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Let's Try A New Thing
Dec. 19th, 2024 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_broken_towerI'm off to try those Bulgarian split squats everyone seems to enjoy so much.
Will report back!
- Crane (he/him)
Update:
They hurt
Will report back!
- Crane (he/him)
Update:
They hurt
the_broken_towerWhat does your warm-up look like?
Oct. 24th, 2023 08:56 pmoctahedriteI hardly ever warm up, but in the interest of building good habits and taking better care of my joints, I'm thinking I should start! When I do bother to warm up, I usually do arm circles, some hamstring and hip stretches. Other days I do a few reps with the empty bar.
What about you? What does your warm-up look like?
(Mods, can we get a discussion tag?)
Lifted some things!
Sep. 26th, 2023 02:00 pmcesyYesterday I went to my first powerlifting class in years and it was great! I really enjoyed a weightlifting class I did about 8 years ago, but then I had some other health issues and was focused on physio and couldn't safely do much. Now I'm better enough that I could give it a try, I found a gym on my road that does welcoming classes, and went along on the spur of the moment for an intro deal.
I was really encouraged by the vibe, having people with widely varying levels of experience and strength but all supporting each other, and a helpful instructor. And I was delighted to find I still get an endorphin rush from lifting - I never get that from running or other cardio the way some people do, but it's nice to remember I get it from lifting, so I can get it from some exercise.
I was really encouraged by the vibe, having people with widely varying levels of experience and strength but all supporting each other, and a helpful instructor. And I was delighted to find I still get an endorphin rush from lifting - I never get that from running or other cardio the way some people do, but it's nice to remember I get it from lifting, so I can get it from some exercise.
relative strength of men vs. women
Jul. 5th, 2023 11:30 pmoctahedriteToday I read this interesting article about why "men are strong, women are weak" does not universally apply.
Shield Maidens, Bell Curves and Strong Women - R. J. Eliason
When people say things like men are x% stronger than women, many of us have this image of lining all the men and women up side by side. And the men will all lift x% more than the woman next to them. But that’s not how it works.
coffeetimehttps://slate.com/business/2023/06/exercise-machines-expensive-gyms-alternatives.html
"The $4,000 Muscle D Smith Machine can be replaced by squatting with a heavy sandbag. The $4,170 Steelflex Shoulder Press machine can be replaced by hoisting the same sandbag over your head. The $2,000 Body-Solid Pro Clubline Series II Arm Curl Machine can be replaced by curling the same sandbag up and down. (Perhaps that will be the Series III?) I could go on. Do you want me to go on?"
No, no we don't. But I can tell you're going to anyway, aren't you, ableist troll boy?
"The $4,000 Muscle D Smith Machine can be replaced by squatting with a heavy sandbag. The $4,170 Steelflex Shoulder Press machine can be replaced by hoisting the same sandbag over your head. The $2,000 Body-Solid Pro Clubline Series II Arm Curl Machine can be replaced by curling the same sandbag up and down. (Perhaps that will be the Series III?) I could go on. Do you want me to go on?"
No, no we don't. But I can tell you're going to anyway, aren't you, ableist troll boy?
"Your $4,800 treadmill can be replaced by running your hermit ass down the street."
Supposing your "hermit ass" lives in a dangerous urban area and you're a woman and you work a later shift and you have the hours of midnight-3a to run. Where to do that? Down the "street" where people are waiting to assault you? IF ONLY YOU WEREN'T SO LAZY.
Supposing your "hermit ass" has a disability and you can't pick up a sandbag, but you want to do squats the best you can. Should you never squat with weight, because Troll Face thinks you ought to be using a sandbag because fancy MACHINES are just so terrible?
Supposing you're injured and can't curl a sandbag, but you'd like to not lose your hard-won mass while the injury heals. No curl machine for you, because machines bad, sandbags good!
Orrrr you're a single parent and you can squeeze in an hour on the elliptical at home while your 2-year-old is still asleep, even though you have to start at 4AM so you can still get the kid to daycare and yourself to work. But you should just run "your hermit ass down the street."
