Arkk's Weight Lifting / Fitness Thread

A coffee spoon of sugar free Metamucil (or other similar water-soluble fiber) with two cups of water before dinner creates a mucilage that slows down the digestion of carbohydrates (a source of appetite is the drop from high blood sugar level after eating food with high glycemic index), takes room (a source of appetite is the stomach not being filled) and regulates intestinal transit.

lendarios_sl said:

Any one doing the crossfit open workouts? I did first week yesterday, 111 was my total, I'm so excited =)

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Late to the party. 13.1 - 118 reps. 13.2 - 5 rounds + 6 reps.

Was damn proud of the 13.2 considering my strict press 1RM is only 115. All my strength is in my legs.

Side note - did Murph this weekend, but started with chugging a beer and ended with another. 45:56. Was an awesome workout.

Optimum nutrition is good and cheap. Instantly dissolves

I use Optimum, personally. It's only 120 calories (I think), doesn't taste TOO bad, and isn't too expensive.

What's this crossfit #s you guys are posting? I've never done crossfit, but I am intrigued by it. Those overhead squat shits look really fucking tough.

I've tried quite a few ON flavors, and the one I ended up sticking with was Caramel Toffee Fudge. It's one that I could drink every day and not get tired of. While there were others I liked, eventually I couldn't stand them. Currently using Controlled Labs Vanilla Cupcake Batter, which is about 8 or 9 cents more per serving. It's awesome, but I think it's probably too "sweet" for as often as I take it.

Lifting, I did my back day yesterday. I started out with squats (since I'm wanting to squat 2x a week, and back day is basically as far away from leg day on each side as I can get) at 145 and they felt great. I'm thinking I may ramp up 5-10 lbs per workout (so 10-20 per week) until I get back to about 185, then slow it down into the 200's. Deadlifts...well, I can't stop stepping on my own dick. I went into it saying I'd do 135 for maybe 2 sets, just to test my back out. I did the first set and was like, shit, that was easy and I didn't feel any pain. Went up to 185 and said the same thing. Did 225 and I was like, ok, I should probably stop. My back is feeling a bit off again, but not nearly as bad as whenever I screwed it up originally. Hopefully I didn't damage it any more and I can keep lifting regularly.

I'm not a big fan of Crossfit, personally (although I've also never done it). My wife has done it for a while though. She loves it. I started her out lifting several years ago, and while she enjoyed it, it wasn't her favorite. Crossfit allowed her to still lift, but with the heavy doses of cardio thrown in. From what I've read/seen though, Crossfit seems dangerous. When you're doing Oly lifts for high reps, your form breaks down and you're more likely to get hurt. That said, my wife brought up a good point; she's never hurt herself during Crossfit, but I've hurt myself a good 3 times (shoulder x2, back). Although, I've got a very gung-ho attitude about lifting. I essentially keep pushing myself until I literally can't do anything else. "I hit my reps this week? Fuck yeah, up that weight next week!" I have a hard time not pushing my limits. That's something I doubt she's doing at Crossfit.

Think the numbers they were posting were the WoD issued out for qualifying for the upcoming crossfit games.
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
115 pound Shoulder to overhead, 5 reps
115 pound Deadlift, 10 reps
15 Box jumps, 24" box

Seananigans_sl said:

You can injure yourself doing anything if you're being stupid.Crossfit probably requires more awareness of your own limitations than other forms of exercise, but it is not inherently more dangerous for intelligent/aware people.

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That, definitely.

You don't even have to be stupid sometimes, though it certainly helps!

Daly_sl said:

Think the numbers they were posting were the WoD issued out for qualifying for the upcoming crossfit games.
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
115 pound Shoulder to overhead, 5 reps
115 pound Deadlift, 10 reps
15 Box jumps, 24" box

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Overhead is pretty easy.
Deadlift is a joke.
No idea about box jumps, but I'd guess... Hmm, idk! I kind of want to go do some, I'd imagine they're pretty fucking tough.

I've always assumed natural test/hGH boosters to be snake oil, but has anyone tried A-HD/GRP-HD from BPI? Or any other similiar products from other brands? My gut tells me i'm better off buying a couple more things of protein powder.

I read T-Nation a lot, and I would say you really need to evaluate where you are in your training before deciding to do something like that. Otherwise you're just pissing money away.

Essentially if you're not at a place where you've been lifting for 4-5+ years and your gains are stalled out, don't bother with it. You can, but you're not going to be training in a way to make it optimally effect you. With something that can generally fuck you up, it's better to wait.

Personally I'd never use them, but if you are, make sure you're 100% ready to train optimally and that you're going to get the best out of it. I recommend reading this thread, as well as others on juicing (they have a whole subforum about it) prior to starting.

TESTOSTERONE NATION | Early Gear Use to Reach Goals - Page 1

Just curious - does testosterone, hgh, or steroids or anything else have any benefit for supporting structures like ligaments or tendons?

Saban_sl said:

I've always assumed natural test/hGH boosters to be snake oil, but has anyone tried A-HD/GRP-HD from BPI? Or any other similiar products from other brands? My gut tells me i'm better off buying a couple more things of protein powder.

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No, people have been making knock off GH boosters for years, none of them work. But there's plenty of shit you can buy on the internet that's legal and is basically a steroid. None of the GH products are legit though.

Itlan_sl said:

Overhead is pretty easy.
Deadlift is a joke.
No idea about box jumps, but I'd guess... Hmm, idk! I kind of want to go do some, I'd imagine they're pretty fucking tough.

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At a glance doing these may seem like a joke, but doing them over and over for 10 minutes with the goal doing as many rounds as possible is no joke.
I usually don't do wods and just stick to my normal routine, but one day me and my buddy had a competition to see who could do more for the wod.
It was 15 minutes of like 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 body weight squats. Towards the end of it I'd say I was near throwing up.

Daly_sl said:

At a glance doing these may seem like a joke, but doing them over and over for 10 minutes with the goal doing as many rounds as possible is no joke.
I usually don't do wods and just stick to my normal routine, but one day me and my buddy had a competition to see who could do more for the wod.
It was 15 minutes of like 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 body weight squats. Towards the end of it I'd say I was near throwing up.

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Oh of course, any gauntlet of body weight exercises will be tough. I didn't mean to downplay the amount of endurance it takes to be able to do these competitions, I'm just saying relative to my current lifting, the first two don't necessarily scare me. The box jumps definitely do.