The Beautiful Gain

Training
41

Lifting on xmas eve is good times! Gym was surprisingly crowded with lifters. I guess we’re all amping up for high calorie consumption.

Felt really good today with the DLs. I’m so thankful that I came to this forum!

10x95, 4x115 (grip failed me on this), 3x4x135. I did the last two sumo-style thanks to CB’s inspirational vid. Widened the stance and all. I really felt in in the hams and glutes, but also inner thighs. Is that correct? Anyways, I should really get a vid up of myself so I get a proper critique on form. I’ll try that in the new year.

Went on to do chinups 2x5, 2x4. This is actually pretty good for me. Didn’t do pull ups tho, as I later did wide grip lat pulls.

Moved on to single leg pistol squats. I was weighting these prior but wanted to spice them up, so I added a jump (onto the riser) and the pistol squat. With body weight alone my ass was singing!

Then went on to shoulders and bulgarian split squats. This time subbed out that god forsaken YTWL for DB shoulder presses - probably not the best idea to deviate from my program too much, but after tweaking my shoulder last time I didn’t want to push it.

I was due for a lunch date so, again, I had to cut the w/o a bit short and I didn’t get to do tabata as I intended. No bother.

STFU version:
CDL 10x95, 4x115, 3x4x135
Chins 2x5, 2x4
Single leg pistol squats 4x6xBW
WGLP 1x4x90, 3x4x100
DB shoulder press 3x6x25 (i swear i was doing 30/35 last time i did these, bummer)
B split squat 3x6x50, 60, 65
Swiss ball crunch 3x8x10
pike jackknife w/ pushup 3x8xBW
Lateral flex 3x6xBW

Also didn’t get around to back extension-meh-oh well.

One of the new trainers asked me for my leg routine which made me laugh. I told him I do full body workouts so there’s no specific “leg routine”. But he insisted, so I gave him my leg exercises in this workout anyways. He was surprised that there were only two exercises - facepalm.

He then asked if I was a dancer. This is the second time this week that some dude at the gym asked me if I was a dancer. Seriously? I’m a shortstack and completely inelegant - a dancer I surely am not. I figure this must be some sort of ubiquitous bro question utilized for chatting up the ladies at the gym. Maybe Men’s Health did an article or something.

Anyways, today i’m off to a good start with my eating situ. Yay me! Tomorrow will be something else I’m sure. As for yesterday, did the cardio, didn’t do the pilates. No biggie.

Next two days are off, so i’ll be enjoying that. Also, just got a call from the rents that my brother is in the hospital with pneumonia - bad luck! Looks like i’ll be drinking alone this xmas :frowning: We’ll visit him in the hospital tomorrow though. Its almost like a Lifetime holiday special…almost.

42

And just because…Have a great holiday ladies!! (have you been naughty or nice?)

43

[quote]Mascherano wrote:
I really felt in in the hams and glutes, but also inner thighs. Is that correct?

[/quote]

Yes, this is absolutely right. Your inner thighs will hate you for awhile.

I hope your brother is better and that you have a great holiday! Nice card. :slight_smile:

44

Thanks Kimba! Yeah, turns out he punctured a lung a while back, but it was minor, so he didn’t realize it and the lung kept getting more and more infected. He’s good though and is going in to surgery to get all the puss vacuumed out (nasty!).

Yay! I’m glad to hear that I’m doing the Sumos right! I’ll keep y’all posted.

Also, I know I said today was an “off” day, but I couldn’t resist going for a run (also quite convenient that I packed my running gear - ahem - bad Masch). Anyways, I haven’t lived home in over 10yrs and I forgot how different small New England towns can be. Beautiful, quiet, deer abounding through snow covered hills…that red pickup truck that keeps driving by…

Anyways, whilst running I got all disoriented. I would run 50yrds, stop, and go “wait, no, that’s not right” then run back and go in a different direction only to do the same. Good thing my mother put a note in my jacket that said, “if lost return to…” She’s silly.

Oh and on top of that, it turns out the more treacherous the road the more haphazard the driver! Needless to say, I only did 1/2 hour run. But that’s cool, just want to get the engine going again. I still feel like a bloated frog - seriously, can I have my body back?!

Hope you all had a nice break!

45

Yesterday - continuing with my same program

One Armed DB Snatches 3x6x30, 1x3x35

DB single leg Romanian deadlifts 2x6x30, 1x8x30, 1x6x35

BB bent over row 2x6x85, 2x4x90

DB single arm over-head squat 4x6x15/30 - these were better than last time, but i’m feeling a bit of pain in the hip flexor on the last set when i go down into the squat. This happened the last time as well.

DB incline bench press 2x6x35, 1x8x35 1x4x40 - bad spot! learned you have to be explicit w/ your spot or else they’ll do fuck all

Reverse wood chop 4x4x30

chinups 5full/3half, 3 - getting better!

