tomcornhole Member

According to the website http://www.strstd.com, intermediate level for a 198 lbs male (me) without regard to age is: 284 lbs squat (1.43x BW) 212 lbs bench (1.07x BW) 333 lbs DL (1.68x BW) 143 lbs OHP (0.72x BW) I have no idea if there are similar calculators for 5k times. If you find one, tell me so I know how fast I need…

20-25 minute warm up: I put on all my warm gear (pants, shirt, knee and elbow sleeves, sweatpants and sweatshirt over that). 12 minutes on treadmill or elliptical, remainder I spend doing foam roller, lacrosse ball and mobility work. This is by far the most important part of my workout. If I mess this up, I'll either have…

Complicated question. I assume you are asking so you can decide if you need to reprogram? That's the only real reason to answer the question. I like Mark Rippetoe's thoughts on the topic in his book Practical Programming for Strength. I would paraphrase it, but it isn't that simple. Many variable effect your programming:…

Do I love or hate cardio? Yes I hate droning on a treadmill or elliptical for an hour. I hate running in the same direction longer than 30 seconds. You won't catch me dead dancing around in front of a TV. So, I hate cardio. I love playing basketball until I can't stand up anymore. I love hiking all day. I love sawing wood…

I do back squats as a main lift and use a Safety Squat Bar (SSB) as an accessory lift. Really love that SSB. And it's great for Good Mornings (GM's). With those 2 lifts plus my trap bar DL work from a deficit, that's all I need to go heavy for now. Now back to your pundits. Tom

Just wanted to update everyone on here on the leg drive. I got a new PR @ 1x245. And all my sets are now a lot easier and more consistent now that I have good leg drive. Just amazing how I can lie flat on a bench and get my whole body involved in pushing something vertical. And my shoulders seem to be fully healed (knock…

I'm no expert but I looks through your diary for the past month and I think you eat awesome. The fat is from good foods (meat, eggs, cheese) and your macros look good and your total intake looks good. Hopefully others will chime in for more opinions, but my opinion is you are doing great. Maybe I'm biased by your username,…

In for the learning. You already know I do them. And I agree that they need to be programmed smartly because they kill the CNS. I really like the idea of dedicating a day just for supramax work. I go as high as 150% on rack pulls and that is really hard on the CNS. Fun to watch the bar bend, though. I am just starting to…

Wanna know how accurate those BIA monitors are? Here's my data for the last year or so. Sometimes I gain or lose 6-7 lbs of LBM in a day. Talk about freaking out :noway: The red diamonds are from my BodPod visits. Unfortunately, they haven't moved a lot. Relax and enjoy the ride.

I thumbs up this post :drinker: Hadn't thought about HLR's and grip strength, but they certainly would help that.

Chalk and mixed grip. I also added rack pulls to improve grip and maybe improve deadlift. I overload the rack pulls and hold them at lockout for 5 seconds. I was losing grip @ 425 for a full range of motion (ROM) DL and within a month of doing overloaded rack pulls, I can hold 585 at lockout for 5 seconds. So I have built…

Doesn't take long for a 1 post wonder to get everyone stirred up on a full diet of troll soup.

Used the chains today. Was a deload day, so no heavy weights, but it was good. I used my Safety Squat Bar (SSB) just for variation. I used 80 lbs of chains which is probably only 70 lbs on the bar at the top of the ROM. At lighter weights, I didn't even notice the chains. As the bar weight got heavier, the chains became…

$350 got me a great power rack, adjustable bench, 2 oly bars and 310 lbs of plates off of Craigs list. All I've needed since then is more plates. You can dip in the rack with 2 oly bars. Now you have everything you need: 3 main lifts, pullups and dips.

Just finished a bunch of reading on Westside Barbell and they seem to use chains and bands on every lift all the time. Not sure I'll go the all the time route, but my approach this week is to put the same weight on the barbell my programming indicates and add chains to that.

I got mine at Harbor Freight Tools. They are $27.99 for 15 ft (20 lbs). I got 1 bucket at one store and got 20% off. Then went to another store and got 20% off. Got 4 buckets (80 lbs) total for $100. That's a lot cheaper than anything on line or Home Depot type places. And almost the same price / lbs as plates. I checked…

I travel a lot on business and I love visiting gyms and pulling 8 (4+4) plates off the floor for reps. I don't grunt. I don't drop the bar. No messy chalk. No fancy gear. Just walk up to the bar and pull. I get a lot of confused and judgmental looks. This pleases me.

Just one on 12 April about 3 hours away. Wasn't planning to go to that one. That's a good question. I was looking at the USAPL numbers. They have a well populated masters raw section. Seem to be a lot of raw lifters in USAPL. APA has the most meets around me, but APA Open Raw has no records in Ohio except bench and that's…

Only if you are stalling. 5/3/1 is a very slow progressing program. I would stay on 5x5 or Starting Strength as long as possible. Then try a weekly program. Stay with that as long as possible, then go to 5/3/1. In 5x5 and SS, you add weight 3x/week. Texas method is a nice weekly variation where you increase weight once a…

When the gal at Great Clips trims your ear hair. Ugh.

I would guess you don't need any supplements.

In case anyone is still following this. I had a week at home, so I got to try a better lifting split. Was also 5/3/1 week, so that is nice. I had lifted 4 days straight the week prior, so I decided to take a 2 day rest and do this: Tues-Squat Wed-Bench Fri- DL Sat - OHP (getting ready for this) I hit 1RM PRs on…

Awesome legs. Be happy.

dog lover (yeah!)

Here's a good article that covers a lot: http://breakingmuscle.com/olympic-weightlifting/weightlifting-belts-should-you-use-one-pro-and-con Another good one: http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/benefits-and-proper-use-of-weightlifting-belts/ I wear one once I get above 80% 1RM. Sometimes. I don't think it is…

I certainly hope so. We'll see after I get a BodPod done. I got one done at the start of this bulk cycle and had 157 lbs LBM. I hope I have more now. Otherwise I give up.

290 raw. That and a $1 will get me 1/3 of a cup of coffee.

I was at 182 and 12% last year over the summer. I am now at 198, 19%. Remarkable how many people say I look better at 19% than I did at 12%. I was pretty skinny at 182. Too skinny. I do look better but I feel fat. I'm done with my bulk and will start a cut to whatever makes me happy. Targeting 185 but will be happy where…

Just got the 1,000 lbs goal this morning: 315/245/440 Now to do that all in one day at a meet. Still can't touch my toes, but I'm getting closer.

This thread is getting me motivated. Would it be cool to have an ETP meet where we all show up?