The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Did deadlift last night on my last week of 531. Bar is not very knurled so it slipped using hook and switch grip on the first try. I got 3. Waited around a bit did some planks and light bicep curls. Then I got my straps and attacked it again. I ended up getting 6! CNS took a hit though. It took a lot out of me on the last two. Backed down to 1st set, did 5, then 225 for 5 then foam rolled and went home.

Posterior chain is getting stronk. Numbers look like they're going up. I hope to be doing 405 for reps like @ThunderCookies BW has gone up too. Im about 2 lbs heavier than i was when i started. I dont really mind getting heavier as long as my lifts go up. Next week is my deload then start cycle 2.

Not as strong as Jen Thompson but I'm getting there! Should be fun! Screen shot of where i started and to where im currently at.

 

Have any of you tried Hybrid Performance? Just switched from Fitnes Culture (which I loved) after about 8 months.

Made it through the first week of the powerlifting. Barely. Not used to heavy squatting four times a week.

Any idea for some conditioning work that’ll spare my legs? They are barely recovering as is. It has two rest days so I want to add something in there on one of the rest days. Everything I know is pretty leg heavy (sled pushes, lunges, etc).

 

Vacation went well. Satisfied with where I ended up. I also wrote my GF's diet for the last few months and pretty happy with her results. I'll start with her first, because who want's to see a dudes progress, lol.

I will be going back to gaining, shooting for a better bulk this round. I learned alot in the last 6 months. Plan is to be back at the same weight, but a few % lower BF prior to cutting. So, hoping for about 12% BF at #230.

Gf has 4 weeks left on her cut, when she gets there she will decide what she wants to do. Anyway...

about 10 weeks ago



Now











Then the boring me:

 

I have to work hard for pecs but I’ve made some improvement. +10 pounds lighter and a lot stronger now.

 

Everybody sending the noodz! I don't have good noodz to send.

@ThunderCookies send ur noodz

 

TheDevilYouLove, how do you get those real clean cut lines on your pectorals?
I’m having a tough time getting my lower pecs to develope those lines

 

Just heavy (for me) bench press and a little accessory incline bench press. I don't do flyes or anything. I raised by bench press from 190 to 215 between pics while dropping bodyweight. Still chasing that 225 1RM bench.

 

What’s your height? My calls are slightly lower.

Killer job man, both of you look great! I’m trying to dial in my diet, I keep hovering at 15%. Mass is there, trying to hang onto as much muscle as possible.

 

Feelin strong-ish again. Pulled 435 for 4 or 5 singles yesterday, then grabbed my straps and pulled it for 2 doubles. Squat moved well a couple days ago. Did 4 sets of doubles and a single at 95% (325). Bench is moving decently, but my left shoulder isn’t cooperating. Hurts after every chest day. I’ll probably retest maxes next week and adjust accordingly.

 

Does it hurt when you lift?

 

Until it gets warmed up, yes. Sometimes it hurts during my whole bench sesh. Sometimes the heavier i get, the better it feels. I’ve been hitting 135 for at least 3 sets of 10 and 185 for a couple sets trying to get it lubed up. Plus stretching.

 

Ok now I know it looks stupid BUT if you bench so your humorous doesn’t go behind your back... does it help? Like a half rep.
Try it if you haven’t.

Weak rotator cuffs can do that. Its not supporting the joint through the movement so your shoulder is grinding together in essence.

And typically it is worse with lighter weights vs heavier. The heavier the weight the more your pec takes stress off the cuff (its a small muscle group for intricate movements not large heavy movement).

If it feels better limiting your ROM on bench try some rotator cuff band exercises at home and see if it improves. Just an unsolicited suggestion.

 

Since ya'll are sharing nudes, here's where I've been on my fitness journey. A little backghround info first...

I've always been into lifting/running/swimming/some sort of exercising. About three years ago I tore 70% of my pec tondon at it's insertion on the humerous. The combination of stupidity, fear, and some bad medical advice from a quack at the ER led me to opt against surgery, or even seeing an ortho specialist until 2 years later. When I did finally go, I was told because I waited so long the tendon had deteriorated enough that they couldn't attach a donor tendon to it. They would have to sew it directly into the muscle fiber, drastically reducing the chance of success. For 2.5 years post-injury, I let not being able to train like I could before completely ruin my training all together. I was frustrated and angry. I quit caring eventually.

Then I got fat. Fat AF and miserable. So I decided to quit my pity-party bullshit, get my diet on point, and train around my now chronic injury.

Left is March 25, 2018. Weighing about 212, down 10lbs from my heaviest.
Squat - 405
Bench - 0 refused to even try
DL - 455

Right is last week. 167 BW this morning.
Squat - 385
Bench - 185 - close grip because it doesn't bother my pec
DL - 440

Looking forward to finishing this cut and putting on some clean weight.

 

Nah it basically hurts as soon as I unrack it. I think it’s probably an AC joint issue...had that with my right arm a couple years ago and it kinda feels the same, just not as bad yet.

 

Those are no bueno. I hope it resolves soon.

 

Great job dude! pretty quick turnaround from where you started! Keep it up. Keeping on focusing that healthy food and make sure not to skip on heavy weights. You will build into a nice frame eventually.

 

Thank you!

Eating good food and lifting heavy are easy for me. I enjoy both. It's the NOT eating the bad stuff in addition that's hard. Beer and ice cream are the subject of my dreams. haha.

 

Shoulder issues suck. I went from a 285 max down to a 235 max because of mine.

Went to a sports doc who said I was strong and nothing was broken or torn. He said the only way to do anything else is mri. Which I didn’t do.

Mine even hurts to sleep most nights. Ended up dropping barbell bench completely. At least for a while.

 

If you seek an ortho I highly recommend you seek out someone who only does shoulders. Nothing else. No hips, knees, back etc. Not even hands. Just shoulders.

My doc knew exactly what was wrong and went in and fixed it. He was even able to predict my perfect MRI result but then told me he knew there was still a problem.
Most orthos would have blown me off and told me to do more PT even though I couldn’t unload my dishwasher without pain.

Never settle for a doc who needs imaging to do their job.

Hopefully you get fixed up and back to it soon. Fuck shoulder pain.

 

Good call. I usually don’t go to doctors because it’s always a waste of time. As I found out last time. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s anything I can fix fix with PT or rest. Feels like it’s inside. I get a similar feeling in my knee where it’ll halfway pop but not fully. It’s almost like that but with pain.