Roebear is probably lurking around if you have fitness comp questions. I'm sure he'd be glad to help.
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Fitness |OT8| Dad Bods, Bulge Swelfies, and Wait...Do you even lift bro?
- Thread starter Chocobro
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Roebear is probably lurking around if you have fitness comp questions. I'm sure he'd be glad to help.
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words. 
The set of 3 was pull-ups (hands prone), but I moved to chin-ups since the pull-ups were too slow for me to progress, even with the pyramids. With the chin-ups, I was able to add about a rep a month. At this point, with my best sets I can get 8 chin-ups, 6 neutral grip pull-ups, or 4 prone pull-ups. The volume from the pyramids helps a lot, regardless of style. One of my goals for 2016 is to perform a set of 8 traditional pull-ups.
The set of 3 was pull-ups (hands prone), but I moved to chin-ups since the pull-ups were too slow for me to progress, even with the pyramids. With the chin-ups, I was able to add about a rep a month. At this point, with my best sets I can get 8 chin-ups, 6 neutral grip pull-ups, or 4 prone pull-ups. The volume from the pyramids helps a lot, regardless of style. One of my goals for 2016 is to perform a set of 8 traditional pull-ups.
Psychotext
Member
Pull up related, I'm not sure what happened to me since I took my 10 or so days off, but now for some reason I can do more pull-ups than I can do chin-ups.
It's not that pull-ups have become easier, for some reasons chin-ups have become harder.
It's not that pull-ups have become easier, for some reasons chin-ups have become harder.
Any way your recent cardio extravaganzas could have strengthened your back while your biceps got weaker from little to no use?
D
Deleted member 12837
Unconfirmed Member
Question for married members of FitGAF:
Do you wear your ring while lifting? Leave it at home? Wear it around your neck? Wear a silicone ring instead? Something else?
I recently got hitched and am still getting used to wearing a band. It didn't feel right at the gym, not because I'm worried about scratching it, but mainly because it messes with my grip around the bar. I'm not sure a silicone replacement ring would work any better (I imagine it would have the same issues).
Do you wear your ring while lifting? Leave it at home? Wear it around your neck? Wear a silicone ring instead? Something else?
I recently got hitched and am still getting used to wearing a band. It didn't feel right at the gym, not because I'm worried about scratching it, but mainly because it messes with my grip around the bar. I'm not sure a silicone replacement ring would work any better (I imagine it would have the same issues).
I'm curious, since I know very little about pull-ups or chin-ups.
Would adding weight via weight belt help? Like, if you could do sets of 5 with added weight on you, would that help increase volume of non-weighted pull-ups/chin-ups?
Both my wife and I take them off when lifting.
mdsfx
Member
Same. Knurled bars will probably scratch it.
Psychotext
Member
I guess it's theoretically possible. To be honest I almost never do arm work so I don't really have any benchmarks to test against.
Oh, and no ring here either. I hardly ever wear it these days between greasing the groove, weights, and mountain biking.
I dropped from 280 at my heaviest to 160. It took me over a year afterwards to actually believe the scale. I've been lifting for two months now and have gained 10 lb and can definitely feel the muscle.
For those of you who have lost a lot of weight and have built muscle... does that help fill you out at all? Is surgery really the only way to go?
I've wondered that too, and perhaps some of the pull-up experts here (paging Cooter!) could give their opinion. I know that in general for me with other lifts, doing fewer reps at a higher weight doesn't let me automatically add reps at lower weights. If I wanted to do, say, high-rep squats, I'd have to specifically work around the desired rep range.
My plan at this time is to progress through hand position. When I can regularly get 8 chin-ups, I'll switch to neutral grip pull-ups until I can do 8, and then prone pull-ups. I may change my plan, depending on what I learn along the way.
Also, another member of married GAF who takes off the ring when exercising.
Same. I lost ~120, but put back a bit more on. Am at ~197-199 right now.
Typically the advice I give people asking if they should add weight is that if you can perform sets of 10 with ease and with good chest depth you should start adding weight. There's nothing wrong with adding weight at 8 but then it cuts down your sets to maybe 4 or 5 and I like to do pull-ups at a higher rep range excluding my last sets of weighted ones which are between 4-6.
I do pull-ups about twice a week.
Light bw day is 5x10-focus is speed and explosion
Heavy weighted day is:
30x10
40x10
50x8
75x6
95x4-5
Psychotext
Member
Just set a new squat PR. Just about got the bar up, tried to get out from under it after racking it...
...and smashed the back of my head to shit on the bar. Blehhhhhh.
...and smashed the back of my head to shit on the bar. Blehhhhhh.
