In order to give myself time frames for running and such since the half marathon won't be until fall (they don't have anything up on it yet even), I decided to find a 10k for spring. I found one on May 21st in the town I work in and it's an obstacle one, a very muddy obstacle course. Should be fun so I signed up. Of the things mentioned on the site, while I can't do a pull up yet or anything but I've climbed with ropes and stuff before, the main thing I don't know if I can do is jumping over stuff. They make a joke about hurdles being easy and mention blindfolded jumps over hay bales. Short with not much of a vertical jump ever means me no likey jumps. I may need to add box jumps to my training regimen. Good thing I have plenty of time to work on that and some upper body strength. Maybe a team will adopt me at the wave I picked cause it has teams but I know no one, so am signing up alone. Gives me training incentive and crosses off a goal on my list of things to accomplish: make it through an obstacle course.

Wow, sounds great, good for you! It's the running bit that puts me off those - I could probably do the other stuff but running 10k would kill me

Not bad for a hotel gym! Nothing smaller than 5kg though, so have dropped back a bit rather than overdo things. There's no one here to rescue me if it flattens me!

Okay, the overall time spent with the trainer today. It was different. Had made the appointment just to get someone to use the calipers since last time I tried everyone was too busy and I got told it was better to set up an appointment so that a trainer would be available. However, the guy trainer thought I had signed up to meet for more reasons than that, so it was a little awkward. Funny thing though, I'm actually certain that the trainer was the one I met in the other gym (not that far but different "town" that was a super sport so more expensive) who helped me sign up for the one I attend. Kind of funny, having the meet up a year later. He had noticed that I lost some weight but was hesitant about mentioning it, as some can be cause if you don't work with someone it's kind of weird to just go up and ask if the person has lost weight, though some customers still do it where I work.

He had me fill out the sheet that asks questions about goals, current consumption (calories and any supplements) plus an other spot that included past injuries, issue, hobbies and such all in one. I put the runs and lifting in my goals, dairy under allergy, my calorie range which is general as it does vary a little on the long run days compared to no exercise days, and the past injuries/issues.

We talked a little there with him mostly focusing on the areas where I have pain sometimes. Really shouldn't have mentioned the elbow, it doesn't flair up often but skull crushers this last time aggravated it some so the past couple of days it was achy. He kept trying to get me to pinpoint the exact location for each one, which I wasn't quite prepared for since I didn't really make the appointment in order to get a full assessment on those aspects. Talked a tad on the protein/food side but he was easily distracted and jumped topics a couple of times. Didn't ask about the lifting much though I did get a chance to get some answers on what things weigh. According to him the ez curl bars (not fixed weight ones) are 35, which would be why 45 felt rather heavy on curls compared to the 40 I had done before with the straight bar. He had to guess on the leg press because unlike any other he has worked with, they don't say them right on the equipment. He guessed the one I use to be no more than 20, possibly closer to 10 based on how it feels.

Only time we really talked weights and certain lifts is I mentioned needing to look into smaller plates or something to increase bench press. He suggested switching out for dumbbells for a while for the flat bench.

He did go off on a thing about whey protein, which I posted about already in the other topic. That was a bit weird. Finally, got the body fat assessment done and he did seem to know how to work the calipers, at least. Even gave me the sheet where he wrote the little details down on after we were done which has the measurements for each point used. The unfortunate part is all of that went down but my bf% compared to months ago when I last had it checked did not change at all. Or well, I guess looking at my notes the different is .15 as before had listed 28.7 and it was 28.55. Not really a noteworthy change there considering the margin of error and such. Though it was under 4 months, but still. Need to work on something or other in this regard. I'm down around 10 lbs since the July % test but hopefully as I get back on track working towards June goals, things will improve.

The focus on the injuries was weird cause I didn't list them to be like I hurt now. In fact, lifting hasn't bothered my knees at all and I've had problems with them off and on since 6th grade basketball. Though I do now like using the rack for lunges just in case one has a tantrum. Other than some slight aching, my back doesn't hurt either and that's where I have arthritis. The wrists, mostly right, I'm just careful with and it does set back my front squat some but I'm working on it. In general, I don't have a lot of pain so wasn't expected that to come up let alone be a main focus.

