Lo/Rez Training

Training Training Logs
741

[quote]PlainPat wrote:
words words words

As you can tell my form back then Looks like how yours does now.
[/quote]

A) that may be the absolute worst squat I’ve ever seen. Not kidding. That’s insane, but congrats on pushing through it.

B) I strongly disagree that LoRez’s squats look like that. Maybe I’m missing something. I’ll re-watch the video and edit the post if I change my mind.

I would also like to chime in on the shoe conversation, as I do some training in my oly shoes, and some not. The oly shoes, in my opinion, don’t make a ton of sense for low bar squatting. I still squat in my chucks when I do low bar. They’re made for front squatting, and low bar is as far from that as you can get. I use mine strictly for high bar and front squats (and cleans/jerks/presses). Shoes with a raised heel may be a fad in the crossfit/average lifter world, but they’re anything but a fad in the high level lifting world. The stability they provide in the catch position is enormous, and I can keep my torso significantly more vertical with them, which helps me on the turnaround in a high bar squat. I’m able to perform long-pause squats much better with these. As far as powerlifting goes, the discussion becomes a bit murkier, but you’re not a competitive powerlifter, so that’s not likely a real concern.

742

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Shoes with a raised heel may be a fad in the crossfit/average lifter world, but they’re anything but a fad in the high level lifting world. The stability they provide in the catch position is enormous, and I can keep my torso significantly more vertical with them, which helps me on the turnaround in a high bar squat. I’m able to perform long-pause squats much better with these. As far as powerlifting goes, the discussion becomes a bit murkier, but you’re not a competitive powerlifter, so that’s not likely a real concern.[/quote]

Agree with Flips especially the part I bolded.

743

Lol, my back hurts from watching that squat PlainPat… Way to grind it out though.

744

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Lol, my back hurts from watching that squat PlainPat… Way to grind it out though. [/quote]

Does anyone look at the date I was literally 16 when I did this over 2 years ago my squat looks nothing like this anymore lol

745

I like what Mark Bell has to say about Oly vs Powerlifting squats.

You’ll notice he talks gear vs raw in all the videos.

746

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Lol, my back hurts from watching that squat PlainPat… Way to grind it out though. [/quote]

Does anyone look at the date I was literally 16 when I did this over 2 years ago my squat looks nothing like this anymore lol[/quote]

Relax boss, it was a light hearted jab at you. Hence the lol.

747

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Lol, my back hurts from watching that squat PlainPat… Way to grind it out though. [/quote]

Does anyone look at the date I was literally 16 when I did this over 2 years ago my squat looks nothing like this anymore lol[/quote]

I saw that. You also mentioned in a comment that you were 16. I saw that too. It doesn’t matter if you took it yesterday, or 100 years ago, it still looks terrible. Nobody said you still squat like that.

748

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Lol, my back hurts from watching that squat PlainPat… Way to grind it out though. [/quote]

Does anyone look at the date I was literally 16 when I did this over 2 years ago my squat looks nothing like this anymore lol[/quote]

I saw that. You also mentioned in a comment that you were 16. I saw that too. It doesn’t matter if you took it yesterday, or 100 years ago, it still looks terrible. Nobody said you still squat like that.[/quote]

Im going to refrain myself because Ive done too much arguing off-topic in LoRez’s log already

749

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I mean PP is stronger than me, but I wouldn’t say rid yourself of the Oly shoes just yet. I actually love them with a slightly lower bar position. The issue IMO is you start in a not great position. Like, when you unrack the weight, do that with like a glute thrust, if that make sense, get your hips UNDER you from the very beginning. You’re unracking it with the bar already in line to go towards your toes, at least in my opinion.[/quote]

That’s what I saw. I saw the bar traveling straight up and down, but starting over your toes from the very beginning.

I had this same problem when I first got my shoes, at least with back squats. Front squats were much easier (I tested my max without them one week, then the next week tested it again with them and increased it about 20lbs), but with back squats it felt like I was falling forward any time the weight got heavy.

750

[quote]nkklllll wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I mean PP is stronger than me, but I wouldn’t say rid yourself of the Oly shoes just yet. I actually love them with a slightly lower bar position. The issue IMO is you start in a not great position. Like, when you unrack the weight, do that with like a glute thrust, if that make sense, get your hips UNDER you from the very beginning. You’re unracking it with the bar already in line to go towards your toes, at least in my opinion.[/quote]

That’s what I saw. I saw the bar traveling straight up and down, but starting over your toes from the very beginning.

