thread of getting sw0le

me too. my house is very small and old. there's no space to put anything above the basement and the basement is too shallow and creepy. in my next house i'll do it.

i would like there to be one tiny gym that everyone on this thread can go to and no dudes try to talk to you

My gymnemies are the people who stand really close to you waiting for you to finish using a piece of equipment. like, do some stretches or something else. bugger off

i posted this on the hiking thread right now but weight lifters can benefit from the breakdown this dude made and a lot of it reflects my own experience

https://www.outsideonline.com/2125031/what-happens-your-body-thru-hike

i changed my overhead press form -- narrower grip, breathing & resetting at the bottom instead of the top, so there's no bounce -- and it's haaard. i thought i could tinker with it and continue at my normal working weight but probably not!

going from a dead stop at the bottom is a lot harder for sure

I'm really struggling with squats. Recently moved from 10k goblet squats to 15 / 20k barbells. I thought I was doing them correctly until a trainer came along and (helpfully) corrected me. Now I'm finding them impossible. It feels so unnatural, like something my body isn't meant to do at all.

The main things I have trouble with:

- where to place the bar without hurting my back and neck. first time i did them i had a headache the whole next day, so i started holding it a bit lower down, but this felt very painful and awkward, which leads to....
- holding the bar in a way that's comfortable so that my elbows aren't too far forward or back. It starts hurting my arms and shoulders before anything else
- MOST OF ALL - knees not going over feet. like, how do you do this without feeling like you're going to topple backwards?

I get the impression that the answer to all this is 'keep doing it and it'll start to feel more natural', but for now it is taking up every bit of my concentration just to do 5 in a row, and I'm still not entirely convinced I'm doing it properly.

do body weight squats to sort out the knees-staying-behind-the-toes situation. it might take awhile. as far as bar position and the rest of your form, there are videos etc. it does feel unnatural at first. in my case my shoulders were really not flexible enough for awhile. on a low-bar squat your elbows CAN flare back, that's fine.

How do I stop slouching - like I plank all the time but I feel like it is a different skill, like - relearning how to stand up?

I've been doing Pilates for a little over 6 months and it's almost impossible to slouch any more. A good plank is definitely part of it but I think it comes from all round correct strength and especially from the trapezius in the back. It also seems to be related to spinal mobility which always seems much better after a session and a good go on the foam roller.

deadlifting

actually doing it!

i'm sorta not kidding -- exercise and strengthening certain muscle groups will no doubt help, but you still have to DO it consciously for a while before it becomes second nature

i used to have pretty slouchy posture. i'm very long everywhere which prob made it look more pronounced. now it is good! and my back never hurts when i'm doing dishes and stuff.

thinking about switching gyms. a new one that is a local chain is coming within walking distance of me in may and today i was the most annoyed person in the gym. i wanted to squat so i was waiting for this guy to finish his rows, for which he was not using the rack but chose to be inside the rack anyway. then as soon as he left this shlubby guy came and did ugly deadlifts, for which he was not using the rack (obv) but chose to be inside the rack anyway. i should have been more assertive or something. also fanny pack was there. there is only one power rack and one bench press. i need more.

i'm getting stronger at walking lunges, which are torture

actually doing it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F3n80V_sb0

i have been to the gym 25 times since 1/28/17?

YES

meanwhile, i am now squatting more than i deadlift?!

i need to work on that

you mean getting your DL up? cause i am thinkin that 4 myself

no my squat

i have to say i'm so happy w my gym now. it's a decrepit stinky place with no windows, no machines and virtually no clientele. :D

what? no fanny pack, goat man, small israeli gym selfie guy, unqualified personal trainer dreads guy? how?

its main business is a pool where they do "aquabike" - stationary bikes underwater in a pool. there some other group classes upstairs in a big room. the weightroom is attached to that. a lot of the plates are like ancient red-painted metal plates that go CLANK when you load up the bar. there's a couple of crossfitty dudes in there sometimes. heaving bags around. one of them even had the nerve to be using the squat rack when i wanted it. he's probably gone there for five years, i've brand-new but it didn't matter, i was simmering inside. there's an Old BodyBuilder dude, the guy's a bear. he uses a couple of very old cable pulldown machines exclusively. who else. nobody of note really. so far. there's a "pro" who hands around at lunchtime for an hour or so. he once gave me unsolicited advice on my squat form which i - astonishingly - appreciated and thanked him for. i have since come to the conclusion that he is mainly wrong, of course. but he was cool about it, and it did at least make me get my chest up a little more, think more vertically, which i should always be doing anyway.

i was having a nice time at the gym. it was pretty empty because it snowed today. i had one more thing to do and then fanny pack appears, doing that stupid thing where you put a weight bar or other straight item on your back and twist like a maniac. WHY? i promptly left before he could ask me hey! how's it goin'?!

lololol.

what is the ilxsw0le GYM BAG GAME like? mine is all busted. considering the opportunity to level up

mine is a 40yo duffel I nicked from my parents basement a while back and needs replacing -- the laminate living the inside is flaking off

*lining

mine is literally a child's backpack with one large pocket.

i need a bag. thinking about bringing some accoutrements to the gym. i have been doing a lot more reps of everything and now i can squat 3x12 with little rest for what i used to have a hard time doing 3x5 with lots of rest. prob because i also leg press now and do butt stuff. i'm trying to fix my spindly giraffe legs.

