
Ask HN: Do you lift? - MattLeBlanc001
Was wondering if anyone here goes regularly to the gym.<p>What&#x27;s your routine?
Goals?
Diet?
======
seekingcharlie
I lift 4 days per week (Chest, Arms/Back, and Legs twice). I'm a girl, so I'm
trying to build that instagram booty. Basically 3 sets of 12 reps, to failure.
Once I can do 12, I increase the weight.

Chest: Incline bench, bench, pectoral flys, shoulder press, lateral raises,
tricep dips, crunches, leg raises.

Legs: Squats, leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, romanian deadlifts, calves

Back: Barbell rows, cable rows, lat pulldowns, barbell curls, biceps machine,
abs machine, leg raises.

Diet-wise, I eat 1800 cals: 189g protein, 160g carbs, 35g fat. Basically I eat
the same thing every day, which is a lot of chicken, veges, and protein
shakes. I do HIIT 2-3 times per week on rest days in between lifting.

My goal is to get to 19% body fat. I'm at around 22% now so still some way to
go. Pretty jealous of guys and your testosterone. I need some more of that for
my measly bench press :(

~~~
MattLeBlanc001
That is a lot of protein.

Not sure how much you weight, but I normally go by 1.5 my body weight in KG.
So for 80kg, I try to reach 120g.

Obviously that my vary for a female.

~~~
seekingcharlie
Yeah, it's definitely high. I'm building muscle though so it should be around
35% of my total cals for hypertrophy.

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thepratt
More often than I should, probably.
([https://wiki.haskell.org/Lifting](https://wiki.haskell.org/Lifting))

~~~
carlmungz
My Haskell experience is 0 but I chuckled at that. You should see a doctor ;-)

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halotrope
Yep, picked up boxing and other martial arts along with some HIIT a year ago.
Did wonders for Sleep, overall well being, mental clarity, body composition,
back pain and self-confidence (In no particular order). Training 5-7 times a
week. I am almost 30 now and I regret so much not starting a working out
earlier. It had a profound impact on my life and IMHO not working out is
inexcusable. Especially your future self will thank you, when your muscles
start to degrade.

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scott_usa
My strategy and goals are, to quote Eddie Strong “.. I go and I lift big
fucking weights”.

My 3-4 day a week workout begins with a compound lift and then more targeted
lifts. I hit each muscle group twice in a workout. Benefits of compound lifts
include increased testosterone and generally looking like a bad ass.

I work my core during each workout to promote stability and prevent lower back
strain. Warmups include 10 yards of high knees, butt kickers, and high kicks.

Day 1: _deadlift 5 sets, bent over row 5 sets, barbell shrugs, 5 sets._
planks, side planks _deficit deadlift 4 sets, cable pull down 4 sets, front
and rear deltoid lifts with db 4 sets

Day 2: _snatch or cleans 5 sets, bench press 5 sets, overhead press 5 sets
_stand ups_ inclined bench press 4 sets, push press 4 sets, kettle bell snatch
or clean 4 sets

Day 3: _squat 5 sets, close grip bench press 5 sets, barbell curls 5 sets_
roman chair and side roman chair *leg press 4 sets, tricep kick back 4 sets,
hammer curls 4 sets

Diet: Post workout recovery shake, protein in the morning and capping soda to
2 a week

Success Tracking: I am writing a workout logging application that provides
analytics (maxes, etc.) based on the workouts you send via text message. I’ll
post my email address if anyone is interested in trying it out

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mswen
I am 55 years old. In my twenties, thirties and early forties I ran a lot and
did things like pull-ups push-ups and crunches. The past 10 years have been
much more weight lifting.

I currently lift 5 days a week

MWF -- benchpress, leg press, leg curl, seated rows and back extensions

T TH --- pull-ups, leg raises, overhead press, bicep curls, deadlift, dumbbell
lateral raises and shoulder shrugs

At times I have been focused on lifting heavy and relatively few reps.
Currently I am biased the other way, a lot more volume at lower weight.

Mix in some walking, jogging and "sprinting" for some cardio. At times I have
reduced the weight training and bumped up the cardio for several months.

Goals: mix of health, functional strength and looking good

Eating: I have been on intermittent fasting for 4 years. Style is 16:8 with
the occasional 20:4 or even 22:2 thrown in. I do not really restrict what I
eat, but 90% of days I break my fast around midday with a very large multi-
ingredient salad so that I am starting with the healthiest food.

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mattbgates
I do not lift, but in order to stay in shape, I trick myself by riding my bike
to work everyday, 4-5 days a week. Work is about 2 miles away. So riding there
and riding back is 4 miles a day total. I also try to walk around the building
at least 2-3 times per shift.

During the summer, I try to swim 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes a day.

As far as my diet goes, I normally only eat once per day, which is a big
lunch, followed by a snack or two later on, usually a handful of almonds or
almond butter or something like that. My diet is high fat, moderate protein,
and low carb. It has helped me maintain a comfortable weight for the past 2
years.

In my best years of working out, I managed to lose over 80 pounds, though I
have put back on about 15 pounds again, but I do look more bulk than I did.
Truth of the matter is, I am lazy. I have no desire to go to a gym or lift. So
I have to do things to make myself work out. I guess I'd rather be coding than
working out.

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King-Aaron
I've never been one for going to a gym (although with life getting busier and
busier it's probably about time that it's worth looking at).

However I routinely move gearboxes and engine blocks around my home workshop,
lift the car and turn spanners underneath it (trying to crack exhaust manifold
studs while laying on your back and only having half a foot's worth of arm
room can be an awesome workout on your arms, haha!), take the chainsaw out
into the bush and lop up firewood, etc etc, as well as a morning routine of
stretches. I try to keep quite active outside of office hours and do tasks
which simulate the kinds of workouts people regularly do in gyms to make up
for the tremendous amount of sitting I do 9-5.

Obviously I'm not setting targets and able to quantify my fitness from the
things I do, however I've successfully staved off the 'programmers belly" for
the better part of a decade and a half so far.

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rebuilder
Yep, currently 3 strength training days and 3 conditioning days a week.

I have very little real-life need to lift heavy things or run fast, but
training to do so gives me time for myself, increases mental fortitude and is
actually pretty interesting when you don't just follow a program but try to
learn to do your own programming. Plus compared to sitting on my ass 7 days a
week, how I feel is just such a day and night difference.

I recently picked up both Tactical Barbell books and recommend them highly.
The military theme was a turnoff for me, but the content is solid. It's more
of a teach-a-man-to-fish approach to how to be able to train for a wideranging
type of fitness without breaking yourself than a just-do-this type of rigid
program, and I've been very happy with the results so far.

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tugberkk
I do. My routine is a strength day and fun days. Fun days I do whatever I
want, but I must do a strength day where I lift "fairly" heavy in deadlifts
and overhead presses.

I have no goals. I had, I succeeded and lost my appetite. Just lifting because
I like to do so. Diet is a sustainable one. Not going for abs, just try to
stay healthy with no gut sticking out.

The keyword in lifting and related stuff is sustainability. Just go for a
routine and a diet which is sustainable so you can do it for a long, long
time.

Btw, for those who claim they don't have time to train; please read 1-
[http://baye.com](http://baye.com) 2- Doug McGuff's - Body by science

This is high intensity training!

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avenius
5 years here, focused mostly on the back and legs to ensure I don't get a
permanent desk posture (and nothing makes me feel more powerful than a set of
heavy deadlifts). The first two years I used to go 3-5 times a week, but
lately I've settled into 2-3 times a week to simply maintain. No real goals,
other than staying sufficiently fit. Trying to eat clean; A mostly vegetarian
diet with a free pass for tuna.

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d_runs_far
My primary activity of choice is trail running - I run ultra marathons (and
organize a couple a year too!). I do a mix of body weight and lifting 2-4
times a week as well. We've set up a pretty sweet home gym so I have no
excuses - it's between my home office and the kitchen :-)

Diet is moderate carbs, higher protein and fat, but damn I like ice cream.

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TurboHaskal
I am doing DoggCrapp but instead of a defined number of sets and rest
intervals I simply blast each exercise for 5 minutes trying to achieve a
repetition goal. I also skip the extreme stretching thing.

No diet. No defined frequency, I train when I can, which is not as often as
I'd like.