Tabata front squats with just the bar - Tabata, i both love and loathe you.

Of note:
On the snatches, its incredible how much difference 5lbs makes. While 30 I can get up in a nice smooth motion, 35 is simply impossible. On the 3rd set I went for 35s and each time i got the DB to my shoulder I had to jerk it up to complete the lift. When I went back to 30s on the 4th set, getting it up was like butter.

On the incline BP, 35s are getting easier to get up, so thats nice. Also since speaking with my trainer friend I tweaked my form (keeping the weights over my chest and not riding towards my shoulders). This made the lift a bit harder. The 40s are still impossible to get up, but once I get reps going i’m pretty good.

When I first cycled this workout in October I started with (3x6x…)
One Armed DB Snatches 15lbs
DB single leg Romanian deadlifts 15lbs
BB bent over row 75
DB single arm over-head squat 8/15
DB incline bench press 25
Reverse wood chop 20

So its nice to see I’ve made some gains, baby gains, but gains no less.

Anyways, this is the last day of this workout, so I’ll be moving on to something new shortly - hopefully involving squats.

Eating better and feeling more human, less frog-like. Also, still haven’t decided on WPS. Sigh. Not in the mood for decisions. My friend Ricardo even offered to drive my ass up to the tryouts, which in itself is a great gesture of amistad. I declined naturally. One’s own worst enemy?

46

hahahaha, i didnt notice i was in the womens training

after reading the first 3 sentences, i thought to myself “is this guy gay?”

hahaha, anyways good job, and keep it up

ps the TYWL is a shoulder pre hab excerise, and it burns like hell

47

Nice job pressing those 40s. That’s tough. :slight_smile:

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[quote]young n wrote:
hahahaha, i didnt notice i was in the womens training

after reading the first 3 sentences, i thought to myself “is this guy gay?”

hahaha, anyways good job, and keep it up

ps the TYWL is a shoulder pre hab excerise, and it burns like hell[/quote]

Lol!

Well, I’m sure you’ll never stop by again so you won’t see this note but, cute pup.

49

Thanks Arachne!

Yesterday did the final workout B in my current program.

I was actually feeling really strong. I’m slightly concerned though b/c my DL was feeling really good and I was adding weight - first time in months! I’m just nervous about my form being off.

DL was 10x95, 8x115, 6x135, 4x135 (this i did with no shoes, just to see if somehow no shoes turned me into the hulk), 4x145, 3x150

I don’t know, maybe its this Sumo style or all the other tips I picked off the forum (taking big breath) but after 6x135, I was like, lets see if I can do one more. When that felt good I just thought, well, let’s see if I can add weight. At 150 I pretty much maxed out, but I think I had a couple more in me. Who knows.

Everything else was pretty much on par with the last. And ended up going up in weight on the bulgarian split squat (70lbs) and the DL.

Was finishing the workout with that quad body matrix deal. Was supposed to do two sets, but I was a bit deterred by the fact that on my BW squats I was totally rounding - body weight?! I think energy was fading, but none the less, this is no good!

I’m going to be doing squats next program, so we’ll see what form looks like when weighted - but not gonna lie, I’m nervous. I just perused a couple of articles re: proper squatting and issues with rounding, they say mobility and flexibility are some of the issues so I’m going to work on this in the next few days and then hit the weights on Saturday or Sunday. I’m also going to try the risers trick, maybe this will help. I’ll see if I can find someone at the gym who can critique my form. I don’t have a digi camera right now and my phone sucks, but I’ll also see if I can get a vid up somehow.

Anyways, any advice on the rounding issue?

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Most people take squatting/squat form way too seriously. You’ll be fine :wink:

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you’ve never squatted with weights? I’d start with just the bar! Something to squat down to(a ‘box,’ or a bench) will probably help you feel more stable as well.

GL!

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[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
you’ve never squatted with weights? I’d start with just the bar! Something to squat down to(a ‘box,’ or a bench) will probably help you feel more stable as well.

GL![/quote]

x2

Practice with the bar until you feel comfortable. No need to be nervous…nothing bad will happen!

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[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
Most people take squatting/squat form way too seriously. You’ll be fine ;)[/quote]

OK, cool, so you’re basically saying to just go squat and suss it out. I can dig that.

I do think tho that I’ll still use those risers. I just want to see if it helps…

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[quote]kimbakimba wrote:

[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
you’ve never squatted with weights? I’d start with just the bar! Something to squat down to(a ‘box,’ or a bench) will probably help you feel more stable as well.

