thread of getting sw0le

today a young gym employee told me i should not lean so forward when i squat. i said i cannot squat upright bc i have long legs also i am low-bar squatting. later he was like so when's the next time you're gonna be here? lol i think he may be in college? i feel like a cougar. how do i tell him, i'm old

I had a great moment bench-pressing today. I was on my last set/highest weight, and I've been working on trying to get over the fear that the bar will fall on me, so I'm pushing it, and I give it one more rep, and one more rep, and I just make myself really fucking mad and get really determined and push through my last rep like crazy. I get up from the bench and this dude looks and me and goes "Yeah." And I'm like "huh?" And he goes, "Yeah. I thought you were gonna need help on that one, but you pushed the hell out of it."

that's a moonwalk-out-of-the-gym for sure

men explain deadlifts to me

no

did that happen

cuz ugggggghhhghg

i was quietly deadlifting and this guy doing that incline press thing that is on a hinge? plate-loaded, i'm blanking on the name, was like "bend down a little more. use your legs. you're doing great." this is again due to (1) i'm a girl and men are naturally more knowledgable about these things because ???? (2) i bend down exactly the right amount but because i am legs my back will be nearly horizontal unless i am squatting the weight up which is rong, and is what most men do when they deadlift but they are right bc they are men. i was like "um. ok." and kept doing what i was doing.

✊

it really bothers me sometimes. i am really smart, why would you assume of an entire class of humans that they don't know anything bc they are not a man

i have been liftsplained to as well fwiw but i have no doubt it happens much more w/in the particular dynamic you are describing :(

they are currently playing "boogie in your butt" at my work gym and i actually do consider this a health and safety issue. i literally cannot lift rn because i am laughing too much

such bullshit. no liftsplaining. i'm only tempted to do it when i see some dude bench thumbless. i don't want to see that shit.

my squat is still in the toilet and i have 0 insight why. maybe running is shredding my recovery? but my DL is still ok. maybe it's largely mental (i think this is the most probable). i just feel tired, stiff and a little freaked out under the bar, after like 2 reps. my plan is just keep struggling. if i get really frustrated i might try finding a good instructor, idk.

the only uhh socialization problem i have at my Y is unsupervised kids bopping around in the weight area.

also i think i saw a fight nearly break out, between two guys i didn't recognize. all of a sudden i hear a middle-aged guy on a cable machine say "yeah just walk away, after talking smart!" and the other guy, with headphones in, was indeed just walking away oblivious.

Suicide-grip is the best grip, though.

I've been brosplained a couple of times, but it was of the "you shouldn't squat so low" sort from half-squat Harolds.

One thing is giving unwanted advice. Topping it off with "you're doing great" is what would make me throw a dumbbell at them.

xpost: Taking a break from running always makes my squat numbers go up, fwiw.

squatting takes a lot out of me or needs a lot of stored energy to do. i can't bring myself to do it after a long day of work so i only do it on saturdays now. it's fine. i can't do as much as i should be able to at this stage but whatever

lol @ half-squat harolds

I've been doing a lot of my workouts in a little office gym that doesn't have proper lifting setups or bars, so I've been doing more dumbell and bodyweight and machines and trying to get as much out of it as I can. When I'm back lifting I actually notice it helps, e.g. I try to do at least 100 pushups total plus several sets of dumbbell presses when I do chest, and I find I now have more endurance for bench pressing.

i work out at lunch time. the times i tried after work i found the same thing you did, harbl, just nothing left in the tank.

my plantar is.... getting better! i reckon another month and it'll basically be gone.

sw0le friends

i pulled a groin and was out of commission for like 2 months, and will probably not get back to sw0le goodness til another few weeks

i feel almost recovered but i don't want to risk it because the internet, i've read horror stories on it

probably the most intense pain i've ever felt after getting my wisdom teeth removed and refusing to take pain medicine for it

I can get myself going in an after work or even night-time session...if I can actually get to the gym. The problem is more losing the motivation to even go.

i saw a centipede in the gym. he was working on his legs.

i signed up online for new gym closer to my house and hopefully free of fanny packs but i'm scared to go for the first time :)

Going to the gym in the winter is so hard. It's so cold and dark and snowy outside and just gross, and everything takes so much more effort.

