thread of getting sw0le

honestly part of the mental game with this for me was finally admitting to myself that yes, a strong minority motivation was 'cosmetic'

― goole, Thursday, October 25, 2012 11:01 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

people doing curls make me literally vomit

yeah. those kinds of things are such a total waste of time. you drop all that and all of a sudden your workout takes a 1/3 of the time and is 10x more effective.

i've cut the weight in half or more on every major lift over the past year or two just to connect or reconnect with form / what i'm actually doing / why i'm doing it and it's made such a huge difference. also yoga 4 core 4 life.

xp i don't get curl hate. done right they're amazing. cable press-downs on the other hand....

i am kind of doughy at the moment because my gym is 10 yards away from ground zero in this video and was shut for all of september http://vimeo.com/48399328. it's really nice at the moment because a lot of the guys seem to have quit or moved to another gym.

one thing i like about gyms in germany is the squat racks are always free because people are either doing curls (lol) or doing serious calisthenics (some of these dudes are amazing).

going in a couple of hours actually. iirc tonight i will squat 5x5 175lb (i.e. 1xBW), bench 5x5 100, row 5x5 100.

seriously, everyone on earth should squat. this is key to universal consciousness.

squat. eat broccoli, quinoa and sardines. live forever.

and if i see you using the foam pad on your barbell during the squat then i hope you poop accidentally during your first set.

I go 2 gym and do not squat, I have had back problems in my life and am worried about technique

start by doing 'air squats' ie no weight

when those get ok start with an empty bar. that's 45 lb, you could even start by holding up a couple of small dumbbells

i have bad knees (poss hereditary) and fear doing any leg-related lifts

yeah I do air squats already

when squatting to proper depth your knees are not being taxed so much xp

unless you have disk problems, i think squat is pretty a low risk exercise for your back. all the weight goes straight down your spine. there's not much torque. maybe give it a try with an unloaded bar to see how it feels.

saw a calisthenics guy do a one-handed chin-up last week btw. wanted to cry.

yeah make sure you don't stop your squat half-way, that is bad for your knees

i have 'bad knees' and they've never felt better after a year of this

i have turned around halfway when i've had to on a weight. it was agony. i have no idea what those guys who go to like 30 degrees above horizontal think they are doing.

xp otm. squats are good for strength but they are #1 for knees, groin and lower back stability

when i've had to bail on a weight, i mean.

lol i totally use the foam pad. i used to be so anti-foam pad but now i'm more anti-sores on my back.

xp goole caek carne asada otm, keep the weight off/low, keep tight form go low and back/knees should be ok.

what were you lifting to get sores?

it's spine/neck contact, guess this means i should take off the pad and get the bar where it's supposed to be.

low-bar position will fix that but it does take some getting used to

yeah i had the same issue until i figured out the right place to rest the bar

yeah i think part of the problem with the pad is it means the bar is less stable. it's kind of like people who wear gloves and running shoes. the barbell is the size it is for a reason, and unless your body is unusual proportioned, you're screwing that up.

i've had the benefit of some good coaching that has help me a bunch, otherwise i'd probably being doing a bunch of stuff wrong

if you've spent most of your life doing it wrong like me it really takes some time/dedication to turns things around. but eventually your body just starts to "set" better, even in daily life.

totally.

goole i got semi-sw0le for like 9 months before i had a babby and got un-sw0le

but if you are looking for sw0le central in mpls, get a membership at Los Campeones gym on Franklin, dudes are serious! it's the best gym, super cheap, never crowded and all free weights and lots of space, barely any bullshit like eliptical trainers etc

ha! i have been to that gym. i was staying round the corner and they sold me a week pass. it was 100x better than my gym here.

i was kinda intimidated at first because there were these crazy big dudes lifting for serious, but i ended up finding out that they were always really helpful and encouraging if you asked them to spot or for help

though i did become pretty much certain that certain dudes there were heavily into r0ids

huh wow that is a pretty good deal. but i kind of love my busted-ass Y, and it's right around the corner from me

yeah, i guess the most important thing is having a gym you'll actually go to, so around the corner probably trump whatever advantages los campeones has.

which Y do you go to? blaisdell?

midway, dog! apart from people's kids i feel like i'm on the low end of the age curve there

haha what's the midway scene? drunks from the Trend Bar?

ha maybe in a couple cases. it's kind of everybody except your uptown young single white people. kids playing ball, moms on treadmills, old dudes benching in the smith machine, guys who hang out and watch cable in the locker room for hours, etc

i am working pretty hard on having a nice squat. i feel that barbell squat is currently pretty bad but improves every time. now my thing is i do goblet squats to get the heaviness in (i am up to 50 lbs for 5 reps!) and a number of low-bar back squats at a lighter weight to work on technique. at first i was so so bad at it and couldn't figure out where the bar went and my shoulders hurt. but i found the "shelf" on my back and moved my hands wider. front squats i need much more work on because my wrists hurt.
everyone should do this a million times before using the bar imo http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/goblet_squats_101
i can't believe i have turned into a person who reads articles on T NATION

i don't work hard enough on hamstring flexibility is part of the problem

i also have very long femurs and long everything so stuff might be less natural and i probably look like a daddy longlegs doing lifting

the right to get sw0le

http://i.imgur.com/CdXlO.jpg

i wasn't working on bench press at all until last week, just overhead presses and incline pushups. i have the weakest triceps in the universe.

also do you guys like to look at other people's butts a lot when you're out, i do

i can't believe i have turned into a person who reads articles on T NATION

― Online Webinar Event for Dads (harbl), Thursday, October 25, 2012 3:35 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh god, loool (don't read too many). you are awesome. i'm glad you started this thread cuz now i know i gotta fix up my squat. those mark rippetoe youtubes are v. helpful. it's easy to miss problems when you're self-taught. think i'll look for a copy of starting strength.

this would be a good place to post useful links

esp wrt good form

ilx needs a forum.bodybuilding.com appreciation thread

i don't have starting strength but i keep meaning to get it. i watched this like 40 times and now his voice is in my head when i set up for deadlifts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA

hmm looks like i have to fix my deadlift too

Flexibility thing is very key IMO for good form on a lot of exercises--I think yoga has made a really huge difference for me in that regard. Soon getting really good form in squats wasn't such a struggle. I think yoga in general is a really good complement in general to any muscle building stuff you do.