Mir Hulk Smash!

[Morrigainz]

Okay, so I'm a little nervous for this challenge. I'm changing it up again, PLUS I'm going to be on a 10-day road trip right smack in the middle of the challenge. So. I'll have to figure out what to do about LG and lifting and stuff. I haven't really taken a break from lifting in a while, so maybe this will be a good time for it.

I feel really solid about the last challenge, despite the lack of progress on my squat. I tried a 145# squat the other day after box squats, and my hips just felt AWFUL. Didn't quite make it to parallel. So I think that's going to be my issue for this challenge.

Goals

1. Get that pullup! On good days, I can get my eyes above the bar. On bad days, I can get my arms to about 90 degrees. So instead of focusing on getting squats up there, I'm really going to try for the pullup. (+5 STR)

2. Continue LeanGains I'm in a pretty good feeding window of 12-9 or 10 right now, and I want to continue that. My macros weren't quite there this last challenge, so I really want to dial it in. I'm still working at a deficit so I want to pay special attention to my rest day macros. (+3 CON)

3. Make progress on squat/work on mobility. By the end of this challenge I'd like to be doing 145# for reps. I really believe it's my hips that are holding me back. And maybe my hamstrings. So I'm going to continue lifting, and I want to do mobility at least 5x a week. (+2 DEX)

4. Take a shower every day. Wear makeup at work. Okay, so this might be a TMI goal. But y'all know I'm not afraid to share. Sometimes I don't take a shower on the weekends. It's gross and I feel horrible about it. Plus there's something about getting in the shower that just helps you be productive. Also I feel like a slob when I go to work and don't wear makeup. I don't have to put the makeup on BEFORE work, just get it on within the first hour or so I know this may sound silly, but...there it is. (+5 CHA) Because cleanliness is charismatic, yes?

Okie dokie. So here we go!

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[Titanium Bulwark]

Good goals! I've been recently working on my pull ups (part of a New Year's Resolution), started out being able to do 2 at a time and I've worked up to 6. Keeping track of my progress helped immensely with this, as if I was tracking it, I could figure out if I was making progress (sounds like you're already doing this).

Push ups helped me a lot, and the reverse rows (inverted rows?) would be a good way to get some more reps in.

Good luck!

[Bean]

Love the goals. Last one made me LOL. Are you excused from the shower on a pyjama day?

Also, think of it as pulling the bar down to your awesomeness, not pulling your body up to the bar.

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Also, think of it as pulling the bar down to your awesomeness, not pulling your body up to the bar.

One day I will be able to do pullups. :-)

Good goals. And don't worry, we all have those days where the shower is the last thing we want to do. But you're right, getting IN the shower makes the rest of the day more productive. Just tell yourself you still have permission to be lazy post-shower if that's what's making you procrastinate it. When my hair was longer, I'd procrastinate a shower b/c I didn't want to deal with drying/fixing my hair. So I'd also give myself a pass on pulling it up without fixing it. It's the little things.

Good luck with the challenge!

Oh, adn as for your hips. My squats improved the most when I was doing MWOD #1 regularly. And then whatever the other hips one is - the stretch where you put your foot up on something and lean into it. I've also been foam rolling my hip flexors. Not sure why they've declared mutiny, but when the hip flexors are tight, even though I don't think I use them to go up or down, how heavy I can go is compromised.

[Benkei]

Great goals. That last one cracked me up too. I often don't shower on Sundays myself, unless I work out. My girlfriend is not very happy about it, lol. Goal for next challenge? Haha. I guess I will have to look up this LeanGains stuff everyone talks about too. Care to summarize what it is? It's such a hassle googling it

Good luck by the way!

[Caution]

I too have been found guilty of the no shower Saturday (the weekend after the release of DIII, all of the WoW expansions, Skyrim... hmmm...). Good luck!

[MasterRay6]

Nice goals! I really like the pull up goal coz I too am struggling with ups as well. Completing a pull up or two will probably be my next challenge

Good luck!

[Morrigainz]

Okay, soooooooooooo glad I'm not the only one who struggles with the showering!

Kelly - it's funny...I can't get the whole 10 minutes yet, but I feel quite comfortable with MWOD #1. I think I may invest in a foam roller sometime soonish because it's amazing and painful, from what everyone says, and obv I like pain. Re: shower, I don't wash my hair every day - I put it up in a bun for my shower on days I don't wash it.

Benkei - LeanGains is a system that utilizes intermittent fasting (so like an 8 hour feeding window for men, 10 for women) and macro cycling to lose/maintain/gain weight while keeping muscle levels high and fat levels low. If you're interested, there's an entire thread about it. It's long, but worth the read. There's also a calculator online that I used to figure out my macros. I'm going for weight loss and a 25/75 - 75/25 cho/fat split (depending on workout/rest day). That's the very basics

[Wicked Pixie]

Look at all of us smelly rebels!

