August 2021 Improvement Thread - This is where we improve ourselves

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Today I had a work out for the first time. I'm a beginner so I am starting with the stronglifts 5x5 routine. I had a little trouble trying to stay balanced while doing my squats, but I got a little bit better at it. I'm wondering if there is more I can be doing during my routine or if i should just stick to whats on the routine to start with.

On a side note, here's a screencap I got sent online that encouraged me to start:
reddit.jpg
Fuck redditors
 
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mister meaner said:
Today I had a work out for the first time. I'm a beginner so I am starting with the stronglifts 5x5 routine. I had a little trouble trying to stay balanced while doing my squats, but I got a little bit better at it. I'm wondering if there is more I can be doing during my routine or if i should just stick to whats on the routine to start with.

On a side note, here's a screencap I got sent online that encouraged me to start:
View attachment 2448085
Fuck redditor
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In the beginning stick to the routine exactly. If you’re truly a new lifter then once you start adding the weight and upping it by 5 pounds a workout you will experience muscle fatigue. The point of a beginner program is to give you reps to learn the exercises, get you stronger and to your potential as fast as possible, as well as condition your body to the work. If you start adding things on you will get ridiculously sore as you haven’t developed a base yet to add volume or other things. The program is designed in a way so you don’t over do it and can still get your reps in.

I want to tell you a few things about the squat. One, you may need to develop ankle flexibility which will allow you to hit depth without the back of your feet rising. Some people have trouble with this and in the beginning put two 5 pound plates on the ground so the backs of their feet are slightly elevated and they don’t have to worry about this.

2, if you just started you should be squatting the bar or not much more weight than the bar. You’re in a spot right now where you can grab a broom stick at home and practice 100 squats or something on your off days. The squat looks simple but it’s an incredibly technical exercise. I squat 2.5x my body weight (450ish at 180) and still work on perfecting it.

Things to do.

figure out your anatomy. Some people are comfortable squatting a little wider opening their hips. Most people like the flexibility and squat shoulder width or a couple inches wider. Flare your feet out a little bit and find an angle of your feet that feels comfortable.

you should be working on hitting full depth at the beginning. Ass to grass.

The placement of the bar matters. There are high bar and low bar squats. Low bar and high you need to develop some shoulder flexibility to keep your upper back tight. Watch YouTube videos on the difference. They are actually bio mechanically different depending on bar placement.

take a huge breath at the top. Hold it. Squeeze your abs before dropping down for a squat. You want to be TIGHT when you begin your negative. You want tight abs to keep you upright along with a tight upper back. You want the bar to be supported by your back and have zero pressure on your elbow. You should be able to squat the bar essentially with no hands. Do not let the bar put pressure on your elbows or shoulders as this WILL cause injury. At the bottom of your squat. Simultaneously drive your hips and breathe out to create power. You want to maintain an upright position generally unless you have a specific squatting style. Sounds like you’re not their yet so stay upright and TIGHT. EXPLODE out of the bottom. Get to the top. Big breath or a few breaths. Hold big breath. Squeeze midsection repeat. Learn how to breath low in your abdomen. Again YouTube breathing for squats. It’s incredibly important.

By the way use safety bars so if you have to bail from a squat you can do so safely and effectively. Don’t be ashamed to bail a squat. Stay safe and squat another day.

I fucking love squatting.

Check out Dave Tate on Elite FTS for some tutorials or Mark Rippetoe himself to learn some squat techniques. They will teach you low bar squats generally. High bar squats are more upright and you should be able to find tutorials by people like Alan Thrall. There a ton of fitness hacks on YouTube so if you find a video I’ll tell you if it’s respectable. Dave Tate and Mark Rippetoe are two of the most respected people in the powerlifting community everything on their channels is legit.

Welcome to the world of HIP DRAHVE. Practice your squats.
 
Okay well I already posted an autistic blog post about my fitness that got baleeted due to Jersh's janitorial mistakes (jk) so I'll just do another update. I did 120 push ups, 20 squatcurls and 16 swingpresses on each side today. It was hard, especially at the end of the push ups, but I'm proud to have done it despite today being a work day. Also did some stretch routines I saw on youtube, though I want to get some better ones. This is the one I did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2SOrScNbww
 
This is more setting the stage for September self improvement but I'm going to cut down on sugar for the rest of this month, in preparation to cut out chocolate/cookies/sour gummy garbage entirely in September. Because of Halloween, October is the month where I start eating shittier and because of a few birthdays in November the eating just keeps going downhill for the rest of the year. But last year my family decided to abstain from excess sugar and treats in September so we wouldn't crave it so much by the time Halloween rolls around. It actually worked and we didn't jump balls-first into complete food debauchery. I'm not a very unhealthy eater but I'm around treats a lot at work so it can be hard to ignore it all, lol. Sugar is pretty shit for you in every way, it can cause muscle cramps and it makes my anxiety worse.
 
