thread of getting sw0le

I'm okay benching without a spotter, you just set those catch bars at the right place so if you can't make it you just drop it there. Maybe I'm lucky because my gym has it set up so I can get it just in the right spot where it can catch the bar without inhibiting the lift.

How often do you guys increase the weights on the bench? I can do a 5x5 of 150 but that's about my maximum right now. With squats and deadlifts I feel I'm progressing pretty fast but adding on even 5 lbs to bench really pushes it at first.

wait. i already asked that. oops

I think I'm going to try a reverse pyramid style - I could probably go 155 or 160 on the first set, then 150 on the next two, and finish with 145 on the last ones. I've always heard "the last set is the one that counts" though I don't see how that can be true!

10# shy of benching my body weight (205#) for the first time ever . Never was much into benching so it's definitely one of my weaknesses.

whoa nice. is that x1 or

yeah just one rep . recently did 3rm and was at 180 that last rep is a bitch

my next reset/deload (which is coming right up, heh) i'm gonna go to the madcow/bill starr 5x5. excited!

that looks like a cool program. gonna look into it more.

i've been doing Wendler

my fitness goal for 2013: do one pull up

for the year?

that's a worthy goal. took me about 3 months of work to get that.

this guy is a big tool but the progression works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRznU6pzez0

lol i love that dude

yeah I think it's a good goal for the year. I weigh a lot and just started lifting seriously about a month ago.

for some reason pull ups make me feel like barfing more quickly than anything, so i'm either doing them really right or really wrong.

cool frogbs, good luck!

dyeb?

I've been super setting 4 sets each of 12 bench then incline for the past two weeks. When I'm done doing that I feel like I've gotten shot in the chest.

225 on the bench , 185 on the incline.

welcome back, bill!

Thanks!

lol i love that dude

― goole, Tuesday, July 23, 2013 4:09 PM (Yesterday)

did u guys know 4chan harassed his family and now he's not making videos anymore? sad.

jesus, really? man fuck that

that fucking sucks.

I've been visiting local Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gyms, trying to see if I want to sign up. It would cut way back on getting sw0le time (not that I'm actually trying to), but it's a great strength and endurance workout and grappling is more fun than squatting three times a week.

It's definitely great, i recommend it. Any mixed martial art type thing is a fantastic workout. I spar/roll with a friend of mine who just retired from UFC and opened up his own MMA training center, its a totally different type of workout.

I just stated doing full squats, like nearly sitting down, and god damn I can barely walk today. that's gotta be the way to do 'em.

Just recently started doing real squats & deadlifts (had done both in a smith machine for some months, since my gym didn't have the appropriate equipment) and it feels pretty great -- squats I pretty much picked up at the weight I had on the smith, but deadlifts I had to deload quite a bit to get comfortable with.

Anyways, I'm not entirely sure I'm doing the deadlifts right, as I'm getting bruised on the shin just below my knees. Is this common? Result of poor form? I'm not really aware of bumping it at any point, but I suppose it might happen as I pass the knee on the way down.

On a non-sw0le tip, I've been trying to teach myself a proper handstand lately. It's a lot of fun, though tiring on the hands & wrists.

chatter i've seen here and there treats scrapes on the shin from DL as a mark of pride?? i've got a couple, now that i look, haha.

could mean you/me need to lean back and dig with the heels more tho (but what do i know...)

i think scraped shins are part of it. if you're using the right form and driving with your heels/leaning back, you should be dragging the bar up as close to your legs as possible.

when i deadlift, to avoid weird positions or lower back stress or scraped knees on the set-down, i usually lift in front of a squat rack with 2 holder things pinned at just below the level the bar is at when it's locked out at my hips, so i just take a step or two forward and drop it in those.

Thanks yeah -- since they're bruises rather than scrapes, it's probably not a mark of pride. Guess I'll ask someone to look at my form next time I do it. I think my form is OK, but I've been increasing my weights a bit lately which usually leads to a couple of bad lifts towards the end of a session. When I *notice* that my form's going bad, I deload -- I guess the bruises may have popped up during those poorer heavy lifts.

Dylann: how does that work? You lift from the floor, then walk over and place the bar on the rack. Then what? You lift it down to the floor again using a different technique?

not a sw0le lift really but i put up 135# snatch last night and it felt solid.

