OT: Fitness and Nutrition X

[Lafleurs Guy]

So, I'm squatting three sets of five at 225 and my form is starting to fall apart on me. Did it last week and tried again this week... decided I've got to scale back on the plates.

On my overhead press, I've maxed out at 95 but I can do three sets of five at 85... weird. I can do sets so close to the max but can only get one rep of 95. Is that usual?

Anyways, I'm going to cut the weight a bit on the squat (20 lbs) and up the reps.

All novice numbers but it's cool. The weights are getting lighter, I continue to lean out eating at a caloric deficit. So far, so good.

 

[CHfan1]

Gyms opened up where I’m at in the last couple of weeks. It’s been great being back, I had no motivation at home, and the protocols they have in place make me feel safe. I feel way safer going to the gym than I would going to a restaurant.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

So, I'm squatting three sets of five at 225 and my form is starting to fall apart on me. Did it last week and tried again this week... decided I've got to scale back on the plates.

On my overhead press, I've maxed out at 95 but I can do three sets of five at 85... weird. I can do sets so close to the max but can only get one rep of 95. Is that usual?

Anyways, I'm going to cut the weight a bit on the squat (20 lbs) and up the reps.

All novice numbers but it's cool. The weights are getting lighter, I continue to lean out eating at a caloric deficit. So far, so good.

A bit strange, I remember my ohp stalling at 95, but I could squat 300+. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not.

 

[waffledave]

So, I'm squatting three sets of five at 225 and my form is starting to fall apart on me. Did it last week and tried again this week... decided I've got to scale back on the plates.

On my overhead press, I've maxed out at 95 but I can do three sets of five at 85... weird. I can do sets so close to the max but can only get one rep of 95. Is that usual?

Anyways, I'm going to cut the weight a bit on the squat (20 lbs) and up the reps.

All novice numbers but it's cool. The weights are getting lighter, I continue to lean out eating at a caloric deficit. So far, so good.

I have had similar experiences. I do a 5x5 program and basically anything above 225 I would not be consistent at all with my form and even had some injuries. I did get to 3 plates but it was honestly pretty much torture for me, I would dread it all day long. Now I regularly build up to 3 plates, take a break, deload by like 200 lbs, start over from there and build up again to 3 plates, with focus on improving my form to be 100% consistent through the lighter weights. Honestly I get hurt too often to really push myself faster than this.

And OHP which I do seated due to space issues, also maxed out at 90-100 lbs. I let my form suffer too much and really f***ed up my shoulder. The AC joint. Shit took forever to heal and still gets hurt very easily. I feel I can get some benefits doing 5x5 at 75lbs with focus on perfect consistent form.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

A bit strange, I remember my ohp stalling at 95, but I could squat 300+. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not.

I've been able to consistently progress so far. Up to 315 on deadlift (hex bar) and 225 on squat without problems.

Once I hit 225 on the squat though... it just didn't feel right. Like I didn't have control of the bar like I did before. Can I lift it? Yep. 3x5? Yep. Good form? Doesn't feel that way. So I'm deloading by 20 pounds for now. Last thing I need is an injury. I'll work at the lower weight for a bit, maybe up the reps in the set then progress another ten pounds and do the same. I'm thinking slow and steady is the way to go here.

The OP is really interesting. 85 lbs at 3x5 I can do. But I seem to max out at 95. Weird. Anyways, next week I'll try 3x5 at 90 and see how that goes. I expect that I'll fail and so I'll just keep working at that until I'm able to do it. And I do it standing... can definitely feel it in the lower back.

 

[Scintillating10]

Not fitness, but how do you deal major embarrassment? I know we cannot chose our family members, but some of mine....

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I have had similar experiences. I do a 5x5 program and basically anything above 225 I would not be consistent at all with my form and even had some injuries. I did get to 3 plates but it was honestly pretty much torture for me, I would dread it all day long. Now I regularly build up to 3 plates, take a break, deload by like 200 lbs, start over from there and build up again to 3 plates, with focus on improving my form to be 100% consistent through the lighter weights. Honestly I get hurt too often to really push myself faster than this.

And OHP which I do seated due to space issues, also maxed out at 90-100 lbs. I let my form suffer too much and really f***ed up my shoulder. The AC joint. Shit took forever to heal and still gets hurt very easily. I feel I can get some benefits doing 5x5 at 75lbs with focus on perfect consistent form.

Yeah, deloading seems like the right move for squat. 225 is a little too heavy to do properly right now. I want to be lifting it, but I want to be safe doing it.

As for the OP, I make sure that every workout I do either reverse flies or face pull to make sure I'm looking after my rotator cuff. I had a rotator cuff issue in the past and don't need that crap again. I'd rather be cautious and slow then moving quicker and risking injuries.