Violence Jack
Member
So I've decided to start back doing Insanity to start on the path to getting slimmed down for my wedding next year, and now my fiancee has decided she wants to do it with me. While she's been working out with me a lot (weight lifting, cardio circuit), she's never done anything like Insanity. However, even though her doctor has given her a green light for the workout, she has ankle issues that makes some workouts hard for her to do. Are there any exercises that can be incorporated into a HIIT routine that won't require much strain on ankles? And yes, she does wear an ankle brace.
we are all rooting for you
I believe you'll make it. I remember back when I started, Pull-ups were too hard and decided to work on the Chin-ups but as soon as I got better at Chin.ups, the Pull-ups followed. I think that's what's going to happen here.
do you happen to do more Pull-ups than chin-ups on a regular basis?
I have been neglecting Chin-ups for a long time and I can do around... 7 or 8, Pull-ups I do 16 on my best set and up to 100 on a pyramid scheme.
I'll probably start switching between one and the other in the coming weeks.
in my case, the weight vest I bought was great for exactly that.
I'd do 6 sets, the first three with the vest and the next 3 without it. The feeling I had when I'd take off the vest was incredible, on the sets without the added weight I felt like flying up and do... it really does wonders. There's of course the better option of chain+plate around your waste but I've got no chain so I'll keep using my vest.
it's basically a small schoolbag so if you guys don't want to buy a vest, you can use any schoolbag with books, and keep adding books as you progress
Psychotext
Member
The opposite, I was smashing out weighted chin-ups with no problems, have never even tried a weighted pull up as I wanted to get my numbers up first. Is very odd.
Depends where the skin is. For most it seems to be lower abdominals, and to put on enough muscle there to fill out the loose skin would be incredibly difficult for most people.
hydrophilic attack
Member
So, I have a problem with squats. When I try to go deep I get the dreaded butt wink, which puts my lower back at risk. If I try to do different things to counter that, I get other problems with my form. But when I do goblet squats I can get it right, mostly because the more upright posture with goblet squats makes it easier for me to maintain form. So I'm considering replacing normal squats with front squats to solve this problem. Would this be a good idea, or would I risk underdeveloping my hamstrings in relation to my quadriceps if I abandon back squats entirely?
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Mini bulk successful
In my experience( M, 6'5", 430-227lbs) lifting helps. Mostly in that everyone has some underdeveloped area that can grow to fill out skin. For me that is upper torso.
To be totally frank given enough weight loss there is a point where you arent going to look normal(definition) without surgery. The important thing to realize is that your worth is not in your skin.
Butt Wink is essentially a sign your erectors are too weak for your working weight so you need to back off the plates.
Do a back squat set with lighter weight and sit in the hole for a few seconds each rep to feel the difference between leaning forward and back a bit and keeping your knees in line with your toes.
Front squats are more quad dominant and they stress your core differently(abs). I would say the backsquat is a bit more 'complete' of a motion but you do not need it to build your legs.
hydrophilic attack
Member
I'm not sure that this is related to weak erectors. The weight I'm using is very low (less than two thirds of my bodyweight) and I have problems doing it with bodyweight, without even using any weight at all. I don't think my erectors are that weak. I can deadlift 50 % above my body weight for sets of eight with pretty good form. I think my squatting issues are due to a combination of some of the following factors: hamstring flexibility, mobility, balance, body proportions.
That's good to know. I'll make an attempt with dropping the weight back to empty bar again while really focusing on form and keeping the weight on my heels, to see if I can sort my back squat form out, but if not, I may start doing front squats instead.
Thanks for the reply!
Psychotext
Member
So I've been doing Romanian deadlifts for a while and I've noticed that as I go up in weight, I stop feeling it on my hamstrings completely, which makes me think my form has gone and other muscles are taking the strain. No matter what I try I can't seem to fix it, so I'm wondering, is it better to just dump the weight and go up the rep range?
I did 15 reps of a much lower weight a few weeks back and felt like my hamstrings were on fire. So I'm thinking, instead of say, 3x5x150lbs, I could do something like 3x12x75lbs or something along those lines.
Anyone got an opinion on this?
I did 15 reps of a much lower weight a few weeks back and felt like my hamstrings were on fire. So I'm thinking, instead of say, 3x5x150lbs, I could do something like 3x12x75lbs or something along those lines.
Anyone got an opinion on this?
Your front squats always blow my mind. I wonder how many people here could do front squats NEAR that % of their weight...
Have the same issue with stiff legged deadlift. Not feeling anything in my hamstrings when doing the exercise. I keep doing it because I've definitely made gains with my hammies since incorporating the exercise. Maybe I would feel it more if I slowed the movement down.
Makes sense. I don't think I'll need to add weight for a long time. Changing the grip style provides plenty of loading options for me at this point.
And wow at not just performing a pull-up with 95 external pounds, but getting five reps. Crazy!
Had an interesting birthday surprise.