Had another workout today from the strongman 5x5 routine. Felt sick for a while after but that’s probably my fault for eating and drinking <2 hours beforehand, I’m hoping at least,

I didn’t have 20kgs of weight before starting, so for my first time I started with something just shy of that, maybe 17.5. This time I had 20. My squats were much better, I was getting lower and lifting more comfortably, with good balance. Started to struggle with the overhead press at the end, by my last set I could only do two or three before bailing, and my left arm seemed to give out before my right did, so I can’t really add any weight to that for next time. I also didn’t have the 40kg I needed for deadlifts so I just did more reps with less weight. I doubt that’s a legitimate substitute, so ill just have to buy more weights for next time.
 
mister meaner said:
Had another workout today from the strongman 5x5 routine. Felt sick for a while after but that’s probably my fault for eating and drinking <2 hours beforehand, I’m hoping at least,

I didn’t have 20kgs of weight before starting, so for my first time I started with something just shy of that, maybe 17.5. This time I had 20. My squats were much better, I was getting lower and lifting more comfortably, with good balance. Started to struggle with the overhead press at the end, by my last set I could only do two or three before bailing, and my left arm seemed to give out before my right did, so I can’t really add any weight to that for next time. I also didn’t have the 40kg I needed for deadlifts so I just did more reps with less weight. I doubt that’s a legitimate substitute, so ill just have to buy more weights for next time.
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More reps are fine. If you’re getting in the swing of things more reps will just get your form better for when you increase the weight. When you get more weight your lifts will start increasing quickly.

Muscle imbalances are really common when you start lifting especially between dominant and non dominant arms. Just keep doing what you’re doing and if you don’t have more weight add reps until you can get enough weight to get back to 5x5 training.


MerriedxReldnahc said:
This is more setting the stage for September self improvement but I'm going to cut down on sugar for the rest of this month, in preparation to cut out chocolate/cookies/sour gummy garbage entirely in September. Because of Halloween, October is the month where I start eating shittier and because of a few birthdays in November the eating just keeps going downhill for the rest of the year. But last year my family decided to abstain from excess sugar and treats in September so we wouldn't crave it so much by the time Halloween rolls around. It actually worked and we didn't jump balls-first into complete food debauchery. I'm not a very unhealthy eater but I'm around treats a lot at work so it can be hard to ignore it all, lol. Sugar is pretty shit for you in every way, it can cause muscle cramps and it makes my anxiety worse.
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One of the biggest problems with sugar is they contain a low satiety with a high caloric content. It’s easy to over eat if you’re eating high sugar foods because you can eat a lot of calories before feeling full. When I eat a cup of rice and 10 oz of chicken it’s like 400 calories and I feel great and digest it well and slowly where 400 calories of soda or cookies isn’t shit and I would still be hungry.

There are also studies showing that high sugar diets lead to inflammation in then body. I still get my carbohydrates but get them through sources like a slice of toast with some eggs, rice, potatoes, or fruit. It will cause less of an insulin response in the body and more consistent blood sugar levels.

This is anecdotal but I don’t believe we need as many carbs as people think. Unless you’re an athlete or training with a high intensity I think 100-150g carbs is plenty for most people.
 
Fought in and won a toughman contest (would post proof but ya know, it's the farms). Cutting for this helped me get over a hump of weight loss and I'm down to 188-ish, about eight pounds off my goal. Before I was stuck at like...195 for like three months, so I really feel like these last eight pounds are gonna be pretty easy since the habit was made over the last few weeks. Looking forward to finally seeing more than just my top two abs.
 
Red Thief said:
Fought in and won a toughman contest (would post proof but ya know, it's the farms). Cutting for this helped me get over a hump of weight loss and I'm down to 188-ish, about eight pounds off my goal. Before I was stuck at like...195 for like three months, so I really feel like these last eight pounds are gonna be pretty easy since the habit was made over the last few weeks. Looking forward to finally seeing more than just my top two abs.
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I am at the same weight as you homie. I started at 208 and am hovering around 187 as of this morning. Weight loss slowed down a bit but I had a big cheat day over the weekend at my buddy’s birthday. Back to the normal diet and cardio routine. I have never had really defined abs and have decent muscle mass now so I’m shooting for around 180 and then will slowly bulk back up. It’s nice to be lean. Weight loss can be peaks and valleys. Sometimes I’m the same weight all week and then one day I’m 2 pounds lighter and stay lighter so don’t get discouraged. Eat healthy foods and keep it up.
 
