All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[Control]

On 2/6/2025 at 11:15 AM, Shartnado said:

I'd say hammer curls, incline dumbell curls, single arm dumbell curls on the Scott bench and standing double bicep curls.

This is similar to what I’ve been doing lately. Incline Zottman curls, crossbody hammer curls, single arms curls on the bench (preacher style?) and standing wide curls. All I’ve got are dumbbells.

I started doing the hammer curls crossbody because I saw some video online that said to do them that way and for some reason I can do almost 50% more weight. It was on the internet and so undoubtedly good advice.

Might try myorep sets as a finisher, but I’ll have to watch a video because the description doesn’t really make sense to me.

Edited February 8 by Control

[Shartnado]

3 hours ago, Control said:

This is similar to what I’ve been doing lately. Incline Zottman curls, crossbody hammer curls, single arms curls on the bench (preacher style?) and standing wide curls. All I’ve got are dumbbells.

I started doing the hammer curls crossbody because I saw some video online that said to do them that way and for some reason I can do almost 50% more weight. It was on the internet and so undoubtedly god advice.

Might try myorep sets as a finisher, but I’ll have to watch a video because the description doesn’t really make sense to me.

Yeah, can't help you with myoreps, but with hammer curls, I will start doing them crossbody when I'm nearing the end of my set and starting to run out of steam with regular ones. Since I usually get about 5 more reps like that. It seems to indicate it's easier to move bigger weights like that, as you have noticed as well.

Some of the videos I have posted have some of my favorite things to do with dumbells, including hammer curl sets.

[Contentious C]

A little late, because my medication failed and I've had to skip the gym because my back is fucked again, but...

Myoreps are pretty easy. Pick a weight on the lighter side, but *really* go hard on your first set, 12-20 reps if you can. Every set after that, you want to match the same number of reps, but you won't get it all in one. You just take 5-10 second breaks and then get in more reps, rinse repeat until you hit the first set rep total. So it could go:

20 

13-4-3

10-4-4-2

So all sets are 20 but you approach failure more times in the same number of sets.

[Shartnado]

5 hours ago, Contentious C said:

A little late, because my medication failed and I've had to skip the gym because my back is fucked again, but...

Myoreps are pretty easy. Pick a weight on the lighter side, but *really* go hard on your first set, 12-20 reps if you can. Every set after that, you want to match the same number of reps, but you won't get it all in one. You just take 5-10 second breaks and then get in more reps, rinse repeat until you hit the first set rep total. So it could go:

20 

13-4-3

10-4-4-2

So all sets are 20 but you approach failure more times in the same number of sets.

I have taken this approach on occasion without knowing the correct terminology.

[The Natural]

Went to Spirals yesterday, now called Freestyle Yoga for some reason. My first class since surgery. The instructor and classmates all missed me and I missed them. Feeling it today plus I didn't get to sleep till late as I couldn't switch off. For those reasons, not sure I'll go on my last day as a 39 year old. Glad I went yesterday as I missed a blazing row between my Dad and Sister :(.

[Shartnado]

https://youtu.be/NhoN4PpV5ko

Here's the newest video, this time soundtracked by The Widowmaker by W.A.S.P.

After the first Trapbar lift, there's the actual incline Seal Row captured first time on video. So if @Technico Support can be pulled away from the beer thread for a second, he can see what I've been talking about all this time.

I promised you a 3x180kg+ (396lbs, well this is over 400) squats with the machine with a stop at the bottom and that one is there also. The 454lb squats were deeper than ever before (thus far).

One more workout to go, not sure if there will be anything worth filming or not?

 

[Technico Support]

On 2/14/2025 at 3:19 AM, Shartnado said:

https://youtu.be/NhoN4PpV5ko

Here's the newest video, this time soundtracked by The Widowmaker by W.A.S.P.

After the first Trapbar lift, there's the actual incline Seal Row captured first time on video. So if @Technico Support can be pulled away from the beer thread for a second, he can see what I've been talking about all this time.

I promised you a 3x180kg+ (396lbs, well this is over 400) squats with the machine with a stop at the bottom and that one is there also. The 454lb squats were deeper than ever before (thus far).

One more workout to go, not sure if there will be anything worth filming or not?

 

Thanks for the shoutout!  Workouts were spotty for me to end 2024 (oral surgery = can't work out for two weeks, then holidays, then some other bullshit).  It sucks.  Weight crept up a little and won't creep back off, which also sucks.  I think I'm back on the horse now, though.  Trying to keep getting in my Sunday - Friday workouts.  Honestly, I can't wait for it to get warmer because I absolutely loathe treadmill running.  So far this week:

Sunday: full body lifting workout at the gym, about 45 minutes, moderate weight

Monday: 35ish minutes on the treadmill at the gym, about 3 miles

Today: Half hour treadmill run (about 2.5ish miles), half hour chest, shoulders, triceps.

Tomorrow: Either another boring treadmill half hour or maybe elliptical, then half hour of back and biceps, maybe some core.

