On June 20 2011 15:55 Alethios wrote: After seeing somebody else recommended this thread, I thought i'd post here myself. Hope I haven't made some faux pa by posting without signing up first or anything.
I've been dieting steadily for the past couple months. Just working on eating less and exercising more really. I've been tracking my calories using myfitnesspal.com. I'm pretty much eating the same stuff as per usual, just less of it. My calorie goal is like an allowance, I only have that much to play with in a day. Consequently, when previously I got hungry, i'd go make myself some mi goreng or whatever, now I'm eating an apple or having a banana. I've also joined a Hockey team and am trying to get out running a couple times a week as well. Recently i've been pretty slack however, as we're in the middle of exams at Auckland Uni.
When I started, I weighed in at 99kgs, and I'm currently sitting at 91.8kgs. I've been using a site that tracks your daily weight and plots a 10 point moving average. At first the daily fluctuation would put me off a lot, but now I think "as long as i'm below the green line, i'm making progress".
Here is my chart, which starts a couple weeks in:
I've tried losing weight a number of times before, but i've always struggled sticking with it. I'd get demotivated once, eat way too much, and that'd be it. I've gone massively over my calorie goal a couple of times, but I just think to myself "oh well, i'll get back on the horse tomorrow". Quite honestly, It all seems so easy I almost feel like I have to be doing something wrong. Anybody have any criticisms?
Arnold Schwarzenegger says: "The best workout plan is the one you stick to" So, "dieting" will never work because when you finish your diet, you'll return to your old eating habits.
But if you're willing to change how you eat forever (i.e. find a way to enjoy eating smaller portions of healthier food) and you find a way to enjoy your exercise (i.e. p90x or rock climbing or playing with your dog) then you'll be successful forever!
It sounds like you're on the right track with keeping a log and not giving up if you have a cheat day or w/e. The most important thing is to have an achievable goal. If that's 85kg's for you, or a 6-pack, or a 2x body weight bench press, then stick to it, and enjoy the progress!!
On June 20 2011 15:55 Alethios wrote: After seeing somebody else recommended this thread, I thought i'd post here myself. Hope I haven't made some faux pa by posting without signing up first or anything.
I've been dieting steadily for the past couple months. Just working on eating less and exercising more really. I've been tracking my calories using myfitnesspal.com. I'm pretty much eating the same stuff as per usual, just less of it. My calorie goal is like an allowance, I only have that much to play with in a day. Consequently, when previously I got hungry, i'd go make myself some mi goreng or whatever, now I'm eating an apple or having a banana. I've also joined a Hockey team and am trying to get out running a couple times a week as well. Recently i've been pretty slack however, as we're in the middle of exams at Auckland Uni.
When I started, I weighed in at 99kgs, and I'm currently sitting at 91.8kgs. I've been using a site that tracks your daily weight and plots a 10 point moving average. At first the daily fluctuation would put me off a lot, but now I think "as long as i'm below the green line, i'm making progress".
Here is my chart, which starts a couple weeks in:
I've tried losing weight a number of times before, but i've always struggled sticking with it. I'd get demotivated once, eat way too much, and that'd be it. I've gone massively over my calorie goal a couple of times, but I just think to myself "oh well, i'll get back on the horse tomorrow". Quite honestly, It all seems so easy I almost feel like I have to be doing something wrong. Anybody have any criticisms?
Arnold Schwarzenegger says: "The best workout plan is the one you stick to" So, "dieting" will never work because when you finish your diet, you'll return to your old eating habits.
But if you're willing to change how you eat forever (i.e. find a way to enjoy eating smaller portions of healthier food) and you find a way to enjoy your exercise (i.e. p90x or rock climbing or playing with your dog) then you'll be successful forever!
It sounds like you're on the right track with keeping a log and not giving up if you have a cheat day or w/e. The most important thing is to have an achievable goal. If that's 85kg's for you, or a 6-pack, or a 2x body weight bench press, then stick to it, and enjoy the progress!!
Best wishes!
Fixed the image, whoops.