Cool -- snatches look scary as hell to me.

Found out today that I'm fairly comfortable doing pistol squats on my left leg (could do 4 in a row without much problem) but it's difficult as hell on the right leg. I'm (mostly) right-handed, so that's surprising to me. Did manage to do one good one, but mostly I fell on my ass as soon as I got down. Anyhow, I'm proud of how comfortably I could do them on the left leg.

Anyone here do Turkish get-ups? A fellow taught me how to do them on Monday, and I haven't quite decided if I should try to incorporate them into my program. I kinda feel like I'm overloaded as it is right now, but I'm drawn to these exercises that seem to work a lot of stuff at once.

After 10 weeks of lifting consistently I was finally able to knock out 3 work sets of 135 lbs on the bench today. Feels good man.

Fells great to have those 45s on the bar right? Good work

Turkish get-ups are great can be harsh and the elbows though

these are brutal but awesome did heavy sets of three yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll60EDemwdQ

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/one-leg-dumbbell-squat-aka-bulgarian-squat.html

i know i should prob read the thread first but i need some help putting together a basic strength training regimen

my major concern is that i barely have any upper body strength at all and i get embarrassed doing modified pushups & wimpy lifts at the gym :(

obv embarrassment is something i need to thru but really, any advice for ol' noodle arms here

Do modified pushups at home, separate from your gym time. Lots of them. Constantly. (find a pushup progression - counter-height then lower then hands on floor knees on ground, etc.)

It shouldn't take long to work up to regular push-ups and then you can start benching or w/e at the gym.

i agree! you can do unweighted versions of things at home for a bit: air squats, dips between two chairs with your feet on the floor, and pushups of whatever type you like, that kind of thing. it's harder to work your back at home tho.

when i was starting out i found going to the gym was good motivation itself; just being there meant i did something while being at home meant i probably wouldn't.

i also had the benefit of being at a really diverse gym with a lot of older folks, women and people who were clearly trying to improve remedially. any embarrassment i felt at my own struggle & not being hyooj faded pretty quickly.

another big benefit of gyms is the machines which, while frowned upon by purists, are really useful when starting out.

yeah I totally recommend sticking to the machines for the first month or so to anyone who's just starting. I mean when you start lifting you'll gain muscle no matter what you do and the machines really decrease your chances of getting hurt. In the long run though they are basically time-wasters (as doing 15 squats in a 6 minute period is worth like 30 minutes of machine work)

how do i power clean

i only went to the gym one time in august and i have already gone 3 times this month. i'm starting starting strength over for the time being since i quit doing it a long time ago and was doing some other stuff. mainly because i don't understand power clean.

Power cleans are my favorite!

explode with your hips so the bar moves through the air with minimal input from your arms, iirc.

I never did power cleans, that was one I wanted a good trainer to coach me on and the only good trainers around here mostly focus on bodybuilders or are megabucks Crossfit coaches.

Work on your front rack as well so when you turn the bar over it's quick and comfortable to have it in that position.

explode with your hips so the bar moves through the air with minimal input from your arms, iirc

Yeah start like a deadlift but change speed and explode

saw a guy at my Y on sunday who did squats @ 290 lbs., low bar, way below parallel, 5x5. i was pretty jeal.

Anyone else experience sudden-onset headaches while lifting? I have only been doing squats/deads/benches for 3 months now, but I'm concerned because this has only really started in the last couple weeks. It only happens during benches for me. Basically, I'll be on my last rep and on the way up and about halfway there I'll just get the sudden rush to the head. At first I thought it was breathing-related but I've tried testing that and I don't think that's the issue. The headaches can get pretty intense...they're usually focused on the back of my head and can last an hour or two afterwards. I can continue to lift after (just not benches) though it's difficult and maybe not the best thing for my health. I'm afraid it could be a neck injury of some sort. It's not like I'm getting them because I'm loading heavier; my bench has barely increased in the least month (especially compared to the others). Any ideas?

more water

I drink lots of it - certainly no less than before I started getting them

are you breathing out on extension? it may be related to a build up of pressure a la the valsalva maneuver.