Merry Wanderer

To answer some of cline's questions: It depends. Bikram yoga is a very specific yoga series based on basic Hatha yoga asana. It is the only version of Hot Yoga that I have any experience with. Hot Yoga can be any yoga practice that occurs in a heated room. As for Bikram, it is not a flow class. It is 26 basic hatha yoga postures done in a 40 degree room for 90 minutes. The postures are not moving, and between each is is either a standing rest beat, or 20 seconds of savasana. You don't need to move quickly in Bikram to get your heart rate up. The heat, humidity and the proper contractions in the postures will do that all by itself. As for water, you are allowed to drink water after the third posture, and then any time after that, with the admonition that it happen between postures. Getting through the class is not as hard as one would think, so long as you listen to your body as well as the instructor. Be still between postures, breath normally, and don't do more than your body can. The goal of a Bikram class is to stay in the room for 90minutes. Breathing is mandatory, everything else is optional. I have heard a number of reasons for the lack of inversions in Bikram, but the most common threads are that it is a healing practice for everyone. That and being inverted in the hot room is a recipe for dizziness and falling.

Gymell, I did the WOD yesterday during my warm up before squatting. Good Gods, what a difference. Much more depth, and comfortable range of motion. I've taken weight off while I work on form, but the mobility stretches really helped. Thanks.

Thanks all for the advice. The rails on the squat rack can't be moved, so I think I'll just take that as a sign that I need more depth, which other people have been telling me also. Definitely going to look into the chalk alternatives, and maybe try the hook grip during my warm up sets.

I am the 1%! Funny how that sounds almost dirty these days ... I appreciate you looking gymell. A clarification question: When you say that I need to drive out my knees, do they need to drive out to the sides? Or forwards?

Thanks Mir. I've been thinking that deloading may be necessary, as the last couple reps of a work out are getting shallower. You know, this is the first time I think that I've seen anyone talk about the top of the squat. Everywhere I've looked, they talk about whats going on down at the bottom, where the feet are, angle of the back, etc. Now I have new things to look at and work on. Thank you

There's a sign right in front of the squat racks that says "Due to memeber's allergies, we do not allow chalk". So I'm stuck with working on grip strength in other ways. I haven't tried mixed grip, but will give it a shot the next time. What are towel pullups? Is it throwing a towel over the bar, grabbing the towel and doing a pullup holding on to the towel?

Thanks for the welcome! You're absolutely right JediNickD. Too much changed, all at once. So, now its a matter of re-prioritizing, and slowly adding in the good habits. If I add them slowly, and it should be easier for them to form into actual habits that stick around.

That may be. My lower body has always been much stronger than my upper, so I suppose that it makes sense that my Squats will be better off comparatively. For now. I guess I'll just keep on keeping on. All of my lifts are progressing on an upwards curve, even if they do have little dips, now and then, so I'll take that as a good sign.

So, I consider myself very new to barbell training. I've been working through the stronglifts 5x5 program for about several months now. And I have questions! Squats The other day, I was doing squats, in the rack you can see in my form check video here. I got down to the bottom of my flexibility, started to push up, and my body said no. Gravity, doing her thing, decided to pull down on me and the 325lbs on my shoulders. I let go of the bar, and let it fall behind me, the maybe 30 cm it was above the rails on the side, standing up at the same time to make sure that there are no parts of me under the bar. Horrendous crash, and suddenly there's 2 different staff at my side making sure that I'm not hurt. My question, with a bit of looking back, is, did I do it right? There was no way that I was going to get the bar over to the hooks. But looking back, I probably could have taken the weight forwards, gone to my knees and laid the bar down on the rails, instead. But I get the feeling that that may have been more likely to get me hurt. Deadlifts So, everywhere I look, I see that one is supposed to Deadlift more, and in many cases much more, than they Squat. I am having trouble with that. I have only failed one squat workout since I've started, which puts it at 325lb atm. I'm about to deload my deadlift from 275lb, because I'm having troubles with it. I'm finding that a little discouraging, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. One thing that I am noticing is that my grip is a huge sticking point. My hands cannot hold closed with the weights I'm using through the entire movement. I find that in order to make it work, I have to re-grip the bar every rep. I worry that I'm not actually getting my 5 reps in, but rather am doing 5 singles, with no rest, because I will grip the bar, lift, put it down, regrip, reset stance, repeat. If it makes a difference, I'm using a double over-hand grip for my deadlifts. Any help and advice is appreciated!

It was quiet enough at the gym today that I could get someone to record my squats for the first time. I've tried to incorporate everything that I have read on the internet, but want to check that I've got it at least close to correct. I don't believe that I'm going deep enough, but any time that I go deeper, the weight comes forward, onto my toes, and I worry that I will pitch face first into the racks. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello All! I stumbled upon the Rebellion not that long ago, and because I usually have a horrible time putting myself out anywhere, I lurked in the shadows to really figure out what was going on here. I have proven to myself lately that I suck at creating good habits, and lately have been having a serious case of the "Good Enoughs". That's not good enough, and have decided that things get better today. My Journey so far: Things got underway a couple of years ago, when I discovered the joy of Lindy Hop and Swing dancing in general. Going from close to absolutely sedentary to dancing regularly got me to the proper side of 300lbs. Now I'm dancing 10 hours a week, and competing/performing with a wonderful group of people. The group I'm competing with does lifts and throws as part of our performances, and so I found that not only did I need to be good with my feet, but I had to be strong. I got a gym membership through my work, had some personal training to get myself underway, and promptly didn't go for 6 months. New Years resolutions this year, included an entire re-boot of my life, changed my diet, changed my living habits, changed my love life, and went back to the gym. I've lost 20lbs since Jan 1, putting me at 240lb now. But most of the habits haven't stuck. The only one that I've been consistent with has been getting to the gym 3 times a week, and I think that I'm un-doing some of the good work I've put in, I've certainly stalled out my re-comp. I want to get down to 225, and I think that it is perfectly possible, I just need to get back into gear. I have Dragons to Slay, and it's time to get to work.