awkwardsoul Member

More lifting at a mountain resort at 7,000 foot elevation. Cardio bike/elliptical - 30 minutes as I caught up with my youtube videos Puttered around trying all the machines 3x5 Romanian Deadlift with dumbbells 5x8 60lbs One more workout here then it's back home to home squat rack!

I'm back at the resort gym again throwing around dumbbells and machines. Turns out since the day before someone broke the lat pull down machine thing. Sigh. Dumbbell Front Squats 5x10 60lbs Incline Bench press 3x5 90lbs Seated Row machine thing 5x5 115lbs - Machines and sitting make this easy! 10 minutes on the elliptical.…

I love Broscience! I've been following him since his early videos and his other channel. Bleh, I'm away from home again staying in some tiny resort town. The fitness center is all arms/chest machines, cardio stuff, and missing dumbbells, but I made it work. Front Squats dumbbells 5x10 60lbs - Curse that jerk off who stole…

Low Bar Squats 5x5 140lbs (warmup 45/45/ 95/115lbs) - these were just gross because it was too hot. I was wearing a tank and the bar was sliding around my sweaty back. GROSS. Why can't it be fall yet? It's still close to 100F here! Bench 5x5 90lbs (warm up 65lbs) Pendlay Rows 3x5 95lbs - I decided to try these again. Yep,…

I usually static stretch or pace around while drinking water. I've been finding the HR monitor really handy. Once my HR drops low I start the next set instead of waiting the 1.5/3/5 minute mark. My rests are shorter and my performance has been just as good.

The suck of lifting in your garage - the weather. It's still 100F where I am, omg cool off already! Front Squats 5x5 80lbs (warm up 45/45/65). OHP 5x5 65lbs (no warm up I was lazy) Romanian Deadlift 3x5 115lbs Conventional Deadlift 1x5 140lbs. Been feeling lots of blahs lately. The weather is too hot, I have to go out of…

I had tendinitis years ago. I get the odd flare up if I'm an idiot and I overwork them. The best I can suggest is to wear a weight lifting wrist wrap when you lift for things that would bother you. I wear mine for front squats, rows, OHP and bench and it really helps keep my wrists straight and supported. To be honest it…

So when I was on the cruise ship there was this piece of strength equipment that was a bunch of pulleys that would convert to do a bunch of crap - the only thing you could do squats in and was the most weight out of all the machines. Of course it was broken. My experience is I never get to use the machine as it's the best…

I'm feeling frustrated. I took time off twice for injuries, then went on vacation. All those going back for a few weeks, taking a few weeks off deloads are having me lift really low than what I used to and the weight isn't a challenge. 2 days ago was back to lifting again and I had KILLER doms in my quads! And of course I…

Back from my vacation. My cruise ship had only dumbbells, so I ended up just front squatting a single 70lbs dumbbells, double 25lbs OHP and double 35lbs romainian deadlift. It was super awkward and much harder to do as stabilization was tricky - kudos to all who only use dumbbells! Anyways, back home and it took me a week…

Leg day o' terror, but I gotta do it before vacation! I won't have access to a decent squat rack for awhile. Front Squats 5x5 85lbs (warmup 45/45/65lbs) - These are going great, I'm starting to like front squats. Ask me again once they are 135lbs. Low Bar Squats 3x5 160lbs (warmup 135lbs) - This was overkill. Too much…

It depends what your lifting goals are and the style of squat. A wider stance low bar will let you move more weight and will get you a good posterior chain, but not much in the quads. ATG depth high bar and front squat will develop those quads more than posterior and require a more narrow stance for balance.