GL![/quote]

x2

Practice with the bar until you feel comfortable. No need to be nervous…nothing bad will happen![/quote]

Haha! no no, when I first started lifting I squatted for the first 2 months - that was June/July. My PR was something like 6x135. I recently tried squatting a few weeks ago, just to make sure that I was still able to do it (lol!) and I was quavering under 95, and that was only after I adjusted my stance to get in a bit deeper (i.e. properly squatting).

Anyways, I’ll probably hit the weights over the weekend, I’ll let y’all know how that goes!

55

i was hitting 135 when i first started as well. i think i had some squat beginner’s adrenaline or something, i even hit 155 a couple times. i’m working diligently at 95 and 115 now. there is a lot of talk as to the best form and the many ways to perform a squat. i’m still figuring that out.

i’m sure you will get right back to where you were. i could call you out for video like i got called out…ha haa! happy new year!

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[quote]talenaah wrote:
i was hitting 135 when i first started as well. i think i had some squat beginner’s adrenaline or something, i even hit 155 a couple times. i’m working diligently at 95 and 115 now. there is a lot of talk as to the best form and the many ways to perform a squat. i’m still figuring that out.

i’m sure you will get right back to where you were. i could call you out for video like i got called out…ha haa! happy new year! [/quote]

Ooooh, I’d love to hit 155. One day…

I hear ya, I’m definitely watching the form and still trying to feel it out.

Haha! Yeah, thanks for that. I actually want to post a vid b/c I can’t find anyone at the gym to critique my form, but I have no camera. Meh.

57

Today was day one of new program. Its supposed to be mostly upper body (to help with pullups), but I added a back squat.

Basically its like this:
Squat 4x10-4
Chinups 3xAMRAP
WGLP 10x2
Pushups 2x10

As I mentioned, I really want to get better at my pullups. So my goal this year is 10. That sounds like a fuck ton, but whatever. Dream big.

Anywho, the squat. I actually really love squatting, so I’m looking forward to working on this. But as I mentioned, I’m worried about my form. I just feel like ‘it can’t be right, right?’. The reason is because I just feel really strong. Maybe like Taleenaah said, beginners adrenaline.

I haven’s squatted for a bit so I was feeling it out. I ended up doing 10x65, 10x85, 10x95, 10x105, 5x105. I don’t know, it just wasn’t feeling challenging. So I kept adding weight. Even at 105 I thought I could add another 10. Anyways, I was watching form and here’s what I think. First to get to a good parallel I have to toe out. My hip flexiors are just too tight to do it toes in. What can I do for this? foam roll?

And then, I also feel like I drop my chest sometimes. How can I prevent this? Do I just go lighter?

That said, I feel really strong in the legs, so I see potential.

The rest of the workout was fine. The chinups are coming along nicely and I ended up doing 6,4,5. I like how I finished strong there. I really had to fucking struggle to get up on the 5th - felt so good. Even did a negative on the way down.

Also different, today I jumped rope. I suck. And it hurts my arms. But it felt pretty good. I tried to run through my own little complex of stuff I picked off the site. I did:

3mins jump rope tabata style
10 of those iron cross squats - not sure if I made that up…
20 of those frog things (haha, whatever)
plate pushes 4x
20 alternating lunge jumps
10 squat jumps

do 2x

I did it once, and the 2nd I cut short. I was tired and that iron cross with 10lbs kicked my ass.

LASTLY, lots of new peeps in the gym. Fresh meat! I both love and loathe this time of the year. On the plus side, since I’m lifting I won’t have too much trouble with the masses. On the more plus side, pretty much the only people lifting in my gym are males. So, that’s nice.

At any rate, today there was a new girl in the gym lifting pretty serious. She looks awesome and strong! She’s tall and has a great muscular body and was doing RDLs. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her arms looked awesome. I asked my friend Vic who she was, and he said she was new. None the less, we were both intrigued and I totally want to talk to her, but don’t want to be annoying.

Tomorrow cardio and pilates - haven’t gone in weeks, yikes!

58

You should’ve talked to the girl - people never mind being asked how they got to looking so awesome.haha

How’s the soccer thing going?

59

If there is any way you can buy a camera (you can get a good little one for slightly over $100) or borrow one, video tells no lies.

Toes out isn’t a problem. I definitely stand toes out. Although foam rolling and stretching your hip flexors is always a great idea.

The most effective thing for dropping my chest has been for me to look slightly up and to press my elbows forward as hard as I can.

60

[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
You should’ve talked to the girl - people never mind being asked how they got to looking so awesome.haha

How’s the soccer thing going?[/quote]

Totally! I’ll probably sidle up to her next time I see her. Hopefully I won’t scare her away - I can be painfully awkward, and with my crotch sweat stains no less.

Ugh. The soccer went south. IDK, I was flip flopping on whether to do it for so long and finally just decided not to. I’m kind of bummed, but also I think its most realistic. I can still play on my amateur level and be content with that…right?