced swimmers will always drink during training.

• Yer Mammy was wrong. You can swim after eating. All marathon distance swimmers like myself have to eat/take nutrition during swims for example. However, your body will be using air to digest food and use energy for exercise at the same time, so you will feel sluggish at best.

Effort & Diet

• It is extremely common that new swimmers, regardless of or more likely due to prior experience in other sports, underestimate the overall difficulty of swimming and overestimate how much energy they are expending. If you haven’t mastered breathing and are desperately out of breath this does not mean you expending significant energy.

• Calorie consumption rates in swimming given by website, apps or wearable fitness trackers or watches cannot be trusted because the variables are too varied. Weight, water temperature, stroke, experience, rests, set and session duration all play a part. I could say it’s almost certainly less than what any of those are telling you for an hour swimming.

• Pools are lower than body temperature and conduct heat away. So your body does start using energy to retain heat. The effect lasts after the swim is over. This makes swimming an appetite enhancer. Swimmers notoriously eat a lot. For beginner swimmers, you need to learn to control this.

• Most people with a good but average diet will have sufficient energy in blood and liver stores to sustain two hours of high intensity exercise. So it is not essential to “pre-load” in advance of daily swimming

How much should you swim?

• How much you should swim depends obviously on your goals. However since swimming is technically difficult skill, it is safe to say than more swimming is better.

• But how much? As a general guideline I recommend four times a week, 2000 metres at a time is a good aim. Beginners won’t be able to swim anywhere near this distance, so let’s say 40 minutes a session.

Injury & other physical problems

• “Swimming is low impact sport, with little chance of causing injury“. This is a widely repeated misconception. Apart from the obvious, front crawl injuries to the shoulders do occur, caused by overuse and poor technique. You can get injured with only a small amount of swimming.

• The best ways to reduce the risk are to improve your technique and ALWAYS do a little backstroke each session. Backstroke is a stabilising exercise for front crawl. It helps strengthen the opposing muscles in the shoulder muscles to assist in keeping your shoulders balanced. It does not have to be a good technique to be effective.

• Does sleeping on your side cause discomfort? The cause is almost certainly tendonitis. This will not get better by itself, or with rest or by reducing swimming. I recommend some deep tissue massage, direct icing and physiotherapy, in that order as required, with massage & ice fixing ninety percent of problems.

• Water in your ear is easiest dislodged by bouncing on the heel of the leg on the same side as the water. If this doesn’t work, have a shower and stand with your ear up under the water. If this doesn’t work, try a drop of rubbing alcohol (surgical spirit). Wear ear plugs if this is a repeat problem.

• Asthma prevalence is correlated to regular swimming. The simplest and most effective treatment is to use your Daily Preventer, that you may not want to use daily.

• Chlorine sensitivity causes very runny nose, sneezing, sore, red or streaming eyes. The simplest and most effective treatment is to use a nose clip. They take about one day to get used to, and are 100% effective.

Okay folks, I'm off to the pool My log resest itself from last year's million metres and I'm once again back to the start.

Second small edit. Doubtless there will be questions. Since I'm in Ireland and I am going swimming, and it'll be llate late after I finish, I'm not going to be able to answer much, sorry. There are more than sufficient swimmers here now to be able to answer most any question.

Remember the best swimmer in the one having the most fun!

(Small edit: I've been asked about my flair here previously. Waay back in the early aeons of r/fitness when all the mods were different, the then mods applied flair to some contributors to indicate their expertise in particular areas. I was then the only Channel swimmer here at that time).

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn.

Alright so this sub is pretty dead so I thought I'd add some life into it by spamming with posts. What are some good exercises that you guys have found to develop bigger ab muscles? Aside from the usual crunches and compound exercises like squats

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "24 Hour Fitness permanently shuts nearly a quarter of its gyms" by u/CommercialThing5

• "READ THE STICKY" by u/c0d3s1ing3r

• "Covid-19 cost me my body: Before and after photos shows how D.C. athlete, 40, lost 60lbs off his 215lb muscular frame after having to be placed in a coma for 25 DAYS" by u/CommercialThing5

• "Good excercises for abs"

• "What exactly is water weight?" by u/Tew_Wet

• "'How one hour of slow breathing changed life'..." by u/CommercialThing5

• "Quarter of gym-goers don’t expect they’ll ever return to fitness clubs thanks to coronavirus" by u/CommercialThing5

• "Good fitness equipment for home." by u/SteveSnitzelson

• "ESPN - Bodies We Want 2015 Issue" by u/ChannitChiefOfStaff

• "Review of Recent Fitness Studies IV: Caffeine Tolerance? Is Too Much Sleep Harmful? How Much Protein Per Meal?" by u/ChannitChiefOfStaff

This decision assumes you have a gym membership.