Right: only wealthy, fit people get to work out, because they deserve that life, but the rest of you aren't trying hard enough. Bootstrap that workout, you lazy poors.
I cannot believe Slate paid someone to write this sexist, ableist, privileged tripe.
Supposing your "hermit ass" lives in a dangerous urban area and you're a woman and you work a later shift and you have the hours of midnight-3a to run. Where to do that? Down the "street" where people are waiting to assault you? IF ONLY YOU WEREN'T SO LAZY.
Supposing your "hermit ass" has a disability and you can't pick up a sandbag, but you want to do squats the best you can. Should you never squat with weight, because Troll Face thinks you ought to be using a sandbag because fancy MACHINES are just so terrible?
Supposing you're injured and can't curl a sandbag, but you'd like to not lose your hard-won mass while the injury heals. No curl machine for you, because machines bad, sandbags good!
Orrrr you're a single parent and you can squeeze in an hour on the elliptical at home while your 2-year-old is still asleep, even though you have to start at 4AM so you can still get the kid to daycare and yourself to work. But you should just run "your hermit ass down the street."
Right: only wealthy, fit people get to work out, because they deserve that life, but the rest of you aren't trying hard enough. Bootstrap that workout, you lazy poors.
I cannot believe Slate paid someone to write this sexist, ableist, privileged tripe.
Lifting heavy things in the wild
Jun. 23rd, 2023 10:38 pmcoffeetimeI live in a townhouse, and a few of my neighbors across the way often hang out and gab for hours. Tonight I stepped outside for something else and decided to investigate why they were unusually noisy. My neighbor Julie was trying to convince anyone else present to help her move a piece of furniture from the garage into her condo, and nobody would! They were all exclaiming about no, they weren't going to do it! When I walked over there, someone said, "Hey, coffeetime, you're strong, right?" I said, "Sure, what do you need?" Somehow Julie had acquired one of those electric lift chairs for her elderly dad at a thrift shop, and had managed to get it to her place, but she couldn't get it up the two stairs and through the door.
Our internal garage stairs are NOT to code, I know because I already measured mine. They're like 11" tall, and then at the top it's an average-sized doorway. And also, Julie and I are about the same height (I'm 5'4"). I told her she'd have to help me because my arms are so damn short, I couldn't just pick it up myself as it was bulky and slippery (and kind of heavy with the motor right at the bottom). I deadlifted about 3/4 of the weight and she held the other side, and we got it up one step before she had to rest, then I deadlifted again and we wiggled it in through the door and she rested some more, and then one more big lift and we carried it into the living room. Took all of 2 minutes, I think. I said, "How handy that I still have my gym clothes on!"
Our internal garage stairs are NOT to code, I know because I already measured mine. They're like 11" tall, and then at the top it's an average-sized doorway. And also, Julie and I are about the same height (I'm 5'4"). I told her she'd have to help me because my arms are so damn short, I couldn't just pick it up myself as it was bulky and slippery (and kind of heavy with the motor right at the bottom). I deadlifted about 3/4 of the weight and she held the other side, and we got it up one step before she had to rest, then I deadlifted again and we wiggled it in through the door and she rested some more, and then one more big lift and we carried it into the living room. Took all of 2 minutes, I think. I said, "How handy that I still have my gym clothes on!"
Does anyone else...
Jun. 23rd, 2023 11:22 amteiDoes anyone else feel like you're in a constant state of "just getting back into it"?
Covid/gyms shutting + me quitting my job and moving across the country and starting a new university degree mean I feel like every gym session for the past four years has been "oh, good for me for making it to the gym today, I'm just getting back into actually working out, I'll just fuck around a bit..."
Which I guess is... fine? There are worse things in the world than doing moderate exercise moderately often. I just kinda wish I could actually improve at something strength-related. But I don't have the energy to make it a priority.
Covid/gyms shutting + me quitting my job and moving across the country and starting a new university degree mean I feel like every gym session for the past four years has been "oh, good for me for making it to the gym today, I'm just getting back into actually working out, I'll just fuck around a bit..."
