Workout: What did you do today?

[jadis]

 

By respectable weight, I mean just like Jimmy said. A weight that you can comfortably do 10 reps of.

I think it's nonsense to just load up as much weight as you can just to bench it once. That's what he was known for doing.

Might be best to begin with just the barbell and gradually figure out what the exercise is all about. It's a difficult one

I don't 😂. I only do Romanian Deadlifts for my hams and that's at 110kg I think but for 10+ reps. Never done Deadlifts for 1RM or to not focus on hams so I dunno.

What about you? @jadis

Tbh I don't remember what was my best deadlift, not even ballpark. Under 100 kg for sure

Any specific reason you prefer the Romanian one? Seems like the classic deadlift is very effective for your back, no?

[jimmy jazz]

Yeah it is. I do RDL cos it targets the hams. For my back I do other things. Pull ups and their variants are the king of back exercises imo.

[jadis]

Nice. Don't remember the last time I tried doing a pull-up

Excited to resume doing deadlifts tomorrow. Will start gently, maybe with 30 kg on the barbell. Gotta ease your way back with this one

[jimmy jazz]

Let us know how it goes 👍

[jadis]

So good... I started with 10 kg, then 20 and then two sets of 30, 10 reps each time. Wasn't much of an effort but I knew I didn't want to tire myself out cause I have more physical activity lined up later. 

The most challenging thing about deadlifts for me is NOT stealing a sideways glance at the mirror to make sure the shape of my back is on point. You're not supposed to spin your head during a deadlift... But when you're doing it on your own as I have today it's a temptation cause you don't see shit in the mirror that's in front of you

[jimmy jazz]

👏👏

Straps were a game changer for me. Allowed me to lift more and do way more reps. Before that my grip was tiring.

Do you guys wear gloves? I do but meatheads look down on it. That's really strange imo. If you can make it more comfortable why wouldn't you do it?

[jadis]

I bought gloves once years ago but lost them. I move too often to not lose shit like that

I have occasionally used straps the straps lying around at the gym with the really heavy stuff but haven't really had the occasion since the pandemic, I'm still playing catchup in terms of weights.

But the main thing is, I really like having calluses on my hands from lifting. Been told it's sexy... The important thing is to not pick at them so they don't get scratchy. 

[Lexi Darling]

I'm the opposite then, I really dislike it because my hands are so callused from all the work I do with them that I have to wear soft gloves to even touch a pair of tights or stockings without them instantly ripping by just coming into contact with my skin, lol. But I'm glad you enjoy having them!

[jadis]

Maybe you could wear the gloves when you do manual work? It does seem to prevent them forming. My mom is a chemistry prof and we always had packs of lab gloves in the kitchen for any household chores

[Mindy]

Did 5 laps running and 30 push-ups each lap. Then went for a walk through the woods and grabbed that photo.

[Lexi Darling]

Maybe you could wear the gloves when you do manual work? It does seem to prevent them forming. My mom is a chemistry prof and we always had packs of lab gloves in the kitchen for any household chores

Probably should more often, yeah. I do wear them for most kitchen cleaning, dish washing, anywhere I'm going to be around food related areas but it's a good idea for other more tactile work as well. Thanks for the advice!

[jadis]

The trainer I'm friendly with was there today so I got a very good workout esp on my deadlift form. We agreed that I'll deadlift with just the barbell for a couple of weeks as part of my warmup. I need to regain muscle memory of the motion, which is not a simple one, before I go on to lift proper weights. You need to focus on a few things at once and maintain coordination between them. As you grip the barbell, you need to retract your shoulder blades. You need to fix your gaze on the floor a few feet ahead. You need to shift the weight to your heels, the toes should take none. The key is keeping your back straight and let your ass lead the way so that it doesn't feel like an up and down motion but like your ass going backwards. With light weights, your hamstrings and glutes should do ALL the work. It's only when you go upwards of 40 kg that your back should activate.

He also said that there are very few people who are naturally flexible enough that they can get squat right and benefit from it. Thing is that deadlift is an exercise that's beneficial even when you do it with very low weights. It's always good for you. With squats you only see results when you're loading some serious weights and very few people can achieve that, according to him. Which makes a lot of sense to me, I never liked squatting and never felt like it did anything for me. Guess this kinda answers your question about squatting @DJChameleon

[DJChameleon]

Yeah that does answer my question about squatting. I attempted squatting with my trainer trying to show me the proper form and it was super awkward for me and I couldn't do it right so he skipped over me doing it.

I focused on working on my back today with my trainer and boy I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. My back is currently super weak and I was having a hard time with some of the exercises.

[jadis]

Dunno man, I find it kinda strange a trainer should let a relative beginner do the barbell squat. In my understanding it's not an exercise for beginners, though I'm not a professional.

[DJChameleon]

Dunno man, I find it kinda strange a trainer should let a relative beginner do the barbell squat. In my understanding it's not an exercise for beginners, though I'm not a professional.

I agree with this analysis but my trainer is the same type that tried to force a beginner to do 18 mins on the stair master. My FIRST time, I did 10 mins and said "fuck you Tim". Also it was at the tail end of the session so was already worn out.