Fitness Whole Pizza In My Mouth

[.RJ]

#FitnessWholeHandleInMyMouth

#yourmom

[CaptainHenreh]

Super-duper official

[davej]

Super-duper official

I'll trade you a box of Ho-Ho's for the shirt

[Steve85]

Anyone who wants to join me at UREC at lunchtime, I'm about to start a new Cube cycle for building strength, but I'm happy to walk people through SS or 5x5 or 5-3-1 if you wanna get stronk like bull.

Adding strength is pretty simple too, and way simpler than most people make it out to be. Move progressively heavier weight to adapt your body to moving heavy weight (aka: building muscle.). This is all well understood. Deadlifts, presses, squats, and cleans. All you need is a barbell and some weight to mount on it. Anything outside of those lifts is for aesthetic tuning which is fine, but know it's not going to give you the best "bang for buck" for getting stronger.

I finally took this to heart and did a little research on the 5x5 and came across the Stronglifts 5x5 program. I picked up a cage and some weights and started two weeks ago. My 14 yr old did some classes at a strength and agility place and wants to work more with more weights too.

It's a real beginner focused program with a lot of detail on the lifts and starts you off with light weight. It's allowed me to focus on technique instead of jumping in with heavy weight and bad habits. You're supposed add 5 lbs every workout but I've been adding a little more to certain moves where the technique is easier.

I need some advice on squats. I read all the stuff, watched his videos, watched Alan Thrall videos and when I watch myself the bar is definitely coming forward, rather than straight up and down. Even with no weight, my balance point in a squat is more over my toes than middle of foot. Probably because of where I carry my excess weight, in a squat I need to move my upper body forward to not tip backwards. I've been working on flexibility and getting deeper each week so I'm working on that too.

Squat pros - anything I can do to improve this? I don't get back pain, I feel it working, but it's not pain. Should I do front squats for now if they help me "get back" a little more? Is this good enough for now and I should work on ??? to improve?

[CaptainHenreh]

Anyone who wants to join me at UREC at lunchtime, I'm about to start a new Cube cycle for building strength, but I'm happy to walk people through SS or 5x5 or 5-3-1 if you wanna get stronk like bull.

Adding strength is pretty simple too, and way simpler than most people make it out to be. Move progressively heavier weight to adapt your body to moving heavy weight (aka: building muscle.). This is all well understood. Deadlifts, presses, squats, and cleans. All you need is a barbell and some weight to mount on it. Anything outside of those lifts is for aesthetic tuning which is fine, but know it's not going to give you the best "bang for buck" for getting stronger.

I finally took this to heart and did a little research on the 5x5 and came across the Stronglifts 5x5 program. I picked up a cage and some weights and started two weeks ago. My 14 yr old did some classes at a strength and agility place and wants to work more with more weights too.

It's a real beginner focused program with a lot of detail on the lifts and starts you off with light weight. It's allowed me to focus on technique instead of jumping in with heavy weight and bad habits. You're supposed add 5 lbs every workout but I've been adding a little more to certain moves where the technique is easier.

I need some advice on squats. I read all the stuff, watched his videos, watched Alan Thrall videos and when I watch myself the bar is definitely coming forward, rather than straight up and down. Even with no weight, my balance point in a squat is more over my toes than middle of foot. Probably because of where I carry my excess weight, in a squat I need to move my upper body forward to not tip backwards. I've been working on flexibility and getting deeper each week so I'm working on that too.

Squat pros - anything I can do to improve this? I don't get back pain, I feel it working, but it's not pain. Should I do front squats for now if they help me "get back" a little more? Is this good enough for now and I should work on ??? to improve?

I've seen way worse. I woudln't sweat your bar path too much, everyone's looks like a shepherd's hook. It's why the smith machine sucks for squats. BUT you'll need to clean up the ole "on the toes" thing. It isn't because of where you carry your weight, it (IMHO) has everything to do with your hip, hammy, and ankle mobility, which all can be improved. You're coming forward because your body isn't letting you move in a way that keeps the weight over midfoot 
This is why I wear Lifters when I squat:


Hard, raised heel offers a solid foundation. Is that carpet under your cage? I can't tell, but if it is, that will need to be addressed as well. 

Anyway, practice two things for me:

1: Start the squat by moving your hips backwards. There's a string on your tailbone, and the universe pulls it when it's time to squat. The first joint to have any movement should be your hips. It's a ball and socket, the king of movement...let it drive the action.

2: Spend some time in a "paleo chair". Spend time in it every day. Work up to being able to slav squat for 10 minutes without standing up.

[.RJ]

Its crazy how your body will compensate for motion with poor mobility.

And, as you get stronger, your mobility will change, often for the worse. Its a shitty cycle.

[Apoc]

FWIW, I stopped crossfit and picked up yoga because I realized pretty much everything holding me back was mobility.

[Jewels]

Rex is right. Mobility is the issue here, not weight placement. When I started lifting I couldn't break parallel. No two ways about it. First thing I started with was hamstring stretches. I had pulled my hip out of alignment with a heavy deadlift and when I went to the PT he told me he had no idea how I was lifting considering how bad my hamstrings where. So, some simple stretching and two weeks later I was adding 20 lbs to my cleans. Then I started spending some time on my ankles. And a really nice way to get in paleo chair and remain there, is to take a 10 lb plate and hold it out in front of you while you are at the bottom of your squat. A: it'll keep you chest up. And B: its a counterweight to help you balance. Once you are comfortable with that, then you can slowly rotate to stretch your hip flexors and ankles. Mobility is often neglected, but I can tell you that successful athletes spend a great deal of time on mobility.

