Thread: Health & Fitness |OT| Become The Beast
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Dude you have no idea. I was drinking a massive amount of beer pretty regularly. I was still hitting gym six days a week. I always manage to over work the debauchery and still be fit or break even but lately its gotten bad. Now that im done I wonder how my body will react to zero booze and eating better. I wanna add some running into the mix as well. I love working out.

The liver plays a massive role in your weekly rate of fat loss and muscle construction. Lotta gym bros are aware of "overtraining" their muscles but don't realize the amount of stress they put on their digestive system will stunt their results and hold them back.
 
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The liver plays a massive role in your weekly rate of fat loss and muscle construction. Lotta gym bros are aware of "overtraining" their muscles but don't realize the amount of stress they put on their digestive system will stunt their results and hold them back.
Been stunting on myself for a long time haha. Heading to gym right now. Im definitely a dumb overtrained gym bro. Ill probably take some new steps towards things. I made some huge gains quickly early this year but i definitely hurt myself in the process.
 
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I've reached a point where I think I'm encountering an issue.
In 2016 I had a slap tear in my left shoulder that required surgery. As a result the suction in my left shoulder joint is compromised and pulling exercises are straining that. It creates a feeling of instability and feels like the ball joint wants to separate from the socket again.

In particular this is affecting back day due to back day being so pull oriented. So I'm at a point where I've lowered the weight and am focusing on slow form. I doubt I'll go any higher than this on back days for quite some time.

Days like this aren't a bad thing though, it's good to know your limits and with an injury there are some body groups that simply have to be worked slower/lighter to compensate. It's a little disappointing to see such an early weight plateau but safety comes first.

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I've reached a point where I think I'm encountering an issue.
In 2016 I had a slap tear in my left shoulder that required surgery. As a result the suction in my left shoulder joint is compromised and pulling exercises are straining that. It creates a feeling of instability and feels like the ball joint wants to separate from the socket again.

In particular this is affecting back day due to back day being so pull oriented. So I'm at a point where I've lowered the weight and am focusing on slow form. I doubt I'll go any higher than this on back days for quite some time.

Days like this aren't a bad thing though, it's good to know your limits and with an injury there are some body groups that simply have to be worked slower/lighter to compensate. It's a little disappointing to see such an early weight plateau but safety comes first.
I don't know your age, but after 30, the body heals slower and with less efficiency. Don't overstain areas that are injured.

I pulled some sort of muscle on my right shoulder a couple of years ago lifting fairly light (12kg?) dumbbells upwards. It has taken me nearly two dozen deep tissue massage sessions (my Thai masseuse is very very good) to regain my shoulder flexibility and not to be in constant pain. I know it will never heal 100%. And that is just one of many injuries I have to live with.

Sorry. What I am saying is, protect your body because injuries will probably be with you for the rest of your life.
 
I don't know your age, but after 30, the body heals slower and with less efficiency. Don't overstain areas that are injured.

I pulled some sort of muscle on my right shoulder a couple of years ago lifting fairly light (12kg?) dumbbells upwards. It has taken me nearly two dozen deep tissue massage sessions (my Thai masseuse is very very good) to regain my shoulder flexibility and not to be in constant pain. I know it will never heal 100%. And that is just one of many injuries I have to live with.

Sorry. What I am saying is, protect your body because injuries will probably be with you for the rest of your life.
I'm 29. I was 24 when the injury occurred (softball injury).!
I'm very aware the shoulder issue is a life long problem unfortunately. I have about 90% of my original range of motion but it's slow. It will never be the same again despite a successful surgery and months of physical therapy.

That injury has been the big thing that's kept me out of the gym for 5 years now. I used to be quite active and go to the gym 5+ days a week.
Now I'm finally back in the swing of things after years (and a lot of weight gain) and I'm encountering what I consider my first major roadblock.

The game plan here is continue progressive overload on all push based exercises (and pull based bicep exercise) but slow down on pull exercises that put strain on that socket. Unfortunately those are primarily back exercises but it is what it is.

It will strengthen with time but this the discovery phase of my first progress hurdle.
 
Been stunting on myself for a long time haha. Heading to gym right now. Im definitely a dumb overtrained gym bro. Ill probably take some new steps towards things. I made some huge gains quickly early this year but i definitely hurt myself in the process.

Well I was a lard ass for my whole adult life and now I'm not. No insult intended by saying "gym bro". We're all in this together, coming from different angles of life.

