thread of getting sw0le

seriously, how hard is it to put equipment back properly and clean it. I clean like every single filthy rowing machine when I am forced to go to a regular gym.

I use a small office gym in the basement of my workplace. Mostly people just go in there to use the treadmills. I'm the only person I've ever seen using the dumbbells and bench. However, there is a mystery participant. Sometimes I get to the gym and the bench has been left in an incline position with the seat angled up, along with two 45 lb dumbbells just laying on the floor. On days when I'm not planning use the 45 pounders I really resent having to schlep them back to the rack.

being a jerk to others is so rude esp when you can just be like "hey do you mind if i work in"??????

guys im no longer Sw0le . had some injuries early last year and just never got back to it , so hard to motivate getting started again

man that's a shame :(

I decided to stop back squatting for a while, partly on the advice of the trainer. I'm just doing kettlebell squats with my heels slightly elevated, and I'm managing to hit good depth and keep my back straight, although the problem is that even the heaviest kettlebell the gym has (35kg) is harder to hold with my hands than it is to actually squat, so it's just not the same kind of overload for strength. But the trainer thinks holding the kettlebell will train me to use my core better to stay upright. Maybe I can transition to front squatting or something.

so hard to motivate getting started again

I jacked up my piriformis muscle last summer and I couldn't do any leg work outside of physical therapy type exercises for months. Now I think I'm pretty much back to neutral on the legs, but starting up again seems so much less enticing than just continuing to focus on upper body work. I also don't want to because I'm scared I'll screw up and hurt myself again. It doesn't help that I was only doing very beginner level work when I injurd myself.

I think swoleness culture gets in its own way sometimes. You get an all or nothing mentality and that leads, inevitably, to quitting. You don't have to be making massive gains or strength increases all the time. It doesn't always have to fall along a performance based metric. You don't need to obsessively track your progress. Just getting in there and squatting the bar or something is good too, it feels good, and you'll be happy you did it!

^^^
Won’t you please
Won’t you please
Please won’t you be. . .
My trainer

god that's so otm.

also ftr i died lolling at goole's "absolutely disgusting" comment. the clip at the end of the weight peg is the icing.

ryan massively otm

feeling good, getting healthier, gaining skill in functional movements >>>>>>>> getting sw0le

i agree

yeah except “gaining skill in functional movements” can be a progression trap too. i get a little tripped out by the “functional” mantra sometimes, like i know that being able to move in complex ways is awesome, but there’s a simulation aspect to it that starts to feel a little silly when it’s juxtaposed with bodybuilding as the less sensible thing to do. just like move your body expressively, no one end goal is better than the other imo. xp

oh yeah i don't even think about functional movements. any movement will do.

I have a really hard time letting go of the idea of doing "pure" strength lifting for gains even though I'm not training for a meet or anything. Honestly I'd probably look and even feel better if I mixed it up a bit more. But there's just something addictive about that clear, measurable progress of adding small amounts of weight over time and being able to check it against "standards" for your bodyweight. And admittedly a sort of ego boost to just knowing I can lift more than a good number of the other people in the gym.

map otm about some alleged functional exercises being excessively complicated and abstract ... "functional" gets abused a lot

imo if an exercise is really functional, a trainer can explain how it relates to normal human tasks

a lot of basic strength moves are functional, or can be done in ways that map well onto normal movements; front squat vs. back squat is a famous example, humans use the basic front squat pattern all the time to move heavy stuff around but rarely use the back squat pattern on anything other than a barbell

functionality can be a good test to apply in designing or tweaking a strength program ... if an exercise is highly functional (e.g. deadlifts) it's probably worth spending more time on; if an exercise is not very functional, it can be replaced or supplemented (e.g. do fewer sets of bench presses, more sets of standing presses and push-ups)

love this thread

i love to bench press. it's like a treat to me. but i should work on those other things more.

Bench press is functional for when I am pinned down by a bad guy and want to push him off

and back squat is for piggy back rides

for a more complete workout, push the bad guy off and then give him a piggy back ride

i hate to break it to the straights itt but it's a good guy not a bad guy

lol I have little kids you dirty-minded fuckers

and also I am a tier one operator frequently in combat situations

kind of on the fence about whether I want one of these tees or whether it's massively dumb
https://synagogueofstrength.com/collections/all

My gym is heavily frequented by russian jewish and bukharian jewish bros so it would def get appreication

yeah totally fine gym tee imo , i have some goofy ones too i think they are fine in that situation

i have a dia los deadlifts with sugar skulls and shit that i rock , maybe it's corny but it's gym wear i dont take it very seriously

I don't think I will ever be able to bench more than 100-105 and I'm not really sure why!

it's ok. are you using your legs and buttocks though.

Weight down, reps up. For instance, four sets would be 12x 50 lbs, 10 x 60, 8x70, and 6x80, and increase your starting weight the next time if you get the last set of 6 in clean. If you can't do the last set at least 4 times clean, decrease your starting weight the next time.

I think I am using my legs and buttocks? but I think mostly my chest, I am doing the thing where I tuck my shoulders back and forwards (towards my feet)
rn I'm just doing 3x10 for p much everything and haven't deviated much beyond that
might be time to up my routine from beginner to intermediate, tho

Reverse pyramid and increasing weight really makes a difference (for me, anyway).

