thread of getting sw0le

Seems like last week's "back" tweak was more of a hip-flexor thing you really going to need to rest for a bit , recently had a hip-flexor strain that nagged for a long time until i shut down the squats for like a month.

being mid-30s myself i've only recently reconciled myself to the fact that the good majority of time in my workouts will be taken up by warming up (at least 20 mins of low intensity cardio on top of warm up sets) and stretching. also i try to schedule any hip-intensive workouts on days when i know i can avoid sitting in a chair for long periods of time for at least the next few days. it sucks.

The other thing I personally hate to admit but have had to accept is that once you're over 34 or so (YMMV), you are way more weather sensitive -- barometric pressure and humidity have much bigger effects on how fatigued muscles feel -- the combination of a heavy back workout and bad weather moving in will make me feel old the next day, but stretching and making sure every thing still moves where and how it should really helps.

― Three Word Username, Thursday, 26 May 2016 07:14 (8 hours ago) Permalink

Oh man, this is so true. It got much hotter and more humid in the last few days and it had a huge effect on my workout and how I felt. As Ryan noted, longer warmups would also probably be wise for me.

And yeah, I'm definitely going to stop squatting/deadlifting until I don't feel the strain at all anymore, although even yesterday vs today I feel a big improvement.

turning 33 in a few months :((((((

Made it through the workout with 200lb squats today, but I had to rack the bar and take a little mini-break during the last two sets. I'm taking the full two-day rest off for the weekend- and maybe three, come to think of it; need to find out if my gym is open for Memorial Day- eating yet more (up to 3200 calories*) and a few other considerations.

I reread the troubleshooting sections for each of the major lifts in the SS book, and made some adjustments to my foot angle, stance width, knee tracking and back posture, and started using THE VALSALVA MANEUVER (which, come on, I can't not say in a silly voice, it sounds like some Star Trek shit). I'm thinking about trying to find a legit coach for one or two sessions to check my form, but I would have no idea how to do it. Had some lateral knee pain, not on or around the patella (which would have had me worried enough to stop squatting for a while) but along the ligaments or tendons or whatever running vertically on the outward-facing sides of my knees. It's completely gone after a few hours, so I'm not super worried, but I've also started thinking about getting some real lifting shoes instead of Chucks- arch support is one thing, but apparently proper lifting shoes also have heel depressions to keep the foot steady. I pronate my feet unconsciously just walking, so doing it under 200 extra pounds of pressure can't be good for me in the long run.

Also made a huge breakthrough in overhead press when I realized I'd been wasting my time for months- I must have skimmed the chapter the first time, because the very first step in it is to use a grip sufficiently narrow that the forearms are completely vertical. Fixing that let me zoom through 85 pounds like it was nothing whereas last week I was struggling to finish the third set at 82.5, and I'm excited about finally making progress there again.

*re: food, I'm also trying to do macros instead of just counting calories, not eating crap, and trying to get enough protein. I figure it couldn't hurt, and fixing the percentage of my caloric intake that was taken up by fat (instead of the recommended 40/40/20 protein/carbs/fat, my fat was up in the high 30s most days) just makes more room for either protein or low-GI carbs, which has to be helpful for lifting over the long run. Especially now that I've gotten over a lifelong dislike of sweet potatoes and found that a baked yam drowning in hot sauce is THE BEST FOOD.

i think i lost 2 ~actual~ lbs w/ my consistency lately. i always, always stay the same weight +/- 2 lbs and i'm below my normal threshold now. trying to drink less wine.
we just got a new water cooler at work that our agency is paying for and there is delivery of the water but before that my supervisor would buy the water at sam's club and i got the privilege of carrying it from her trunk and now that there's delivery i don't get to do that anymore. it was funny she'd be like "do you need me to move closer to the door" and i'd go "NO!" i mean it's only like 45 lbs but still. at least the new ones have handles so i can pick up two now, there's just nowhere to carry them.

I feel like I have this chain of poor alignment that emanates from the persistent tightness behind my right shoulder blade and connects to periodic stiffness in my lower back and hips. Don't know if I need a chiropracter, surgery, yoga, or what.

those kinds of problems can be incredibly difficult to figure out. took me years to figure out that my sciatic nerve pain issued from tightness in my calf which created a chain reaction up my leg to my lower back. best to address things like that as holistically as possible.

decided that, at 36 with lordosis and thus persistent and maybe permanent posture issues, i can only do "sumo" style squats and deadlifts from now on. on the plus side, lately i've been living quite the swole lifestyle and been adding quite a bit of muscle and feel great.

