thread of getting sw0le

I'm not declining too badly while cutting, but I've also only lost like three pounds over three weeks. I'm down from a 190 squat to 180; other stuff hasn't declined yet, but I'm stalled at 95 OHP, deadlift has slowed to a +5lb a week crawl (last one at 245) and bench is going up 2.5lb every other session with extreme effort (137.5 now) so I'm sure it's about to stall out soon.

It's nice that it's forcing me to be absolutely ruthless with my food intake, though- I *cannot* waste any calories on, say, Taco Bell or else I have to a) go over in order to get enough quality food in (protein, veggies, non-shirt carbohydrates) or b) stay under and take a huge performance hit in the gym the next day.

if anyone has any good ideas for improving ham flex, i'm all ears.

i have the same problem and while i've not made any great progress on it i will say that one thing i've learned is that it's important to focus on the entire posterior chain (ie, if you are stretching your hams and yet your lower back isn't straight it's not very effective). it's quite difficult for me, for instance, to bend forward without also hunching.

i agree it is best to focus on non-shirt carbohydrates

goole http://dev.moveskill.com/2015/03/what-should-stretching-feel-like/

^that looks good. might be time for me to get a resistance band.

yeah the linked series with a band at http://moveskill.com/movement/band-hamstring-stretch/ is good

my hamstrings are worthless btw

hmm thx, i might work some of those into my stretch routine.

yeah that looks really useful

lol I started doing what seemed like a good hip mobility routine, and now I have mild knee pain

however, my internet self-diagnosis suggests it's just IT Band syndrome, and not a more serious injury.

PRed snatch at #175 really low for someone my size but it's such a difficult movement. considering where i started i do feel good about it though.

Goon jus wanna say thx, your posts about stretching encouraged me to start doing a stretch routine before lifting and some mobility stuff on off days and my squat seems much better, and also I just feel better. Today a trainer saw me at the squat rack and gave me a mod and was like "that's some good depth." Was pretty proud. And managed to get back up to 155 without losing form.

Just started a 5 week program to gain on my squats/bench/deadlifts. Here's a link:

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-routines/3x2-strength-program

I did the squat workout this morning, and while my quads are shot, the rest of me is feeling neglected. Pretty stoked about this; I guess I'm in much better shape than I thought. When I left the gym this morning, I was like "I didn't really get what I needed with that." I guess that's the point of this kind of workout, but it's not something I want to do long term. I greatly prefer highly condensed super-set style workouts.

I fucking love lifting, I feel like it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. I'm stronger, more confident, know my body better, calmer, more focused. I feel like I fixed both mental and physical issues that have plagued me my entire life.

Dude, I hear you. I almost always go first thing in the morning - like 5 a.m. It's the only time I can go regularly, and I've always been a morning guy my whole life.

Giving over to that tendency and taking regular time for myself that is unequivocally, without question beneficial to me has just been amazing.

I will say that some mornings it is next-to-impossible to get out of bed, but I am getting better by the day at saying "Just go. Your day will be better because you go. Just go." And I'm NEVER wrong!

gotta take some time off. persistent hip soreness. appt with an ortho next week :(

happy for u all tho

Has anyone tried double overhand hook grip on deadlifts? I've read some things that suggest mixed grip can increase risk of injury and/or create imbalances, and this intuitively makes sense with how I feel when I do mixed grip (especially since my tight right shoulder can already create unevenness in my form).

Two years hardcore, tremendous gains and no injuries for me, but hey, trainers are for chumps, right?

x-post i'm back to hook grip on deadlifts after years of sidestepping my weak grip via straps or mixed grip and doing much better. i think it just took swallowing some ego (but my back can lift more!) and being persistent.

I've been doing mixed grip for 6+ years now and while it's possible I am imbalanced I haven't had any injuries.

I try to remember to use double overhand for my warm ups but sometimes I forget...

is anyone else loving the oly weightlifting? i've only watched the 62 kg men's snatch so far. dug watching the egyptian do some kind of breath work to prepare, beautiful first attempt. and then the columbian who won the gold is something else entirely.

n.b. i don't think it's "bad" to use mixed grip? straps though are a little lame.

occasionally

saw the chinese and north korean win which was pretty cool

after that i've been following swimming and sometimes gymnastics

gymnasts are more inspiring than weightlifters for me

well something isn't working for me, bc lower back started to bother me at the end of my deadlifts today. Not debilitating pain but definitely a brief but firm "stop doing that" pain.

Give it a day or two. I've definitely had days after high reps of deadlifts where my lower back is all "Whoa. It's cool, but just . . . whoa."

I did the bench portion of the 3x2 workout I posted above, and blew through it with few problems. I think I may be stronger than I thought?

I fucking love lifting. Shit is so addictive.

