Workout: What did you do today?

[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

[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.

[jimmy jazz]

Tbh I don't see anything wrong with beginners doing squat, bench, deadlift or any other compound as long as form is perfect and weight is sensible.

Have you seen some of these bench and squat failures on YouTube? There are people who are skinny beans doing hundreds of kilos, no wonder they failed. I saw one kid snap his arm. How do they decide what weight to use? I swear some people just pluck a number out of thin air and think 'that sounds good I'll lift that'.

[FETCHER.]

I done a push day at the gym today but I skipped my cardio before it. I was a bit scared of pushing myself during cardio because of the pain I had on Tuesday.

I usually have 4 days per week for the gym on my plan and due to laziness at the beginning of the week it means I need to do Friday, Saturday & Sunday now .

Edit: as above Jimmy: I agree there is nothing wrong with beginners doing the exercise so long as the weight isn't overloaded. Work on form with next to no weight then slowly increase it

[DJChameleon]

Tbh I don't see anything wrong with beginners doing squat, bench, deadlift or any other compound as long as form is perfect and weight is sensible.

This is part of the reason why it's not good for beginner's they don't know proper form and a large majority of the time are too intimidated to ask someone for help with form and they just toss whatever weight they pluck out of thin air to attempt which is another bad thing.

My back is still sore from yesterday so I did what I normally do anyways which is cardio the day after training with my PT. 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was tempted to do my jump rope routine but I will do it next week. I haven't done it in awhile.

[Guybrush]

I am a newb, but did receive some instructions on proper way to squat some years back. I'm gonna check out some YouTube vids on proper form in the coming days.

Spent a little time in our gym today doing situps, pushups, squats, bicep curls probably and whatever you call it when you're on a bench and lift manuals straight up.

Finally using our gym, so will try to do something there every day, even if it's just 10 minutes.

It's not pretty and could def use some paint or refurbishing in general, but this is what our cheap home gym looks like.



Importantly, and something you don't see in the pic, it has a TV so I can watch Seinfeld while exercising.

Otherwise, it's got some second hand stuff in it. The treadmill was too heavy and complicated to get out, so was left there by the previous owners.

Edit:

Btw, thought I might try out these 3 (as well as other stuff):

[DJChameleon]

nice set up you got there Guybrush.

I skipped out on the gym today which is usually my chest day. I'm still getting over my fever symptoms that I got from taking the covid booster on Friday.