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This video did the rounds recently: it shows a powerlifter, weightlifter, strongman and bodybuilder competing at bodyweight barbell squats for five minutes. Go watch, it's fun: ...of course I had to try on squat volume day. I managed 25 reps, and I swear I saw Jesus and Cthulhu in the car park. Eesh. My excuse is that I'm 115kg (and not all power-producing mass!). I just know you nerds can do better. Right?

Two months ago I snapped my back up pretty good the first time I squatted heavy-ish (150kg) after a couple of weeks training very light over Christmas. Bruised/slightly bulging disc on L5/S1 and some ligament strains. Below is the third set of my 6 sets of 4 workout tonight with 140kg beltless so I'm starting to approach old weights again. Thoughts, comments etc appreciated!

Hello all! So I signed up with the only gym in my area - it has everything EXCEPT a squat rack. For two years I have avoided the Smith Machine like the plague it is, but now I have to 1) find a way to use it to squat or 2) find some other way to load. Currently my 1RM for a clean free weight squat is 385 lbs, and the dumbells in my gym only go up to 65 lbs. I'm 4 weeks out cycle-wise for my next 1RM test, so I'm considering working up to a 80% 1RM on the Smith after a month due to mechanical differences. Any tips on technique? I'm a low-back squatter so my normal bar path is relatively vertical, I may have to adopt some other style because the machine is locked in at around 15 to 20 degrees off vertical. Or should I just scrap the machine all together and do something else? What could possibly take it's place?

Sorry if this was already talked about elsewhere... On many places on the web I have read that "you shouldn't squat lower than 90 degrees", that it is "dangerous for the knees". I also heard it from few trainers. It did not seem logical to me, deep squat is normal position for monkeys and should also be for us humans, we are not so different after all After searching the web and reading several articles on the subject, I found 2 interesting things: 1) Due to sedentary lifestyle large number of people in modern world has lost the ability to squat deep (ass to the ground as they say), while people in third world countries tend to have less problems with squatting since they use it often in everyday life. 2) Fear from deep squat dangers came from one questionable research from 1961. And it remains live until this day, although it was debunked several times in newer researches. There are a lot of articles on that subject, this one explains it rather well: http://www.performancenutrition101.com/2013/03/04/deep-squats-safe/ It seems that most dangerous position for the knee is while in 90 degree position. So if people take care about their form when deep squatting (those who can deep squat at all), there should not be danger in it for most of them (except for those who have some knee medical condition), only benefits from the full range of motion. Or I am wrong? If yes, please elaborate. I find this to be an interesting subject.

So today I did the exercise routine I've been working on for the past few weeks, and I managed to do my first full squat! Fifteen of them! Three times! Just last Sunday going to about sitting position threw me off balance, but today I got to the floor and brought myself up without trouble. It's all thanks to nerdfitness and my yoga class. This feels so great.

Hey hey, just starting a post thread for my battle log. I'm currently on the starting strength program, using madcow programming. Current maxes Squat - 265 x 5 Bench - 195 x 5 Deadlift - 295 x 5 Press - 135 x 5 Monday 19th Workout Squat - 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 200 x 5, 230 x 5, 265 x 5 Bench - 100 x 5, 120 x 5, 145 x 5, 170 x 5, 195 x 5 Instead of just cleaning, I did some hang clean technique drills to work on my form a bit. I did a hang clean from mid thigh, just below the knee, then from the ground using 95lbs, 115lbs, and 135lbs for 2 sets each. I'm having a bit of trouble with my hip drive on the heaver weights, I can't seem to get the bar moving fast enough. It's possible that I was just starting to get tired since it was near the end of my workout though. I also did two sets of 1 arm rows using 40lbs, for 20 reps and 2 sets of 10 dips. I felt pretty good afterwards, getting the dips was tough for me, I could barely do 3 of them a couple months ago. Progress!

I keep second guessing, so I'm asking here: Will I be sad if I buy this? http://sellout.woot.com/offers/adidas-squat-stand I have some reservations about buying a $200 squat stand. I have some reservations about going without a squat stand any longer. I know I won't be squatting more that the weight it says it can support (600 pounds). Can someone who has actually ever done squats with weight give me an opinion?