I had this same problem when I first got my shoes, at least with back squats. Front squats were much easier (I tested my max without them one week, then the next week tested it again with them and increased it about 20lbs), but with back squats it felt like I was falling forward any time the weight got heavy.
[/quote]

How did you learn to not do that?

I mean, looking at the video, it pretty clearly looks like the weight is going to just make me fall forward.

751

I feel weird interrupting the dialog (which, please by all means, continue) with actual training log stuff.

HIIT cardio, first session in a long long time
C2 Rower
Warmed up with about 700m moderate
8 30:30 intervals, roughly 136m each
Cooled down walking slowly on a treadmill for 10 minutes. Took forever for my heartrate to go from 160ish to 130ish. That was more the cutoff, not the time.

And 2nd session at the tanning salon. The standup tanner, 5 minutes, with that same Australian Gold, Hardcore Black lotion they say I should use. It’s weird for my palms to be kinda tan.

Girl up front was much much cuter today.

–

Also, diet stuff. Weight loss is going nowhere this week. Pretty much every contest prep diet talks about “dropping carbs”. I’ve just been paying attention to protein and net calories. Carbs are actually quite a bit higher this week than last. Could be the culprit.

Been doing lots of reading, but will be sticking with the same plan. I might start paying attention to carbs too now though.

752

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]nkklllll wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I mean PP is stronger than me, but I wouldn’t say rid yourself of the Oly shoes just yet. I actually love them with a slightly lower bar position. The issue IMO is you start in a not great position. Like, when you unrack the weight, do that with like a glute thrust, if that make sense, get your hips UNDER you from the very beginning. You’re unracking it with the bar already in line to go towards your toes, at least in my opinion.[/quote]

That’s what I saw. I saw the bar traveling straight up and down, but starting over your toes from the very beginning.

I had this same problem when I first got my shoes, at least with back squats. Front squats were much easier (I tested my max without them one week, then the next week tested it again with them and increased it about 20lbs), but with back squats it felt like I was falling forward any time the weight got heavy.
[/quote]

How did you learn to not do that?

I mean, looking at the video, it pretty clearly looks like the weight is going to just make me fall forward.[/quote]

Well, that falling forward that I was doing contributed to my tendonosis troubles this past year. But having to take as much time off as I did, I was able to rework my squat form from the ground up. I started with 50kg when I first got back into squat in March or february and really tried to focus on sitting down between my legs. It also helped to have a coach looking at me whenever I was squatting.

753

Why’re you trying to get cut when you don’t seem to much to lose in the first place?

You’re ~2 inches taller than me and I haven’t even seen proper muscle development until I finally decided to gain weight and go above 180lb.

754

Idk why everyone’s hating on you for cutting…if you wanna cut, cut, if you wanna bulk, bulk. Do whatever the hell you want and whatever makes you satisfied with yourself.

755

[quote]magick wrote:
Why’re you trying to get cut when you don’t seem to much to lose in the first place?

You’re ~2 inches taller than me and I haven’t even seen proper muscle development until I finally decided to gain weight and go above 180lb.
[/quote]

You know, I can’t give you a single good answer.

But here’s a few parts that might add up to an actual answer:

  • I’m going on vacation in 3 weeks. I want to see what can actually be accomplished in a relatively short timeframe. I picked 5 weeks to do this. When I leave, I’m done.

  • I’ve not had very tight control over my diet up until recently. This has been one of the things hindering my progress on the muscle gaining side of things too.

While I basically knew how to eat to make the scale go up, and I tracked weight consistently, I never had good record keeping of the diet side of things. This has forced me to have that level of discipline. Right now it’s overly micromanaged, but the pendulum needed to swing this way.

  • My girlfriend has invested ridiculous amounts of time and money in the last 7 or 8 months working with a trainer, with the goal of having “nice arms and abs”. She’s made progress with the arms, not with the abs.

Her trainer competed in a couple NPC contests a few years back. However, after seeing the photos (and meeting her trainer in person once), I’m not convinced she knows enough what she’s doing from a weight-loss/conditioning standpoint. She, herself, did not have visible abs at any of her contests.

Oh the other hand, I’ve learned a lot about weight loss from reading contest prep diets and hundreds of other threads here and elsewhere, but I had no practical experience.

I wanted to get that experience, even if just for a very small ‘cut’, and then be able to relay things to her and help her out.

