All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[Control]

I am 43 and may have just figured out how to do pushups properly. Please clap.

[Shartnado]

On 4/6/2024 at 11:44 PM, Control said:

I am 43 and may have just figured out how to do pushups properly. Please clap.

If you feel like going into detail as to what you are doing differently now from before, then the rest of us could compare our way of doing them. This way we can all learn, if need be.

[Curt McGirt]

You guys should have seen the dude who nailed 26,000 squats yesterday for the world record (in 24 hours, I think). Chicken legs! "It's an upper body business, Steve!"

[Control]

10 hours ago, Shartnado said:

If you feel like going into detail as to what you are doing differently now from before, then the rest of us could compare our way of doing them. This way we can all learn, if need be.

No “one weird trick,” or anything. Just a bunch of adjustments. I’d been told in high school to look up instead of down at the floor, which was a mistake (at least for me) it took me until recently to correct. The other way was putting a ton of pressure on my neck.

Otherwise, I had to move my hands down, because I was hitting shoulders almost as much as my chest, and raise my hips like an inch.

[Shartnado]

I tried to achieve the super-pump on Monday, I did OK, but not what I described last week, for sure.

Started with 3 sets of incline dumbell bench with 88's and hammer curls. 7, 8 and 7 reps on the bench and hammer curl went nicely this time. I did several sets of lat pull downs with resistance bands and push downs with the lat pull down machine. 4 sets of 15 or so reps of reverse grip curls on the EZ Bar with 108 lbs. Standing double bicep curls with 44's and 39,5's, then 35's and 31's sitting on the incline bench. Also did a few reps of incline dumbell bench, slow and deep with each of those weights. There were some sets of side delt raises and some pretty good ab work in the end. The pump? 44 cm on each arm.

Continued on a similar path on Tuesday, but that was probably not a great idea. I did regular bench and standing double bicep curl again. On the bench, 12x164 as a warm-up, then 4 sets of 3-4 with 252, then 4x230 and a long set with rest pause and many different widths of grip on the 164 (10 at first then several 3's and 4's after a short rest and a change in grip). The curls were with 26,5's, 31's, 35's, 39,5's, 44's, 33's, 22's and 55's. Abs for the finish today as well. Tomorrow, it's legs or nothing.

[Shartnado]

The first 5 workout week in a long time. I did legs and calves on the squat machine on Wednesday. Went up to 467, but that didn't move very well, but 423 went surprisingly well and 364 went deep on several reps. Did calves on the way up, after each squat set and then just calves after the 467 set. My legs were really messed up the next day. It's been a while since squats, for sure.

Thursday was mostly seal row and some chest flies with dumbells on the floor and with resistance bands. I started with 154, then 198, 242, 286, 330, 286, 242, 198 and 154. To be honest, only 242 and lower went really well, but I did what I could with the rest of them. Also did revese grip curls with 154 before and after all the sets. 12 and 6 rep, respectively.

Today was Trapbar. Started with deficit lifts, as usual. 5x133, 5x265, 4x375,5, but once again ran into trouble with 469 and ended up doing 2 separate singles with Versas from the floor level. Then to the blocks. Did 2x565 off the half blocks and 2x665 off the 3/4 blocks, then 2x760 off the full blocks and 3 separate singles with 848 without shoes. Then, with shoes 2x760, 6x665 and with rest-pause, 15x565. Then shrugs with 475,5 (about 13 reps), 381 (some 30ish reps), 271 (a lot of reps) and 133 (maybe for a minute straight, maybe). Limited ab work for the finish. This was quite the week for a change.

[Shartnado]

Oh, and I had some blood tests done, as we do for work every few years (I actually missed the last one due to it being during pandemic times) and everything they measured (this was more limited than I recall previously), came back within (or well within) "normal" range. Also, my hearing and blood pressure were both very good, so I'm very glad about all of that.

Speaking of testing, we also tested new protective footwear for work and they had a new model with extra cushioning beneath the heels, so that should be pretty awesome for walking on concrete for 8 hours a day.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

I haven't posted for a few weeks, but I've been training, and cutting though unfortunately not strutting:

The Good: Diet has been successful so far. Now let's be real here, heck of a long way to go but clothes that haven't fitted are fitting - unfortunately the scales at the gym are bruck so the clothes have to tell the tale rn. I am going to get some callipers to test bodyfat but I honestly think I lost somewhere between 10-15lbs in less than 4 weeks. Some of it is water weight no doubt.

I haven't really been counting macros - just trying to keep the protein reasonably high, carbs fairly low, for the most part. Diets feel a bit like surrfboarding for me, it's a case of trying to catch a wave and not fall off - I actually do intend to take a diet break in 2 weeks when my gf & I go traveling so 

The Bad: Well training has kinda sucked. I mean, I'm doing what I can. It's not like I'm stepping on a stage/platform, it doesn't really matter if I lose a bit of size/strength  - I can get it back later through muscle-memory. So tbh, I'm focussing a bit more on arms, shoulders, and because I'm mostly training with my gf right now, glutes. So yes - good girls, bad girls, side leg machine, glute push downs, hyperextension, some high-rep good mornings. 