Which I guess is... fine? There are worse things in the world than doing moderate exercise moderately often. I just kinda wish I could actually improve at something strength-related. But I don't have the energy to make it a priority.
Cable machine exercise recs
Jun. 16th, 2023 11:28 pmoctahedriteMy gym has two cable machines, and there's pretty much never a wait for them, so I'm interested in using them more! So far I have done tricep pushdowns on them, and I'm thinking of trying wood chops the next time I go.
What exercises do you like to use the cable machine for?
What exercises do you like to use the cable machine for?
coffeetimeWell, since at least two people out there are apparently still reading, I'll ask, have any of you done SBS and can you answer a noob question? I had been on a linear progression and then realized I'm not really a beginner anymore and I can't handle linear progression (i.e. my whole body hurts and now I'm taking a rest week). And I was using Boostcamp but I'm switching to just spreadsheets. Before the Reddit blackout I asked at xxfitness and several people recommended SBS, so I bought the bundle and...I am so confused by this spreadsheet, I do not understand what I'm supposed to be entering or where! I'm using the hypertrophy version, but I think the spreadsheets are similar throughout, right?
Where do I enter my own stuff and what am I supposed to enter?
Where do I enter my own stuff and what am I supposed to enter?
What keeps you going?
Jun. 14th, 2023 07:23 pmhunninghamI really liked this - some thoughtful interesting comments about why exercise in general and why strength-training is the thing which works for some people
https://shesabeast.substack.com/p/what-actually-keeps-you-going/comments
https://shesabeast.substack.com/p/what-actually-keeps-you-going/comments
Any XXFitness Redditors out there?
Jun. 11th, 2023 09:16 pmcoffeetimeI've been on that sub for a while but with the blackout going on, just wanted to say hey to anybody else who's looking for an alternative place to hang out.
Getting going
Dec. 14th, 2019 10:32 amcesyI have decided to give weightlifting another go. It's been a while, but there's a free gym in my building, and I want to build up some strength. There aren't proper bars, but there are a few free weights and a few machines. I can probably start with the squat machine and some arm stuff with the free weights. I'm not meant to lift anything heavy until my surgery recovery is further on, but that's all about abs, so the right leg or arm things with support should be okay.
anyone tried CrossFit?
Dec. 16th, 2018 09:05 pmtassosssDoes anyone have experience with CrossFit?
I'm thinking of joining the one close to me because self-motivation has not been getting me running or lifting weights on my own in months. It's winter, and I'm in the midst of my winter exercise fall-off that has lasted since last winter. The local CrossFit place has a beginning class and decent reviews. I'm also aware and wary of the fact that it's kind of a cult. My question in regard to that is, is it a friendly cult? Though that might be location dependent...
My main goals are to get back in shape and strengthen my upper body: back, shoulders, and core especially. My current fitness activity is swimming once a week-ish. I've got chronic recurring pain in one knee and my neck&shoulders, which both need exercise to help manage.
I'm thinking of joining the one close to me because self-motivation has not been getting me running or lifting weights on my own in months. It's winter, and I'm in the midst of my winter exercise fall-off that has lasted since last winter. The local CrossFit place has a beginning class and decent reviews. I'm also aware and wary of the fact that it's kind of a cult. My question in regard to that is, is it a friendly cult? Though that might be location dependent...
My main goals are to get back in shape and strengthen my upper body: back, shoulders, and core especially. My current fitness activity is swimming once a week-ish. I've got chronic recurring pain in one knee and my neck&shoulders, which both need exercise to help manage.
The true meaning of fitspiration!
Nov. 10th, 2018 07:15 amrydra_wongVia kore, this epic campaign ad for THE NEW CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT FOR KANSAS'S THIRD DISTRICT, who is a lawyer and also an actualfax MMA fighter:
Sharice Davids: Fighting For Progress
And from The Cut:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Trainer Says She’s Still ‘Tough As Nails’
You think three ribs are going to stop Justice?