–

About the only thing I can reasonably expect to accomplish is to get more definition with my abs. It’s not like I have muscle to show off.

When I get back, strength/size will be the focus, and I’ll be eating again to support that.

756

[quote]chobbs wrote:
Idk why everyone’s hating on you for cutting…if you wanna cut, cut, if you wanna bulk, bulk. Do whatever the hell you want and whatever makes you satisfied with yourself. [/quote]

I guess because cutting in and of itself isn’t enough of a mindfuck… lol.

757

[quote]LoRez wrote:
You know, I can’t give you a single good answer.

But here’s a few parts that might add up to an actual answer:

“Stuff that I won’t quote because it just makes the thread unnecessarily longer.”[/quote]

Oh o.k, that makes more sense.

I remember you saying you wanted to cut for vacation because you want to look nice for your gf and her friends and such. I thought since you’re rather skinny to begin with, even adding about 5-6lb to your body within the two or so months you had would make made you look better than dieting. I know it’s definitely possible to add about 10lb to your body with a good diet and seemingly not gain any fat at all within a 2-3 month span.

But your additional reasons are fine reasons to go on a cut, so best of luck on the remainder of the time!

758

Err… Edits aren’t going through.

I meant to say in the last paragraph-

“But you have a lot more reasons than that, and those are all fine reasons. Good luck with the remainder of your cut!”

Or something like that…

Edit-

And then edits go in as soon as I type this…

759

[quote]magick wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
You know, I can’t give you a single good answer.

But here’s a few parts that might add up to an actual answer:

“Stuff that I won’t quote because it just makes the thread unnecessarily longer.”[/quote]

Oh o.k, that makes more sense.

I remember you saying you wanted to cut for vacation because you want to look nice for your gf and her friends and such. I thought since you’re rather skinny to begin with, even adding about 5-6lb to your body within the two or so months you had would make made you look better than dieting. I know it’s definitely possible to add about 10lb to your body with a good diet and seemingly not gain any fat at all within a 2-3 month span.

But your additional reasons are fine reasons to go on a cut, so best of luck on the remainder of the time![/quote]

Yodaddy’s “after” shot here, where he’s still ~9 weeks out, is about where I want to be: http://images.T-Nation.com/forum_images/5/3/5393c_ORIG-image.jpg

I hear you on the “can add about 10lbs with seemingly no fat gain”. I pretty much did that when I put on my first 25 pounds. However, it wouldn’t give me that level of definition.

So that’s where I just worked backward from the date and planned 5 weeks for cutting. At least I did put on a few pounds in the between time.

I’ve basically been doing a “slow bulk” for about a year now, so I don’t think this mini-cut will hurt too badly, as long as it stays short.

I’ve got a long long ways to go to be where I want to be though, mass wise. Stu competed at 175 at 5’8, spending most of his time in the 200-210 range. Add ~5 pounds per inch height, and that’s quite a ways to go.

760

AM Cardio

Incline Walking
20 minutes, 6 degrees, 3.4 mph
20g Peptopro, 5g Leucine
1 serving Redline energy drink (1/2 bottle)
HR 130-135

And then I felt sick for the next several hours. Like, seriously out of it. Took half a day off work because of it since I was literally useless. First time ever using a Redline. Might be the last. I was just curious about “thermogenics” and stuff. I’ll stick to my caffeine tablets.

PM Lifting

Bench Press … like, honest bench press
95, 135, 155, 175
185 x 0

I haven’t done these in forever. They felt very “off” and awkward. On the other hand, my shoulders did not hurt at all during these. Mostly just playing around. Could have gotten the 185 if I actually cared… but my real workout was this…

Moderate Incline Bench from Pin 4
135 x a few
160 x 5, 5, 7

Elbow is still problematic. Hurts during the lift, not after. Some instability in my wrists too (this is the first time talking about it, but it’s been going on for awhile). Thinking about picking up some wrist wraps. Wrists and elbow is the only thing holding me back from doing more reps on the last sets.

Although, I have my first chiropractic appointment on Monday… so there’s that.

Attempted the bicep workout from the recent TC article. Try this for 7 days.

Strict Seated DB Curls
10 x 8
20 x 8; then over the next 3 minutes, right around 18 reps with 5s rests between. I should have counted better, but I was a minute in before I realized that.

Top-range pushups x several (not failure)
Top-range feet-elevated pushups x several (not failure)

Got a great pump in my chest. I think I might throw some chest pump work at the end after my bench work, at least while the benching is still light.