And we're back with another challenge from our fine sponsors. During this challenge, looking at my workout records, I will level up a lot of the exercises I am currently doing. A few months ago, I set up a level hierarchy for the body weight exercises I've been doing. So far, for most of them, I'm still on level one, except for leg exercises, where I'm at level 2. But for most of my level 1 exercises, I'm very close to my "magic numbers" of reps and sets (12 reps per set). And that's just one part of my challenge. Here's what I hope to accomplish this go-round. Goal 1: Fitness: Level up many exercises +3 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA Here I'll list my current exercises and the ones I'll graduate to. I plan on keeping this updated throughout the challenge so people will know where I'm at. If I'm able to level up 4 exercises, I will give myself full marks. If not, I will scale attribute points accordingly. There are some in this list that I know I won't advance in (both types of planks), but I'll list them here anyways as added motivation. Also, you'll notice that I still have assisted pull ups on the list, even though I got my pull up in last challenge. This is because I want to be consistent and graduate my way fully off of these, continuing to build strength. For this reason, I'll also continue to rock the negative pull ups. LEVEL UP PROGRESS: 50% Pushups (Level 1) --> Decline Pushups (Level 2)Diamond Pushups (Level 1) --> Pike/Jackknife Pushups (Level 2)Assisted Pull ups (Level 1) --> Chin ups/Pull ups (Level 2)Assisted Pistol Squats (Level 2) --> Pistol Squats (Level 3)Squat/Lunge Combo (Level 2) --> Bulgarian Split Squats (Level 3)Side Planks (Level 1) --> Knees to Elbows (Level 2)Planks (Level 1) --> One and one planks (Level 2) *My threshold for leveling up an exercise is 4 sets of 12 for rep exercises, and 120 seconds for timed exercises. *For assisted pull ups, I move on from a weight offset once I hit 12 at that weight, and add a lesser weight to the bottom.Goal 2: Body Fat % Down to 25% or less +1 CON, +2 WIS This has been an overarching goal of mine since the end of last year. I have had this goal in mind for every challenge I've participated in, but up until now, I've set myself mini-goals to make this one more achievable. Well, it's finally within reach. When I started tracking body fat the day after Christmas last year, I was just over 32%, so reaching this goal will be a huge victory. And, of course, if I can go further down during the challenge, I certainly will. Starting BF%: 26.06%Will reduce by at least 1.06% to get to 25% or less Goal 3: Lose 1" from around my waist +2 CHA Getting to 38" around the largest part of my belly has also been an overarching goal for awhile. And this one is also now within reach. Starting measurement: 39"Goal measurement: 38" Life Quest: Play guitar for at least 5 minutes, 5 times a week Research and purchase a car +2 DEX, +1 STA, +1 CHA Last challenge, I think I was a little overzealous trying to play for up to 2 hours a week, especially considering my workload. 5 minutes a day is a lot more easily doable and is much easier to scale up if i'm really enjoying what I'm doing. My car has been starting up very rough, sometimes taking a good few minutes to actually get it up and running. This has been exacerbated by the fact that the weather has become much colder (thanks, almost-winter!). It is also very old (21 years), so it's probably time. My goal is to get a car that is model year 2005 or newer, that gets good gas mileage, is very reliable and not expensive to fix/run, and is going to last me for a good long time (read: I will drive it into the ground). COMPLETED 9th December! So there you have it. Check back tomorrow for my initial weigh-in numbers.

This is a long overdue form check. Here is the first video. This is my third set of 5 at 240#. This is set 5 of 5. Then I shot one of my cool down sets at 135# So there are some definitely obvious problems that I thought I'd fixed (at lower weights) that are starting to come back out. I want to see what others notice objectively before I chime in on what I think is wrong here. Thanks everyone!

