darthgall

Sorry for delay in response... my army computer doesn't like nerdfitness forums... Fun ACFT news update: due to COVID-19 stop movement orders, the Army hasn't been able to distribute weightlifting stuff to as many units as it wanted. So it officially becomes the test of record on October 1, but... a failing score will not count against you for one year. Army still wants everyone to take it in FY21, but won't ding you for failing until FY22. Probably smart, a slower phase in to give everyone a chance to try it out. Anyway, a few points: 1. Yes, 3RM for deadlift is what I'm training towards. 2. Concerns about injury are mild... I guess I'm just noticing my body isn't as resilient as it was in 20's and 30's... it's a little easier to "tweak" things, and when I do tweak them, it takes longer to feel back to normal. Time constraints are minimal. I have my own trap bar, and some plates, in the basement... it just feels easier mentally to "pop down to the basement for 20 minutes" than think "uh after dishes gotta walk dogs then put in hour workout". Nice to hear "add reps / then add weight and drop reps" technique works for others, too. Will probably keep it up. I'll look into 5/3/1. Here's a question: how do i test a max? I haven't "maxed out" on lifts since college which was (oh good lord) two decades ago. Just go in on deadlift and day and keep adding 10's on each side until I cannot get 3 reps done? -Mick.

Hello All, I'm an Army Reservist and the Army is switching to a new fitness test, the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), which can be read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Combat_Fitness_Test One of the events is a trap-bar deadlift, 3 rep, max weight, and score is based on the weight. My question, what's best set / rep scheme to build for that type of event? Me: early 40's, have a basement and decent little home gym there, even bought myself a trap bar similar to what Army's going to use. How I work out: Short strength workouts where I pop to basement, do two lifts, alternating them, and that's it. Usually do 3 strength workouts, then a run day. I don't schedule rest days b/c married w/ two kids so inevitably at least 2x a week, "life happens" and those become rest days. Day 1: Bench & Deadlift. Day 2: NF Rings - Muscle-Up progression (so pullups and ring dips) Day 3: Front squat & weighted lunges Day 4: run 2-3 miles, sometimes sprints Repeat I progress slowly b/c I've... not injured per se, but strained my back in the past. Just started 200 lbs. on deadlift, do 3X5. Next workout, 3X6, then 3X7 then 3X8, then I add weight, go to 210 lbs. and go back down to 3X5 and work up from there again. That slows down progress, which is fine, but adhere's to NF "add a little of something, either weight or reps, every workout", which seems to work decently. I'm pretty happen with overall workout b/c I've gotten into good habits of getting into basement and doing at least a little something psychical every day. What I'm looking for: I don't think the set/rep scheme I'm doing on dead lifts is right to prepare for a 3-rep max for the ACFT. Is there a good program for that lift, or set rep scheme that's better? Another consideration: in a good unit, you'll know when you're taking an ACFT about 90-180 days out. But, they're not all good units... and lots of Soldiers have had experience of showing up to formation and hearing "Go change, you're taking a PT test today." So something that would allow a good base for "spontaneous ACFTs" but with a planned peak for a scheduled test would be good.

Thought I'd bump / throw a line in the water and see what bites... Anyone in NW suburbs? I'm in Lake Zurich, just out beyond Palatine, and looking for some nerd friends to hit movies, roll some D20s, get together and spar (why not?), campfires, craft beer, bookstores, you get the idea. I'm on the FB group, but that's pretty focused on Chicago proper, and with house/kids, I'm much more based in the 'burbs of SW Lake County.

Had a bad food weekend, but am back on track for today... one day at a time, right? Sprints... not explicitly, but been playing soccer once a week, which involves lots of little sprints. Handstands, improving. Pullups, imiproving... up to two sets of 8 close-grip pullups. Tough... just about maxes me out. Think I'll start working on close grip pullups with a 1-second hold at the top now...

here we go. Goal 1: Do a handstand for one minute Starting point: can hold a HEADstand against a wall for a few seconds Method: http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2012/12/bodyweight-fitness-for-travellers-and-vagabonds-the-1-minute-handstand-2/ Goal 2: Ability to one set of 15 pullups Starting point: can do 5 close-grip pullups Method: continue with Convict Conditioning progression (currently on close-grip pullup step) Goal 3: sprint once a week for conditioning Starting point: sometimes sprint once a week, sometimes not. Goal 4: Lose 10 pounds (down to 180 from 190-ish...) Method: low carb, mostly paleo-ish diet Mick.

Hey, Read both You Are Your Own Gym (YAYOG) and Convict Conditioning (CC). My opinions: The good: I like CC because it's very easy to operationalize. In other words, there's a concrete plan, with concrete steps and concrete targets/goals, and a concrete next step to take. I like YAYOG because it seems to me that it's built to develop both strength and conditioning (more sprint-type conditioning than marathon-type conditioning, I think), which seems to me to be a more "holistic" or functional, well-rounded fitness program to me. The not so good: CC does pure strength, and not much conditioning. Also, some of the progressions are ridiculously easy, but some are really, really hard (going from close squats to uneven squats is really hard for me right now). YAYOG does not really have a specific, ironed out program (to be fair: I'm talking about the book; I have the iphone app, and suspect it's more strucutred there, but haven't delved into it). My experience: CC has done a ton of good for me... but I suspect it's b/c it's a simple, idiot-proof program that made a ton of sense to me, clicked with me, and I therefore stuck with it for quite a while... months at a time, which is longer than I've stuck with any single program before. For that alone, it gets a gold ribbon for me. But I'd love to mix in some more conditioning. Which leads me to... I guess Mark Lauren has a new book out called "Body By You", which is geared towards women, but it's a fully laid out program, telling exactly what to do, and with small steps between. From what I've seen (I've not read the whole book, only excerpts/web discussions) one step in CC would take three or more steps in BBY. Frankly, even though it's geared towards women, I'm considering picking it up, because some of the harder exercises in CC are getting tougher and tougher to progress in; each one seems like a quantum leap up, and this may help me break them down into smaller steps, and I suspect it'll work in more conditioning than CC. So, when I finally get that genie out of the bottle, I'm going to ask for a men's version of BBY, with progressive exercises and conditioning, and laid out in an easy-to-understand, four-days-a-week routine... Mick.