On January 14 2012 07:41 AsnSensation wrote: I guess all you guys one of those shitty lifting days like I had today.
115x5x5 Squats went pretty smoothly although I've realized that in the fourth & last set @ the 4th and 5th rep I tend to do a mix of squats and good mornings, basically I cannot raise my upperbody at the same time as my thighs, is that because my back is exhausted or because of bad technique/concentration?
Benchpress was pretty bad though. After going for 70x5x5 on 3consecutive workout days which involved BP ( 1 1/2 weeks), reason being that I never actually managed to 5x5 the 70kg instead it was always like 5-5-5-4-3 or 5-5-5-4-4 and I was a bit lazy after the holidays, I finally kept on putting weight on monday and surprisingly I actually managed the 72,5x5x5 but when I tried 75 kg today I only got 3 reps in the first two sets and decided to lower down to 72,5 and finished benchpressing with 3-3-2 -.-. tbh. I wasn't focused enough probably and still felt a bit shitty from tennis training, so hopefully monday will be a better day.
PS: I finally broke the 100kg deadlift on wednesday but struggled a bit with my grip. Basically my legs and back tell me: Keep going no problem but when I deadlift the 4th and 5th rep I feel like the bar is falling out of my hands any moment. Is it time to switch to mixed grip ( I read on SL site that you should go with the normal grip as long as you can) or is there any advice to improve grip strength? And also, do you guys jump instantly into your work weight on the deadlift after the overheadpress or do you "warm up" 1-2 sets before deadlifting?
tbh it sounds like it may be time to switch to 3x5 - at least on the bench. switch to mixed grip on the deadlift, and start using chalk.
Started Layne Norton's PHAT on monday, I cut out 1 to 2 Assistance/Auxiliary movement each day because of the insane high volume the routine has. Every bodypart has been sore and I even had to skip a day because I couldn't walk on friday. GHR's are absolutely brutal if you've never done them before. Looking foward to next week, never been so excited for the gym lol.
On January 14 2012 23:13 Trizz wrote: Started Layne Norton's PHAT on monday, I cut out 1 to 2 Assistance/Auxiliary movement each day because of the insane high volume the routine has. Every bodypart has been sore and I even had to skip a day because I couldn't walk on friday. GHR's are absolutely brutal if you've never done them before. Looking foward to next week, never been so excited for the gym lol.
Don't know about your past experience, but it could be way too much volume for you.
On January 14 2012 23:13 Trizz wrote: Started Layne Norton's PHAT on monday, I cut out 1 to 2 Assistance/Auxiliary movement each day because of the insane high volume the routine has. Every bodypart has been sore and I even had to skip a day because I couldn't walk on friday. GHR's are absolutely brutal if you've never done them before. Looking foward to next week, never been so excited for the gym lol.
Don't know about your past experience, but it could be way too much volume for you.
Considering that he cut down the number of exercises I would assume he is aware of the possibility and also say it's going to take some time to get used to such a routine.
On January 13 2012 18:32 Osmoses wrote: Did squats this morning. Terrible form, still fucking weak. My overhead press is the same weight as my squat. Gonna have to get a PT, definitely doing something wrong. Looking forward to deadlift monday though
1. Your feet are shoulder width apart and slightly toed out. 2. Head up, looking slightly above parallel. 3. Don’t look down! Ground is in peripheral vision only! 4. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve while pulling the excess arch out of the abs. 5. Keep midsection very tight. 6. Send your butt and your back down. 7. Knees track over the line of the foot. 8. Don’t let knees roll over inside of foot. 9. Keep your weight on your heels as much as possible. 10. STAY OFF THE BALLS OF THE FEET! 11. Delay forward travel of the knees as much as possible. 12. Lift your arms up and out as you descend. 13. Elongated torso. 14. Send hands as far away from butt as possible. 15. In profile, the ear does not move forward during the squat, only straight down. 16. Don’t just sink into the squat, pull yourself down with your hip flexors. 17. Don’t let the lumbar curve surrender as you settle into the bottom. 18. Stop when the fold of the hip is below the crease of the knee. Break parallel with your thighs. 19. Squeeeeeeeze glutes and hammies, rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance. 20. Return on the exact same path as you descended. 21. Use every bit of musculature you can, no part of the body is left uninvolved. 22. On rising, without moving the feet, exert pressure to the outside of your feet as though you were trying to separate the ground beneath you. 23. At the top of the stroke, stand as tall as possible.
