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Anyone used insurance for fitness testing?
I currently have a High Deductible Plan (HDP) and and Health Savings Account (HSA) for my insurance. The HSA portion is basically an IRS account where they say what the money can be used for (which is alot). http://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/ I'd like to get some testing done (Hydrostatic weighing for BF%, V02 max with…
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Quest for 20 straight pull-ups
One of my fitness resolutions for 2017 is to get to 20 straight pull-ups. Started yesterday with 20(total) broken into sets of 8,5,5,3=21. My plan is to up the total each week by 5 (week1-20, week2-25, week3-30, etc...) until I get up to 50 total reps on weeks 6. If I can't do 20 straight by then, I'll start adding weight…
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20 Rep Squat Program
So if you haven't heard of it, the 20 rep squat program consists of just that, 1 set of 20 reps, 2-3 days a week where you increase your squat by 5 lbs after every successful session. This goes on for 6 weeks. You're supposed to take your current 5 RM, subtract 90 lbs, so by the end of the 6 weeks, you have the potential…
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Tri-State Spartan Beast...
Anyone else running it this weekend? Have you run it in the past? How'd you do and/or what's your goal for this one? I'm running with my brother and we're shooting for 4-4.5 hrs. He ran the super last year...this is my first Spartan ever :anguished:
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128,000lbs of snow!
So I live way out in the boonies and have a long driveway. We got hit with an 18 inch snowstorm over this last weekend. I just figured out how much snow I actually shoveled in a 3 day period. 670'longx7.5'widex1.5'deepx17lbs/cu.ft.=128,137.5lbs!!!!!! That was my exercise for Sun/Mon/Tue this week.
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Higher rep Squats and breathing?
I came from about 18 months of doing stronglifts. Going on my third month of 5/3/1 now and enjoying it. Here's my question/dilemma...I started fairly light on my squats three months ago (used a 1RM of 285 when it was probably closer to 330) and figured I would just build my way back up slowly, but not really realizing just…
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etiquette rant
Wanted to use the bench (only one true bench at the gym), and it looked like the guy was about midway through his set, so I decided to just do a couple laps on the track while I waited and kept my eye on him as I went around. He started unloading the bar so I finished my lap and started heading over there. I've heard…
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1st cycle 5/3/1
I had been doing SL5x5 for quite awhile and although I like it, I was ready for a change. I started 5/3/1 and just finished my third week this morning. After lifting 5 reps on every exercise for the last 18 months, it did feel a little different to try and shoot for more, but the more I go for the AMRAP on the last set,…
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Does this SL5x5 adjustment make sense?
I've been doing Stronglifts for about 15 months now and have seen great strength gains, but looking to just switch up the exercises a little. I was thinking about swapping back squats for front squats, regular bench for incline, bent over rows for weighted pull-ups, and overhead press for clean and jerk. I'd leave the…
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Obese and proud of it!
So according to the BMI chart, at 5'-8" and 197lbs...I am Obese. Below video was a few weeks ago now, but that's about 320 lbs and I just did 340x5 this morning. Do I look obese to you? If this is what the medical community wants to say is obese, then yep, I'm obese and damn proud of it! F the BMI chart!…
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Are there days you just don't have it while lifting?
Was just not feeling it this morning. I've been doing a "modified" 5x5 for awhile now. Basically just a laddered sets up to a max 5x5 on my last one. This morning I started with my squats and did 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, but then when I went to do 305x5 I could only get 2 reps and just felt weak. Same kind of thing…
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Humpback Rocks Hiking (pics)
Recently moved up toward the mountains and so I'm just starting to explore hiking. Did Humpback Rocks off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Sunset the other night. Quite the hike. Only 2 miles (1 mile up, 1 mile down), but it's an 800 foot elevation climb in that 1 mile, so about a 15% steady grade. I got to the parking lot about…
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15 min routine for my wife?
So after a little more than a year and a half of my transformation from fat to fit, my wife is wanting to do something as well. Her conditions are that she doesn't want to work out for more than 15 minutes a day and wants to do it in our house. I figure that's 15 minutes more than she was doing, so I'm all for it. A little…
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Squat 305 x 5 @ 190# bodyweight (video)
First video I've tried to do. I know it's not the best angle, I'll have to try and get a better one next time, and you can't even see the weight on the bar, but yes, it is 305# LOL. I was psyched to do over 300 for reps and just wanted to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJNQ44HI9I
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19 months...67lbs (pics)
So five more months of dieting in the books! Started again on January 1st and took my after pictures last night. Dropped from 192lbs to 168lbs and from ~19% body fat to ~13%. So in the last 19 months I've gone from 235lbs to 168lbs and 30+%BF to 13%BF. I've dropped down to a size 32 pants (what I wore in HS) and ran a sub…
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just how far can you take the bulk/cut cycle?