Also, when it comes to healing and preventing future injuries: isometrics and deep stretching. You'll make surprising gains in your regular lifts as well, once you stick to a routine of isos (planks, ring hangs, leg raises, horse stance, etc)

Dead hangs on the rings and/or on a secure pull-up bar will reconstruct your shoulder eventually. Even rotator cuff. Speaking from experience.
 
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Well I was a lard ass for my whole adult life and now I'm not. No insult intended by saying "gym bro". We're all in this together, coming from different angles of life.

Also, when it comes to healing and preventing future injuries: isometrics and deep stretching. You'll make surprising gains in your regular lifts as well, once you stick to a routine of isos (planks, ring hangs, leg raises, horse stance, etc)

Dead hangs on the rings and/or on a secure pull-up bar will reconstruct your shoulder eventually. Even rotator cuff. Speaking from experience.
Gotta get some weight off first before I can do the dead hangs (unless I can use a resistance band to help?)

Right now I can't hold my weight from a set of monkey bars without that left shoulder screaming.
 
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Gotta get some weight off first before I can do the dead hangs (unless I can use a resistance band to help?)

Right now I can't hold my weight from a set of monkey bars without that left shoulder screaming.

Assistance bands are fine. Or lower the rings/bar or stand on a secure box so that you can stand on your toes, then gradually stand on one foot, then transition to a full hang (over the course of weeks, as your shoulder improves).

Rice bucket is another reliable method. Baseball professionals use it to resist/repair shoulder injuries.
 
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Assistance bands are fine. Or lower the rings/bar or stand on a secure box so that you can stand on your toes, then gradually stand on one foot, then transition to a full hang (over the course of weeks, as your shoulder improves).

Rice bucket is another reliable method. Baseball professionals use it to resist/repair shoulder injuries.
This is what this thread is so damn good for. That's solid advice!

I'll give that a shot.
 
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Well I was a lard ass for my whole adult life and now I'm not. No insult intended by saying "gym bro". We're all in this together, coming from different angles of life.

Also, when it comes to healing and preventing future injuries: isometrics and deep stretching. You'll make surprising gains in your regular lifts as well, once you stick to a routine of isos (planks, ring hangs, leg raises, horse stance, etc)

Dead hangs on the rings and/or on a secure pull-up bar will reconstruct your shoulder eventually. Even rotator cuff. Speaking from experience.
The hanging is something i forgot about thank u for mentioning that. I used to do that quite a bit a long time ago. I also used to do hot yoga and it was great. I just dont have time for it. I enjoyed benefits but didn't exactly enjoy doing it. Thanks for the advice. Gym bro is a term of endearment. Stay up kings 😤
 
The hanging is something i forgot about thank u for mentioning that. I used to do that quite a bit a long time ago. I also used to do hot yoga and it was great. I just dont have time for it. I enjoyed benefits but didn't exactly enjoy doing it. Thanks for the advice. Gym bro is a term of endearment. Stay up kings 😤
I've never tried hot yoga or a formal yoga class, but I've picked up several moves over the last year that are now daily drivers for me. Do you have any that you remember / can recommend, from the standpoint of it having a real world benefit that you noticed elsewhere?

The way I stumbled upon yoga (and gymnastic) stuff was by searching "how can I stretch [muscle group]?" or "how can I strengthen [muscle chain]?". @VlaudTheImpaler and a few others in the GAF fitness thread pointed to some useful moves, too.

Turns out, a lot of those yoga stretches are superb. I think the "low tier" stuff is nearly-useless garbage unless you are truly in rehab or painfully overweight, but more advanced moves like plow pose, candlesticks, updog, back arches, belly arches, etc etc etc all make for reliable stretches and STR builders. I have gained significant small-muscle stability and flexibility since starting, as well as endurance in calisthenics. I think some weekly routine for injury prevention is necessary. We all love to exercise and lift. So, injury time means we can't do what we like. Minimal injury time means more time to input time and therefore more muscle growth. Since really taking fitness seriously last March, I have tried to stick to that mentality strictly.
 
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I've never tried hot yoga or a formal yoga class, but I've picked up several moves over the last year that are now daily drivers for me. Do you have any that you remember / can recommend, from the standpoint of it having a real world benefit that you noticed elsewhere?

