The Fitness Thread

[Senip]

Originally Posted by phe0nixblade

broke 800 lbs on leg press today :]

Yeeehh, good job!

Got a new split going, since I have ABC days, my high carbs are arms days, shoulders, and back, and regular are Chest/Legs, low are non-training.

Mon: Arms
Tues: Chest
Wed: Shoulders
Thurs: Off
Fri: Legs
Sat: Back
Sun: Off.

40 minutes of cardio if I can swing it 30 minutes after my first meal, then into the gym. Getting pretty excited.

[Senip]

http://articles.elitefts.com/trainin...o-getting-big/

Found that for you SC.

[Reincarnate]

Anyone have tips for wrist angle during squats?

I have a hard time keeping my wrists straight. I can only hold the bar with a little bit of wrist bend. If I straighten my wrists, I either hold the bar up too high on my neck, or I am forced to squish my shoulderblades together in unnatural, painful ways.

[Jerry DB]

Originally Posted by Senip

http://articles.elitefts.com/trainin...o-getting-big/

Found that for you SC.

awesome article, makes me feel better about not having abs as well haha

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Anyone have tips for wrist angle during squats?

I have a hard time keeping my wrists straight. I can only hold the bar with a little bit of wrist bend. If I straighten my wrists, I either hold the bar up too high on my neck, or I am forced to squish my shoulderblades together in unnatural, painful ways.

I keep my shoulder blades pretty close together when I squat, with a close grip and my wrists bent pretty far back. That's what I find comfortable.

You need to play with your grip styles and figure out what works best for you. I'm guessing you like having a straight wrist, but that hurts your back because you don't like squeezing your traps together for padding.

What you could try then is sliding the bar a bit further down on your back so you get more natural support from your traps and shoulders. Try to find a sweet spot. If that doesn't work keep trying stuff. You're bound to find a comfortable position.

Remember though, that you don't need an iron tight grip on the bar when squatting. Maybe try relaxing your grip. If you have a stable rest on your back/shoulders, you shouldn't need a lot of support from your hands.

[Senip]

Slide your hands out further, the further you go the more stable it'll be (although I tend to do only a little bit further than shoulder).

And I would argue that you should squeeze the shit out of the bar with any exercise. The harder you squeeze, the more power you'll be able to pull out, regardless of it being squats, or bench, or deads. Squeezing is a signal to the brain that it's time to get dangerous!

I'll do a video of my squats on Friday or whenever I decide to do legs, maybe that could help.

[Reincarnate]

Yeah my concern is that if I have a bent wrist, it means I am placing some of the weight into my arms the wrong way and possibly causing problems down the line. It's more comfortable for me to have a bit of a bend but I just worry that I'm sealing my fate that way.

How does your wrist look when you grab the bar (both Reach/Senip)? Any possibility of a picture, even if only holding a broomstick or an umbrella or something?

[Senip]

They tend to bend, you really want the full weight on your traps/back.

[Reincarnate]

Not even sure if I have traps to set the damn thing *on*, lol. I've got... fat folds up there, I guess?

[Senip]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyJ01s9tmsc

See, just channel Sam...

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Not even sure if I have traps to set the damn thing *on*, lol. I've got... fat folds up there, I guess?

You probably don't really have any. I mean, I have pretty well developed traps but I still can't use a wide grip like Senip says he does because it ****ing hurts my back. I use a pretty narrow grip and squeeze my traps together so I get a good amount of padding back there.

And yeah, my wrists are bent pretty far back. Like, all the way back. I've never had any problems. That and I usually grip the bar pretty tight but I've also tried it with a loose grip and honestly noticed no difference, other than that it felt a little unnatural.


edit: I hereby declare said face: http://i.imgur.com/ntw7e.jpg

to be the 'gains' face.

or alternatively the constipated face. take your pick.

[kmay]

so much sepia

[Reach]

Hides the lack of tan

[kmay]

this is FFR there is no tan

[Reach]

But there is sepia, which I'm entitled to have, since I stepped sepia back in the day.

On fitness related news, I'm setting PRs all over my routine, it's insane. However, the one lift that is stalling like mad is benchpress, which is driving me nuts.

Tried a deload today, might switch to incline bench to give myself a break from flat to see if I can break through.

[Senip]

Sick as crap, but still getting it in. Chest/back yesterday, chest got so pumped that I had to stop and stretch for about 5-10 minutes more than usual just because I couldnt move without hurting.

[Reincarnate]

Starting to lose motivation... I am pretty sure I am executing (probably) all of my exercises improperly, and every time I ask a trainer to critique me, there's almost never any constructive criticism. Rather, it's "Wow, hmmm, maybe you should start lighter and sign up for one of our training programs" which quite literally costs hundreds of dollars. **** that lmfao.

I'm also too shy/unwilling to interrupt other random people's routines to ask them for advice.

Tempted to just resort to the machines in my home gym for now until I build a stronger base strength. The uncertainty in my form is killing me, and I'm pretty sure I can't do a squat properly even if I am holding no bar, let alone with a bar of 45 pounds -- let alone that bar PLUS weight. On top of that, having my legs knocked out for 4 days at a time is annoying, too.

</whinerant>

[kmay]

do body weight exercises to start. and with hand placement on squats. as long as the weight it help up your legs will be engaged.

[Senip]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Starting to lose motivation... I am pretty sure I am executing (probably) all of my exercises improperly, and every time I ask a trainer to critique me, there's almost never any constructive criticism. Rather, it's "Wow, hmmm, maybe you should start lighter and sign up for one of our training programs" which quite literally costs hundreds of dollars. **** that lmfao.

I'm also too shy/unwilling to interrupt other random people's routines to ask them for advice.

Tempted to just resort to the machines in my home gym for now until I build a stronger base strength. The uncertainty in my form is killing me, and I'm pretty sure I can't do a squat properly even if I am holding no bar, let alone with a bar of 45 pounds -- let alone that bar PLUS weight. On top of that, having my legs knocked out for 4 days at a time is annoying, too.

</whinerant>

Gotta suck it up man. I lifted for a year+ before I got help with it, and I still ended up losing 60+ pounds. Dont give up because its hard, keep going because it is.

[Reincarnate]

Thing is, it's the wrong *kind* of hard