ChadThunderfist said:
I am at the same weight as you homie. I started at 208 and am hovering around 187 as of this morning. Weight loss slowed down a bit but I had a big cheat day over the weekend at my buddy’s birthday. Back to the normal diet and cardio routine. I have never had really defined abs and have decent muscle mass now so I’m shooting for around 180 and then will slowly bulk back up. It’s nice to be lean. Weight loss can be peaks and valleys. Sometimes I’m the same weight all week and then one day I’m 2 pounds lighter and stay lighter so don’t get discouraged. Eat healthy foods and keep it up.
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Exactly my plan. I'm going to lean down to 180, see what I look like, and evaluate from there. Probably going to do a powerlifting program to really try and build up some big chunky abs and recomp while staying at maintenance calories.
 
Did a different stretching routine today, from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_xrDAtykMI
Much better than the routine I tried previously. This new one seems much more comprehensive. I didn't do any working out today though since I was working in a ditch all day while getting sand blasted by the wind so by the time I got home I was in full "FUCK IT" mode. I call it a day of rest since I exercised after work yesterday.

Red Thief said:
Fought in and won a toughman contest
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Can I get a quick rundown on this?
 
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Finally getting around to improving my confidence in the gym again. I tore my pec last year (not a complete rupture) during a bench press. On my 3rd rep I felt a popping under my skin and went straight to hospital to check it out. They said I just needed to give it time to heal up.

Since I went back to benching I was scared to go over 225. But yesterday I managed 225 for 20 reps so now I feel like I can start to bench heavy again. I'm planning on doing a competition. Just got to get my mindset focused everytime I'm in the gym and tell myself I'm safe to do this.

@ChadThunderfist Great physique
 
New Friend said:
Finally getting around to improving my confidence in the gym again. I tore my pec last year (not a complete rupture) during a bench press. On my 3rd rep I felt a popping under my skin and went straight to hospital to check it out. They said I just needed to give it time to heal up.

Since I went back to benching I was scared to go over 225. But yesterday I managed 225 for 20 reps so now I feel like I can start to bench heavy again. I'm planning on doing a competition. Just got to get my mindset focused everytime I'm in the gym and tell myself I'm safe to do this.

@ChadThunderfist Great physique
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Dude really strong bench. I have long arms and I’m more of a deadlift specialist but I have been putting a ton of effort into getting my bench up. Louie Simmons and a bunch of westside guys talking about rolling Dumbbell extensions on the floor so I’ve gotten a lot stronger on them. Doing heavy sets of bench, floor press,or dumbbell presses and then doing some lighter sets to get some volume in with dumbbells. focusing on tucking my elbows in and keeping my back as tight as possible and developing leg drive.

I have always had a hard time with bench but I’m taking it seriously now and I might switch my programming to hit it 3 times a week. Good shit man
 
Fuck you. No roided out attention whore is gonna tell me if I should improve and on which month. Go fuck yourself and your fitness obsession. Also you probably suck dicks and take your protein powder in a cum chalice.
 
ChadThunderfist said:
Dude really strong bench. I have long arms and I’m more of a deadlift specialist but I have been putting a ton of effort into getting my bench up. Louie Simmons and a bunch of westside guys talking about rolling Dumbbell extensions on the floor so I’ve gotten a lot stronger on them. Doing heavy sets of bench, floor press,or dumbbell presses and then doing some lighter sets to get some volume in with dumbbells. focusing on tucking my elbows in and keeping my back as tight as possible and developing leg drive.

I have always had a hard time with bench but I’m taking it seriously now and I might switch my programming to hit it 3 times a week. Good shit man
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Thanks man, that's the way I do it for sure. Heavy to light. Took some inspiration from Mike O'Hearn's powerbodybuilding stuff. I only chest once a week though, I tried doing push sessions twice a week but it was a bit tough to go heavy each time. Keep updating with your bench man, be nice to hear you improve!
 
Hey guys.. I got blood work done today and have been on a low carb diet and felt like shit I had to take off from the gym. I am keeping at it. Keeping it short so I can shit post in the general chat with my people. I think I am over dieting and gonna go to maintenance for a while until I can get my metabolism higher and increase my energy my workouts are suffering. Will post a longer update tomorrow.
 
Just had another workout today, I didn’t have the incrementals (yet) for 22.5kg so I just did 24, not sure if that’s pushing it too far but I did manage to get through all my sets. I made sure not to eat a few hours before my routine and I didn’t feel sick at all after for the first time. I’m sore, but in a good way. I feel great. I felt that my form for all my exercises improved, especially barbell rows.
ChadThunderfist said:
Hey guys.. I got blood work done today and have been on a low carb diet and felt like shit I had to take off from the gym. I am keeping at it. Keeping it short so I can shit post in the general chat with my people. I think I am over dieting and gonna go to maintenance for a while until I can get my metabolism higher and increase my energy my workouts are suffering. Will post a longer update tomorrow.
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Rest easy and take your time king. See you soon
 
I don’t have any impressive exercises to mention, since I’ve only been doing treadmill, stationary bike and metafit but I have just noticed that my abdomen feels a bit firmer. I don’t have actual developed abs or anything but it feels less podgy and that’s just a nice thing to know.
 
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