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

I also think deadlifts, squats and bench are the only exercises you need and incredibly easy to learn after a little bit of time so maybe im a bit biased.
I swear by OHP, pullups, bench, rows, squats and deads for anybody under 1/2/3/4. There's really no need to complicate things more than that unless you're getting injured -- which four times out of five is a form problem anyway.
 
its frustrating when someone asks for advice to do a specific goal but then says they dont want to do exactly what the most obvious advice to achieve that is and even mock it
There are typically two reasons people don't reach realistic goals, and end up asking for advice.

They don't know how to get to that goal. Or they have some blockade against taking the path to reach their goal.
 
Been lifting on and off for a decade now. I took a long break and now I'm getting back into it. I always get bored with every program and end up dropping lifting as a whole after a few months. My most success was when I was young, unemployed, and had unemployed friends who could go to the gym with me at any time. Now its just me so I fall off. I got really big in college without even thinking about it, just happened over time. I lost all of my gains because my family didn't understand weightlifting and thought it was weird and unhealthy. They ended up shaming me into stopping. Really gay, I know. I wouldn't let that happen again, but I was young.
 
Does anyone have any experience how to get ease into keg days after having a sprained ankle for six months?
 
Can you imagine
>200lb OHP
>not even 2pl8 on bench
Genuinely, I'm wondering now if such a bizarre outlier would even be physically possible
I couldn't decide which option was funnier so here's all of them

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deadlifts, squats and bench
They're the big three for a reason. I wouldn't say they're the only exercises you need but they're definitely the ones that will tire you out and get results if you do them correctly and all three can be done in ways that minimize the risk of injury (trap bar and/or smith cage with safety catches) if you're just starting out or don't have someone around to spot.

Can you imagine
>200lb OHP
>not even 2pl8 on bench
Genuinely, I'm wondering now if such a bizarre outlier would even be physically possible
That was me for a while. I had an old shoulder injury that screwed up my forward-push ability on one side and made balance a huge issue for benches until it got dealt with. I just went hard on flies/one-arm cable exercises during that time since the motions were different enough to not cause the issue.
 
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I wouldn't say they're the only exercises you need but they're definitely the ones that will tire you out and get results if you do them correctly and all three can be done in ways that minimize the risk of injury (trap bar and/or smith cage with safety catches)

Don't use a Smith machine. Using that for any of those lifts is retarded and dangerous.
 
Don't use a Smith machine. Using that for any of those lifts is retarded and dangerous.
I would've said maybe Smith machine is fine for bench until a couple days ago. I was watching a video on instagram where some guy failed a Smith machine bench rep and he forgot you can rotate the bar back so those hooks on it catch on the pegs or whatever they're called and safely crawl out from under it. Easy to say he was a retard, but you don't know how you're gonna respond when your adrenaline is high and your ego is telling you just push through bro you can get it. It's really easy to learn how to safely fail a bench press rep anyway. If you're that scared of back squats, just do goblet squats with a dumbbell or a kettlebell. You're not going to be able to go as heavy, but those movements seem pretty safe unless you're completely retarded.
 
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Huh, what's the reasoning for that? I'm not a fan of smith squatting/benching but I see trainers introing people to bench regularly with the safeties set at a height where a failed rep would leave the weight an inch above their chest.

E: Oh, for really heavy stuff definitely. I should've worded that differently.
 
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The Smith machine is a strange one.
On one hand, if you view it as training wheels for barbell exercises it’s complete dogshit. Use lighter weight, use a broomstick if you need, and lo and behold by doing barbell exercises you will get better at doing barbell exercises.
But on the other hand, if you view it as its own thing the Smith machine is amazing. John Meadows has a ton of great content about using the Smith machine, trust me I’ve done those workouts and that machine can make some magic happen.
 
My wrists are hurting from years of manual labor, anybody have any tips on how to protect them? They don't hurt passively but when I'm picking up anything even slightly heavy and I flex, extend, and during lateral motion it gives some pain in my wrist. Especially on extension on my left wrist.
Im hella late but I do a quite a lot of repetitive turning motions and these movements/stretches have changed everything. They look utterly retarded but I cannot stress enough how great they are
 
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Does anyone have any experience how to get ease into keg days after having a sprained ankle for six months?
If you are looking at doing mostly weight training routines for a Leg day, running through the movement's range of motion a few times without a weight (or a really light weight) should be adequate. If you are feeling some lingering soreness, hop on your search engine of choice and look up "Ankle Mobility training" and find something to get that range of motion back. With most recoveries from less destructive injuries, you gotta walk a fine line between pushing yourself and potentially re-injuring yourself. Good luck MonkeyMan.

I don't do keg days anymore but it's pretty straightforward, just plan on not having any responsibilities the next day.
Occasionally, Kegs and Eggs. Never Kegs and Legs.
 
Meadows' smith stuff seems on point and I completely agree with him on rows. He's got a bench video with it too seems to like it but it's still not going to build the balance/lateral control from actual benching.

Meanwhile, someone linked me this nightmare:


It's got everything: A deathfat, massive ego, no spotter and whatever the hell's going on with the guy in the background.
 
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