J.Sark

Hi Doaheem, I've just posted something similar in here, as after not playing videogames for a while, I've came back to relax for a couple of days, and a couple of days have turned into 15 days of intensive gaming. I'm still working out and taking care of my responsiblities, but I'm not using my time as proactively as I should (reading, learning, etc). For me it's League of Legends, that game just makes me feel alive like nothing else. I used to play Starcraf 2, but after a couple of hours I would be mentally exhausted, as the game is super intense and it's like an effort to me (I was playing at Diamond level, not super high but it's already intense enough that you don't stop for a second). For me, 1 game turns into 15 like nothing, and time is gone just like that. I can quit completely, but I wonder too if there is a way to transfer this passion to something else. Hope I'm not derailing your thread, just wanted to let you know that you are not the only one, and although this is not something creating havoc in my life, it's an issue and it's scary to see that you are not controlling it. Are you an introvert? I believe this could be a factor, as even when I wasn't playing videogames (3-4 years), I'm not really a very social person. I have a girlfriend and friends, but I'm very selective with who I'm spending my time with (I would stay in reading, watching movies, etc).

Hi there! I wanted to ask here something that maybe some of you have experience with. It's been a while since I joined this community, although I'm not really active on the forums, I usually visit the site and I really enjoyed reading Steve's book 4 years ago while I was travelling on my own for the first time in my life through Budapest. I'm doing alright in life, I have a lovely girlfriend, a decent job, I have no financial struggles right now and I'm in fairly decent shape (love working out, calisthenics and some lifting). The thing is, although I'm not on holidays, August is very slow work wise (I work from home), so I've decided to give the videogame League of Legends another try (I used to play a lot (like a lot)) to let some pressure off. I've been off videogames for a really long time, and it's a bit scary how fast time goes by when I'm playing. I have a rush that I barely have doing anything else. It's not really an escape, I like to read a lot as well, but the video game is so much more stimulating, I feel an energy that I don't feel doing anything else besides working out. I don't plan to keep gaming for much longer, but my question is: How would you transfer this "passion" for something else? I'm not saying I need to get out of videogames forever (as a matter of fact playing some graphic adventures like Broken Sword in German are helping me learn the language), but it would be interesting if someone has ideas about how to feel the same way about more productive things, where 12 hours just go by and I really enjoy it a lot. I do meditation 40 minutes a day (20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes before bed). Anyone wants to have a conversation about this? Cheers!

Yeah I mean, I'm ok doing calisthenics. Like I love it. My pullup up bar is my most loyal friend. I just wanted to know if it would be a good idea to train more, but I guess it's not. I know you work arms in pullups too, but I always thought I had small arms in comparison to my back; and I have a lot of time in my hands (and arms) so why not; I kind of enjoy the exercise. I worry a little bit about leg and lower back, because I can't deadlift and I'm doing goblet squats, but more than 25kg is hard to hold. I guess I'll go for more volume.

Hello renegades, the thing is that I'm back in my hometown and I don't have many things to do. I've been doing barbell training (starting strength) for 5 months now, but here I don't have access to a gym with barbells or squat racks (there is no such thing here) so I'm back to calisthenics (I do some exercise with an old barbell I have, but it's not olympic; mostly overhead press and bicep curls). The thing is I'm training 3 days per week, full body workout. I wonder if it could be a good idea to add more exercises, more days or something like that. I'm afraid it would be detrimental to my progress, but I have never been in a situation like this (and I guess most people here neither) and so I ask for some opinions or some resources about it. I already stretch everytime after my workouts, specially squat mobility flexibility as I'm planning to go back to barbells as soon as I can. So that's it, have a nice day people!

I do this aswell, and I'm a strong believer that taking a cold shower every day no matter what for 4 or 5 minutes will change your life. You learn about yourself, and how to deal with excuses (even after a year, some days when it's snowing outside your mind is going to be "nah, take a hot shower, you deserve it blablabla"). And you feel awesome after it.

