King_mob

This feels very narcissistic of me, posting this, but fuck it i really like this board and have a lot of appreciation and respect for the people who post. I'm off. For awhile. Factors has arisen and i'll not be in a position to take an active part in any online community. Nothing drastic, not been arrested yet (they will never find the body), just need to put my energy elsewhere for the foreseeable future. As this is so open ended, i thought i would post this to say one, i've not just got bored and wandered over to T-Nation to chat bro-speak, and two, a big thankyou to the whole community. You guys rock. This is one of the most supportive, accepting and open online communities devoted to fitness, that is commendable and as soon as i get the opportunity, i'll be happily back with a vengeance. This probably didn't need posting about, but as i said, i like you guys. Keep a beer cold for me. Now, everyone - go hulk smash.

135 on the squat was a big deal for me, and took me about a month to really nail. I was ignoring my recovery something chronic at the time though, but it's still a good example - you learn to run when you know how to walk. Keep at it Erik, you've already overcome the hardest challenge by starting.

Nice workout! Good numbers too, keep at it, you got this in the bag.

Not at all, that is in my humble opinion and ideal mix of strength and conditioning. Swimming is a great recovery tool, as its light enough not to impede on neural recovery, but gets the blood flowing to the damaged muscle tissue to help it regrow. You've got a really great attitude and mindset going, don't let PT's or gym rats discourage you or try to tell you how it should be done, you will reap the rewards for you hard efforts and adhering to sound exercise principles. Don't forget to leverage the power of this community too, there are lots and lots of very knowledgeable folks here who will guide and support you in this.

This will stop once the weight gets heavier. Leave 3-4 minutes rest between sets. Your strength training not doing cardio. You can never start to low. Start where you begin. Leave your ego at the door of the weight room. The weight will increase when your ready for it to. There will always be someone who lifts bigger numbers, but your lifting weights for you, not them. For barbell rows search for "pendlay rows" on youtube. They are not on the SS dvd as Mark Rippetoe prefers teaching power cleans, which are cool but not absolutely necessary in my opinion.

Better yet start a log http://nerdfitness.com/community/forumdisplay.php?13-Workout-Battle-Logs Good luck with SL, 5x5 is a very popular program for a reason. Eat plenty and sleep more, kick ass and take names! You'll find NF is a very supportive forum, you've got a whole community behind so go smash some iron.

I could not agree more.

It was more for depth than weight. Quite happy to start a log full of 300lb quarter squats though

Done. Though i would point out, from looking at your current progress, you already have me beat by 60lbs in the squat and 30lb in the deadlift. Considering the rate of progression for each of our programs (15lbs p/week in the squat, 10lb in the deadlift and 5lb in the bench for myself, while i am making the assumption from your battle log that you are raising your lifts 10lb a week, each) within 6 weeks before the end of the challenge you would still be in the lead on every lift. So congratulations. You just won. As an aside - can i suggest videos be posted for PR attempts? Otherwise i will happily post a 440lb squat for 20 reps tonight and be done with it.

Lot of good answers here http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?6267-Should-I-skip-my-off-day-in-order-to-get-my-workout-in Here's the skinny - if it happens, it happens. Try not to let it, but life gets in the way sometimes. Don't make a habit of it, but don't worry when it's unavoidable.

I refuse to take part as this would involve me actually lifting weights, i am a keyboard lifter and proud, sir. Now, if you are suggesting we all talk about lifting weights, and deriding people who's opinions differ from our own based on purely anecdotal sources, then i am your man.

Bingo. Listening to your body will always see the better result. Saying that i think it's important to point out where the conventional wisdom is wrong (omg you needz 4kg bcaas postworkout out or u wont gain omg newb), people can easily get duped into thinking something said with authority is a decent replacement for fact, for a good example refer to the broscience video a few posts up. Or anything i post, ever. EDIT: To that end here is a very neat and easy to understand article on around workout nutrition.

That's a really touching comment and one that i think anyone who has ever strived to accomplish something or overcome something can relate to, i certainly can and it struck a chord with me. That's the thing that keeps me coming back to the bar, because of what i can't do with it, yet. That's a touched comment in that your fucking touched in the head and most likely wanted by several international agencies. To be fair though i knew going out in those heels was a mistake on my part and JD was a complete gentleman the whole time.

Honestly, either way will work fine. Do them back to back, don't make a habit of it, and don't expect the second workout to be a personal best, and you'll be fine. Missing a workout, if you don't make a habit of it (your noticing the theme here i no doubt) and you'll be fine. Not ideal but your not taking a step back by any means.

JD you are a constant breath of fresh, reasonable air. Spatzcat >> ignore things like muscle confusion, there are unfounded bro-science. The linear gains JD is talking about will take months, possibly years to exhaust and are your quickest way forward right now. Complexity can be introduced when its needed - here's a hint, a lot of people (myself, very happily, included) do not need it. At the beginner stage you will be able to add weight onto the bar every workout. If you are not then i would respectfully suggest you are not making the best use of your time in the gym. (side note - learn what the term beginner really means, and it does not mean "one who does not know what they are doing" but instead "one who can still benefit from linear beginner gains") Get a program. Ahem, sorry, i mean to say GET A PROGRAM. Your progress will be made or broken by your dedication and consistency, not how fancy your methods are. If your getting bored then by all means shake it up, but keep consistent. Have something you can constantly progress on.