The way I stumbled upon yoga (and gymnastic) stuff was by searching "how can I stretch [muscle group]?" or "how can I strengthen [muscle chain]?". @VlaudTheImpaler and a few others in the GAF fitness thread pointed to some useful moves, too.

Turns out, a lot of those yoga stretches are superb. I think the "low tier" stuff is nearly-useless garbage unless you are truly in rehab or painfully overweight, but more advanced moves like plow pose, candlesticks, updog, back arches, belly arches, etc etc etc all make for reliable stretches and STR builders. I have gained significant small-muscle stability and flexibility since starting, as well as endurance in calisthenics. I think some weekly routine for injury prevention is necessary. We all love to exercise and lift. So, injury time means we can't do what we like. Minimal injury time means more time to input time and therefore more muscle growth. Since really taking fitness seriously last March, I have tried to stick to that mentality strictly.
Honestly i dont remember alot of the names of moves tbh. I just followed along and zoned out. I definitely got stronger in weird ways and just always and I mean always felt loose. The classes were brutally hard. Even when I got better it was rough. I always took the more advanced classes even though i was definitely not advanced. I just wanted to suffer. Funny that the old ladies were killing it and I was on deaths door half the time lol.

Ive been working out for 5 days or more for a very long time but I'm shit at giving advice. I also played sports whole life. My advice will be like yea just go hard and dont be a bitch haha. I honestly like reading all your guys stuff and learning more. I guess I know alot im just not great at explaining it. I've done alot of different programs and such just following guides online over the years. Nowadays i can just go off the top of my head and it works for me. I just make up my mind to be crazy about it and go all in. Like ill run 15 miles or more outside on a whim. Its death but idk i like the rush. Long story short I go overboard on everything, a personality quirk. It's a blessing and a curse.


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right on @bonk , this thread is multipurpose so no worries if you can't remember exact moves. I just like to mention stuff and share knowledge and ask questions since I'm trying to learn a lot myself. Helps keep me sharp and skeptical. Fitness industry is full of bullshit. Not that anecdotal stuff you hear on the internet is always true, either, but this thread and the previous GAF one have been instrumental in me getting into better shape, no doubt about it.
 
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right on @bonk , this thread is multipurpose so no worries if you can't remember exact moves. I just like to mention stuff and share knowledge and ask questions since I'm trying to learn a lot myself. Helps keep me sharp and skeptical. Fitness industry is full of bullshit. Not that anecdotal stuff you hear on the internet is always true, either, but this thread and the previous GAF one have been instrumental in me getting into better shape, no doubt about it.
Lifting with knowledge and being smart is definitely the way to go about it. I should probably be better about that. Thanks for posting alot of advice and such. I definitely read it and take it to heart.

There was a body builder that went to my gym for awhile. He told me something so simple. He goes just do a shit load of pullups everyday at the end of your workouts. If you wanna get big do that. I swear it made a big difference. #broscience
 
I've reached a point where I think I'm encountering an issue.
In 2016 I had a slap tear in my left shoulder that required surgery. As a result the suction in my left shoulder joint is compromised and pulling exercises are straining that. It creates a feeling of instability and feels like the ball joint wants to separate from the socket again.

In particular this is affecting back day due to back day being so pull oriented. So I'm at a point where I've lowered the weight and am focusing on slow form. I doubt I'll go any higher than this on back days for quite some time.

Days like this aren't a bad thing though, it's good to know your limits and with an injury there are some body groups that simply have to be worked slower/lighter to compensate. It's a little disappointing to see such an early weight plateau but safety comes first.

0BWl4oy.jpg


Once upon a time at the age of 18 I was rear ended by a car going 65mph while I was at a stand still waiting to turn. Shattered my left collar bone and messed up my shoulder. I'm now nearly half an inch shorter from shoulder to neck on my left side and have a horn protruding from my skin where the doctors didn't set the bone. Then, I had all kinds of spinal issues such as the rib heads in my back constantly slipping out of joint whenever I'd pull on or lift anything too heavy or even sit or lay the wrong way. Sometimes it would get so painful it was very hard to breath so my wife would always be popping them in.

I'm 34 now. Through careful and consistent recovery exercises over several years I was able to get to where I am now, competing against and training with professional arm wrestlers. If you think that's something trivial, please go find one to wrestle with and then get back to me. Anyway, before my road to recovery, I'd let my testosterone fuel my fear of missing time and what that meant for my max potential. This lead to me going far heavier than I needed to which lead to so, so many more set backs than I would have had if I'd just taken it slow.