 

[Lebowski]

I've been able to consistently progress so far. Up to 315 on deadlift (hex bar) and 225 on squat without problems.

Once I hit 225 on the squat though... it just didn't feel right. Like I didn't have control of the bar like I did before. Can I lift it? Yep. 3x5? Yep. Good form? Doesn't feel that way. So I'm deloading by 20 pounds for now. Last thing I need is an injury. I'll work at the lower weight for a bit, maybe up the reps in the set then progress another ten pounds and do the same. I'm thinking slow and steady is the way to go here.

The OP is really interesting. 85 lbs at 3x5 I can do. But I seem to max out at 95. Weird. Anyways, next week I'll try 3x5 at 90 and see how that goes. I expect that I'll fail and so I'll just keep working at that until I'm able to do it. And I do it standing... can definitely feel it in the lower back.

I like to do below parallel stop squats to shake things up from time to time.

Granted, that takes a fair amount of ankle flexibility, but I’d give it a shot at like 135 for 5 or 6 reps and see how that feels. I haven’t seen your form, but I see a fair amount of people at the gym with poor form at 185 and they’ll just keep loading the bar for another 100 pounds. Then they’ll do a couple half squats and call it a day. Adding weight too quickly in my opinion won’t only delay your progress, but it’ll also increase your risk of injury.

So my advice, for what it’s worth, would be to start at a much lower weight and focus on the depth of your movement while also removing the ‘’bounce’’ or momentum from the equation. Then you can work your way up from there.

As for overhead press, there’s a big difference in the movement if you do it while sitting instead of standing up. I can push a lot more weight while sitting since you take out your core muscles from the equation and you’ll tend to cheat by involving more pec muscles as well. I don’t care much about that, though, as doing straight up overhead press really messes up with my shoulders, so I always prefer having a slight angle on the bench instead of a pure 90 degrees angle.

If you’ve hit a plateau, maybe mix it up with dumbbells every once in a while. They’re also better if you have poor shoulder mobility.

Maxing out at 95 if you can do 3x5 at 85 isn’t that odd to me since the relative increase is fairly large. That’d be like adding 30 pounds on your 225 squat. I don’t like going for low reps on shoulders since they tend to be a fragile muscle group, so I’ll very rarely attempt rep sets under 5. I think you should be able to increase volume a fair amount at 85 before considering moving up.

 

[waffledave]

Yeah, deloading seems like the right move for squat. 225 is a little too heavy to do properly right now. I want to be lifting it, but I want to be safe doing it.

As for the OP, I make sure that every workout I do either reverse flies or face pull to make sure I'm looking after my rotator cuff. I had a rotator cuff issue in the past and don't need that crap again. I'd rather be cautious and slow then moving quicker and risking injuries.

With regular deloads, I am still making steady progress at least from a comfort standpoint. For example, I was struggling with form on 225 and deloaded, and the next time I was able to get a bit further and feeling good. I am on another deload right now but this is due to time taken off from injuries. I hit 3 plates multiple times for squats 5x5 but did not feel good about my form, though did feel pretty good up to around 280ish which was an improvement. Slow and steady, there's no reason to rush.

OHP I borderline want to cut out completely due to injury struggles. Thankfully no rotator cuff injury for me but the AC joint is another one of those nagging shoulder problems. I actually had thought my collarbone was broken, and I had trouble even just holding my kid. It's a lot better now but definitely tweaks easily.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I like to do below parallel stop squats to shake things up from time to time.

Granted, that takes a fair amount of ankle flexibility, but I’d give it a shot at like 135 for 5 or 6 reps and see how that feels. I haven’t seen your form, but I see a fair amount of people at the gym with poor form at 185 and they’ll just keep loading the bar for another 100 pounds. Then they’ll do a couple half squats and call it a day. Adding weight too quickly in my opinion won’t only delay your progress, but it’ll also increase your risk of injury.

So my advice, for what it’s worth, would be to start at a much lower weight and focus on the depth of your movement while also removing the ‘’bounce’’ or momentum from the equation. Then you can work your way up from there.

As for overhead press, there’s a big difference in the movement if you do it while sitting instead of standing up. I can push a lot more weight while sitting since you take out your core muscles from the equation and you’ll tend to cheat by involving more pec muscles as well. I don’t care much about that, though, as doing straight up overhead press really messes up with my shoulders, so I always prefer having a slight angle on the bench instead of a pure 90 degrees angle.

If you’ve hit a plateau, maybe mix it up with dumbbells every once in a while. They’re also better if you have poor shoulder mobility.

Maxing out at 95 if you can do 3x5 at 85 isn’t that odd to me since the relative increase is fairly large. That’d be like adding 30 pounds on your 225 squat. I don’t like going for low reps on shoulders since they tend to be a fragile muscle group, so I’ll very rarely attempt rep sets under 5. I think you should be able to increase volume a fair amount at 85 before considering moving up.