I'm starting a little late in the 6 weeks challenge, but only by a week. Wasn't planning on doing a challenge, but since I'm stuck at work, and don't have access to the chat because the network is blocking it, I figured why not?? Plus, I'm an aspiring warrior, and to get into that guild, I need to get this challenge knocked out. Will give me two places to update my progress. Here, and my daily battle log. I guess the battle log will be nice for general tracking of my over all progress, with this being much more goal oriented. Current Main Quests: I'm wanting to go to the TTTT in January. I'd like to have some respectable lifts by then. 200 lbs bench, 300 lbs squat, 400 lbs deadlift, all for reps. I don't know if this is going to happen, but I am most certainly going to give it a shot. I'm also wanting to drop my bodyweight down to 200 lbs from 221. This is unlikely, and not something I'm going to actively try for, but if it happens that would be amazing. I know that losing weight is kinda counterproductive on gaining strength, but i'm hoping to be in that perfect noob range where my high body fat percentage and lack of previous weight lifting gives me that perfect storm of what i'm wanting. Goal 1: Fight gravity. Get stronger. Go to the gym and pick up heavy things 3x/week. Plan is to go every other day, so it should end up being 3x one week, 4x the next... but as long as I get in 3x/week, i'll be happy. Goal 2: Documentation, documentation, documentation. Write it down! Track all my food on the LoseIt app on my phone. This will be the biggest challenge for me. I've tried this before, and after 2 weeks, I got a "feel" for about how much I should be eating each day, then stopped tracking. Then slowly, over time, I was added more and more calories each day without realizing it. Goal 3: Feed myself. Save money. Live healthy. Eat out less often. This is very vague, I know, but I typically eat out for 2-3 meals a day, whether i'm traveling for work or at home. This needs to stop. I'm going to start preparing my own food as much as I can, and only going out to eat when I'm taking the lady-friend out for a date night or something. I know I haven't set any grading scale for this, and I really don't plan on it. If I can manage to stick with the challenge, and see it through to the end (which is a major accomplishment for me, in itself), i'm going to consider it a pass. If I'm not updating by the end, or have completely stopped working out, or start blowing tons of money on Taco Bell... I have failed. Mini-Quest: Discover new foods. Find 28 new recipes before the end of the challenge. Record the recipes, ingredients, protein/fat/carbs, etc. Build a spreadsheet to keep track of recipes for easy sorting / searching. Hopefully I'll enjoy doing it enough that I'll continue to collect different recipes to try. A lot of them may be overly simple, but considering I know nothing about cooking, I have to start somewhere. Goal 1 / Goal 2 / Goal 3 x - completed o - not completed @ - missed / failed WEEK 1: N/A (Had not joined the challenge at this point) WEEK 2: [xxx] [xxxxxxx] [xxxxxxx@xx@@xxxxxxxxx] WEEK 3: [xxo] [xxxxxoo] [xx@xxxxxxxxxxxxoooooo] WEEK 4: [ooo] [ooooooo] [ooooooooooooooooooooo] WEEK 5: [ooo] [ooooooo] [ooooooooooooooooooooo] WEEK 6: [ooo] [ooooooo] [ooooooooooooooooooooo] Main Quest Current weight: 224 LBS remaining: 24 Mini-Quest New recipes documented: 1/28 Current Workout Weights Bench: 150 Squat: 195 Dead: 235 LBS to be added Bench: 50 Squat: 105 Dead: 165 Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8

I'm back! In hindsight, this should have been an Arnold thread with the whole I'll be back thing.. But this is a Rob challenge thread. Things will be fantastic. Brilliant. Molto bene! Allons-y! At some point today, I'm going to edit this list. There'll be points, a grading scheme, etc. etc. Until then, it looks like this: 6 weeks to 20 pullups - I'm going to do the initial test... let's call it Saturday? Last "challenge" I started to work on this, but then I changed my workout and now it's been a few weeks, so it's exciting to see what column I'll get to start week 1 in. 3 STR5/3/...2? - 24 workouts. 24 chances to be a superstar. It works very similar to 5/3/1, but there's a few differences that I'll outline below. 3 STR, 2 CONBasically... Run - I'm going to be a hambeast this winter, but I don't want to be too much of a hambeast, and since I'll be walking places a hell of a lot less (read - never)... I'm re-instituting the daily mile. 42 days. 42 miles. Pretty easy, yes? 3 STASomething something food - I should probably do something about food tracking here. Let me tell you, it's gotten super easy to eat and eat and eat. I'm pretty sure this winter, if I track food, it'll be to hold myself back rather than to be all *stern face* eat moar! Yesterday for breakfast, I had 1.3c oats (dry measure), 6 eggs, 4 slices of bacon, and I was hungry like an hour later...As I was saying. 4000 is a nice number. Lettuce start there. 3 CON 1 STRThere is no 5.My cameras aren't working. But if they were, there'd be a picture here and here for you to look at the difference between regenerations.. or whatever. But they'd be under spoiler tags, and not links. So according to the weighing devices, we're starting off the challenge at 171.3 lbs* and 6.5^. A few weeks ago before I started the bulk I was at 166lbs* and 6^ and felt really super skinny. I'm probably going to take those numbers with a larger grain of salt than I normally would, and you probably should too. I'm probably much better hydrated than I was in the "before bulk" measurements so I'm probably definitely carrying more water with that weight increase too. I mean, it would be nice if the 5lb weight increase in the last 3-4 weeks was all lean muscle...but it's probably definitely not. Footnotes * I weigh myself after my morning bidniss gets done, and then I put it in a spreadsheet that averages my weight across 7 days. ^ I measure each point with the calipers 3 times and average them out. If I really wanted to get crazy, I'd do it 5 times, discard the highest and lowest, and average the rest. But I don't want to get that crazy.

I come from a running background and just finished my first marathon a couple months ago. I then started on a new program called Stronglifts 5X5 by Mehdi. I realize StrongLifts 5X5 is a different program, but I got started on NF and love this community, so posting this here. I started over with my strength training a couple of months ago when I kinda injured myself and realized I might be doing it wrong. So I watched the Starting Strength video with Mark Riptoe and learned some better technique and put it into practice. It was hard to adjust my form with lots to pay attention to, but with practice starting at a low weight, I have increased my max weights. Today I did 5 sets of 5 reps with 230lbs. That's 10 lbs over my previous max! I am still increasing by 5 lbs. every other day. After saying all that, I'd just love some encouragement to keep going. I'd love to someday get to 400 lbs. on the squat and more on the deadlift. Thanks Nerds! For the rebellion!!!

