you gotta keep trying. i was high bar squatting a bit but the truth is i just hate doing it. i, too, have to keep trying, but i'm long
― forensic plumber (harbl), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 11:42 (five years ago) link
i am going to front squat tomorrow
Today is the start of my second week on the new program, also with high bar squats, so I don't have a ton of data to add to this but it sounds like my experience was largely the same- core stabilization issues while being able to break parallel easily meant that I was putting most of the stress from the low bar on my lumbar spine and hips. And hip hinging is important in the movement but the larger muscle groups that are supposed to be doing most of the work felt like they weren't active at all. Moving to high bar, it was suddenly all ass and quads, which is what I'm trying to do in the first place, so hopefully this turns out to be sustainable/something I can progress.
― You guys are caterpillar (Telephone thing), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 14:57 (five years ago) link
high bar is so nice u can make a shelf for the bar to sit on by pushing you shoulder blades way back then you barely have to use yr arms to stabilize the bar at all it just sits there, that setup also goes a long way towards making yr core good and tight for the lift
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:23 (five years ago) link
front squats feel like a more contrived form w the bar all up in yr throat space and elbows forward etc
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link
i have been doing them tho because of the clean n jerk
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:26 (five years ago) link
one downside of the c&j is sometimes u nail yrself in the adams apple w the bar
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
I've just sat so much for so much of my life that all kinds of squats feel like making my body speak a second language.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 17:53 (five years ago) link
i consider it a project, i figure out new weird shit my body is up to all the time
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 19:38 (five years ago) link
ive decided i dont ef w the bench anymore the bench is for cowards
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 19:44 (five years ago) link
u mean bench press or squatting to a bench?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:08 (five years ago) link
anything to do with the bench i dont acknowledge the bench anymore
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:14 (five years ago) link
huh, interesting
what do you do for chest then?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:15 (five years ago) link
its just like whatre u doing lying down on the job?
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:16 (five years ago) link
i only do the clean and jerk and related lifts front squat rows overhead press, i never liked the bench really
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:18 (five years ago) link
― lag∞n, Wednesday, May 29, 2019 4:14 PM (three minutes ago)
gotta use the bench for those bulgarian split squats tho
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:19 (five years ago) link
i dont even know what that is im just a simple man who hates the bench aka the cowards apparatus
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:21 (five years ago) link
lol look it up it's a great exercise and you only use the bench to stabilize your foot
but bench press is for lames . when do i ever need to press something away from my body like that with such force, idk?
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:24 (five years ago) link
i might start doing a lift that involves throwing the bench out the window
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:25 (five years ago) link
I lying-down-press my kids all the time, they love it
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link
the true functional strength
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 21:50 (five years ago) link
for real like 90% of the functional strength in my life is some form of throwing/swinging/lifting my kids.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 21:52 (five years ago) link
Saw a guy benching 405 for reps at my gym. He looked like absolute shit. A good reminder that I’d be fooling myself to say I only work out for strength.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 3 June 2019 13:57 (five years ago) link
treat lifting like yoga imho
― lag∞n, Monday, 3 June 2019 17:35 (five years ago) link
on a more keeping it positive note, on thursday i went during the day and found a 45-ish woman trying to rearrange the entire dumbbell rack. i am always going NUTS over people who put their dumbbells in odd spots, which results in others putting theirs away separately. she said "i can't be the only woman who hates this!" lol. i am not a neat person but putting weights back incorrectly really grinds my gears. but by today it was all messed up again. they did get a bunch of 2.5 increment dumbbells though.
― forensic plumber (harbl), Saturday, February 23, 2019 7:20 PM (three months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
a short time after this, perhaps because she or someone else complained, they put labels on the rack. i believe this may have made things worse. or more accurately, my perception of the dumbbell chaos is worse. you literally cannot put a dumbbell back in the correct place because it took no time at all for the chain reaction of wrong placement to fuck everything up. this includes people who decide to put, for example, one 60 lb db where a second 25 should go, and the next in the adjacent place for a 30. every time i try to put something back in the correct place i need to move on average 3 sets of dumbbells, and sometimes i just quit because i can't find the original wrong in that chain, if that makes sense. today for fun i moved around 55s, 65s, 85s, 20s, 25s, and 30s, just to put away the 40s i had used. people may think i am insane but i think this is RUDE. why would you put an 80lb dumbbell in the top rack where like a 15 belongs!?!?!?!?
