I've been reading some material that suggests my 30 day challenge isn't that good for muscle gain. I still plan to finish it out for the sake of sticking to a goal, but I was wondering what y'all had to say about it. What should I do instead after the challenge is over?

@Nathan MI from what I understand weightlifting low rep high weight is the go to method for "getting big" so to speak.

Planks, pushups, situps, 1 pull up and several more attempts and 30 minutes of incline walking at 4mph today.

Net calories: 782
Calorie deficit: 1571

Thanks for all the checkins last night guys. Recorded all of it. Glad you finally got a better scale Walter, that must have been bugging you alot where you were doing everything right but it didn't show on the scale.

You first need to determine whether you're going to get a gym membership or keep working out at home. You're likely going to have to spend a little money either way. If you want to just workout at home, you've got to figure out a way to do some sort of pullup. Maybe you want to get one of those things you install in a doorway or find a park nearby with a bar,, whatever. I wouldn't recommend getting heavy dumbells for pressing unless you want to spend money on a bench. Getting some power rack with a barbell and plates will run you alot of money so thats out of the question. Also, I can (((loan))) you a 45 plate so you or your roommate can put it on your back for pushups. This will drastically increase the difficulty and give you more gains in a couple weeks than the whole month of pushups you've been doing, almost guaranteed. The cheapest way to do it would be to find a park nearby with a bar for pullups. You could then do a push, pull, legs split with no equipment except maybe the 45 plate. The push day would consist of only pushups, pull day at the park with just pullups, and a leg workout consisting of squats and lunges for now. Right now you're only hitting chest, triceps, shoulders, and abs. You've got to change this in order to get a more well'rounded physique because you're completely neglecting your back, biceps and legs. And if you get the gym membership you will need to incorporate this same philosophy of working out all the main muscle groups, likely on different days, except you will be using more weights and machines to achieve the same goal.

Great advice and notes Sam

@Sam MI lemme get that plate

Arms are really sore, looks like it's an ab and leg day today

I dm'd you. I think you can handle the 45 because you said you can do 50 pushups but you're pretty light. I can get you a 25 if it doesn't work out. However, the added resistance is going to shock your body big time. You're really going to be straining to get more than 10-15 reps forsure. This is a good thing since it more simulates the resistance you would be getting from the bench press. Since you weigh 130, you're pushing up about 90 pounds. With the added 45 pounds you'll be pressing the equivalent of about 135. Once you get the weight on your back and do your first set, you'll have an idea of how many reps and sets you can do so get creatiev and make up your own workout

It was, definitely. On that note, I did a proper weighing of myself this morning (before eating or drinking anything and after using the bathroom) and it was 215.

@Sam MI Sounds good chief

Alright. Got you down as a lean mean 215

I'm 10 lb heavier but I've reached my goal of 19% body fat

Going for 15 now

Awesome man. You're almost there. You're already more lean than most people nowadays

Sorry for not posting in some time. I've been consistently eating a fairly strict diet and have been doing the usual workouts (aside from this past week when I was dealt the stomach flu). Down to 202lbs. I've been seeing a chiropractor for my lower back and inflamed sciatic nerve tissue which has been hindering my workout performance for several weeks now. This will be a slow process and will take time to heal, but it hasn't stopped me from moving forward.

Goal is 190lbs by the first of the year. More than halfway there.

I was 20% bodyfat 2 weeks ago. By next week I should be in the teens.

Thanks for checking in Sean. Seems like you're well on your way to your goal. I had sciatica too. Athlean-x on youtube has some stretches that helped me alot. I also stopped sitting with one leg crossed over the other. Haven't had a problem since then but your condition might be more severe

Thanks for the source. I'll def check it out. For me, the pain has primarily moved from thrower back to the right leg where it's pretty painful get in and out of a vehicle, moving to sit down in general, and stretching. The more I walk normally, the better it gets. I probably need to start doing some ice treatment which I haven't been doing. The good news is that I think it's slowly getting better and the pain in the leg Is a sign that it's taking its course. It's just something I'll have to deal with until it heals properly.

Lower back just feels like a bruised kidney punch, so it's much more bearable than it once was.

Yeah. I forget the specifics exactly but I believe you need to stretch a specific muscle because it is pushing on your nerve that runs from your lower back, through your glute and down your leg And yes, those were the symptoms i had with it being real bad but light activity made it better

If you want some quick relief, try crossing your right leg over your left while sitting and pushing lightly down towards the floor with your arm/elbow. If that doesn't help, try watching that guys vids and the chiro should help

Push the right knee lightly towards the floor with your arm/elbow when its crossed over

Terrible explantion. Im retarded. I'll try again. Sit down. Make sure your left leg is at a 90 degree angle. Cross your right leg over so your right ankle is on top of your left thigh. Then apply light downward pressure to your right knee with your arm and elbow.

Lol I understood what you meant. Yea, I've been doing something similar where I do that position lying on my back with the right leg crossed over and with both hands I pull up on the left leg toward my chest.

