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Fitness |OT4| Squat Booty, Summer Cuts, and Super Swoletrophy

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Imm0rt4l

Member
Has anyone ever used a handheld bodyfat analyzer? I'm wondering what the disparity is between it and calipers, whether it be higher/lower by a certain margin. I know it can be thrown off by stuff like hydration, body heat etc, but I think it's the only means of measurement at my local Gold's.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Well that's embarrassing. Pulp Fiction is my favorite movie of all time. My brain just didn't pick it up :lol
 

Petrie

Banned
Has anyone ever used a handheld bodyfat analyzer? I'm wondering what the disparity is between it and calipers, whether it be higher/lower by a certain margin. I know it can be thrown off by stuff like hydration, body heat etc, but I think it's the only means of measurement at my local Gold's.

I use one, but don't really care what the actual number is. I just use it to measure trends.
 

Man

Member
Calipers is considered the ultimate way of measuring body fat?

I have used those machines where you step on it barefoot and hold a handle in each arm. I believe it calculates muscle mass / fat percentage by sending electricity through you (checking the OHM / Resistance on the other end) combined with the scale your standing on.
Apparently these things can be thrown off a bit if you've had a couple of cups of coffee or similar. When you are done it prints a 'receipt' that divides your body into sections (left arm, trunk, left leg..etc) with the details.
 

sphinx

the piano man
Reminds me of pistol squats.

I didn't know the exact name in english, yeah upon checking on youtube it's exactly pistol squats, pretty much what this guys does and he has AMAZING legs, I definitely want to have those.

Pistol squat badassery

EDIT: Holy shit, this guy is a pistol squat god, standing on a dumbell and doing them and then Pistol box jumping, woah, and I though I had mastered the move.. far from it.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
I did some flat bench BB press today! It had been at least 6 months due to a shoulder injury. I've been doing strictly DB work usually finishing with 130s and I finished at 265 for 5 today on BB. All and all pretty happy and pain free!
 

sphinx

the piano man
that dude is on a one way train to snap city

mmh I don't know, he seems really strong, he goes up and down casually like it's some warm-up, I think his body is ready (no reggie pun intended) for those hard variations.

Mine definitely isn't, my knees would break jumping boxes on one foot.
 

Brolic Gaoler

formerly Alienshogun
I did some flat bench BB press today! It had been at least 6 months due to a shoulder injury. I've been doing strictly DB work usually finishing with 130s and I finished at 265 for 5 today on BB. All and all pretty happy and pain free!

It's great to hear you're improving. I hope you never have to go through that shit again.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
It's great to hear you're improving. I hope you never have to go through that shit again.

You and me both. I fairly sure I pinpointed it to the muscle ups so I'm hoping if I avoid them I should be ok. Down below 180 now too. Feeling pretty good.
 

bro1

Banned
Off to the gym then school, later gents.



Yeah, for you cardio is more of a priority, so as shitty as it is to say, you more need to look as squats/deads as a secondary priority, at least IMO.



True enough.




This, lets not go crazy and make the guy run away from the thread.



Feeling it in your lats is good (IMO), just be sure that's not a "focus" of where you feel it. Your knees shouldn't feel much of it at all. Remember it's a hip hinge movement. Your hams and glutes should be taking most of it.
Well that sucks.

Hope you had a good time in SC! Any chance you had an opportunity to hit the Hootie concert whe you were in town?
 

Brolic Gaoler

formerly Alienshogun
You and me both. I fairly sure I pinpointed it to the muscle ups so I'm hoping if I avoid them I should be ok. Down below 180 now too. Feeling pretty good.

Good shit.

Well that sucks.

Hope you had a good time in SC! Any chance you had an opportunity to hit the Hootie concert whe you were in town?

