thread of getting sw0le

I'm ok with the idea of there being different kinds of gyms and that if you really really feel the need to grunt a lot you should go to a proper lifting gym.

Tbh to get to a good front rack with elbows up youre going to jam that bar in your throat and it's going to be somewhat uncomfortable.at least ime anyways. Xpost to TT

Working on just wrist flexibility helped me some though

x-post: as opposed to an improper lifting gym? If you have weights at your gym, you're going to have some people making sounds of exertion, I think. I am not advocating for the 'roided out maniac, but I don't get zero-tolerance-for-grunting gyms at all. I work out at a gym with competitive bodybuilders and competitive weight lifters, and it's not the grunt-fest you'd imagine for regular work-outs with these dudes -- it gets loud when they are entering their competition headspace, but otherwise, it's no louder (and sometimes less disruptive) than folks talking too much on the treadmills.

I think "proper lifting gym" is code for "any place other than where I am at" that said I don't find grunting to be a big deal, but specific dude cited above sounds annoying.

he sounds amazing.

I'm glad to have the library/BBQ mystery cleared up, but I'm still baffled by TARANTINO!

TARANTINO!

deadlift pr on saturday: 3x3 @ 255

not a whole lot on a global scale but it felt pretty good! def at the point where i feel my grip giving out before my back does

I hit 3x265 last week. My deadlift weirdly seems to progress faster than my other lifts. I wonder if I'm just built for it - short stout legs, long arms for my body.

I went for my first run tonight since i started seriously lifting -- granted it was perfect, cool running weather, but man, running is so much easier for me now, it's like my body just does what it's supposed to do and I don't have to drag it along.

Had a breakthrough with breathing today, really figured out how to use the inhale for stability and the exhale for explosiveness and got the timing better. Strength, endurance and speed were all improved.

i turn away from the mic to breathe in

i used to hold my breath with exertion but now i try to keep breathing all the time, breathe more not less, and do the ujayi yoga breathing where you don't lose your core. also getting more breath in more often. helps me get through the last squat or two with better form.

I only tried this on Bench and Squat so far, which is what I did today, but I started to take a full breath in before lowering the weight, lower the weight all the way with my breath sucked in, and then breathe out somewhat forcefully as I raise the weight -- it seems to make it easier for me to raise the weight, like my physical pushing is in line with my breath pushing. I'm not sure what the equivalent would be for deadlifts or pullups.

I also on some reps did a full breath in and out before doing another rep.

i think generally you want to breathe out when starting the positive part of the lift, so what you're doing sounds right to me. i used to hold my breath and then let it out slowly. since i tend to lift pretty slowly i would run out before hitting the top and kind of wilt. also lose some momentum at the bottom of the lift when i was holding my breath. i still breathe out when i start moving against gravity but i'm not afraid to take another breath while i'm pushing up through a squat or when i'm at the bottom of it, just to keep the energy high.

For a while I tried to inhale while lowering, which I think I read somewhere, but it seemed to just distract or weaken me. I prefer to get the inhale "out of the way" so I can focus on lowering the weight. Whereas exhaling seems to dovetail with the action of raising the weight.

yeah. that rhythm sounds familiar to me especially for bench press. i think finding a rhythm that works for you is good. with my squats, i just discovered recently that i needed more breathing at the bottom and up through the lift, probably because i do them so gd slow. deadlifts are more of a one-to-one ratio for me like bench. i like to imagine all sorts of things with breath though that aren't science-based at all, probably just focusing on it in whatever way keeps my attention in the right place.

so if you're keyed in to your breath like that i think it makes sense that it's helping you.

i hold my breath the whole time so as not to lose tension. sometimes i do 2 bench presses on one breath. kind of like swimming two lengths of the pool underwater.

If you people had trainers you wouldn't need to breathe at all.