~~~
MattLeBlanc001
I've never heard of DoggCrapp. Does it work? Did you gain muscle mass from
this training?

~~~
TurboHaskal
Well I hated the original DC but this setup works fine for me.

I am at a point in which muscle gains don't come easily but I'm getting great
strength gains and nice looks specially when I get to train more than three
times a week. Rest pause style training is pretty fun too and since I'm
training with machines pretty exclusively I am yet to suffer an injury. The
downside is that due to the lower volume I cannot get away with eating as many
carbs as before. It can be also quite taxing if you go to failure (which is an
integral part of the original DC).

I could recommend it if you're like me and for some reason you cannot spend
much time in the gym, but I think for a natural that has the time a typical
Push/Pull/Leg or Arnold split (Chest+Back/Shoulders+Arms/Legs) 6 times a week
2x frequency is the best.

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brad0
On and off for 10 years. Most of that was really bad form.

A few years ago I got a trainer and decided that I was going to be serious
about lifting.

At my best I'm going 5 days a week in the morning when the gym isn't busy.

My split is chest, back, arms, back, legs. The reason I do 2x back is because
my back is much weaker than my front.

Naturally I sit at ~185lb (84kg) but I know I can change this if I eat more
consistently over a period of 2 months. Ideally I'd like to be at 200lb with
10-12% body fat.

My diet could be cleaned up dramatically. I'm naturally skinny so my biggest
hurdle was just eating more. I'll generally eat four decent sized meals (foot
long sub as an example) and a protein shake per day.

My current focus is contracting the right muscles for the exercise.

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viraptor
I've done 5 days a week at a gym for a year, but haven't noticed that much
difference compared to 2-3 days, which is what I do now. One day with a
personal trainer which is what keeps me going. On top of that I'll dance or
cycle or snowboard or kayak from time to time.

No specific goals. Everything's just easier if I do some kind of regular
exercise.

Relaxed, CSIRO-like diet. Low carb, high protein, but I'm not super strict.
It's actually annoying that I can't eat crappy fat food anymore. Eating
something like a burger means slight stomach pain at night.

So in general: great improvement from doing "something", but I neither enjoyed
nor really benefited from pushing for a lot of effort.

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paulmooreparks
I do most of my weightlifting workout routine at home with dumbbells now, but
still do deadlifts and squats at the gym. As soon as I buy my own barbell and
weights, I'll stop going to the gym altogether.

I lift on Monday and Thursday, and run at least 2 miles a day Monday through
Friday. I used to lift four days a week, but I came to the conclusion that was
too much and I needed a little more recovery time. It's working quite well, as
I've lost about 20 lbs. over the last three months.

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EnderMB
I used to run and lift three times a week, until I picked up Brazilian
Jujitsu.

I joined a local club, thinking that my fitness would give me an advantage,
and I ended up tapping out several times a minute.

Two years later, I'm now a blue belt, and won silver at a recent competition.
I still tap all the time, but I also submit others. I now run twice a week,
and lift occasionally.

I highly recommend BJJ to anyone looking for a fun destressing activity. It's
essentially playfighting for adults.

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AlexAMEEE
Yes, I do [0] strong lifts, I also run 3 times a week.

[0] [https://stronglifts.com/5x5/](https://stronglifts.com/5x5/)

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unavida
I lift weights and run both almost every day. However, I would say 40% for
fitness and 60% for releasing stress and anger. After I run 5-6 miles, all my
built up anger from the day dissipates and then it slowly builds back up and
then I need to work out again to release it!

I would be interested in knowing how many other people on HN feel this way.

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1ba9115454
I switch between workout A and B below training 2 to 3 times a week. If I hit
15 on the last set I add 2.5kg to the bar next time.

I've used a routine like this in the past and succesfully added around 10kg of
muscle to my frame. I'm getting back into it again after a back issue, so I
wanted to get strong again.

Workout A

\---------

Bench Press 2 X 10, 1 x 10+

Squats 2 X 10, 1 x 10+

Row Machine 2 X 10, 1 x 10+

Barbell Curl 2 X 10-15

Workout B

\---------

Overhead Press 2 X 10, 1 x 10+

Deadlift 1 x 5+

Chin Ups 3 X AMRAP

Parallel Bar Dips 2 X 10, 1x 10+

