Arkk's Weight Lifting / Fitness Thread

I just realized how fucking long Greyworm's arms are. You actually have some pretty great genetics, former fat ass. Go deadlift.

Marfan syndrome?!

Eidal_sl said:

Greyform,

I'm curious what your routine looks like.

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I had a trainer I saw twice a week and he gave me different things to do on our off days he changed it all the time so there really was not a set routine. I did take my lunch break every day 4-5 times a week and put in time on the stairmaster. According to that machine I was burning 750 calories per visit but just like my "body fat machine" that is subjective the important thing is I was there doing the work.

for the after challenge work I put in a home gym and plan to do a lot of high intensity interval training on in-between days of weight lifting. That gym is mostly resistant bands, punching bag, elliptical, jump rope, pull up bar, decline bench for work with a medicine ball and a sauna... Have to have a sauna I can post a pic (of the gym) if anyone cares to see it

Kuriin_sl said:

Marfan syndrome?!

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I'm 5'9" so I am guessing not.

Itlan_sl said:

former fat ass. Go deadlift.

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the funny thing is I really did not think I was that bad until I saw both pics side by side. It's probably obvious but I am wearing the same shorts in both pictures.

Dude I'm serious. Go deadlift. Those long ass arms will make you hvae like a 3 inch rom. You could probably pull 800 beltless.

Really I just want to stay lean, at my age it makes a lot more sense then putting that much stress on a 54 year old back. I do put 16 plates on the sled but no back issues there.

Question - on leg press machine, is there any difference in leverage between the lower weight rack and the upper weight rack? Or is the distribution the same whether you put 2 on top and 2 on bottom or all 4 in either position?

As far as I know, no. The weight is being loaded onto the platform and that force is being transferred to your body. The only thing that will affect you is leg position, so legs low is more quad dominant, legs high will recruit glutes and hammies.

Greyform_sl said:

Really I just want to stay lean, at my age it makes a lot more sense then putting that much stress on a 54 year old back. I do put 16 plates on the sled but no back issues there.

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This makes sense, given the propensity for injuries from deadlifting. People always say ("Well with good form...") but, well, you know how that goes.

I've never injured myself during a deadlift. I've injured myself on both bench and squat, however.

Eidal_sl said:

This makes sense, given the propensity for injuries from deadlifting. People always say ("Well with good form...") but, well, you know how that goes.

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yup, we go for a new max and form goes out the window and were kicking ourselves for being a dumbass. I don't want to kick myself (again) for being a dumbass. I am always shooting for new highs whether it be in reps or weights. I read somewhere once you should always be trying to out do your last workout in some form. Either in weight or reps. That has worked for me.

Deadlifts are still a great exercise, but there is a key difference in using them for size and using them for health. For health/fitness results, you should lift just as heavy as you ca reliably do sets of 6 and you aren't in pain after 3 of them. Add reps as you progress and when you get to 3 sets of 8, add a little bit of weight and drop back down to sets of 6. Like 5-10lb in plates, then try and work it back up to 8. The injuries tend to come from the guys who are doing 5x or pushing their max up, which is great if you are bodybuilding or powerlifting, less so for keeping yourself injury free.

You only -have- to go heavy if your goal is to load on muscle relatively quickly. Otherwise, it is better to stay within safe limits and slowly increment your weight up over time. And capping out at a certain weight where you don't have the grip strength to maintain a grip or you feel like it is heavy enough to hurt you, just stop, drop the weight a little bit and keep adding reps over time. Substantially safer method and you still get the benefits of a solid compound exercise.

Greyform_sl said:

yup, we go for a new max and form goes out the window and were kicking ourselves for being a dumbass. I don't want to kick myself (again) for being a dumbass. I am always shooting for new highs whether it be in reps or weights. I read somewhere once you should always be trying to out do your last workout in some form. Either in weight or reps. That has worked for me.

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Progressive overload. Whether you're increasing reps, weight, or intensity, you should be moving forward each workout.

And this is why I do 5/3/1, because it's a good mix of high reps and pushing maxes.

So I am starting to look at houses and I am wondering how big of a room I would need for: a treadmill, squat box, bench, dumbbells and plates? I ask beside because I have the bench (no bar yet or plates) and the free weights but will be buying the squat box, plates, and tread after I buy the house.

Depending on how much room you like around you and if more than one person is going to be doing shit in there at once, you could probably get away with a 12x16 room no problems. Use the rack for bench pressing and slide the bench out of the way when squatting (unless it is a combined bench/press combo, then you obviously need to leave that away. You want an extra 2 feet on each side of the bar when squatting, so if you are using a 7 foot bar, 11 ft is decent, then a few extra inches for safety. Since you wont be jogging forward much with your bar, and the racks tend to be like 5ftx5ft square, that gives you a good 10 feet to work with a bench perpendicular to one long wall, the treadmill opposite in the corner to the rack, and the plates along the wall perpendicular facing the bench. Free weights can be kept next to the plates or along the wall next to them near the squat rack.

Just make sure you get that locking foam floor padding, because accidentally dropping a plate is going to fuck up some normal floor hah.

I have no idea what layout you would have available to you, but setting it up like this would give you freedom on all sides for everything but the tread action, which you shouldn't be needing lots of lateral movement anyway.

Get theseRubber Mat, Black, 4 ft. x 6 ft. - Tractor Supply Co.for your floor. Hopefully it's not a plywood subfloor, because you'll still probably destroy the shit out of it.

I would highly advise you get a rack and then simply buy a moveable bench to put inside the rack.

You'll be able to use the pins to not die going for PRs.

Yeah I'd recommend the same thing. When I get around to finishing my home gym (just need the rack) I'm gonna ditch my combo bench and just get a normal one. I don't see myself doing 350+ unassisted benches at home(or probably ever), and for squatting that's plenty and then some, so set on everything but the rack. Wouldn't get a treadmill personally, simply because I live in SoCal and I already cycle a shitload, so no real need for it.

Some townhomes I am currently looking at have basements (finished and not) so thankfully it would be a contrete floor. I would get the mats so that it doesn't bust up the iron free weights.

I currently have aHoist workout benchandiron hex dumbbells(15lb - 75) with a 2 tier rack that holds up to the 50 or 55lb weights I think. I might just leave the big guys on the floor or eventually get one of those pyramid racks for the big guys.

I never thought about using the squat box for the "back half" of the bench even though I do that all the time anyway so that will help with space / cost. I guess the only question now is how high my future basement ceiling needs to be so that I can run on the treadmill as I am 6'4" already before adding in the tread.

Thanks for the input guys. Appreciate it.

That's a pretty beastly bench, and yeah, definitely get a rack and use that with it for maximum awesome. Just cut the bench T bullshit I mspainted out and that's a great place to put any super heavy weights/the bench when you aren't using them. Also, 7'6" is pretty standard size for most buildings, so unless you jump or something (or want to do clean+presses) you should be fine with that height.

Do you have plates for the rack already? If not, I'd suggest investing in bumpers man. Rogue has them, they're more expensive obviously but I think it might save you in the long run if you plan on deadlifting often.

If not, I guess it's not a big deal and just go with the cheapest weights. I THINK you can also get an attachment to the rack so you could do dips.

Also, that bench is pretty much perfect as long as it stays down on the ground. Does it allow decline? If so, you should be able to hit the bench from all 3 of the most popular angles. Pretty solid set-up so far imo.