The things that helped me the most where,

Rings - Amazing for your stabilizer muscles. All kinds of exercises from hangs to sit backs. I started from the beginning of every exercise as if I where a child. So I'd start at the bottom of the form of a pull up for example. I'd stay there for months before moving on, all the way to using bands before I did a full pullup with perfect form.

Isometrics - I believe isometrics help build the mind muscle connection to the muscle chain around a problem area. So, for instance, say my ribs are slipping out because the tendons around them are weak or too stretched or inflamed etc. Whatever the reason, I believe you can stabilize that joint by building up the stabilizer muscles around it. But sometimes you can't even feel those activate over a normal short rep. Isometrics help activate the entire chain in that area as the main muscle fatigues and the stabilizers slowly activate and take over, getting a workout. This is why I believe it's best done by starting with low weight and longer holds since your underlying tendons and stabilizers might be weak and once the main muscle exhausts you don't want to be putting all that weight on them.

Chiropractor - One that takes Xrays and uses nerve reading instruments. Say what you want, but while it might be hard to find a good one, once you do you'll understand. I had a nearly flat spine and they straightened it.

Wim Hof - Cold training helped me contain all the inflammation and sped up recovery immensely.

But honestly, nothing made me feel more put together than when I really started to focus on growing my tendons by lowering weight and switching to 3 sets of 100 wherever I could as well as isometrics. Nothing comes close to how fast I recover now and how much of a beating I can give my body and feel great afterwards. I feel more flexible than ever and can even contort myself in bed or on a couch where before this would lead to bones coming out of joint and tendons getting super tight and tense.

I'm now stronger than I ever was and feel like a teen again. I can now do strength based exercises just fine. The only wall is going to be my lower back but even that is coming along as I do my standing crunches for high reps.

Anyway, my point is, if your shoulder seems like it's wanting to come out of joint, I'd guess it's because some tendons are either detached or too stretched out. It's way harder to shorten a tendon than it is to stretch it so just keep that in mind. But IMO switching to a workout that grows your tendons might be something to consider. And like @DonDonDonPata already mentioned, the isometric stuff will help stabilize that area in the meantime, like I was saying above.
 
Wim Hof is legit, the breathing plus the cold training. Anyone interested in better oxygen capacity/better cardio, improved capillary growth, improved fat loss, improved injury/sickness recovery, stronger immune system, look into it.
 
I feasted all weekend, loading up on Halloween candy taken from my children's buckets, as well as rice, meat, soup, homemade bread, etc etc., and put the energy to good use raking up the yard, going on jogs, playing w the kids at nearby park, hauling kettlebells, and a lotta shadowboxing and work on the hvy bag. It was also in the 50s and 60s outside so I soaked up a lotta sun.

Now back to the fasting + cold training schedule, seasoned with meditative prayer + breathing. Last week I timidly re introduced more of my difficult ring exercises to the routine, and the shoulder held up fine. Daily chin-ups are back on the menu. Ring turnouts and german hangs / skin the cats are still mostly off limits, but I'm hoping to be healed / strengthened enough by Christmas to get back into em on the regular.
 
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1 month Gymversary

Chest Press is getting better and better every time. Really happy with my progress there.

A month ago I maxed at 40lbs for 6 reps on flat dumbbell press. Today I cleared 55lbs x 8reps and I think I could have gone further. Still being very careful with shoulder though.
 
how goes the routine @SpartanN92 ?

@VlaudTheImpaler keep up the excellent work and reporting, my man. I always enjoy reading through your detailed information.

Had to skip boxing Monday and Tuesday but I got back to it last night. It felt great to grind through a 90m routine and handle it fine, even after a week away.

Been doing a lot more LEG stuff each week over the past 2 months: lunge ups and weighted step ups every day, bodyweight squats and weighted squats for volume (60 or 80lbs), Nordic hamstring curls (regressions) and Reverse nordics, and of course jump rope and jogging. My legs haven't gotten much bigger from what I can tell, maybe some more muscle definition. My abs have a lot more defintion/pop, that's about it.

However, my stamina and my daily calorie burn have shot up. Simple stuff like what I listed above (lunge ups, step ups) burn a ton of calories; pretty much anything that engages the core + butt + upper legs is going to burn a lot of calories. I've been eating like garbage for a month (lots of holiday treats such as candy and cookie) yet each week I am maintaining / losing loose skin.

