thread of getting sw0le

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?

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

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

joining a gym that has yoga classes is convenient

+think abt quitting yr job to focus on this stuff, work part time at a health food store

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

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?

+think abt quitting yr job to focus on this stuff, work part time at a health food store

― lag∞n, Thursday, June 13, 2019 9:42 AM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

u might be on to something

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

think of the health food job as preventative medicine

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.

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

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

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.

'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?

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.

yoga emphasizes creating space in your body, lifting tends to compress your body, another reason why they are made for each other.

hell yeah integrative strength training cru

hey guys, i'm thinking of joining my Crunch. i'm a p slim guy and i wanna tone up. wondering if this is even possible given that i'm a 30 something ex stoner and i eat like shit, but i might as well give it a try. will someone show me around the machines when i sign up? i'm totally clueless.

watch youtube video of how to do free weights start light until u have a feel for it f the machines theyre unhealthy, weights will help u tone up eating bad is not a huge impediment

thrusters are a nice lift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rHJkjHUbmo

ah i didn't realize that about the machines. but benching is good right? i do pushups now and that's it.
is there anything specific you would advise i say when i sign up?

machines have their place just do not rely on them.

start light

This, for sure. Getting form correct so you can avoid injury is super-important. I fucked up on this a couple months ago and now I'm struggling with tendonitis PT and not lifting much of anything.

ok great to know. thanks guys.

the gym isnt gonna help u unless u hire a trainer but most trainers are pretty bad they just have u do a million different exercises and u never develop mastery over any of them, id say concentrate on a few lifts and try to get good at the form, compound lifts (aka full body) are better than isolation (targeting specific muscles), bench press squat deadlift overhead press are all good u can start out w light dumbbells and maybe work yr way up to working w the barbell if u get into it, youtube is the greatest learning resource in history, dont forget to warm up stretch do a lil running whatever take it slow try to be consistent etc and good luck, yoga will also get u ripped if yr gym has classes

yeah they do. ugh i'm so self conscious about this. i'm gonna look like a total goof, seriously scary lol. i think i'll probably enlist a friend to go with me the first time.

at any time like 80% of the ppl at the gym are in the same boat as u no one cares its not a big deal

and in fact watching ppl who are good at the gym can be very informative, so its a cool sitch/opportunity to learn

in that sense if youre self conscious going to a regular general purpose gym is good rather than a yoga studio or crossfit or weight lifting gym where the real experts hang out

but benching is good right?

no one exercise is right for everyone. you want to work each of the main muscle groups but there are many exercises for them. experiment, find what feels right for your body and what you enjoy doing.

i started lifting in my 30s and felt totally self-conscious about going so i know how you feel.

and yes, learn how to do compound lifts.

benching is good, but overhead press might be even better..........

also pullups

okay awesome. right i forget about pullups, i love those.

sweet

don't be afraid to look like a goof! most people there are goofs and don't know what they are doing . Anyone there clowning on people is an idiot and a rare thing , i find people just mind their own business .

i was also pretty worried about looking like a goof/injuring myself when i started lifting. fortunately, the local crossfit gym required that you take a three-session introductory course before you could join the usual classes, and in it they instructed you on proper form. so, i took the course, learned the lifts, and then never did any crossfit ever again

lol owed

haha

crossfit is good for having bumper plates and lifting platforms . the rest is for the birds, i used to be able to go the the crossfit gym by me they had "open gym" a couple hours a day and it was $40 a month to do that.

yeah, i went to the open gym, which was a little awkward at first for obv reasons

guys i got shit-talked by a couple of goons at my "serious" "crossfit" "barbell" type gym the other day. three of these big ex-footballer types were camped out by this giant hammer-type squat machine next to the bench press i was using. i had my headphones on but the song was quiet so i overheard one of them say i looked like a puff marshmallow (i was wearing gray tights and a white nike tank). and then another dude said "well at least his legs have some mass" and another dude said "yeah but it's the bad kind of mass." like, wtf? i flipped them off, avoided eye contact, did my last set then went upstairs lol. i have only seen these motherfuckers a few times and haven't seen them since it happened but if i catch any of that vibe again i'm talking to the owner.

Hardcore gyms without Crossfit are lovely, lovely places. Hardcore gyms with one or two Crossfit-ish (but not the real deal) trainers are lovely when you learn the Crossfit-ish dudes schedules and know when not to be there. Gyms that pretend to be hardcore and are lousy with Crossfitters are hellholes to be avoided.

wtf map?? christ

omg that's fucked up. i would get them kicked the fuck out for sure.

(says the gay dude who's never been to a gym before lol, p much my worst nightmare)

dudes who go to the gym in groups are always fuckin gross. it is good that you indicated that you heard them, hopefully they will feel shame

there's a crossfit room in my gym full of way nicer bars and bumpers than we have in the regular part. i am occasionally tempted but the crossfit trainer often wears a blue lives matter hat so fuck that dude

it's weird because when i went to a globo gym kind of place there were groups of body builder types that were the nicest guys .

what was the music like? my gym is all nu metal in the morning when i go. since group gym dudes don't wear headphones they are fully subject to "down with the sickness" or say a nu metal cover of "zombie" over and over and that can be the genesis of anti social behaviors

I don't recall them playing music at any kind of intrusive levels . now your average Crossfit gym will definitly blast all of the worst nu metal and cheesy EDM 24/7