What has "actually worked" for you?

[captkronos]

Back when I was doing high rep pushups, I was doing like 250-300 a day. I went from a 38" sportcoat to a a 44" in a couple months. Compared to the years of reps/sets benching, it was a miracle. I have just gotten back to pushups, currently doing 100 daily, but I can see I will be upping that soon and the sets have already gone from 16 to 25 in the matter of a bout a week and half. I'm not sure I would ever want to be doing more than 200 daily again, it just becomes an unpleasant task at some point, and everything has a point of diminishing returns. 200 pushups daily will keep your upper body pretty tight.

[macky]

Good going, Capitaine.  

[pierinifitness]

May 24, 2020 1:37:19 GMT captkronos said:

Back when I was doing high rep pushups, I was doing like 250-300 a day. I went from a 38" sportcoat to a a 44" in a couple months. Compared to the years of reps/sets benching, it was a miracle. I have just gotten back to pushups, currently doing 100 daily, but I can see I will be upping that soon and the sets have already gone from 16 to 25 in the matter of a bout a week and half. I'm not sure I would ever want to be doing more than 200 daily again, it just becomes an unpleasant task at some point, and everything has a point of diminishing returns. 200 pushups daily will keep your upper body pretty tight.

That's quit a spread.  Would you be willing to share what your before and after weight was, or at least the before and after lbs. increase?  Thinking about the mass required to go up 6 inches in sportscoat size, it couldn't be all muscle because muscle mass comes slow for older turds and I'm guessing you're as a minimum, an entry-level old turd.  The reason I say this is because for the past year, I've tracked my weight and body fat (DXA-Scan) enough to know how hard it is to add significant muscle while keeping the fat growth in check because both require weight gain which is only possible with calories supplementation.

[captkronos]

This would have been about 15 years ago, so I was about 36/37 at the time. I was eating whatever I wanted and was doing the pushups throughout the day as I wasn't working. I had been in a car accident and once I could do pushups I did. I maxed out about 185lbs. Definitely not lean, carried a lot of belly fat for an ectomorph type at 5'11". I just think I had never really hit my upperbody like that before and probably would never respond like that again. Much of it was in my upper lats as well, just got wider and thicker really. I'm about 170 now but still around 42-44" coat size.

[mr potatohead]

May 23, 2020 20:21:29 GMT ddh said:

........  single wheel ab wheel, which is an underrated and inexpensive exercise device and which had become my favorite exercise, .....

I agree. It is IMO also. I've picked up some over the years at thrift shops, garage sales, etc.
As vegetus mentioned - keeping constant tension - that's the way I use the abwheel. I roll out and hang there or find an extended position that feels good to hold, come back slow, but no further than arms straight down if I need to pause. Doesn't take long to get a good feeling. Great tool for tightening the gut while doing something that feels childish.

Thanks for the reminder. I haven't been using that tool for a while. Been mostly messing with rocks, KBs or DBs for weighted exercise.

[fastfor40]

May 24, 2020 2:05:51 GMT captkronos said:

This would have been about 15 years ago, so I was about 36/37 at the time. I was eating whatever I wanted and was doing the pushups throughout the day as I wasn't working. I had been in a car accident and once I could do pushups I did. I maxed out about 185lbs. Definitely not lean, carried a lot of belly fat for an ectomorph type at 5'11". I just think I had never really hit my upperbody like that before and probably would never respond like that again. Much of it was in my upper lats as well, just got wider and thicker really. I'm about 170 now but still around 42-44" coat size.

A friend -a high-school football coach who tended to minimize weight training in favor of bodyweight work - taught me a pushup technique where put your hands near your waist on the floor and did pushups that way...just a few reps hits your lats pretty hard...he also did sets with his hands spaced evenly with his shoulders, fingers pointed inward towards the center of the body. I was good for a couple sets of those and my upper back/ rear delts were torched.

[fastfor40]

Years ago I contacted one of the boys, I believe it was Jim, and he couldn't have been nicer...he sent me a free book and told me to trust the program. I mentioned JP in an email, and he did not say anything bad or derogatory about him, but the absence of any expression of respect for JP or anyone associated with him and his forum confirmed everything I suspected.

[captkronos]

Henry, I still do a few "Flexercise" or Kin Shi Hai Do moves. I gave up chin ups and pullups because I would inevitably get tennis elbow, even with neutral grip. I place a bamboo stick between my feet, the hold the top end at arms length in front of me, hand over hand grip. I row it to and away from me, only tensing on the pull, and not tensing my grip. Mentally focusing on the lats. I can actually see my serratus anterior muscles for the first time after a couple months of this.

[pierinifitness]

May 24, 2020 12:02:18 GMT @h4wkwind said:

After Flexercize I was in terrific shape . . .

Big Jim looks like Moe from the Three Stooges on steroids in that photo.

[ddh]

May 23, 2020 21:07:30 GMT vegetus25 said:

Hey ddh,

I have not tried this, but you could add it to your knee pain regiment.

nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-cabbage-leaves-on-the-knee-for-osteoarthritis/

[ddh]

Vegetus, I’m going to look into the cabbage leafs, it sound interesting, thanks.

[jrmeatplow]

pretty much everything works for me, except low carb stuff. It doesn't mix well with Hashimotos.

[keith]

As much as I like the Flexercise chest routine, before that I worked out to JP'S PYTP, I know, I know. I got to the point where I was doing what was called back then ,the liederman push up and got to between 123 to 124 reps per set. I was doing handstand pushups in sets of 20's. I then caught the flu and lost all of my strength. When Powerflex came out I purchased the book and got on really well with the exercises but lost all my strength in the Pullups due to the fact of not doing the exercise.
I must admit I never got back to the pushup amount that I had got to before my illness and getting the Powerflex book.
I have always been tempted to give it a go again.

[Deleted]

I found I got my best look by upping my volume a little bit and working out more frequently.

I used to follow Stuart McRobert style programs, which were low volume low frequency. I never really looked that great in shirtless shots. I looked OK, but it was annoying seeing these P90x noobs work out for a few months and look more athletic than I did after years of lifting.

Switching to full body workouts and upping my reps made a difference. I don’t do high volume — rarely more than 5 sets per body part and often as low as two. But I’m working out every other day.

[TexasRanger]

I always go back to two sets, max eight - ten reps for the best results for me twice a week. Slower reps -- BW or weights -- along with isometrics*. (*eg Will do isoholds with a bench, for example, for a target time, add a few seconds the next along with the WorldFit strap.) Still do a little KB work, flexibility.

Aerobics -- walking, slow jogging and some easy biking. Fitness/nutrition hacker Ben Greenfield resonated with me when he said on a recent podcast he was disillusioned, if I recall the specific word he used, with hard core endurance training.

Diet? Following the recommendations from two MDs I've really come to appreciate regarding their insights and information. No extremes, intentionally continue to reduce processed foods and trying to follow TRF whenever I can.