Well pre/intra/post workout nutrition is not a mandatory practice, its optimal but i would spend more time thinking about my diet in general and how to improve that than get caught up in the question of whether or not i am taking enough supplements around my workout. The field is really, i mean really, deep. I don't understand half of the effects of athletic nutrition. But an effective and sensible diet is always going to be an effective diet, and thats because it is simple compared to the science. That said, its generally a good idea to take in some carbs and protein after your workout (protein for anabolism, carbs to get insulin going and stave off protein catabolism) and have carbs during the day before training will ensure you have plenty of energy for the workout. Don't overthink it though, and if you do, then spend a lot of time reading the research and avoiding anecdotal evidence on forums or blogs.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not a critic of paleo by any stretch, and as we cook communally in my house and my house mate is paleo i end up eating it fairly often, but i do think unless you have a real gluten intolerance you want see any drastic changes. I know i didn't. My aforementioned flat mate is very gluten intolerant, so obviously the mileage varies. One point worth making however is this - paleo relies on unprocessed whole foods, and plenty of veg. It IS one of the healthiest ways to eat, so that in itself is a positive effect which, although subtle, is definitely there.

You had to call me on it didnt ya? I type too quickly, my dyslexia kicks into high gear, and either whole words or large sections of sentences get left out and it just looks weird at best and unintelligible at worst. http://www.archive.org/web/web.php if you'd like to see what i REALLY said before all the careful editing to make it seem i was right all along.

omg you newbz dont know anything if you dont do curlz to failure adn eat protien + bcaas intraworkout you get catabolizm straight away my god you r such newbz bet you dont even lift i can curl like 300lbs moar tehn you i bet newbz EDIT: I'm tempted to delete the above as it's actually getting me angry reading it, despite having written it myself and being deeply satirical. I always chug a litre of whole milk post workout, for reasons explained here.

Don't worry to much about the time after your workout, protein metabolism is raised for around 24 to 48 hours post anaerobic depletion and significant micro-trauma (or weightlifting as the proles call it). Post workout nutrition is a very good idea from both a behavioural point of view (eating food is good) and a physiological point of view (there is a decrease in protein anabolism as you get further away from your workout, while protein catabolism stays fairly high). Here is a nice explanation of the mechanics if you are interested. But don't sweat it. 45 minutes is fine. Bro-science will tell you otherwise, but that's what we have real science for, ignoring bro's.

We had a nice chat re: training variables over on this thread if you want anything more particular than the very sound advice already given here. Also check these very well done guides.

Bar speed is a complex variable, and thinking about it too much can over complicate training. While a few of us on this board are not just nerds who do fitness, but nerds about fitness, and love large scale derailment of threads so we can gush over the latest series of studies on any given topic in weight lifting, there is always the inescapable "at the end of the day...." conclusion which we all must abide by. So, at the end of the day, bar speed is not something that has to be actively programmed. Lift as fast as good form allows, like Knightwatch pointed out. If you are able to move a weight very fast indeed, you are probably capable of lifting a heavier weight. If you are grinding your reps for hours on end, swallow some pride and stop acting like a bro and lower the weight so you can push the heavy thing properly.

No i think you explained it quite nicely Some other phrases you may see - intensity is loosely defined as a combination of weight on the bar and the work you do with it. It helps to think of it as the amount of muscular tension your creating in a given body part, which is generated by load (weight) on the bar vs force you put against said load. This is a very loose definition though, and one that only really applies to strength conditioning. Volume is the amount of weight moved in a workout, which is simply sets x reps x weight on the bar for a given movement. Again this is a loose definition but perfectly suitable for our needs. Words on volume - i have very fluid views on volume at the minute (due in no small part to the conversations had on this very board) and i am leaning to thinking i see volume more as a tolerance level than as a metric, but i do think that large volume is not 100% required, especially in beginners. It will not suddenly cause overtraining, this occurs with 2-3 months of pushing your luck and even then, not in 100% of cases, so if you can get a workout in more than 3x a week, and you are not sacrificing intensity by doing so, you can safely. But high intensity, moderate volume, 3x a week is just fine, and many people adhere to that kind of protocol.

That's admirable that you are able to reign in your enthusiasm enough to be able to take your time with things, get them correct from the outset and you avoid all sorts of mistakes later. One thing i will say though - deadlifts are very very difficult to perform incorrectly. The only way you can screw it up is by heaving the thing up with a rounded back, which you will know you are doing as your L7 will have popped neatly out. Deadlifting, mechanically, is picking something up. You do it already, honestly. There are literally hundreds of people here who will be very helpful and supportive if you want to post form video's and have them checked.