I had ankle surgery a few years back so not much flexibility there.

At 205, I feel comfortable. It's heavy but the form feels solid. I think I'll just work out at this weight for a while, adding reps and then move up later.

As for OHP, I don't think I'm at a plateau. A few workouts ago I got to 3x5 for 80 pounds. Then went to 85 and it was 5,4,3 or something like that. Then it was 5, 5 ,4. Then I got the 5x3. Decided to jump over 90 to 95 and could only lift it once.

Needless to say, I'll be doing 90 next workout.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

With regular deloads, I am still making steady progress at least from a comfort standpoint. For example, I was struggling with form on 225 and deloaded, and the next time I was able to get a bit further and feeling good. I am on another deload right now but this is due to time taken off from injuries. I hit 3 plates multiple times for squats 5x5 but did not feel good about my form, though did feel pretty good up to around 280ish which was an improvement. Slow and steady, there's no reason to rush.

OHP I borderline want to cut out completely due to injury struggles. Thankfully no rotator cuff injury for me but the AC joint is another one of those nagging shoulder problems. I actually had thought my collarbone was broken, and I had trouble even just holding my kid. It's a lot better now but definitely tweaks easily.

If you're having issues, you could try this for OHP...

https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/the-single-best-shoulder-exercise-for-men/

 

[DAChampion]

Damn I'm so out of shape, something as basic as a yoga class leaves me sore the day after.

 

[Fazkovsky]

any tips for shoulder tendonitis?

It feels like the more stretches im doing the more it makes it worst. Is stretching rly necessary to heal a tendon? What promotes tendon healing? im really struggling with it. Also, level of activity? is 30 minutes, 1 hour daily walk fine? My physio did say walking doesnt make the injury worst unless you walk 3 hours.

 

[waffledave]

If you're having issues, you could try this for OHP...

The Single Best Shoulder Exercise for Men | Men's Journal

Thanks! My physio mentioned this as an alternative too. I have tried but for me to extend fully I need more clearance as the ceiling I have it too low. I tried it seated but the room is too small as well. I am planning on moving everything into the garage where I'll have more space so I can do things a bit different at that point. I actually really need to return some of my empties, I have at least 300 empty tall boys to return but cause of COVID I haven't been able. That will free up space in the garage so I can move it all over.

 

[Kriss E]

Just signed up to World Gym..first serious workout in a gym in almost 6 months...the last time I went that long is probably back when I was 14...never felt so out of shape but happy I still have decent strength in me.
I can barely walk just 2h after my leg session..

A- Leg press 4x8
B- Back squats 4x 4@52X1 + 4@10X1
C1- Leg extensions 3x15
C2- GHD sit ups 3x15
D1- Good Mornings 3x10
D2- Kettlebell Swings 3x10
E1- Assault Bike sprints 10cals
E2- Hanging knee tucks x10
E3- KB Side bends x10 per side

Feels so good.

 

[Kriss E]

Thanks! My physio mentioned this as an alternative too. I have tried but for me to extend fully I need more clearance as the ceiling I have it too low. I tried it seated but the room is too small as well. I am planning on moving everything into the garage where I'll have more space so I can do things a bit different at that point. I actually really need to return some of my empties, I have at least 300 empty tall boys to return but cause of COVID I haven't been able. That will free up space in the garage so I can move it all over.

Try doing hangs. It is terrific for shoulder health and realignment. Add in some bottoms up KB holds/press. These were my go-to for clients and it always helped.
The issue though is more about “why” the shoulder hurts. If you don't know then it's likely just a matter of time until you feel it again.

 

[Fazkovsky]

Try doing hangs. It is terrific for shoulder health and realignment. Add in some bottoms up KB holds/press. These were my go-to for clients and it always helped.
The issue though is more about “why” the shoulder hurts. If you don't know then it's likely just a matter of time until you feel it again.

any advice for shoulder tendinitis? At beginning posture was a problem now its what movements or activity level i can resume

 

[Kriss E]

any advice for shoulder tendinitis? At beginning posture was a problem now its what movements or activity level i can resume

You need to be very attentive to your movement pattern. As mentioned above, hanging from a bar or rings helps, bottom's up KB press/holds, works your delts, lats and scapula.
Pay close attention when you're doing push ups or bench press, keep your shoulders retracted, any type of pinching in the shoulder means you're not in the ideal position.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I've been able to consistently progress so far. Up to 315 on deadlift (hex bar) and 225 on squat without problems.

Once I hit 225 on the squat though... it just didn't feel right. Like I didn't have control of the bar like I did before. Can I lift it? Yep. 3x5? Yep. Good form? Doesn't feel that way. So I'm deloading by 20 pounds for now. Last thing I need is an injury. I'll work at the lower weight for a bit, maybe up the reps in the set then progress another ten pounds and do the same. I'm thinking slow and steady is the way to go here.