The Ugly: Sprained my ankle last Saturday, tbh it seems to be more or less better now but it wawes a bit shit for a few days, basically stuck on the sofa. I actually fasted for about 44 hours, so it sort of helped with the diet weirdly. I did train quads today, but have been skipping calves though maybe some light work tomorrow.

[BloodyChamp]

This will sound dumb and random but is there something like a glove you can buy that comes taped up like you’d tape your fist? 

[Shartnado]

1 hour ago, BloodyChamp said:

This will sound dumb and random but is there something like a glove you can buy that comes taped up like you’d tape your fist? 

I'm not aware of such things right off the bat, but obviously there are gloves such as MMA training gloves that come with gel padding on the knuckles. You may want to check out any web stores that sell boxing training equipment for example. If a glove like that is available, you may be able to find it in somewhere like that?

Coincidentally enough, I was just browsing through training gloves and there ARE all kinds of interesting things available, but I can't say I saw ready-taped ones on those lists.

[Contentious C]

I finally had my first days of my life (measured, anyway; it may have happened in the past) where I tipped the scales at 200+ pounds.  Not that that matters a whole lot: remember kids, what you weigh at any given moment is completely worthless, you have to measure yourself in the same state every day (I try to do it after getting up in the morning, fully undressing, and making the Usual First-Thing Bathroom Trip) and then average that out week-to-week to have any useful info.  But, it's creeping up...

Now it just means I have to bench, row, and squat more.  Problems!

Edited April 14 by Contentious C

[Shartnado]

New week starts on Sunday night and I had an upper body onslaught on tap. 4 sets of incline dumbell bench with 88's, 3 of which were with the bench straight up and the last one was one notch down. 5, 7, 5 and 7 reps. Hammer curls after each set. They didn't go as well as they did last time. Several sets of resistance band lat pull-downs and push downs with the machine as well as the resistance band.

More standing double bicep curls and curls on the incline bench. After the standing set and before bench curls, I did a slow and deep set of incline presses.

This was an OK start for the week, too bad the night shift wasn't great and that will probably affect tonight's workout negatively.

[Technico Support]

On 4/14/2024 at 9:56 AM, BloodyChamp said:

This will sound dumb and random but is there something like a glove you can buy that comes taped up like you’d tape your fist? 

I'm not sure how that would work because it would need to be really tight.  Have you ever used wraps instead of tape for punching?

[Shartnado]

Decided to do another "fun" workout tonight, since I probably woke up too early in order to get a bunch of AEW in. So, regular bench and dumbell curls on the Scott bench, for the most part.

Started the bench with 5x164, 5x230, 5x252 and 5x263. Those went well. Then 3x274, 2x280 and "2"x285. Those didn't go well. Then back down to 3x263, 3x252 and 8x230, those were again a bit better. After that it was a bunch of reps with 164. First 12, then a bunch of 3's and 4's after a brief rest between each burst.

With the dumbell, I did 4 sets for each arm, 8+8 with 53, 7+7 with 66, 6+6 with 75 and 7+7 with 61,5.

Then pretty much the full amount of ab work in the end.

So, this would mean a leg day tomorrow night. Let's see if that happens?

[BloodyChamp]

I actually want my glove for shooting darts from a slingshot. I have a reason for wanting to start shooting darts from a slingshot at the age of 42 and it’s a long story but in the meantime while looking for information I’ve seen where people have shot through their own hand! They make guards to prevent that but the best one I could find had a dart still go through it in a test video. 

What are these “wraps”? I’ll look them up and see if I can see.

Edited April 16 by BloodyChamp

[Contentious C]

I'm guessing he's referring to the big rolls of canvas that you can wrap around your hands and wrists to give you a little cushion.  Look like a gauze bandage but obviously far sturdier.

Like these:

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/everlast-boxing-hand-wraps-3-pack-16elsu3pk108hndwrthr/16elsu3pk108hndwrthr

[Technico Support]

1 hour ago, Contentious C said:

I'm guessing he's referring to the big rolls of canvas that you can wrap around your hands and wrists to give you a little cushion.  Look like a gauze bandage but obviously far sturdier.

Like these:

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/everlast-boxing-hand-wraps-3-pack-16elsu3pk108hndwrthr/16elsu3pk108hndwrthr

Yes, that’s exactly it.  I assumed @BloodyChamp was hitting the heavy bag and taping every time.  Wraps are far easier in that scenario.  But shooting darts, no idea.  I got nothin’.
 

Also, it’s not just to cushion your knuckles.  The tightness keeps you from breaking your hands or wrists.  Punching is not good for you.