After about five years of going consistently at least 3 times a week, I feel like I'm in a limbo now. I can't muster the energy to go four times a week the way I used to, or to push as hard as I used to, so I'm not seeing the same returns. I don't want to stop going, because I don't want to fall completely out of shape, but I'm also not getting the satisfaction of looking and feeling fit, of having accomplished something. The gym is just sort of a chore now, something I need to do but take no satisfaction in.

i saw a centipede in the gym. he was working on his legs.

― assawoman bay (harbl), Saturday, November 11, 2017 6:16 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol btw

that's a bummer, evan. maybe time for a month off? like a big deload? or try something totally different for a while. swim, try the olympic movements, idk. winter does suck.

Yeah swimming isn't a bad idea. Maybe springing for a pricey membership at a gym with fun amenities (classes, b-ball courts, etc) will spur me to go more. Or just the sheer guilt trip of having a very pricey gym membership might.

I'm terrified to think of what would happen if I took a full month off. I feel like I'd lose all the gains I made (which already feel so fleeting as it is). But just going to maintain isn't very satisfying.

you won't. maybe you're doing too much or not eating enough. try to do less. i've been feeling especially brain-fogged in the gym lately and my brain isn't connecting to my muscles. i resolve to try to do less in december.

anyway the new gym was pretty awesome. 4 squat rack/platform set ups so i don't have to wait, hopefully, and maybe my squat will get better. they have 2 prowlers and 2 new rowing machines and step mills which have always been intriguing to me because i love any kind of conditioning torture but don't do it enough. i feel un-demoralized. the y was bringing me down. i think i'll buy some new gym clothes. the only thing they didn't have (and some stuff was still in progress bc brand new gym) is those plyo-box things i was using to get up on the bar to do negative chin-ups. i'll probably just stand on the safety arms of the rack like a monkey.

prowlers! that makes me feel like this gym is on the right track.

thank you Ed for the onitsuka tiger rec, they are very comfortable. i can lift again but tennis is still some way off. post xmas probably in all honesty.

i should correct myself i believe they are technically sleds. they have poles sticking up though, might be these https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-echo-dog-sled

fuck i want to use one of those

status update: my pullups are up to 20kg between my feet @ 3x5

so if anybody needs small dog rescued from a pond you know who to call

re: conditioning torture it's still hard to beat the ol' versaclimber aka that one machine that's always available for a reason

Having tried out the squat rack a couple of times, I realised I've been having trouble balancing on the squat - I keep feeling like I'm going to rock backwards. Could this be because I'm wearing running trainers?

maybe, but probably your form isn't quite right

can you do bodyweight squats without feeling that way?

no, not really. I still rock back

either that, or i get told i'm sticking my knees out too far forward

that's a flexibility thing i think. keeping your knees behind or just at the level of your toes, keeping your feet flat on the floor, stomach and back tight, driving down through your heels, feeling solid and not tippy. is what you're going for.

it's what they tell me! but i just find myself rocking back on my heels. possibly a flexibility thing as i've had painful hips for a while now that's exasperated by something i do at the gym. i just can't keep my feet flat

not everyone can keep their knees behind their toes due to skeleton. can you goblet squat? it will work on your flexibility and having the weight in front will keep you from rocking back.

yes that is a good idea!

really think about spreading your knees as wide as possible too -- narrow knees will push your butt back (try squatting with your feet/knees planted together for illustration)

my gym relocated to a different part of the building in order to expand and hoowee

there are eleven (11!) squat racks now

this morning was the first time i'd been back in yonks and i've lost like 40# on my squat :((((

it'll come back quick, do not stress

it was a lil demoralizing though i gotta say

Dog Latin: first of all, be patient and persistent. Squat form can take a lot of time and practice to get, even on a basic level. Second, using flat shoes (chucks) and eventually switching to socks only made a huge difference in my stability, although I fall forward rather than rock back.

It snowed therefore only like 3 people in the gym. I’ve been doing my best squats ever. Squats without frontiers, rows without tears

lol

I bench pressed 100 lbs finally. Sad!

Thanks for the tips guys. Every time I think I've mailed the squat, someone seems to come along and say 'no no you're doing it all wrong, here let me help's and it just puts me off. I'll be persistent and keep trying. Yes goblet squats seem a bit easier