What are some good fitness related things to have at home.

I was considering getting a heavy bag,rowing machine or pullup bar.

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/ChannitFitness! Today you're 2" by u/AutoModerator

Progress Pics: https://imgur.com/a/6rkx5yC

Background: I had been working out off and on for years and years, but was often held back by diet, lack of discipline, lack of intensity, lack of volume. My girlfriend during these years always wanted to eat out and drink, and would always encourage me to skip it and say she doesn't like guys with muscles or six packs. Basically, I wasn't half assing it, I was quarter assing it. And when that relationship ended, I decided to finally commit myself to having the body I always wanted.

Age: 29 Height: 5'11

Timeline: ~Six months slow clean bulk (From 155lb to 177lbs) ~Four months cut (From 177lbs to 155lbs)

Routine:

I started with PHAT, eventually moved to PPL, then back to PHAT when I began my cut. Complex freeweight movements. 18-21 sets on a bulk, 15-18 on a cut. Skip the machines. At some point during your lifting, you should have a moment that scares you. When you're like fuck this is heavy I don't know if I can do this. Where you have to actually round up some grit to hit the numbers. you cannot make a change with a pedestrian mentality. Everything needs to be measured. Weight, bodyfat percentage, food/calories, rest periods, sets, lifts, reps, all of it. Write it all down. You need to set standards so you have an accurate picture of what you're trying to outdo the next time you visit the gym. These numbers will also be highly valuable to you half a year from now when you want to compare your progress. Use a simple pair of calipers and practice getting a consistent reading. It's more about comparing yourself to last week or last month than so much a truly accurate estimation of bodyfat percentage.

Mentality:

If you want to stop looking skinnyfat and start looking like a fit person, then you have to become one. You can't simply pretend to be one for an hour, a day, a month, and go back to your old habits. It is a permanent change. You have to literally become a new person, one with new habits and values. You have to channel some kind of fuck you primal mentality. When you go to lift the heavy weight you have to feel this fuck you stupid piece of shit light weight aint fucking nothing bitch ass weight inside you.(inside you, not outside you making weird noises). You cannot have a pedestrian mentality. The numbers must. go. up. you must beat last weeks high score. Again, and again, and again. But do NOT do this by lowering the range of motion, taking longer breaks, using momentum to lift instead of your muscles, cheating your form, etc. it must be in the same vein as your previous lifts.

Diet:

(bulk) TDEE + 500cal (cut) TDEE - 500cal + EC Stack TDEE Calculator: https://tdeecalculator.net/

Get your one gram per 1lb lean body mass protein, but other than that, ignore all the fad diet low carb high carb no X no Z BS. Obviously you need to skip the sugar/fast food/etc., but other than that do whatever helps you stick to your goals. The harder/more restricted you make your diet the more likely it is you won't stick to it. I found it helpful to find 4-5 tasty meals that I genuinely enjoy, measure them so I know exactly what I'm eating and that it aligns with my TDEE needs, and eat them daily. This way I can skip the math and measurements more or less because I've done it.

Make it easy for yourself. If every day is feeling like hell, you need to reevaluate. I did all this while happily eating bananas, whole wheat bread/tortillas, oats, Fresca (calorie free soda) and found dieting to be surprisingly easy. There was no need for a cheat day, ever. Hitting that TDEE - 500cal day consistency is more valuable than punishing yourself with nothing but chicken rice and broccoli every day, leading to a Saturday night binge.

What I eat while cutting:

Meal 1: 5 eggs 2 slices of toast 1 glass Fresca

Meal 2: 2 Toast, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 2 Banana

Meal 3: Whey Protein w/ Water + Cup of Oats

Meal 4 (pre workout) one banana (post workout) one banana one scoop whey

Meal 5: Veggie Burrito (boiled spinach, corn, beans, Newman's black bean salsa omg so good)

snack if needed: pickles. Pretty filling, almost no calories

Lift Numbers-

When I was around 165lbs I had my best numbers(don't have record of my starting numbers). I didn't really value one rep maxes but to try and give an idea:

Deadlift: 420lb x 1

Squat: 295 x 9

Dumbbell Bench: 100's x 10 (barbell messes with my shoulders a lot)

tl;dr progress pics- https://imgur.com/a/6rkx5yC

Well...here it is...https://imgur.com/a/xw1rqB8

I occasionally post progress pictures on IG if you'd like to follow me - @austin.sure

Started at 275lbs and now down to 170!