Though that has gotten more and more painful over the past few days so I've had to lighten up on how much I'm pulling

Ok yeah. I used a lacrosse ball too to roll it out. I don't remember all the triggers that I figured out which made it worse. But I managed to completely fix it over a matter of weeks so yours should be alot better soon

@NQ - Austin TX How are you on passing the fitness test and leaving the channel? Cardio should be a big priority.

Good update Sean, good management of obstacles

I wonder if those hanging inversion boards would help, actually

I just purchased some boxing gloves to increase cardio output and I am close to being able to do one unassisted pullup

@NQ - Austin TX Cardio and pullups are your biggest priority then, moreso than gaining weight or increasing other lifts. Your bench press doesn't matter if you can't complete a long march without being winded. Your squat doesn't matter if you can't lift your own body.

☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻

I invested in a vest like undershirt that's supposed to squeeze you and help sweat off calories better, I've seen some great visual improvement after a week of wearing it if anyone's interested.

Sauna suit prolly works better than that

I've been progressing on lat pulldowns and assisted pullups to supplement for unassisted pull ups. Increased from 80lbs to 115lbs on lat pulldown, similar weight to the assisted pullups in the past few weeks, at this rate I should be able to start doing unassisted pullups in the next month or so. Cardio is the only thing I've been seriously slacking on and that changes tomorrow morning.

I highly recommend that everyone pay close attention to the response we got from the most recent demo. People are referring to us as feds simply because we look professional and most of our members are physically fit. It is imperative that every member be in shape. I think there are entire books written describing the power of aesthetics. It is our duty utilize this to inspire our people to action. Keep this in mind when you need that extra push to reach your goals.

Feds is when not fat

I believe in the org and the overall movement more than ever because of those comments about the way we looked from the Republicans

Squats(125lbs), bench press(80lbs), and rows(100lbs) today along with 30 minutes of incline walking.
Net calories: 1348
Calorie deficit: 1005

Good work @Walter ID !

My legs are in shape but I could definitely improve calisthenics
I max 140 on Leg Press

I need to work on my mile and pretty much everything else on the fitness test

Keep it up Walter. Its great that you're cataloging all this so you know what you're doing on all your lifts

The chart says you weigh 110 pounds. You have the unique position of need to hit the fridge hard while most others are trying to abstain from food. I don't know what you do for training but you need to put on a significant amount of muscle. Lifting weights through something like patricks recommended 5x5 program would be ideal for you. Starting off with body weight stuff is difficult if you're new to working out. My evidence for this is the fact that your max pushups are 10. you can either drop to your knees to do a whole bunch more of them or start weight training to build up your strength base. Then you'll be more successful with bodyweight stuff.

I've been planning on dirty bulking with mass gainer , I can't really diet due to high metabolism so I pretty much need to eat anything and everything (except high estrogen food products of course) in order to put on some weight

@Ryan FL this might sound goofy but coming from an overweight guys perspective I would go for a lot of carbs and fat every single day. Like, if you can eat noodles, potatoes, or something similar with lots of cheese melted on it then you'll be taking in a ton of calories. If you're trying to gain weight then vegetables like carrots are the devil for you because they're super low calories per volume foods. You want low fiber foods that are calorie dense. When it comes to muscle what @Sam MI said is 100% correct.

Well I don't know what a typical workout week looks like but you need to pick it up. You're getting beat in every aspect of the fitness test by people who are obese and morbidly obese. Theres no reason you can't get your plank up over a minute when youre that skinny. Same with the mile. Were all pulling for you Ryan but you need to put in some more effort. I'd like to see some concrete weight lifting numbers with your updates like how Walter does his. Report on what you are doing, not what you're planning on doing

Understood. I'm aware, and will put more effort into it.

@Ryan FL do the mass gainer and add ice cream, peanut butter, while milk, and whatever else. That helped me a bit. Also if you aren't doing it already, count your calories. Make sure you get enough. If not, spoon in some peanut butter at the end of the day till you make it. Also chug milk when you can.

@Wilson TX If you want a drink other than water, you can buy seltzer, (not even flavored if that's a concern), and it's actually zero calories, I imagine. Non-water/coffee drinks are a luxury for those who are not overweight.

@Billy IN hey there buddy, how have things been?

Rocky. But I’m recovering from covid, am currently on my way home, just got some flyers uo

Gotcha, well get better soon buddy

I’m trying bro. I wanna get working out again

Squats (1 plate :muscle: ), deadlifts (175lbs) and overhead press (80lbs) along with 2 miles of incline walking. Net calories: 1436. Calorie deficit: 917

@Wilson TX Have you switched to an equal amount of water? If not, I wonder if it might just be water fat.

Keep rollin rollin rollin. Congrats on the squats. Must feel great to throw the big boys on there

Slowly but surely ramping up my cardio. 30 minutes of stair climbers doesn't feel all as hard as it used to be. Going to do a trial run of lightweight weight lifting tomorrow to see how my wrist handles it, as I believe it should be ample time by now for it to be recovered enough.

