All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

So last leg day of the mesocycle - big PRs on seated leg curl (60kg -  9+1, 10+1, two backoff sets), Adductor (full stack 70kg, 13, 18, then 65g for 17) and Standing Side Raise (60kg, 1 x 20 both sides).

Tbh I only started pushing the weight on the seated leg curl a couple of weeks ago, but I think you can push a bit too hard too quickly - or at least you don't really make many more gains that way, despite the YouTube meta telling you to go balls out every session.

[Shartnado]

The first workout back went well enough. I tried on a bunch of stuff but kept the weights moderate to say the least. Like I said, resistance band and light dumbells, EZ bar, all the fun to do stuff. I did feel like my endurance isn't quite back yet, but it was alright.

At the end, I did a decent amount of ab work and for the first time ever, I was able to do a few reps with the ab wheel with my toes on the floor instead of knees elevated off the floor, like usual. That means my lower back  and core are now stronger than they have been up to this point.

On the way back home, I felt like I could breathe through my nose again for the first time in a week, so I made a point to ONLY breathe through my nose for at least the last 20 minutes of the ride. Really concentrating on getting my lungs filled with air through the nose and then pushing the lungs empty through the mouth kept me from blowing up during the ride and I made good time, not really slowing down or even shifting to a lower gear while going uphill. I need to remember this once I start running again, in about a week.

[The Natural]

Started swimming in April 2023 for the first time in 25 years. I used floats for that reason even though I know how to swim. It's now a year and today was one of my best. Met a supportive lass today, she's also begun again. All but one person there is encouraging. This was my first Friday steady swim ever. There's a Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I gather from other people there it's very busy on a Monday, quieter on the Tuesday but that snide cow is there who I'm too nice to tell to fuck off and a Friday which I'd say is between the two.

[Technico Support]

I've apparently lost a little over 10% of my body fat in the past year, which is pretty good.  Need to keep at it but I'm already in decent shape for an American

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

I've apparently lost a little over 10% of my body fat in the past year, which is pretty good.  Need to keep at it but I'm already in decent shape for an American

Do you mean your body fat percentage has gone down 10%, or the amount of fat has gone down 10%?

Tbh I reckon I've lost a pretty decent amount in the last 40 days. Idk the number tbh - I actually intend to buy some scales next week and see where I'm at. I'm probably somewhere round 30% BF right now, though again I am intending to to get some callipers to find out in the next week.

Workout was sadly a bit dogshit today - not enough carbs, not enough sleep, too much leg yesterday. Tbf an 85kg single on AD Press isn't bad, it might be a PR actually, but that two backoff sets, supersetted with 3 plates on the t-bar row for 2 sets of 8 an 55kg for a set of 11...kinda broke me. I squeezed out 3 sets of seated flyes and 2 sets of 20 on some frankly janky uprightish rows and crawled out.

[Technico Support]

@StretchMediatedHypertrophy thanks for asking, I thought the same thing after I posted but got busy.  The stat is PBF, percentage body fat, which went from 41 to 30.  So I guess how much up my body consisted of disgusting adipose tissue (tm Vince McMahon) dropped 11 percentage points.  

[Shartnado]

Yesterday I kept the nosebreathing up for both bike rides as well as the entire damn workout. It takes a lot of concentration for a hardcore mouthbreather such as myself, but I got the hang of it. Great, now I can weaponize breathing against myself: "You can now breathe normally only on the weekends from now on, so you'll learn to appreciate it more".

Anyway, the workout was fine. I did regular bench and a set of curls, resistance band lat pull downs and lateral raises between each bench set. The 260+ sets didn't go too well, but on the way back down the reps got cleaner again.

This was basically an off week for me, but with the diet looming just a few days ahead, it was probably just as well. The surprising thing is that even with the most successful bulk season ever, my weight at the start of this cut, will still be within the usual range. The bad thing is that the weather is not within the usual range over here. I'm not running until there's no half-melted snow on the roads.

[Technico Support]

Be careful keeping your mouth shut while running, though.  I once spent a whole weekend with mouth pain that made me think my root canals had re-infected.  Turns out I ran 5 miles that Friday with my mouth shut, and all the impact had traveled up to my teeth.

[Shartnado]

21 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Be careful keeping your mouth shut while running, though.  I once spent a whole weekend with mouth pain that made me think my root canals had re-infected.  Turns out I ran 5 miles that Friday with my mouth shut, and all the impact had traveled up to my teeth.

