Oh wow, threads move done fast around this place!

Doing anything with dumbells (goblet squats, swings) is really a pain at my gym. You have to lug it across the gym and try to find an empty spot in the stretching area. Then if you change weights, lug it back and then come back to find your spot is gone. Just sort of a pain.

Anyways...............

I thought I would give front squats with a barbell a try. This was sort of on a whim so I didn't see how the bar was supposed to be place. But, sheesh, I don't think I could properly hold any reasonable amount of weight on my chest like that. I looked it up today and I'm still skeptical.

So, I tried back squats with just the bar. My back felt a little goofy but I think that's just because of a little different motion/angle than the the goblet squats. This is the kind of **** you deal with when your body gets older. Any little difference in your exercise and you feel it. I'm going to mix my squat days - 1 goblet, 1 back.

And, to continue with the dl discussion. I'll try the sumo lift. I think I'll alternate a dl day with a good morning day.

This all sort of sucks because my weak link is my lower back. It just isn't strong at all. And, it's really needed to do all this. But, it feels stronger than it has in a long time so this stuff is working.

front squats

lol, yeah, like I said, FSs.....

I would try front squats with a cross handed grip if I were you. Try to get used to them with just the barbell before adding weight.

Your back is upright when you FS and bent over when you back squat, so FSing is way safer/better when you have low back issues.

Back squatting puts sheer force on your low back. If your back felt goofy, that probably had something to do with it.

Read this and watch the vids in it - its excellent: http://www.ericcressey.com/how-to-front-squat-technique
He shows how to do the cross grip properly, in addition to everything else you need to know.

Thanks cha. That was an excellent article/videos.

I don't know what you do, but I think you could make a living at this. You really know your stuff, and you are able to explain things in a very understandable way.

You've been a ton of help to me for sure.

Thanks - I'm glad its helping

I'm a commercial real estate appraiser. I would not want to be a trainer for lots of reasons, including money. I have written programs/been an online trainer for money for people, but I do that for fun & to help people more than the money. That money just gave me a little motivation to do extra work, because when you get into writing the details of programs, it does become like work. I make way better $$ per hour at my real job. I wouldn't want to do that full time.

I learned what I know mostly because I needed to in order to get myself in decent shape. I was a borderline cripple about 3.5 years ago. It was very hard to get back into working out again because everything I did caused pain. I figured out how to get rid of the pain and get strong again, and learned a lot in the process. I had so much wrong with me that most of the time I see someone with some type of problem, I can honestly say "I had that problem and did X to fix it."

The suggestions I make here to help are just because I like to discuss stuff like this because it helps others and keeps me sharp.

OK, I'm tweaking the routine a bit.

I'm "GASP" giving up arm exercises. Never thought I'd say that. I replaced my arm routine with presses. I might cheat a little and do a couple of sets of bis/tris on run days. Old habits......

Adding a DL day. Emphasis on form over weight right now.

Going to front squats. Emphasis on form over weight right now.

I'm sticking with heavy/light push/pull days. I feel like just doing the movement helps me on the light days. Sort of lubricates this old body.

Probably gonna do less pull sets on Friday and get some good mornings in. I'm a little concerned with mixing good mornings in with swings, but we'll see how it goes.

I think the hardest part for me to make this work is keeping the runs. I really don't want to give up running.

Mon - SMR, mobility, Heavy bench, front squats, core, swings
Tues - SMR, light pulls,short run
Wednesday - SMR, mobility, deadlift, presses, core
Thursday - SMR, light bench,short run
Friday - SMR, mobility, Pulls, front squats, good mornings, core, swings
Saturday - SMR, long run
Sunday - Sit on my ass and watch golf.

The goal is to transition into a workout that is more in-line with what you guys recommend. But I think I need to concentrate on form on the compound lifts for a while, so I'm keeping some of what you guys would consider non-strength exercises. I dunno, makes me feel good.

looks good to me

Eventually when you get your form down and you're doing heavy compound movements, that will work your arms better than the vanity iso stuff you've been doing, so you won't need that stuff anymore.

First try at front squats.

Flexibility is a bit of an issue. I had trouble getting my elbows up. My arms just don't want to bend that way. I tried the crossover method but that didn't feel stable at all. I felt like the bar wasn't being supported well enough. I think I'll be fine with the standard method eventually.

I did notice that forcing your elbows up so the bar rests on your shoulders properly helps to ensure form all the way down. Helps to keep the chest out and back straight.

I think I spent more effort trying to get the bar placed and held properly than I did on the actual squat.

Anyways.

1x5x45 (bar only)
4x5x55

I feel like I'll be able to add weight pretty easily. They felt good.

Been a while since I looked it up, but I assumed the bar should be in the standard rack position for front squats, i.e. on top of your delts, not your shoulders?