I'm still very new and fresh baby faced in the world of exercising and squatting and need some help or possibly patience and time I'm getting very sore knees, on the inside kinda feels like I've bruised my kneecap. when I'm bending down normally outside of the gym and sometimes coming up from my squat, not often though, it hurts the next day. I know I have very tight hips and I'm struggling to keep my knees out, which is where the problem lies. I'm really trying and working on keeping my knees out, but they still decide to come in. Can anyone recommend any exercises and/or stretches to improve and fix my dodgy squat. Currently stretching my hip flexors and rolling the inside and outside of my thighs. Please and Thank You for any advice

Hey all, Just starting out on my first Nerd Fitness challenge, doing Stronglifts 5x5, and starting to get heavy enough on squats that I think I could use some pointers on form. I started more high-bar, trying to move it lower now because what I've read seems to suggest that's better for form. I try to focus on pushing my knees out and bringing the chest up when I come out of the hole. I thought I was going below parallel every time but this video shows I'm just barely hitting it - I tried to go lower on the sets after I recorded this. 125lbs, this is my 3rd set so it should be pretty average in terms of my normal form. My biggest concern is that I can see my back rounding at the bottom, and I've been feeling tight in my lower back (and less so mid-back). I'm not experienced to know whether that tightness is just the result of working my back or if it is something I need to worry about. Also, if it matters, I'm a fairly tall guy so I don't know if there are specific techniques I should consider because of that. Any and all feedback would be really appreciated!

Today started so well, and although there was one major slip-up I'm still fairly proud of myself. For breakfast I had half a jar of kefir (fermented milk- it just tastes like fizzy greek yoghurt). For lunch I had half a grilled chicken breast wrapped in 10 slices of lettuce, with some coconut oil and sea salt. For dinner I went to a burger restaurant with my friends and had a hot-dog with loads of toppings, fries with loooooads of mayonnaise/ ketchup and a chocolate honeycomb milkshake. I haven't eaten gluten in so, so long so this meal was such a bad idea, but I think it was worth it. Everything was delicious and I enjoyed it so much Recently, I haven't been great at drinking water, but I have been guzzling it like there's no tomorrow all day which I am very proud of That then brings us to the major triumph of today- I haven't drank any alcohol. That doesn't seem like much, it's Sunday! However, today isn't just any Sunday- it's RAISIN SUNDAY which means it is the drunkest day of the entire year. Tonight I am going to be house-party hopping completely sober, not ''two beers sober'' but ''there is literally no alcohol in my bloodstream'' sober, which is kinda scary actually. I guess I'm about to find out what it's like to be the only sober person in a ten-mile radius... If I can stick to this I should be awarded a Nobel Prize for Health. I'll update tomorrow.

I'm a bit late but fuck it! Short: Lose weight, build muscle Long: Get down to 13-15% bf. I am currently 82kg and about 23-26% bf. When I started: Deadlift: 40kg by 8 reps (on last set) Squat: 20kg by 10 reps (2 sets) Bench: 20kg by 10 reps (3 sets, 2nd set is more like 8-9 reps and last is like 6-7) Goals for end of 6 week challenge : Deadlift: 80kg by 8 reps on last set. squat: 50kg by 10 reps all 3 sets Bench: 40kg by 10 reps 3 sets I had been doing well with weight loss, when I started training I got hungry and put on a little weight, went up to 84kg, now fixed diet up a little and back down to 82kg. Was down at 80.5kg before weight training started. Main quest Goal 1: Eat primal and keep with in 2,000 calories per day, whilst hitting protein goals. Goal 2: Hit the gym 4 days a week and do my program set by PT Goal 3: Push hard at gym and try increase weight where possible whilst having good form. Life side quest: Pass all my subjects this semester at University. I have had on my wall for the past 3 months a piece of paper saying I want to be 80kg by Novemeber 1st. Also a friend gave me a bottle of scotch that says I can't open till I hit 75kg. Grading system: Goal 1: A: Track calories, stick under 2000 calories and hit at least 150g of protein every day. (1-2 cheat days allowed). B: Track calories every day, stick under 2000 calories per day (1-2 cheat days). C: Track calories every day. D: Track most days. E: Track most days but eat too much when I do track. F Don't track at all, eat whatever. Goal 2: A: Hit the gym every day I have designated. (only can skip if injured) B: Skip a gym day and not make it up. C: Skip 2 days with out making it up. D: Skip 3 days. E: Skip 4 days. F: Skip more than 5 days. Goal 3: A: Increase weight or reps on at least 2 exercises per work out. B: Increase weight or reps on at least a exercise per work out. C: Increase weight or reps on an exercise on 3 out of 4 work outs a week. D: Increase reps or weight on 2 out of 4 exercises a week. E: increase weight or reps on at least 1 work out a week. F: No increase in weights or reps. Progress so far on goals: So my update, diet was doing well, then slackened off because of increased hunger from strength training. #1:I have cleaned it up even more to leaner foods and more green veg, started tracking calories and taking appetite suppressants. #2: good as have not missed a day in the gym #3: fairly well been adding weight on most stuff, could maybe push a little harder when I am on my own in the gym. Form has been good, but I did screw up a little and it lead to my neck being sore. Life quest: did well on a test, but I need to study more

