Grassroots Strength Training - Bodybuilding, Power Lifting, Etc.

ProDarwin said:

I use a belt if I am going heavier - probably 5 rep max or more (weight).  Both squat and deadlift.  Agreed on the cue.

For me, it's any time I'm going to be working close to failure on squat or deadlift. But I use different tightness based on how close to my maximal load I'm going.

I've found I'm most likely to injure myself when doing higher reps (7+) close to failure. It's those last couple of reps where technique can get a bit sloppy. That's where having a belt on really helps me be aware of my lower back position.

I also use a belt if I'm looking to put up my top numbers on bench or overhead press. But that's just for the sake of being able to get an extra 5lbs.

Up to 255+lbs working on squat! Should be at a max squat if 315 now, which is surprising since I'm in finals right now too lol

It's great to hear you guys discussing training techniques and gear. I agree with you on the importance of maintaining proper form and technique, especially when working with heavy weights.
Have you guys tried using a training app to help you with your workouts? I recently started using the best exercise app and it's been a game-changer for me. It has a ton of exercises and videos that demonstrate proper form and technique, so it's helped me avoid injury and maximize my gains. The app also has a feature where you can create customized workout plans based on your goals and fitness level. Check it out and keep up the good work, guys!

Timely canoe bump.

Today was leg day at PF.  Set one on my program was leg press.  Where should I feel this?  I keep expecting to feel fatigue similar to a squat (quads), but leg press seems to totally wreck the muscle just above the knee on the inside front of the leg.  Like from 1-5" above the knee.

Is this the way it should feel?  Is my foot placement wrong?  Learn me leg press.

In reply to ProDarwin :

It depends on your foot placement- I feel the press in the same way because I have my legs about as wide as my shoulders and slightly "elevated" from my midline. I know there's other stances you can take but I couldn't say precisely what, I think it really comes down to personal feel and preference.

I usually find myself placing my feet pretty wide on the leg press. It's another one of those exercises that I like to change up my form to target different areas. One thing that stays consistent though is I do NOT go heavy anymore. I have messed up my lower back MANY times on the leg press using heavy weight and trying to go too deep. My pelvis rolls into anterior flexion at the bottom and I get to deal with a stabbing feeling in my spine for a few days.

More often than not I start with an empty sled for 10-15 reps, then one plate per side for another 10-15, another plate, another 10-15 reps, another plate, another 10-15 reps, then I add the last plate and do the Gym Jones drop set:

10 reps, hold and take a few breaths

9 reps, hold and take a few breaths

8 reps, hold and take a few breaths

7 reps, hold and take a few breaths

6 reps, hold and take a few breaths

5 reps, hold and take a few breaths

4 reps, hold and take a few breaths

3 reps, hold and take a few breaths

2 reps, hold and take a few breaths

1 rep, rack the weight.

I pull myself out of the sled and try to catch my breath. After a few minutes, I can walk again so I unload the sled and move on to the next exercise.

Also, if you're hammering the "teardrop" of your quads (vastus medialis) you can move your feet up on the platform to bring some of your posterior chain into play. Or maybe use a wider stance and point your toes outward slightly. 


That's what works for me but, there's about a 100% chance I'm not wired right.

The bout of COVID I had cost me about 15 pounds on my bench, 10 pounds on my overhead press, 10 pounds on my barbell rows, 20 pounds on my squats and 35 pounds on my deadlifts. Plus, the delayed onset muscle soreness I got after the workouts is fierce. 

I hope this doesn't get too long. I may have to come back and add more later when I have more time First, thanks for starting this thread Beer Baron I have been following from the initial post and stopped following after about a month because I wasn't lifting at the time and it really bummed me out. I have had an on/off relationship with lifting since I was 15 years old. I'm currently 51. I lifted pretty much straight through high school from the age of 16 to 18 with a couple buddies from the football team at an outside gym as well as taking weightlifting class in high school. Even back then I learned proper technique was way more important than gross tonnage and I never lifted really heavy but I was consistent. Of course being young I thought the muscle would stick around but it eventually went away as while going to college I stopped lifting except for a few months when me and another student hit the gym on campus. So what? I was thin and strong and didn't care. Life was good.

Anyway, I meet this girl and get married and still not lifting until she wants to join an gym and get in shape so I'm thinking that's a great idea. I'm about 23-34 years old at that time. I had gotten fat by then because I was eating all the pizza available as a delivery driver at dominoes where we didn't really get a lunch break but we did get free pizza at work. It was a great idea but I was not consistent in going. I got a bit stronger but quit going after about a year and a half and not really seeing results. There was another attempt while working at dominoes but I never went beyond the first couple days I joined the gym. Cut to early 30s and we (me and wife) joined another gym and I went consistently for about 2 months then never set foot inside it.

