The whole trip won’t be very long. just 7-9 days. Mostly in Ireland. Going for a wedding. But it will be something like the 28th through the 5th approximately.
I’ve read other sources of advice on the whole narrow clavicles problem but I’d like to get your take on it. What did you do to overcome it?
right, ok, tricky but workable. Trust you to visit at literally the busiest time of year for work and family commitments! Haha.
I’m not sure how keen the mods are with me posting this but I have an email address I use only for this site which is just yogi dot t dot nation at gmail dot com.
You can hit me up on there with more specifics when you know them, but do me a favour and post in this log that you’ve done it, because I never check that email normally
to be honest I’m not really all that sure that I have overcome it, but really I think it’s just a case of adding as much muscle as you can while keeping your waist size down.
One strategy I do employ is doing practically zero upper trap work. In my opinion really big traps can detract from shoulder width in the clavically challenged. I thought I was a genius for coming up with that but it turns out that old timey bodybuilders used to do the exact same thing and so does eyedentist, so while I’m not original, at least I’m in good company.
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Here’s the partly silly part. What if, I think them traps look sexy af. Any way I can have my cake and eat it too?
haha, then shrug away! It’s such a subjective thing, so if you want to work your traps then by all means do so.
So long as you’re really blasting the shit out of your side and rear delts then it probably won’t matter all that much.
re: suits.
Once a year I usually visit an Asian country for a bit of a get-away, and I always get a couple of suits and a few extra pants made by the tailor. Much cheaper than tailors back home.
Saying that while getting measured I have learnt that I have to keep emphasising points such as my “legs are bigger than normal” and “I have a wide upper chest” etc etc, as sometimes even after they take your measurements they make stuff too small or too tight, almost as if they didn’t believe the measurements that they had made.
And I am looking forward to your pics.
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@theBird did you ever try the trap bar? How was it? Flirting with the idea of giving it a go myself.
I’m having a hell of a time trying to get my girlfriend to understand the whole “progressive overload” thing.
She gets in the gym and just does the same weight for the same reps every single time. She asked me to help her out with her deadlift the other day, and I managed to coach her to a 25k PR! On the face of it a 25k PR is wicked, but it really just shows the weights she’s been using are too light for her to get any kind of training effect. She’s in great shape, but has totally plateaued in terms of strength, particularly on her squats.
Thing is I don’t want to really bug her about it. She loves it when we train together, and I do too, so I don’t want to ruin that by getting on her case too much when we do.
She’d probably benefit from some sessions with a personal trainer but there’s none in the gym we use worth a damn.
@Chris_Colucci: advices?
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Uh, don’t you know somebody that used to be a personal trainer?
Oh yeah, your significant other won’t listen to you - I know that feeling.
So Rippetoe (sorry to curse in your thread) talks about Selye’s General Adaptation Theory - if it doesn’t kill you, the stress makes you stronger. Increasing stress equal increasing strength (I know, sorry, don’t mean to be condescending).
Appeal to what she likes. If she’s a science person, have her read the theory. Consider, maybe she just doesn’t want to get bulky, lol. Show her some pictures of Katie Anne Katie Anne Church (@katieanne100) • Instagram photos and videos
I actually had a discussion about progressive overload with my ninth graders today (fourteen years old). I explained to them the importance of developing stamina for reading - read for a half hour tonight, 35 minutes tomorrow, forty minutes next week, etc…).
Of course, they all told me to fuck off.
FWIW, I tried giving my kids golf lessons (I was a PGA Pro), but they never listened to me. I bought them lessons from a pro, and they wanted to know why I didn’t tell them what he told them. I had. Like, four or five times. But, I’m dad. The pro was a pro. Whatev.
If all else fails, just remember why divorce is so expensive - because it’s worth it.
Thank god you won’t have that expense, call the @hebrewhero and see if he is done with that fitness chick with the hard nips, and move on.
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I have the same issue with my GF. She likes going to the gym with me and often follows whatever program I am doing, but often does not pay much attention to the progression side of things.
I think the problem is that I have a science background while she doesn’t. So she doesn’t think of percentages, ratios, relationship of different factors etc.
At the moment I am trying to do less “coaching” with her, and maybe that will encourage her to plan for the gym better by herself. I know what you mean by “coaching” too much. Its almost like you are telling her off, while all that you are doing is trying to help.
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If Taylor Swift never decided to step out of comfort zone and try new things, she’d be stuck as just another 1 or 2 hit-wonder country singer instead of the adorably humble pop Queen she rightfully is today. 
Definitely a fine line to walk. Might be a choose your battles situation, man. I do find that scenario is always an issue when training the significant other or, like Myth said, really any kind of advice-giving to family. When you’re literally the expert on a given subject that they’re asking about, it’s like they have a voice in the back of their head “I hear what he’s saying and it makes sense, but I’ve also heard him in the bathroom Thanksgiving night, so I cannot take him seriously.”
