PhoenixRisen

Bahhh. My gym doesn't have those kinds of bands, just the ones with handles on them which are cylindrical, not flat (if that makes any sense). I weight about 212lbs. and the bands I have access to aren't marked. I asked a gym employee and she looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her what they were rated, then looked even more puzzled when I told her what I wanted to do. Which, really is funny considering they have a newspaper article posted about how to finally do a pull up and it recommends using a band.....fail. Thanks for the advice!

Question: I've been doing inverted rows in order to work my way up to a full on pull up, and I think I'm ready to get to assisted pull ups. I like the idea of using a band, but I'm not sure if the ones my gym has will hold my weight/snap up and take an eye out. Also, I cant figure out the mechanics of actually getting the band under my feet. As an alternative, the gym has one of those pneumatic pull up assist doo-dads, but it just seems stupid to me when I could just as easily do more inverted rows. Any ideas on bands (a make her dance) or the machine?

I usually do a weight dump. If you can't stabilize the weight to make sure it doesn't shift while lifting, you probably shouldn't be doing that much weight anyhow. Although, this is the first time I've seen the Roll of Shame, which looks like it would work just as well.

The Sword--Discography Metallica--The Big Three (Kill 'Em All, Ride the LIghtning, Master of Puppets) and ...And Justice for All Down--Discography Corrosion of Conformity--Wiseblood Black Label Society--Blessed Hellride, Sonic Brew\ Occasionally I'll throw on a smattering of dubstep; Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Nero, etc.

I recently joined the NF community I think I've stumbled into a helpful and motivational group of people here. I have been working out on and off since high school and I want to actually apply myself to lose the weight I've been looking at for a few years. I started to move away from machines this week and go to strictly free weights and/or body weight exercises. Here is a few hang ups I have with this: A few nagging injuries. My knee likes to act up and get all clicky and poppy if I do too much running or too many squats. The running I think I can step up slowly and get my knee to adjust to it, but the squats have always forced it to hurt, no matter the weight. Are there any good exercises to replace it with. I was thinking weighted lunges. Thoughts? The other injury is a shoulder with a few scars from being scoped in high school (damn labrums, gettin all torn up). The only thing I see in Steve's work out plans that I couldn't do would be overhead presses. I haven't been able to do any for years and I'm kind of terrified to try them because last time I did I ended up back in PT. Lastly, I know I can't do any pull ups and I'd love to work towards that goal. I'm thinking inverted rows will work, buuuut my kitchen table will definitely not hold my weight and my girlfriend would kill me if I broke it. Any ideas of what to use at home instead?

Chester, MD (Right across the Bay Bridge from Annapolis). Hopefully moving to Annapolis by the end of this year.

Hello Rebels, My name is Josh and I'm a 24 year old microbiologist residing in Annapolis, MD (but born and raised in Pittsburgh, Go Pens!). I stumbled on to NF from the lifehacker chat yesterday and have been reading it pretty non-stop since. I'm a hair under 6' and sitting at about 220 lbs. I would love to drop about 40 pounds and maintain that weight. I got down to about 190 my freshman year in college, but not the healthy way (cigarettes, stress, and skipping meals). I already have a gym membership and have been going about 3 times a week since last summer, save a sickly December. I've worked on changing my diet for the past year, with some success. My girlfriend and I began the "17 Day" diet which includes three 17 day cycles of no carbs, some carbs, and then a very low carb maintenance cycle. The maintenance cycle is supposed to supplant whatever diet you had before the start of the diet. In reading the intro to the Paleo diet yesterday, I found that it is similar to the first cycle of the diet. I think I could manage a mostly Paleo diet save for milk and beer/alcohol; cause who wants to be the wet towel who wont go drinking with friends because of a diet? After the first two cycles of my current diet, which I've lost 8 pounds with previously, I'd like to move towards the mostly Paleo diet. As far as my exercise goes, I played football in high school, which at least gives me a good base to start with, especially with form. I had gotten away from using free weights in college because all of the small space my college weight room had dedicated to free weights was filled with meat heads doing curls and looking in the mirror. Because of this I switched from free weights to machines, which I know, are the devil. After the Rage Against the Machine article as well as an article on deadspin earlier in the week, I'm in the process of shifting my workout back to free weights and I'm going to try some body weight exercises as well. Lastly, I really would love to quit smoking. I smoke around half a pack a day and just can't quit the damn cancer sticks. The patches and gum don't work for me; it's more the habit of going outside, taking a break from whatever I'm doing, driving, walking, etc. If anyone can help me out with advice it would be awesome. Otherwise, I hope to carry the motivation I've gotten from reading the site for months and even years to come. Just a question: When I level up in life, do I get that satisfying "DING"?