May we all be strong in whatever ways are meaningful for our bodies, and use it for GREAT JUSTICE.
kore, this epic campaign ad for THE NEW CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT FOR KANSAS'S THIRD DISTRICT, who is a lawyer and also an actualfax MMA fighter:Sharice Davids: Fighting For Progress
And from The Cut:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Trainer Says She’s Still ‘Tough As Nails’
You think three ribs are going to stop Justice?
May we all be strong in whatever ways are meaningful for our bodies, and use it for GREAT JUSTICE.
rydra_wongStephen Colbert works out with Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
(Maybe one day my side-plank with hip abduction will be that good, because it sure as hell isn't now.)
(Maybe one day my side-plank with hip abduction will be that good, because it sure as hell isn't now.)
Not of particular interest
Jul. 14th, 2017 09:49 amvicarzI forgot I joined this group. I used to (heart) gymrats in eljayland.
It's over a year since my unexplained nerve pinch injury, and I'm mostly back?
My weakest area remains my bench, but it's not far off. I used to hit 235 for 1-2, yesterday I hit 215 for a single. I'm trying to do more size (big but boring) work and put dips back in, trying to nail form rather than show off by tying on 70-90 lbs hanging from a belt.
My squat is mixed, but mostly up. I've pushed from my 315 plateau to singles and doubles at 345. I had some unexplained setbacks / fails at 345 and am unsure of whether to repeat or drop (probably repeat). I'm also doing more light rep work at some expense of lunges and front squats. I want to do them all but when my workouts hit 2 hours I am kinda done.
My DL is a mild disappointment, where I think I peaked at doubles at 445, now I've only hit - and failed - singles at 445 recently. I'm 100% doing a reset on DL. I also wonder if my recent form-cue changes have impacted this, but I'd rather fix my form than have another mystery nerve pinch.
* in my public gold's gym world, a 405 DL is often a wow-conversation starter
OP is about as weak as bench, where I had previously done 155 for doubles, now I'm 145 for a single. I'm 80% less likely to cheat though, fighting the urge to lean back and wiggle up my weights. There is no medal for back-bending inverted bench air press (give me some credit, at least I don't push press and deny it).
I thnk the big-but-boring 5x10 50/60% reps are helping with my lack of formal conditioning, but I'm also trying to do just a little, some 3 minute jumprope sessions and the like. I may try to see if I can heavybag without my bad elbows creeping back up. Pokemon walking probably isn't conditioning, but it does make people look at me strangely. "Doesn't my grandson play that game?"
It's over a year since my unexplained nerve pinch injury, and I'm mostly back?
My weakest area remains my bench, but it's not far off. I used to hit 235 for 1-2, yesterday I hit 215 for a single. I'm trying to do more size (big but boring) work and put dips back in, trying to nail form rather than show off by tying on 70-90 lbs hanging from a belt.
My squat is mixed, but mostly up. I've pushed from my 315 plateau to singles and doubles at 345. I had some unexplained setbacks / fails at 345 and am unsure of whether to repeat or drop (probably repeat). I'm also doing more light rep work at some expense of lunges and front squats. I want to do them all but when my workouts hit 2 hours I am kinda done.
My DL is a mild disappointment, where I think I peaked at doubles at 445, now I've only hit - and failed - singles at 445 recently. I'm 100% doing a reset on DL. I also wonder if my recent form-cue changes have impacted this, but I'd rather fix my form than have another mystery nerve pinch.
* in my public gold's gym world, a 405 DL is often a wow-conversation starter
OP is about as weak as bench, where I had previously done 155 for doubles, now I'm 145 for a single. I'm 80% less likely to cheat though, fighting the urge to lean back and wiggle up my weights. There is no medal for back-bending inverted bench air press (give me some credit, at least I don't push press and deny it).
I thnk the big-but-boring 5x10 50/60% reps are helping with my lack of formal conditioning, but I'm also trying to do just a little, some 3 minute jumprope sessions and the like. I may try to see if I can heavybag without my bad elbows creeping back up. Pokemon walking probably isn't conditioning, but it does make people look at me strangely. "Doesn't my grandson play that game?"