Trying to do more core work for abs/lower back, too. Strengthening this area has increased my athletic endurance a lot in the past ~6 weeks, so Imma keep at it. Leg lifts / isometric holds, sit ups, knee lifts, candlesticks, etc are always on the daily routine, and it shows. My individual abs are rounding out and deepening so there's aesthetic payoff too.

Cold weather is helping a lot. Cuts through soreness and invigorates during heavy exercise. Yesterday was unseasonably "warm" at 55F and I was outside all day. Now it's 38F and high winds. Kinda cold out here, but not too bad.
 
@DonDonDonPata irs going good! Sorry I haven't been posting, it's been really busy with work/school and I've been distracted (Q4 is my crazy busy time at work, and on top of that I graduate with my MBA in 2 weeks so it's nose to the grindstone 🤪)

I'm losing weight though for sure (down about 13lbs in the 5 weeks I've been doing this) and still gaining strength. Each week I'm lifting a little more. On Tuesday I finally was able to bench 135! Felt damn good racking a plate on each side. In 6 months that will be 225 💪🏻

My shoulder is doing MUCH better. I bought a strong rubber resistance band set and warm up my shoulder with it every day for 15 min before workout and it's doing wonders. I should have been doing that for years.

Things are going well man. Thanks for asking! I'll get back to posting again regularly soon.

About to walk in the gym right now for bi/Tri :)
 
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I've been mixing some basic strength training stuff into my cardio routine since my weight is now where I want it to be. I don't have any equipment other then a curl bar that I don't remember why or how I own it. So I've been doing sit ups, push ups, curls and pull ups. I'm starting to see a little definition in my stomach area and my arms are getting a bit bigger now. I think I might join a gym soon to mix up my exercises and be able to use some proper equipment.
 
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Trying to do more push-ups per day. Chest and tris are two of my most neglected areas. Shoulder is still too weak for large sets of ring dips. What's a good number of floor push-ups to hit on a daily basis? I typically do sets of 10 to 20, a few times per day, and another ~100 push-ups during boxing club in evening.
 
Bought a pulley system to add to my squat rack. Excited to be able to add tricep pushdowns, lat pulldowns, etc. back into my weight routine.

Trying to do more push-ups per day. Chest and tris are two of my most neglected areas. Shoulder is still too weak for large sets of ring dips. What's a good number of floor push-ups to hit on a daily basis? I typically do sets of 10 to 20, a few times per day, and another ~100 push-ups during boxing club in evening.
On a daily basis? I'm sure this will vary by person, but I always felt that 50'ish was a good (arbitrary) number. It wasn't enough to cause me undue exertion, and so wouldn't impact the day's workout, but it felt good and got the blood circulating. If your chest and tris are neglected, I'd recommend the usual methods of adding another set to each exercise in your routine, increasing weight, rotating exercises, alternating high/low reps, etc. Doing a lot of pushups every day could lead to overtraining and injury, which is what I'm most concerned about at my age.
 
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Trying to do more push-ups per day. Chest and tris are two of my most neglected areas. Shoulder is still too weak for large sets of ring dips. What's a good number of floor push-ups to hit on a daily basis? I typically do sets of 10 to 20, a few times per day, and another ~100 push-ups during boxing club in evening.
That's a really good volume already if you're doing them properly. I'd try to add a little more variety if you want more results.



The only reason I'm doing normal pushups right now is because I've been doing so many other high stress complex movements with my arms and I need something simple and easy to rep out for bloodflow in the morning. But man I love crawing on the floor doing lizard craws and even qdr rotational pushups. Pushup crawing up and down on the living room furniture and such like a stealthy predator.

You could also try getting a set of rotating pushup handles. This will work a different set of muscles in your shoulders and are harder than normal pushups. I started using the ones I got in that FB marketplace find I posted a while ago and I'm just now only able to do half of my normal volume. I do 30 using the handles with perfect form and then 30 inclined wide spaced to diamond, starting wide then gradually moving with each rep to a diamond.
 
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I've been doing ring pushups (instead of rotating handles) for a much harder variation compared to regular pushups. I also do push-up claps, diamond puhsups, incline/decline, wide pushups, slow pushups, and other variants. I'd like to eventually do ring pushups for volume.

I guess I'll gradually increase my reps, but I'll also add variations that you mentioned and also vary the tempo, intensity, speed/slowness of each rep, etc.
 
