If you're running Firefox, do Ctrl+F5 like Lawrie suggested to completely reload the page from the website instead of using the cache.

Firefox has a bug in it where it doesn't always update externals CSS styles, Javascript or images even though they've been modified.

You're right, milk and squats might be a bit brutal for a beginner (I wouldn't want to try it ).



Actually, here's a stronglifts article on gaining weight. It contains some good tips (and food choices):



http://stronglifts.com/how-to-gain-weight-for-skin ny-guys/

Read this for a good idea of what is probably the best way to gain weight and muscle. It's the Milk and Squats program. It's been around for a long time and has been proven to work.



Mark Rippetoe even claims it works better than steroids for packing on the pounds .



http://www.leehayward.com/squats.htm



One thing that is probably emphasised in the article (haven't read it in a while), but I would like to re-emphasise, is that you will need to eat a lot more than you do now.



--

Ryan

CrossFit is pretty great and it can be very fun. A friend and I just started doing it a few weeks ago.



Here's a CrossFit affiliate forum that posts the daily WODs and suggested scaled versions based on fitness level. Don't push yourself too hard to start. Do a couple workouts at lower intensity first to get an idea of what you're getting into .



http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums/vie wforum/16/



I haven't subscribed to the CrossFit Journal magazine or joined a CrossFit affiliate gym. We've been doing the workouts (sometimes with modifications) at our regular gym because it's much cheaper than the CrossFit affiliate.



I can't attest to achieving a high level of fitness since I just started I'm barely at a medium fitness right now, but in the few weeks I've been doing it, I've already noticed some differences in my fitness level. Hopefully I become much improved in the long-term

Sorry, didn't mean to spoil all the fun

I didn't mean to say that doing presses will help your bench press more than doing bench presses, just that the press is a more balanced exercise and if you're doing a lot of bench pressing, you should be doing a lot of pressing, too.



I have Rippetoe's Starting Strength book, but I'm at work right now. If I remember correctly, he advocates doing at least 1:1 press to bench press ratio. ie, do at least as much pressing as bench pressing. At least one of the reasons he cites (I'm not sure if there are any others) is to keep muscle strength balanced so you don't make yourself more prone to injury.



You're right though, he's more about pure strength training and Olympic lifts

I think Mark Rippetoe would argue that presses are more important than bench presses and you should be doing at least as much pressing as bench pressing so as not to create muscle imbalances. I'm sure rows probably help with keeping muscle balance, though.

Ain't that the truth .



I was being a bit facetious, but the reason I suggested squats and deadlifts is because they get away from some of the boring ab exercises to do a full body workout and they should be a part of any workout routine. Both of these exercises strengthen your core and they use your abs as stabilizers.



Are you saying that spot training works?

Other great ab exercises:



- Squats

- Deadlift

The diet doesn't look that bad considering what his exercise regimen probably is.



It's not like he's eating microwave dinners for every meal.



I'm sure his cholesterol levels are fine, too. Eating lots of cholesterol doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get high blood cholesterol.

Yes, you get disqualified if you jump in early at the olympics.



Also, check out the article on Eric Moussambani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani) for some background on that second video. It's an interesting read.

Press is the most basic form of "pressing". This is simply a person standing and "pressing" the weight overhead. It is also known as overhead press or shoulder press.



Any other sort of presses are modifications of the press. The most common one is the bench press, where you press the weight while lying on a bench. This one is often confusingly shortened to "press".



The unmodified versions of the exercises are usually assumed to be using barbells (except with exercises where using a barbell doesn't make sense). Using dumbbells is a modification.



Some examples for clarification:



Press - overhead/shoulder press using a barbell

DB press - overhead/shoulder press using dumbbells

Bench press - bench press using a barbell

DB bench press - bench press using dumbbells



Chest presses are similar to bench presses, but use a machine instead of free weights.

Is this machine a Smith machine? If so, it could be contributing your knee pain, since it forces you into unnatural motions.

If you want to strengthen your knees, the squat (full squat!) is probably the best exercise you can do.



Good, guess I'm not a doctor! It could have just been a bit of a sprain or overextension that wouldn't have become painful until next day anyway. Your 6 mile run probably just made it much worse than it would've been.

I think once you get out there and "face yours fears", so to speak, it'll become natural and you won't care if people are judging you, etc.



If you look around when you're out and about, I'm sure you'll notice plenty of people out for runs, etc. It's not like you're ever the only one out there exercising. And even if you are, maybe it'll make someone else consider getting out and going for a run .

Remember that resistance training to gain muscle isn't just about toning. Building more muscle will increase your metabolism, helping you shed more weight in the long run.

