Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

[Mr Snrub]

What would be a good real world test of general fitness? Like, I don't know, picking up small boulders or rock climbing something. Not that, but something like that. I've been exercising semi-consistently for about a year and a half now, and I'm using much heavier weight than when I started, but I'm curious to see how it holds up in real life.

How many bags of shopping/groceries can you carry in at one time?

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

My BJJ has certainly gotten miles better in the last seven months, starting from literally zero martial arts anything. I am having an absolute blast with it, and training Judo as well means I grapple four days a week. That just means more mat time, it’s not like I’m a genius I’m just disciplined. I’m also a massive fucking nerd, and like with my bodybuilding that obsession helps me get results.
I’ll be competing soon, within the next two months, and based on my performance at open mats in other schools I think I can do some good work. My defense has become better, I have a few submissions that I can consistently apply and hunt for, all that Judo makes my sweeps and reversals tricky and powerful, I’m more and more able to flow between positions without thinking, and as a white belt I consider that progress.
My training outside of grappling has remained similar to before, but I messed around with the volume and intensity so that my recovery is dialed the fuck in. Traditional bodybuilding, gymnast rings, kettlebells, maces, clubs, jogging, and some added yoga makes me a very physically capable grappler, but my technique and my brain are the limiting factor. That only comes from more mat time, but based on what the dudes and my professors tell me I have the potential to be a freak. I just have to keep training.
I’m just having so much fun, it’s like discovering bodybuilding all over again. And now I get to blend the two together.

 

[ITK]

My BJJ has certainly gotten miles better in the last seven months, starting from literally zero martial arts anything. I am having an absolute blast with it, and training Judo as well means I grapple four days a week. That just means more mat time, it’s not like I’m a genius I’m just disciplined. I’m also a massive fucking nerd, and like with my bodybuilding that obsession helps me get results.
I’ll be competing soon, within the next two months, and based on my performance at open mats in other schools I think I can do some good work. My defense has become better, I have a few submissions that I can consistently apply and hunt for, all that Judo makes my sweeps and reversals tricky and powerful, I’m more and more able to flow between positions without thinking, and as a white belt I consider that progress.
My training outside of grappling has remained similar to before, but I messed around with the volume and intensity so that my recovery is dialed the fuck in. Traditional bodybuilding, gymnast rings kettlebells, maces, clubs, jogging, and some added yoga makes me a very physically capable grappler, but my technique and my brain are the limiting factor. That only comes from more mat time, but based on what the dudes and my professors tell me I have the potential to be a freak. I just have to keep training.
I’m just having so much fun, it’s like discovering bodybuilding all over again. And now I get to blend the two together.

Extremely based. I started wrestling recently and I've had the same experience. Lifting and grappling just go together so naturally. It's no wonder that when bodybuilding was born in the Bronze Era of lifting, almost all bodybuilders were also strongmen and wrestlers. George Hackenschmidt (inventor of the hack squat and bench press) was a world champion in catch as catch can wrestling, for instance. In a sense, one can consider grappling something inbetween weightlifting and calisthenics, if the former is mastery over an external weight, the latter is mastery over one's own bodyweight, then grappling is mastery over someone else's bodyweight.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

Bronze Era of lifting, almost all bodybuilders were also strongmen and wrestlers

Oh believe me, I am a huge lover of the history of physical culture. And Hackenschmidt is one of my favorite writers from the Bronze Era as he was a real G.
And yeah, bodybuilders can’t fight. We do a different sport, it’s like saying a swimmer can’t fight. But when you take the size and strength of an accomplished bodybuilder and teach them how to fight, suddenly all that muscle becomes very useful.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

Was able to do a 10 rep set of 55lb Kettlebell Clean and Presses today. I am reasonably pleased with myself. If only my "Turkish" Get-Ups progressed so well. I currently only feel safe/stable running 40lb KBs with that exercise.

I am liking my kettlebells, but I am only doing the basics with them right now. The squats, cleans, get-ups, and a handful of others. If any of you fine fellows have any routines or advice you suggest for me to look into, please go ahead and post them.

Moving towards the direction of getting fit feels good, gentlemen. It has been far to long since I have been in fighting shape.