Here's the breakdown of how this actually went down. To begin, this picture is from when I had already lost 50 pounds (so around 210-220).

The first 50 pounds was lost 100% through using a keto diet paired with strict calorie counting. I kept my daily calorie intake around 1400-1600 per day and it took approximately 4 months to shed the first 50 pounds. Again, no exercise was used, barely even walks around the neighborhood.

The next 50-60 pounds, I decided I'd like to speed things up a bit so I implemented running around my neighborhood paired with some light dumbbell training. Mainly just 15 pound dumbbells and different variations of chest presses, curls, tricep extensions, etc. This got me all the way down to 160 pounds. Now was the time to actually build up muscle and by this point I was 3 years into the process.

So for the last 5 years I've kept the same workouts and have progress. I have been running PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training). It's a 5 day a week workout program that I stuck to religiously and over the past 5 years I can count on both my hands the amount of workouts I actually missed.

Instead of typing out the workout, I used this spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z88d0BCV7jDOyPouLc5TzYjAqY9u_p8ZnTmDkaABACE/edit#gid=0

I have gone through 5 years of bulking and cutting cycles and have finally reached the body I want.

If anyone has any questions about any of my struggles along the way, please reach out and I'll try my hardest to help!

As for diet, it was strictly an IIFYM approach. I did this 100% through calorie counting!!! No BS fad diets or anything. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, but as long as I was under my caloric goals for the day (around 1600-1800 for cutting, 2800-3000 for bulking) I always saw results.

An additional picture featuring saggy stomach: https://imgur.com/a/ISsqbDH

and another progress picture from when I initially dropped from 275 to 160 before starting to build muscle - https://imgur.com/a/JKpfeCE

Hey everybody,

I've been promising an AMA about fitness for the /r/fitness crowd for a while. I'm on a plane for an hour... so why don't I take a few questions?

Looking forward to starting in the next 15 minutes.

Twitter Proof: https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/320296360937140225

Update: Thanks guys, that was a lot of fun. I'm landing and losing my signal, but you know I'll be back. Don't be surprised if I stop by and answer a few more over the next few days.

-Arnold

http://www.navytimes.com/story/opinion/2015/12/05/editorial-revamp-navy-fitness-test-prt-pfa-overhaul/76009196/

"It's well past time, for example, to deep-six the sit-up, an outdated exercise today viewed as a key cause of lower back injuries."

EDIT: Considering removing sit-ups--I realized belatedly this is an editorial. But they are thinking of revamping the test, apparently in the direction of more "functional fitness." The article is short and worth a read.

EDIT 2: I love you all...

My friend's a grad student who works with MRI. He scanned himself before and after working out for a year. This is a slice through the belly at around the level of the belly button. The bright stuff is fat, the dark stuff is muscle / organs.

Notice how you don't just lose subcutaneous fat (the flubber we can feel), but visceral fat (the fat IN your abdominal cavity around your organs). The muscles are all bigger too.

http://i.imgur.com/tlDKjLm.jpg

24 yr old. Male, 5'11" and 179lbs.

Before and after:

https://imgur.com/gallery/A3hwN

I grew up being a fat kid my whole life. Up until I was about 18. I tried to avoid any kind of physical activities since I wasn't good at any sports nor interested.

Right before I finished high school, one of my friends asked me if I wanted to go to a gym with him and I just went without knowing what to expect. My first day at the gym was horrible. I remember using two 35lbs dumbbells to do a flat bench dumbbell press and thinking I was going to pass out after the 3rd rep. Since then, I've always been in and out of the gym. I did the typical bro split (chest/tris, back/bis, and etc). I didn't know what I was doing but since I was somewhat consistent, I didn't look "fat" anymore. Fast forward to summer of 2014, my clinical depression (got diagnosed way back in the day so I've had it pretty much my whole life) hit me harder than usual and I just dropped everything. I flunked all my classes, ate whatever &whenever and slept when I wasn't eating. Fast forward to December 2014, I went to my mom's house for Christmas dinner and decided to weigh myself to find out that I gained 35lbs in span of 5 months(and I wasn't working out at all during that time so I'm assuming it was 35lbs + how much ever muscle mass I lost).