@Nathan MI Not really, but before the tea I used to drink a lot of water. When I did the personal training program for the first couple of months after signing up with the gym, I easily lost 10% of body fat within 2 weeks, which shocked my trainer. I can only assume it was body fat, as it was the only thing he could think of

Have been able to spar with a guy in BJJ who was a former (couple years ago) Offensive Tackle for a very successful college football team. I'm about 180 lbs and he's about 300+ lbs and has an incredible amount of strength from being more or less a professional athlete. I'm able to hold my own against him and at times we seem evenly matched. This goes to show you that training in martial arts is no joke. Most hooligans you encounter will not be this big/strong, so imagine how much more power you would have even against someone your own size. Remember, if you train hard you can fight easy. I do hope nobody here will ever need to employ any kind of martial arts for self-defense, but you should never be caught lacking.

3 miles/45 minutes of incline walking, situps, 1 pull up with more attempts (can almost get a second one), and a 1:30 plank. Net calories: 1120 Calorie deficit: 1233

Awesome job Walter! Most Americans I imagine can't even do a single pullup. That's a pretty hard calorie deficit, keep it up!

I let myself ease up to a 2000 calorie ceiling every day until today day both to recover from the demo without taking a break from working out and because I was kinda stressed from a ton of school stuff. Starting today I'm back on the 1700 calorie ceiling.

2000 calories is still a pretty solid deficit for me, but I needed to ease up a bit to make sure I didn't lose motivation on the working out and because my mental exhaustion was through the roof. Thats my cope at least ;)

I was able to run for 6 minutes straight up 3 minutes from baseline. Also reaching less than 1/2 bodyweight on assisted pullups.

Great job man. All recorded. Stay active

Currently doing upper body today, I was able to do 8 pull ups in a row, closing in on 10. I've been doing a lot of reps on benching as well, doing 125 on those. Also doing kettlebells

Thats alot of pullups James. Good job. I have your starting weight at 192. Where are you at now?

@James AL Are you at the point where you pass all the requirements?

I have him down for passing the plank as well. Just a matter of the running probably

@Sam MI I'm currently at 186

@Thomas only thing I'm struggling with is the mile. I'm trying my best to get my cardio up

That's your big priority, you should get outta this channel.

If you believe that is best then I will leave the channel. I can message @Norman AL or you when I pass the mile

Once people pass the test they don't need to be in this channel any more. That's the metric.

Roger that

I've been doing 2.5 min planks for some time now, so I apologize for not staying otherwise. I was under the impression that we'd have to retake the whole test again at some point in order to leave this channel. Planks were my only fail.

Keep it up James, let's blast across that 10 pullup threshold before new years

Also for those struggling on cardio, make sure you are hitting cardio every single day. If for whatever reason you cannot run, or swim, do burpees.

@Andrew WY @Bryan OK @Hugh AL @Marshall MA @Norman WI @William TX All of you have either lost alot of weight or have stats that indicate that you might be able to pass the fitness test. Sound off regarding your personal bests in the 4 pt exercises. As Thomas said, we don't want you to hang out in here forever

@Sam MI 9:25 mile, trained for a month and can finally do a proper push up(now to work on reps), doing dead hangs until I can do a pull up, and I can plank between 3-4 minutes

Almost lost 70 pounds

Holy cow brother you're an inspiration!

Great job @Hugh AL ! I hear deadhangs are the way to go if you're trying to get to full pullups. Maybe if you have access to a gym you could do assisted pullups like @NQ - Austin TX .

Remind me what all the exercises are please?

@Bryan OK

Mile run (9 minutes or less)
Plank (2:30)
Pull ups (3 or more)
Push ups (25 or more)

Only thing that really stops me is the running. I weigh 184 right now as well. My cardio is way better now though. As far as steady endurance goes I feel like I might even be above average, even for our group. I need to work on running more though.

I'll try my hand at it tomorrow morning brother, I'm confident I can do it.

@Adam TX If your gym has stair climbers, try them. I struggled with getting consistent with running as I've let my cardio get very poor from the current job I am in. Stair climbers still give me a challenge without extreme building fatigue from continuously trying to push myself further, while noticing an improvement in cardio performance.

Just did some test runs, I can do 25 pushups just fine, 2 pull ups, based on past drilling I can run a mile in 8 minutes, and I haven't done the plank yet. I'll do a more through test tomorrow morning but to train for the pull ups I'm gonna do 3 sets of 25 push ups every morning before work and 3 sets of 10 dumbell curls.

Love stair machines, myself, with a weighted vest and gasmask

Gasmask sounds like it'll get that heart pumping real quick

Keep it up everyone, Slaughter these minimum goals, only upwards from here

And yes it does, haha

Squats (140), bench (85), row (105), situps, plank, more pull up attempts and some dead hanging, and 2 miles/30 minutes of incline walking. Net calories: 1550 Calorie deficit: 803

Thats incredible man, keep it going. Also I'd give the same advise to you as I did to Ryan FL. You've got to figure out a way to get your strength base up since you can only do one pushup. This could either be doing a ton of pushups on your knees, dead hangs/static holds/controlled negatives on puluup bar or going the gym route.

Recorded