| main quest | Basically: Simply Lose Weight, Lose cm, Gain Muscle. Specifically: I would like to weigh around 75-80kg, although I would rather be 85kg and strong, than 75kg an blown over in a light breeze! I want to be able to dead lift 150% BW, squat 100% BW, bench 100% BW and perform 5 chinups in a row. I want biceps, lats and a squat butt! I have been walking this path for near on 18 months now, but had massive fade outs and drop outs, then having to restart.. I want to get some dedication and consistency into my training and routine.. some accountability Pure vanity is the motivation! I turn 40 next year and want to be, and look, fitter and stronger than I ever have before. | challenge goals | | one | Attend gym M-W-F and complete scheduled weightlifting session. Week 2 & 3 as per notes complete BBWW at least 4x per weekSide Goal (ungraded but tracked) | complete 50 BW squats every day as part of the retraining of my BB squat form | Grading || A | 18 Attendances (or 12+8 BBWW)| B | 16 Attendances (or 11+7 BBWW)| C | 14 Attendances (or 10+6 BBWW)| D | 12 Attendances (or 9+5 BBWW)| F | <12 Attendances (or <9+4 BBWW) | Attribute | STR | DEX | STA | CON | WIS | CHA | | two | Daily tracking of food intake. Currently aiming for 1500 cal/day averaged over the week. Aiming for C30%:P40%:F30%. Also watching my iron and calcium intakes. This will be assessed at the end of the 6 weeks and adjusted accordingly. I use MyFitnessPal app. | Grading | I will add the weekly averages and divide by 6. As my goal is approximately a 700 daily calorie deficit I am prepared to be slightly over and still count it as a success| A | 6 Week Average 0-350 net calories over goal } This still needs work to bring it into line with how MFP reports| B | 6 Week Average 350-700 net calories over goal } I actually work in kJ usually so I might flip the measurements over for in here| C | 6 Week Average 701-1000 net calories over goal } I will take a screenie of the weekly report and post it here| D | 6 Week Average 1001-1500 net calories over goal } | F | 6 Week Average >1500 net calories over goal } | Attribute | STR | DEX | STA | CON | WIS | CHA | | three | Drink more water. Currently I drink a hell of a lot of coffee (5-6 cups a day) and not much water (2-3cups a day). By increasing my water intake, my coffee intake will naturally decrease. I will increase my water intake to 2L a day. I will track intake and average the daily totals over each week | Grading || A | 2L (8 cups)| B | 1.75L (7 cups)| C | 1.5L (6 cups)| D | 1.25L (5 cups)| F | 1L or less (4 cups) | Attribute | STR | DEX | STA | CON | WIS | CHA | | life goal | I am currently studying a Certificate in Accounting and have until November 21 to complete the study. I don't want to have to re-apply to complete any subjects next year. I will average 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, working on this. (Currently my 30 day hard hat challenge.. was only asking for 15 minutes for that, just to get me sitting down.. lets up the ante!) | Grading | Hours in total over 6 weeks| A | 60+ hours| B | 50+ hours| C | 40+ hours| D | 30+ hours| F | <30 hours | Attribute | STR | DEX | STA | CON | WIS | CHA | | starting specs || updated for challenge start | | height | cm | 181 | | weight | kg | 91.0 (gym) | 89.6 (home) || body fat | % | 42.0 (gym) || measurements | cm || chest | 106 || right bicep | 34 || left bicep | 34 || waist | 86 || hips | 113 || right thigh | 66 || left thigh | 66 | | workout | My program is an edited SL5x5, skewed towards my desired results.I work in 3 supersets, which suits the layout of my gym and the availability of equipment. I do a quick cardio warmup then working in sets of 5, starting at lower weights then working up to 3-5 sets at the top weight. (All weights in kg) | superset 1 | | assisted pull up | 71 | 64 | 57 | | assisted dip | 71 | 64 | 57 | 50 | | assisted chin up | 71 | 64 | 57 | 50 | | seated cable row | 23 | 30 | 36 | 43 | | superset 2 | | bw squat | 10 reps | | bb squat | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 45 | 50 | | db shoulder Press | 8 | | superset 3 | | deadlift | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 75 | | bench press | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 | | stretch | | notes | | 1 | My children are on school holidays for week 2 and 3 of the challenge. As a single mum this makes it virtually impossible to get to the gym. I will go if I get the opportunity, but if I can't get there then the BBWW at least 4x per week will replace the M-W-F weightlifting sessions. The children will also affect my ability to study over the holidays, so I will use total hours over the whole challenge for grading | 2 | I will of course be tracking weight and measurements using scales, measuring tape and photos weekly. I was going to make this a goal too but in reality its something I already do fairly regularly so would be cheating to allocate points/effort towards it | 3 | I use Body Tracker app for measurements. Currently use the scales at the gym for weight and bodyfat %, but am not sure the % actually assesses me well. Over the last 18 months I have lost 15kg and nearly 70cm but only 3% body fat. Dropping from 45.5% to 42.5%. I just can't see how that is possible, especially when the exercise I have been doing is mostly throwing heavy weights around. I have purchased a cheap set of calipres, and while I probably need more practise using them as the 7 measure estimate of 21% seems rather low.. the truth is out there.. somewhere | 4 | I have loooong term knee issues that affect my squat/deadlift progress. In fact the squat deadlifting motivation is to try and make these issues a non-problem! Basically, I have piss poor cartilage on the back of my kneecaps, which affects quads contractions, and causes swelling and pain and so forth. Currently managed with NSIADs, glucosamine, chondroitin and a hell of a lot of TLC. They prevent me from doing lots of repetitive cardio / classes / steps / etc (good excuse for the warrior in me heh) | 5 | I'm not expecting to make any great strength gains while I'm trying to lose weight. | 6 | If anyone has any comments or criticisms or advice, PLEASE drop it here. I am very open to getting new points of view.. hehe and happy to argue against or for pretty much anything! Anything else I need to do / add right now? Drop me a note.Photo's will be forthcoming, and starting stats still to be updated for the start date

