thread of getting sw0le

Did the deadlift portion of the workout today; same thing. I think I need to up the weight by a little bit - like 5-10 pounds. It's based on my 1 rep maximum, which I estimated a little low apparently.

Still feeling the creeping soreness of a post-workout, so maybe no increase? Man, I don't know. This shit is all relatively new to me, and so damn fun.

Humid as fuck today and I felt like it affected me in the gym. I got some serious fear on the bench and didn't want to push my max. That's my biggest setback on bench I think, so I wind up increasing very slowly.

Added 5 - 10 pounds to each portion of the squat workout, and that was the right move. Totally more satisfying workout. I am also fully committing to eating right and not drinking booze the nights before workouts. The difference is amazing.

Squat days are the best days. I am so perma-chill for the rest of the day.

No, because I like lifting and I hate macho self-reliant nerd culture and I hate seeing you dudes fuck yourselves up well telling others to do thusly. Unimaginable, I know.

(WHILE telling others)

I have nothing against trainers except a family to feed with the money I'd have to spend.

Trainers aren't a cheat code against getting injured.

Anyway today felt like I fixed the lower back rounding that led to the minor pain and was able to hit 285 without a twinge.

Also hit a new best on overhead press -- 145. Don't know why my overhead press improves so much more easily than my other lifts.

lower back rounding on deadlift I mean

i would like someone to teach me how to clean properly -- i tried it again for the first time since working with a trainer (over a year ago) and i managed to aggravate a chronic elbow/bicep injury somehow

No, because I like lifting and I hate macho self-reliant nerd culture and I hate seeing you dudes fuck yourselves up well telling others to do thusly. Unimaginable, I know.

― Three Word Username, Monday, August 15, 2016 4:55 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this thread is the least macho self-reliant nerdy lifting discush i've ever seen.

Forreals. I kinda treat this thread as a place I can talk about lifting without sounding gym-bro-ish.

Finally felt like it got squatting today. Like, put in some solid effort and struggle without losing form. So so cool.

tbh i never really got injured except i think i was going too hard on my triceps for a few months when i first started lifting

hit them a little less and the pain went away (more of a ligament/tendon pain)

but definitely a newb mistake is overdoing it, which is what happened to me

it takes slower to build muscle than people think and bulking/fattening up can give you a sense of strength that is not necessarily there, so your bones and joints are prone to injury

there are tonnes of bad trainers. the good ones are pricey for people who just lift as a (nonserious) hobby

i think there is a point when even if not getting injured, after many years of lifting or performing some type of sport, your body changes and neither trainers nor doctors have solutions for you (my girl is at this point), which sucks, so you just have to experiment with different things and learn to listen to your body and get to know it really well

The trainer who convinced me to do compound lifts in the first place was a lot better than others I've met with -- have gotten way better results out of a consistent lifting routine than out of any herky-jerky quasi-crosfit series of rapid fire exercises that are mostly just overly complicated cardio with a minimal strength element.

I have another free session with a diff trainer on Wednesday -- my gym gives them out every so often to try to get you to sign up for training packages. I hope to just use it as a form check but he may try to get me to do some fad shit.

been seeing a trainer for like a month, i'm really new to all this apart from having used a kettle bell a bit at different points in the last few years. interesting to see the discussions of hamstrings upthread, i am like the least flexible person in the world, i know this from my time training in acting and attempting the many yoga-like exercises. i definitely notice that it's hard to actually feel anything in the hamstring stretches. often my calves and shins just get the strain and i feel nothing above the knee.

equally when i try and do groundwork or anything close to a burpie, the stiffness in my legs makes it almost impossible. i tend to feel my legs stiffening up once we've done like one exercise - it doesn't make it hard to do all the reps, just anything that involves flexibility.

that link caek posted seems useful - my toe-touching is pathetic. never realised that was all hamstrings.

gotta say i'm really enjoying pushing myself though, i always have a bit of trepidation before going but it makes other exercise so much easier. the idea of going for a run feels so easy when you have a one-hour session of intense hell each week. i'd never work so hard on my own. feel like my lung capacity and breathing is improving a lot too. today i did a plank and i was able to stop and think and breath my way to holding it for longer, which felt cool, like the first sense of real control and calm.