Yeah, it happened to me once before and I wound up fine after, but I do feel like I need to fix something in my form. One thing about me is I definitely listen to my body and don't push the envelope wrt potential injury.

there was a *that guy* at the gym today. had like eight plates on. doing uh straight-leg deadlifts? yelled something about almost shitting himself. didn't rerack anything. then moved to the cables, screamed through unidentifiable exertions. not pretty. a little weird because this is a student (and staff / faculty) gym at a university and he definitely seemed out of place. also i hate it when people leave their plates on, major breach of etiquette imo.

are straight-leg deadlifts not OK? I have no idea pros and cons on that.

I don't even know what that is, like a deadlift where you have your legs straight the entire motion? How would that even work?

they're fine but i was skeptical that this person who had 300+ pounds on the bar was doing them correctly.

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

If he wasn't he'd probably be injured. 300 lbs is pretty heavy. SLDL and Romanian DLs are usually done at a significantly lighter weight than regular DLs.

I dunno I am flexible enough that I can have legs straight, back straight and reach the bar. I've seen straight-leg deadlifts in videos? Maybe it is restricted by flexibility, or maybe you can't do as much weight as on bended knee? Curious.

Two years hardcore, tremendous gains and no injuries for me, but hey, trainers are for chumps, right?

― Three Word Username, Wednesday, August 10, 2016 12:06 PM (6 hours ago)

congrats, bro, but why do you keep posting like this in this thread

Again significantly less weight than regular DL (but usually need either bumper plates or 45s to get bar high enough). It also doesn't start from floor so bar doesn't always hit the floor depending on your range of motion. Idea is to build hamstring strength not destroy them. :)

If he wasn't he'd probably be injured. 300 lbs is pretty heavy. SLDL and Romanian DLs are usually done at a significantly lighter weight than regular DLs.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Wednesday, August 10, 2016 11:00 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he was doing just that, 300+ pounds, not bending his legs, sets of 5-6. i didn't really scope his back or anything and he seemed to be getting through them, loudly, so he was probably ok. i get all side-eye when someone has that kind of weight on the bar and they seem a little crazy which is judgey i know. but romanian deadlifts, that bend, hard to keep tight with a lot of weight!

xp yeah it's basically an eccentric motion hamstring exercise. probably some butt in there. a lot of movement for it too. i try to be careful with them. not a go-for-broke exercise imo.

Two years hardcore, tremendous gains and no injuries for me, but hey, trainers are for chumps, right?

― Three Word Username, Wednesday, August 10, 2016 12:06 PM (6 hours ago)

congrats, bro, but why do you keep posting like this in this thread

― assawoman bay (harbl), Wednesday, August 10, 2016 11:02 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

because he will never not be abrasive and will never not expect everyone to deal with it. best to ignore.

I think it's a good exercise but yeah it's not something I do 2-3 reps with max weight...

Did the deadlift portion of the workout today; same thing. I think I need to up the weight by a little bit - like 5-10 pounds. It's based on my 1 rep maximum, which I estimated a little low apparently.

Still feeling the creeping soreness of a post-workout, so maybe no increase? Man, I don't know. This shit is all relatively new to me, and so damn fun.

Humid as fuck today and I felt like it affected me in the gym. I got some serious fear on the bench and didn't want to push my max. That's my biggest setback on bench I think, so I wind up increasing very slowly.

Added 5 - 10 pounds to each portion of the squat workout, and that was the right move. Totally more satisfying workout. I am also fully committing to eating right and not drinking booze the nights before workouts. The difference is amazing.

Squat days are the best days. I am so perma-chill for the rest of the day.

No, because I like lifting and I hate macho self-reliant nerd culture and I hate seeing you dudes fuck yourselves up well telling others to do thusly. Unimaginable, I know.

(WHILE telling others)

I have nothing against trainers except a family to feed with the money I'd have to spend.

Trainers aren't a cheat code against getting injured.

Anyway today felt like I fixed the lower back rounding that led to the minor pain and was able to hit 285 without a twinge.

Also hit a new best on overhead press -- 145. Don't know why my overhead press improves so much more easily than my other lifts.

lower back rounding on deadlift I mean

i would like someone to teach me how to clean properly -- i tried it again for the first time since working with a trainer (over a year ago) and i managed to aggravate a chronic elbow/bicep injury somehow

No, because I like lifting and I hate macho self-reliant nerd culture and I hate seeing you dudes fuck yourselves up well telling others to do thusly. Unimaginable, I know.

― Three Word Username, Monday, August 15, 2016 4:55 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this thread is the least macho self-reliant nerdy lifting discush i've ever seen.

Forreals. I kinda treat this thread as a place I can talk about lifting without sounding gym-bro-ish.

Finally felt like it got squatting today. Like, put in some solid effort and struggle without losing form. So so cool.