You can work out whenever's best for you, but generally it's advised that you at least have some protein in your system. Martin/LeanGains has cited some research on why this is beneficial and suggests BCAAs if your intent is to train fasted. If you're not training fasted, I think Lyle/Bodyrecomposition suggests having some protein + carbs (for blood sugar/energy levels)-- not necessarily immediately pre-workout, but if you haven't eaten in several hours. Also, caffeine is pretty sweet.

Those stalls are probably low for someone your size/weight (at least squat/dl anyway), but you would almost certainly have much better results eating and sleeping more...

1 - you'll definitely be weaker than if you ate something. Also, while I realize not everyone is like me, I am a lot stronger later in the day than in the morning.

This might be relevant to you: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...aking_progress

Probably YNDTP

nah i mean i'm DTP edit: except for not eating enough. ive had 2 weeks recently where i've only worked out 5 times instead of six, but for the part i've stuck to SS pretty closely (doing rows instead of PCs). i would say my biggest flaw is not eating enough i think though. i'll try to really eat eat eat and see if that gets me over the hump.

considering that, should i deload? and is there any sense in switching to 5x3x1?

More info needed funky. Are you eating at a surplus? Do you generally get enough sleep and recovery? Was this workout an anomaly or typical?

ETA: posted before you did. Make sure your cals and proteins are in order. If you're not eating at a surplus and gaining weight and you're not solidly overweight, those weights don't seem entirely unreasonable for stalling.

i dont count my calories which is a problem but here is my diet usually:

4ish eggs equivalent of egg whites, toast, coffee, protein shake (banana, 35g protein, oj, milk, berries, oj)
lunch: usually a potbelly sandwich with an extra ounce of meat (585 cal, 40 g protein)
dinner: varies, usually something like 2 chicken breasts with rice and vegetables (idk calories)
glass of milk or two in there somewhere. EDIT: one thing i get a lot from this takeout place has roughly 700 calories and 40 g of protein, it says.

eh looking at it like that, i'm not eating nearly enough am i

workout was worse than usual because my legs felt tireddd but ive been approaching stall on all these and havent had a workout i felt good about in a week or two

Wait, you're working out 6 times per week...?

nono combined. no idea why i described it in two weeks stretches. trying to say i missed 2 workouts in the last 2 weeks to month. cant imagine that makes a huge difference but obv INDTP technically

funkyfood: try not to freak about about stalling/not making fast enough gains. It's easy to psych yourself out and get frustrated when you're lifts aren't progressing exactly how you expect them to be. Some workouts are gonna feel really heavy but you just have to grind though it because eventually you will just crush a PR and it will be worth it.

Lots of things effect your workouts: sleep, food, etc. Do the best you can on these and keep trying to improve your form every set.

While were on the subject of stalling, Whats the best strategy for reps when stalling? For example, Im stuck at 185 on the bench, and when I go in and get 4,3,3 instead of 5,5,5, thats significantly less volume and I feel like the day was wasted for that lift. Would it be stupid to do like 4,3,3,3,2 on days I cant get 555

Day isn't wasted. It just means you've stalled. Either you had a bad day, or it's time for a reset.

Hey guys,

I'm looking to do some light working out. Background:

I'm only 5'2", about 160lbs but in pretty decent shape. I play hockey at least twice a week (summer and winter), indoor soccer once a week (winter), baseball once a week (summer), and continually referee hockey all year round at least once (sometimes up to 5 times) a week.

I don't strictly watch my diet, nor do I really want to. I tend to stray from anything unhealthy and stick to alot of decent food. Portion control or anything like that is not a problem for me.

Near my work, I have a leisure centre with a weight room, sauna, lane pools, and some other things. I could get a pass there to get to in the morning as that would likely be my only time to really do anything different from my normal regiment. It's open 2 hours before I start work, but my work hours are generally pretty flexible.

I'm not looking for anything super specific here, just general ideas on a way to go about being active in the morning while still being casual about it. No, I have no problems taking logs, but at the same time, I don't want to do much micromanaging. Any suggestions would be considered. Thanks.

FF:

For me eating 1.5-2 hours before a work out is pretty critical. Further as much as protein is obviously important, pre work out, more so are complex carbs.

I always eat vegetables in that pre-workout meal and can feel the difference. Especially with regard to feeling tired and the weights feeling heavy. I also take Ribose. I think there's some pretty good research that supports my experience. Google glycogen in muscle.

According to my DR. and my coach, you shouldn't load the spine in the AM.

IMO, you definitely need to eat a lot more. If you're looking for some protein options...I eat a ton of greek yogurt and cottage cheese both mixed with EAS protein powder.

hadnt really read about the not working out for a few hours after waking up due to fluid in your spine or whatever, some places say 1 hour is all u need to be awake for and other said 1-4 hours. opinions on that? my backs been bit sore lately but thats prob also due to some form issues and still deadlifting every other day. if i delay my workout tho i know ill just get stoned and start skipping, so is 1 hour after wakin up fine or should i wait longer?

also been doin SS for a month, is the deadlift every other day just until i feel like im havin trouble recovering? any other factors to consider?

been eating healthier lately. trying to lose a bit of fat and put on muscle.

something I've been doing a lot lately is a little bit of olive oil and sauteeing an onion for a snack. I've been using a bit of olive oil a couple times a day.

are either of these things going to be counterproductive? (the olive oil for cooking and the onions because apparently they have sugar/carbs?)

Losing weight is a very simple formula and with the information you have provided us, it is literally impossible to determine.

Neither the olive oil or the onion will help you gain muscle.

Have you read the Nutrition section in the FAQ/Sticky?

yeah, but I'll read it over again.

was more asking if the olive oil is one of the good fats and if onions are good veggies

yes, olive oil is a "good fat" (large percentage of monounsaturated fats). onions seem to be fine as well (100g has ~40 calories, 10g carbs with 2g fiber and not much else).
but generally, it doesn't make lots of sense to talk about "is xxx healthy or not?". it all depends on your general goals and the other stuff you eat.

1) stupid question, but what does "he benches 3 plates" mean? i assume it's 50lbs plates and per side, but no idea if this is it or not...

2) right now (doing SS) my warmup consists of like 5min cardio, then some dynamic stretching (MM), then starting with the lifts (obv normal warmups for each lift etc). after lifting, i do like 10-15min static stretching. anything bad about this?
or asking differently: what would be the perfect combination of dynamic stretching, static stretching and foam rolling? (on lifting days as well as non-lifting days).
i know i should start foam rolling soon, don't do it yet...

3) if i'm doing static stretches on off-days, should i warmup first?

1) One plate is 45lbs (or 20kg if you don't live in a ******ed country). "3 plates" means 3 plates per side of the bar, so 315lbs (or 140kg if you don't live in a ******ed country).

2) That sounds excellent. I don't know what the perfect combination is... and their might not be a "perfect" combination.

3) Don't know, but a couple of minutes on the rower couldn't hurt.

and since i grammar nitted you i may as well word usage nit you, too. end >>> side in the answer to the first question.

na'ah. "side" > "end"

Each side of the bar.
Each end of the bar.



ps. die

side > end has to be trolling.

I think I'm actually trolling myself now... I'm not quite sure which way I usually say it...

hey, no (self)trolling in the beginner thread!
i assumed the US would use 50lbs plates, but doesn't seem to be the case. EURO#1 !!! duh