Seriously, though -- the main thing is to breathe. I used to stick solidly to negative-inhale, positive-exhale, but there are a couple of exercises where I have started to reverse that so I can bend more deeply, and doesn't make me weaker. Then again, I am not doing the YOUTUBE POWERLIFTER ACTUALLY MORE THAN 3 REPS IS A GODDAM WASTE OF TIMES SISSIES program.

no i have a trainer that only specializes in breathing

I go to a breathing gym twice a week.

i pulled out some of my old theater training, been working on breathing into my belly instead of just inflating the upper chest. seemed to help; helps solidify your lower core

otm. I'm no trainer but i do a lot of OLY lifts and proper breathing control in critical.

is* critical

who knew voice lessons would help me get sw0le

Ordered a pair of SBD knee sleeves that came in the mail today. Holy shit where have they been all of my sw0le life?!

They're not like powerlifting wraps or anything that actually increase your number, but I've never been great at squatting and my knees are not the best. These sleeves keep them warm and tight and this is by far the best my knees have ever felt after squatting.

i did better breathing tonight thanks to all ur breath stories, high fives everyone

this knee sleeve sounds interesting, feel like the day is approaching when i'll want to try something like that.

http://www.alaskafit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/v312.jpg

Deadlift to 295 today. Really wanted to add 5 for the even number but was losing form a little already.

Making a lot of changes to try and improve my lagging squat: working back up from a 20% deload in five-pound increments (or 2.5lb for press, 10lb from deadlift), mostly to make sure my form is perfect, but also to work with a lighter load during the last stressful weeks of this semester; adding 100 cal/day (up to 3100), fixing my warmup sets (had been doing full sets of 5 at every weight, which is just...how did I not realize this was stupid; moving to bar x 5, bar x 5, w1x4, w2x3, w3x2 and into work sets with adequate rest between) and- feeling like an asshole, but still- trying 5g/creatine a day. It's so well-supported and, almost more importantly, so goddamn cheap I figured I might as well...

Oh, and almost forgot: substituting front squats for the hateful, hateful power clean until I have sufficient flexibility or whatever other miracle occurs that allows me to do them properly.

i kinda want to start front squats but i'm skuurt

Same here! I haven't even started yet; today was a deadlift day, so I'm not doing it until Tuesday, which hopefully will be enough time to read whatever Rippetoe has to say about it, watch form demonstrations on youtube, etc. If I don't follow up by Wednesday, assume the worst.

I built a pair of farmer's walk implements out of 4x4s today. I didn't pay attention to what pipe cost so I only saved $125 over ordering a pair of real ones online... but I guess there's an upside that I can leave these outside without feeling bad.

i'm worried about Telephone Thing

Having unfortunately my longest break from lifting since I started -- vacation all last week and now work travel. Will try to at least do some dumbbells at the fitness center in the hotel.

this was a fun piece of writing

http://fittish.deadspin.com/youtube-bodybuilders-rich-piana-and-dmitry-klokov-can-t-1774141422

I LIVE

It's going great, actually! Back up to 155 on the squat (I deloaded 20% at 175), so it might be too early to tell, but it's been a breeze working my way back up. Front squats are absolute murder on my wrists but I've kinda-sorta figured out a rack position where I can lay the bar across my shoulders.

I got a 50 ft. battle rope on clearance from a sporting goods store, sweet baby jesus that's brutal.

What, if any, music do you guys listen to when lifting? So far I haven't found something that really works for me, although 90's hip-hop has worked best.

i've been listening to this mix i did. it's mellow house ripped from vinyl so it's not too harsh on my ears. i can listen to it over and over without getting tired of it. sorry for the plug.

jackin house mixes obv

i don't really music because where do you put your phone? in some kind of belt or sleeve thing?

anyway i've been doing great the past 5 weeks. i made myself commit to going twice a week, which means leaving early from work one afternoon. i usually work on sundays so i make up for it. i do dumbbell bench press now and i'm getting so good at it. takes away the stress of getting mad at the dude who hogs the one bench for barbell bench press. also sleeping more and drinking less wine. i'm strong now. but only because my workload suddenly declined. when it goes back up to where it was i don't know.

your gym only has one bench?

oh nm you mean only one bench with a rack for bench press

yeah it has other benches with no racks but it has one flat bench w/ rack, 1 incline and 1 decline. i'd rather just have 3 flat benches.