Yeah, I guess dieting is the wrong word. It doesn't really feel that way anymore (since getting over a sort of adjustment period where I drastically reduced the amount I was eating). Just feels like i'm eating the right amount each day and exercise is becoming enjoyable for its own sake.
Nope. But I really really want to get one. My current mattress sucks.
Just went to the gym. Guys sitting around talking on the benches. Some dude doing dumbbell flys on the olympic platform. It made for a slow session. Helped me get in an epic stretch session though. I've got this random sore spot in my hamstring after doing squats. It's only there when I squat down to about parralel though. Hopefully it's gone tomorrow.
Hmm I am pretty frustrated with SS currently, and I am wondering if you guys can help me figuring out whats wrong. I basically haven't had any progress for over 4 weeks now. I used to have almost perfect linear progress up until 90kg squat / 60kg bench, which I both hit over 4 weeks ago. Since then I just seem to be unable to get any further. I had a bad lower back, but that has passed more than 3 weeks ago now, and shouldn't explain the stalling on the bench.
So over the past 5 weeks I had only 2 days where I felt good about the lifts. All the other days I couldn't complete any of the sets, and most of the time couldn't even complete what I managed to do the previous days.
Last week Wednesday was the one day that gave me hope becuase it all felt right again, managed 92.5kg 5-5-5 and 62.5kg 5-5-5 and it felt really good. But then Friday with 95kg I managed barely 4-3-2, and felt terrible doing it.
What frustrates me is I know I have a lot more strength in me, I just seem to not be able to activate it on most of my days now. I am never exhausted after those fail days. It feels like most of the time half my muscles just refuse to do work. When squatting I just fall apart at the lowest point, I get totally unstable, weight is shifting around and I don't feel in control at all.
Then when I have one of those few 'good' days everything works perfectly, I can actually access the strength my legs have, I am exhausted afterwards.
I tried sleeping more (one week I slept 8-10 hours a night), eating more, eating less. Just don't get what I can do to make those off-days the exception rather than the rule.
have a 3-5 day break and come back refreshed imo (you can still go in to practice form or better still use the time to work out a stretching routine). sounds like you're not recovering sufficiently?
also make sure you're drinking enough water. chug water before your workout. i thought that eating 1 hour before workout was important but i neglected drinking enough water beforehand aswell!
hope you're watching dreamhack guys, been pretty good!!
edit: yeah i also wasnt having enough carbs probably when i started the new diet (minus dairy for a while iirc)
Try deloading and then working the weight back up. What's your diet like? I know when I first started a paleo diet I wasn't eating enough carbs and that destroyed progress in my lifts for a bit.
On June 20 2011 20:06 zatic wrote: Hmm I am pretty frustrated with SS currently, and I am wondering if you guys can help me figuring out whats wrong. I basically haven't had any progress for over 4 weeks now. I used to have almost perfect linear progress up until 90kg squat / 60kg bench, which I both hit over 4 weeks ago. Since then I just seem to be unable to get any further. I had a bad lower back, but that has passed more than 3 weeks ago now, and shouldn't explain the stalling on the bench.
So over the past 5 weeks I had only 2 days where I felt good about the lifts. All the other days I couldn't complete any of the sets, and most of the time couldn't even complete what I managed to do the previous days.
Last week Wednesday was the one day that gave me hope becuase it all felt right again, managed 92.5kg 5-5-5 and 62.5kg 5-5-5 and it felt really good. But then Friday with 95kg I managed barely 4-3-2, and felt terrible doing it.
What frustrates me is I know I have a lot more strength in me, I just seem to not be able to activate it on most of my days now. I am never exhausted after those fail days. It feels like most of the time half my muscles just refuse to do work. When squatting I just fall apart at the lowest point, I get totally unstable, weight is shifting around and I don't feel in control at all.
Then when I have one of those few 'good' days everything works perfectly, I can actually access the strength my legs have, I am exhausted afterwards.