No, because I like lifting and I hate macho self-reliant nerd culture and I hate seeing you dudes fuck yourselves up well telling others to do thusly. Unimaginable, I know.

― Three Word Username, Monday, August 15, 2016 4:55 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Say whattttttttt?

i was gonna go to the gym but i didn't want to get hurt there because it's weird all 500 times i've been there i've hurt myself

i think TWU got banned

may he enjoy his time away from ilx getting sw0le

Time to double the sessions with his trainer.

Squat back up to 175 x3 with improved form.

Bench hit 190 x 3 and felt like I could go to 195 but fear stopped me.

woop

i get fear on the bench too. every time i ask someone for a spot i end up making the set without their help.

but thanks for standing there bro

lol

I feel like I need to hit like 2 plates to not be embarrassed to ask for a squat. Dumb I know.

Ask for a spot I mean.

needing a spot is why I don't bench -- started working on standing cable press (which is I guess more "functional")

lol spotting a squat is something you don't ask of strangers . thank god for squat racks with safety bars xp

^+1

yeah I saw guy spot his buddy today and it was very... intimate

Dude ahead of me at the rack literally did a 40-minute clean press routine. He was p good though, was annoyed at first but when I saw the beastliness of his lifts I was just like ok respeck imma come back later.

feel pretty fortunate that my gym has a massive CF 'box' as part of it -- they have ~12 racks, 30-odd bars, plenty of plates. as long as you don't show up during a class, there's no way you'll have to wait for someone to finish, or have to figure out a way to work in

Yeah having only one squat rack is kind of annoying at my gym, it's the most likely thing to be taken at any given time, especially since randos wind up doing curls or other no-rack-required exercises there. At least with bench you can usually get on the incline if the flat is taken. Space is tight, but I still think they could probably take out a couple of the superfluous cybex-type machines and put in another rack.

Discovered there's an entire subreddit called formcheck. Just people posting lift vids and getting form tips. May take advantage.

Discovered there's an entire subreddit called formcheck. Just people posting lift vids and getting form tips. May take advantage.
--socka flocka-jones (man alive)

That sounds like some real self-reliant nerd shit.

man alive, i booked a one-on-one session at SBWC. it was pricey but extremely useful.

I have a neighbor I'm friendly with who's a pretty experienced trainer with his own gym, have considered seeing if he'd give me a form check session at a friend rate.

Thinking about goals and I think I'd like to be able to bench two plates, deadlift three plates, squat idk I guess like 275? And that seems achievable within the next year, maybe even 6 months. Beyond that, not sure if I want to focus on just getting my numbers up forever, might switch to just maintaining and focus on slimming down a little.

Bench still seem unachievable for me. Getting a spotter might help.....

I did one of those free sessions with a trainer today -- guy has been training 8 years and has NASM certification (I guess that's good?) and whatnot. He had me do things a little differently, focusing less on max lifts and working in supersets and whatnot, but did give me good form tips on my deadlifts and pointed out where I had strength imbalances. Definitely overall a harder workout when there's someone forcing you not to cut corners.

Don't think I'm going to change my program, but I may try to cut back on the rest a little to have my heart rate up a little more, bc I think I was going too easy on myself.

https://67.media.tumblr.com/98ced1c7f1a55fce461ddef34a00acfe/tumblr_o7pgrwV5wZ1ufgcluo1_1280.jpg

makes u think

resident evil 2 vs resident evil 3

swole poll

http://s158562511.onlinehome.us/BlogImages/I_Have_No_Mouth.jpg

about 5 weeks into seeing a trainer now, i'm noticing massive improvement, i guess just having one session a week gives me a focal point. working with another person each week kinda forces you to try and improve and hit targets.

mostly doing repetitions that involve kettlebell - some boxing at the end of some sessions. think we will be moving on to other weights soon, he was mainly teaching me kettlebell routines i can do at home.

i guess i'm mainly used to running, i find this sort of high intensity exercise so different, like i'll feel completely broken and then a minute or so rest and you can do more than you thought you could. prob never pushed myself this hard even when running like half marathons and stuff, it's just plodding along compared to the mad intensity.

i can't be the only one who totally fucking hates burpies though.

h8 burpies