thread of getting sw0le

using leg drive turns it into a push press, so not really a strict press at that point - but not an uncommon way to eek out a few last reps either, as "cheating" is possibly better than quitting. Personally the leg drive doesn't do much for me because what I struggle with the most is the lockout.

Rippetoe's press technique, in the latest version of SS, involves leaning back at the hips with a tight trunk (no lower back arch), and pushing hips back and torso/head forward as you lift the bar explosively. I've see it critiqued as something that works better for max effort lifts but not high reps. I try to use it when I'm having trouble grinding out the last few reps. I love the overhead press, but it is one of the most difficult of the main compound lifts for me. I found more success using a closer grip as well as thumbless "suicide" grip.

Bear in mind with the technique Rippetoe favors that at no point should the knees be bent.

I missed a workout last week due to the Holiday, jumped right back into it on Saturday and it seemed especially difficult. I am still pretty sore. Definitely gaining strength, as I was able to up my weights and I was able to do more pushups!

my overhead press is dreadful

my overhead press is so much better then it was 6 months ago. i attribute it to handstand push-ups because i hardly seem to work presses into my routine.

1RM of 200lb on the squat last night. oof.

1RM of 220 deadlift

5 set max of (embarrassingly small weight) on bench.

a good night.

nice!

been doing a fun warm up routine

load the bar with a weight you can use for all 5 movements - i usually go through two sets 65# and 95#

5 x rdl
5 x Hang Clean
5 x push jerk
5 x front squat
5 x rows

without setting the bar down in between.

i deadlifted 150 lbs 5 times and bench pressed 67 lbs 5 times 3 times. i am still pretty bad at squats but my technique is not necessarily correlated with weight going up, which i guess is a good sign.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FliZY2DTd44/ULa88dJyTpI/AAAAAAAAA_4/jEAZWpAdbO0/s1600/Marilyn+lifts.jpg

back squat 1RM PR - 225#

nice

i taught someone about goblet squats in the gym today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mK_1EPdM70k

oope embed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK_1EPdM70k

i haven't been too consistent. a lot of working. i wanted to go 12 times between thanksgiving and xmas and it looks like i will only manage 10. i did deadlift 165 today, but bench press is barely improving at all :(

I have to go to Sri Lanka and then I come back and don't have a full time job and am gonna get swOle-ish before I go to a tiny town in Mexico where there is no gym. If I do SS stuff for like 9 weeks and then don't have access to weights, wtf do I do next??? I guess bodystrength stuff but oh my god toooooo complicated.

I got a jump rope, does that help, I guess not for swoleness

you'll have to make your own weights out of rocks i guess, or be a cardio queen. i hate the idea of bodyweight stuff but just me personally. there is a lot of stuff i am too weak or inflexible to do lol

i am travelling for basically all of december and january. feeling doughy already. all i manage is burpees.

i am dreading the gym tonight

weights is no prob. but god i hate cardio.

i skipped warming up today because i only like the treadmill by the wall so i can put all my stuff (notebook, fractional plates, longsleeve shirt) down between the treadmill and the wall. i try not to do that all the time but it was ok. i am not a cardio hater but i hate the treadmill a lot. i haven't been running much at all and i have a 5k jan 1. oh well!

also the treadmills have tvs that only get a few channels and one of them seems to be constantly playing guy fieri!

it's like, CNBC, food network, HGTV, MSNBC and something else

ugh there is this one guy always there at the same time as me who does innocuous thing that makes me irrationally angry: come to weight room, load barbell with 130 pounds of weights, do a few sets of bench presses without warming up at all, get up, don't wipe down the bench, don't put the weights back

also chinese kid who tried to help me take the weights he left on it off before who does swiss ball crunches while looking at iphone

those are the characters. the only person i like is girl who takes the squat rack for a long time, she's nice

oh yeah also huge guy who does various different kinds of rows only

everyone who squats at my gym is cool, i.e. only me and some girls.

