thread of getting sw0le

ugh i love the idea of perfect form, as it is i pride myself in doing slow, smooth reps even if it means a little less weight vs like doing lots of jerking and pulling and yanking and taking advantage of the weight's momentum

also i silently judge ppl who do a lot of jerking and yanking

i just don't want to drop mad coin on a trainer!!!

I mean slowness past a certain point definitely makes the exercise more challenging and might reduce the amount of weight you can do. Tempo squats are harder than regular squats. So for powerlifting, where the goal is to maximize the amount of weight you can lift, using explosiveness/speed will usually give you better results. But even powerlifters tend to do some slower-speed training.

My brother in law came to visit for a week when we were living in an island location. He brought all his protein powders and his food scale because he weighs his chicken without fail. I got up in the morning and saw him out on the terrace lifting the chairs. He's super, super cut and dorito shaped though so I was like, YOU GO.

also, he was a very slight teenager with body image issues so it's impressive to how much he's changed. My spouse is like "why are you looking at half naked pics of my brother!" But it's the before and after pics on his fb and it's crazy how much sculpted, proportional muscle he's put on.

w/r/t form i find it easier to attain with ~more~ weight, rather than less. not, like, maximally loaded, but something where gravity helps enforce a good bar path

yeah its cool the lifts are natural

hey guys and gals, idk who uses Optimum Gold Standard Whey but i just switched from double rich choc to mocha cappuccino and it's actually really great and prob better than the plain choc

yeah? might have to try that next time

I switched to vegetable protein powder. I find it makes me feel better and stink less.

i know i'm "back" on the sw0le train when i'm tacking on lat pull downs after pull-ups.

I did lay pull downs after pull ups today!

i laid down after pull-ups if that counts

Still working on tight hip flexors. Really annoyed with myself for not honing in on the problem better/sooner (and a little for physical therapy in late 2016 being so vague and unhelpful), since it really seems like that's been my major limiting factor for squats and, to a lesser degree, deadlift

man havent been in the gym in forever, weather too nice outside man

Sometimes I feel like I will never fix my squat. I thought I finally had it down when I switched to low bar, but then a trainer (one who knows his lifting shit) realized my back was dangerously rounding and I wasn't tightening my core enough. Now I'm doing that but squatting higher again and I feel like my hips are as tight as ever.

I've been doing a lot of iron crosses and reverse decline lunges and stuff like that, and I even got a standing desk. IDK if anything will do it, squats have always been unnatural for me. I see guys who are much weaker than me who can do them more easily, the movement is so natural for them.

man havent been in the gym in forever, weather too nice outside man

― sprout god (lag∞n), Friday, July 6, 2018 12:07 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

v same

Hi there, long time long time listener, first time caller.

Since I am coming off my second stress fracture in two years, I decided to start a lifting routine so I wouldn’t allow myself to run 7 days a week. I’ve been doing 5/3/1 for a couple of months now, and I think I kind of like it? It fits with my slow/steady/methodical progress mindset. I just don’t care about lifting massive amounts of weight, I just want to slowly progress.

Some random thoughts:

-I can’t do deadlifts, so many of the 5/3/1 zealots would say I’m not really doing the program right, but my lower back is just not deadlift friendly. I’ve tried it off the rack and not from the floor, using the bar thing you step into, etc. Even just lifting the bar with no weights almost tweaks my back every time. So I’ve been doing a bunch of extra assistant work on deadlift day to try and work the same muscles. It seems to be working? I really like single leg Romanian deadlifts with dumbbells. Any other suggestions welcome.

-I love squats, and really leg stuff in general. Any thing that I don’t have to lift with my runner noodle arms is good. However I’m still using the Smith Machine for squats. Which I know isn’t ideal, but I’m kind of chicken when I’m anything about 180 or so.

-I’ve been doing barbell bench, which has been mostly fine except on the the AMRAP for the last sets. It’s only happened once, but I pinned myself, some random dude saw me and helped me out though. So I don’t think I’ve been pushing myself to my true AMRAP. Eventually I’ll find someone to spot me. Not a lot of people in my gym at 5:00 AM though.

-Favorite assistant work, one leg dumbbell squats, leg press, inclined dumbbell bench, lat pull down

-Least favorite assistant work, side planks, machine assisted dips/chins, cable triceps pull down (maybe the worst, I don’t think I have triceps, I currently do 30 lbs x 15 three times).

That’s it. Progress is slow, but starting to be noticeable after 2 months. But ultimately I’ll be glad when I can quit and run all the time again. The end.

my gym right now is the exact opposite of the gym i used to go to in d.c. - very low-pressure and podunk and never crowded. they have a big room with a wooden floor and mirrors that people teach classes in, though it's empty like 98% of the time. so i do some yoga for about 20-25 minutes in there before i go back out and lift weights. it's great. no distractions. i can go shirtless, pretend i'm a dancer and jack my iphone into the stereo. so i'm in there today wearing tights with no shirt doing yoga while ambient autechre is playing and my boss, the owner of the bookstore where i work, walks in with the trainer he's been working with for the past few months to do some yoga of their own. i finish my routine, get my stuff, try to avoid interaction and it's kind of awkward. the end.

lmao whoops

map took me to his gym in DC once and it was so wack, like ultra high end lUxUrY gym with lots of exposed concrete and brick and indirect fuchsia lighting

I am trying to row 10k meters a day this week. Saturday and Sunday done. I think I might get buttcrack chafe before I can finish though.