I started doing free weights at the beginning of this school year. I fell in love with squats right away. I started at 30 kilos and got up to 60 quickly and with no problem. Here's the problem. I've set a goal. I want to squat 100 kilos. I don't care how long it takes me, but I want some advice on how to get to that goal. Where better to ask than in a group of powerlifters? So, what do you think? I only lift about 2 times a week, I could try to make more time for it if necessary. Has anybody been in my situation before and has some age-old advice for a n00b? PoisonStrudel

Although my first challenge was very Olympic weightlifting focused, I'm new to the warrior guild and looking forward to continuing to progress towards my goals with the NF community. My first challenge saw some really important changes for my lifting - I started working with a coach and I hit a couple of weights that had seemed like intimidating numbers, a 70kg Snatch and 80kg Clean. I feel now that I have a better sense of where I'm going and what I need to achieve and so my second challenge will be all about taking that information and applying it to my training. Starting Stats (14th September 2013): Bodyweight: 87kg Bodyfat %: 14% Clean & Jerk: 90kg Snatch: 72.5kg Back Squat: 152.5kg 5RM / 165kg 1RM Front Squat: 125kg 1RM Master Quest Achieve an Olympic weightlifting total that will secure qualification for the Scottish Championships (Nationals) in 2014 or 2015 - currently 211kg+ at 94kg As a small country, qualifying totals for the national championships in Scotland aren't particularly high. 202kg for the 85kg and 211kg for the 94kg class for the 2013 event. Assuming that I'm going to compete as a 94 (see Goal #5) and that the minimum will increase this year due to increased interest in the sport, let's aim for 215kg+. I'm currently at a 162.5kg total and appreciate that adding 50kg may take quite a while though I think that it may be feasible in as little as 1 to 1.5 years - strength isn't my limiting factor at all. In fact, looking at Olympic Lift to Squat ratios of efficient lifters (which I certainly am not, given my beginner status ) my current squat would put me at a 103kg Snatch and 126kg Clean & Jerk - a 229kg total - if I had the necessary technique and practice under my belt. So my Master Quest is to hit this total and chances are my challenges are mainly going to focus on progressing towards this goal over the long term. Difficult to say how much of a dent I can make on this in 6 weeks - last challenge I added 18kg to my total but I suspect that may be tough to repeat. I'll judge success for progress towards the main goal on a mixture of how I do at the Goals and a subjective judgement on if I was happy with the increases to total I made during the 6 weeks. Goal #1 - Lift more with other lifters This should explain the "It's dangerous to go alone" subtitle Since I started working with my coach, I've had a training partner on Saturdays (another client of his) and it has been fantastic lifting alongside somebody. We're going to be getting another partner in a couple of weeks which should be awesome too. I've also been invited to join the university weightlifting club - I'm not a student or uni staff so I didn't think I could - and will now have the opportunity to train with others, under the watchful eye of coaches, another two nights a week. I am free to stick to the programming my coach is providing for me. I plan to jump on this opportunity. Scoring A: Attend 2 weightlifting club training sessions per week for all 6 weeks B: Attend 2 weightlifting club training sessions per week for 5 weeks C: Attend 2 weightlifting club training sessions per week for 4 weeks D: Attend 2 weightlifting club training sessions per week for 3 weeks F: Attend 2 weightlifting club training sessions per week for 2 weeks or less Goal #2 - Sort out my Snatch technique For the last four weeks, I've been working with a coach on Saturdays and it has made an immense difference to my lifts. I've put 8kg on my Clean & Jerk and 4.5kg on my Snatch. On the the C&J I'm far more consistent and miss