It's ok. I actually appreciate when people give me advice; you don't have to take it, they are just trying to be helpful. If you believe what they say is incorrect just tell them, or tell them ok and keep doing it the way you want. I've met some cool people over there in the last 5 months, and usually it's easy to tell who are the experienced lifter and who are the ones fucking around; if you see a guy squatting 400 lbs you probably should consider his advice a little bit more seriously than some other random guy.

Yeah I keep working on it, I'm stretching and doing hip mobility exercises every day now and I think I'm starting to see some improvements. It feels better https://youtu.be/GfjQrMw0zGo?t=45s I feel like if I stay more horizontal I can lift better. If I try to keep my chest up I get an arch on my back.

I'm trying to use a stance with feet pointing almost forward instead of in a 30º angle and I think it's going better, still some tilt but looks like something that can be worked on. I've been trying to follow a new tutorial and it felt way more natural today working out: I'm sharing in case somebody finds it useful. You can comment what you think about it too. Merry Christmas!

What cues do you use guys?

Of course, any advice is appreciated. The thing is, when I think of coming up from the bottom position I think about rising my hips up; so I don't cue anything for the legs, but I'll play around with cues and stuff and see if I can get it done correctly. This doesn't happen with lower weights than 60 kg. Usually I stay at the bottom in my warm up sets (this seemed to help with the adductor pain)

That looks extremely useful. Thank you very much, you are by far the kindest person I have ever met over the internet. I will keep trying to fix my form although I'm not sure how, things seems to unbalance when I start driving my hips up but I'll try different approaches as I will have a lot of time now on Christmas.

Thanks for sharing. Do you usually go to the doctor or you can difference by yourself what kind of injury do you have? I have been stretching and working my weight back again, and when I reach 60 kg my hip tilts to one side, I think it's pretty obvious. In this video I'm squatting 70 kg for 3 reps and I think it's pretty noticeable. My questions is should I just stop squatting, try to work it out, seek professional help and if so, who from? What about learning to squat from another source? Rippetoe emphasizes to squat the weight up with the hips. Nothing hurts now, but it seems pretty bad this way. PS: I feel like I'm abusing the forum but I don't know what else to do.

I'll try to stretch a little bit more (I never do, my flexibility is very poor I believe). I can bodyweight squat with a little bit of pain but I guess it's better than doing nothing. Like holding the position at the bottom I assume it's good for the adductor. I'll see if I can progress on that, I might try foam rolling next time at the gym and I'll take it easy. I guess I'll stick to press and bench press and chin ups, maybe some curls in the meanwhile and a lot of stretching. I'll see how my body reacts to the deadlift next week. Thanks for sharing

First of all thanks to all of you for your help, it's relieving seeing that everyone goes through this kind of stuff. Second of all, today in the locker room I noticed that I have a tightness in the right leg, I guess this could have made some kind of imbalance while squatting. I have been reading on the internet and everyone talks about foam rolling, but I have no idea how, when, or if I should do this. When should I start doing this? Which parts should I involve? Before or after workout? Everyday? If you know about some comprehensive guide or something I would appreciate it, as most of webs show a lot of complicated exercises and variations and I don't know where to begin.

I squat 3 times per week, I'm trying to do the linear progression adding 2,5 kg each workout until it becomes harder. Still, 62,5 kg didn't feel like too much of a strain, not enough to injure something at least. My hidration is regular I guess, I didn't think about that being a factor but usually I drink between 1 and 2 liters of water per day. The thing is it takes long to get rid of problems like the butt wink but I end up screwing another part of the body. I don't know if I should rest completely from squats and deadlifts, or if deadlifts are okay... I was planning to keep doing bench press and then bodyweight workout (I love doing pullups and chinups, pushups, etc) until things get better... but I'm scared now of squatting ever again. Have you ever had any injury? How did you take it?