I'm sure I won't be able to run for too long without opening my mouth somewhat and of course if I intend to exhale through mouth, it would be open half the time, anyway. I guess running while gritting your teeth leads to trouble. I have to try and run on mostly low impact surfaces, if and when possible, too!

Edit. Went for a walk that turned into a jog/run ten minutes in and proved that I can do a brisk walk or march while inhaling through nose only, but once the pace picks up to more than a slow jog, it becomes very difficult for me. Anyway, went to the stairs for the first time this year and going up and down a few times felt good. The whole thing took about an hour, but I walked again on the way back for some 15 minutes before jogging again at the very end. I almost start feeling like this is going to work out just fine, once I get going again.

Edited April 28 by Shartnado
Sunday walk turned into a run

[Contentious C]

Managed to yank the 100-lb dumbbells for Kroc rows today, and still did 3 sets of 13/12/10 with that.  I'm, uh, running out of real estate on those.  The gym only goes up to 110.  I guess what I may have to do is just program something else before them and then use them in a more fatigued state.  My pull-ups have been jumping up in spite of gaining weight, which is what really needed to happen as much as anything.  Still need assistance and still can't do a set of 10, but given that I'm about 5 lbs. heavier than when I started reincorporating them and I'm doing good negatives, dead hang at the bottom, and then back up to clavicle-at-bar height, it's a pretty good progression.

Of course, I also managed to fuck myself up again trying to go heavy on bench - got 185 for 3 again, but yanked something pretty ferocious in my neck, and my shoulder on that side was a little numb the rest of the day.  I would say I hate pressing, but I'm pretty sure pressing hates me more.

[Technico Support]

@Contentious C holy shit, man, I very slightly pulled something in my neck benching heavy a week or so ago.  I guess sometimes you just strain hard and it goes right to your neck.  Try 20 side to sides, 20 up and down nods, and 20 look right, look lefts.  That really helped loosen mine when I herniated a disc in my neck doing lat pull downs (!) like 8 years ago.

Edited Monday at 02:06 PM by Technico Support

[Shartnado]

Everyone seems to have some issues at the moment. My right side, under and in the middle of the lat I feel this tightness that even gave me trouble breathing. I have had this a few times before, so I know how to get rid of it eventually, but this also means I have gone too long without a sports massage. And the next session is booked 11 or 12 days from now!

[Technico Support]

Oh man, I forgot much harder hot weather running is.  Today's the first hot and sunny day in my area (81 degrees right now, 27 for you unAmericans) and, while I can usually go 6 miles no problem, I was dead by like 3.5.  I eked out 4 but yeah, I need to work back up to it.  That heat and sun just sap the energy right out of you.

[Shartnado]

21 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Oh man, I forgot much harder hot weather running is.  Today's the first hot and sunny day in my area (81 degrees right now, 27 for you unAmericans) and, while I can usually go 6 miles no problem, I was dead by like 3.5.  I eked out 4 but yeah, I need to work back up to it.  That heat and sun just sap the energy right out of you.

Yikes! Well, it will be quite a while before I'll be running in even 20 degrees weather, but yeah, when it gets warm, it's imperative to run in as light clothing as possible. I actually have pretty good gear for that this year. It just seems like ways off before it gets warm enough to even think about those.

The workout today was somewhat hampered by the right lat. I started the warm up by rolling the right side with a hard foam roller. Incline bench with a heavy incline with 66-72 dumbells sets of 5, 12 and 10, followed by hammer curls. Some normal grip dumbell curls, resistance band lat pull downs and chest flies from different angles. Hard ab work at the end, as should be the norm for the next couple of months.

Bike ride home was more than 90% breathing through nose only, with the occasional exhaling through the mouth. Not great with a running nose, though. My poor Mechanix gloves are a mess, now!

[Contentious C]

2 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Oh man, I forgot much harder hot weather running is.  Today's the first hot and sunny day in my area (81 degrees right now, 27 for you unAmericans) and, while I can usually go 6 miles no problem, I was dead by like 3.5.  I eked out 4 but yeah, I need to work back up to it.  That heat and sun just sap the energy right out of you.

Yeah, today was the first leg day of The Terrible DC Summers and I was wrecked by the time I finished my squats.  Just got in some hip thrusts and some seated leg curls and called it. I may be about due for a deload anyway. Plus it doesn't help that I live in a shithole, rickety-ass condo building that does the "we have a boiler instead of modern HVAC and we decide when to turn the air on" bullshit, so, still sweating in my apartment.