Thursday and Friday: not sure yet, but definitely something

Edited February 19 by Technico Support

[Shartnado]

https://youtu.be/LG6c1fnSx-Q

Plenty of material filmed this week but the couple of Trapbar lifts here are from last week, actually. Getting the 88lb single arm dumbell press on camera for the first time here.

Music by the always amazing Birthday Massacre, because despite there being zero visual evidence of it left, I will always be a Goth at heart.

 

[Technico Support]

Went hard this whole week, weight down by a pound (.9 technically, fuck you).  Back on track, hopefully!

[Shartnado]

https://youtu.be/bdOEOiDd15M

Judging by the near complete lack interest in these, this seems rather futile, but here's the video from this week. I have been a huge Danzig fan ever since he became way less popular after the first 4 albums and remain one to this day. You may question if Devil's Plaything is a great workout song (probably not) but I think it works just fine for this montage and it has been one of the very top Danzig tracks ever, despite me preferring the newer material over the classic 4 albums.

After like 7 years, I'm back to doing (ugly) dumbell curls with 88's on the Scott bench. Hopefully in a few weeks it will get better but it's nice to get back the early 40's form with this move as well. We'll, the right arm is at 66 lbs, so that still has ways to go, but I'm hoping to get to that in the upcoming months.

 

[Technico Support]

Despite the lack of @Shartnado videos, I'd still like to discuss fitness, dammit!

I'm about to hang up on a two hour work all hands meeting, an hour and change in, to go run a few miles and lift for a half hour.

I ran six miles Sunday and 5.5 yesterday.  Weather is getting warmer, so running is getting tougher.  Need to figure out a way to run with some Gatorade without encumbering myself, somehow.

Edited April 1 by Technico Support

[Contentious C]

2 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Despite the lack of @Shartnado videos, I'd still like to discuss fitness, dammit!

I'm about to hang up on a two hour work all hands meeting, an hour and change in, to go run a few miles and lift for a half hour.

I ran six miles Sunday and 5.5 yesterday.  Weather is getting warmer, so running is getting tougher.  Need to figure out a way to run with some Gatorade without encumbering myself, somehow.

They make those weird stillsuit body packs, don't they?

[Shartnado]

@Technico Support I have videos, so many videos! If someone is willing to watch them!

https://youtu.be/WL-s_VyQO4Q

The music in this video is by the awesome Spanish SynthWave band Lex Luger! They are such an independent band that YouTube didn't even find any copyright issues when I posted this. However, this is the kind of stuff I actually listen to while working out or running, so I had to get some mp3's off Bandcamp, so I could make videos with my actual workout music. Go check out Lex Luger on Spotify, they are amazing!

Edited April 2 by Shartnado
Obviously every wrestling fan needs Lex Luger!

[Shartnado]

Visiting Estonia for the rest of the week. Had my first run of the year (pretty much) this morning. Started out very stiff but got better as we went along. Took a tumble during the end stretch on the sidewalk, rolled twice and pretty much landed back on my feet like a F'n ninja. Scraped the side of one knee, nothing else, other than a bruised ego, obviously.

[Technico Support]

2 hours ago, Shartnado said:

Visiting Estonia for the rest of the week. Had my first run of the year (pretty much) this morning. Started out very stiff but got better as we went along. Took a tumble during the end stretch on the sidewalk, rolled twice and pretty much landed back on my feet like a F'n ninja. Scraped the side of one knee, nothing else, other than a bruised ego, obviously.

Oh man, I’ve been there.  That’s why I try to run in the street as much as possible.  Sidewalk pavers are unpredictable, especially in tree lined areas where the roots get under them and push them up.  There’s one near me where the paving stone is so high up, like four inches on one side, that they created a sort of asphalt ramp instead of fixing it!

[Shartnado]

2 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Oh man, I’ve been there.  That’s why I try to run in the street as much as possible.  Sidewalk pavers are unpredictable, especially in tree lined areas where the roots get under them and push them up.  There’s one near me where the paving stone is so high up, like four inches on one side, that they created a sort of asphalt ramp instead of fixing it!

Yeah, I think it was a cobblestone that was somewhat protruding upwards and I clipped one foot on it and away I rolled, in an instant.

...Luckily I was able warmed up by that point (read: "drenched in sweat ") so I was as limber as I'm gonna get and my wife was impressed at how I just ended back up on my feet and kept running.

Edited April 2 by Shartnado
It was embarrassing, but cool in a way.

[Shartnado]

https://youtu.be/C70pK9wC7_c

Here is a slightly earlier video with pretty similar stuff. Soundtrack provided by an awesome Finnish Hard Rock band Brother Firetribe, the opening track of their 2005 debut album False Metal, "Break Out" I'm making some slow progress on some moves, more reps, more weight or better range of motion, but nothing shocking at this point, except for the squat machine, I think I'm doing some pretty gnarly stuff on that!

 

[Shartnado]

Here's a span of about a week from two different weeks. Pretty much standard stuff I have been doing all these weeks. If I remember correctly, this is soundtracked by the outstanding Australian Goth band Razorfade, fronted by Mark Tansley, formerly of Suspiria and Intra-Venus. This, too, has been in my workout playlist from the very start.

