lifting_heavy_things | What's everyone been up to lately?

Way to go on the squats & DL's! That's badass! I can only hope one day I'll get to 1.5 bodyweight anything ;)

And I fully agree on the sleep, sometimes if I've slept like crap I dont' even go in to the gym 'cause it just seems counterproductive.

Sounds like you're kicking some @$$ in the gym! w00t for the almost 1.5 BW DL's!

I had to look up Cossack squats, didn't realize they were called that ;)

he used his left hand to help him push away the floor.

Yep, that's what you should be doing (assuming for the purposes of example that the right hand is the raised one, the one that would be holding a weight).

You want your left hand palm down by your side, hitched up a bit. And your right knee is raised so the sole of your right foot is on the floor.

Then you half-roll to the left, with just enough UP in it that you end up propped on your left elbow. So, less abs work than a plain crunch (for me at least).

One of the things I like about TGUs is that they're difficult, but not inefficient -- given that you're holding a weight above your head, it's the most energy-economical way of getting up off the floor.

I still end up with kicking flailing legs when I'm hitting my limit, but (as with all lifting of heavy things) it gets easier with time and practice.

I've been slowly improving my back squat & deadlifts. I dunno if this makes me a weirdo but right now they are both the same (about 1.2 x my body weight).

I got a PR recently on a push press, 105 lb. Pretty stoked about that.

Also happy to report that a 24kg kettlebell is not the boss of me. (for KB swings)

This weekend I'm doing a 10k obstacle course run, which I guess is sorta lifting heavy things (if lifting my body over obstacles counts)!

Best of luck to all in your physical pursuits :):)

it said that for even light physical activity, I should be taking in about 3 times the calories I'm capable of eating per day just to maintain my weight.

Fuck. Scary. What's causing the problem, if you don't mind my asking?

(Obviously, I appreciate if it's a sensitive issue, you are under no obligation to explain yourself to internet strangers, etc.. )

I need to get back to doing TGUs again -- I was doing them on my short workout days, but after I figured out how to improvise a squat rack I replaced them with squats, pull-ups, presses, and swiss-ball crunches. When lifting at my limit for TGUs, it takes me as long to do three sets of five of those as it does to do three sets of five on everything else. Which, to be fair, makes some sense since I do five holding the weight with my left arm and five with the right, so I'm really doing ten reps per set, but you'd think that it would therefore only take me the time it takes me to do two of those four...

TGUs. Slow but awesome. Also, they make me sweat way more than doing anything else for the same amount of time.

but you'd think that it would therefore only take me the time it takes me to do two of those four...

But then a TGU is a multi-stage movement! You've got the rough equivalents of a crunch, a side-plank, and a lunge all in there, with transitional movements between them. All while balancing a heavy weight over your face, which tends to make me slow down and be careful. *g*

This is one reason why they tend to be a big part of my fall-back home workout, when I can't think of anything else to do: they cover everything. Dessert topping and a floor wax!

However, I will say: never do TGUs in shorts on a grippy yoga mat. The knee abrasions are vicious.

after I figured out how to improvise a squat rack I replaced them with squats, pull-ups, presses, and swiss-ball crunches.

Yeah, I definitely go through phases with exercises. There's always the New Shiny and the thing I've just learned how to do. But then it's also nice to cycle back to some old favourites after a while, and see how they've progressed.

I've been slowly improving my back squat & deadlifts. I dunno if this makes me a weirdo but right now they are both the same (about 1.2 x my body weight).

BADASS!

How similar your squats and deadlifts are seems to be One Of Those Things that varies wildly between individuals -- I suspect it's very dependent on body proportions.

(This theory allows me to blame my terrible squats on my femur-to-shin ratio, anyway. I have to have some excuse. *g*)

Not so much a sensitive issue anymore, since I've been dealing with it for 25 years. We've never been able to determine what's wrong - all the doctors in the state when I was a kid couldn't find anything wrong, and since I was a pre-teen female, they defaulted to declarations that I was lying about feeling nauseated all the time, to cover up an eating disorder.

And I haven't had it investigated since, because the whole thing set off what I now recognize as PTSD, more or less. One major side effect of the crap they did to me during the hospitalizations was that I started having panic attacks, and those started getting worse about the same time as I had another flare of whatever-it-is earlier this year. Anxiety + chronic nausea = not exactly eating much. But at least I can get away with living off of mostly Nutella and chocolate soy milk - I need the calories and protein.

Heheh, I need to find something like that to blame my terrible overhead squats on ;-)

OTOH, I held an assisted plank for 45 seconds today, and did TWO sets of 50 crunches, so the core strength is ... getting there.

Honestly, I think the deadlifts are also helping a lot.

Ah, yes, pullups are the things I am not going to be able to do in the foreseeable future. I can lat pulldown 100 pounds, EASY, which is ... exactly one-third my body weight.

