Post: #3676

(09-30-2017 08:19 AM)Mig Picante Wrote:  Squatted 3x5x 117.5kg today and feel like exceeding a previous PB of 3x5x 137.5kg from several years ago is very possible soon just by adding 2.5kg each session.

Got 3x5x 127.5kg today. Sorted out the knee issues last week, they feel good. Target is still 3x5x 140kg but I don't know if it's going to be a straight line adding weight each time atm.
My lower back has been mildly tender, not sore but like I am aware of it so need to proceed cautiously and may need to push out to 3 days between squatting.

Was sober all week, cleaned up my diet a bit and am focussed on getting this now.

This is several months of consistent work beginning to bear fruit. It feels good at the gym too, other people have begin noticing and making comments and coming up and talking and shit.

(and Summer is still about 8 weeks away haha)

Post: #3677

Today I hit a couple PRs:

Squat 185x3
Deadlift 235x3

I'm about 167 lbs so not that impressive, just the beginning. I struggled a lot with motivation and time management in the past, would go to the gym for like 2 months solid and then be out for the next 2 because I got too busy or lazy. Also had some struggles with lower back injuries

My goal I set in August is to hit a 155 bench, 210 squat, and 260 deadlift by the end of the year (all 1RM). Used the strength standard calculator that's been posted here before, and checked the novice level for my weight. Next year I'll move on to the intermediate targets.

Post: #3678

(09-30-2017 08:19 AM)Mig Picante Wrote:  Squatted 3x5x 117.5kg today and feel like exceeding a previous PB of 3x5x 137.5kg from several years ago is very possible soon just by adding 2.5kg each session.

The differences now are that my left knee feels like the kneecap is scraping during the motion. I'm playing around with the stance and angle of my feet. I wear Nike Romaleos so the shoe is all good but I'm trying to angle the toe out further to change the pressure through my knee and fix this while still increasing the weight. I'm getting a bit of discomfort during the motion from heavier sets but it varies.

I also need to clean up my diet too. I still eat a bag of chips when I get home from the gym. I just devour food after a lifting session and more discipline is required. I'm also still drinking a lot of piss. I drink beer every day which is a while different issue.
I'm the heaviest I've ever been ~84-85kg and mid 30's. Started getting a bit of weight around the middle and a bit of a belly which I need to reduce.

I've been adding 10 mins of brisk walking on a treadmill into the end of workouts for cardio. Should I increase that?
I also cycle for about 10mins to and from the gym and the legs feel pretty cooked after squatting.

Yeah, you just got to throw out all your chips, try getting almonds instead, douse it with parmesan cheese and bam, healthy snack.

Beer has got to go, I rarely drink alcohol (unless it's a date and I'm going for the bang, then I have a glass or two of wine).

If you have trouble with beer, Try just getting Perier or any other kind of sparkling water when you get the urge for beer.

Also, throw out all your beer. Get an expensive bottle of wine to only be used for bangs. Also, if you're getting carb cravings, try making a protein shake with bananas, protein powder, plain yogurt, ice, and a dash(teaspoon) of honey with a bit of oats or healthy museli with lots of fiber. Sometimes I put butter in the blender as well for healthy fat intake. Also, you probably need to eat more meat, with leafy green vegetables. I always buy pre-cubed steak at the grocery store, tenderize it by dousing one side of the cubes with salt and put it in the fridge for the day, wash off the salt before cooking it, the cook it with lots of butter.

This makes the meat really tender (extra points if you use a tenderizer, but not necessary). I usually get tons of raw spinach (it can be a pain to store though, you have to wrap it in paper towels after opening the package to make it last longer) and eat it with the steak, top it off with walnuts and Parmesan cheese (Yes, I love the stuff). The spinach is pretty neutral, I hate vegetables, except maybe artichoke hearts. But Raw spinach doesn't have a strong taste at all so I can tolerate it easily.