Practice these at home and wherever you go
Thanks for the tips, though I feel like those are pretty much 23 things too many to keep in mind while doing a squat. It's like when you play golf, the more you think the more you suck. I need to learn the feel of a proper squat. Tbh I don't even get what you mean by moving my hands away from my butt as I... Oh, I you're talking about like a front squat, I'm doing low back. Never tried front. I might switch though, there's just so much shit in the way on my back, I basically can't get my hands past my pecks (holding on to the bar is a chore).
I feel like I got the theory down (I'm doing Starting Strength), I just don't, well, I can't watch myself while I'm doing it if you know what I mean. I can't really judge my own form. I might feel like my back is straight and in a good angle, but whether this is true or not I have no idea since I can't see myself from there, and if I turn my head while I'm doing it it fucks up my form. It's kind of like schrödinger's cat :p So basically I need someone to tell me when I'm doing it right so I'll remember how it's supposed to feel.
Anyway. Back is killing me today. Hopefully I'll be good to go on monday... Don't wanna miss out on my weekly deadlift.
On January 14 2012 10:39 decafchicken wrote: Also managed to convince the hottest sorority on campus to have a one on one with our rugby team...VICTORY
The whole sorority is hot? Do they have a minimum hotness criteria for prospects?
And when you say one on one in reference to a sorority and a rugby team I just see a huge flashing Brazzers sign, what does that mean in reality?
On January 13 2012 18:32 Osmoses wrote: Did squats this morning. Terrible form, still fucking weak. My overhead press is the same weight as my squat. Gonna have to get a PT, definitely doing something wrong. Looking forward to deadlift monday though
1. Your feet are shoulder width apart and slightly toed out. 2. Head up, looking slightly above parallel. 3. Don’t look down! Ground is in peripheral vision only! 4. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve while pulling the excess arch out of the abs. 5. Keep midsection very tight. 6. Send your butt and your back down. 7. Knees track over the line of the foot. 8. Don’t let knees roll over inside of foot. 9. Keep your weight on your heels as much as possible. 10. STAY OFF THE BALLS OF THE FEET! 11. Delay forward travel of the knees as much as possible. 12. Lift your arms up and out as you descend. 13. Elongated torso. 14. Send hands as far away from butt as possible. 15. In profile, the ear does not move forward during the squat, only straight down. 16. Don’t just sink into the squat, pull yourself down with your hip flexors. 17. Don’t let the lumbar curve surrender as you settle into the bottom. 18. Stop when the fold of the hip is below the crease of the knee. Break parallel with your thighs. 19. Squeeeeeeeze glutes and hammies, rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance. 20. Return on the exact same path as you descended. 21. Use every bit of musculature you can, no part of the body is left uninvolved. 22. On rising, without moving the feet, exert pressure to the outside of your feet as though you were trying to separate the ground beneath you. 23. At the top of the stroke, stand as tall as possible.
Practice these at home and wherever you go
Thanks for the tips, though I feel like those are pretty much 23 things too many to keep in mind while doing a squat. It's like when you play golf, the more you think the more you suck. I need to learn the feel of a proper squat. Tbh I don't even get what you mean by moving my hands away from my butt as I... Oh, I you're talking about like a front squat, I'm doing low back. Never tried front. I might switch though, there's just so much shit in the way on my back, I basically can't get my hands past my pecks (holding on to the bar is a chore).