 

[KiwiSuperPowerUser]

Question for the gym bros, slight power level but I've been going to the gym pretty Consistently for the gym for about 5 years now. Lately it just seems like I can't get the same kind of pump I use to, and where I use to look forward to going to the gym and eating big meals now it's turned into a daily chore. I had my blood work tested and my testosterone levels are normal for my age but in the past I've always had high testosterone. Should I say fuck it and take some slight Gear or does Nugenix work? The life of a natty can be rough.

 

[Mellisuga Helenae]

Question for the gym bros, slight power level but I've been going to the gym pretty Consistently for the gym for about 5 years now. Lately it just seems like I can't get the same kind of pump I use to, and where I use to look forward to going to the gym and eating big meals now it's turned into a daily chore. I had my blood work tested and my testosterone levels are normal for my age but in the past I've always had high testosterone. Should I say fuck it and take some slight Gear or does Nugenix work? The life of a natty can be rough.

Have you considered ashwagandha? Various studies have show that it increases test, especially when combined with exercise.

I used it in the past to help break plateaus and it definitely seemed to help in that regard, at least.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

Question for the gym bros, slight power level but I've been going to the gym pretty Consistently for the gym for about 5 years now. Lately it just seems like I can't get the same kind of pump I use to, and where I use to look forward to going to the gym and eating big meals now it's turned into a daily chore. I had my blood work tested and my testosterone levels are normal for my age but in the past I've always had high testosterone. Should I say fuck it and take some slight Gear or does Nugenix work? The life of a natty can be rough.

Have you considered that the same old training has become a little boring and you should switch it up a little bit?

 

[ITK]

Question for the gym bros, slight power level but I've been going to the gym pretty Consistently for the gym for about 5 years now. Lately it just seems like I can't get the same kind of pump I use to, and where I use to look forward to going to the gym and eating big meals now it's turned into a daily chore. I had my blood work tested and my testosterone levels are normal for my age but in the past I've always had high testosterone. Should I say fuck it and take some slight Gear or does Nugenix work? The life of a natty can be rough.

>Guize my pump isn't as good anymore and I don't wanna eat big, should I take hard drugs with possible irreversible effects?????
No.

 

[KiwiSuperPowerUser]

>Guize my pump isn't as good anymore and I don't wanna eat big, should I take hard drugs with possible irreversible effects?????
No.

Reading comprehension my brother in Christ. I said nugenix which is something advertised on the television and radio and as far as I know has no long term consequences for taking it. Also I said slight gear meaning like a peptide or something along those lines not full on injecting myself with steroids bro lol.

 

[ITK]

Reading comprehension my brother in Christ. I said nugenix which is something advertised on the television and radio and as far as I know has no long term consequences for taking it. Also I said slight gear meaning like a peptide or something along those lines not full on injecting myself with steroids bro lol.

Gateway drugs like cannabis.

 

[Bassomatic]

Question for the gym bros, slight power level but I've been going to the gym pretty Consistently for the gym for about 5 years now. Lately it just seems like I can't get the same kind of pump I use to, and where I use to look forward to going to the gym and eating big meals now it's turned into a daily chore. I had my blood work tested and my testosterone levels are normal for my age but in the past I've always had high testosterone. Should I say fuck it and take some slight Gear or does Nugenix work? The life of a natty can be rough.

I have no problems with people who choose to run gear, I'm not for it for most people. I have researched it myself and possibly some exploring.

First off look at everything else. Yeah change lifts up etc as mentioned. Second, you're great half a decade good on you. For real. But, what age did you start ? I'm knocking on 40 and natty with a bad knee and aside pain I'm just as good energy etc as I was in my twenties.

While there's nothin also saying you need to do 600mg of gorilla steroids just because you chose to look into it, there's also lots of other legal, cheaper and safer options to peek at. Have you even looked into creatine?

Have you worked on diet? Etc. I'm happy to work with you if that's the path you want. But I always say it's the icing on the cake the last step etc.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

If I'm doing kettlebell swings and turkish get-ups as my main exercises, would it be redundant/overkill to add the clean and press to that? I am dumbass and don't fully understand what exercises cover what.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

If I'm doing kettlebell swings and turkish get-ups as my main exercises, would it be redundant/overkill to add the clean and press to that? I am dumbass and don't fully understand what exercises cover what.

