GIFt us your lifts! (or other achievements!)
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Just got back from my annual company-sponsored physical. (They add $300 to my health savings account if I agree to get this done each year...free money!)
As usual, the nurse and I disagree with one important measurement: my waistline. I wear 34" jeans which have at least a couple inches worth of space, requiring a belt to stay in place. (Reason I don't wear 32" jeans is my thighs are too thick and require the larger size.) Yet every year I'm measured as having a significantly larger waist...this year, 37". Nurse says to hold the end of a tape measure at my belly button and spin, so the technique/placement is suspect. But whatever...I know my appearance is nothing like what that piece of paper says:
Paper: 5'9", 206lb, 37" waist...implies round and overweight slob
Life: 5'9", 200lb (when not wearing clothes/boots), 32" waist...mirror shows an entirely different picture
The number which I found pleasantly surprising was my resting heart rate of 50. I haven't done cardio in months, expected it to be in the 60's. But I'll take it!
Great resting heart rate.
When I was at my leanest this past summer I was labeled as obese by my General practitioner at a BMI of 29. Matter of fact my current profile pic was taken around the time of that visit.0 -
My wife can't stand needles after having spent six weeks in a hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery, but even she'll put up with giving blood once a year for $300! lol1
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My bench has been disappointing me lately, so I decided to try an experiment a friend is running... It's basically benching every day but only one set at a 5rep max. So you warm up, rest, and then push 5 reps at the heaviest you can go. If you get 5 reps, you up the weight 5lbs and then do as many reps as you can each day until you're strong enough to get 5 reps at that new weight. Then add 5lb and repeat.
Anyhoo... Since it's a daily thing, I am doing my bench out of my home gym and the rest at the regular gym.
Today I decided to test my squat 1rm. The last time I tested, I got 225lb for 1 but failed 230. Today I did 215lb and it felt good, so then I did 225 and that also felt good and moved with very little sticking...
So then I figured I'd go for 235. It felt good but when I came up out of the hole, my butt rose too fast and I tipped forward. I didn't feel right about my balance so I bailed and reset.
I hate the fact that when I fail a squat I have to unload the whole damn thing, so when I reloaded I decided to go for the 230lb PR and got it.
I attacked 235lb and got that too! (I was scared to fail but it went way better). That was an all time PR. So then I went for 240lb... And got that too! Woot.
And that leaves me with my final lift... 245lb
A 20lb PR over my last tested squat and a 15lb lifetime PR!
What a day! 😁😁😁
Oh and I also added 25lb to each side of my leg press... 3x10x549lbs.
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@KickassAmazon76 so proud of you Sandy!1
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Minion_training_program wrote: »@KickassAmazon76 so proud of you Sandy!
Thanks Gus! Next up... Deadlifts! Eeeek0 -
You really earned that one, Sandy!1
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You really earned that one, Sandy!
Thank you! I almost gave up. There was a moment when I was sure it was done moving, but it didn't hurt and the form was feeling solid so I kept pushing. It felt so amazing when it started to climb again.
Somehow I need to train that sticking spot though... not sure what exercise is best for that one.
Any suggestions? 3/4 squats? High mounted pin squats?0 -
KickassAmazon76 wrote: »You really earned that one, Sandy!
Thank you! I almost gave up. There was a moment when I was sure it was done moving, but it didn't hurt and the form was feeling solid so I kept pushing. It felt so amazing when it started to climb again.
Somehow I need to train that sticking spot though... not sure what exercise is best for that one.
Any suggestions? 3/4 squats? High mounted pin squats?
Google says: https://barbend.com/squat-sticking-points/#:~:text=Most people program pause squats,exercise for the posterior chain.0 -
Pause squats are valid, but I think you may be better off with box squats. I have a serious love/hate relationship with box squats; I loathe doing them, but I love the results of doing them. Just a quick PSA about them, though...first time doing them, use HALF of your normal weight, they are that challenging until you get used to them.