You don't have to go full Keto (in fact I'd advise against it as you can't get bigger muscles on Keto) But I'd advise eating about 50-60 grams of carbs at the most a day. Ketosis is 30 grams. But You MAY need to do Keto for a month or two to help combat insulin resistance. Basically, low insulin sensitivity makes you store more fat and use it less readily, and high insulin sensitivity makes your body use the stored fat more easily, causing you to. . .lose body fat. Basically, too much sugar (carbs become sugar in the body) makes it a lot harder for the body to lose fat even in a caloric deficit. So maybe do Keto for a month, to help reset your insulin sensitivity levels, then bump the carbs up to 40-60 grams a day, try to use fruit carbs and of course vegetable ones, stay away from beer, then you should be good after that.

What you'll find is that after two months of doing this, your cravings for crappy carbs will decrease DRAMATICALLY! Also you'll have a hard time making your protein macros (1.3g of protein for 1b of body weight) as your heightened protein intake (along with your vegetable intake) will lower your appetite BY A LOT, and you'll have to consciously make yourself eat more if you want to build muscle, and not have your body eat into the muscle. I used to count calories but I realized that I could never get to the 500 caloric deficit unless I ate crap food. It's a lot harder to meet your protein macros (hence the protein powder shakes). . .well nearly impossible without protein powder unless you eat chicken breasts 6 times a day.

I really only drink either socially (and even then it's like 1/4 a glass of beer, seriously) or when I have a girl coming over and want to have a glass of wine(for the first bang, after that I keep the wine hidden.)

If you're having knee trouble with squats, then your form is probably off. Get a resistance band, wrap it around one side of the squat rack, get to small dumpbell plates, and put the shoulder length apart. Put your heels on the place and squat while holding the resistance band. This will help with your dorsalflection mobility (your ankel flexibility) Do this for two - three weeks, then take the plates away while keeping the resistence band, two - three weeks. Then slowly build your weight back up to where you were. I believe you need to do around 10 reps and five sets each. You also make sure that you are going low enough with your squats(good mobility is needed for this.)

Post: #3679

Are there any tall lanky dudes who have no problem doing squats and deads? I have seen gains with these lifts but they always fuck me up. For me my height and build (6'2, thin build) have really played against me when it comes to heavy compound movements. It's a constant struggle for me to stay flexible enough to do them. I've had chronic body pain for two years from overdoing them, it's pretty damn frustrating. It's annoying seeing shorter dudes crank out heavy ass squats and deads with no problems (and making massive size gains), while I would need tremendous amounts of flexbility training and PT to see anything close.

Post: #3680

Work on your flexibility. I'm 6'2" as well (but I would not call myself lanky) and have no problems doing any of these movements. Being a little shorter definitely gives you a bit of a leverage advantage but you work with what was given to you. I've seen dudes taller than me lift FAR more while squatting deeper.

Post: #3681

Here's the flexibility tree...

1. Can you do it with just the bar?

If no, work on your flexibility.

If yes, then lower your weight till you can do it properly.

Post: #3682

What would you guys suggest to maximize recovery?

As most of you know I have been olympic lifting for a while and I have gotten fairly used to the training after a couple of years. Recently there was a small opening at nights on my schedule so I started doing some bjj.

Now when I do one or the other there isn't much of a problem. When I do both, however, the next day I feel like I got hit by car. My diet is pretty clean, any advice?

Post: #3683

(10-14-2017 08:57 PM)Oz. Wrote:  What would you guys suggest to maximize recovery?

As most of you know I have been olympic lifting for a while and I have gotten fairly used to the training after a couple of years. Recently there was a small opening at nights on my schedule so I started doing some bjj.

Now when I do one or the other there isn't much of a problem. When I do both, however, the next day I feel like I got hit by car. My diet is pretty clean, any advice?

Wondering this too. Did a leg workout today and doing a push workout tomorrow. I've found that the DOMS for my quads/hamstrings doesn't kick in until 24 hours after, the rest of my body goes through the soreness process a lot more quickly. I'm expecting to have a hell of a time moving around Monday morning.

Post: #3684

Sleep, eat more protein, ice, stretch a lot and foam rolling. If you want to drop some money get a deep tissue massage once a week the day after legs. Other than that there's not more you can do. Eventually your body will adjust and you won't get as much soreness.

