What kind of Cardio routines are you guys using?

[dreamache]

NEVER do behind the neck military presses. Always keep it in front of the neck and with proper lower back support.

IMO deadlifts are one of the hardest forms to master, but also one of the most effective full body movements. It's worth the effort to take your time and watch some vids to really perfect your form with light weight before moving up.

Needless to say, I don't touch behind the neck presses OR deadlifts anymore. Just not worth it, I have no inclination to maximize muscle mass or any of that at this point in my life. Just getting in the gym, maintaining is good for now.

 

[sweeppicker]

Kickboxing and MMA ftw!

 

[tacoX]

Jog 2mi, once a week. I can't do too much cardio because I'll lose weight too fast.

 

[lose lose win]

Shoulder/Knee injuries are incredibly common. A good percentage of injuries to the knees comes from improper squat form and shoulders are just incredibly easy to injury.


I can't say I agree. Improper from increases your risk of injury, hands down. No ands, ifs, ors, or buts around it. Second, your comparison is pretty weak there. You wouldn't go from 40lb. dumbbells to 70lbs. dumbbells and only slight swing.

To each their own of course.. and yes, improper form increases your risk of injury no doubt. All i said was that at was at times it was beneficial to cheat and could be done safely. But as a general rule for most people, I agree 100% with you.

As for my comparison being weak..don't really know what to tell you...I wasn't just pulling numbers out of my ass, I'm speaking from experience and i can assure you those numbers are directly from my work outs. You can experience similar jumps in weights by cheating on your curls....the odds of you throwing your back out like you posted are pretty fucking low doing curls..so your comparison is lacking imo. No disrespect, just sayn.

The swing helps start the momentum and then you squeeze it like a motherfucker in that last phases of the rep....it almost serves as a sort of partial rep. Partials are a very effective way to break plateaus.

agree to disagree I suppose.

 

[amateursurgeon]

sry, i gotta disagree bro.

you're stating the obvious, you really don't have much choice but to increase the load slowly, that's the nature of the game. and by doing five reps you are already over doing it, that's my point.

of course, it depends on if your a summer/ new years resolution kinda guy...if so, you can probably get away with it. but if your're a year round gym rat for years like me, you will be kicking yourself in 10-15 years. trust me bro... i know far too many old school body builders that wake up in the middle of the night with their arms stuck over their heads and can't lower it without some serious pain. or guys that can't even raise their arms above their shoulders in the first place... they all had the same mindset as you do now.

but like i said, if your just trying to add some muscle for the summer, keep your form right and you SHOULD be fine. for example, flat bench is an inherently dangerous exercise. EVERY torn pec i've ever seen was a direct result of the flat bench. i personally don't go below 10 reps. injury prevention keeps you in the game and making progress.

BUT heavy ass weight DOES build muscle...i just believe there are smarter ways of going about doing it.

I don't think you're necessarily disagreeing there.

I said don't push too hard... the majority of bodybuilders push themselves way too hard - a bodybuilder ideal is not a natural body shape

If you do nothing but 5x5s for 10 years, then of course your body will wear out. I do it for a few months, then change, then change back.

My goal is fitness/maximising my natural strength, not putting as much muscle on as possible. I'm also of the belief that you should respect your body type.

I know a lot of body builders are naturally skinny guys (the "hard gainers") who want to bulk up. The danger for them is that although they can put muscle on with work/supplements/steroids, they don't have the skeletal structure/connective tissue base to support it safely.

I have a large frame with very thick bones... I'm 200lbs+ no matter what I do, it's just a choice whether I'm 200lbs of muscle or fat. Even then, I'm wary of what exercises I do 5x5 on. I wouldn't do it on shoulder exercises for example... your shoulder joint isn't designed for that sort of load.

(I'm also married to an osteoarthritis specialist, so as long as she says what I'm doing is ok, I'm happy. )

 

[O Marina]

Question for people doing cardio: when you are on the treadmill how hard does the workout feel when your heart is say at around 160?

Reason I ask is that I started running on the elliptical a month or two ago and I can easily get my heart to 160-170 without really trying too hard, like I don't feel tired or out of breath or anything like that, and I normally run on it for about 30 minutes.

Heart rate is usually much higher for people just starting out who are not conditioned.

 

[HKSEO Rotzee]

I train Monday, Wed and some Saturdays at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from 1 - 1 1/2 hours and then lift weights at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour. I keep the lifting light and focus on high reps and take sundays off to rest.

I will say that Jiu-Jitsu alone, 3 times a week is not only the funnest thing I've ever done, I've seen guys melt fat away loosing 60lbs in incredible time. Its a full body workout, that doesn't feel like working out...you meet a lot of good friends that become like brothers and it relieves alot of stress.

I highly recommend anyone interested in going to a gym and trying a free trial class. If you want any recommendations for good schools in your area, let me know and I'll see if I'm familiar with the instructors there.

 

[rusvik]

I used to do barbell squats using the 'correct' form, now my left knee makes a sort of velcro sound on the negative portion of any movement. There was never any pain, but I have since stopped doing them at all. Squats aren't worth destroying my knees.



My best mate gained around 11kg of muscle to get to 84kg in a period of 9 months and still has extremely low bodyfat. He never listened to anyone, he works out 6 days a week for 2 hours a day in his bedroom with nothing but a dumbell. He doesn't believe in overtraining and cheats on just about everything... worked for him big time.

Steroids.

 

[kingscotty38]

HIIT (high intensity interval training)

Do short hard sprints, say 100m, do them 6-8 times balls to to the wallz.

Doesn't take long, takes me about 20 mins, and you will be fucked. Guaranteed.

Run hard and fast like sprinters do. No point running like an ethiopan for 7km or whatever. Unless you're a boxer and dances who around the ring for 12 rounds, then jogging has benefits.

Below is an example, be wiry and skinny like a marathon runner? Or jacked like a sprinter? Up to you.

Oh and for the wimenz