On August 03 2017 04:14 VHbb wrote: Hey guys - today I went for the first time to the gym (finally I'm back to my workplace where I've access to it)
I started following the 5x5 stronglift program, so today was squat - bench press - barbell row
Squat (empty bar): the first set I felt really off balance, I try to go down to break parallel but the first few times I kind of lost balance at the bottom and I raised my heels to stabilize. The following sets I think I maintained a better form: it's difficult to judge by myself, and at this point I was alone in the gym so I couldn't ask anyone. Overall good I think.
Bench press: this felt very light (but from the program, it seems it's expected) and I didn't have issues (that I could feel). I'm not sure I have a proper form for my back and position for my legs, but I'll have a better look at what the stronglift guy suggest (there are some very nice videos with explanation on that page).
Barbell row(bar+2x5kg disks): this felt *really* shitty I started with a very wrong back position, luckly there was a guy (which seemed more experienced) which showed me how to position my back to stay as parallel as possible, with a neutral position. I still feel I curve my back downwards (head and butt higher than the central part of the back). The bar with the 5kg disks seems very very low to grab, and in the first part of the pull I have to slightly lift with my legs (of if you want: I have to bend my legs further to grab the bar). I understand that the bar should be over my feet, not in front. With this positioning, when I pull it up I have to move it slightly forward to avoid hitting my knees: is this correct? (I guess not..) Finally I feel I used my wrists to raise it up to my chest more than one time, which again is wrong. Overall I *feel* (since I cannot see myself) that I am very far away from the posture and the movement as I saw them on the stronglift videos / instructions.
Talking with the 2 guys in the gym, none of them does barbell row (they seemed a bit skeptical, don't know why). One of them showed me the movement with the bar, but again quite different from the form I saw from the videos (bar position forward wrt feet).
Any advice ?
In two days I'll do the second workout with squat, overhead press, deadlift - and I'll tell you how it goes
p.s. final consideration: I'm super weak (I knew it, but now I kind of *know* it)
Maybe record yourself on your phone and compare your position with the row to your source material? It's a bit difficult to get a sense of your positioning, but that would be my first step.
I went on with the trainings, and I'm now in the second week of the stronglift program. About the barbell row, I tried again increasing the weight to 2x10kg plates: I know I should have started from 2x5kg and increased gradually, but using the 10kg plates I feel much better with my form - since the plates have a larger diameter and I don't have to go too much down to the ground to grab the bar. I'll stay with this weight for a while because it does feel a bit too heavy for my current level..
The other exercises (squat, benchpress, deadlift and overhead press) seem ok: I think I'll ask some guy at the gym (it's a super small gym and I keep meeting the same people) to give me some advice on my form on all of these, to make sure I'm not incorporating some bad movements without noticing. Probably the one where I'm less confident (a part for the barbell row) is the overhead press for the moment..
Keep the weight increases to a minimum in the beginning since you are just learning a movement first and second getting stronger. But keep it up and take a vid if you want us to look it over
Thanks yes, I'm keeping it very low (I started with just the bar for most exercises and I add 2.5kg every time). About warming up: so far I'm doing 1-2 sets (x5) with just the bar, do you think I should do something else?
The video would be super useful but my phone is from the stone age and it doesn't even take pictures.. I'll ask a friend to borrow his
On August 03 2017 04:14 VHbb wrote: Hey guys - today I went for the first time to the gym (finally I'm back to my workplace where I've access to it)
I started following the 5x5 stronglift program, so today was squat - bench press - barbell row
Squat (empty bar): the first set I felt really off balance, I try to go down to break parallel but the first few times I kind of lost balance at the bottom and I raised my heels to stabilize. The following sets I think I maintained a better form: it's difficult to judge by myself, and at this point I was alone in the gym so I couldn't ask anyone. Overall good I think.
Bench press: this felt very light (but from the program, it seems it's expected) and I didn't have issues (that I could feel). I'm not sure I have a proper form for my back and position for my legs, but I'll have a better look at what the stronglift guy suggest (there are some very nice videos with explanation on that page).
Barbell row(bar+2x5kg disks): this felt *really* shitty I started with a very wrong back position, luckly there was a guy (which seemed more experienced) which showed me how to position my back to stay as parallel as possible, with a neutral position. I still feel I curve my back downwards (head and butt higher than the central part of the back). The bar with the 5kg disks seems very very low to grab, and in the first part of the pull I have to slightly lift with my legs (of if you want: I have to bend my legs further to grab the bar). I understand that the bar should be over my feet, not in front. With this positioning, when I pull it up I have to move it slightly forward to avoid hitting my knees: is this correct? (I guess not..) Finally I feel I used my wrists to raise it up to my chest more than one time, which again is wrong. Overall I *feel* (since I cannot see myself) that I am very far away from the posture and the movement as I saw them on the stronglift videos / instructions.
