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Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
I was at the playground with my daughter last week when an old lady, maybe 85-ish years old, walked up. She climbed up the ladder to the monkey-bars and started doing a dead hang. I like dead hang myself (although I don't do it very often) so I was impressed to see her do it. Then she kept hanging, for what must have been five minutes! Then she took a break and did it a few more times. Age is no excuse!
Damn, that's pretty dope! A big reason I've taken it upon myself to exercise now is so that I don't have super-compromised mobility when I get older.
I think I need to improve my grip strength as my forearms seem to give out before my legs/posterior chain gives out while doing deadlifts. Yesterday I did 185lbx8, 190lbx8, 190lbx8, and I was supposed to do another set of 8, but only managed 190lbx5 before my grip started giving out. Well, I followed that with another set of 190lbx5 to make up for it. And then a set of 135lbx6 with a slow, controlled eccentric movement.
I also have to lower the weight on my rows as I noticed that I'm using too much upper body movement/momentum to get the weight up. Always a bummer to have to drop weight...but I guess if I were practicing good form from the get-go I wouldn't have this issue.
I'm assuming you do double overhand grip? Many people switch to mixed grip to allow their deadlift to continue to progress. You are doing quite high volume, however, so lowering reps per set might allow you to progress without the need for improving strength (it sounds more of an endurance issue at the moment in all honesty).
If you are looking to improve grip endurance or strength in general I love me a set of grippers as they're easy to take with you and idly do while completing other tasks or waiting for something to complete.
Yea, I actually switched to mixed grip for the last two 190lb sets. I don't really like using mixed grip as it makes it harder for me to feel like I'm engaging my lats. A good cue, for me, is to point my inner elbow outward while holding the bar..which is hard to do with mixed grip. Plus, I feel like the weight is too low for mixed grip to be necessary?
But, yea, that particular day is focused on a lower weight/higher rep scheme for deadlifts (and bench press). It for sure tests my endurance...my heart rate stays spiked for a cool few minutes after the sets..but I really feel it's my grip that's letting me down. Been thinking about getting some Captains of Crush grip trainers to use while I'm, like, watching a movie or reading or something.
But, I am also considering ditching the higher rep scheme for deadlifts (and squats) and focusing on higher weights/medium reps (5 or 6?) for those exercises. In fact, I've already pretty much done that with squats. Hell, I think I'll reach a point where I'll have to do that for all the exercises I'm currently training...
Until you practice with mixed grip, it's going to feel weird. If you have no goals to compete or to hit some certain # deadlift, feel free to train however you want. But, if you do see yourself pulling mixed at some point, now is as good a time as ever to start practicing.
I don't have COC branded grips, but honestly you don't need to get the official ones unless you're looking to get the certification for COC level 1, 2, etc. I picked up a set of 50-300lbs in 50lb increments for relatively cheap one holiday season.
I absolutely loathe doing high rep squats and deads. Bench doesn't bug me that much - like I can knock out a few sets of 10 at 185 much easier than a few sets of 10 squats at 185 and my max squat is much higher than my bench. I think it's because so many muscles end up being involved that it's just really taxing on the system energetically.
I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to get a proper workout in. I only got in one lifting session since last week. I was also able to squeeze in some gaming time for beat saber and get my heart rate up.
Also, I bought a 1:1 cbd:thc to see if it could help me on days my shoulder was really bugging me. After just one inhale on the vape I got way too high. On the plus side, it DID distract me from the pain entirely and I was able to get to sleep early. Maybe I need a half or quarter inhale? Fucks sake I'm a lightweight.
Just a heads up to make sure your THC E-liquid doesn't contain any Vitamin E acetate:
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html#what-is-new
I appreciate the heads up and have been keeping an eye on this.
I prefer edibles because they give a more consistent and measurable dose (assuming you have access to legal, regulated and well packaged edibles). You can get mints that have 2mg of THC each, giving you a lot of granularity.
Yeah I considered doing that and still might end up doing so but knowing that I am quite the lightweight when it comes to THC (I think I had like 1/4 of a 3mg gummy the last time I did an edible and it was about where I wanted it to be) I was hoping to try something which would allow me to get very small doses in.
Unfortunately, I haven't been to the gym since the 25th of October. My last physio session had me determine to change how I'm performing my squats and deadlifts to work at alleviating my knee pain by putting more focus toward my glutes for both, and hamstrings for deadlifts, as they felt I was putting to much work on my quads only (which I definitely felt with my deadlifts).
Hopefully me and my partner can hit the gym sometime this weekend to start the cycle anew.
Would you mind going into a little more detail about how you got to a physio?
I have some problems with my back after a regrettable instance of doing shoulder shrugs on the Smith Machine. I asked my current doc about what to do and she recommended I see a Chiro, which I did, but didn't help fix the issue. I even asked originally if I should see a PT and was told to go to Chiro first. So I'm kinda annoyed from that.
Did you talk to anyone before meeting with your physio, or just make contact with them?
I just called and booked an appointment. And my current benefits (unless it has changed) do not require me to have a doctor's not to use physio services.
I don't think you NEED a doctor referral but some insurances require it. Generally just calling a physiotherapist office is a good start.
Thanks! I'll have to look at my benefits, I'm assuming mine will need some referral from doc to be covered.
Good luck! I hope you can figure something out.
I tried out a new shoulder exercise that I saw from Jeff on Youtube (Athlean X I believe). Gotta say my shoulders have never felt more tired than they do right now. I'll have to keep this up and see how much change I see over the next month.
Other than that, had a great Deadlift session this morning; hit a new 1 Rep PR (285 lbs) which isn't huge... but it's a PR! I'm still trying to focus on my chest to grow the pecs which I think is going well. I still like switching it up and doing squats or DL's every now and again though, to break the monotony.
What shoulder workout is it?
This one. I've been feeling they're not getting enough attention recently so I saw the thumbnail and figured I'd try it out once if it felt good.
The one thing that turns me off about Athlean X videos is that he's always showing some exercise or stretch that you have to add to your routine.. and I'm thinking "damn, how much time in the day do you have to incorporate all these must do exercises?!"
Well, I'm just sticking to the basic compound exercises, for the time being.
Interesting. It's almost like a 45 degree cross between a lateral raise and an anterior raise, but then done very slowly, while squeezing the anterior delt. Very interesting indeed.