I feel like I got the theory down (I'm doing Starting Strength), I just don't, well, I can't watch myself while I'm doing it if you know what I mean. I can't really judge my own form. I might feel like my back is straight and in a good angle, but whether this is true or not I have no idea since I can't see myself from there, and if I turn my head while I'm doing it it fucks up my form. It's kind of like schrödinger's cat :p So basically I need someone to tell me when I'm doing it right so I'll remember how it's supposed to feel.
Anyway. Back is killing me today. Hopefully I'll be good to go on monday... Don't wanna miss out on my weekly deadlift.
On January 14 2012 10:39 decafchicken wrote: Also managed to convince the hottest sorority on campus to have a one on one with our rugby team...VICTORY
The whole sorority is hot? Do they have a minimum hotness criteria for prospects?
And when you say one on one in reference to a sorority and a rugby team I just see a huge flashing Brazzers sign, what does that mean in reality?
Yeah, minimum hotness is usually how sororities operate.
One on one being a party that only members of those two organizations are allowed in to.
I'm completely unsure of what my goals for the year are going to be I'm fully recovered from my concussion though, so I'm at least free to do whatever I want...
Well, here's my status update:
Current #'s BW: 173lbs (so fat T_T) Squat: 290lbs - 3x5 Bench: 185lbs - 3x5 (still working my way up) Press: 90lbs - 3x5 (lol weaksauce) Deadlift: 285lbs 1x5 (ezpz) Pullups: 1x5 Chinups: 1x10
It really is true that you'll lose upper body str first!
I've been asking this around, maybe I can get some ideas here.
I haven't been able to do any kind of sports for about 3-4 years due to the load of reading and writing at my Ph.D studies. However, I have an extremely active history of doing sports, played both tennis and basketball at a near professional level almost everyday for at least 5 hours between 13-20 years old, I was able to do like 150 crunches and 100 pushups without breaks during this period. I'm 199cm and 110kg now.
I've started gym like a month ago. For the most part, I've been doing cardio at the elliptical trainer / cycling machines, started at 15 minutes now to 45 minutes at around 145-150 BPM. Then I started doing the regular set of weight machines, 10-12 machines with easy weights to get some of the muscle memory back and get ready for more strenuous training.
Now, when I start doing, for example, bench press in 10x8x6 pyramid training at my absolute limit with increasing weights gradually for each set, I feel like I will black out for the last 1-2 repeats and usually stop, and I usually can't get up for like 30 seconds and I get really pale (probably because of the adrenaline when body is reacting to danger of fainting). Is this normal, if not, what may be the cause of this? I really don't enjoy visits to physicians, so I want to ask people with knowledge first.
Some people said my heart might just not be ready yet and can't keep up with the oxygen demand of the muscles, others have said I have to watch what I eat before exercise, make sure I get enough complex carbohydrates. Any input would be appreciated.
On January 15 2012 08:38 Derrida wrote: I've been asking this around, maybe I can get some ideas here.
I haven't been able to do any kind of sports for about 3-4 years due to the load of reading and writing at my Ph.D studies. However, I have an extremely active history of doing sports, played both tennis and basketball at a near professional level almost everyday for at least 5 hours between 13-20 years old, I was able to do like 150 crunches and 100 pushups without breaks during this period. I'm 199cm and 110kg now.
I've started gym like a month ago. For the most part, I've been doing cardio at the elliptical trainer / cycling machines, started at 15 minutes now to 45 minutes at around 145-150 BPM. Then I started doing the regular set of weight machines, 10-12 machines with easy weights to get some of the muscle memory back and get ready for more strenuous training.
Now, when I start doing, for example, bench press in 10x8x6 pyramid training at my absolute limit with increasing weights gradually for each set, I feel like I will black out for the last 1-2 repeats and usually stop, and I usually can't get up for like 30 seconds and I get really pale (probably because of the adrenaline when body is reacting to danger of fainting). Is this normal, if not, what may be the cause of this? I really don't enjoy visits to physicians, so I want to ask people with knowledge first.