Sup everybody, really fell off for a couple months but back on my lifting game again and my lifts are getting back up to where they were. Feels good.

nice.

i like this thing but it's out of stock. also looks like it's potentially made by assholes. http://www.goruck.com/38l-gym-bag-black-/p/GEAR-000354

also this, but potentially made by children: https://www.amazon.com/Nike-Sport-Gym-Laptop-Backpack/dp/B01E5JY9DU

or this, but not sure how well it actually works: https://www.aersf.com/duffel-pack/

QUESTION 1: This is my current routine, as outlined at http://oldschooltrainer.com/3-day-push-pull-legs . Is this enough or should I be doing more?

DAY ONE – PULL
Deadlifts (conventional, sumo, snatch-grip,trap bar) – 5 sets x 5 reps
Rows (barbell, dumbbell, machine or t-bar) – 5 sets x 5 reps
Weighted Pull-Ups or Chins – 5 sets x 5 reps

DAY TWO – PUSH
Flat, Incline, Dumbbell, or Machine Bench Press – 5 sets x5 reps
Military, Dumbbell or Machine Shoulder Press – 5 sets x 5 reps
Dips or Close-Grip Bench – 5 sets x 5 reps

DAY THREE – LEGS
Back or Front Squats or Leg Press – 4 sets x 6 – 10 reps
Lunges, Split Squat, or Step-Ups – 4 sets x 6 – 10 reps
Calf Raises – 3 sets x 6 – 10 reps

QUESTION 2: My shit got stolen and I need new shoes. I'm doing mostly these types of weight exercises, but will maybe do like 10-20 min on the treadmill every few weeks. The New Balance Minimus' look good but the idea of spending $90 on gym shoes is terrifying (even though I can afford it). Should I just get Chucks? Can someone convince me that it's good and proper to spend $90 on good shoes?

also my feet are wiiide so chucks are not comf

i've heard that feiyue shoes offer a similar minimalist sole with a wider toebox. the knockoffs can be had for like 20 dollars so might be worth a shot

that looks like a good routine stevie!

ya it's v like multi-muscley but when i get to the gym and leave 30 min later after only 3 exercises i'm like "is that really it???"

if you start pushing yourself to the max weight you can do on those you'll find you need a couple minutes rest between sets. all those minutes will add up. also i'd HIGHLY recommend stretching afterwards.

ya i don't stretch nearly enough. I've been pushing pretty hard and waiting like 2-3 minutes between sets, so that's good i guess!

in that case i think you are officially going to get sw0led up. stretch though!!

ok so real talk, i'm not sw0ling bcz my calorie intake is not v high, and my calorie intake is not v high bcz i've been worried this isn't enough exercise and the calories wd just make me fat instead of muscle

so if I start consuming like 4000-6000 a day and all the proper protein while doing these 3 exercises 5x5 3x a week, i will gain the muscle???

also omg it is HARD to eat that much

how much do you eat now?

honestly i have no idea

prob figure that out and eat somewhat more, see how it goes

stevie

good on you for being so motivated! congrats!

a few things: if you're not getting any muscle mass it might be because you're not lifting heavy enough and/or have a poor diet

another thing, which i think might be the case with you, is that you shouldn't only do fast reps

my apologies if i'm assuming incorrectly, but it sounds like you are lifting light and doing fast reps because you say you're feeling like "is this it?" after a session

once your heart rate goes past i believe it is ~75, you start accessing fat and start burning that off. doing faster reps allows this to happen (there was a study done on this on runners and HIIT exercises -- i can look for it if you want)

fast reps should only be done with weights you feel comfortable lifting obviously

stimulating muscle growth requires damaging muscle fiber, because this allows it to regenerate cellular tissues that become thicker. so lifting heavier with fewer reps and, this is important, slow is key to getting bigger muscles

the thing about this process is a lot of people believe muscle will grow bigger if you eat "more." this actually is not the case and muscle takes a long time to get bigger and bigger. so when you're overeating and your body uses the protein to recover from muscle damage, there is extra energy that your body is not using. there is a scientific breakdown that involves the liver, pancreas, etc that measures sugar in your blood stream and all that goodness that you can read up on your own. but basically unused energy needs to go somewhere, and that turns into fat. this collection of fat is what happens to a lot of people who bulk, because they are overeating

getting that nice balance of fat/carbs/protein is the trickiest part because it varies from body to body, and it is not something another person can tell you exactly. you just have to adjust your diet as you go and it depends a lot on your lifestyle (sleeping hours, metabolism, current weight, genetics, etc.)

good luck!

yeah. you can and should (if you want) make three exercises be hard enough and take a long time. not only because it's heavy but also being really deliberate about form makes a huge difference. this is why the gym helps me be less of an anxious psycho because i get to spend time focusing on something. i'm on my more reps more exercises thing for 6 more weeks after this but i wanna do your thing now.

ah this is so helpful!! I say "is this it??" bcz my last several routines were like 5-6 exercises a day, 3 sets of 10 reps. I try to lift heavy but i could probably be going a little harder tbh. but yeah, these exercises were picked bcz they hit several diff muscles apparently so it's not like you're JUST doing one specific muscle at a time