Agreed. Also, at my gym, the only place we're allowed to drop the bar to the ground is at the squat rack. I'm doing stronglifts so I do squat, deadlifts, press and rows at the squat rack. All of these exercises either require dropping plates to the floor (controlled) or will involve plates hitting the floor if I have to let go .



Squats - obviously need a squat rack since I think I can squat more than I can clean and press/jerk.

Deadlifts - controlled drop

Press - like you say, don't want to clean that every time--wasted energy. Also, I might have to drop it one day if I lose my balance or something

Rows - controlled drop

You might want to find out your base metabolism rate (there are calculators online) and keep track of your calorie intake for a week or so. You may discover that you actually *aren't* eating lots of food and that you should up your food intake.

Yeah, that was my third time. I did 5/5/5/5/4, 5/5/4/4/3 (must've been tired that day) and then 5/5/5/5/4. I just barely squeezed out my fifth rep on the fourth set and the fourth rep on the fifth set.



I'm gonna deload to 80lbs, so hopefully when I get back to 90lbs I'll just pump right through it with ease . I could potentially make it next time if I don't deload, but those muscles could probably use a little bit of a break.



I've been trying to do less of a warmup for presses because I'm so exhausted after squats... need to retain as much energy as I can .

I should've checked this thread out a long time ago. I figured it was a weight loss race of some sort, so I wasn't interested.



I'm doing Stronglifts 5x5 and have been keeping track of my progress since April 7 (2-3 weeks into the program). I haven't been keeping track of my chinup or dips reps, so they aren't included.



I won't go too much into details, but as of yesterday I would be at 192745 lbs. This obviously doesn't count warm up sets.



Here are my last two workouts, to give everybody an idea of where I'm at. I'm roughly 198 lbs.



May 31

Squat - 220, 5x5

Overhead press - 90, 5/5/5/5/4 -- gah, almost made it! time to deload.

Deadlift - 200, 1x5



June 2

Squat - 225, 5x5 -- these are getting super heavy

Bench press - 120, 5x5

Barbell row - 110, 5/4/4/3/2 -- looks like I'll have to deload here, too. the reps are a bit lower than they would otherwise be because we didn't stop to take a breath since we were rushing to go watch the hockey game.



I don't think I'll be able to progress quick enough to steal the lead away from anybody before they hit 1,000,000

I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 for the last couple weeks and have made some decent strength gains that I'm happy with.



During this time I've stayed around the same weight and (according my scale) the same body fat. Not sure how this is possible, but I'm planning to concentrate harder on my diet to try to lose some fat.

Ok, you're right. That picture doesn't do you justice .



I wouldn't fret over it too much, though. Keep up the good work and you'll reach your goal. Sure, it may be a bit later than you had hoped, but when you look back it really won't matter because you'll be where you want to be right now .

Don't be so hard on yourself, you look great. I'm sure you look fine in the other pics, too.



That is a funny observation about the angled front/side views though .

Neither of these exercises cause spinal compression, so you shouldn't have to worry about losing any height .









Doing weights first lets you get the most out of your weight lifting session, without being tired out from cardio. Also, you can do cardio when tired and not worry about dropping weights on yourself .







No, don't replace for pull-ups. Pull-ups make a good addition to any program though.



Like Bionic Samm, I recommend you try out the Stronglifts program. Almost every one of the Stronglifts exercises involves back and shoulders. I don't recommend only doing exercises that *only* target specific areas, as this can lead to muscle imbalances, which in turn can lead to injuries.



If you decide not to follow the stronglifts program, do as Bean says and multiply everything by three. Do three sets of each exercises. Increase the weight whenever you can and do 8-12 reps for each set. If you can do more than 12 reps easily enough then increase the weight. If you're unable to do 8, decrease the weight.



Also, get a wider variety of exercises.







You should be targeting all those areas. Cram it into 3 days if you want. Stronglifts does this. The stronglifts exercises are well-chosen to target as much muscle groups as possible.

If you would've waited a bit longer I could've got it

Bullet?



Also, it was actually William Willett who invented DST.

Apparently :P

Always glad to help.

I think it looks really good now. The right hand column is less of an issue for me now with the nav column moved to the left and the MyBlogLog removed. Looks plenty clean. I see no reason to remove the right external nav column now unless you actually desire the space for the content area.



Lighter lines definitely look better in nav column and I would say there's no reason to remove them now. It looks good.



I think I prefer the single lines between the blog posts.



The line below the header looks good (I wasn't sure if it would work), but might I suggest having that line on the top in the footer?



Different font in the intro text seems out of place.



With some work (and bastardised HTML) you should be able to put the content in front of the navigation in the HTML. That could end up being much harder than it sounds, though . If you're using floats and end up with just two columns, you can put content before nav in HTML and just float right and left, respectively.