I did, I spent most of it with my grandmother so no, no time for that. She's getting up there, so I spend as much time with her when I'm down there as I can.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Backed off my weight on Squats for SS. I should have listened to Rippetoe's advice and went well below my max. Started off at 125lbs, then went to 135lbs...and then realized my form was shit because I wasn't going down to parallel. Backed it off to 105lbs today...managed to do 3x5 with proper form, and I feel it a lot more in my hamstrings today.

Shoulder flexibility is still a huge issue. I'm keeping my thumb above the bar, but I can only manage a high bar squat with my wrists still bent back nearly 90 degrees, and even that strains my shoulders quite a bit. Hopefully I can progress to a low-bar squat in time.
 
I'm gonna try posting in this thread again. So me and the gf went to Hershey Park (fuck Fahrenheit) and had a great time. We came back and she revealed to me that the whole time she was pretty much just staring at the girls that she used to look like. It made me feel really bad. I really want to help her lose this weight and do everything I can. I went out and bought her a food scale so that she can very closely approximate what she eats and I told her it's best to eat foods that are easy quantifiable (i.e. one egg is 70 cals). She already knows about low carb and all that.

So I made a dummy my fitness profile. I put in her height and weight and how much she wanted to lose a week. She's a student and works at a day care every day for three hours so I said she was lightly active and she does p90x mon-sat for like an hour a day. With those rough numbers, my fitness pal says she should be eating 1400 cals a day or roughly 350 cals per meal. That's very different from regular calorie counters that suggest upwards of 1700 cals a day. This seems kinda high. I like the my fitness pal one because it puts exercise and the kind of activity you participate in daily in two separate categories.

I guess the only thing to do now is for her to make things happen and I really hope she is successful on her weight loss journey. I want my gf to feel good about herself again. She'll be weighing herself every week to track her progress and hopefully when all I said and done she'll like the way she looks. I still think her eating too little was the problem before and to recap she didn't gain 12 pounds. That was a gross overestimation on my part and I really don't want that to derail my post.
 

rando14

Member
Backed off my weight on Squats for SS. I should have listened to Rippetoe's advice and went well below my max. Started off at 125lbs, then went to 135lbs...and then realized my form was shit because I wasn't going down to parallel. Backed it off to 105lbs today...managed to do 3x5 with proper form, and I feel it a lot more in my hamstrings today.

Shoulder flexibility is still a huge issue. I'm keeping my thumb above the bar, but I can only manage a high bar squat with my wrists still bent back a bit, and even that strains my shoulders quite a bit. Hopefully I can progress to a low-bar squat in time.

For shoulder flexibility, try scarecrows and shoulder dislocations. I do dislocations before every workout, and they've been absolutely sensational.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Yeah I've been doing dislocations every day for the past few weeks. No real improvement yet, but I'll keep at it.

Also, just checked, and by "a bit" I mean my wrists are angled back almost 90 degrees. Pretty bad.
 

Imm0rt4l

Member
I'm gonna try posting in this thread again. So me and the gf went to Hershey Park (fuck Fahrenheit) and had a great time. We came back and she revealed to me that the whole time she was pretty much just staring at the girls that she used to look like. It made me feel really bad. I really want to help her lose this weight and do everything I can. I went out and bought her a food scale so that she can very closely approximate what she eats and I told her it's best to eat foods that are easy quantifiable (i.e. one egg is 70 cals). She already knows about low carb and all that.

So I made a dummy my fitness profile. I put in her height and weight and how much she wanted to lose a week. She's a student and works at a day care every day for three hours so I said she was lightly active and she does p90x mon-sat for like an hour a day. With those rough numbers, my fitness pal says she should be eating 1400 cals a day or roughly 350 cals per meal. That's very different from regular calorie counters that suggest upwards of 1700 cals a day. This seems kinda high. I like the my fitness pal one because it puts exercise and the kind of activity you participate in daily in two separate categories.