Bought a pulley system to add to my squat rack. Excited to be able to add tricep pushdowns, lat pulldowns, etc. back into my weight routine.


On a daily basis? I'm sure this will vary by person, but I always felt that 50'ish was a good (arbitrary) number. It wasn't enough to cause me undue exertion, and so wouldn't impact the day's workout, but it felt good and got the blood circulating. If your chest and tris are neglected, I'd recommend the usual methods of adding another set to each exercise in your routine, increasing weight, rotating exercises, alternating high/low reps, etc. Doing a lot of pushups every day could lead to overtraining and injury, which is what I'm most concerned about at my age.
Crazy you say this cuz I just ordered one of these the other day.


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(Not my pic)

I got it to use in conjunction with an arm wrestling table so I can do even more targeted stuff. You can move the pulley anchor point up and down that front bar so this will help immensely with up and down pressure. My arm wrestling trainer has one and I'll be doing like he's doing and adding anchor points all around it to the wall for bands so I can have dynamic pressure from whatever vectors I want/need to train.

Next up is a set of these handles and maybe a pair of art arms and I think that'll be it for me as far as commercial equipment, that I don't just build, for a long while...

 
Just hit 225 for 5 on chest. I guess I just needed a week off and a body full of turkey to do it. Wasn't as clean as I would have like but damn does it feel good to be moving two plates again.

I've come to realize that I am too busy to stick to a 5 day split like I used to do back in the day. I have switched to a 3 day split. Typical push, pull, legs rotation which gives me the flexibility of using my rest days for when life gets busy.

I have a trip to Mexico coming up at the end of the year and I'm trying to get some abs back. Been riding the bike everyday I lift. It's been rough but it will get easier.
 
Just hit 225 for 5 on chest. I guess I just needed a week off and a body full of turkey to do it. Wasn't as clean as I would have like but damn does it feel good to be moving two plates again.

I've come to realize that I am too busy to stick to a 5 day split like I used to do back in the day. I have switched to a 3 day split. Typical push, pull, legs rotation which gives me the flexibility of using my rest days for when life gets busy.

I have a trip to Mexico coming up at the end of the year and I'm trying to get some abs back. Been riding the bike everyday I lift. It's been rough but it will get easier.
Man, I haven't pushed 225 in probably five years (bench kills my joints). I have fond memories of doing 275 x 10 in high school and I feel like I'll never see those days again. /rip
 
Man, I haven't pushed 225 in probably five years (bench kills my joints). I have fond memories of doing 275 x 10 in high school and I feel like I'll never see those days again. /rip
Yeah its been a long time coming. I dont make progress nearly as fast as I used to and only focus on compound lifts.

I doubt I will ever push past 225 as my goal is for that to be my normal working weight and the days of shooting for PRs are long gone. We will see though. 275 for 10 is nutty. I bet you would be back to 225 in no time. Muscle memory is a wild thing.

I am still slacking on my squats and deadlifts but they will come. I am taking it super slow as I would hate to injure myself.
 
Yeah its been a long time coming. I dont make progress nearly as fast as I used to and only focus on compound lifts.

I doubt I will ever push past 225 as my goal is for that to be my normal working weight and the days of shooting for PRs are long gone. We will see though. 275 for 10 is nutty. I bet you would be back to 225 in no time. Muscle memory is a wild thing.

I am still slacking on my squats and deadlifts but they will come. I am taking it super slow as I would hate to injure myself.
Ha, don't even get me started on squats. They have been my least favorite exercise for as far back as I can remember. Deadlifts I've never been super great at, but boy are they good for stimulating growth. I need to hit the bike more often, tho. Definitely put on some pounds this holiday. I think I've been eating 3-4 big meals (very high carb) every day since Thanksgiving. Fortunately, we're almost through the leftovers and I'll be back to healthier eating soon. Lol
 
Ha, don't even get me started on squats. They have been my least favorite exercise for as far back as I can remember. Deadlifts I've never been super great at, but boy are they good for stimulating growth. I need to hit the bike more often, tho. Definitely put on some pounds this holiday. I think I've been eating 3-4 big meals (very high carb) every day since Thanksgiving. Fortunately, we're almost through the leftovers and I'll be back to healthier eating soon. Lol
I used to hate squats but they have some how become my favorite. I think its because I see how efficient they are. One exercise that does so much for the body. It is kind of like min-maxing in the gym lol. Shit still hurts though and its hard to find the motivation soemdays.