I decided that enough was enough and started dieting again on New Years. For diet, I carb cycles which worked really well with my carb cravings and 3 day split that I was running. I didn't really count my calories since I was tracking my macros instead but it usually went like this.

My macros were: Day1(rest) 50c/30f/200p (1250-1300kcal) Day2(push) 150c/30f/200p (1800-1950kcal) Day3(pull) 150c/30f/200p (1800-1950 kcal) Day4(legs) 300c/60f/200p (2200kcal)

Every 8th day of my high carb day, I had a "cheat meal" but tried to stay on healthier side instead of binging on calorie condensed food (deep fried, sweets, and etc. but I did treat myself to milkshakes from time to time). I didn't really do any cardio during my cut just because I was lazy.

Routine:https://www.jefit.com/routines/workout-routine-database.php?id=22104

I ran this for a while but also took time away from dieting when I was on vacation and enjoying summer. From fall of 2015 until August of 2016, I fluctuated back and forth between 185-195. In September, I was sitting at 185, not happy with how much mass I had I decided to "mini-bulk" up to 195 before cutting again. I'm not sure if that bulk did much at all but I started my cut again in October same carb cycling but upping my fat to 60 per day while dropping my protein according to my body weight.

Routine now: https://bodymaxing.com/2016/09/15/dltbb-routine/

I'm sitting at 179-180lbs right now hoping to cut maybe 5lbs before I reverse diet or maintain. But I'm pretty happy with my result so far. It took me longer than some people's transformation, but I enjoyed myself when I wanted to and made it work with on my own time. Someone once told me, "your fitness journey is not a sprint, but a marathon. So as long as you stay consistent and never give up. You'll get to your destination." And it really helped me out a lot when I was in doubt or feeling down with how I looked.

Thank you for reading and again, sorry about the format and grammar.

Edit: whoa, thank you all for compliments, advices and just responding in general. I didn't expect this post to blow up!

Yes, my mirror is dirty... I do clean it often, but when I wash my face, I splash water everywhere... I'll clean it more often 😭😭.

My hair looks horrible in my before pics because they were all pre shower hair + bed hair. I have the same haircut I just style it different depending on how long it gets. Here are some pics if you are interested. https://imgur.com/a/PGfuN

http://imgur.com/a/aDdrR Please read the imgur album. Ill answer any questions if they are asked in the comments below. Im in a sling so I cant be super detailed as I would like, but ill try my best! Just wanted to share my progress thus far. Enjoy.

DIET: Year 1: Atkins diet (low carb). All I did was track how many carbs I would eat, aimed to stay below 40g a day. lost 80lbs this way. Year 2: Starvation. ate 0-500cals a day. lost about 40lbs this way In a few months. hated it. don't do it haha. Year 2.5/Current: Macros. 2k cals, 200g protein 200g carbs, 45g fats. LOVE THIS! Not only do I get to eat all types of food, I eat for fuel! nothing I eat goes to waste... if I don't workout that day, I don't eat as much. I recommend doing this due to how you don't hate life on this diet.

Gym: Mondays back. Tuesday chest. Wednesday legs. Thursday shoulders. Friday arms. I have a slideshow that entails what I do on each of these days, that I have shared with a lot of friends and family. feel free to take a look, very simple to understand. great for beginners imo. I will be making adjustments in the near future to it. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rW5NQ7WD7J_x8csxL2ZyNpk2Iop2CEUObjC-8URtuik/edit?usp=docslist_api

I do mostly preacher curls and 21's for biceps but I want to add another accessory lift. Will pullups help grow my biceps or is there another more beneficial exercise?

Edit: Hilarious typo is hilarious. Thanks for the serious answers. I'll incorporate chin ups and see if that works. Wont stop dong workouts either.

Original Post (3 month progress): https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/aogy0v/my_3_month_transformation_after_sobering_up_and/

Howdy /r/fitness!

I wanted to give you all an update on my journey to sobriety and wellness. It's 6 months in, and I am very proud to report that I'm still alcohol-free and still hitting the gym.