― forensic plumber (harbl), Monday, 10 June 2019 01:03 (five years ago) link
that cld be yr workout
― lag∞n, Monday, 10 June 2019 02:34 (five years ago) link
intensely relatable
― Lil' Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 10 June 2019 06:46 (five years ago) link
I'm down 4 lbs and .7% bodyfat, woot
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 10 June 2019 13:59 (five years ago) link
I've kind of had it with the powerlifting approach to lifting weights. I love powerlifting, but I just don't know if it's for me anymore. It's been a long erosion of my enthusiasm stemming from setbacks caused tby injuries - mostly suffered while doing heavy (close to max) lower body movements. I started lifting when I was in my late 30s, made great progress with Starting Strength, Texas Method, and 5/3/1. I think after the first 18th months or so, I suffered my first back injury. That put me out of business for two months or so, and set back my progress, but I went back even more determined to defy age and all of the people telling me I shouldn't be subjecting my body to that kind of punishment. I'd get back up to where I was before, pushing new 1RMs, get hurt, go back, and repeat. My lifting log is a chronicle of coming back from injuries. My form is good. I've always been a student of form - the beauty of a precise movement is one of the things I enjoy most about lifting. I'm an experienced lifter who has been lifting consistently for 8 years. I've had experienced lifters and coaches evaluate my form and and give glowing feedback.
In the last eight months or so, I've noticed nerve discomfort down my leg. I'm pretty sure it's sciatica, probably caused by a herniated disc which would explain a lot. I've scaled back - almost entirely gotten rid of - squats and deadlifts. Have been doing a lot of hill running, some sled pulling stuff as well.
Anyway, yesterday while at the gym getting read to bench press, I threw out my back putting on my fucking shoe. When you can deadlift 2x your bodyweight and throw your back out tying a shoe, the universe is telling you to take up yoga.
― beard papa, Wednesday, 12 June 2019 16:42 (five years ago) link
That was a good post for me to read right now. I've been having persistent mild pain in my lower back and right thigh lately (sort of down the side), and I've had more trouble bending. Deadlift has also taken a huge hit lately -- starts to get uncomfortable after I hit two plates and I've been doing a lot less weight as a result and doing it less frequently. I'm turning 40 this year and I'm not sure whether the combo of my sedentary lifestyle and powerlifting is going to be a good one well into my 40s. But I would really want to find something to replace it with. Maybe yoga ain't a bad idea.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 13 June 2019 14:31 (five years ago) link
yoga and weightlifting are very complimentary imo/ime, im glad were talking about this because it allows me to introduce one of my pet exercise theories, i think powerlifting is great it uses natural physical motions and by putting them under the stress of a lot of weights really gives you a good workout BUT using those same natural motions over and over again only strengthening along those axes introduces imbalances that can lead to injury ie making some aspects of yr body strong while others remain weak, yoga really makes a point of using yr muscles/connective tissues in all sorts of different ways twisting stretching contracting expanding and so forth, yoga is really effective at neutralizing imbalances / activating muscles that you havent been using due to those imbalances
also the experiences of yoga and lifting are very similar, if u like working on lifting form youll prob like working on yoga form
they both have the similar pitfalls of getting too ambitious leading to injury, imo theres no real point in trying to max out how much weight u can lift or getting super flexible in yoga, think its better to regard more as an opportunity to activate yr body and work on alinement/slowly work yr way through physical imbalances
they both have pretty ridiculous prob not totally healthy cultures around them tooooo
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:20 (five years ago) link
ive prob said this here before but imo injury prevention shd be the #1 goal of any exercise because if youre injured you cant exercise
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:21 (five years ago) link
be especially careful w the neck stuff that often comes towards then end of yoga class, thats where everyone gets bad injuries, lot of those poses straight up maybe just shdnt be practiced even tho theyre often considered the whole point of the practice
https://i.imgur.com/AYRd656.png
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link
and then why not do a lil running, just run 3 miles, running form is fun to work on too
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:29 (five years ago) link
yeah, ideally I'd really like to both lift and do yoga. Hard to schedule.