Another option is static squats. This is where you need bars both above and below the squat bar, usually done in a smith rack. Set the bottom bar at your lowest squat height, and the top bar about six inches above that point, where it looks like you got stuck. You don't need to load a bunch of weight; just the bar, actually. You setup under the bar at the bottom (a bit awkward, I know) then squat up. Once the bar hits the top bar you are now essentially trying to move the entire rack, plus all weights loaded onto the rack, so you will NOT move up further. Push against this ultimate resistance for a count of five, relax back down. Do 3 sets of 5 seconds each, working yourself up to 10 seconds over time. Your goal in this exercise is not movement, but training your muscles to keep fighting during this time of ultimate stress, which coincides with your weakest sticking point. When you go back to normal squats, your muscles will be primed to power into and through this sticking point.1 -
Just a bonus tip: the same concept works for hitting our sticking point on bench press, too. Just requires an accurate idea of where to put the bars.1
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KickassAmazon76 wrote: »You really earned that one, Sandy!
Thank you! I almost gave up. There was a moment when I was sure it was done moving, but it didn't hurt and the form was feeling solid so I kept pushing. It felt so amazing when it started to climb again.
Somehow I need to train that sticking spot though... not sure what exercise is best for that one.
Any suggestions? 3/4 squats? High mounted pin squats?
I was going to say, the static squats, but Mike already put that here.
Altough your setup is different than i would do it.
I usually just get to bottem position with just barbell, and have the safety bars at a height that when i push to the bar and get up, i am at a quarter above parallel, against the safety bars, hold for 5 seconds and lower to bottem again.
Since i have no smith machine in gym, i found this easier than setting up the safety bars at 2 different heights.
@KickassAmazon76 another thing i find helpfull on squatting is doing quarter squats.
Have the safety bars set up high enough, that when you lower to a quarter, the bar would rest on safety bar. You can load this heavier than your normal squats by the way (i used to do this with 130% of my 1RM)
Lower the weight to just above the barbell, and push up as hard as you can, as if you want to make a vertical jump.
Ice skaters and cyclist use this exercise for the extreme power they need for their sport. It feels kinda weird at first, but gives you power at the upper part of the squat
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@nossmf and @Minion_training_program thank you both!! I'll play around a bit with these and see how it goes!
Also... Deadlifts didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I don't think I warmed up enough for my test as it felt heavier than I expected... (My last PR was 300lb)
295x1 moved quite nicely. 305 attempt 1 failed. This is attempt 2.
I stopped there. 😊.
Now I'll do a lighter week and then restart my program with lighter weights using the new 1rms as a guide
Not going to test my bench 1rm this round. My shoulder is still bugging me a bit from those dips (not doing them any more), and I've moved to the daily benching thing. 😊
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KickassAmazon76 wrote: »@nossmf and @Minion_training_program thank you both!! I'll play around a bit with these and see how it goes!
Also... Deadlifts didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I don't think I warmed up enough for my test as it felt heavier than I expected... (My last PR was 300lb)
295x1 moved quite nicely. 305 attempt 1 failed. This is attempt 2.
I stopped there. 😊.
Now I'll do a lighter week and then restart my program with lighter weights using the new 1rms as a guide
Not going to test my bench 1rm this round. My shoulder is still bugging me a bit from those dips (not doing them any more), and I've moved to the daily benching thing. 😊
Hell yeah ! 🙌1 -
Not much longer until you have that third large plate per side, my lady! Woot, woot!1
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Tonight's workout surprised me greatly. Only got 5 hours sleep last night, so already behind the power curve. On top of that, I like to workout first thing in the morning BEFORE work, but because I'm working shift instead of staff for a few weeks today I had to hit the gym AFTER work. I've tracked my lifts for over 15 years, I know my numbers suffer when I'm short on sleep or exercising late in the day.
Instead, the iron gods chose to bless my foray into their world. Not only did I hit all my reps, I actually was able to INCREASE the weight used on 3 of my 4 lifts. (Potentially could have gone up on the fourth one, too, but it was my first lift of the day and I didn't trust myself yet.)
