[quote]skidmark wrote:
I’d agree with you on 2 but for the fact that I’ve given him the URLs to all the websites I visit and care about and which would answer his questions. If he’d been truly interested he’d have gone after that like a starving man. But he hasn’t. So he falls firmly into #1 in my book. That’s fine, not everyone has the bug and I actually like him, but his need to pretend eats into my training time and I have little enough of that.[/quote]
i would dare say that most gym goers are like this guy. they have a comfort zone that they always revert back to. i give people advice all the time. they come up and ask questions and i give them a well thought out response (sometimes with visuals:), just to have them go back to what they were doing before. I’ve analyzed this phenomenom many times. my conclusion- they actually try my advice but are initially weaker. they don’t have the patience or confidence in themselves to stick with it. they don’t realize that if they just stuck with it, they would eventually get stronger and bigger. It’s very similiar to why most people never accomplish anything in their life. they have to take risks and get out of that comfort zone. very few people can do that.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
i would dare say that most gym goers are like this guy. they have a comfort zone that they always revert back to. i give people advice all the time. they come up and ask questions and i give them a well thought out response (sometimes with visuals:), just to have them go back to what they were doing before. I’ve analyzed this phenomenom many times. my conclusion- they actually try my advice but are initially weaker. they don’t have the patience or confidence in themselves to stick with it. they don’t realize that if they just stuck with it, they would eventually get stronger and bigger. It’s very similiar to why most people never accomplish anything in their life. they have to take risks and get out of that comfort zone. very few people can do that.
[/quote]
Meat- I agree 110%. I struggle with that everytime I lift and have hinted to it in at least one post in my log. I think it is human nature to take the path of least resistance (no pun intended). That translates into staying with what you know/do…the comfort zone you mentioned. Tied to that, especially as guys, is a tendency to shy away from anything that would make us look weaker than we are (even if the higher weight requires atrocious form). It is damning to the ego and requires effort/sacrifices beyond the physical exertion of moving higher poundages. And some make the false assumption that if their weight has to go down to use the advice given, the advice must be flawed.
My squats are a prime example. They suck! I have little doubt that I could double, or triple, the weight and eek out some reps with horrendous form and the depth of a wading pool. That will not get me where I want to be, though. So, I swallow my pride, stick with the advice given by those who are examples that it works, put up the vids for scrutiny and baby step forward. Of course, I have a goal in mind. One that I can’t attain without taking this path.
[quote]Carl Darby wrote:
skidmark wrote:
Rule for Calculus teachers: Never drink and derive.
And if you do, invoke the mean value theorem. If you are on the road at two different points, then you must have been going straight somewhere in between.[/quote]
I think Skid should apply the Mean Value Theorem. If he values his time in the gym, he should be mean to AskAMillionQuestionsGuy.
[quote]j_willy3 wrote:
skidmark wrote:
It was about abs, Matty. Phils all for beer, I’m sure.
AskAMillionQuestions Guy was in the gym yesterday. He’s actually a nice guy, but he asks me a million questions (hence the name - get it?) and asks them over again the next time he sees me. I always give him the same answers, the same advice, none of which he takes. He still does the same crappy exercises in the same crappy form, has all the same complaints and gets the same results.
How can this be? He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s not an idiot…
I think he likes being in the gym and garnering a certain amount of respect for the poundages he moves, but then he seems to have settled there and decided - at some level - not to keep going. But he pretends to himself that he is attempting to move forward. And he’s wasting my time to keep up this fantasy for himself.
It’s interesting to watch - to a degree - but also a bit icky if you know what I mean.
I hope someone shoots me if I fall into that.
What a dose of reality… AskaMillionQuestions Guy is me. ood post skid, and thanks for snapping me into reality again!![/quote]
I don’t think this is you - you’ve been on a weight loss track for a while, which takes away somewhat from concentrating on strength. When you decide to, you’ll start boosting your poundages.
There are many different tracks being followed in this forum. Not everyone is interested in becoming a paragon of strength and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. My peeve with AskAMillionQuestions Guy is that his actions directly contravene his stated goal. It’s the difference between those who are sincere in their pursuit and those who are pretending to pursue.
It’s the hypocrisy that bugs me. If AskAMillionQuestions Guy was just willing to say, “Thanks, no advice needed - I’m pretty satisfied with what I’m doing and the results I’m getting,” I’d think nothing of it and move along and just shoot the breeze with him, cuz he’s a nice guy. But to talk about getting stronger, request and obtain advice from someone who knows someone who actually knows something, be provided resources to attain that goal and then act against it…well that’s a sign of mental illness to me. It’s insincere and an abuse of people’s time and good will. That’s a sin in my value system.
I have to shut up now, because I’ve just recognized that there are areas of my life in which I do this. I’ll be searching the yellow pages for someone willing to shoot me … j/k on that last.
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
Great work on the millies there Skid. I’m looking forward to the day I can put 155 over my head for reps.[/quote]
Speaking of overhead presses, I noticed in one of Skid’s videos that you take your bar off of the rack at chest height. I’ve been cleaning (er, more of a sloppy power clean actually) mine. I was just curious which most of you guys do.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
There are many different tracks being followed in this forum. Not everyone is interested in becoming a paragon of strength and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. My peeve with AskAMillionQuestions Guy is that his actions directly contravene his stated goal. It’s the difference between those who are sincere in their pursuit and those who are pretending to pursue.
It’s the hypocrisy that bugs me. If AskAMillionQuestions Guy was just willing to say, “Thanks, no advice needed - I’m pretty satisfied with what I’m doing and the results I’m getting,” I’d think nothing of it and move along and just shoot the breeze with him, cuz he’s a nice guy. But to talk about getting stronger, request and obtain advice from someone who knows someone who actually knows something, be provided resources to attain that goal and then act against it…well that’s a sign of mental illness to me. It’s insincere and an abuse of people’s time and good will. That’s a sin in my value system.
I have to shut up now, because I’ve just recognized that there are areas of my life in which I do this. I’ll be searching the yellow pages for someone willing to shoot me … j/k on that last.[/quote]
Sounds like the guy’s sorta kinda almost a friend. Why not just ask him why he never takes your advice, but keeps asking for it? Like for instance, just casually say, “Hey Dumbass, how come you keep asking my advice, and then completely ignoring it?”
Or, you could just hire ouroboro to, you know, adjust his attitude.
Skidmark you continue to impress the shit out of me. There simply is no limit for you. It’s PR after PR, once you set your sights on a number it’s as good as your’s. Your work ethic is amazing and your dedication is off the scale. Stay strong and lift heavy brother!
Think I’m going to quit repping the deadlifts and just hit the 5/3/1 numbers or 1 or 2 reps over. I really need to concentrate on my squat. My form is still not good and my poundage is lower than I would like. I think hammering the deads is hurting my squat in recovery terms so I’m going to pull back a bit. I’ll still keep the assistance work up on that day.
I agree with your theory- about skippping Deads for reps-
I think in the beginning- medium amounts of strength you need to pull allot
and as the weights your pulling get bigger and bigger you need to pull less.
the reocovery is too much- and you can train the deadlift without pulling.
I am realizing that this is why all the big dogs do some type of partial
and mostly speed work.