Every time you post, I have to go look up new and fascinating exercises on the internet! "Cossack squat," indeed!

Gah. Yeah, there's nothing quite like doctors who refuse to believe you about what you're experiencing. Been through that a bit myself, though for somewhat different reasons.

And severe anxiety can be nausea-inducing all by itself -- there was one point (during a particularly hideous meds reaction that spiked my anxiety through the roof) where I spent about a week living off stem ginger in sugar syrup, because it turned out to be the only thing I could eat. It was ... not fun. I can't imagine how bad it must be if you're piling panic on top of existing nausea issues.

Under the circumstances, Nutella and chocolate soy milk sound pretty good as calorie sources.

My only piece of unsolicited advice (warning for unsolicited advice, please feel free to ignore, especially if you've tried it already and it didn't work) would be that both of those might be good for mixing protein powders into, to get some extra protein without having to swallow more.

(I've found I run best on more protein than I manage to eat unless I make a specific effort, so getting more protein and building muscle is Relevant To My Interests. This is what led to the accidental invention of cookie dough protein balls. Which would probably kick ass in a Nutella version.)

TGUs are pretty awesome! I like doing lifts that work a lot of different things.

I've been enjoying the front squat-push press combo in NRoLfW -- it does legs AND arms in one ~~easy~~ exercise! Though I don't feel like I'm getting enough mileage out of my squats that way, since my push-press is about what I use for my warm-up weight for a squat. After I finished the stage where I do those, it occurred to me that I might throw some extra plates in a backpack or something, to add weight to the squat without adding it to the press. Though I'm not sure how that would affect my balance. But people do squats with weighted vests, so it's kind of the same, right? (I even have a vest with big pockets, I could totally even distribute tiny plates in them; that's probably a better idea. Yay for improvised equipment.)

You know, I'd been wondering about protein powder even before this latest craziness, and mostly the thing that held me back from trying it was, most protein bars and protein shakes and so on seem to tout the fact that they're filling. I don't want filling - I want something that is the opposite of filling! (Mint and diet Coke are staples of my "normal" diet just because they stimulate my appetite.) I'm not sure if this is a natural property of concentrated protein, though, or something engineered in products made by companies who are making products for people who want to lose weight through exercise.

And yes, Nutella cookie dough balls do sound good... I think I'd seen that recipe being passed around before, and all the ingredients added up to YUM. And now that I'm looking at it more carefully, unlike most recipes, that one looks like it makes a small enough amount that I might actually eat it before it goes bad. (Which is why I never bother cooking.)

Very much sympathize with the ginger in sugar syrup. I've been at this long enough to know a fair variety of stuff that will generally upset my stomach less than other things, at least, but many days in the last few months, all I was eating was half an Oreo every few hours, smeared with Nutella. Ridiculously tasty, at least.

I figured out a way to do (wall) pushups at work! I mean, yeah, I go to the gym in the morning, but it feels really nice to take a break from coding and go flex some MUSCLES.

I know of two dead bugs -- there's the yoga pose (sometimes called happy baby), and then there's this. Guess which one hurts more. (:

You do this with a fitness ball, small to medium in size. Lie on your back with your limbs in the air, balancing the ball against the front of your feet and the tips of your fingers.

Lower the left leg almost all the way to the floor (but not touching it), as you simultaneously lower your right arm over your head and to the floor (but not touching it). You must then keep the ball balanced with your right foot and your left hand.

Raise the left leg and right arm back to the ball. Then lower the right leg and the left arm. Continue alternating, lowering each leg/arm combo, for a total of 12 reps, or until you think you're going to die. Rest, then do it again.

I look forward to the day when this is no longer excruciating.

See below!

You are my hero.

And being able to squat deep is a very good thing, IMHO

I always thought so! But my trainer was all YER DOING IT RONG -- she said I would hurt my knees if I went below a 90-degree angle, even though the rest of my form was correct. When I asked about the "your butt should kiss the floor" rule I had been taught, she said that was only for people who had been working hard for a long time and had built up very strong stabilizer muscles. It sounded fishy to me, but I like my knees, so I've been squatting shallowly since.

Oh oh oh oh oh

The Strength Rituals dvd makes the TGU SO CLEAR. WOW.

Every single person on this dvd looks like a gaffed salmon during TGU. It's SO comforting.

you'll be your own hero in a few months, then :)

guhwhah? and how exactly does your trainer recommend you develop awesome stabilizers, if not by working through a full range of motion?! i've been told exactly the opposite, and also that more depth will help drive up heavy weights because at the bottom your hamstrings are "loaded" (i.e. under a lot of tension and capable of producing a lot of force).

Start light, keep your elbow locked out and as externally rotated as you can keep it, and don't look away from the piece of evil in your hand.

TGUs are DECEPTIVELY HARD!

What's everyone been up to lately?

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