a lot fewer lifts. Technique has improved to the point where my coach described a 90kg PR today as a "really sweet clean, the best you've done". Unfortunately, the Snatch isn't quite there yet, I have many more bad habits to unlearn. My coach has identified three core issues than need to be fixed. #1 - I pull the bar too high. Today I was apparently pulling 65kg up to eye height! #2 - My second pull isn't vertical enough and I overcompensate by leaning my torso back and bringing my hips into the bar too violently. This puts the bar out in front. #3 - I don't get under fast enough. This is mostly a byproduct of #1 and #2 because of where the bar ends up as I start to go under (i.e. too high and too far out in front). Scoring It's difficult to measure this one in a numerical way so I'm going to go with positive feedback from my coach and make a subjective judgement on how we feel my Snatch technique has improved over the six weeks.Scout's honour. Goal #3 - Make some big Squat gainz This is probably going to be a constant challenge goal for me but y'know, squatting is awesome and important for weightlifters. It just so happens that this challenge coincides with the last 6 weeks of my current Squat program so that I'll be maxing out and going for a new PR on the final Saturday of the challenge. Convenient, huh?! The program (Russian Masters routine, for those who are interested) projects minimum gains of 5% so let's start with that as a base. One of my Saturday training partners went from a 105kg squat to barely parallel to a 120kg deep squat on his first cycle of this routine so more progress is possible - just gotta really push the reps on the final sets once we start tapering down! Scoring A: +15kg B: +12.5kg C: +10kg D: +5kg F: +2.5kg or less Goal #4 - Stop skipping out on accessory exercises I have got into a bad habit of not consistently doing accessory work for my abs, back and upper body. The first two will both directly help my squats and Olympic lifts and being stronger in the upper body is clearly awesome so I should make sure I'm doing that too. Thankfully, my coach is now programming for me and always includes weighted hyperextensions, ab stuff (hanging leg raises, planks, ab wheel etc) plus pull-ups/chin-ups/dips. I want to make sure that I'm doing each of these things at least twice a week - 2 back, 2 abs and 2 pull-ups/dips = 6 accessory exercises per week. Scoring A: Achieve 6/6 on accessory exercises for all 6 weeks B: Achieve 6/6 on accessory exercises for 5 weeks C: Achieve 6/6 on accessory exercises for 4 weeks D: Achieve 6/6 on accessory exercises for 3 weeks F: Achieve 6/6 on accessory exercises for 2 weeks or less Goal #5 - Lean Out I've been overly concerned about keeping my bodyweight within a certain range (82-85kg) for the last year, which I think is a hang-up of being a former fat guy. It still seems alien and scary for that number on the scale going up rather than down. However, I'm probably a bit light for my height if I want to compete in weightlifting and 94kg is probably a better weight class for me than the 85kg I've been eyeing. With that in mind, I've come to terms with weight gain and have decided that I don't mind bulking up a little SO LONG AS IT'S QUALITY WEIGHT! I've been trying the carb-backloading diet for the last 6-7 weeks and have got on very well with it (my recovery has never been better and I've leaned out a little) so I want to keep following this and try to refine my approach a bit to focus on trimming off a bit more fat. Weight gain is cool so long as more muscle than fat is going on and that body fat % is going down. Depending on how this progresses, I may add in some conditioning but we shall see. Scoring A: -1.5% B: -1% C: -0.5% D: No change F: Increase in body fat % Life Quest - Save more money I've been a little lax with my savings lately and seem to be hemorrhaging money without being totally sure where it's all going. I get paid (monthly salary) on September 25th and would like to make sure that come the end of the challenge, at least £250 of that is squirreled away in my savings account.