I do the same thing sometimes, and I def. don't wash my hair everyday, so up in the bun it goes for the shower!

Mir, you're going to SMASH this challenge! I have no doubt!

I'll come visit often as I'm heading home to the Rangers for this one!

I've officially declared myself a hybrid though, so I'll always have a warrior spirit!

[Benkei]

Alrighty. Thanks for the link to the thread, it seems awesome. I'll start researching it.

[Morrigainz]

Awww Pixie I will miss you!!! I will be sure to keep track of you though

[Wicked Pixie]

I'll still be lifting all the things! I'll just be doing MOAR of everything else! ha hahahaha!!!!

I'm keeping track of you too missy!!! I love you to pieces!!!

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Kelly - it's funny...I can't get the whole 10 minutes yet, but I feel quite comfortable with MWOD #1. I think I may invest in a foam roller sometime soonish because it's amazing and painful, from what everyone says, and obv I like pain.

Where's your hip pain, if you can explain in type-talk?

And I also can't do 10 minutes on MWOD #1. I do a minute or two after my warmup and some air squats. And then I'll sometimes to 30ish seconds (and maybe more air squats) between sets. Sitting at a desk all day is hard to undo!

Edit: I also do the pigeon (yoga move) for hips. Also after getting warmed up. I like to do that after running or biking when I'm much looser. But the foam roller seems to be one of the only things I've found for my hip flexors. They relax almost immediately - I'm talking 10-15 seconds of rolling on each. I put the roller up against the wall and roll up and down my hip, right on them.

[weirdquark]

NRoLfW has a stage which is pretty much geared towards building the upper body strength you need to do pullups, so you might want to check it out. (It worked for me.)

[Morrigainz]

Where's your hip pain, if you can explain in type-talk?

And I also can't do 10 minutes on MWOD #1. I do a minute or two after my warmup and some air squats. And then I'll sometimes to 30ish seconds (and maybe more air squats) between sets. Sitting at a desk all day is hard to undo!

Edit: I also do the pigeon (yoga move) for hips. Also after getting warmed up. I like to do that after running or biking when I'm much looser. But the foam roller seems to be one of the only things I've found for my hip flexors. They relax almost immediately - I'm talking 10-15 seconds of rolling on each. I put the roller up against the wall and roll up and down my hip, right on them.

It's more of a tightness. It's on the inside of the hip - might be PSOAS, might be Iliacus. Not really sure - so just going to focus on ALL the hip MWODs! I also love pigeon pose and have been doing that quite a bit - but not sure that is stretching out my problem area. Actually MWOD 4 stretched me out reeeeeeeeeeeeeeal nice and painfully.

NRoLfW has a stage which is pretty much geared towards building the upper body strength you need to do pullups, so you might want to check it out. (It worked for me.)

I do intend to revisit NROL4W here at some point. In the fall I'll be able to work out at my school gym 2x a week, where they have the aerobic step I'll need. I'll dust the book off and take a look

[weirdquark]

I remember the stage 6 workouts being pretty short (mostly compared to the endless stage 3/5 ones) -- maybe around 45min, definitely under an hour. So you could do stage 6 plus extra squatting? Stage 6 does have some lower body stuff, but it's mostly like "do lunges while holding a dumbbell at shoulder height" so even the lower body stuff is more for the upper body if that makes sense.

[Morrigainz]

Hmm. Does it matter if I don't follow the stages as he has lined up? Probably not I'm guessing. I'll take a look over the weekend. Might be best to take a break from SS anyway

[weirdquark]

Well, if you skip ahead then as Rip would say, You're Not Doing The Program, but since you took a break and did SS for a while instead, you aren't anyway. Stage 6 probably does build on the strength you gained in the previous stages, but... you've been doing SS, so it's not like you haven't built strength for stage 6 to build on. (Me, I didn't quite Do The Program myself -- I didn't have time for NRoLfW three times a week when the workouts started being longer but wanted to lift three times a week, so I did NRoLfW twice and other stuff on my third day.)

[PrincessHeather]

I remember the stage 6 workouts being pretty short (mostly compared to the endless stage 3/5 ones) -- maybe around 45min, definitely under an hour. So you could do stage 6 plus extra squatting? Stage 6 does have some lower body stuff, but it's mostly like "do lunges while holding a dumbbell at shoulder height" so even the lower body stuff is more for the upper body if that makes sense.

You mean I won't have to spend 1.5 hours at the gym in stage 4? Cause I swear stage 3 was just not realistic to do most days, I could do the exercises, I just ended up breaking it down to 3 workouts (A, B, C) instead of 2 (A, .

Also, I'm looking at MWOD #1, but I can't hear it on my speakers at work. Is it pretty much just get into the squat position and hold it for as long as you can?