Back at it
Jul. 11th, 2017 06:44 pmromeoshaunHey,
So, three months out and a lot of sporadic training over the years but finally I am back at it, feeling more optimistic than ever. When I first started out I ate a load of junk and trained hard, I got big, but not in a good way, I had t shirt muscles. I learnt the hard way, so, now I'm starting afresh, I have cut down and lost a lot of weight, goes to show how much bf I was carrying when I thought I was hench (big and muscley) I wasn't, I was a lump of, well, you get the picture. I'm feeling pretty awesome at the moment, doing it all properly now, clean diet, hard training and a whole new mindset. I have learnt so much in the 6 years I have been working out but feel now is where I truly begin my journey lifting heavy things. This is where it all begins. :)
So, three months out and a lot of sporadic training over the years but finally I am back at it, feeling more optimistic than ever. When I first started out I ate a load of junk and trained hard, I got big, but not in a good way, I had t shirt muscles. I learnt the hard way, so, now I'm starting afresh, I have cut down and lost a lot of weight, goes to show how much bf I was carrying when I thought I was hench (big and muscley) I wasn't, I was a lump of, well, you get the picture. I'm feeling pretty awesome at the moment, doing it all properly now, clean diet, hard training and a whole new mindset. I have learnt so much in the 6 years I have been working out but feel now is where I truly begin my journey lifting heavy things. This is where it all begins. :)
So, who's been up to what lately?
Mar. 3rd, 2017 08:43 pmrydra_wongIn the last few weeks, I've been going to the gym for the first time in ages.
In the past few years, I've generally been doing bodyweight and kettlebell stuff at home as strength training, and now I've decided to get some barbell work done again, and in particular get back to deadlifting -- partly because I've been having a run of back aches and would like to build up my back strength again, partly because I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy deadlifting.
So I thought I'd check in here and see how everyone else is doing: getting into anything new lately? Learning some new things? Switching training plans? Buying, making or enjoying any new heavy things? Re-starting after time off, or looking to get started? Lurking shyly in the comm?
In the past few years, I've generally been doing bodyweight and kettlebell stuff at home as strength training, and now I've decided to get some barbell work done again, and in particular get back to deadlifting -- partly because I've been having a run of back aches and would like to build up my back strength again, partly because I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy deadlifting.
So I thought I'd check in here and see how everyone else is doing: getting into anything new lately? Learning some new things? Switching training plans? Buying, making or enjoying any new heavy things? Re-starting after time off, or looking to get started? Lurking shyly in the comm?
yoo hoo? anybody here?
Jan. 9th, 2017 10:39 pmcoffeetimeHey, lifters, is anyone still around? I'm still having issues and still trying to lift and not giving up, darn it! And I could use some company.
Since I had the metal taken out of my leg (if you were here a while ago, you'll remember I broke it badly in 2015) I have had full range of motion and I still do a lot of physical therapy exercises to maintain balance, improve small muscle coordination etc. That leg is still not the same size and shape as the other one. I am also doing a lot of yoga to improve balance and stability, and I know from doing one-legged standing poses that the formerly broken leg is also not as strong as before I broke it. I wish I could hit on the exercise(s) that would best help me build that leg back up and get its strength back. Calf raises just don't target more than a small area and also there's a weird hollow on the outside of my shin a few inches below the knee, like I just lost mass there and it will never return. What brilliant plan am I not thinking of?
Since I had the metal taken out of my leg (if you were here a while ago, you'll remember I broke it badly in 2015) I have had full range of motion and I still do a lot of physical therapy exercises to maintain balance, improve small muscle coordination etc. That leg is still not the same size and shape as the other one. I am also doing a lot of yoga to improve balance and stability, and I know from doing one-legged standing poses that the formerly broken leg is also not as strong as before I broke it. I wish I could hit on the exercise(s) that would best help me build that leg back up and get its strength back. Calf raises just don't target more than a small area and also there's a weird hollow on the outside of my shin a few inches below the knee, like I just lost mass there and it will never return. What brilliant plan am I not thinking of?
