thread of getting sw0le

i was gonna go to the gym but i didn't want to get hurt there because it's weird all 500 times i've been there i've hurt myself

i think TWU got banned

may he enjoy his time away from ilx getting sw0le

Time to double the sessions with his trainer.

Squat back up to 175 x3 with improved form.

Bench hit 190 x 3 and felt like I could go to 195 but fear stopped me.

woop

i get fear on the bench too. every time i ask someone for a spot i end up making the set without their help.

but thanks for standing there bro

lol

I feel like I need to hit like 2 plates to not be embarrassed to ask for a squat. Dumb I know.

Ask for a spot I mean.

needing a spot is why I don't bench -- started working on standing cable press (which is I guess more "functional")

lol spotting a squat is something you don't ask of strangers . thank god for squat racks with safety bars xp

^+1

yeah I saw guy spot his buddy today and it was very... intimate

Dude ahead of me at the rack literally did a 40-minute clean press routine. He was p good though, was annoyed at first but when I saw the beastliness of his lifts I was just like ok respeck imma come back later.

feel pretty fortunate that my gym has a massive CF 'box' as part of it -- they have ~12 racks, 30-odd bars, plenty of plates. as long as you don't show up during a class, there's no way you'll have to wait for someone to finish, or have to figure out a way to work in

Yeah having only one squat rack is kind of annoying at my gym, it's the most likely thing to be taken at any given time, especially since randos wind up doing curls or other no-rack-required exercises there. At least with bench you can usually get on the incline if the flat is taken. Space is tight, but I still think they could probably take out a couple of the superfluous cybex-type machines and put in another rack.

Discovered there's an entire subreddit called formcheck. Just people posting lift vids and getting form tips. May take advantage.

Discovered there's an entire subreddit called formcheck. Just people posting lift vids and getting form tips. May take advantage.
--socka flocka-jones (man alive)

That sounds like some real self-reliant nerd shit.

man alive, i booked a one-on-one session at SBWC. it was pricey but extremely useful.

I have a neighbor I'm friendly with who's a pretty experienced trainer with his own gym, have considered seeing if he'd give me a form check session at a friend rate.

Thinking about goals and I think I'd like to be able to bench two plates, deadlift three plates, squat idk I guess like 275? And that seems achievable within the next year, maybe even 6 months. Beyond that, not sure if I want to focus on just getting my numbers up forever, might switch to just maintaining and focus on slimming down a little.

Bench still seem unachievable for me. Getting a spotter might help.....

I did one of those free sessions with a trainer today -- guy has been training 8 years and has NASM certification (I guess that's good?) and whatnot. He had me do things a little differently, focusing less on max lifts and working in supersets and whatnot, but did give me good form tips on my deadlifts and pointed out where I had strength imbalances. Definitely overall a harder workout when there's someone forcing you not to cut corners.

Don't think I'm going to change my program, but I may try to cut back on the rest a little to have my heart rate up a little more, bc I think I was going too easy on myself.

https://67.media.tumblr.com/98ced1c7f1a55fce461ddef34a00acfe/tumblr_o7pgrwV5wZ1ufgcluo1_1280.jpg

makes u think

resident evil 2 vs resident evil 3

swole poll

http://s158562511.onlinehome.us/BlogImages/I_Have_No_Mouth.jpg

about 5 weeks into seeing a trainer now, i'm noticing massive improvement, i guess just having one session a week gives me a focal point. working with another person each week kinda forces you to try and improve and hit targets.

mostly doing repetitions that involve kettlebell - some boxing at the end of some sessions. think we will be moving on to other weights soon, he was mainly teaching me kettlebell routines i can do at home.

i guess i'm mainly used to running, i find this sort of high intensity exercise so different, like i'll feel completely broken and then a minute or so rest and you can do more than you thought you could. prob never pushed myself this hard even when running like half marathons and stuff, it's just plodding along compared to the mad intensity.

i can't be the only one who totally fucking hates burpies though.

h8 burpies

Trainer makes such a difference for me just in how much I push myself. But it's a luxury I can't afford atm.

they are the worst. my hamstrings are so tight i can't even get down to the ground to do them, make me feel like i'm 90 years old, even though i'm noticing flexibility improving for some things.

xpost - yeah i don't think i can push myself to the level he pushes, or maybe it takes a bit of learning. tonight after like 2 reps i was in bits, but he said we're doing 6 and we did 6, and i'm okay now. i have chronic illness issues so it kinda helps me to have someone giving me that belief.

xpost about burpies

I don't mind burpees. I actually like working in navy 8-counts sometimes, which is sort of like burpee plus pushup plus a little open-close leg thing when you're down.

that's my idea of hell - i did like five burpies tonight in the middle of a lot of other stuff and i was supposed to do 10, couldn't manage it at all. but i guess some things come easier than others.

how can i tell if i am rounding my back during stiff leg deadlifts? i'm looking straight in the mirror, using low weights for now, but still i get this back soreness. i can't seem to ensure that it is my hamstrings doing the work.

https://d17oy1vhnax1f7.cloudfront.net/items/0O3t46090W3D322E0T0I/tarentino.jpg

I made some dumb posts about sl deadlifts. I think they involve the whole posterior chain including the lower back and you can go pretty heavy with them but I'm no expert.

I LOVE GYM IT'S THE BEST that's all

Also it's weird is there there some like power-law principle with lifting and bodyweight? Like, when I see normal-build dudes of about my fitness level they generally weigh like 1.4 times as much and can bench probably twice as much as me but can reliably do less than half the number of chin-ups which feels really counter-intuitive.

Well I'd say it's intuitive that someone who weighs more but is otherwise of ~ the same fitness level, will be able to do less chin ups since they have more body weight to lift up. Bench thing is a bit less intuitive but I will say that bench press (or push ups) are one thing even a lot of otherwise not terribly fit dudes do at gym and may have done for a while.

otm regarding the bench press. i never really did any kind of lifting when i was younger but it seems like a lot of people at least bench pressed. I can squat or deadlift more than plenty of dudes at my gym but I'm nowhere near anyone on my bench press.

i refuse to bench press

bench press is secretly hard

i think it has the silly tough guy rep because most people can push a fair amount of weight with minimal effort on form.

it took me as long or longer to find decent form on the bench as it did with squats and deadlifts.

it's the only exercise that's injured me. too much weight + bad form = so easy to tweak a rotator cuff.