Official workout/supplement thread.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by HumnHilghtFreel

I'm a big fan of HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training), which you mentioned and Plyometrics myself. Mixed in with compound lifts, and you've got yourself a good little workout as you said, in less time.

Ever heard of Nick Osborn, or GO Fitness (it used to be called Built Solid)?

Nick is some kind of god to me.

[Dom Heffner]

Love me some Muscle Milk.

[Razor Shines]

Originally Posted by wheels

Interval cardio is another thing I can't say enough about.

Twenty minutes of something that always works as opposed to an hour of something that stops working after the body adjusts. I feel sorry for people that think they have to sit on bike or run on a treadmill for an hour at a time. How boring.

Run, or pump, or jump as hard and as fast as you can for a minute, then take it down slow for two minutes. Repeat that until twenty minutes is gone (really hammer away at it...go HARD), and you'll feel like you can't walk. Heck...All you gotta do is run the steps at home. Go up and down three times, rest for two minutes (walk around the house, get a drink of water, etc..), hit those steps again.

I swear by it. People love to tell me that I need to do tons of cardio, and that I'll never lose weight if I don't do six hours of cardio every week. I look at them, ask them how much body fat they've lost over the past year and the discussion ends there. That's what great about my gym. It's brutal, it's to the point, it's bare bones, and it makes me feel like an absolute animal. After all, we ARE animals.

I've been doing P90x for about a month and a half. And about 3 weeks ago I added a Interval Training program 3 times a week. So far I've just done sprinting. I go 45 seconds flat out and rest for 90 seconds for 8 or 9 reps. I'm so wiped at the end of it. I love the Interval Training though, my brother actually told me about it. He is a Marine and he was telling me that he did some type of HIIT almost every day in boot camp.

But anyway back to HIIT, I think I will stick with the sprinting for a few more weeks and then I want to switch it up to something else. Any suggestions on what I should do next?

[wheels]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

I've been doing P90x for about a month and a half. And about 3 weeks ago I added a Interval Training program 3 times a week. So far I've just done sprinting. I go 45 seconds flat out and rest for 90 seconds for 8 or 9 reps. I'm so wiped at the end of it. I love the Interval Training though, my brother actually told me about it. He is a Marine and he was telling me that he did some type of HIIT almost every day in boot camp.

But anyway back to HIIT, I think I will stick with the sprinting for a few more weeks and then I want to switch it up to something else. Any suggestions on what I should do next?

Hill climbing. Problem is finding a hill.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

Originally Posted by wheels

Ever heard of Nick Osborn, or GO Fitness (it used to be called Built Solid)?

Nick is some kind of god to me.

No, I haven't

Originally Posted by wheels

Hill climbing. Problem is finding a hill.

It's not for everyone, but it's something I picked up from working out with a friend who plays college football and have integrated in... bear crawls.

[wheels]

Bear crawls are brutal.

They hooked me up with a belt attached to three heavy rubber bands that were attached to a pole while doing them. Go as far as the bands allow, then go backwards. I thought I would surely die.

[Tommyjohn25]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

Love me some Muscle Milk.

Yeah I tried that stuff for a while. Tasted great, and for the first couple weeks I noticed slight results from it. After that however it kinda tailed off on me. I tried 2 more jugs of it and decided to move on. There are a ton of people that swear by it though.

[halcyon]

A couple friends of mine use[d] the NO Vapor. One likes it pretty well: he only uses one serving per day. The other liked it as well, but he used 2-3 servings. Course, he also said he thought it made his skin itchy so who knows about the side effects of that sort of thing.

I always felt good with just straight micronized creatine. I'm not sure how much of an improvement many of these supplements could give me past that. I've taken a few of the creatine mixes (with sugar for flavor and transport), always with at least decent results. Nothing that made me think it was on a different level from plain creatine, however.

[danken12]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

I've been doing P90x for about a month and a half. And about 3 weeks ago I added a Interval Training program 3 times a week. So far I've just done sprinting. I go 45 seconds flat out and rest for 90 seconds for 8 or 9 reps. I'm so wiped at the end of it. I love the Interval Training though, my brother actually told me about it. He is a Marine and he was telling me that he did some type of HIIT almost every day in boot camp.

But anyway back to HIIT, I think I will stick with the sprinting for a few more weeks and then I want to switch it up to something else. Any suggestions on what I should do next?

I'm about 5 weeks into P90x as well. I think it's a pretty great all around workout for people who don't have the time to get to the gym. I know some of the workouts are exhausting.