There was, of course, the mention of sessions though he worded it a little different than the others and didn't do the whole price point spiel and what not. He actually said it seemed I was doing well with my program lifting wise, but most of his interest to work with me was on the nutrition side. Said if I found myself stalling or just wanted to try a different approach in that regard, he would like to work with me. And offered a free hour session, if I'm interested in the future to get some ideas. Though the whole not eating in a deficit but still lose weight sounded tad questionable when he mentioned that part. He was nice at least and not pushy.

But yeah, all of that just to get someone to use calipers...

@Ariadnula I find this video the easiest / most straightforward to use for set up. Obviously it's not that in depth, but helps me keep it super simple

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tfYez7-h55c

You've definitely got the strength to get those deadlifts off the ground

zomg. the conversation about pecs and t-spine in the november thread mobilized me into, finally, doing something about mine. i went on a youtuber binge yesterday and tried out most of the stuff that i came across. thought i'd made a post about it last night, actually, but i guess it got lost.

i did bouncy-ball and foam rolling one vertebra at a time. with 'mobilization' and 'sinking in', ow. then i did pec minor work, ow ow ow ow. then i did child's pose with a downward-dog chest, i.e. trying to manage a concave t-spine. with arm sweeps. then i breathed for a while. i did rhomboid stretching. and intercostal-stretch breathing. and oblique work and lat work as well. discovered throughout all of this that my obliques and my intercostals are at least some of the problems i've got with upper-back mobility.

then i did more foam-roller stuff. then i did iron-cross/bretzel twisting, yin yoga style, with arm sweeps. i did the 'airplane' twists where you bend from the waist and anchor your opposite shoulder with your own knees. i rolled and down-dogged some more. then i tried out the be-your-own-chiropractor things from a guy who advocates giving yourself the traditional hug in a seated position, and then literally FALLING backwards so the affected part of your spine lands on something softish but with a bit of height, like a rolled-up towel. i'm slightly frightened to tell you people: it works. i even slept in the twist mode, a bit. the whole thing has exposed muscles that lie underneath those spinal erectors, which (in my case) are big enough and strong enough to fight back, most of the time.

alllllllll the soft tissues along my t-spine are tender today. but i have actual mobility i haven't had for a while and that restricted feeling on my left side is about 50% less than before. i'm almost forcibly keeping myself out of the gym until this settles down, but so hopeful.

Cheers, @StephieWillcox! That confirms a few of the things I've been thinking. What I think is half way up my foot, is not!

Thanks for posting the video, it'll certainly help my form.

I think the basic is don't curl.

For the most part it's a general stuff like politeness, so don't take it if someone left for a moment to get a drink of water, etc. Would be nice if you take off the plates when done (some don't do that at pretty much any gym out there). Usual awareness of those around you is on the plus side.

As for what lifts. Opinion varies. I've seen a guy use the cage as a weird method of stretching, probably don't do that. I will use it for squats, good morning (don't feel like doing a clean every time but I could), overhead press and even lunges now as it's the one where my knees can act cranky so I like having the safeties there. You can bench though I've never done that so far. Also things like rack pulls and such. I have done deadlift once but I don't like taking up the rack if the spot for that is open (based on my current gym, but coworker's gym it is either take from their 1 cage or one of the 2 benches).

You can do weird stuff if you want, even curl, but yeah, some people might shake their head. But we all do stuff that might seem strange to someone else. Have fun.

BethAnnieT wrote: »

Hi all... I'm posting this question here with a little embarrassment, but hey, I'm new, so this is the right time to ask. What am I supposed to do (or not do) in "the cage"? I don't want to screw up and become someone's funny "girl at the gym" story. I guess I'm looking mostly for what not to do. How to not look like an idiot.

Pretty much what they said. Squat, good mornings, possibly setting the bar for deadlifts (I have done that with a guy before. I was using the inside of the rack to squat, and he was using the outside safety pins to rack his bar when he added weight to deadlift. We made sure not to both go at once for safety purposes, obviously, but the setup worked. So there is that.). It's just silly though to use it for anything where you don't need it, especially if someone else could be using it. If you're the only person in the gym tho, do whatever you want! lol

The one thing I have seen that had me shaking my head at my gym was that one guy who REMOVED the bar from the rack in order to do... dumbbell overhead presses IN the rack. I never understood that one... He wasn't doing anything else in there!

I think every gym with it's worth of space should have a wall with a "crossfit" rig, though. You kind of have it all in one place. uprights with adjustable hook heights, pull-ups bars, beams to tie things on, space against the wall if you need it, and it really doesn't take much space at all (heck, some set-ups, you can lift up and push back against the wall if needed).