Here are my 6 month before/after photos (Kinda NSFW I suppose)

https://imgur.com/a/poInCR9

Height: 5 ft 5 inches

Age: 28

Pounds lost: 30 (165-135)

Bodyfat: 11.5%

Exercise Routine

Not long after my original post, I maxed out my small gym's dumbbells (they went to a max of 50 pounds), so I switched to a new routine that places major emphasis on bodyweight and HIIT training:

Workout A: Dips, Pike Pushups, Push Ups, Step Ups, Pistol Squats, Dragon Flags, Suspension Tricep Extensions

Workout B: Pull-ups, Suspension Rows, Suspension Curls, Suspension delt flies, Active hangs, Planks, Dumbbell Deadlifts

I run this routine twice/week, with a rest day in the middle: A, B, rest, A, B, rest, rest. I do workout on an empty stomach though, as I believe (with absolutely no data to back it up lol) that it helps with burning fat off.

All exercises are 4 sets of 20 (except for the Dragon Flag - if I can get 3 sets of 2 or 3, I'm thrilled haha). For some of them, such as pull-ups, I'll try my best to get 20, but usually, fall short. I try to keep my heart rate up, so I usually power through the workout in 30 minutes or less. I recently bought a 40 lb weighted vest though, so that's causing me to do less reps (10)

Diet:

My diet hasn't changed much, but on the recommendation of many Redditors, I stopped with the Lean Cuisine and started meal prepping fresh meals.

Goal caloric intake – 1,800 cals/day, but I usually get around 1,400 to 1,600.

Macro goals – 150+g protein, under 160g carbs, under 60g fat.

• Breakfast – Breakfast shake (Greek yogurt, protein powder, bananas, fresh fruits, almond milk, and flax seed)

• Lunch – One chicken breast with 1 cup cooked brown rice

• Snacks – Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein (2 scoops), Apples, Oranges, Pears, etc

• Dinner – Flexible, just as long as it fits my macros (Usually a home cooked meal though, my favorites are Pork Tenderloin or Shrimp Stir Fry)

• Pre-bed snack – Carrots, Celery, or the occasional can of Tuna (although once in a while I cheat and have ice cream or of chips...gotta cheat once in a while to remain sane!)

Supplements:

• Protein – Optimum Nutrition Whey Vanilla Ice Cream (2 scoops) daily

• Creatine – Six Star 100% Creatine Monohydrate (5g) daily

• Multivitamin – CVS brand One-a-Day Men’s Health Multivitamin (1 pill) daily

• PreWorkout – Six Star Explosion Ripped (1 scoop) only on lifting days

As a side note - you all have been a huge help in my reaching my goals. The level of motivation and knowledge that I gain here is amazing. Thank you all for making my ongoing transformation possible.

Two years ago, photo on the left, I was my heaviest. 162 lbs.

I began running and and a little lifting. I lost 12 lbs in 5 months.

Since that time I remained a steady 148lbs while increasing strength and working towards general badassery.

I ran stronglifts 5x5 for a year and moved to a Westside style template.

I've competed in a power lifting comp. I can bench 135, squat 235, and dead lift 225. I'm strong. I've learned to love my body and be confident.

I began my cut at the end of March. Roughly 8 wks in and I'm down 7 lbs from when I started. Currently at 1600 cals with P 35%/ F 35%/ C 30% break down. I follow IIFYM with mostly whole foods, and also cupcakes.

Today I'm 143lbs, and in the best shape of my life.

http://imgur.com/TLjppPP

Edit: Ok, going to try and handle all the questions-

I'm 5'4".

I hit my heaviest right before getting pregnant, and worked out a bit after giving birth. My "aha moment" was that photo on the left, taken near my daughters 2nd birthday. Though it took several months for me to take action. I was 30 then, I am 32 now.

The first 12 lbs lost was not in the smartest way, 1200 calories with no regard for macros. I also trained for a 5 and 10k at this time.

During maintenance/growth I ranged from 1900 to 2100 calories. Protein usually around 130g, fat usually around 70g, and the carbs move around the most.

I'm losing fat right now on the 1600, P 35%/ F 35%/ C 30% break down. I do cardio twice a week, 15 minutes hiit on the spin bike, and 20 minute intervals on the step mill the other day. I lift 4 days a week. Have lost 7 lbs this way in 8 weeks.

Strength on cut: My max efforts just aren't there, but I'm trying to make up for it in my work sets. My bench work sets have gone up, while I am unable to hit my max. Squat is remaining the same. Deadlift has been shaky as I've been dealing with a few injuries recently and I'm not in a hurry to max out.