Personally I think all of the following are important to make sure you have in order before playing with diff training styles :
- sleeping enough
- eating enough (incl sufficient protein)
- consistency (ie training at least 3x per week and not skipping)
- good form
- overloading your muscles in some way (so that it should be challenging to finish the set).

Stevie that said I think it’s hard to increase weight when you’re going for sets of 10. Maybe try increasing the weight as you go and doing shorter sets. I pretty much do sets of 5 once warmed up and sometimes will even do 3, 2, or even 1 at my top weight (I think at a certain point you just have to get your body used to the heavier weight).

I agree with all of the above. To me in order of importance:

- doing as much frequency and volume as you are able to recover from
- recovery (sleeping and eating enough)
- good form

There’s a good Fresh Air about recovery from a few weeks ago that I found encouraging (basically it’s not as complicated as the fitness industry wants us to believe), and Greg Nuckols writes a lot about the latest science about training frequency and volume that may be interesting.

yeah i think your 10 reps is the #1 problem. i find that with pressing movements i improved a huge amount by doing tons of it but more sets and more times per week, not as many reps. also do my favorite exercise the dumbbell bench press. you will be so strong.

Welp, kettlebell squats were going great, but then I deadlifted and strained my lower back. Something def felt off about my form/alignment and I should have listened to my body and stopped.

yeouch. commiserations

i did that a few years ago and it took 6 months to feel normal. buena suerte.

it was almost like a blessing in disguise though. so much stuff can be done that does not involve the lower back! i learned a lot! can i go to the gym instead of work today pls

So far it doesn't feel severe -- it's on one side and it makes it a little hard to put on socks but it's not constantly bothering me. Here's hoping.

i did something quite similar about a year ago. felt like the "belt" of muscles around my waist/lower back had strained on one side. it took maybe a month and then it was totally better.

Trying to figure out what I should avoid during recovery -- it feels like I could still do lunges but squats might be a bad idea. Upper body stuff shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah that's a good description -- it kind of runs from my right lower back into my right hip. That hip has been tight before fwiw, and I also get tightness in my right shoulder blade. I feel like it all relates and probably all conspires to fuck up my deadlift form.

this my current routine, everything is 3x10:

Push (Chest/Arms)
bench press (barbell)
incline bench press (barbell)
overhead/shoulder press (dumbbell)
skullcrushers (ez bar)

Pull (Back/Biceps)
seated wide-grip cable row
pull-up (this isn't actually 3x10, it's more like 3x4 bcz that's really the most I can do)
lat pulldown
concentration curl

Legs
goblet squat (kettlebell)
lunges (dumbbell)
leg press
lying leg curl

should I swap some of these out? overhaul it entirely? Dips are fun and would be cool to work back in, also I feel like the pull ups are kind of pointless bcz basically for the past year i've been able to do 3-4 per set and have not improved whatsoever

xp

Lower back problems suck! I'd recommend a "first do no harm" approach for at least a day or two ... I think you're right to suspect tightness on that side as affecting your deadlift form, but it will also affect your form on other lifts, especially while it is aggravated. I'd suggest doing workouts other than lifting for a little while until your back feels closer to normal.

I hurt the same part of my back several years ago. Stretching helps, but bodyweight exercises have done the most good, particularly the bird dog, superman, prone leg lift, single-leg deadlift (unloaded), and similar moves; also general core exercises like planks and side planks.

I guess this is conventional wisdom in 2019, but it's worth repeating that doing a lot of sit-ups, crunches, back extensions, good mornings, Russian twists, etc. -- any exercise that requires repeated spinal flexion under load -- is basically asking for back problems. Google "Stuart McGill" for way too much info about spinal biomechanics, rehab, and fitness.

Stevie -- I think part of the question is whether your main goal is strength, bodybuilding or some combination of both. For example arm curl exercise have very little added strength benefit but will make your biceps bigger. Similar with leg press and leg curl, and leg curl.

Also, is that the full routine you do at the gym every time, or are you doing different things different days?

for pullups, try adding incremental weights (weight belt, ankle weights, etc...), or add additional sets, more rest between sets, fewer sets-higher reps, etc...

oh I should also state I do a 2 minute rest btwn each set of everything

xp I'd say maybe both but leaning slightly more towards bodybuilding? like I def don't want to just get stronger w no physical results but I also don't want to just have huge muscles if I can't actually like lift things better and stuff, though fwiw I don't play any sports or do anything else athletic (except bicycle commuting). Also that's a 3 day split and I (try to) go 3x a week

Ok so you have a push day, a pull day, and a leg day? I would recommend changing it up then. At the amount of weight you're lifting, you will get better results lifting more frequently. Maybe do an A/B alternating split and cut one or two exercises from each muscle group. You could do a push/pull day and a leg/core day. At least with the major lifts (bench, squat, OHP) do more sets, heavier weights, and fewer reps. Consider adding deadlift or some variation.

I'm not a trainer, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but I'd consider cutting the skullcrushers. Also doing bench, incline bench, and OHP all in the same workout seems unnecessary, maybe just bench and OHP.

For pulling, I'd cut the curls.

For legs, the squats and lunges are best. Doing leg press too doesn't seem like it would do any harm, but I'd cut the leg curl.

I had a deadlift but I took it out bcz it was hurting my lower back but I think I could reintroduce it again

I am also doing deadlifts in a corner w a mirror in front of and to the side of me and my form is as A+ as I can get it