supermeatheads

[mrchariybrown]

when I get my 10mm, it'll probably be forever til it breaks in because I'll only be using it for meets/comps and some training leading up to it. but all my training now is done beltless.

I might even just use my double-prong and save my money since I won't be using it in training anyways.

[po_boy_fuuma_hatesbargerz]

I've had my 13mm inzer for about 6 years now. still great

I think I've asked before, but who here does Oly lifts?

I can't seem to get my C&J over 235

Just as an aside, I've been reading up on Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength to make sure my squat and deadlift form is absolutely perfect. Perchance, does anybody want a PDF version to reference? Just PM if needed.

Also: Sadly there aren't any people willing to teach me around here, but when I'm back in California I want to call up some powerlifter friends and have them teach me how to clean&jerk. That shit looks mad nasty.

[TruMoo]

"Beast mode Engaged"

X3nA2zqeX5Q&hd=1

"Optimal post work-out nourishment. Side effects may include resurrection."

[po_boy_fuuma_hatesbargerz]

oh btw, don't do do judo throws in the snow.

slipped, and gone fucked up my leg again. patellar tendinitis yay. any advice please.

(yes i'm icing / resting / NOT SQUATTING)

edit: for all u who want starting strength a) I'll get it up by friday and I'll also post it here unless hap/ddml tell me not to. it's a good book to buy as well.

[Tim_Whatley]

I have access to a sauna at my gym. I never use it but lately when I pass it I've been wondering if I should.

Do any of you routinely use a sauna?

[Leeacto]

I like to use it the morning after drinking.

I don't think it's detrimental to muscle gains or anything

[Subculture]

So my goal for bulking was to be up to 190 by march 1st. Weighed myself this morning & Im 188. My plan was to start my cut today, but I found out Im going home to New Orleans for Mardi Gras next week. So uhh need less to say the cut starts the day I get back. Happy I was very close to my ideal bulk weight & that I gained significant muscle & although some fat did come with it I can live with the small amount I did gain. ready for it to go though & for me to be nice & lean for the beach this Summer.

[16steps]

i just ordered a 5lb bag of protein

im back bitches

[dunkin deeznuts]

new army fitness test seems to make sense....

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – Sit-ups don't make a soldier, the Army has decided. So its 30-year-old fitness requirements are getting a battlefield-inspired makeover.

Soon every soldier will have to run on a balance beam with two 30-pound canisters of ammunition, drag a sled weighted with 180 pounds of sandbags and vault over obstacles while carrying a rifle. Those were just some of the tests the Army unveiled Tuesday as it moves toward making its physical training look more like combat.

Right now soldiers have to complete sit-ups, push-ups and a two-mile run twice a year within times that vary by age and gender. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the general in charge of the Army's initial military training, said he has been working to change that test for years.

Hertling said the current test "does not adequately measure components of strength, endurance, or mobility," or predict how well a soldier would do under fire.

A new annual "combat readiness" test includes running 400 meters — about a quarter of a mile — with a rifle, moving through an obstacle course in full combat gear, and crawling and vaulting over obstacles while aiming a rifle. Soldiers also will have to run on a balance beam while carrying 30-pound ammo boxes and do an agility sprint around a course field of cones.

Soldiers also will have to drag sleds weighted with sandbags to test their ability to pull a fallen comrade from the battlefield. The combat test might be given before deployments as well as annually, but that has not been decided.

The Army will keep elements of its old assessment in a "physical readiness" test, which adds such things as a 60-yard shuttle run and a standing long jump to one minute of push-ups and a 1.5-mile timed run. This might be given every six months, said Frank Palkoska, head of the Army's Fitness School at Fort Jackson.

Hertling said trials of the new program are starting this month at eight bases and the plan could be adopted Army-wide after reviews later this year.

[Leeacto]

Pretty cool

good to see that these fitness tests are moving away from full cardio.

Granted, I have no idea how it is in the armed forces, but I imagine it's either marching or crazy fast intense shit happening.

I saw the Santa Cruz (I think. Nor Cal somewhere) SWAT team is having their members do the CF workout Murph: run 1 mile, perform 100 pullups 200 pushups 300 squats, then run another mile in a specified time.

[greasypeanut]

lol, i just read about those new military pt changes. do u serve dunkin?

[dunkin deeznuts]

no greasy i've never served. have a few friends that are active and i used to spar / train with alot of guys that were reserve / active so the military's fitness requirements has always been interesting to me...

[YoungM]

I've been reading this thread for a while, but never posted, so I thought I'd introduce myself.

I'm 6'2", 210lbs, 19 years old. I've been working out at a Crossfit for the past 4-ish months consistently - before that, I did very inconsistent Crossfit, and swam competitively.

Yesterday, I did

15 Rounds

DL x3 @295

40yard farmer carry with 70lb kettlebells

in 23:00.

Generally, I've been pretty happy with my strength gains in the past few months, but I've definitely struggled with dropping some fat weight, as I'm definitely too heavy. Basically, I know I have to get serious with my diet, so perhaps this thread will act as some sort of personal accountability.

[Subculture]

Good luck man. The diet is the hardest part, but its mostly mental. You dont need a cheeseburger & when you wake up the next morning to workout you'll be happy you didnt, even happier when you check the scale. give it a month of 80% clean eating 20% cheating & you will stick to it.