[FutureRedsGM]

I am looking for a good dumbell only routine. If someone has one of those that they would like to pass along, I would appreciate it.

Also, I know there are some softball players on this board. Are there any specific excercises that can be done to increase your power? I can't seem to find that last 20 feet to clear the fence!!!!

[Tommyjohn25]

Originally Posted by FutureRedsGM

I am looking for a good dumbell only routine. If someone has one of those that they would like to pass along, I would appreciate it.

Also, I know there are some softball players on this board. Are there any specific excercises that can be done to increase your power? I can't seem to find that last 20 feet to clear the fence!!!!

Dumbell routines are among the best IMO. The independent motion prevents your dominant side from "helping" your weaker side. Plus the range of motion with dumbells is much better. You are probably best suited to google "dumbell workout routine" and look at several different ones to find one you may like. The exercises with dumbells (for upper body) are almost limitless, so it may take a while to find a routine that suits you, but it is without question, a good way to lift.

As far as your softball question goes, keep pounding the upper body. Specifically the shoulders, triceps, and pecs. Also don't neglect your core muscles (abs, obliques, etc) to give you a little extra torque in your swing. I recommend mixing it up with the weights too. I usually do 4 sets of any given exercise. 1st two sets, I do heavy weight, low reps. Last two sets, I do light weight, high reps, to the point of muscle failure. This promotes both muscle mass, and the developement of the fast twitch muscle fibers that would allow for better bat speed. Hope that helps you out a bit!

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by FutureRedsGM

I am looking for a good dumbell only routine. If someone has one of those that they would like to pass along, I would appreciate it.

Also, I know there are some softball players on this board. Are there any specific excercises that can be done to increase your power? I can't seem to find that last 20 feet to clear the fence!!!!

A couple of things with softball. Bat speed is the key. After that your forearms, tricepts, legs, back, and abs are the most important things. A lot of the power comes from the torque of your body. Someone mentioned pecs above and IMO they don't add a whole lot to a swing and I think they can decrease the amount of flexability your swing has.

I read an article during Brett Boone's resurgance in Seattle. Granted HGH helped but he talked about your chest and bi's being "show" muscles. Their function isn't all that great and they actually limit flexibility.

[Tommyjohn25]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

A couple of things with softball. Bat speed is the key. After that your forearms, tricepts, legs, back, and abs are the most important things. A lot of the power comes from the torque of your body. Someone mentioned pecs above and IMO they don't add a whole lot to a swing and I think they can decrease the amount of flexability your swing has.

I read an article during Brett Boone's resurgance in Seattle. Granted HGH helped but he talked about your chest and bi's being "show" muscles. Their function isn't all that great and they actually limit flexibility.

Re: Pecs. I agree that they can limit flexibility if you build too much mass there. But I do not agree, at least on a personal level, that they are "show" muscles. I hit my chest pretty hard last summer with various push-ups and a lot of different dumbell routines, and at the age of 29 I hit five more home runs in softball than I've ever hit before. It could have been coincidence I suppose, but the only thing I changed was my chest routine.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by Tommyjohn25

Re: Pecs. I agree that they can limit flexibility if you build too much mass there. But I do not agree, at least on a personal level, that they are "show" muscles. I hit my chest pretty hard last summer with various push-ups and a lot of different dumbell routines, and at the age of 29 I hit five more home runs in softball than I've ever hit before. It could have been coincidence I suppose, but the only thing I changed was my chest routine.

I am no personal trainer but I have been lifting weights on a regular basis for around 8 years now. I don't hit them nearly as hard as I did in college but once you start lifting weights you need to continue to lift in order to maintain that muscle that you built up.

As for the pecs the pushup is one of the better full body excercise that you can do. It works quite a few muscle groups and also helps with core stength because of the balance that you need in order to do a pushup. But whatever works for you continue to do that. IIRC Hershal Walker never lifted a weight in his life he did pushups and situps in the thousands on a daily basis.

[Stephenk29]

Did the whole college athlete work out thing. Lots of guys I know did the Vapor and said it worked a lot, but they also said it got their heart racing a thousand miles an hour. Not something I ever wanted to try. I've done the protein shakes forever, and took Creatine monohydrate for about 7 months. Honestly couldn't tell you if it worked or not. I was a gym rat for a long time. 5 days a week for about 2 hours at a time. The baseball career is over now though so I've lost all motivation.