that patrick bateman guy i mentioned upthread never came back

also chinese kid who tried to help me take the weights he left on it off before who does swiss ball crunches while looking at iphone

― Online Webinar Event for Dads (harbl), Wednesday, December 12, 2012 8:40 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sorry I won't look at my iphone anymore

also stop doing sets of 20 bench presses with heavy weights where i think you are going to hurt yourself because your feet are on the bench and the bar is tilting like you loaded it unevenly

I can take it

It's our Shaolin training.

oh i got some characters at my Y but i've outlasted most of them, ha ha ha.

there's a young dude who seems to do different kinds of curls for 3 hours.

there's another thick-necked young dude who stomps around in aggro mode the whole time. does sets of 10-12 as fast as possible and is not grunting but ROARING on the last couple.

there used to be a crew of cool strong-ass women who'd deadlift and squat but i've missed them for a while i guess

hit two PRs tonight!!

squat 3x5 @ 235
bench 3x5 @ 157.5

...and rows that kind of went nowhere after that.

one worry: i was in an old rack with no mirror. but it felt plenty low.

hey I haven't been posting here but I have been reading and benefitting.
I've did four weeks on Escalated Density Training followed by two on Power To The People (plan explained here http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler72.htm ). I am big and strong

Personal point of pride: yesterday I capably did a set of six full-length neutral grip chin-ups with a 40 pound weight on my feet, yeehaw

yesterday i drank 12 beers

i have these pants i really like a lot but i can't run in them because they fall down, so when i wear them i don't warm up. therefore i can't squat good. so i just did many lighter squats. it's mentally difficult now because i know i'm going to be away from the gym for 5 days next week and i remember how bad that made me stiffen up after thanksgiving. i think january will be a good month though.

the huge row guy was there again with his gf, who never does anything at all except kick really high, and he tried to teach her how to do deadlifts and she just stood by the bar he set down for her and changed the tv to real housewives of something. i wanted to smash her YARGHHHHHH

i'm starting to work on chin-ups now. i can do 0.

Are free weights the only true weights?

I'm working on chin-ups, too, starting with the weight-assist machine, b/c when I installed the bar at home and tried, I could do 0. Humbling.

Pissed b/c I lost my training log that contained my first two months worth of workouts, plus starting measurements, body fat, and weight. :(

I wonder if I could do a pull up. I haven't tried in years. Probably not. Je55e, I'm coming by your place to try.

got a bad cold this week and was only able to exercise on monday. i can't stop coughing for long enough to do anything. after xmas i will be free of travel and hopefully of colds, so i give up for now

ljubljana idk what you mean by that question except are you asking about machines?

je55e fwiw ime the weight assist machine doesn't actually translate that well to real chinups/pullups. given u have a bar you may better off doing jumping chins and going slow on the negative.

xp yeah, just whether it's worth bothering with them.

harbl: have you had any trouble eating? I've had a cold this week as well, and have had a hard time getting myself to eat much of anything, since I have no appetite, energy (duh) or sense of taste. Judging by the bathroom scale, I've dropped somewhere between 2 and 3 kgs this week, despite forcing myself to eat when I really, really didnt't want to, and drinking just ridiculous amounts of water. Hopefully most of it is water-weight and will pack back on really quickly, but I can't help but think of that hideous comic of some guy's gainz putting on a coat and leaving. I'm not looking forward to my next trip to the gym, which seems like it might be possible in two or three days. My last session, just before I really got sick, was just horrible.

I started doing chins a couple of weeks ago, with "neutral grip", which is where your palms face each other rather than towards you or away from you. I can do, uh, four. First time I managed three, so hey, progress! A trainer at my gym recommended I do two sets of max repetitions, then one set of inverted chins. That's apparently supposed to be much easier, but I'll be damned if I didn't find it to be nearly as tough. I tried to boost myself up by jumping, which might not have been the best way of going about it -- but I'm not about to go find something to climb up on.

Meanwhile, shoveling snow is way easier this year than last year. Woohoo!