Tons of lateral/support work (reverse weighted lunges, twist lunges, iron crosses, calf raises/lowers on box, dead bugs, etc.), focus on keeping tight, lots of rest, and yesterday I got my low bar squat back up to 225 x 5. Need to get someone to check my form again though to make sure I've fixed the back rounding.

i am trying this tim ferris occam's protocol thing, on workout 3 today. still strange to only do one set.

xp do you do your iron crosses hanging from a bar? i want to be able to do them either hanging or pushing myself up from the ground for more than .5 seconds.

i love dead bugs

ftr I'm talking about this kind of iron cross. Not sure if we're talking about the same thing:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/78/1f/61781f3a997010b960e140f1c37eaf96.png

Finally broke my plateau and deadlifted 335

Nice!

Also, I was p proud of myself the other day for carrying a 90lb flat box up two flights of stairs. Def could not have done that a couple years ago! One of the few moments of my new “functional strength” being functional that didn’t involve tossing my kids around to amuse them.

After 13 weeks, I’m kind of tired of 5/3/1. I’ve seen gradual improvement, but just itching for something new.

Started a kettlebell routine this morning, the Simple & Sinister one. So the program says that a man of average strength should be able to start with a 35 lb kettlebell. I think to myself, I just did 13 weeks of some strength training, maybe I’m on the low end of average, so I’ll go for that. The swings were fine, but I couldn’t do a single Turkish get up with 35 lb. There was just no way. I wasn’t able to do them until I got down to 25 lb. My form was still terrible though.

Every program that has any level of complexity to it has been counterproductive for me by just demotivating me and making me put too much energy into thinking about the workout. If that means my progress isn't maximized that's fine with me, I'm still going in there 3x week, lifting, and slowly making progress. Not training for a meet.

Most recently I tried to do the RPM6/7/8 thing, but even that just required too much mental energy to think "wait, did I have 3 more left in the tank or two?". Instead I just do a ramp with sets of 5 up to the point where I can't hit 5 (I do my max at that weight), and then I drop back down and do one or two more sets at a weight where I can hit 5 without blowing myself out completely. In my ramp I gradually increase by smaller increments, for example, squatting I might go Bar - 95 - 135 - 175 - 205 - 225 - 235 - 215 x2. Maybe that sounds complicated but it feels natural to me, I get nice and warmed up, do several sets at reasonable weights and still get the fun of pushing it a little on one set.

That's also why I couldn't last with stronglifts -- it takes way too long in the program to build to the point where you actually feel like you are lifting real weight.

Just came from the doctor and finally have official diagnosis that my hamstrings, IT bands and just about everything that attaches to my pelvis is insanely tight. Starting physical therapy for it ASAP in the hopes that I can finally squat more

respeck

guys i've gotten sw0le apparently and ppl keep commenting
my arms have gotten conspicuously larger and my chest has too a bit but i want my chest to get a lot bigger
also i'm almost out of gold standard whey and need to get more. what flavor should i get? i mix it w water and not milk

ugh i need to be sooooo much more thoughtful about what i eat but it's such a pain in the ass!!!

i like Jarrow Formulas Whey Protein, Supports Muscle Development, Unflavored, 32 oz. cause it doesnt have any sugar then i blend it w yogurt/banana/water and it all emulsifies and is kinda delicious, it turns out like fluffy

love muscle development

i just put the powder in my shaker bottle and throw it in my gym bag and after my workout i fill it w water fountain water

I liked Isopure Strawberries & Cream when I was drinking protein drinks.

pink sun is the most natural/best-tasting I've found

i guess all brands are fine as long as they have the amt of protein you need and are cost-effective, yes?

i wonder if instead of mixing it w water at the gym i should just wait half an hour til i get home and mix it w milk, though chugging 8oz of milk fills me up way more (and thus less room for actual food) and makes my stomach feel way heavy

i split the difference and do almond milk, gets a little viscosity without dairy overload

i do myprotein dot com brand protein and it's gross and fake sweet but i dig it, esp the strawberry flavor

guys i am moving tomorrow--not far, but far enough that i have to change gyms and i am having some anxiety about the whole situation. i'm very comfortable with my shitty blink (chain gym for casuals) but i'm going to join a queens meathead gym. it will serve my needs better--they have a deadlift platform! and tons of racks. still this voyage into the unknown is very stressful!

i did a similar move this year but to a place with a really crossfit/LA/yelper vibe and their own clothing line (https://www.instagram.com/barbellbrigade/)

i was nervous and christ they seem like awful people on IG, but but it's a much better gym and everyone is nice and they don't have tvs and they played thong song at ear splitting volume last night while lifted my puny weights.

also i had to take a week off squats because i got sunburn on my shoulders!

stevie it's something you're going to be drinking on the reg I'd say it's important to get really healthy stuff i.e. no hormones, no soy, organic etc