I guess the only thing to do now is for her to make things happen and I really hope she is successful on her weight loss journey. I want my gf to feel good about herself again. She'll be weighing herself every week to track her progress and hopefully when all I said and done she'll like the way she looks. I still think her eating too little was the problem before and to recap she didn't gain 12 pounds. That was a gross overestimation on my part and I really don't want that to derail my post.

good luck to your girl, when she weighs herself, make sure it's at the same time of the day that she weighed herself previously.
 

Mahonay

Banned
After about 5 months I've gone from 5'6" and 130lb (no muscle) to 150lb (w/muscle). Feeling pretty damn good about it. This as big as I've ever gotten. I'm definitely not huge but I feel "normal". I hadn't put on any weight in about 7 years up until now.

A combination of protein shakes, vitamin supplements, and an increase of my calorie intake made a world of difference for me. What a little effort will do for ya.
 
I want a picture of that.



Is that bodyweight? Or did you add 205 in plates?

Either way, progress is great, but if it's 205 in plates, good shit man!
HOLY JESUS NO! That wouldn't be beast mode, that would be god mode.

I weigh 195lbs with water weight + clothes + shoes I'm at 205 (weighed myself after my lift).

205 may not be a lot for some people but for me that's a ton. My Dips have actually passed up my bench, normally they're waaaaaay behind.

And I actually could've added weight, I did it pretty easily, and it was on my 3rd set. Had I attempted it on my first set I probably could of knocked out 15 or so.
 
Gym and you look awesome. Where is that place?

Thanks man! Gym is my friends. He rents out an old unused building and puts his gym equipment in there, and for £25 a month, I can have a key and train there 24/7.

It has all the traditional equipment plus prowler, proper farmer's walk handles, yolk, trap bar, thick-grip barbells, kettlebells, sledgehammers, tyres, an atlas stone, safety squat bar, strongman logbar etc. and it is always being added to. Only thing really missing is an olympic lifting platform and a glute ham developer.

In the Summer, it is by far the best place to train, but in winter I am often training in freezing conditions because there is no heating and it is exposed to the elements but it helps build character.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to leave the place in September because I am off to uni. It is going to suck having to readjust to opening hours, training with other people hogging the equipment, and using only the basic stuff :(
 

Ashhong

Member
Damn. I hadn't gone to the gym in like 2 weeks (bad, I know :() and I am just worn the fuck out. After I had to go grocery shopping, then make my food, and eat it. I have never been so tired from eating. My body is ready to shut down lol. Too lazy to do anything right now...
 

Man

Member
Went to a nutrition seminar (read: product promotion) at my gym just now and a couple of things mentioned:
- Don't have proteins within a couple of hours prior to workout as it may zap your energy.
- Don't pre-mix your post workout protein with water ahead of time as it will lower the protein percentage. Also, consume within 20mins after ending session.
 

Dr.Guru of Peru

played the long game
I noticed some pain in my right knee this morning upon hyperextension - I was just squatting the night before, so I think that might have caused it. I've never had knee problems before, so I have no clue what this might be - anyone ever experience something similar? The pain's pretty sharp on hyperextension, but I can feel a dull pain too when I flex the knee.
 

despire

Member
That's also important. I should tell her to make sure that it's the first thing she does right after using the bathroom in the morning.

You should also make sure that she weigh herself at the same point in her menstrual cycle because women tend to have their weight move around depending on what part of the cycle they are.

Off course you can weigh her weekly but most of the gurus say that you should trust more on the once a month weigh-ins since because women tend to store water during their periods.
 
In a gym which has only Smith racks and Cybex machines, which is more worthwhile? Seems like most of the serious fitness-types go for the Smith machines, but why? They dictate a less-natural motion for virtually every lift one might do on them compared to a lift-specific Cybex machine.

Is it that the cam/band arrangement on most of the Cybex "weight machines" is designed to deliver a smoother, less demanding experience (speculating here, I have no idea)?

Citations appreciated, as my Google-fu has failed me.
 

Kwhit10

Member
I haven't posted much lately, but a little update.