One thing I try to do is to fairly regularly switch up the exercises or rep ranges in routines I put my girl through. That way, lifting more each session isn’t necessarily the focus, just performing X (new exercise or new set/rep scheme) is sufficient new stimulus and whenever you rotate back around to the original exercise, it should be easier to bump the weight up a little bit for more progression.
For example, recently we’re doing an A/B split 3 days a week, and every few weeks at least one or two exercises change in each workout. Seated rows with a peak pause instead of reverse-grip pulldowns, for example. Whenever we get back to reverse-grip pulldowns, the weight ends up 20 or so pounds heavier than last time for the same reps.
So if Yogette plateaued on back squats, maybe suggest switching to goblet squats or 1.5-rep squats or whatever as an alternate form of progression. I would say though, progressive overload doesn’t necessarily have to be more weight each session, but it does have to be more something each workout. More reps is the obvious choice, but that’s out because you said she’s doing the same. More TUT could be another option, slowing down either side of the rep or tossing in a pause. Her goal is obviously a factor in what/when/how to change things up.
If she’s happy with doing what she’s doing and she looks and feels good, maybe being on autopilot in the gym - just getting in and playing with weights and catching glimpses of you sweating and straining and working hard (presuming you actually do, lolzers) - is all she’s after. Like any client, their goals are their thing and you have to rein in your own instinct to project goals onto her.
No easy answer. And again, it’ll be a fine line between trying to give helpful advice with the best intentions vs approaching her like a stubborn client who’s capable of more but refuses to push themselves.
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Maybe convince her to choose a strength goal?I know that for a woman that’s easier said than done,especially with an upper body lift though
Also you could have her do more amraps.In a set rep range like 3 sets of 10 she can use whatever weight she wants but if she does the same weight for 24 reps on the first set she’ll probably pick something heavier herself next time
If you wanna learn anything else about women just tag me boyz
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Im still considering.
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Ohhhh, now I get it!
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lol, yeah, but when Chris says this:
He’s right on the money. Case in point - a few months ago she paid for a program from a trainer (just some cookie-cutter, online thing) and she followed it to a tee because she perceived that trainer to be more of an authority than I am. The program wasn’t bad, particularly, so she did ok on it, although she just didn’t ever put the weights up.[quote=“theBird, post:52, topic:221798”]
At the moment I am trying to do less “coaching” with her, and maybe that will encourage her to plan for the gym better by herself
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this is kind of what I’m trying to do to; taking the “teach a man to fish”-type approach. She still thinks there’s a magic routine out there that’ll give better results than whatever it is she’s currently doing so I’m trying to make her see that if she just picks like 4-6 exercises a session and busts her ass on them, she’ll progress.[quote=“Chris_Colucci, post:53, topic:221798”]
If Taylor Swift never decided to step out of comfort zone and try new things, she’d be stuck as just another 1 or 2 hit-wonder country singer instead of the adorably humble pop Queen she rightfully is today.
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um… yeah, I… I suppose… Nope. I’ve got nothing.
I think this pretty much nails it. She and I don’t have a huge amount of shared interests so I don’t want to ruin our gym time together.[quote=“Chris_Colucci, post:53, topic:221798”]
One thing I try to do is to fairly regularly switch up the exercises or rep ranges in routines I put my girl through
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this is probably a good shout as she gets bored pretty quickly with routines. The problem is that when she comes back to an exercise she just lifts the same weight with the same reps as before.
One thing that has kind of worked out for the best though is that she is now squatting heavy enough to need a spotter, which means I can offer gentle encouragement. When she hits her target reps I can be like “that was really good! Why not try and go a little heavier?”
haha, well played[quote=“Chris_Colucci, post:53, topic:221798”]
If she’s happy with doing what she’s doing and she looks and feels good, maybe being on autopilot in the gym - just getting in and playing with weights and catching glimpses of you sweating and straining and working hard (presuming you actually do, lolzers) - is all she’s after.
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Fair point. She is in great shape and she’s proud of what she’s accomplished so it’s not like there’s anything wrong with what she’s doing. I’ll just have to suppress my personal trainer instincts to try and push her.[quote=“Chris_Colucci, post:53, topic:221798”]
approaching her like a stubborn client
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oh man did I learn THAT to my cost! Haha. Note to self: shout at your clients, NEVER at your girlfriend…
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she does find strength goals gratifying, but she just gets a bit scared. I had her benching the other day though and her technique was actually really good, so I might see about trying to get her numbers up on that.
Whew! Glad I’m not the only one. 
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I’m loving this conversation about trying to teach GFs/wives and kids. I’ve been married 25 years and still haven’t figured out the former. My wife and I work out together and we do enjoy it, but the bickering between us would be entertaining as hell to anyone if they were watching.
When it comes to our daughters, it’s a hell of a lot easier to just pay someone to teach them to swim, surf, run, etc. I think it’s just a matter of being too close, or dads are just dumb or something. Probably the latter . . .
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