Talking with the 2 guys in the gym, none of them does barbell row (they seemed a bit skeptical, don't know why). One of them showed me the movement with the bar, but again quite different from the form I saw from the videos (bar position forward wrt feet).
Any advice ?
In two days I'll do the second workout with squat, overhead press, deadlift - and I'll tell you how it goes
p.s. final consideration: I'm super weak (I knew it, but now I kind of *know* it)
Maybe record yourself on your phone and compare your position with the row to your source material? It's a bit difficult to get a sense of your positioning, but that would be my first step.
I went on with the trainings, and I'm now in the second week of the stronglift program. About the barbell row, I tried again increasing the weight to 2x10kg plates: I know I should have started from 2x5kg and increased gradually, but using the 10kg plates I feel much better with my form - since the plates have a larger diameter and I don't have to go too much down to the ground to grab the bar. I'll stay with this weight for a while because it does feel a bit too heavy for my current level..
The other exercises (squat, benchpress, deadlift and overhead press) seem ok: I think I'll ask some guy at the gym (it's a super small gym and I keep meeting the same people) to give me some advice on my form on all of these, to make sure I'm not incorporating some bad movements without noticing. Probably the one where I'm less confident (a part for the barbell row) is the overhead press for the moment..
Keep the weight increases to a minimum in the beginning since you are just learning a movement first and second getting stronger. But keep it up and take a vid if you want us to look it over
Thanks yes, I'm keeping it very low (I started with just the bar for most exercises and I add 2.5kg every time). About warming up: so far I'm doing 1-2 sets (x5) with just the bar, do you think I should do something else?
The video would be super useful but my phone is from the stone age and it doesn't even take pictures.. I'll ask a friend to borrow his
Warm up is very different from people to people and as long as you feel like you are warm and supple enough that is what matters the most.
For me it takes maybe 10-15 mins on a bike followed by foam rolling and some mobility exercises before getting to the bar.
I usually row for five minutes and then for do 4-5 warmup sets with 20%-80% of the weight for my primary movement that day. I used to spend 10-15 minutes running but that just made me stiffer.
I do 15-30 minutes of dynamic stretching and Functional Range Conditioning. This old body takes a while to get going these days.
Started new phase of this training cycle this week. Finally going to be doing more snatch/CJ. Worked up to 3x121kg snatch on Monday which is more than I've tripled in YEARS and 4kg less than I hit for my 1RM on saturday lol. All this work towards getting strong and healthy is finally paying off. Rugby starting up though again so fuck my gains -_-;
Thanks for the advice! I usually have a 20min bike on a quite hilly road to get to the gym, so I may probably skip other cardio, but I'll try to do some pullups / dips / muscleups / similar the next time (I'll have to google what dynamic stretching / Functional Range Conditioning is).
Rugby starting again for me as well on Thursday I haven't played / trained in a few years so it will be interesting to see how it goes ...
On August 10 2017 01:36 VHbb wrote: Thanks for the advice! I usually have a 20min bike on a quite hilly road to get to the gym, so I may probably skip other cardio, but I'll try to do some pullups / dips / muscleups / similar the next time (I'll have to google what dynamic stretching / Functional Range Conditioning is).
Rugby starting again for me as well on Thursday I haven't played / trained in a few years so it will be interesting to see how it goes ...
dynamic stretching is moving through the range of motion and not staticly holding the end range of motion like you do with normal stretching
Hey guys thanks again for the advice in the past - I have one more noobish question: what do you eat in the morning before going to the gym?
I used to skip breakfast completely (I don't like to eat when I wake up), now I'm getting used to eat some yogurt / eggs with a coffee, but this morning I had some troubles when I was training. I am still lifting ridiculously light weights, but I still got to a point where I felt a bit like fainting and I had to go out and eat something (a banana) to get some strength back. I had a super light dinner (almost none) yesterday, so that's for sure contributing, but I'm wondering if I should eat a bit more..and what. I don't care too much about optimizing the diet, I don't want to keep track too closely to my diet because that does not work for me, but if you have some pointers that would be useful
On August 29 2017 03:32 VHbb wrote: Hey guys thanks again for the advice in the past - I have one more noobish question: what do you eat in the morning before going to the gym?