Kettlebell Cleans and Presses are a great exercise, and the limiting factor would be lower back fatigue with the swings and get-ups, but I personally haven’t had an issue with that. And I do a lot of swinging exercises every which way, so I would certainly try them in your workouts and see how you feel.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

Kettlebell Cleans and Presses are a great exercise, and the limiting factor would be lower back fatigue with the swings and get-ups, but I personally haven’t had an issue with that. And I do a lot of swinging exercises every which way, so I would certainly try them in your workouts and see how you feel.

I've been adding a couple presses on a trial basis, and lower back hasn't been the problem so much as the puny, skinny sticks I call arms. Lower back isn't so bad by comparison.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

 

[JoseRaulChupacabra]

Fuck. I missed a clean last night on the receive. I tried to save it and now my wrist hurts. I know they say just drop the bar on missed lifts, but I went auto pilot on it.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

So I've been reading a book that really breaks down the nuts and bolts of kettlebell exercises, and I read something about squats that kinda scared me.

Spoiler: Excerpt

If you can’t keep your spine neutral throughout the squat movement, though, what usually happens is your pelvis and hips will “butt wink” (A butt wink occurs near the bottom of a squat. The pelvis posteriorly tilts and causes the lumbar spine, especially the lower aspect, to go into spinal flexion when under load. This is potentially bad as the joints and discs of the lower lumbar spine could be at risk for injury.). What is usually happening is your L5 and S1 spinal vertebrae will start to move apart in the rear aspect while under load. This is not a good recipe to be following. After a few thousand repetitions of doing that, eventually the posterior aspect of the disc will weaken and you will have a problem. Bulging or herniation of the disc material can be painful and may require therapy to heal. If you are not able to squat below parallel (your hips are below your knees) without “butt winking,” then stop at the position where butt winking doesn’t occur and work that range of motion until you can go deeper.

TLDR: If I was fucking up prying goblet squats badly enough to do lasting damage, would I have noticed it by now? Or is it possible that my spine will just implode without warning someday?

 

[ITK]

So I've been reading a book that really breaks down the nuts and bolts of kettlebell exercises, and I read something about squats that kinda scared me.

Spoiler: Excerpt

If you can’t keep your spine neutral throughout the squat movement, though, what usually happens is your pelvis and hips will “butt wink” (A butt wink occurs near the bottom of a squat. The pelvis posteriorly tilts and causes the lumbar spine, especially the lower aspect, to go into spinal flexion when under load. This is potentially bad as the joints and discs of the lower lumbar spine could be at risk for injury.). What is usually happening is your L5 and S1 spinal vertebrae will start to move apart in the rear aspect while under load. This is not a good recipe to be following. After a few thousand repetitions of doing that, eventually the posterior aspect of the disc will weaken and you will have a problem. Bulging or herniation of the disc material can be painful and may require therapy to heal. If you are not able to squat below parallel (your hips are below your knees) without “butt winking,” then stop at the position where butt winking doesn’t occur and work that range of motion until you can go deeper.

TLDR: If I was fucking up prying goblet squats badly enough to do lasting damage, would I have noticed it by now? Or is it possible that my spine will just implode without warning someday?

Classic fearmongering. Buttwink isn't dangerous. Spinal flexion under load is not dangerous. In fact training it specifically will strengthen your back. Injuries occur all the time, for a number of reasons. Claiming that it happened because today just to happened to be your 1000th time squatting with a buttwink is inane. By cutting your ROM, you'll only be leaving muscle gains and strength on the table, it's not worth doing. Work on your flexability on the side while still squatting normally.

Vid related:

 

[thejackal2]

Wow, that is a fucking awesome zercher lift. I like to finish a squat session with a set it really forces you to engage the core.

As for the guy upthread that is about my age: I feel about the same energy levels as I did at say 28, when I'm doing the lifts, but I cannot do anywhere near the volume I did then. I'm natty aside from creatine and some other non anabolic supplements and I'm lucky if I can train legs more than once every 5 days. I'll do massive volume on that day, but between doms and joint soreness I'm laid up for 4-5 days whereas at 28 it was an off day and boom, back to feeling great.

Soreness isn't necessarily a sign of injury or anything bad, but the body just does not recover as quickly in middle age, there's some science behind it the muscles especially take much longer to repair and are much more prone to strains and tears so for safety sake it's better to back off once and awhile. Not gonna be getting any gains when you're laid up for 3 months.