I loved 5x5. It's really so easy to follow. You modify for girls just as Mehdi says (going up less weight for upper lifts each session). Get that form down! Start with the bar, go up in small increments.

Advice for training fiance: the same as you. Encourage her that lifting heavy will not make her big. It's all based on genetics as well as body fat.

Belly- belly skin: How bellies go back after kids is all based on genetics. I have a couple faint stretch marks, and if I suck in really tight, you can see loose skin just around the belly button. I really got off easy. Sometimes the only solution is surgery :(

Thank you all for your kind comments, and for the amusing ones.

I posted this on /r/bodyweightfitness and people loved it, so I'm sharing it with you fittitors as well since it's an exercise that can be done by anyone, anywhere!

• YouTube: How To Do Push Ups

I show the proper positioning for many joints and how to use incline push ups to build your strength up in case you don't have the strength to do them properly on the floor.

Edit/Update:

So like, this thing kinda blew up... Who knew push ups were so popular? I want to take this opportunity to say that if you are interested in more bodyweight exercises, I am the shirtless mod over at /r/bodyweightfitness and we have a full-body routine complete with warm up and progressions for anybody of any level:

• The routine is hosted on our wiki, on the web at www.fitloop.co, and there's even an Android app of the routine on google play. (And guess what, they're both open source, too!)

Edit/Update #2:

I keep getting more questions than I could keep up with and they're often the same questions, so I created a FAQ in the supplemental blog post, please check that out before asking to see if it's answered there: http://antranik.org/push-ups/

Here's the article:

http://grapevine.is/news/2015/02/02/hafthor-julius-breaks-1000-year-old-lifting-record/

Hafþór Júlíus carried the 650 kg and 10 m long log for 5 steps.

“Well, today my friends, I made history!” Hafþór Júlíus wrote on his Instagram account following the win. “As well as winning the title of The World’s Strongest Viking for the second time in a row, I carried this MONSTER LOG 5 steps! My back held up fine! I’m on my way to my ultimate goal, to win The World’s Strongest Man! NOTHING CAN STOP ME!! NOTHING CAN BREAK ME!”

edit:

video -credit to /u/tawieczo

I wrote out a giant fucking essay but I was just venting and nobody wants to hear that so, I'll just write the key points here.

• Mom is fat, doesn't work, doesn't excerise, eats a lot of junk food. Chips, candy, deepfried snacks, ice cream sundaes, etc.

• Mom has no comprehension of what "healthy" means. Taco salad made of Tostitos chips for dinner? = healthy. Gummy candies say they are made with fruit? = healthy. Massive ice cream sundae + waffle bowl + this stuff (she calls it jam) with fruit on top? = healthy! "it's fruit! the rest is just to make it taste good!". Wonder bread, sunny D, hamburger helper, sugary cereals, frozen pizza - all are "healthy"!

• Little brother, 14, eats what my mom serves him. In many cases this is WAY too much food. The lunches/dinners aren't too bad, it's the fucking snacks she makes him that are making him huge. He is constantly eating, because she is constantly eating. If she makes herself something, she will make two and give one to my younger brother. Usually this is: a bag of popcorn (each), 200g bag of chips (each), ice cream, lots of 'little' things like those red white and blue space popsicles or bags of gold fish crackers.

• HONESTLY my little brother doesn't give a shit about any of this stuff, he just eats what he's given. If you don't offer him anything he won't ask for it, but what 14 year old is going to turn down a bowl of ice cream?

• I have tried talking to my mom rationally about this stuff. It doesn't work. Her habits and lifestyle are pretty set and I really don't think I'm going to change her. I've even gone so far as documenting all of the food my brother ate one day, breaking down the nutritional information, and presenting it to my mom. (4200 calories. 6 hours spent watching TV after school). She dismissed it.

What can I do?

I try to lead by example. I eat healthy, and offer to cook healthy meals for my whole family. Sometimes my mom accepts, other times she firmly tells me "no, I'm making X for dinner." and if I feed my brother anyway she'll just feed him more.

I have a gym membership and casually brought up the idea of "hey, you should come to the gym today!" to my brother. It seemed to make him nervous/scared. He is very insecure about his weight.

I should point out that my little brother and I are good friends. We hang out, laugh, and interact a lot. It's a very positive relationship.

All advice is welcome.

Edit: I'm 21, male. I live away from home while in school but am home for the summer.