I'm going on vacation soon so I wanted to squeeze in an extra lifting day. I split up upper body and squats/dl and I'll do the rest tomorrow, avoiding squatting back to back. OHP 1x5 45/45/60/65/70/75/80. Got 2 reps on 85! PR! OHP was feeling really good. I even tried 90lbs but failed. I should of tried 87.5lbs, next time!…

Switching to front squats has been weird as I'm doing the same weight as my OHP this time! Front Squat 5x5 75lbs (warmup 45/45). Pretty easy. Happy with my depth and me keeping my body straight. OHP 5/2/3/5/5 75lbs (warmup 45/45/60). Stupid OHP, I started off really strong then it was wacky, then went back to totally fine.…

Finally back to doing low bar squats. After being off, deloading, then getting injured again I really didn't know what to lift. Decided to do experiment with volume again and see how it goes. Low bar back squats 1x5 45/45/95/105/115/125/135/145/155/155 - 155lbs went good but I got tired so I didn't do any more. Bench 5x5…

Early on, say 30 to 45 minutes. SL goes quick and the warmup sets are light. As the weight goes up, the more warmup sets you need, longer rest inbetween sets and if you fail a set that means an even longer rest. I've had 1.5 hour long sessions.

You'll feel it and know, hands are so sensitive. I broke my ring finger a couple years ago. I got doctor clearance after another xray at 6 weeks, but it felt bad for another 2-3 weeks. I kept my finger buddy taped when I did any fitness activity for probably another 2 months as it didn't feel right. I found my finger hurt…

I'm happy the heatwave is done and I can lift without dying. Today was weird - I OHP more than my squat weight. Sigh, knee injury. My knee feels pretty good, hope it lasts! Front Squats 5x5 65lbs (warmup 1x5 45/45) - uneventful. I should of went higher but I wanted to deadlift today and not kill my knee JIC. OHP 5x5…

Bleh, I'm due to lift however I lift in my garage. We are having a heat wave over and it's been 99F / 37C here and even worse in the garage. Yuck!

I'd check out IIFYM (if it fits your macros) calculator. I think something like that is more suited on what macros would be best and an overall better calculator. I also juggle macros on rest days - i need more protein there and more carbs on lifting days. Fiber is also a concern, with all that extra protein you want your…

I was thinking the other day, a shoulder injury is gotta be rough. We use our shoulders for so many lifts, even indirectly, like holding the bar in low bar squats or hauling full plates around. My back issues and knee pain I can work around easily enough. My knee is feeling better. It's really hard to tell sometimes - is…

My knee has been doing better, I can body weight squat easily the last few days, so I tried a few squats. Front Squats 5x5 45lbs - I'm not sure what happened since the last time I front squatted, but now I can do these without help of a lifting strap to hold the bar. Maybe all the OHP I've been hammering out? I was pretty…

I have the garmin vivofit 2. You can't go wrong with a Polar brand though! I prefer the chest strap ones as they are more accurate and I strap the bracelet part to my bra. Those wrist HR ones get in the way of lifting straps.

I wish it said on the sticky there was new posts. really hard to tell if something is updated there.

What helped me a lot on bench is to glue your shoulder blades together - like you are trying to make an butt crack in your back. What helps me get that tension is getting into position - get under the bar, put your feet up at the edge of the bench and do a bridge (lift your butt off the bench) and wiggle up on your…

You more or less need to be wearing a heart rate monitor to know. I find what I logged in MFP (under cardio > strength training) was a gross underestimate - with a heart rate monitor I burned double than the calculator estimated at! I'm doing stronglifts and I'm lifting heavy with short rests for a 50 minute session.…

I know thin and fit people who can't fully squat, it's totally a flexibility/tightness thing, not a body weight thing. I can ATG squat with heels flat and I'm not fit at all, yet. Best to get the form sooner than later when you get injured from it. skip to 18:00 on how to squat low and stretch for flexibility. TLDR: have…

For me, once the weight started getting heavy I started getting really hungry on rest days. For diet, I'm ITFYM. My deficit isn't too aggressive, but I'm in for a long haul + enjoyment of lifting than feeling like crap but losing weight fast. I lift at 7 or 8pm. The next day around noon I would become crazy hungry. Like, I…

I'm annoyed that not too long ago I was out for 5 weeks with low back pain. I did this during yoga, I was forward bending a lot during that session, and after I felt off. Then for 3 weeks I was in enough pain to know better that I shouldn't lift. Then I started lifting again. Maybe I was getting too aggressive getting…

I love ON Gold Standard Whey in Extreme Chocolate milk - when I add it to soy milk it tastes like a Wendy's Frosty, especially with a blend it with some ice. Before that I was using ON's 100% Soy since I'm lactose intolerant. I switched because it was just too expensive and the whey doesn't bother me as much as it used to.…