~~~
TurboHaskal
This looks a lot like Greyskull LP.

~~~
1ba9115454
Yes. I started out with Starting Strength then adjusted after reading the
Greyskull LP book.

~~~
TurboHaskal
Don't you think it's too little volume?

I am confident you could add a few accessories here and there and still make
good progression on your basic lifts.

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slvrspoon
Started doing lifting since pre tim ferris 4 hour book when i was 30 and 155
pounds. 3x week simple bench squat dead with cardio warmup 5x5 and never more
than 30 min in gym. Has worked well for me for 5 years added 25 pounds muscle
and way better than running/ cardio in every way

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varunsaini
I lift 3 days a week and follow a routine based on this ->
[https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/the-best-3-day-plan-
wor...](https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/the-best-3-day-plan-work-out-
less-get-more-ripped.html)

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sbierwagen
Yes. Started with Stronglifts 5x5, since it didn't have power cleans like SS
does.

~~~
joshschreuder
You could just not do power cleans. I still think SS is a great read, it can
be a bit technical with all the biomechanic stuff but I found it very useful
for learning more about form and stuff.

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carlmungz
3x a week split into chest, legs and back. Main goal is to increase in size
(done that) so soon I'll start cutting and reduce my body fat %

~~~
MattLeBlanc001
What about shoulder, arms and abs?

~~~
carlmungz
The exercises I do on Mon + Weds take care of my shoulders and arms. Abs,
depending on how tired I am + time, I do at the end of the session.

I was 65kg last year and now I'm about 83/84\. It helps that my trainer is an
ex-bodybuilder + powerlifter and I train in a gym which is not your typical
'macho' gym but has a very supportive and challenging environment.

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osi
i train brazilian jiu jitsu 4-5x a week. most of Mon-Thurs evening for
classes, then sometimes an open mat session on the weekend.

when i started the goal was weight management, as i was getting tubby as i was
getting older. that part worked. now (9 years later), it is for fun.

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trumbitta2
Yep. I exercise with my brain every day, all day.

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eip
Been lifting off and on for 15 years. Try to go 5 days a week. Rotating upper
body, lower body, core + cardio.

Eat pretty well. Supplement protein shakes with minerals. Sea salt, oils
(coconut, flax, hemp), various vitamins.

6'2" ~220lbs. Ideally would get to around 235lbs.

~~~
MattLeBlanc001
How do you manage the 5 days a week. I've never could do more than 3 times a
week due to work.

~~~
eip
I go right after work. Living close to a gym helps. I just moved to a new
place that is upstairs from a gym.

