Hey, have you been working out?

[Al B. Sure!]

Do them, Jon. I'm a huge fan of pullups although I kind of have to be since the Marine Corps tests you on pullups... if you're doing them assisted, don't bother. Try them unassisted.

[Jon Miller]

I have done unassisted pullups and I got up to 8/5/3 at one piont. But that was after months, and for no reason I could see I dropped down tot 5/3/1. Currently I don't think I have even that. But I haven't been trying to do pullups recently.

Note that dropping in what I could do had nothing to do with increasing weight or exercising less (well, there might have been a few weeks were I worked out once a week instead of 2-3 times).

I was trying to do pullups earlier in the year. I was having difficulty doing a couple.

By the way, when I say I did 8 that doesn't mean 8 full good ones, that means 8 where I got pulled myself up part way and hung there until I quit.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

I can't do very many unassisted dips.

Chin ups or whatever I also generally do assisted. Unassisted I could only do 1 or 2.

I weigh about 83 kg.

My upper body strength hasn't improved much in a long time.

My bicep curl is about 31 kg. My tricep pulldown is about 30 kg. My vertcal (military?) press is about 16kg (each). My leg press/machine squat is ~160 kg. These aren't maxes, but what I can do sets of (maybe set of 6).

JM

If you ask me, I would do unassisted pullups and dips even if you can only do 1 or 2. You'll quickly improve. Trust me. Do some sets of 1 or 2 or whatever you can manage every workout and in a week, you'll be finding you can do sets of 3. Unless something is wrong with you, I am positive this will happen.

In my opinion, there's no reason why an 83kg/183lb man can't do at least 7 pullups or chinups. You're light enough where it shouldn't be difficult. I could do 25 pullups at 190lbs though I've dropped to 15 or so but improving now that I'm almost 220lbs.

Try it. You'll be amazed by rapidly you improve. And once you can do a good number of chin ups (supinated grip), you'll wonder what's the point of bicep curls. Chin ups are a great alternative to curls because they also involve more muscles.

Here's some motivation:

A 44 year old WOMAN doing 39 pullups... she really could go down a bit more a have full lockout, but it's still extremely impressive:




For Azazel, this one is killer: Called GI Joe if it's 50; GI Jane if it's 100... burpee pullups

[Jon Miller]

If I don't lift for a couple months they drop a bunch. If I lift for a month or two they go back to about those numbers.

I started exercising about 4 years ago, going on 5. I reached similar numbers to those 3ish years ago.

JM

[Jon Miller]

I can't do very many unassisted dips.

Chin ups or whatever I also generally do assisted. Unassisted I could only do 1 or 2.

I weigh about 83 kg.

My upper body strength hasn't improved much in a long time.

My bicep curl is about 31 kg. My tricep pulldown is about 30 kg. My vertcal (military?) press is about 16kg (each). My leg press/machine squat is ~160 kg. These aren't maxes, but what I can do sets of (maybe set of 6).

JM

[MOBIUS]

1) I've gained 30 lbs in 2 months and 45 lbs since March when I came out of OCS at a mere 175lbs. Fat obviously is gained when you put on that much weight that quickly. I also haven't been running due to the fact that I had fractures in my legs.

2) I've seen your pictures. I hardly doubt you are even cosmetically in better shape than me. Pictures or it didn't happen, MOBIUS.

Dude, I'm not in the habit of taking pics of myself in the semi nude, let alone posting them online...

[Al B. Sure!]

lifting is:
machine leg press or squat, or single leg dumbell squat, or dumbell lunge
pull up or lat pull down
row or bicep curl (barbell or preacher/etc)
vertical press or assisted dip
dumbell bench press or cable fly
stomach twist or something
tricep pulldown

JM

Leg press
Lat pull down
Bicep curl

Do less pull downs and curls and more pull ups and chin ups, Jon.