[Steve85]

I've seen way worse. I woudln't sweat your bar path too much, everyone's looks like a shepherd's hook. It's why the smith machine sucks for squats. BUT you'll need to clean up the ole "on the toes" thing. It isn't because of where you carry your weight, it (IMHO) has everything to do with your hip, hammy, and ankle mobility, which all can be improved. You're coming forward because your body isn't letting you move in a way that keeps the weight over midfoot 
This is why I wear Lifters when I squat:

Hard, raised heel offers a solid foundation. Is that carpet under your cage? I can't tell, but if it is, that will need to be addressed as well. 

Anyway, practice two things for me:

1: Start the squat by moving your hips backwards. There's a string on your tailbone, and the universe pulls it when it's time to squat. The first joint to have any movement should be your hips. It's a ball and socket, the king of movement...let it drive the action.

2: Spend some time in a "paleo chair". Spend time in it every day. Work up to being able to slav squat for 10 minutes without standing up.

That's good to hear, I think

mobility

OK, I'll continue to work on mobility. It has certainly improved since I started so I'll continue to make that effort. I did read how important it was and started "stretch squats" (paleo chair) before all the equipment arrived and still do it in the warm up but didn't (and haven't been) giving the attention it needs.

I have to hold on to the rack to not fall back but I get way down with flat feet and hold that for 20-30 seconds. I'll try the weight for counterbalance, thanks Jewels. I guess that's why I thought it also had a lot to do having weight on the hips, a basic physics problem where when the hips move back, they take enough weight with them to move the center of gravity behind the foot.

Yeaaaaah, it's carpet. I've envisioned cutting it out of that area along with other things to make it work and feel like a proper workout space.

[HAULN-SS]

I have terrible mobility when it comes to squatting. I have worked on a bunch of different mobility exercises, but one thing that really helped me on hip mobility was doing a pretty wide stance box squat. Pull a box up caddy-corner to your rack, squat to it, and actually allow the weight to seat you on the box, keeping back straight. Just throwing it out there. I can't do an air squat for shit, but I'm finally at the point where I can do a decent front and back squat, but it takes a lot of concentration to hit depth and relax into it. One other good one for me was doing a couch stretch.

[Jewels]

Couch stretch is really a great stretch too. Gets those hip flexors and ankles stretched out as well as your quads. Typically your hip flexors are to blame more than your quads. I had some knee pain for about 2 months after something popped in my knee. Turns out, my hip flexors and quads were so tight it had pulled my knee cap north of my knee about 2 or 3 CM causing the ligaments to get all pissed. Now I stretch my hip flexors and my hamstrings religiously, and I have little to no pain in my legs. We are doing 5x5 at the gym for our strength portion, and I back squatted 175 for 5 without too much fuss, so something must be working there.

[Senor_Taylor]

Those who work out before work. How do you do it? I used to workout at the nice gym at work after work, but I went to my apartments gym this morning and it really started my day right. The commute hurt my back and knee much less than usual.

Do you go to the gym and shower and go straight to work or do you head back home? I ask because we're moving in August and most likely won't have a gym where we move, so the office gym seems like the only option. For some reason showering at work doesn't seem as attractive to me.

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[*insertusernamehere*]

I wish I could do gym before work it's very energizing and really does get the blood flowing but my start is super early and so I'd need to be IN the gym by 5:30 at the latest to do any work out worth my time. I just save it for after work. That doesn't help I'm sorry lol.

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[Senor_Taylor]

I wish I could do gym before work it's very energizing and really does get the blood flowing but my start is super early and so I'd need to be IN the gym by 5:30 at the latest to do any work out worth my time. I just save it for after work. That doesn't help I'm sorry lol.

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It's okay. Let it all out.

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[.RJ]

Figure out what works best for you and do it. I'm not as productive working out in the mornings so most days for me its afternoon.

I wish I had a shower at work though, would make things a lot easier for me.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Those who work out before work. How do you do it? I used to workout at the nice gym at work after work, but I went to my apartments gym this morning and it really started my day right. The commute hurt my back and knee much less than usual.

Do you go to the gym and shower and go straight to work or do you head back home? I ask because we're moving in August and most likely won't have a gym where we move, so the office gym seems like the only option. For some reason  showering at work doesn't seem as attractive to me.

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It's unnerving at first to shower at work, especially when you run into coworkers but its not enough to stop me.  It's just like at the gym, they are doing the same thing you do.

[.RJ]

It's unnerving at first to shower at work, especially when you run into coworkers but its not enough to stop me.  It's just like at the gym, they are doing the same thing you do.

I mean as long as your not waving your dick at them in the shower whats the problem?

[Senor_Taylor]

That's not my concern, really. It's just the Work Out -> Shower -> immediately start working thing. I guess I could solve this by sitting somewhere and reading for a minute before going upstairs.

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[.RJ]

shower fap

[Sijray21]

Those who work out before work. How do you do it?

For some reason showering at work doesn't seem as attractive to me.

I don't really have an issue with showering at work.

Working out and showering before work makes me feel a lot better throughout the day. When the weather warms up I'll start commuting to work via bike (about an hour each way) and I'm lucky enough to have a nice facility here at work. They have towel service and lockers, so I have no excuse; I just shower I get in and head upstairs. I noticed that if I workout before even eating breakfast I was able to better manage my weight as well.