Since May I've had a groin pull and haven't been able to squat or deadlift and this thing is nagging. Hopefully be fully healed in a few months. It really sucks not being able to squat.

I've went to 5/3/1 for OHP and Bench and I like the way the system goes even if I could have stayed on SS maybe a while longer. I had realized it's a marathon not a race and that may have been why I injured my groin, not sure though.

This is my general workout now

Mon:
BP 531 yesterday I did 215 for 5 reps as the last week in this cycle.
BBB 5x10 115lb
Let-me ups 5x10 (I was doing pendlay rows but felt a pressure on my groin so I stop doing those for)
Dips 5x10 body weight+35lbs (210lbs total)
+other accessory if I feel like it

Wed:
OHP 531 2nd week in this cycle did 115lb 7 reps
BBB 5x10 65lbs
pull-ups 5x10
rocking calf raises 450lbs 5x15

Fri:
I try to do leg stuff here where I don't involve my groin so I've been sticking with leg extension and leg curls. It's just not the same though
 

despire

Member
Back to the gym today after a week long break due to work. Good to be back :)

Squatted 236x5 which is a PR for me. Was pretty tough though so I might have to start increasing the weight 1 - 1,5kg at a time from now on.

Benched 143x6 which is also a PR although seriously pathetic. But at least I passed a sticky point. Don't know how far I'm getting before another deload is necessary.

On the positive side my dips are progressing very nicely. When I started with them again a while ago I could only do 4 reps for a number of sets but today did 8x10 so 80 reps total. Last time managed 10 reps on my last set so satisfied with the progress. Not bad with the gut I'm carrying :)



I also started doing Greyskull LP in July and I'm very happy with it. I'd like to see more people doing it since it seems like it's not that popular at least around here even though it's mentioned every now and then. It was even written up in OT3's OP but it's not in current OP since the original text was a quote so it didn't come along when Mr. City copied the text to the new OP.

I'd recommend it to people who are finding progress difficult with SS/SL but aren't ready to switch over to an intermediate program yet. Very nice program that fixes some problems with traditional LP programs and it has a lot of room for tweaking it for your goals.


The issues, for some people, with most linear progression programs are normally:
Resetting isn’t fun
Too much volume
Little room for accessory work
Squatting is done first.

The Grayskull LP fixes these issues by doing a few slight modifications. The basic layout of the program is:

Day 1: Bench/standing press for 2x5 then 1xAMRAP (2.5 lbs heavier than the last time you did the lift); Squat for 2x5 then 1xAMRAP (5lbs heavier than the last time you did the lift)
Day 2: Standing press/Bench for 2x5 then 1xAMRAP (2.5lbs heavier than the last time you did the lift); Lighter Power cleans for some warm up Deadlift 1xAMRAP (5lbs heavier than the last time you did the lift)
Day 3: Same as day one

AMRAP=As Many Reps As Possible

Your goal on your last set is to push as much as possible. If you can get out 10 reps, great! If you can only push out the 5, that's awesome too!

This program solves the above issues:
Resetting will always be fun since, if you’re tracking your progress, you’ll be able to set rep records on previous reps. Instead of feeling salty that you have to do the same weight again, you can get hyped that you can aim to do the last rep for 10 instead of for 8.
Squatting 3 times a week, especially on the same day you’re going for a new max on your deadlift, is a lot on your body. This really will start coming into play when you're hitting your true 5 rep max. Squatting only twice a week is still gonna add 10 pounds to your 5 rep squat work a week. That's 40lbs a month or 480lbs a year. You’re NOT gonna be able to go up 480 pounds on a squat in a year unless your start at zero pounds. This adds more longevity to the program than squatting 3x a week. Same goes for starting out with less increases. 5lbs a week on your dead puts you at 240 more lbs on your dead, per year. Once your dead starts getting up in numbers, adding 240 is going to take switching programs.
Doing only two lifts a day leaves plenty of room for whatever you want. Wanna do curls in-between the lifts? Sure. Pull ups? Sure. Shrugs at the end? Whatever. Don't over train, but the two lifts and their spacing makes doing a little accessory work possible.
Squatting sucks. I mean, it’s a great lift, but it takes a lot out of you. Squatting really heavy is exhausting. Having to follow that up with a heavy press or bench is a nightmare. However, while a heavy bench or press is taxing, going from the presses to the squat still is less effort than the reverse.