Edited April 16 by Technico Support

[Shartnado]

I did get a leg day in last night, but it was way more calf raises than squats and my quads feel a lot less destroyed than last week.

As for squats, I used the machine for 10x190, 10x234, 10x328, 8x372, 7x416, 6x472. The 400+ were obviously just partials and not good ones at that, but 372's moved nicely.

Calf raises were done in a pyramid-fashion with the same weights as the squats but starting from 234 on the way up and ending with 95, also between the squat sets and calf raises on the machine I did bodyweight calf raises during recovery time to maximize the effort. Considering that, my calfs don't feel too bad, so I'm not sure if it worked?

Be that as it may, this shouldn't hamper the Trapbar too much, but fortunately I have Seal Row on tap before that one.

[Shartnado]

Um, yeah. The Seal Row wasn't great. I went up to 352, but probably shouldn't have, since it barely got off the ground. 308 wasn't much better, but 264 was half decent on the way back down, not so much on the way up. I did (over)compensate with the 220, doing a whole bunch of partial reps, way after the clean ones were not happening, and continued the same with 154.

I did 2 sets of reverse grip barbell curls with the 154 again, 12 and 15 reps, respectively.

At the start of the workout, I tried the 88lb single arm dumbell press, and yeah, no. Not even a little bit. The 66 lb went without trouble, though.

There was a full amount of ab work at the end and I was also able to squeeze a 200lb gripper all the way closed for the first time with my right hand. Left one, still ways to go.

Tonight could have been a lot better, as I felt fine when I got there, but I guess I hadn't recovered properly, as I was not feeling it. This doesn't exactly bode well for the Trapbar, but it is what it is.

Edit: Yeah, I just knew something was up, and my throat started getting sore during the night and got worse during the day. So that ended up being the last workout of the week and probably for at least a few days next week as well. That sucks, but it sure has been a long time since I've had a flu or something.

Edited Thursday at 05:15 PM by Shartnado
No wonder last night felt so uninspired...

[Technico Support]

Oh lord why do I ever eat anything by Quest?  I just had a Quest protein cookie and it's got so much sugar alcohol in it that it feels cold in my mouth, and it leaves a greasy feeling, too.  And 15 grams of protein for 220 calories is a shitty trade-off.  Just trash. 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Yeah weight continues to drop I think, I actually felt like I looked a bit flat today which made me a bit sad but it is what it is.

So because monthly memberships etc, my gf's mesocycle is ending this weekend. What is great is that....she finally seems to have busted through a plateau, hitting big PRs on chins, dips, leg curl, unilateral lateral raises and glute pushdowns this week...and it really not killing her or anything. Couple more training sessions to go, but very proud lol.

I myself put the dip assistance to 12.5 kg and hit 5 reps with full ROM. Tbh I probably didn't work the dips hard enough recently, but I can live with it given the above. I also maxed out the stack plus the 2.5kg add on the glute pushdown for the first time, and in socks...just for 8 reps a side, but a PR is a PR, and we will take it - I think this is probably a result of the glute volume, and maybe some of the sissy squat volume.

I think tomorrow we're actually going to do AD Press and chest-supported T-Bar Row as our main movements. I get some workouts on my own next week, which is nice in its own way.

Will actually 'diet break' in 1 week, though we did infact go to McDonalds today and thanks to vouchers I had a Royale w/ cheese, small fries, small orange juice, small coffee milkshake and an apple pie (also small lol). Which is 1319 calories lol.

Tbh though I'm pretty sure I remain in a deficit for the day - I also ate a 50g bag of soya nuts, 1 large bowl of choco-muesli with 2.8% milk, 1 small piece of bread with peanut butter, and 1 bowl of live yogurt with strawberry shortcake diet whey and sliced apple, a little bit of homemade sports drink (raspberry syrup) and 1 lavender boiled sweet. So somewhere around 3000 calories probably, easily a 500 calorie deficit and maybe slightly more. Also more carbs than usual - but probably the right way to go as planning to go to be at the gym next 3 days. I probably do need a plan to eat more veggies in the next cut cycle, though tbf tomorrow is market day so Friday is not necessarily the best representation. I am hungry; going to drink fizzy water now.

 

[Technico Support]

2 hours ago, StretchMediatedHypertrophy said:

Royale w/ cheese

 

[Control]

I am at the level of fitness where I look kinda muscular in person and kinda like a dumpy middle-aged guy in pictures.

[Shartnado]

Got my "summer diet care package" in the mail earlier this week. Bunch of burners and essential amino acids plus one container of pre-workout/pump volumizer and a testo-booster. Yeah, the flu also got me good, but I am feeling a bit better now and if I had to get sick, this was definitely the time for it to happen, and not a few weeks from now. This way, I still have time to fully get over this before the diet actually starts.