First time going down to 1rep (I stick with 3reps per set usually). I hit 120kg on the Squat in my 11th set (30 minutes squatting, yeah) and 220 pounds on the bench. The dude I asked to spot said it was all me, haha. Anyways I'm happy with those numbers for now and didn't want to push it since I did those lifts yesterday already =D and I'm not looking to injure my shoulders. Next max is going to be the deadlift on sunday most likely (For the record @82kg bw, Squat with belt)

http://instagram.com/p/fErQnUIT9o/# Gymbro got pics, wish he'd gotten a shot of me at the bottom of the squat, but he assured me it was below parallel. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I weighed in at 155lbs. tonight, major PR for me tonight, physically wiped but that much closer to a 2x bodyweight squat for reps. YYYEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Added a "box" (only had pads, but it served as decent physical gauge). Looking at it now, I seem a little wobbly, but the weight felt easy. This was my last set on squats, but it is my deload week, so I hit my program and quit it.

"Well well well, what do we have here, an AWOL ODST trooper returning back to Firebase Alpha." This is my quiet little re-entry back in to the world of Nerd Fitness, proper strength training, the Warriors Guild and finding an income. I'll try to stick by the challenge script. For a bit of a background, as of the 18th of Sept, I'll have been without employment for a whole 365, an achievement which hasn't appeared on my XBOX, gone through the drag of 6 months of failed job applications and interviews and of not having daily objectives to achieve, went back to university to start a Masters in Project Management and now I need to hit the streets again and get out of this (more on that later). Even without work life has been hectic: I've planted a church with some good friends in a close by city, have played my first season of soccer since I was 6, (Regular season Wins:2 Draws:2 Losses: 14) Go Citylife FC! Have limited my own training by bungling up my shoulder nicely. Have started training a younger guy in the Ways of the Warrior out of my garage. Challenge main quest: Back to basics 1. Regular garage strength training 3x a week, rehab permitting 2. Run 2x a week, LSD or sprint sessions, to be tracked and posted here. 3. Rugby skills every week. Challenge life quest: Get an Income 1. Find employment via the traditional methods regularly, apply for 5 jobs per week If any are available. 2. Cold call 10 companies, either phone, face to face or email. 3. Complete initial market research for start-up. Challenge side quest: Shoulder wellness Shoulder hasn't been fully functional in a long time. Exacerbated the problem about 6 months ago, went from impingement on any over hand vertical pull, pull ups, lat pull downs, to being unable to bench, OHP, hold my arm out horizontal. Finally sucked it up and went to the docs, initial assessment was an inflammation of the supraspinatus tendon. Ultrasound shows an impingement. Recovery: 10 days of anti inflammatory tables as provided by the doc. Steroid injection scheduled for this Thurs, 48 hours without any resistance after that. Build up shoulder from the ground up, rotator cuff health. More later Peace

6x350lbs As you can tell from the video, I think I need to go lower. But it is hard for me to tell because of the size of my quads and hamstrings. I believe my form is otherwise fine. I hate that I don't have a partner in the gym anymore. But that's what you get when you can only go pretty late at night.

Specifically the real experienced ones, BigM, CoreyD, Gainsdalf, El Exorcito etc. I'm sure I missed a bunch of you so feel free to chime in, and no offense to everyone else, but I want to hear from guys/gals who have a real strong back squat already and what they did to get there. I started two months ago doing the LBBS ala Starting Strength and after awhile, mainly due to form break down after working up to 165, I developed a painful issue with my hip flexor. Since then, I can't seem to keep my back straight and all hell has broken loose. I've rehabbed the injury, but now I can't seem to squat with LB to save my life and I seriously need to overhaul how I approach squatting. My main question is, which style do you use? I know everyone is different, so in the interest of full disclosure, I'm fairly tall (6'1") and fairly proportionate, legs might be a touch on the long side. I'm considering a couple of different approaches, as my main issue seems to be my low back/chest collapsing no matter what I do when I get at or around parallel. 1: Switch to high bar squat: Since it's more glute/quad oriented I may prefer this, as athletic performance is my primary concern. However, with longer legs it may not be ideal. 2: Stick with low bar but use a box: It would be touch and go, I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing that causes my issue or what exactly happens, but Right at about parallel my pelvis tucks under and it can't seem to be stopped. I'm thinking mentally having a box there might do the trick. 3: Stick with low bar and gradually increase depth: This is along the lines of the box squat, but I'd just stop the squat when I fell my back rounding. I believe it's either short/tight psoas that are pulling my pelvis forward. And since no request is complete without a form check video, here is my most recent form video at 135. You can see the chest collapsing etc. Bottom line, I can't continue on the path I'm on. Any advice is greatly appreciated.