[Leeacto]

Yeah. I'm definitely no diet champ, but I shovel in veggies during lunch and dinner. I keep bread/rice away until the weekend.

What's your Fran/Fight Gone Bad/Cindy numbers?

[dunkin deeznuts]

Henry Rollins old essay on weightlifting....

Iron and the Soul

Henry Rollins

I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like you parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn’t run home crying, wondering why. I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes.

Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn’t think much of them either.

Then came Mr. Pepperman, my adviser. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard.

Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.’s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing.

In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in. Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn’t say **** to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a ceratin amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr. Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body. Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live.

Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole. I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind. The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

[arem]

I remember when that first ran in Details magazine, I cut it out and saved it. Still a good piece.

[YoungM]

Coincidentally, I did Fran yesterday - I was sick, and my hands were fucked up, so I'm looking forward to doing it again, but I ended up doing it in 7:44.

As for the other two, I've done them, but not in my recent, consistent cycle, and I have no idea what my numbers were like. My gym does the test workouts fairly rarely, but I'll post any new numbers I have.

[daphneYOUfindME]

took a lil progress pic today, +7 lbs since my last pic. now @ 155

[High Monika]

^Impressive (nohomo)

new army fitness test seems to make sense....

A really smart idea except aren't large numbers of people already being turned down or kicked out due to failed fitness tests?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/us/31soldier.html

I posted this up on SF, but everyone that does IF or cheat days that's willing, would you post up a quick summary of your plan? One sentence or 100 I don't care. IF isn't for me but I just spent like an hour looking over the theory and blogs and I'm fascinated to see the variety.

[back211]

New test should be fun to see. Doing it next weekend hopefully, idk how its graded but should be fun. I heard it was tougher than the old APFT (what a suprise). Time to own some scrubs.

[mrchariybrown]

nice progress man. reminds of when I was lean and 170-175

[sensible shoes]

stretching... what does everyone do pre/post/during lifting.

i do alot of upper/arm stretches atm but after a small amount of reading on the subject i realised that i am totally neglecting my back and legs.

anyone got a good stretching routine to share?

[Leeacto]

^Impressive (nohomo)

A really smart idea except aren't large numbers of people already being turned down or kicked out due to failed fitness tests?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/us/31soldier.html

It's an interesting topic. Our military is depleted because of lack of fitness. At the same time, we need very fit soldiers. We're kind of burning the fuse at both ends, but likely coming out with a better product.

It's kind of like saying there's a lack of teachers in schools, but the ones we have are idiots (generalization. I don't know the state of public schools. probably not good,though). Do you keep them or make classes bigger?

[po_boy_fuuma_hatesbargerz]

Starting Strength by Rippetoe – For those who asked. Sorry it took me so long, I forgot about it until I saw my PMs this morning.

Cheers.

[enlightened.]

stretching... what does everyone do pre/post/during lifting.

i do alot of upper/arm stretches atm but after a small amount of reading on the subject i realised that i am totally neglecting my back and legs.

anyone got a good stretching routine to share?

for legs I usually follow with figure fours, hip flexor stretches, Quad, classic hamstring, and finish off with a long foam roll

[back211]

Warm-up, roll out with pvc and lax ball, mobility work and then streatching.

Then I start my workout. It takes around 20 min or so but have never been more flexible and feel amazing, loose but very responsive. Ever since I added this is makes lifting alot easier by increasing your ROM. If I had to choose I would say rolling out (soft tissue work) and mobility work is NEEDED if you are serious about lifting or serious about any physical activity.

For stretching I usually start out the top and go down.Neck, shoulders, arms, back, chest, abs, hips, groin, thigh, hams, calves, shins. In that order. Does its duty

[knucks]

bench coming up further. i think i hit 190lbs on scale today

[daphneYOUfindME]

hit 355x2 squat on thursday, after 3 sets of 325x5. hooray for PRs etc. kinda looking forward to deloading this week. less time in the gym and more time to prepare for my CPA exam on saturday @_@

[Tim_Whatley]

This is the workout that I do. It was shown to me by a friend but I'm wondering how I could change it to get more by doing less. I'm concerned that I might be overtraining or not training my legs enough.

As far as goals are concerned, I want my muscles to grow. I've actually been seeing some minor changes after doing this routine for the last 2 months, but with the nice weather coming i'll be wanting to be outdoors more and I often feel that with this 4 day split if I don't go every day there will be too much time between chest days that there won't be any benefit to my chest (for example). I hope my concerns are clear.

I do 3 sets of 8 repititions. thanks for any advice.

Chest

flat bench barbell

incline barbell

decline dumbell

cable flys

facepulls (just threw these in because the backs of my shoulders don't exist, and i do fewer exercises this day than the others).

Arms - 3 bi and 3 tri exercises

Dips

21s

skull crushers with EZ curl bar

preacher curls with EZ curl bar

cable tricep pushdowns with the V-shaped rope

cable curls

Back and shoulders - 4 back and 2 shoulder exercises

pulldowns

seated military press with dumbells

seated cable rows

dumbell rows

back extensions

lateral raises

Legs

squats

deadlifts

leg press

seated calf raises

power cleans

I also do ab work after 2 of the 4 workouts. I usually get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week, but If I could see results with 3x per week that would be awesome. I would also like to do more exercises per workout than are prescribed by starting strength, and I'm more interested in hypertrophy.

thanks guys.