As for the leg press... I have to agree with the esteemed Mark Rippetoe when he was asked why he referred to the Press as the Press and not the Shoulder Press:

We just call it the press, because how could you press without the shoulders? You can leg press... but that's gay.

I'm surprised you're reduced to doing assisted dips? You can't do an unassisted dip?

[Al B. Sure!]

And yes, I am fat now, unfortunately. It's just transition. You ever see some of those bodybuilders while they're putting on muscle... they get pretty damn pudgy but they lose it before their competitions.

Same with athletes who do weight cycles. It's very common in sports for an athlete to concentrate on strength, put on 20-30 lbs in a short amount of time, then cut back down before they have to meet a weight standard or training camp starts. They lose some strength when they go back down to their original weight but they're stronger than they started.

Unfortunately, I'm getting caught on the strength portion of the cycle. I'll get back down to below 10% body fat soon enough. Want to get some more strength gains first.

[Jon Miller]

I bike 20 minutes to and from work per day

I do a short interval run 1-3 times per week

I lift 2-3 times per week

lifting is:
machine leg press or squat, or single leg dumbell squat, or dumbell lunge
pull up or lat pull down
row or bicep curl (barbell or preacher/etc)
vertical press or assisted dip
dumbell bench press or cable fly
stomach twist or something
tricep pulldown

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Al, I'm in better shape than you and I barely do any exercise. Where's the definition man?

1) I've gained 30 lbs in 2 months and 45 lbs since March when I came out of OCS at a mere 175lbs. Fat obviously is gained when you put on that much weight that quickly. I also haven't been running due to the fact that I had fractures in my legs.

2) I've seen your pictures. I hardly doubt you are even cosmetically in better shape than me. Pictures or it didn't happen, MOBIUS.

[Az]

women say a relationship thing which is untrue - news at 11. I guess the interpretation into english is that you are good looking, however you're not good-touching/good-flirting, which is usually caused by a sort of closeness, which is caused by lack of experience/self confidence.

Thanks for the advice Al, I am signing off( it's 1am here, and it's a workday tomorrow here)

[MOBIUS]

Al, I'm in better shape than you and I barely do any exercise. Where's the definition man? Looking a bit pudgy, if you ask me...

[Heresson]

Yeah well that was me a few months ago at 190; I'm 217 now so I look like the second photo, as of about two hours ago. Sorry to break it to you. I'm fat right now

While you are a bit less attractive on the second photo, it's only a bit. Still very appealing

And what's with frog and vomit?

your joindate shows as 1999, yet it seems as if you only joined a couple months ago. I've been calling for

- frog
- better crying
- vomit
- crab

smilies for ages, supported by my faithfull companions, such as joncha and Lord Shiva

ah, the good times.

[Al B. Sure!]

Also, AZ, with your interval work... get off the elliptical and hit the pavement, man! What you doing on the elliptical with the fatties and women? Also, check out the Tabata Protocol.

Elliptical is much more full-body, and now I live in the middle of a dense big city so I have nowhere to run outside. I miss running through stuff - lets you think stuff over. I used to be a jogger (4-5 miles, 3-4 times a week)

No high school or college track around? I run in the city and I live in a major city although I can imagine Israeli cities probably have narrower streets than in the US and are crowded with more people.

To be honest, I kind of like running downtown or through my college campus where it's very crowded... it lets me work on my lateral movement with all the cuts and jukes I have to do around people. Makes me feel like an NFL runningback

[Al B. Sure!]

Its NOT ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR LOOKS

If you look reasonably good-- first dates are easy to get-- which is exactly what you relate. Your problem seems to be mainly moving beyond the flirtation or an early date into later dates and that transition is all about being fun to be with and has very little to do with looks or fitness. You have passed the attractiveness test in getting a first date and it would be pretty rare to then get rejected for anything to do with your physical appearance

Well that's what the wymyn say anyway. Them not being physically attracted to me is the most commonly stated reason. I hate the "You're attractive, I'm just not attracted to you" thing. I've gotten it about a dozen times.