I sent my wife a before and after photo of myself I liked. She put it on her fitness Instagram page last week. Then, the fitness company that she loves (tone it up) picked it up and featured me.
Here's the post.
https://instagram.com/p/9UZYiCv-LU/
I sent my wife a before and after photo of myself I liked. She put it on her fitness Instagram page last week. Then, the fitness company that she loves (tone it up) picked it up and featured me.
Here's the post.
https://instagram.com/p/9UZYiCv-LU/
Madnesslink5
Member
NIce one! Though if this is how people write on #Instagram I'm #soglad I don't use the damn thing,
5th day of my diet break. Decided to have one, even though I didn't want to really. I know I could use one so kinda forced myself. I've been dieting in one way or another for so long that my body could probably use two weeks of normal calories. First months of around maintenance with 2-3 fasting days every week and for the last two months a more normal caloric restriction. I'm not really run down or anything but I know this is good thing in the long run.
Got some water under my skin and gained maybe 5lbs but it's just water so I don't really care. Still five or nine days to go. Then back on the cut for those last few pounds
Got some water under my skin and gained maybe 5lbs but it's just water so I don't really care. Still five or nine days to go. Then back on the cut for those last few pounds
mdsfx
Member
Well that settles it and I guess it makes a lot of sense. Healing happens so much quicker on a bulk. It would normally take me days if not almost a full week to recover from the run I had on Sunday. I was in pretty miserable shape yesterday. This morning I woke up and its like the run never even happened. I've never recovered this fast before. Kind of blown away.
Side note: kidney stones run in my family and my kidneys feel like they are working overtime and are a little sore. Noticed my urine isn't as clear now that I'm eating more, even drinking a full gallon per day. Will have to drink more. Dammit...
Side note: kidney stones run in my family and my kidneys feel like they are working overtime and are a little sore. Noticed my urine isn't as clear now that I'm eating more, even drinking a full gallon per day. Will have to drink more. Dammit...
mdsfx
Member
#notsurewhatyoumean #getwiththetimes #hashtagsarethefuture #hashtag #as#tag
Sean that's incredible man! Happy birthday!!!
Psychotext
Member
lol... after a year and a half of training, it appears I've finally hit the "untrained" standard for bench press for my weight.
Stupid broken body.
Stupid broken body.
mdsfx
Member
What happened? Were you injured?lol... after a year and a half of training, it appears I've finally hit the "untrained" standard for bench press for my weight.
Stupid broken body.
Psychotext
Member
I can only assume it's related, but broke both my collar bones when I was young and was never really able to do any chest exercises like push-ups etc. Even when I do chest exercises now it feels like most of the power is coming from my shoulders and arms rather than my chest.
...and my actual shoulders are wrecked too because of dislocations due to hypermobility, so yeah, that aint helping either.
...and my actual shoulders are wrecked too because of dislocations due to hypermobility, so yeah, that aint helping either.
Form check? If most of the pressure is on your shoulders your bar path might be too high.
Psychotext
Member
Problem is at the bottom on a bench press, but no, the form is fine. I've taken numerous videos to check.
I didn't mean too high, height-wise. I meant too close to your neck. I feel like you're a big form guy though so I'm sure you're solid.
nice job man!
Psychotext
Member
Yeah, I figured what you meant, was just explaining where I feel the pressure on a bench press. It's definitely tricky getting my position right though.
Wow, nice! All those comments are just flying at you. I can picture your wife batting away at some of the potential explicit ones.
Had to throw in some kind of baseball reference.
Go Mets!!!!
Lifting heavier lately and I've noticed some post-workout discomfort in the part of the hand that connects the thumb to the palm (back of non-dominant hand). I have large hands but they're mostly long, skinny fingers so I feel like a lot of pressure gets put on my thumb.
Anyone know what I'm talking about? Ideas on how to strengthen it?
Anyone know what I'm talking about? Ideas on how to strengthen it?
FallingEdge
Member
killertofu
Member
Hmm gonna try upping my weight by ten today. I think I'm still fairly low since it's only my seventh workout I think
155 Squat
155 Bench
135 DL
I don't think I've lost weight either and I'm only a little sore after each work out... buuuut I haven't smoked any cigs in like 2 weeks so that's a plus
155 Squat
155 Bench
135 DL
I don't think I've lost weight either and I'm only a little sore after each work out... buuuut I haven't smoked any cigs in like 2 weeks so that's a plus
Nice. Well deserved feature.
Just keep adding 5lbs, unless you feel like you're barely working on some of them.
If you are tall or just long legged then you might be having issues like ankle flexibility(dorsiflexion). You might also need to address your stace width. Some of it is just up to how your hips are built.
As usual the Limber 11 video(see YT) is the best lower body stretch guide I can recommend.
At the very least Goblet/Front squat are more open hip and straight torso styles of squat and that might just be your mojo.
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