grandevampire Member

Salut et bienvenue !

There are eco-balls too for an alternative to chalk if you prefer for whatever reason. http://www.amazon.com/Metolius-Non-Marking-Chalk-Substitute-colors/dp/B000212TGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376051022&sr=8-1&keywords=eco+ball

Erin, ya, don't think about what you look like. I started very recently with just the bar, and even though I got through the 5x5 squats, I could barely go down the stairs for 3 days after. If you couldn't see how much weight I was squatting, you would have thought I was doing 150+ lbs from how much I was struggling to…

I agree that it's going towards building new muscle, but the larger variations of size are usually due to swelling/water retention during muscle reparation, I think? There are days when I have huge pump, but most of it does eventually flush away (especially if I allow some recovery time without lifting). May be possible…

Congrats on your first workout! "fused" is also the term in English, I believe. As for the impact on deadlifts, I am not qualified in the least to say! I would guess that it wouldn't be a good idea to continue "as-is" anything that hurt, so either it's just a form issue, or it has to do with existing back issues. Will let…

Hello, "checking-in" (How's my check-in form, btw? Hopefully, it will improve with my lifting form! I am clearly "untrained".) I actually progressed in my squats! I finished my first set at 27.5 kg, then thought to myself that it seemed slightly "easy", especially compared to the first time I did that weight. Swapped out…

It shouldn't matter, but yes, yes it does. That's because I look up to you guys and because I know you are doing great. If I can ever be where you are at now, I'll be mighty proud of myself!

Lol, I know you just said don't worry about the numbers, but out of pure curiosity I decided to do a little Googling and I found this (I know ExRx isn't a gold standard reference or anything) http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/SquatStandards.html Good to know that by SOMEONE's standards, I'm totally normal for an…

Oh, also, last time I benched, my glute started to cramp up, so I guess I am engaging my core. Lol. *butt cramp = embarrassing*

Hallo, Not sure if I know how to "check-in", or if anyone cares about my n00bly progress but here are my weakling (seriously!?) numbers: Squat: 27.5 kg (STILL. The final sets are getting easier, so I guess I'm progressing, but I won't bother moving up until I feel solid on my form) <-- I feel silly that this little weight…

Haha annnnd I got stuck today. My legs were not feeling fresh from the get go, and 30kg felt "significant" when I unracked. I managed to get 3 reps in with pretty decent form and on the 4th rep totally ran out of gas to get out of the hole. Luckily, the safety pins were there to let me leave it and duck out. I know it's…

Hardware stores here are terrible too. I dunno, sometimes I don't understand this country. :)

Np, I caved and ordered them. $59.99 shipping to France. -_- Bettah be wurth it!!!

I ordered mine online from a French site but I only bought two 1.25kg plates (which are 2.5lbs). Mehdi recommends the whole Iron Woody's fractional plate set, but it was a little pricey to pick up before even finishing my first week (especially the metric version at $80 + shipping). I may eventually have to invest in that.…

Yes, ma'am! *cues up Eye of the Tiger* My first goal is actually just to be able to OHP the Olympic bar. Lol. -_- I did 15kg without issue, so riding the noob gains, fingers crossed that I'll be there in a couple weeks!

Yep, I guess it's maybe not wildly likely that I could complete 5x5 solidly one day but fail to complete even 5 reps at +2.5kg the next, but I honestly wouldn't know any better at this point. Embarrassing, but today, 2.5kg feels super heavy to me. Lol. I got my own 1.25kg plates in case the gym didn't have any lying…

Unintentionally, due to inexperience.

Haha, well I was hoping to avoid testing my 1RM/5RM when lifting alone, but I guess as I'm still extremely inexperienced, I will have no idea when that creeps up on me. Maybe I should practice benching roll of shame with an empty bar just in case too!

Well if you think about curling up in the fetal position and sobbing (for example, after seeing those videos), one would perform this position with a very rounded back. Also, in yoga, shoulder stand and plow are super curvy spine positions.

OMG! O.o I always get worried that, as a beginner, I can't spot horrendous form. But that.... SMH. :O Esp. when he starts spastically humping the bar. Very nearly NSFW. Lol.

I didn't necessarily mean for this to be a funny stories thread, but I did get a chuckle out of that story. Thanks for the morning comic relief! I will definitely take the time to make sure the safety pins are set up at the right height from now on then, just in case!!

Sounds good to me!

Au niveau d'accent, l'accent de Québec est apparemment plus correct, historiquement parlant. :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UFBHBYD6bU T'inquiète pas, je ne voulais pas dire que le nommage canadien n'était pas le bon, c'est plutôt que ça n'aide pas forcement quand on cherche les mêmes produits en France.

Merci, tu as de la chance d'être parmi les canadiens vraiment bilangue. Etant native de la partie anglophone du Canada, ça ne m'a pas aidé beaucoup avant mon arrivée en France. :P Normalement, je n'ai pas trop de confiance en traductions canadiennes pour les produits alimentaires en France, car souvent ce n'est pas du tout…

Haha, pas de souci, mon français n'est pas terrible non plus pour la même raison, copine qui n'aime pas me parler français chez nous car c'est trop fatiguant de me corriger tout le temps. :P Malheureusement, on n'a pas d'Intermarché dans le quartier, principalement des Franprix partout, un Naturalia, puis un Monop mais…

Update: I tried tying these up quite loosely, and that makes the bump hardly detectable despite my low arch. Wore these around all weekend including a few runs, one of which was about 10K, without any issues.

Pour info, j'ai trouvé celui-ci, mais avis sur internet pas terrible. Epicerie Américaine Thanksgiving 20 rue Saint Paul, Paris 4e Métro : Saint-Paul du mardi au samedi de 10h30 à 19h, dimanche de 10h30 à 18h Tel : 01.42.77.68.29

Ah, je dois absolument trouver ce magasin alors ! Je vais demander aux amis expats, peut-être qqn le connait.

Ah, darn. Yes, the high arch. I am ironically accustomed to more minimal feeling shoes. Than these. I will give them a chance to see if I too can grow accustomed (despite the form not being comparable to the form of my foot). Maybe they can still work out for running. I will look harder for a pair of Vapor Gloves, which by…

Je pense à m'inscrire... Je me suis déjà inscrite au Paris-Versailles (16K) en septembre comme mon premier course, donc je vais voir comment ça se passe avant de choisir entre le 5K et le 10K à l'Odyssea.