Post: #3685

Delete. Double post

Post: #3686

Started lifting while I was a twig at 130 lbs 6' in height.
Bulked until 180 and now cut down to 165. Still have some leftover fat around my lower abdomen but apart from that I'm pretty lean, measured at 13%.

I noticed my game and looks were way worse when I was at 180. I wasn't huge anyway so the extra 15lbs were just unnecessary bloat around my face. Ideally I want to stay lean and still add some bulk and strength so I'm looking into recomp and lean bulk atm. I noticed girls like the shredded look way more than the bloated perma bulker. Unless you are super huge with a big frame you don't look good at 15+ BF%.

Got any advice for me ?

Post: #3687

Get bigger but not fatter.

Post: #3688

Had a great accomplishment today.

I couldn't close the pec deck all the way (it's the kind with the pads you put your elbows on) and I couldn't close it all the way without hitting the sides of my pecs, even with the seat all the way back.

That's growth baby. Time to get a new gym.

Post: #3689

Hit a new PB on the high bar squat at 80kg today. Managed three reps, my balance was off on the first two. I'm hoping to get at least three good reps at 100kg by the end of the year.

Back day is tomorrow, and I'm seeing how much I can Deadlift.

Post: #3690

Managed 105kg/231lbs on the Deadlift today. I'm happy enough with that for now, but I spent a while building up to it, and I think I allowed it to eat into the rest of my back workout. I ended up skipping the cable and Yates rows I normally do.

Post: #3691

My shoulder and wrist have been in pain for 3 months now, definitely worried there is something structurally wrong. I've been slowing trying to get back into gym routines and this pain keeps slowing me down. I chalked it up to getting older and taking longer to heal but something isn't normal for sure. Big time pain in the ass in communist Canada to try and get somebody to look at it.

Post: #3692

(10-21-2017 04:27 PM)kosko Wrote:  My shoulder and wrist have been in pain for 3 months now, definitely worried there is something structurally wrong. I've been slowing trying to get back into gym routines and this pain keeps slowing me down. I chalked it up to getting older and taking longer to heal but something isn't normal for sure. Big time pain in the ass in communist Canada to try and get somebody to look at it.

I've been having some elbow problems as well. I took a few months off from lifting and have been rubbing out the scar tissue. Seems to have worked. Been slowly getting back into everything. Really don't want to have Tommy John.

If I was you, take a month off. Don't aggravate the injury any more. Continue your normal routine, just without the gym. Keep your diet clean and stay disciplined. You will be a little lethargic but two weeks will get you back up to speed.

Post: #3693

Kosko,

Have you tried collagen. It was recommended here, I got some and took it everyday. Feel much better, shoulder and elbows used to give me trouble, feel great.

Great Lakes Collagen. Im mid-30's and I feel I needed this boost in joint health.

Post: #3694

Really considering roids right now, kinda stuck with my progress right now and could use a boost. I'm not close to my genetic limit yet but I feel like I could benefit from a cycle.
Anybody here pinning themself?

Post: #3695

Yeah.

I use gear, it works. You can probably go a good ways further without it. Either way it's a big decision and is not to be taken lightly.

PM me if you wanna talk training and gear and I'd be happy to talk you out of it and into a more productive way of training before you decide to hop down the rabbit hole.

Post: #3696

(10-22-2017 07:24 PM)Steelex Wrote:  Yeah.

I use gear, it works. You can probably go a good ways further without it. Either way it's a big decision and is not to be taken lightly.

PM me if you wanna talk training and gear and I'd be happy to talk you out of it and into a more productive way of training before you decide to hop down the rabbit hole.

Thanks brother, I'll hit you up once I have done my chores for the day, still gotta strike some stuff off the to do list

Post: #3697

Took a road trip to support a handful of friends/gym bros of mine at a strongman event and it really got me motivated.

Our gym brought it hard. Two 1st place finishes and a 2nd place finish out of our 5 competitors. All 3 qualified for nationals.

Post: #3698

Anybody get hair loss or shedding from creatine?

Post: #3699

No.

Post: #3700

Took my deadlift PB to 110kg/242lbs, but I urgently need to start including core work in my programme to go any heavier safely.