I tried sleeping more (one week I slept 8-10 hours a night), eating more, eating less. Just don't get what I can do to make those off-days the exception rather than the rule.
that sounds to me like you are breathing wrong which makes you lose tightness in your core. are you holding your breath until you are at the top again? make sure you squeeze your upper back and abs. really try to focus on it during your lift. other than that I dont know what to tell you except that a legit stall is actually a sign of progress. read the section on stalling in the SS-wiki to see if you are legitimately stalling and then do a reset.
On June 20 2011 20:06 zatic wrote: Hmm I am pretty frustrated with SS currently, and I am wondering if you guys can help me figuring out whats wrong. I basically haven't had any progress for over 4 weeks now. I used to have almost perfect linear progress up until 90kg squat / 60kg bench, which I both hit over 4 weeks ago. Since then I just seem to be unable to get any further. I had a bad lower back, but that has passed more than 3 weeks ago now, and shouldn't explain the stalling on the bench.
So over the past 5 weeks I had only 2 days where I felt good about the lifts. All the other days I couldn't complete any of the sets, and most of the time couldn't even complete what I managed to do the previous days.
Last week Wednesday was the one day that gave me hope becuase it all felt right again, managed 92.5kg 5-5-5 and 62.5kg 5-5-5 and it felt really good. But then Friday with 95kg I managed barely 4-3-2, and felt terrible doing it.
What frustrates me is I know I have a lot more strength in me, I just seem to not be able to activate it on most of my days now. I am never exhausted after those fail days. It feels like most of the time half my muscles just refuse to do work. When squatting I just fall apart at the lowest point, I get totally unstable, weight is shifting around and I don't feel in control at all.
Then when I have one of those few 'good' days everything works perfectly, I can actually access the strength my legs have, I am exhausted afterwards.
I tried sleeping more (one week I slept 8-10 hours a night), eating more, eating less. Just don't get what I can do to make those off-days the exception rather than the rule.
Did you deload after failing several times on squats? With 92,5kg 5-5-5 and failing 95kg, deloading by approximately 10% that would leave you at 82,5kg (based on the92,5kg) and working your way up again. So your fifth workout would be 92,5kg again and your sixth 95kg, so a new PR attempt within 2 weeks. The same would apply for the bench press, With 60kg I would probably deload to 52,5kg instead of 55kg. I was very secptical of this deloading thing until I tried it and it worked out great for me, so give it a try if you have not until now.
I guess your bodyweight is around 70kg or sth? If so, I would say that you definitely have still room for improvement on SS. If your bodyweight hasn't increased while doing SS the reason could also be that you still don't eat enough. If you don't want to increase your BW then you may just accept that progress will come slower to you. Same with other activites just as running, skiing, cycling, etc. Everything additional that you do takes energy away from your lifts. SS as it is written down is basically suggesting that you don't do any other taxing activities beside strength training. If you don't like that (like most sportif people), it also slows you down, and in my opinion makes the deloading phases more important.
Yeah, if you are eating/sleeping well I would say go for a 10% deload and work your way up again.
So I'm on the advanced novice program but I can't do a single pull up It's not even close. What to do ? I've been thinking of doing only chin ups atm and do power cleans instead of pull ups and do chin ups, deadlift and power cleans every week.... but then again, you shouldn't mess with the program >_> What do you guys think?
god does anyone else have a gym buddy who is really unreliable? The messages from my gym buddy recently have been:
Hey Doug, can't make Friday, got to look after kids Hey Doug, can't make Saturday, feeling really sore Hey Doug, can't make Sunday, forgot it's fathers day Hey Doug, can't make gym until Thursday
zatic: Pause squats is what you need to work on that lowest point. Pick a really light weight to start with and then just sit down and stop. Just sitting down at the lowest point in perfect balance can do wonders for technique.
Its mostly for strengthening the bottom position but it also work great to for technique. For overall strength it is ofcourse better to squat in one fast but controlled motion. But if you have a weak bottom position these are great
On June 20 2011 20:06 zatic wrote: Hmm I am pretty frustrated with SS currently, and I am wondering if you guys can help me figuring out whats wrong. I basically haven't had any progress for over 4 weeks now. I used to have almost perfect linear progress up until 90kg squat / 60kg bench, which I both hit over 4 weeks ago. Since then I just seem to be unable to get any further. I had a bad lower back, but that has passed more than 3 weeks ago now, and shouldn't explain the stalling on the bench.