I've heard good things about this program and I agree, should be in the OP as well. A few others as well. I would put these in the intermediate category.
 
Went to a nutrition seminar (read: product promotion) at my gym just now and a couple of things mentioned:
- Don't have proteins within a couple of hours prior to workout as it may zap your energy.
- Don't pre-mix your post workout protein with water ahead of time as it will lower the protein percentage. Also, consume within 20mins after ending session.

I thought the bolded was common knowledge. You should never mix any powdered supplement with water until you're ready to consume it.

What I usually do is take my shaker bottle, make sure it's 100% dry then throw then put the proten in there, after my lifts I add water and guzzle it down.

First part I wasn't aware of however, I'll have to try and test that out.
 

bro1

Banned
I thought the bolded was common knowledge. You should never mix any powdered supplement with water until you're ready to consume it.

What I usually do is take my shaker bottle, make sure it's 100% dry then throw then put the proten in there, after my lifts I add water and guzzle it down.

First part I wasn't aware of however, I'll have to try and test that out.

This 20 minute window is pretty much bro science as is the timing of eating protien.

Whenever this thread gets caught up in the timing of meals, supplements, and exact bedtime I think we need to step back and restart.

We should all know the basics by now:
Focus on the big lifts: OHP, bench, squat, and dead
Don't forget the secondary lifts: rows, chins, dips
Try and add reps or weight every workout
Don't eat crap


I also believe even if you are trying to gain weight, you should still run. Not a lot, but enough to keep your heart in shape. You can just eat more to make up the calories burned. I'm 36, going on 37 and I wish I had run more when I was younger instead of lifting so much.
 

Petrie

Banned
This 20 minute window is pretty much bro science as is the timing of eating protien.

Whenever this thread gets caught up in the timing of meals, supplements, and exact bedtime I think we need to step back and restart.

We should all know the basics by now:
Focus on the big lifts: OHP, bench, squat, and dead
Don't forget the secondary lifts: rows, chins, dips
Try and add reps or weight every workout
Don't eat crap


I also believe even if you are trying to gain weight, you should still run. Not a lot, but enough to keep your heart in shape. You can just eat more to make up the calories burned. I'm 36, going on 37 and I wish I had run more when I was younger instead of lifting so much.

I'm not sure my body can handle running on these 5/3/1 BBB Deadlift and Squat days. My back and legs are dead today.
 

Kyaw

Member
How big is a 'large' scoop for protein? It says 25g for a large scoop but I don't have any scoopers apart from a ice cream scoop, so I used it and weighed 25g from a kitchen scale and it came out at 3 ice cream scoops.

How much water (in ml) can a 'large 25g' scoop hold?
 

bro1

Banned
Hit 400x3 on the squat yesterday! Big PR for me, feeling real good about 405 next month.

AWESOME JOB!

What is the guy doing next to you? Learn how to do a pushup.

I am in reset mode, especially with all of the cardio I have been doing. the biking, running, and swimming is really sapping my strength.

I'm working on a 3x5 model, focusing on OHP, Bench, Deads, and squats with dips and chins thrown in. Trying to add 5lbs for upper body and 10lbs for lower every session. Since I'm resetting, it's been pretty easy.
First week looks like this
OHP 135x3x5
Bench 205x3x5
Deadlift 315x3x5
Squats 225x3x5

Not using straps anymore, just chalk. Much different now. Only thing that sucks is that I tore a callus off my hand which hurts like hell.
 
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