Edited Monday at 07:41 PM by Contentious C

[Shartnado]

Tuesday was still a bit on the safe side due to the lat, but I  did what I could. Standing barbell OHP with sets of 5 with 110, 121, 132, 143 and 148,5, then 4 with 154 and one momentum assisted rep with 159,5. Used the 159,5 to do reverse grip curls for sets of 15 and 12, then did a set of normal barbell curls with 110.

After this, I did a couple of sets of dumbell curls on the Scott bench with 53 and 57 for 7 reps with each hand for both sets.

Plenty of ab work at the end.

Yesterday was a quick leg day with the top set being 7x423 on the squat machine. I was impressed how low the last few reps went, as it got better towards the end. No knee wraps for that one, either!

I was able to get 3-4 full reps in a row on the 200lb gripper with my right hand, still not happening on the left, though.

Decent ab work yesterday as well.

[Shartnado]

I had a long, nearly 90 minute workout that included a Seal-Row and a regular bench pyramids. Seal-Row went from 154 to 314, with additions of 22 or 11 lbs with each set. 275 set went ok, heavier than that, not particularly well. 

Bench pyramid went from 164 to 280, I did sets of 3, in order to save something for the heaviest sets. It didn't help that much for anything above 263.

I also did two sets of reverse grip barbell curls, 15 and 12, respectively. Then I did single rep of deadlifts off the floor with 314 and 424, as well as standing barbell rows with 286, 264 and 220, out of which only 220's went well, with a good range of motion.

Limited ab work at the end.

[Technico Support]

I need to throw in some more core work.  I did an accessories-only workout in my office gym Tuesday, no heavy compound lifts.  They just bought a roman chair and a dip/leg raise station, so I did back extensions and leg raises...and I was weak as fuck.  Considering my history of back injuries, I need to get on this shit.

Edited Thursday at 04:22 PM by Technico Support

[Shartnado]

Trapbar day. This wasn't great. I know I missed 2 sessions and have gone with very limited calories during the workday, but I topped out at 767,5 after failing heavier weights on a few prior attempts. My Versas kept opening as well, dammit. I did a few deficit lifts at the start and those went about as usual, on the way down I did 3 to 8 reps with lighter weights (658,5, 553, 458) and one set of shrugs with 363. No time for abs today, but I did a set of hanging knee raises once I got home. I hope my strength didn't take THIS big of a hit as soon as started losing weight and this is just temporary. I mean the weight has barely budged, as of yet. Around 189, as of now.

[AxB]

27 years of working standing up, moving around, and I never really get hurt. Three weeks of doing a "Sitting at a computer desk" type of job and I've probably got Carpal tunnel syndrome. My right hand, it's fine, there's a spot on the fingertip of my little finger that's numb, or sometimes merely dull.

Now my left hand, the index finger and middle finger are fine. But the ring finger is numb at the fingertip and tingly beneath that. But my left little finger has no sensation at all. I could dip it in boiling water and not feel anything. That side of the palm too. 

Oh, and I'm left handed. My handwriting has slowed down and gone clumsier. My grip strength in the hand has declined noticeably, because I can't control muscles I can't feel. I hope my forearms don't atrophy.

I've got a Doctor's appointment though, it's in three weeks because our government (and opposition) are in the pockets of Private Healthcare and are trying to kill the NHS.

[Shartnado]

Went for a run after watching Dynamite this morning. I have this new adjustable weight vest, with 15 2,2lb (1kg) pieces of metal that you can put into the small pockets on the vest. The vest itself is 2,2lbs, so I started conservatively and added 4 pieces, so 11 lbs all in all. Jogged to the stairs, walked them up once and jogged them up an down 3 times after that. Each time I got to the top, I went up and down the short viewpoint stairs 5 times before going down the actual stairs again. Jogging and walking on the way back. A little over 7km in total. I did a set of hanging knee and leg raises before and after the run.

It's starting to feel pretty good, but the nose breathing goes out the window as soon as the pace picks up, at this point.

[Technico Support]

I typically alternate lifting days (full body) and running days.  Tomorrow I’m going to try my first pyramid of bench, pulldowns, hack squat, and dumbbell military, then maybe finish out the hour-ish with some lighter accessory work.  Please pray to the gym gods for me.

 

[Shartnado]

While getting used to the feeling of hunger takes a bit of time, it is nice to see that even the excess fluids leaving your body will make you look way more cut, even before the actual fat burning will start. I guess the visceral fat starts burning quite fast when the calories are restricted and cardio goes up, but the start has been quite promising so far. I had my doubts about the motivation this year, but once the abs start showing for real, I start getting the itch to see how far I can push it this year?