[quote]TopHeavy wrote:
My family. The constant nagging and hints that my eating habits and weight training are not in my best interest are really starting to wear on me.
Comments like “that protein shit” and “you’ll look like a freak”, followed by “you’re too skinny, you have no legs, and you’re arms are tiny” are really irritating when coming from your family.
It is hard to prove people wrong all of the time. How can I be too small, but also be warned that I’ll look freaky?
Family matters more to me than anything, but support is too damn hard to come by.[/quote]
I hear ya. My family sucks as well regarding that issue.
As for me, I have to say my left shoulder injury. I dunno whether its rotator cuff or what, but it hurts when I perform overhead presses, chin ups and heavy bench press,…
Oh, that and my obsession with having a short torso and way too long limbs (damn genetics / bodytype)- Too many negative thoughts.
I am a computer analyst (and I bet you can tell from my username), who sits in front of a computer 9hrs a day. Makes me feel a bit tight on hamstring and hip flexor despite stretching them every day and having micro-pauses during the day. Sometimes the sitting-around-all-day-long thingy even makes me worry about the ME Squat I am going to have after work.
Coach EC, any suggestion to counter this apart from micro-pause hourly?
Geek boy[/quote]
Dude, relax. I sit at a desk all day as well. We are LUCKY. We are lucky we don’t break our backs and wear out our bodies all day doing real jobs like construction, plumbing, factory, sheetmetal, drywall, etc all day. i have alot of friends up here in michigan who are blue collar, which is common here, that actually have to work hard physically all day. They have pretty much zero energy after work, or very little, to go to the gym. We have all the energy in the world, and our bodies are frsh after work. I wouldnt trade a desk job for any job in the world (well, maybe a few)
Lack of $$$$$$$$$ - Having a family of 4 and 1 income suuuuuucks.
Lack of time - I really wish I had more time to work out along with working, spending quality time with the family, keeping the house up, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Sleep. If I get 8 hours of sleep 2 nights a week it’s amazing.
A plan that fits what I need. I’m having a hard time finding exactly what I need as a fat and inflexible beer league goalie.
Most definitely injury. My shoulders are “loose” to put it mildly. That really limits how much weight I can press overhead and how many overhead exercises I can do.
[quote]graphicsMan wrote:
Shoulder, hip, and leg flexibility.
On a related note, what, in your opinion, are the best stretches for overhead squat? [/quote]
The best stretch for the overhead squat is… the overhead squat! With a broom stick, light bar, regular-weight bar, bar with a little weight on it - mix it up. Each weight will teach you different things about how you need to improve your flexibility. You can do reps, fast or slow, with or without. This makes an excellent dynamic warm-up.
If you like, do the stretch contract-relax style: Pause at or slightly above the limit of your flexbility, contract maximally for 3-15 seconds, and then relax, letting gravity pull your body deeper into the stretch. If you do it this way, definetely get really comfortable without weight before you do it with weight, and do it AFTER working out, not before.
Other streches: For the hips, the full back and front squat, focusing on depth, arching maximally, and pulling the hips down into the hole. If shoulder flexibility is a big problem, you might try shoulder dislocates with a broomstick or rope (start with the rope/broomstick resting at arm’s length on your thighs, rotate it 360 degrees so that it’s behind you without bending your arms. Narrow grip to increase difficulty).
Injuries - Usually caused by trying to do too much, too fast, in a new activity or exercise. I’m constantly training around one injury or another, usually chronic rather than acute.
Lower body strength - My squat is pathetic, my deadlift not much better. For a long time I did “lightbulb workouts,” and the results are numbers like this (all recent PRs at bodyweight 175lb):
bench press: 280 lb
squat: 285 lb
deadlift: 360 lb
snatch: 175lb
c&j: 215 lb
military press: 185 lb
My bench and military presses are not too bad, but my squat is nearly the same as my bench.
Weakness number 2 takes me right back to weakness number 1; I started trying to bring up my squat, and I did too much, too fast. Now quadriceps tendonitis has severely curtailed my squatting.
Lockout strength with the bench; I have to use more weight than I can lockout to get the bar to touch. Lockout again with the DL; I can pull more off the floor than I can lockout. I need to strengthen my hips and upper back, also get faster. I need to get healthy. I have a lot of little aches and pains that are caused by not so perfect posture. Diet has never been a problem for me. I am very disciplined as far as eating goes.
I can’t keep working out and eating right when schools on. Study and working seem to take up the majority of my time. IT just seems to drain energy from the other areas. Especially if im suffering from limited food choices, public transport, and getting called into work at the last minute.
Preparing food doesnt work. I can barely lug my books and work clothes around all day at uni let alone another bag. Heres an article idea for you. Getting a simple weights and nutritional system into a hectic 7 days per week schedule that doesnt involve a car as a food storage place.
Definitely sleep. I feel that if i could get an extra hour every night i would be so much closer to reaching my goals. Sadly it never seems to happen. I should be asleep right now, damnit.
[quote]Velvet Revolver wrote:
Dude, relax. I sit at a desk all day as well. We are LUCKY. We are lucky we don’t break our backs and wear out our bodies all day doing real jobs like construction, plumbing, factory, sheetmetal, drywall, etc all day. i have alot of friends up here in michigan who are blue collar, which is common here, that actually have to work hard physically all day. They have pretty much zero energy after work, or very little, to go to the gym. We have all the energy in the world, and our bodies are frsh after work. I wouldnt trade a desk job for any job in the world (well, maybe a few)
[/quote]
Hey Velvet Revolver, I understand what you are saying. Before I am desk-bound I was an on-site junior engineer so I know actually what it is like to work on physical jobs.
I know I should feel lucky when I don’t get crocked back etc from hard labour work, but on the other hand, my brain is drained out completely from work (as a computer analyst) plus the problems I mentioned in the original question (tight hammies, shoulders, neck etc.), and I think attempt ME squat with a lack of concentration and tight joints can be as problematic as attempting ME squat with a crocked back.
Again I am not nagging, just pointing out a desk-bound job brings different problems to training than a blue-collar job.
Greatest weakness… knowledge. I’m learning fitness as I go and being my own test dumby for exercises. This site has been EXTREMELY helpful though. The exercise and sleep are coming together nicely. But dieting… mmm… I don’t know if thats for me. I just read the title massive eating and inferred what i wanted to hear =) Who wants a Wendy’s tripple?! THIS GUY DOES! But its midnight? THIS GUY STILL DOES!