Some people said my heart might just not be ready yet and can't keep up with the oxygen demand of the muscles, others have said I have to watch what I eat before exercise, make sure I get enough complex carbohydrates. Any input would be appreciated.
Pyramid training is fucking unproductive, so I'll suggest to stop that. At your height/weight, given u seem good at sports but not experienced in the weight room, u should just do starting strength to get back in shape, and you will prolly be squatting/deadlifting over 150 and benching over 100 in 1-2 months, and doing twice that in a year or two if u follow proper programing. Like srsly, you seem like a gifted athlete, so if you are not gonna pick up again your sports, ditch the cardio, pyramid training cause it blows, and start doing compound lifts (squat, bench, deadlift,clean, press, etc) so you can be awesome again.
Edit: Also, weight machines are fucking terrible aswell.
There are tons of resources in the OP, take a look at them and ask any doubts you have , eshlow will know the answer.
Today was prolly one of the toughest sessions I've ever had, but I was completely sure I would complete it. I've decided to start eating more, given I was losing weight all week till yesterday, and if I don't gain at least 3 pounds of bodyweight I won't be able to complete smolov. I might have even done 11 sets, cause I lost count on 5th-6th set and decided to leave it at 5.
Btw i'm really exited as if I can do 142.5x3x10 in the third week my 1RM would have most likely increased 15-20kg
On January 15 2012 08:38 Derrida wrote: I've been asking this around, maybe I can get some ideas here.
I haven't been able to do any kind of sports for about 3-4 years due to the load of reading and writing at my Ph.D studies. However, I have an extremely active history of doing sports, played both tennis and basketball at a near professional level almost everyday for at least 5 hours between 13-20 years old, I was able to do like 150 crunches and 100 pushups without breaks during this period. I'm 199cm and 110kg now.
I've started gym like a month ago. For the most part, I've been doing cardio at the elliptical trainer / cycling machines, started at 15 minutes now to 45 minutes at around 145-150 BPM. Then I started doing the regular set of weight machines, 10-12 machines with easy weights to get some of the muscle memory back and get ready for more strenuous training.
Now, when I start doing, for example, bench press in 10x8x6 pyramid training at my absolute limit with increasing weights gradually for each set, I feel like I will black out for the last 1-2 repeats and usually stop, and I usually can't get up for like 30 seconds and I get really pale (probably because of the adrenaline when body is reacting to danger of fainting). Is this normal, if not, what may be the cause of this? I really don't enjoy visits to physicians, so I want to ask people with knowledge first.
Some people said my heart might just not be ready yet and can't keep up with the oxygen demand of the muscles, others have said I have to watch what I eat before exercise, make sure I get enough complex carbohydrates. Any input would be appreciated.
Sounds like issues with valsalva.
Make sure when you are putting up the weight you breath out through pursed lips and don't hold your breath if you are doing that.
Also, you should not use machines.
Decreasing pyramid is ok if you are making progress, otherwise I would go with straight sets across
Hopefully videos of the womens session comes up soon. Three of the top eight women in the country competed. They put on a great show.
btw decaf i think the daughter of dynamic eleiko was there. Her name is kelly? She was fantastic in the snatch but then she bombed in the clean and jerk.
yeah 111kg was a pr. I didnt bother cutting to 62 since it was a local meet. I havent been doing the olympic lifts much since I have been working out at regular gyms for the past two weeks. The clean and jerks were a nice surprise. 111 felt very very light. I prob could of went close to 120.
Today: Squat: 295lbs - 5-5-3 (form started to break down on last set so decided to stop before a possible injury) Press: 95lbs - 3x5 (felt pretty easy. There's one guy at the gym who has excellent form at everything, so I copied his core position and things went great!) Deadlift: 285lbs - 1x5 (mid-back seems like a weak link, since I don't think I'm keeping it straight)
EPT