Also def getting to the point where I feel like maxing out weight is diminishing returns. If I can lift 155 lbs over my head, what is the value add of getting that up to 165?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:32 (five years ago) link
if u want to get into yoga best bet is prob just focus on it and drop lifting for a while, try to go to as many classes as u can, once u get some familiarity u dont have to goto a class to practice all the time cld even like do 30mins of yoga before u lift etc, tho its still good to check in w classes from time to time, also u dont need to do a ton of either to still see benefit, just need to be consistent 3 times a week or whatever, especially if youre not concerned w sick gains/becoming a human pretzel
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:40 (five years ago) link
i want to start doing yoga again but all the places near me have downright insulting schedules that seem predicated on the notion that no one has a normal job schedule. like, classes at 830, 1100, 3pm and 5pm? fuck you
― gbx, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:40 (five years ago) link
joining a gym that has yoga classes is convenient
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:41 (five years ago) link
+think abt quitting yr job to focus on this stuff, work part time at a health food store
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:42 (five years ago) link
this can't be said too often
making progress is always fun and motivating, but the compulsion to continuously progress toward some always-to-be-determined personal best/max is more dangerous than beneficial ... in the absence of other goals or ways to think about the activity, what else is there to stop the process except injury?
― Brad C., Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:42 (five years ago) link
― lag∞n, Thursday, June 13, 2019 9:42 AM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
u might be on to something
― gbx, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:44 (five years ago) link
personally i regard all exercise as an opportunity to work on form which isnt to say i dont like to go big but thats secondary and i try to work my way there slowly so when i do run 15 miles or w/e its not some epic strain
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:46 (five years ago) link
think of the health food job as preventative medicine
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:47 (five years ago) link
I've been having persistent mild pain in my lower back and right thigh lately (sort of down the side), and I've had more trouble bending.
Yeah, this sounds like where I was before the latest blow-out. I've been given some muscle relaxers and physical therapy exercises to try once the pain subsides a little. Simple mild stretches of the hamstrings and lumbar areas. Sciatica can be caused by anything that presses on that nerve, I think. One doctor I had a few years ago wanted me to get x-rays to check for spinal spurs, but I never did. The brutal thing about this is that it's painful to walk. This morning while walking to work, I re-aggravated it. I can't be missing work over this stuff.
Glad to read all of the advice and praise concerning Yoga. I've always been impressed by the form of lifters who do the olympic style lifts coupled with yoga. There's a limberness about their bodies that I want. If I have to stop focusing on 1RMs, I need something more than how many curls I can do before my arms fall off to keep me engaged in the gym. I've also considered adopting paused lifts as my main lifts and tracking things like rep maxes for volume and taking shorter breaks between sets. We'll see, though. Right now, I'm pretty sour on the whole thing and may just focus on running, yoga, and bodyweight stuff.
― beard papa, Thursday, 13 June 2019 19:41 (five years ago) link
btw re obsession w form ive been watching sprinter training videos and these guys are so amazing just to watch do their thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsOBDthS9I
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 21:01 (five years ago) link
i love how the one guy an actual olympic medalist is a total space cadet but then when hes in his zone everything is perfectly coordinated
― lag∞n, Thursday, 13 June 2019 21:03 (five years ago) link
i was successful at rearranging all of the dumbbells tonight. very proud. found that a 30 was missing, probably left upstairs by a disgusting savage.
― forensic plumber (harbl), Sunday, 16 June 2019 01:00 (five years ago) link
'Strong' app is great, but it's crazy expensive now. Can anyone recommend a good iOS weightlifting-oriented workout tracking app that is not subscription based?
― Dan I., Wednesday, 19 June 2019 20:04 (five years ago) link
just want to echo lag00n's recent posts about yoga itt.. all of what he is saying lines up with my experience doing both yoga and weightlifting... allowing your deeper body / connective tissue to catch up with the mass activated by weightlifting, going to classes for a few months then not having to go to a class except occasionally and designing your own routine, doing a series of poses for 20-30 minutes before you lift. other thoughts - yoga is fantastic with twisting motions, not something emphasized in most lifts - i'm lifting heavier than i ever have at the moment and my back feels like solid gold and it's totally due to the yoga i do nearly every day - if you're into how your body looks or muscle definition or bodybuilding or whatever yoga can be extremely effective at that kind of "sculpting" - practicing ujayyi breathing has given me a stronger core / better abs than literally all the cable crunches i have ever done - yoga can be very intense and difficult and it's really not "fluffy" or "relaxing" at all if practiced a certain way, it's very silly that it still gets "gendered" "female" and associated with "wholeness" and "spirituality" because the poses can have very precise effects ime.
― cheese canopy (map), Wednesday, 19 June 2019 21:59 (five years ago) link
yoga emphasizes creating space in your body, lifting tends to compress your body, another reason why they are made for each other.
― cheese canopy (map), Wednesday, 19 June 2019 22:04 (five years ago) link