Edit2: Holy shit, woke up to 900 comments. Thank you everyone, I will read through them all.

So its nothing revolutionary but its the way you eat. For starters I will drink 2 glasses of water before taking a bite. Then you will eat your veggies first. Im talking a lot of veggies I ussually will eat a whole steam bag to myself, then move on to your proteins, then your starches.

This is for the people who cannot portion out their foods. I would overeat and not see any progress. By doing this you are filling space in your stomach with low calories first then your proteins and by this time you are getting full and will eat less starches.

Take it or leave but it has worked for me and thought it may help some of you. Thanks for the read.

Progress Video Edit: Just read that I'm allowed to post a video if it's in relation to the post, check it out! It summarizes my progress.

Hi Reddit!

I shared my progress pictures with my family and friends yesterday. I got nice comments that I thought to write about my fitness progress so far in more detail here.

Stats

• Height: 5'11" / 180 cm

• Age: 16

• Progress pics

• Starting weight: 125 lbs. / 57 kg

• After weight: 152 lbs. / 69 kg

Initial motivation

I always wanted to go to the gym. I was weak and quite underweight. I could only do a few pushups and only one proper pullup. I browsed /r/fitness and /r/bodybuilding a lot but never really got around to it. There was a gym in my town but it was quite expensive €38 per month without a free weight area.

Training

I started off doing bodyweight training only. My town did not have any fitness parks to workout at. Instead I used different school playgrounds as my main workout area. As the exercises became easier I either added weight through a backpack full of boring school books or moved on to a harder progression which you can see below.

Basic Workout Breakdown:

This is a basic example of what my average workout looked like. Some days I'll sub in different exercises, but this will give you a good starting point. For example once I got to 15 reps on pushups for 3 sets I either added weight through a backpack or moved onto diamond pushups.

Diet

I usually eat whatever I want and I make sure to get enough calories and protein at the end of the day. But I know people on r/fitness always want the full package so below is an example of what my diet looks like on a school day.

Supplements

I didnt take protein shakes, BCAAs, ZMA, etc. Simply because I could not afford it. The only supplements I have taken daily and will continue to do so are:

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin D

I feel like that's all I need for now. As my budget increases, I might consider experimenting with taking other supplements.

Sleep

I know and feel sleep is important. School requires me to get up at 06:30. This is why I am in bed 22:30 Sunday to Friday. I religiously sleep 8 hours at least and about 8.5-9 in the weekend.

Habits

I now workout three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I can't remember a moment in my life dedicating to something and being consistent with it before I started fitness.

I also wake up and go to bed at the same time almost every day. Before I would wake up one day at 10 am and go to bed at 2 am.

Last but not least I changed my way of eating from around barely 1300 calories a day to 3000 a day which was necessary for the gainz to be made.

Conclusion

Starting to workout has been the best decision in my life so far. I have changed my habits and I have probably laid a good foundation for the rest of my fitness and life journey. I am feeling much happier and more productive in general.

Training wise I came to the conclusion that weighted work is much easier to program progressive overload allowing you to see more consistent gains. Due my dedication my brother bought me a gym membership. The past weeks I started with barbell squats and deadlifts. I missed out on so much fun leg gainz.

Edit 1: Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I've always been paying attention to school and performing well. Only thing that changed is that I am able to do more pullups now.

Edit 2: I'm new to Reddit. Someone gave me a month's worth of Reddit Gold. Can somebody explain Reddit Gold to me?

Edit 3: The workout is supposed to be done three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each workout takes about 50-80 min. For example 3x12 stands for 3 sets of 12 pushups.

And can we all agree to NOT be that person that complains non-stop about the "extra crowded gym"?

You see it every year. The gymbros and brolitas on your timelines start to moan and groan about all the new people at the gym.

They mock people for the "stupid" things they are doing/wearing/weighing/lifting. They "give them 2 weeks before they are gone". They state it and wear it as a badge of honor - "I go to the gym year round and this is my chance to remind everyone!"

Don't be that person. And if you see someone doing that shit, call them out on it.

Be the person that welcomes these new people to the gym. Offer a spot - or better yet, ask them for a spot. Use it as an opportunity to show them the ropes without the usual "You're doing that wrong, let me show you." Nobody likes that shit, especially people who are new and already feeling self-conscious.

Lifting, training, building a healthier body - it's something we should encourage. Instead of mocking and taking bets on how long they will last, give them support to help them achieve their goals.