 

[Shartnado]

Had to buy the mp3 just so I could use this track on one of my videos. Jeremiah Kane "Midnight Queen" gets me going every time! This band has provided me with so much motivation for the past couple of years I've been aware of them!

https://youtu.be/kJ2krGckNbY

 

 

[Technico Support]

Just logging my week's workouts here because it keeps me honest!    We're in mid-Atlantic Spring, which means the weather might be nice OR it will be cold and rainy.  It's been the latter this week.

Sunday: 35-40 minutes of chest, tris, shoulders

Monday: 30ish minutes of treadmill running, 35ish minutes of back, legs, bis

Tuesday: 30ish minutes of treadmill running, 35ish minutes of chest, tris, shoulders

Wednesday: Thought I'd just run for 15 minutes, did 30ish because I'm nuts, then 35ish minutes of back, legs, bis

Yesterday: just lifting, about 35ish minutes of chest, tris, shoulders

Today is just lifting again, about 35ish minutes of back, legs, bis

About a month or two ago, after months of constantly switching up my lifting regimen (drop sets sometimes, sometimes warmup --> working sets --> 1-2 drop sets, various other bullshit), I went back to my tried and true "3 sets.  First set needs to be 8-12.  If it's below 8, you're doing too much.  If you hit 12, move up.  Last 2 sets art whatever you can do.  30-45 seconds between sets."  It's a nice balance between endurance and power, for me, and I've almost been moving up on at least one exercise per workout every session.  

Thanks for reading!

Edited April 11 by Technico Support

[Shartnado]

Did a Trapbar single rep off the floor with 610 lbs (or 277kg) today. Was it late last year when I said I'd like to get 600 lbs off the floor before new year, or something like that. Well, I'm 10lbs past that goal right now, with a couple of weeks to go before the summer cut begins once more!

[Shartnado]

Everyone needs more Jeremiah Kane in their lives, I know I do!

https://youtu.be/kJ2krGckNbY

 

 

[Control]

Ok, anyone got a theory for this?

If I do hammer curls in any format, my arms are even.

Today, I tried doing my hammer curls as  concentration curls, and one of my arms is substantially weaker. Like, right arm is doing 30 lbs and the left arm struggles with 20. Any idea what would cause that imbalance to only show up with the concentration hammer curl? 
 

hammer curl in any other format: no imbalance. Concentration curls that aren’t hammer curls? No imbalance.

Maybe it’s a flexibility thing and not a strength thing?

[Technico Support]

1 hour ago, Control said:

Ok, anyone got a theory for this?

If I do hammer curls in any format, my arms are even.

Today, I tried doing my hammer curls as  concentration curls, and one of my arms is substantially weaker. Like, right arm is doing 30 lbs and the left arm struggles with 20. Any idea what would cause that imbalance to only show up with the concentration hammer curl? 
 

hammer curl in any other format: no imbalance. Concentration curls that aren’t hammer curls? No imbalance.

Maybe it’s a flexibility thing and not a strength thing?

Maybe when you're not doing them as concentration curls, you're unconsciously cheating?  I've read that the dominant arm typically has better form in general.  Maybe concentration curls are forcing better form and thus exposing how that arm is weaker.  Aside from that, I got nothin'.

[Shartnado]

The diet is chugging along and I'm progressing slowly but surely. It seems to be very different this year, though.

I started from such a high weight (for me) that it seems like peaking too early is definitely off the table this year. That's of course great, but it also keeps the pressure on me until the very end. I have booked a photoshoot for July 2nd and I will try to keep the cut going until the 7th which is when my summer holiday starts.

I have had three off weekends at this point, one of which was rather tame and all of which have included some cardio and no alcohol. Yet, my weight is around 183 lbs, whereas it has usually been 176 and under by this point. Granted, I have done way less cardio compared to two previous years (at least, maybe more) but I have had the weight vest at full (well half, but as far as I can have it full) capacity from the word go, unlike last year.

Now, I would like to imagine that some of this stubborn weight is actually some newly aquired lean mass from the bulk/strength season that I put absolutely everything I had into, but I can't tell for sure. Nothing seems that much bigger, but on the other hand I don't think I look any less cut than I usually look around 176, but again, I'm not sure.

Strength levels have now started to go down, but I was still doing reasonably impressive stuff as late as couple of weeks ago and they haven't exactly crashed yet. I have been doing some pretty insane calorie cutting during these weeks, so it's pretty surprising that they haven't, actually.

My secret weapons this year, compared to previous ones have been pineapple and beets. Everything else from previous years, I have kept. Well, I haven't had to need to go get the Nick's low calorie ice cream yet, but that would definitely be on the menu, if needed.

Now I'm fixing to leave for the night shift and gym before that, obviously. Last night, I did 3 different bench pyramids (two inclines and regular) weights weren't heavy and the sets weren't particularly long, but it was 24 sets overall, if I counted correctly. That was a decent chest pump for a change!