It seems a pretty friendly, usable weight. I wouldn't mind having one again.

Rehab has been progressing well with my knee although there's still a lotta nightly inflammation and issues with flexion.

My single-leg legpress loading is increasing pretty nicely (pretty worthless to state legpress loads though.)

The belted chain (for weighted pullups, dips) has been missing from the weightroom, so I took a backpack to the gym to load up. I guess someone caught me on the cameras putting a couple of plates into my backpack, and the desk lady ran in to question me about it. I guess they thought I was a plate-stealer.

The backpack version of weighted PUs/dips is slightly cumbersome, but really effective. I also involuntarily experienced a form of post tetanic potentiation/facilitation. I pulled a bunch of 3RM and 2 RM weighted, and was pretty spent from that. For kicks, I grabbed the bar to do some free pullups. I ended up repping my max-1, even though my arms/back was in a very fatigued state!

Really like when some douchebag doing 1/2 squats comes up to me and my friend and tells us we're doing them wrong because we're looking at the ground instead of looking up at the ceiling. "OK man, thanks".

Just tell him he's doing his squats wrong.

I had someone before tell me I'm doing my deadlifts wrong. this is because I was doing stiff legged deadlifts. I don't think he knew what those were...

question about deadlifts

how much leg push should there be. I mean, I start knees bent but it doesn't feel like my legs are doing any work at all.

also, did this today, how's it for a workout:

5x5 cleans
5x5 deads
5x5 barbell sh. presses
3 sets pull-ups to failure

It is not a squat from the floor. Take a video, and watch when the bar breaks from the floor. Do your hips rise up before the bar breaks the floor? If so, you need to set your ass higher from the start. Also, make sure that your scapula are directly above the bar, not your shoulder socket. If you don't, you're just going to end up with the bar moving back to that position anyway.

The legs act as an anchor for your glutes and lower back to do the pulling. You should feel it in your hamstrings, but it's mostly a really hard isometric contraction that is going on there.

If your back is in proper extension (not rounded), then even if it seems as though all the pulling is coming from your back, that's okay. The spine is protected from your lower back muscles contracting and keeping the lumbar spine extended.

here's a good writeup:
http://www.crossfit.com/journal/libr...ofDeadlift.pdf

It's a good workout in and of itself, but the dl volume is high.

5x5 cleans and 5x5 deads seems like too much for same day. Everyone is individual, but for me I would get majorly burned out on the second exercise when the weights started ramping up. I'd much rather replace one with a front squat or something.

I absolutely raped my ribs today doing DB rows. It looks like Mike Tyson used me as a punching bag.

^? Why are you smacking yourself with the DB. If I do DB rows I do them leaning on the DB rack where I'm standing up and there's no bench.

Haha, my program called for dumbbell cleans a few days ago. I had never really done the DB version and on my first rep I rammed them right into my abs and ribs. I have parallel gash lines down my midsection now. Should be cool when they scab up.

tl;dr
----

OK. The following is neither made up or exaggerated. If anything, I've probably forgotten to include other ridiculous comments.

The scene: Apartment weight room in nyc. Anklebreaker is laddering pullups, minding his own business. Jacked-nice-guy (Jacked) is spotting lanky-arrogant-dude (Lanky) on the bench talking about his last supplement purchase. Novice young lifter (Young) who's clearly been taken under the wing by Skinny and Jacked is stretching by the window.

Jacked: So, I finally bought those supplements you told me to get.
Lanky: Which ones?
Jacked: The muscletech protein and creatine.
Lanky: Yeah I bought 3 supplements yesterday from vitaminshoppe. Glutamine, creatine and spirulina.
Jacked: What's that?
Lanky: It's this amazing algae that is almost turning into a life-form. I researched it. It's got FOUR TIMES the protein of beef! BEEF!
Jacked: No way! You can't have that every day then.
Lanky: Vitaminshoppe man. They have stuff so cheap there. I got a bottle of creatine THIS BIG (gestures size of a breadbox) for $29! And it's a special type of creatine too.

*Young runs over*

Young: What?! You bought creatine?? You told me specifically not to use creatine and how it's dangerous.
Lanky: Yeah man, you don’t wanna **** with it. I'm experienced. You should lift for 6 months without it. It gives you a false sense of strength.
Jacked: Yeah man. I had to check with my doctor. She said I can use it, but to watch out for my kidneys.
Young: You guys don't practice what you pray [sic]. (Leaves to do some calf work)

Jacked: So they say that the new creatine I bought will increase my leg-press by 54 lbs.
Lanky: Yeah, but it's a false sense of strength.

_____________________________


Jeebus!!!! There's only so much stupid I can take. As an aside, Jacked is really jacked, and a super-nice guy who's always helpful at the weight room.

I do them like this, and sometimes the front head of the dumbbell comes up too fast and smacks me in the ribs.

What do you guys think about extrapolating the recommended 6 meals a day to 10-15 even smaller meals?

And even possibly going to an IV drip constantly giving your body exactly what it needs and never having your energy cycle up or down.

Sounds like a plan imo

How guilty should I feel over having 3 medium sized pieces of cake last night? I've been sticking very well to a Zone/Paleo diet (a small amount of pasta being the only un-Paleo item each day). That amount of cake is basically a full day's worth of carbs.

Guilty enough to know not to do that again. Not so guilty as to wreck the rest of your plan or compensate for calories by skipping meals.

How delicious was the cake?

Deadlifted 305 x3 yesterday

... that kinda felt like bragging about a $1500 heater in BBV

Shipz.

got a couple of dubious questions:

if you are trying to gain weight, should you play with yourself less so to speak?

also, a friend at university told me she would tense her stomach as often as she could (like at cash points, sitting around) to give her a toned stomach. would this actually work? in addition to doing situps, could you sit while watching tv and just tense your stomach? would this work with other muscles?

thanks if you can post your thoughts

john

No.
No (for all practical purposes).

Also, read faq.

kosher for passover cake = pretty bad

This is what my mate Arnie calls isotension of something like that, basically you flex the muscles you have just worked out to give them maximum definition, tensing your stomach is the same idea and it would have some impact I imagine but just flexing is not going to be enough work for the muscles to grow much since most people find it easy to lift their arm there is not going to be enough of a stimulus.

If this is wrong blame Arnie/Arnold. I have earned the right to call him Arnie, I read his book

How easy is passover when you are paleo?

Tensing your stomach can actually be a work-out in itself, but by "toned" stomach I'm assuming you mean one that is not necessarily strong to X degree, but looks good. Low level of subcutaneous fat and such. That's going to come from the way you eat compared to your overall level of energy expenditure. What exercises you do with your stomach plays a very minor role in any of that.