Oh, and great goals Mir! I'm going to be working on squats too, so perhaps I can steal the mobility stuff you find most useful

[Morrigainz]

Well, if you skip ahead then as Rip would say, You're Not Doing The Program, but since you took a break and did SS for a while instead, you aren't anyway. Stage 6 probably does build on the strength you gained in the previous stages, but... you've been doing SS, so it's not like you haven't built strength for stage 6 to build on. (Me, I didn't quite Do The Program myself -- I didn't have time for NRoLfW three times a week when the workouts started being longer but wanted to lift three times a week, so I did NRoLfW twice and other stuff on my third day.)

I remember you saying this. And if the stage 6 stuff seems hard, I can always dial down the weights or reps I suppose. Amazing how guilty I don't feel about Not Doing the Program. Haha.

You mean I won't have to spend 1.5 hours at the gym in stage 4? Cause I swear stage 3 was just not realistic to do most days, I could do the exercises, I just ended up breaking it down to 3 workouts (A, B, C) instead of 2 (A, .

Also, I'm looking at MWOD #1, but I can't hear it on my speakers at work. Is it pretty much just get into the squat position and hold it for as long as you can?

Oh, and great goals Mir! I'm going to be working on squats too, so perhaps I can steal the mobility stuff you find most useful

Yeah this was part of the reason I was reluctant to get into stage 3 - WQ told me about how long they were.

And yeah it's 10 minutes - if you can't stay in that position for 10 minutes at a time you can break it up. I've gotten up to 6 minutes so far

[Blueberries]

Mir smash!

MWOD #1 is actually the only one of my new challenge goals I've actually nailed down so far. I discovered earlier in the week that I can't even get down into the position without holding on to something or being on a slope. Voila! New goal for me.

Also, think of it as pulling the bar down to your awesomeness, not pulling your body up to the bar.

^I love this so much.

[weirdquark]

You mean I won't have to spend 1.5 hours at the gym in stage 4? Cause I swear stage 3 was just not realistic to do most days, I could do the exercises, I just ended up breaking it down to 3 workouts (A, B, C) instead of 2 (A, .

Heh. Luckily I liked most of what I was doing for stage 3, so I didn't mind going for 1.5 hours; I just didn't have time for it unless it was the weekend. Stage 4 is pretty much a repeat of stage 2 except with fewer reps per set, so unless you do more sets, it'll take about as long as stage 2 took you, maybe a little shorter. Stage 5 is a repeat of 3 and ditto fewer reps, so if you don't up the sets there either it'll also be slightly shorter but is still pretty long.

[scotticus]

Good goals. Hit up exrx for some great stretches for the hips and illiotibial chain - changed my life for sure. I also suffer from tightness in the hips as a limiting factor for the squat. Also, if you have about $50 spare dollars get yourself a rumble roller and use it to crush your TFL every other day. It will make you cry, but your squats will thank you. I will admit that I was good about doing this myself for a while, but have slacked off recently. As a bonus, your friends and family will think that the rumble roller is innocuous, but will try it and then have a whole new level of respect for your pain threshold.

Also, I often do the same things on weekends with regard to showering. Not to derail your goals, but as long as you don't smell you might as well save the water, right?

[Morrigainz]

Good goals. Hit up exrx for some great stretches for the hips and illiotibial chain - changed my life for sure. I also suffer from tightness in the hips as a limiting factor for the squat.

Thanks! Will do. Definitely need some more stretchiness.

Also, if you have about $50 spare dollars get yourself a rumble roller and use it to crush your TFL every other day. It will make you cry, but your squats will thank you. I will admit that I was good about doing this myself for a while, but have slacked off recently. As a bonus, your friends and family will think that the rumble roller is innocuous, but will try it and then have a whole new level of respect for your pain threshold.

Hmm. I just spent a bit of money on non-fitness related stuff, so maybe not the rumble roller, but definitely something....

Also, I often do the same things on weekends with regard to showering. Not to derail your goals, but as long as you don't smell you might as well save the water, right?

I have to admit my surprise at seeing that I'm not the only one that does this. Also: you're right, but I feel like at the end of the day I do stink. Haha

[msuroo]

Awesome goals Mir. Just remember (not specific to this challenge, but in general) that the longer you stay on a cut, the less likely you are to hit the 200# squat by the end of the year. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just gotta keep in mind that sometimes our goals can work counter to each other, so we have to prioritize one at a time. Your actual challenge goals are awesome though - love it. SMASH!

I discovered earlier in the week that I can't even get down into the position without holding on to something or being on a slope.

Work on your ankle mobility too (I like this one) - that will help with the squat test. Getting your knees out over your toes isn't a bad thing (like most globo-trainers would have you believe) as long as your heels are still on the ground.

As a bonus, your friends and family will think that the rumble roller is innocuous, but will try it and then have a whole new level of respect for your pain threshold.

Hahaha, truth.