So I've been cutting weight for about 2 years now and finally looking to start a bulk. I'm wondering how far you can take the bulk/cut cycles and still have them be effective? Basically, 1yr bulk followed by 1 yr cut? 6 mo each? What about 1mo? 1week? Every other day? How far can you take it before you lose the…
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Won my First 5k
I've been trying to get back in shape for going on 5 years now. My brother had dropped a TON of weight and started doing triathalons back in 2008-2009. In 2010, he convinced me to run a 5 mile race with him. I was kind of a runner in HS back in the late 90s and played soccer, but had let myself go over the 10 years after.…
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Sneak Peak at my after photo
So over the last 5 months I've cut down from 192 to just below 170. I've got two more weeks until I officially end my cut and begin a bulk cycle. Can finally start to see some abs - never been able to in my life. Going through a bodybuilder-esque diet for the next couple weeks to try and drop the last few lbs of water and…
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Low(er) carb cheat day & mental health
Just curious how other people who do low/lower carb diets deal with the big weight fluctuations that come with more carbs than the body is used to. I generally try and keep the carbs between 100-150g depending on my activity level, but this weekend we had a birthday party and then a grill out and even though I tried…
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NSV...13.1
Never been much of a "distance" runner. Usually try and keep my runs to 3-5 miles and might throw in a 6-8 miler every once in awhile. I had been toying with the idea of running a half and last week ran a pretty fast (for me) 7.5 miles at just under an 8min/mi pace. I had a lapse in judgement Friday night and kind of went…
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Tweaked my back...need advice
I've been doing SL5x5 for about 8 months now. I dropped it down to 3x5 twice a week while on a calorie restriction since the beginning of the year (Monday/Friday). Monday after lifting if felt a little sore, but I still went out and played a couple games of pickup basketball before going home. Again, it was a little sore…
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18mo/3mo update...63lbs/20lbs (pics)
So it's been a total of 18 months since this whole weight loss process really started for me. I changed jobs and started biking to work in October of 2013. I was 31, 5'-8" and 235lbs. I dropped approximately 12 lbs just by eating at home everyday for lunch (since I was now only a 3 min bike ride away) and biking to and…
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Really weird phenomenon...???
So this is a really weird phenomenon that I'm finding with my weight loss. I seem to have synced with my wife's time of the month and almost like clockwork, I'll have a week a month that my weight loss stalls. Nothing else is changing in my routine. I eat the same, exercise the same, get the same amount of sleep, drink the…
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Muscle potential and bulking calories
So I've read it several places that muscle gains dwindle over time as you get closer to your muscle potential. So theoretically, if eating right and given enough stimulus, a guy might be able to add 20lbs of muscle in their first year of training, 10 the next, 5 the next...something like that. So here's my question. How…
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Food Binge Confession
Not quite sure how to start this or how much background to give but here it goes. I have an addictive, compulsive personality. Can be good and bad. Good when it comes to being driven or determined to get things done because I'll stick to it and not usually be distracted. This has come in handy as I've lost weight over the…
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NSV...shopping...and I'm a guy
So I started losing weight January of last year and am now somewhere between 55-60 lbs lost. I have slowly been rebuilding my wardrobe because 1) it's expensive to do it all at once and 2) I'm still losing and don't want to get too much that won't fit me in another few months. I started out my journey in XL shirts and size…
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Losing Strength on deficit
I've been cutting for the first time since I started lifting since the beginning of the year. I've read that strength can go down while in a deficit, but I was just surprised by how quickly and how dramatically mine has dropped off. I was hoping to maintain my strength, or at the very least just lose a little. Just…
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What kind of interval training do you do runners?
I've done interval training a few times in the past, but was wondering what kind of splits other people do and if there are any that work better for increasing speed than others. My intervals in the past have been either 1min fast/ 2min slow, alternated for 30 min, or I've done it by laps on the track .5 mi warm-up, .25 mi…
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Training beyond your target HR question
Looking for some insight on target HR training. I'm a male, 32 years old and so according to the general equation, my MAX HR should be around (220-32) or 188. All of the literature says that cardio activities should take place in the 50-85% range, which would put me at 94-160 bpm. Here's the thing though. My resting HR is…
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Hex bar deadlifts
I know that for training for competition, the traditional bar is better, but what are people's opinions about just using it for regular strength training? I've read it's easier on your back and allows you to lift more weight. I tried it today just to see and was able to pull 420 when my previous PR was 405.