Who knew.2 -
KickassAmazon76 wrote: »@nossmf and @Minion_training_program thank you both!! I'll play around a bit with these and see how it goes!
Also... Deadlifts didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I don't think I warmed up enough for my test as it felt heavier than I expected... (My last PR was 300lb)
295x1 moved quite nicely. 305 attempt 1 failed. This is attempt 2.
I stopped there. 😊.
Now I'll do a lighter week and then restart my program with lighter weights using the new 1rms as a guide
Not going to test my bench 1rm this round. My shoulder is still bugging me a bit from those dips (not doing them any more), and I've moved to the daily benching thing. 😊
Amazing job! 💪🏼1 -
Not much longer until you have that third large plate per side, my lady! Woot, woot!
I hope not! It's a huge goal for me and it's so close I can taste it!
Thank you very much!kinetixtrainer2 wrote: »Amazing job! 💪🏼
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Tonight's workout surprised me greatly. Only got 5 hours sleep last night, so already behind the power curve. On top of that, I like to workout first thing in the morning BEFORE work, but because I'm working shift instead of staff for a few weeks today I had to hit the gym AFTER work. I've tracked my lifts for over 15 years, I know my numbers suffer when I'm short on sleep or exercising late in the day.
Instead, the iron gods chose to bless my foray into their world. Not only did I hit all my reps, I actually was able to INCREASE the weight used on 3 of my 4 lifts. (Potentially could have gone up on the fourth one, too, but it was my first lift of the day and I didn't trust myself yet.)
Who knew.
That is so awesome! Congrats to you!
I am chronically sleep deprived, and I think I've averaged about 5.5h sleep a night for the last 5 years (according to my fitbit data lol). I guess that's why I think I'd die if I tried to put a barbell on my back first thing in the morning. Half the time I'm falling asleep sitting on the kitchen floor with coffee mid sip, trying to wake up.
That said, I think my strongest point is mid afternoon. Unfortunately I rarely get to workout then. LOL
All hail to the iron gods! May they continue to bless you abundantly!0 -
At one point I was off in the weeds reading research on how to try and optimize everything fitness-related; if I recall correctly there's data that suggests fractional advantages to lifting mid-afternoon for maximizing strength in the average circadian rhythm, but the magnitude isn't significant compared to timing when you're most available, comfortable, and confident under the bar.
I've also been battling sleep the last few nights. Depth isn't an issue but duration has suddenly become a problem. One of the cats kept waking me hungry, so we started putting out more dry food before bed, which worked for that. However, now I'm waking up at ~4 and can't get my mind off my to-do list so I've just been getting up. I don't necessarily hate it but I'm shorting myself a REM cycle and have been feeling it. On the plus side I've been actually executing a proper deload week... but of course now I'm not getting enough sleep.1 -
At one point I was off in the weeds reading research on how to try and optimize everything fitness-related; if I recall correctly there's data that suggests fractional advantages to lifting mid-afternoon for maximizing strength in the average circadian rhythm, but the magnitude isn't significant compared to timing when you're most available, comfortable, and confident under the bar.
I've also been battling sleep the last few nights. Depth isn't an issue but duration has suddenly become a problem. One of the cats kept waking me hungry, so we started putting out more dry food before bed, which worked for that. However, now I'm waking up at ~4 and can't get my mind off my to-do list so I've just been getting up. I don't necessarily hate it but I'm shorting myself a REM cycle and have been feeling it. On the plus side I've been actually executing a proper deload week... but of course now I'm not getting enough sleep.
My cats are my nemesis too. Well, actually my boy Bennet is the worst. If I feed him at midnight, he might let me sleep til 6:15. At best I usually get 6 hours before he's coming after me for more - so I can't feed them early to try and get to bed early, or else he just wakes me up early - by knocking schitt of my nighstand and walking on my face.
sigh. but then he gets all cuddly mid afternoon and I forget to be mad at him.
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