Yeah. That's where it was. The videos said the bar should be right up against your neck with your elbows straight out. I think I had it right. In fact, I don't think the bar could have been anywhere else.

That part wasn't a problem. Bending my arms was.

a lot of that is pure wrist flexibility keeping just your fingertips on the bar. it comes along after a few sessions.

you can use a wider grip to adjust for poor flexibility or weird segment lengths.

You can do some wrist stretching to speed up the process as well BB. Some good advice here: http://www.allthingsgym.com/2011/10/...weightlifting/

Thanks. Might have a little trouble asking a random to help me with a "bromance stretch".

Yeah, it's quite...intimate

Ok, first shot at DL and presses.

It's really hard for me to tell how good my form is. I'll need to get gf to film me. I think I got it right.

The bar was a bit lower than what it would normally be because I didn't have 45s on it. I'll probably make some GGO thread somewhere because I got those rubber 45s and used them to set the barbell on to raise the bar to about where it would normally be. I only did this on the last set just to see how it felt.

LOL, I almost passed out on the first one. When I stood up with the weight all the blood rushed somewhere and I almost blacked out. I need to not spend so much time standing over the bar trying to make sure my form is right.

Anyways

1x5x75
4x5x95

Pretty lame but I'm really cautious and gonna take these real slow.

Back feels OK. Tired, but not stiff which is good. I'll be interested to see what is sore tomorrow.

Presses

1x8x95
4x6x105

You sound like you have this part sort of figured out, but here's another reason not to spend time over the bar before you lift - you are weaker than if you just grab the bar, tighten up and pull. While you're bent over, your muscles are stretching out and losing what little stretch reflex you have at the start of the lift.

Grab the bar hard, squeeze everything tight - all the muscles in your body, especially the back, then pull. Do that as quickly as possible without rounding the back.

and post vids.

cha,

FWIW I need to spend a couple of secs to tighten everything before I DL - if I rush it, I don't get quite tight enough. Might get better with experience, but I wouldn't necessarily try to apply this advice ASAP if I were BB.

That's a leak - you should work on trying to do it faster.

OK, I've always been unhappy with the fact that I remain pretty thin and at the same time have a spare tire. Sort of annoying.

Obv. my diet needs help. I looked up my typical day of eating and here's what I found.

I'm sort of amazed that I'm not getting the protein I need, but the fat seems to be high.

I need a good late night snack. I eat nuts because I can't sleep at night without something in my belly. Not sure what to do about the power bar either. I need something before my workout that will hold me.

I'm sort of grrring here because I felt like my diet wasn't horrible.

Food	tot cal	protein	carb	fat
Eggs (4)	312	24	4	20
chicken breast (1)	141	28	0	3
brocolli (1/2 cup)	27	2	6	1
powerbar	310	32	33	10
chicken breast (2)	282	56	0	6
sliced chicken	84	16	4	2
nuts	340	10	12	30
total	1496	168	59	72

it's called being skinny-fat and it's what happens when you don't even lift

I don't really see anything wrong with those macros bro.

Front squats today. Back felt good. Still taking it slow. Apparently I'm having some blood flow issues. I had to cut short a couple of sets because I got lightheaded. I'm pretty sure it's because I hold my breath but it was never an issue before. ggrrr...

Anyways

1 x 10 x 45
2 x 5 x 65
1 x 3 x 75
1 x 5 x 65

good mornings - super light - could have done a lot more but want to see how my legs respond

10 x 20
10 x 30
10 x 40

DB rows

8 x 75
6 x 80
5 x 85
4 x 90*

* most I've ever done woot

Its good to stay with fairly low reps for FSs. 5 is as much as you need for a set imo.

Bench

6 x 185
2 x 215
3 x 195
3 x 195

incline db

3 x 5 x 70

Front squats

8 x 45
6 x 65
3 x 85
2 x 95
2 x 95
3 x 85

Sure about that? See multiple big strong guys who use a second or two. Can't recall Ripples saying it's necessary.


Given the low amount of cals, agreed.

boat,
solution for sleeping at night without nuts: eat bigger dinners and have them fairly late in the evening. I follow an intermittent fasting protocol, but even if I don't I like big-ish dinners even on a deficit. 1 lb of chicken filet and lots of veggies is pretty std e.g.


Getting out of skinny-fat land can be a challenge, depending on how skinny and fat you are. Especially so at a mature age. If this is a big deal to you, you'll need to be fairly nitty about your diet AND lifting. It's probably the hardest and yet most common of "fitness" goals (I use that term lightly) for most recreational lifters (barring getting very strong).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EuD-b3Ae4E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dpRChwpmaM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HEThQFDtEA

They're hanging onto the bar, but not getting fully tight until they're pulling.

You might say Konstantinov stays in the hole, but notice how once he's tight, the weight goes up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh-ikyBAQr8
btw - no one else should DL like this guy.