I may eventually reach the point that I just give up on back squats if I can't figure it out. Deadlifts are much less of a problem for me, although the shoulder blade tightness sometimes interferes with keeping my upper back tight.

weird twinges lately at the edge of things, a tiny pinprick in my lower stomach, a slender filament of calf muscle that yelps in heavy lifts

Thread of getting sw0ld

I got kind of put off at the gym the other day. Just going through my usual routine (I'm not a swole guy, just trying to stay fit etc). Suddenly there's a trainer
'hey buddy, what you doing there? What sort of exercise is that??'. Turns out it was a stomach exercise I'd been taught by another instructor.
'That is an exercise but it's for people who are already buff - keep doing that, you'll injure yourself'. Fair enough. He then insists on giving me a big sales spiel/impromptu training session that I really didn't want,
'I can make you gain weight, lose weight, whatever you want' blah blah. Anyway, I made my excuses and cut my gym session short. I don't really like being instructed, it feels like ritual humiliation to me. Don't mind someone showing me a few exercises and letting me get on with it. I got three free training sessions when I signed up and I've only used on of them for that reason.
Also a bit alarming that one trainer would teach me one thing and another one would come along and say it's dangerous. For what it was worth, the exercise was most probably damaging my knees quite badly and I'd all but given it up.

What's a good stomach/abs exercise for novicey types?

I kind of hate when self-appointed instructors give me tips at the gym, although occasionally if I get past my embarrassment I actually do learn something.

Anyway the wisdom right now on abs seems to be that crunch-type exercises are bad for the spine, and it's better to do stuff like plank. I don't see any reason why plank would be bad for a novice.

The new trainer is full of shit and wanted to sell you on some training sessions.

If you're capable of doing an exercise, it's not for "people who are already buff" - if you're badly doing something too advanced, okay, but it doesn't sound like that was the case.

http://www.theonion.com/article/hillary-clinton-sets-personal-single-rep-squat-rec-52967

What's a good stomach/abs exercise for novicey types?

Google "McGill curl up"

also various planks and related moves

i have really weak lower abs so i mainly do leg raises, which i notice works the rest of my core anyway, i have to be careful to keep my hips out of it.

The ab wheel from your knees is really good for me - there's elements of balance and core strength where planks don't really involve balance.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ckb0WZHW0AAws9f.jpg:large

Vern Schillinger done got ripped

every middle aged actor in hollywood is roided out to the fucking teats

literally

watching that dude just reminded me i need to replace my god damn gloves (don't think i mentioned this already)

and kind of annoyed that simple gloves cost over $30

gloves?

we don't need no stinking gloves

not a fan of calluses on my hands

sorry not bro enough

gtfo

you don't have to worry about calluses once you rub off all your skin

https://media.giphy.com/media/fDO2Nk0ImzvvW/giphy.gif

no gloves on the thread

i should have guessed but oh my god are there a lot of lifting gloves memes

I mean honestly it's more about the fact that it (supposedly) inhibits form, mobility and development of grip strength then about being a tough guy. I'd gladly wear gloves if it wasn't thought to get in the way.

if it's not about being a tough guy then i don't want anything to do with it

i went without gloves the first two years, then started taping the weights

gloves don't inhibit anything for me

unless you wear massive ones

i'm talking about light ones just to reduce friction

tbf that pic is real but also not quite real

http://mashable.com/2016/06/08/jk-simmons-justice-league-how-so-jacked

http://i.imgur.com/9PWuD3D.gif

check out my progress guys what do you think

http://cbssports1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/06/27/41c27cb1-ed28-4725-afa1-8f7c0851b52a/resize/620x/085bc9c32cb839fe52bfb33f73ff7173/iranianhulk062716.jpg

Disturbing.

http://streetfighterdojo.com/sf4/images/characters/portraits/player1_zangief2.JPG

Today hit

305 X1 deadlift
125 x 2 overhead press

Small milestones

niiiiiice

185x3x2 bench press

yes, I am using this as my journal

hell yeah! your post are serving as motivation for me to get back into the Swole after doing next to nothing the last few months

been taking a break from heavy lifting and been doing a workout centered around running (sometimes sprints), chest-to-bar pull ups, dips, and dumbbell overhead press. it feels surprisingly comprehensive but don't think I'll get much actual swoleness from this routine.

My chest feels sore in the best way today. Reaffirms the feeling that I broke through a wall on that bench.

pullups dips and presses are legit sw0le trix iirc

I was on a work trip recently and used the fitness center at the hotel, and I felt like a real fucking badass for having the thought "Aw man, they only have dumbells up to 50lbs" for the first time in my life. I remember when it was a challenge for me to do 35's over my head, like for most of my adult life.

Cool to reread my own old posts ITT -- In October I was complaining that sets of 135x10 deadlifts were hard, now they are my warmup.

Trying my first "cut" (the "scare quotes" are to show my "ironic distance" from "bro science" because I am "chickenshit" and want to "distance myself" from "potential failure") by going down from a surplus of 3200 calories (+500 over maintenance, more or less) to a deficit of 2200 calories (500 under). My goal for now is to stick out 12 weeks and move back to eating at a surplus. It's not too bad so far, but I've found I am absolutely incapable of finishing my third set of squats. I've read enough advice that a reduction in volume is OK if I'm not forced to drop weight, but if I start failing that second set I'm going to have to start adding in more food.

I'm still able to get through every other exercise without trouble and I'm even making progress on the other lifts- finally benched a plate for 3x5 a couple of days ago, which isn't terribly impressive but was a nice milestone.

Are you on some kind of bodybuilding program?