So over the past 5 weeks I had only 2 days where I felt good about the lifts. All the other days I couldn't complete any of the sets, and most of the time couldn't even complete what I managed to do the previous days.
Last week Wednesday was the one day that gave me hope becuase it all felt right again, managed 92.5kg 5-5-5 and 62.5kg 5-5-5 and it felt really good. But then Friday with 95kg I managed barely 4-3-2, and felt terrible doing it.
What frustrates me is I know I have a lot more strength in me, I just seem to not be able to activate it on most of my days now. I am never exhausted after those fail days. It feels like most of the time half my muscles just refuse to do work. When squatting I just fall apart at the lowest point, I get totally unstable, weight is shifting around and I don't feel in control at all.
Then when I have one of those few 'good' days everything works perfectly, I can actually access the strength my legs have, I am exhausted afterwards.
I tried sleeping more (one week I slept 8-10 hours a night), eating more, eating less. Just don't get what I can do to make those off-days the exception rather than the rule.
Did you deload after failing several times on squats? With 92,5kg 5-5-5 and failing 95kg, deloading by approximately 10% that would leave you at 82,5kg (based on the92,5kg) and working your way up again. So your fifth workout would be 92,5kg again and your sixth 95kg, so a new PR attempt within 2 weeks. The same would apply for the bench press, With 60kg I would probably deload to 52,5kg instead of 55kg. I was very secptical of this deloading thing until I tried it and it worked out great for me, so give it a try if you have not until now.
I guess your bodyweight is around 70kg or sth? If so, I would say that you definitely have still room for improvement on SS. If your bodyweight hasn't increased while doing SS the reason could also be that you still don't eat enough. If you don't want to increase your BW then you may just accept that progress will come slower to you. Same with other activites just as running, skiing, cycling, etc. Everything additional that you do takes energy away from your lifts. SS as it is written down is basically suggesting that you don't do any other taxing activities beside strength training. If you don't like that (like most sportif people), it also slows you down, and in my opinion makes the deloading phases more important.
Hopefully you find something useful in here.
Thanks you and Zafrumi. Yes last week I was 71kg, up from 66kg when I started, so I definitely have gained. I am actually getting fatter than I want to over those past fail weeks.
What I am wondering though is that I seem to hit this hard barrier at 90kg squat (consistent 5-5-5 progress up until that), and that I still have the odd day where everything works as it should.
My upper back and core should be good, I have spend a lot on getting proper form and tightness there. I will try to focus more on breathing though, thanks. If that doesn't help I will deload. I should also record video again, which has helped me work on form earlier.
Squat used to be my strongest lift by far, I want that back :-(
On June 20 2011 22:30 ShAsTa wrote: @zatic: I had the same problem Ludrik had. I didn't eat enough carbs which really hurt my progress. So don't cut them out too much.
Well I have bee on a rather low carb diet for almost 2 years now and I am not going to change that for anything. I don't cut them completely anyways though, I would say I still eat more carbs than many of the suggested diets in this thread.
I usually have a croissant Monday morning to start the week I eat (some, not a lot) rice with my meals about 3x a week And I have fruits and berries regularly, maybe 2-3x a week
@dpurple: What is a good weight for the pause squats going from my current 90kg max?
EPT![[image loading]](https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/HackDiet?q=histchart&s=4QGW229415F5W7GWWW340F43JJKQK46G77284F32&width=800&height=600&start=2011-5-13&end=2011-6-20&qx=37KQ&HDiet_tzoffset=unknown)
It's not even close. What to do ? I've been thinking of doing only chin ups atm and do power cleans instead of pull ups and do chin ups, deadlift and power cleans every week.... but then again, you shouldn't mess with the program >_> What do you guys think?