At 40 (and at 238 lbs((fat not muscle))) I decided I had to lose weight and started walking and eating a lot less and a lot more real food rather than junk. I lost 35 lbs the first year and and additional 15 lbs the next so I was skinny fat. My wife discovered crossfit and she joined initially and talked me into joining about 3 months later. That was the best shape I have been in in my life. At what, 43? So I did that for a couple years. It was hard on my body but it's easy to be consistent when you schedule it. The thing about crossfit is you need to take it at your own pace but when the music starts that goes out the window, or at least it did to me. In Oct 2016 I injured my shoulder putting in one too many reps and slowed way down on crossfit then cut my tendon at work 3 weeks later and didn't do crossfit again. After losing all that muscle over the next 4 years of not working out I installed a squat rack in my garage in early 2021 and started lifting again. Nothing organized but I was consistent. I stopped again in November 2021 when I got covid the first time and didn't go back.

Until 3 weeks ago. After futzing around for two weeks getting my body used to lifting I started using a beginner 5x5 with ramped sets on the final day of the week. I'm organized and consistent now, planning most aspects and looking to lift until I leave the mortal realm. The biggest lesson for me has been that my body needs regular hard exercise and by not giving it what it needs it has limited me physically when I don't want to be and I should never have quit. I'm not big for regret. I know why I am where I am and what to do. I just have to stay with it.

I find myself in an interesting situation where I'm struggling to gain weight. So, I'm 5'7" and 162 pounds, single digit body fat. Pretty muscular, and I'm trying to push to 180. Currently I eat a little over 3000 calories per day, and I'm trying to get that up to 3500 but it's tough. I don't eat any junk food at all, and I limit processed foods to a minimum, as staying overall healthy is my primary focus. Eating 3500 calories of super healthy food is freakin tough! I'm not gaining weight though. In fact this morning, I was 160.8 pounds. I feel like at age 41 my metabolism shouldn't be this fast! Workouts are good and intense, I get mostly enough sleep at night, so I'm kinda scratching my head as to why I'm not gaining. Do I really burn this much each day? Wild. 

Up next is 100g of sprouted oats, 44 grams of peanut butter, a large smooshed banana, one serving of honey, half a scoop of protein power, and one serving of chia seeds. 1,070 calories, 44 grams of protein. Lunch will be two chicken sandwiches, similar calories and a bit more protein. 

I already have trouble eating this much. My concern is eating enough for my body to sustain 180lbs will be a nightmare.

In reply to infinitenexus :

You sound similar to me. I'm 37, 5-8, and spent most at my life around 140-150. I work out, lift weights 4-5 days a week but even with that I hovered around 170. I finally got my testosterone checked, and was something like 60, when normal is 300. After I started injections, it feels like I'm cheating. I bulked up pretty quickly, and now hover around 185. If I dont work out my weight goes down, but nothing like it was before. 

Just an FYI, people don't really have alot of sympathy for people struggling to gain wait. Especially women. They have conversations about how hard it is to lose weight, I try to contribute to the conversation and tell them how I understand the struggle, and I struggle with keeping weight on. I can eat whatever I want, drink beer, give in to the munchies, and not gain weight. Not one bit of sympathy really. 

In reply to lnlogauge :

normal range of testosterone is roughly 300-1000. Sounds like you got on TRT, I'm glad. I started that around 8 months ago and it's been a life changer.

I know what you mean about the sympathy thing. Whenever I mention my struggle to gain weight people are always like "Oh I wish I had your problem, I can't lose weight!" and then stuff their face with McDonald's and a large soda. If I ate crap every day gaining weight would probably be easy, but I'm interested in longevity so I eat healthy.

I've managed to be above 3500 calories for the past few days so that's a good start. Also started timing my rest between sets and limiting it. Before I would lift big and heavy, then rest like 5 minutes and do another set. My workouts were taking forever and I always had to cut them short. Now I rest 90 seconds between sets for multijoint lifts and 60 for isolation exercises. It's ramped the intensity way up and cut my workout times in half. 

Arthritis in my knees has been getting bad, though. So that sucks.

3,500 is a lot of calories. Have you talked to a doctor about this? Gotten checked for like hyperthyroidism or anything?

I'll be in the camp of, "not the worst problem to have," but I fully recognize that's frustrating and not what you want.

Gaining weight requires a lot of calories and is very uncomfortable.  That's just the way it is I thought?  
 

3500 for a day or two is hard but doable.  3500 for weeks on end is crushingly difficult.

Getting really antsy not working out with issues following the vasectomy. Still don't know what level of discomfort is fine, or what is potentially extending recovery time.

Tonight is the weekly session with our trainer. For the past couple weeks, it's been just my wife out there. I'm going to try a few lifts just to see how things feel. Probably bench with one notch of incline (this requires a lot less bracing than standard), then squats to just feel them out. Probably bar -> 95 -> 135, see how I'm feeling, add 10 or 20 lbs until I hit 185 or things start to feel irritated. Maybe some bench rows.