I used to skip breakfast completely (I don't like to eat when I wake up), now I'm getting used to eat some yogurt / eggs with a coffee, but this morning I had some troubles when I was training. I am still lifting ridiculously light weights, but I still got to a point where I felt a bit like fainting and I had to go out and eat something (a banana) to get some strength back. I had a super light dinner (almost none) yesterday, so that's for sure contributing, but I'm wondering if I should eat a bit more..and what. I don't care too much about optimizing the diet, I don't want to keep track too closely to my diet because that does not work for me, but if you have some pointers that would be useful
cheers!
I typically do: Protein shake 100g of yogurt 10g of Chia Seed (I got a 10 buck scale off amazon just to see how much I'd use it)
I tend to break up eating into 200-300 calorie blocks every few hours I follow up work outs with a banana or piece of fruit, or some complex carbs/eggs; but that is my typical breakfast before my morning run/work. I typically give myself an hour to process before doing work to avoid or lessen likelihood of feeling sick.
Thanks Thomas, that's helpful - I'm not familiar with protein shake but I'll do some research If you have some good reference to read something about it, that's welcome (sorry if it seems like a silly question but I have no idea of what a "protein" shake even is )
On August 29 2017 04:39 VHbb wrote: Thanks Thomas, that's helpful - I'm not familiar with protein shake but I'll do some research If you have some good reference to read something about it, that's welcome (sorry if it seems like a silly question but I have no idea of what a "protein" shake even is )
Ah, I use EAS Whey Protein, but generic protein shake is 160-250 calorie drink depending on what you use to mix the powder.
have any of you guys used RP templates? I kinda fell of the wagon for a while and had to restart crossfit and proper eating and decided to try RP but its so much more carbs than what I was used to eating kinda got freaked out.
have any of you guys used RP templates? I kinda fell of the wagon for a while and had to restart crossfit and proper eating and decided to try RP but its so much more carbs than what I was used to eating kinda got freaked out.
Cant get huge without carbs, if that's your goal. I never saw the same performance or physique progress until I started eating 450+ grams of carbs a day (alongside ~120g fat and 320g protein, currently) As long as i'm keeping up with my workouts and staying active, it doesn't lead to a whole lot of fat gain, just some bloating if I also happen to have high salt or low water intake on the previous day and carbs are significantly easier to consume than other sources of calories.
My diet mostly looks like:
Breakfast eggs with egg whites, bacon, toast or hashbrowns. Some kind of vegetable (asparagus, broccoli, green beans) will ditch the carb and some of the whole eggs when cutting.
Lunch protein bar or shake, sandwich, couple ounces of nuts (peanuts, almonds, pistachios) when bulking, energy drink (i regret that one, but haven't managed to ditch it though I did cut down to one a day, night shifts suck) trade energy drink for diet or caffiene pill when cutting.
Post workout a quart of milk, either chocolate whole-fat (bulking) or 2% fat white milk cutting.
Dinner: chicken, 10-12 ounces, usually shredded or diced in a burrito bowl setup with plenty of pepper/onions, salsa and cheese on top of around 3 cups (cooked) of rice with whey protein in water. Reduce the rice to two cups and drop the cheese when cutting.
Second dinner same thing again.
I'll cheat every now and then, like when bulking I'll have a large pizza and wings every other week, or when cutting i'll just skip a meal here or there (because cooking is exhausting IMO) but that's what I eat about 90% of the time.
So a couple days ago I was admiring my traps, and then my gf pointed out a pretty significant muscle imbalance., fml.
I'm doing some construction work, and we regularly lift 200-300lb panes of glass and other partition wall materials. So voila, now my right bicep is 1 inch larger than my left, and my right traps start like 8mm higher on my neck from the front, and from the back it's even worse.
Considering I have 55 hour + weeks of this stuff, I have no motivation to workout (also I think it would hinder performance, since I need very high stamina, but not particularly high absolute strength)... I just deadlifted 335lbs for 12 reps without working out for the last 6~ months, just the job. Now I cannot unsee my lack of symmetry, I'm shocked I missed it for so long.
Has anyone had this happen to them? I've always had good lifting principles that I've developed from strength training, but is there a risk here for messing up my body this way? Can I just try to alternate my dominant hands, even the muscles out, and be good? I've never really realized how difficult it is to be symmetric without strength training if you do an activity that requires significant muscle. Always took it for granted.
Sounds crazy, can't really imagine a thing like that happening from pure mass, you're sure it's not just temporary bloat/pump? Assuming that's not it, I guess alternate the lifts onto either side and mby see a chiro?
Other than that, I doubt anyone but your gf would notice an 8mm diff.
EPT
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