The OP is really interesting. 85 lbs at 3x5 I can do. But I seem to max out at 95. Weird. Anyways, next week I'll try 3x5 at 90 and see how that goes. I expect that I'll fail and so I'll just keep working at that until I'm able to do it. And I do it standing... can definitely feel it in the lower back.

Yeah I do them standing too. Sitting is cheating as the cushion helps stabilize your back imo, but yeah, if it doesn’t feel right and ur form feels a bit compromised it is best to deload and get it right.

 

[Kriss E]

I've been able to consistently progress so far. Up to 315 on deadlift (hex bar) and 225 on squat without problems.

Once I hit 225 on the squat though... it just didn't feel right. Like I didn't have control of the bar like I did before. Can I lift it? Yep. 3x5? Yep. Good form? Doesn't feel that way. So I'm deloading by 20 pounds for now. Last thing I need is an injury. I'll work at the lower weight for a bit, maybe up the reps in the set then progress another ten pounds and do the same. I'm thinking slow and steady is the way to go here.

The OP is really interesting. 85 lbs at 3x5 I can do. But I seem to max out at 95. Weird. Anyways, next week I'll try 3x5 at 90 and see how that goes. I expect that I'll fail and so I'll just keep working at that until I'm able to do it. And I do it standing... can definitely feel it in the lower back.

Which means you're doing it wrong. Your core is either not properly engaged or at all, or giving up due to fatigue.
You need to tuck the ribcage in and squeeze the core tight throughout your movement, repeat after every rep. If you don't know how to tuck in the ribcage, imagine someone punched you in the stomach and how your core would naturally react to brace for impact.
There is a game changing difference in simply contracting your core (to what would be flashing your abs) and bracing.
Breathing plays its part as well.

 

[Kriss E]

Yeah I do them standing too. Sitting is cheating as the cushion helps stabilize your back imo, but yeah, if it doesn’t feel right and ur form feels a bit compromised it is best to deload and get it right.

It's not cheating really. There is no such thing as cheating. Can you lift the weight? Well then you did it. Does it help you lift more? Great, the heavier you move the stronger you will become, that's all there is to it.
In the bench press, if you know how to properly do it, you take full advantage of the cushion as you should be driving your upper back into as much as possible to press the bar back up.
Powerlifters are the masters at this, how they arch their back, position their hands, brace and drive their backs into the bench doesn't make them cheaters. It makes them the strongest bench pressers on the planet.

However, if you're arching doing a seated overhead press, well you're messing up your form completely.
Seated OH Press is meant to partially remove your lower body engagement from giving you any support making it more difficult to press the bar up. You're supposed to brace your core making your back straighter as you press the bar up. If you're arching to wear your lower back is completely off the back support, well you're not doing it right.
To make it even more hard, in come the ''Z Press'', which is a floor seated overhead press exercise, this one entirely removes any type of support from your lower body.

In the standing OH press, you get the support from your lower body, you're supposed to be driving your heels down, squeezing your legs and glutes before you start the pressing motion. Too many people just think ''press bar up'' and don't realize there is so much more you're supposed to do.

 

[DAChampion]

Does anyone have experience with these devices?

https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Impo...1595949380&sprefix=hamstring+,aps,148&sr=8-13

https://www.amazon.com/Professional...1595949380&sprefix=hamstring+,aps,148&sr=8-12

I'm thinking of buying one for my home. I have very tight legs.

 

[Lebowski]

Just signed up to World Gym..first serious workout in a gym in almost 6 months...the last time I went that long is probably back when I was 14...never felt so out of shape but happy I still have decent strength in me.
I can barely walk just 2h after my leg session..

A- Leg press 4x8
B- Back squats 4x 4@52X1 + 4@10X1
C1- Leg extensions 3x15
C2- GHD sit ups 3x15
D1- Good Mornings 3x10
D2- Kettlebell Swings 3x10
E1- Assault Bike sprints 10cals
E2- Hanging knee tucks x10
E3- KB Side bends x10 per side

Feels so good.

That’s a bit much after a 6 months lay off, no?

I think my first leg day after the gyms reopened, I did 5x5 squats and one calf raise exercise and my legs were done for like a week.

 

[Lshap]

Any of you guys been back to the gym? I'd guess everyone's masked, which might be fine for weights but is totally impossible for running on a treadmill.

 

[Lebowski]

Any of you guys been back to the gym? I'd guess everyone's masked, which might be fine for weights but is totally impossible for running on a treadmill.

The place where I go to, you need a mask when coming into the gym and in common areas, but otherwise you’re free to remove it while working out as long as you respect the distanciation rules.

It hasn’t been much of a hassle for me, but some other gyms may enforce more strict rules.