I just finished Murph. It took longer than I thought it would. I could have done more pull-ups and a LOT more push-ups but the run and the squats killed me. I switched to knuckle push-ups and super strict chin-ups at the halfway point. I did the 10 sets of 10 pull-ups, 20 push-ups, 30 squats superset strategy.


I finished right at 60 minutes and I am pooped.

Nice.  I have never done real Murph, only on a rower, but is generally a ~50 minute ordeal for me, even unweighted.  And I'm sure right now my time would be horrible.  The squats are definitely brutal.  I usually break it up into rounds of "cindy", i.e. 5-10-15

My update this month is a little disappointing.

I was feeling a bit bloaty at the beginning of the month and with some business travel coming up I decided to slim down a tad just for comfort.  This is usually pretty easy for me as its just a case of 'don't try to eat as much as I possibly can'.  I started that with every intention of maintaining a high protein intake and intense lifting.

However, I got an infection in my... equipment as a result of my vasectomy earlier this year.  This knocked me out of commission for a week or more while I ran through antibiotics.  After several doctors appointments and recovery, I still had another round of pain in the equipment from a mild workout (2k row).  Ugh.  So I took it easy again after that.

Anyway, a very underwhelming month, slid backward for sure.  Dropped 10 lbs pretty easily, but definitely a bit bummed that I can barely tell (aside from much less digestive discomfort).

May 1st on the left (193lbs) May 29 on the right (183lb)

I currently weigh 181 but I am nowhere near that lean. Of course, I'm a 5'7" manlet. That's about how I look around 170.

I can see a difference, you're noticeably "harder" looking in the current picture. 

ProDarwin said:

However, I got an infection in my... equipment as a result of my vasectomy earlier this year.  This knocked me out of commission for a week or more while I ran through antibiotics.  After several doctors appointments and recovery, I still had another round of pain in the equipment from a mild workout (2k row).  Ugh.  So I took it easy again after that.

Geez... Rowing is about at the bottom of exercises I would want to attempt while recovering.

After another 3-week hiatus from exercise, did some light lifting yesterday. Inclined bench* up to 155, squats up to 185, some pull ups and dumbbell bench rows. Light weights for me, but enough to feel things out. No issues. Decided I'm going to hold off on deadlift motions for a bit still.

So, I'm feeling positive about that and looking forward to building the intensity back up.

*I find the lowest incline possible and a slightly raised seat makes things a lot more comfortable. I don't need to engage much leg drive to stabilize and the angle produces a comfortable ROM for my shoulders without having to arch.

^That's the look I'm trying to get back to. That was late '18, right before I turned 39 and tore my meniscus. This time around it looks like it may require exogenous testosterone in the form of TRT or something along those lines. 

ProDarwin said:

Gaining weight requires a lot of calories and is very uncomfortable.  That's just the way it is I thought?  
 

3500 for a day or two is hard but doable.  3500 for weeks on end is crushingly difficult.

It really is! Also 3500 calories of healthy food, which is often low calorie so I have to eat even more. And I've never really had a huge appetite. Past three days I've finished at 3680, 3720, and 3400 calories, definitely not easy. Adding another protein/banana/peanut butter shake at the end of the day after dinner has been helping. Weight is very slowly trending upwards.

Beer Baron said:

3,500 is a lot of calories. Have you talked to a doctor about this? Gotten checked for like hyperthyroidism or anything?

I'll be in the camp of, "not the worst problem to have," but I fully recognize that's frustrating and not what you want.

I get full blood tests every 3 months since I'm on TRT, and everything is pretty much picture perfect. I think it's just a combination of several things including a healthy diet, relatively active lifestyle, maybe genetic lottery to some people. I can literally eat a large pizza by myself and not gain a single pound. But yeah, 3500 is a lot! I try to keep things healthy every day but if I have to pound a dozen buffalo wings I try not to worry.

I've got several recipes that help, like what I'm eating now:

3 servings (100g) sprouted old fashioned oats, cooked
1 serving chia seeds
1 serving peanut butter
1 ripe banana, mashed up into a paste
1 serving honey
1/2 scoop protein powder, chocolate. Can use more but I don't like the consistency.

Eating that right now. 990 calories with the ingredients I used, and tastes pretty good. The key is the mashed-up ripe banana. If you make this without the banana, it'll be bland and pasty and taste horrible. Mixing in a banana is the only way I'm able to eat bananas. Also sprouted oats were a game changer for me, as I have pretty bad IBS. Regular rolled oats destroy me, sprouted oats I digest just fine. It's just a shame they're hard to find and cost twice as much.

In reply to infinitenexus :

Reminds me of the guy who experimented with following The Rock's diet for 30 days. It was apparently a chore to consume that much food.