thread of getting sw0le

nice! Enjoying it is half the battle, because when you do it keeps you going back.

otm. I reaaaaaally did not expect to enjoy it (I have a bit of anxiety surrounding sports and fitness, specifically cardio, bcz of v small lung capacity and a lifetime of being made to run in gym even though I simply physically cant) but it's become my little zen zone thing and I get to listen to fun electronic music and push and pull things v hard and the vibe is so chill and fitness-bro-free

Man, Stevie, congrats. You're gonna lose that weight if you stick with that routine. And the fact that you bike there on top of it all is awesome.

I feel you on the electronic music, too. I usually listen to rap or punk in the gym, but sometimes for the extra boast I listen to trap step, like those super douchey, bro-ed out dubstep mixes of trap songs, because it fires me up. Not something I listen to a lot in the wild, but it's fun just cranking it when I'm in the gym

I finally was able to do set of 5 benches at 200lbs without fear of collapsing on last one and having it sit on my chest (I know I know I could just ask a dude to spot me but I feel self-conscious about that). This has been a goal for a while so I'm pretty stoked.

I listen to podcasts pretty much exclusively which is only awkward when something really funny gets said mid-lift.

way to go on the bench!! that's some weight dawg

comedy v dangerous when lifting imo, seriously

lol that is exactly what wd happen to me if I tried to listen to podcasts

I do worry that I'm not doing enough weights while I'm there; the routine I have worked out is 8 different exercises each day, 3 sets of 10, with 45 sec in between each set. I'm usually in and out in like 45-50 min.

also it feels so awk only spending like 15-20 seconds actually doing the set and then 45 seconds resting, sitting on the machine, doing nothing, counting, hoping no one else is waiting to use it...

It's understood gym etiquette that people get to finish their sets before moving on. Sometimes if it's crowded someone might ask to "work in" with you, meaning they do their set while you rest and vice versa, and that's fine.

As long as it feels a little bit challenging to complete the sets, you are definitely doing enough. Even a few focused and challenging exercises are going to benefit you more than going through the motions on 20 different exercises.

I finally was able to do set of 5 benches at 200lbs without fear of collapsing on last one and having it sit on my chest (I know I know I could just ask a dude to spot me but I feel self-conscious about that). This has been a goal for a while so I'm pretty stoked.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, March 21, 2016 9:55 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nice -- I also have some serious benching fear and also feel too self-conscious to use a spot. My 5x max is around 170 now (i.e. max I can do without fear of dropping).

the routine I have worked out is 8 different exercises each day, 3 sets of 10, with 45 sec in between each set.

Impressive. This is a super disciplined routine; I don't have the discipline to time my rests. And nobody's gonna think twice about somebody catching their breath for 45 seconds. I see people get lost on their phone for minutes all the time

That's good to know. I'm still feeling it out and figuring how much weight I need to be doing for each exercise but "challenging to complete the set" is a great place to work from and will prob make the 45-60 second rest feel less awk and more necessary

Yeah basically you need to find a sweet spot in between easy to finish and can't finish, keeping in mind that doing a circuit of that many different exercises requires some energy conservation.

I see people get lost on their phone for minutes all the time

― Evan R, Monday, March 21, 2016 11:19 AM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I do some serious annoyed hovering when this happens

45-60 doesn't feel weird to me, but 3-4 minutes sure can. That was what ultimately killed my one attempt at strict Starting Strength in a big chain gym. Even when it wasn't interfering with anyone, I felt like a tool.

Yeah, I generally abhor the gym pecking order—where the biggest, pushiest guy gets to butt in and use any machine he wants when he wants—but I'm all for machine hogs being hovered over if they aren't actually using the machine.

45-60 doesn't feel weird to me, but 3-4 minutes sure can. That was what ultimately killed my one attempt at strict Starting Strength in a big chain gym. Even when it wasn't interfering with anyone, I felt like a tool.

― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Monday, March 21, 2016 11:48 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i def felt self-conscious about the SS-prescribed "wait forever between sets". that said, my gym has a lot of squat racks/bars/etc so unless there's a crossfit class going on, i'm not likely to be bothering anyone

idk nobody in my gym ever does anything in a timely fashion, a lot of people refuse to break their shit down when they're done so you can't really tell, and a certain number of dudes will hog two stations doing some kind of circuit thing

i don't have a problem pacing around for 2-3 mins between sets.

crowded gyms are the worst

i love the circuit dudes, like 'i'm gonna use every device in the place for the next 20-25 minutes that ok?' no that's not ok

245 x 5 on my deadlift today for the first time.

it's up there with curls in the squat rack yeah

the type that really set off my manias are the guys that, when you ask if they're done with equipment they've wandered away from, give you some vague answer like, maybe i was gonna go do some more, but it's ok. oh you didn't have a STRICT PLAN for yourself when you walked in here fucker???

xp nice

btw do you guys keep logs/journals or

that's exactly where i'm at too, man alive :D

i could maybe go more but honestly it's my grip failing at this point

Yes it's called ilx

Trace same true for me, in fact it's mostly hand pain. I wonder if I should do it more than 1x per week to build up better callouses.

i have a spreadsheet. it doesn't go back further than a month (i just cycle back to the beginning after 4 wks). it's really just to compute my warmup amounts, keep track of last workout and next workout.

xp uh oh, have you watched some videos on grip placement? you shdn't be getting very serious callus

245 x 5 on my deadlift today for the first time.

― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Monday, March 21, 2016 12:12 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's where i was at in the fall! and then i stopped lifting :(

also felt like i was getting limited by grip strength

Hmm. Good tip, will look into that

no pain in hands for me just literally bar slipping a bit on the last pull. just need to sw0le out a little more obv

Can also now do lol 3 proper pull-ups. My weight is up to 188 though which must mean something to that.

hey is this calf machine gon fuck my knees up? i did 60lbs on it and my knees feel a lil weird/sore and that seems not good

http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/L11076244.jpg

it's not gonna fuck your knees up if it's properly positioned but there are def better things you could do with your gym time

I don't think I've ever seen a machine like that tbh. All I can think is that it might hurt your knees if you're pushing off your toes (like a squat or leg press will feel funny hurt) and you should be pushing with your heel?

You're supposed to push off your toes. Not sure why it would hurt knees other than from pressing directly into them -- are you positioning the pads right on your knees instead of slightly above on your thighs?

Agree though that it's not the most useful machine in the gym.

xxp don't listen to these dudes, calf machines are kewl. don't push with your heels, push from the balls of your feet. make sure your feet are going down past parallel. concentate on your calf muscles flexing. keep your back straight. breathe deep. do more reps like 12-20. you'll be sporting hot canteloupes below your cut-off jorts in no time. god be with you on your journey to bigger calves.

Where can I find one of those rowing machines Kevin Spacey uses in House of Cards? None of the gyms I've gone to have had anything like that

http://www.waterrower.com/

I've never seen one in a gym.

http://www.instyle.com/news/found-it-frank-underwoods-rowing-machine-house-cards

i've used them in gyms... less consistent than the good old Concept 2 but the sloshing sound is really nice and if i could get a rower for home use and wasn't super-obsessed with comparing my performance to other people around the world that's probably what i would get, just for the sloshing

xp I'm putting it on my thighs instead of right above the knee and yeah I am pushing w the ball of my foot. I'm thinking of just adjusting my bike pedal stance too and riding more w the ball of my foot instead of my arch or heel

yeah you prob don't need to do that thing if you ride a bike, or even if you don't

ime far more likely to experience injury to feet than knees w/ any calf machines

what harbl said

that machine is a good example of what I was talking about upthread ... it can help you get big calves, but the motion it trains you to perform has zero transference to anything you'd do with your body in the real world

looks like some shit Ivan Drago trained on in rock IV

i'm trying to come back from a hip flexor strain atm. Going to squat tonight for the first time in a few weeks.

that machine is a good example of what I was talking about upthread ... it can help you get big calves, but the motion it trains you to perform has zero transference to anything you'd do with your body in the real world

― Brad C., Tuesday, March 22, 2016 10:55 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what about pranking the meeting by making the conference table "levitate"?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UfHAAb-aip0/VYs_jSGFdYI/AAAAAAAAEvg/uIxpKflFZOQ/s640/Professor-X.png

I can't get my lower back to not round at the bottom of a squat. Even low weight.