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Fitness |OT| Pumpin' Iron and Spittin' Blood.

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
triggered and activated, sufficiently depersonalized

VNjBFUR.gif
Don't forget to let your heart grow two sizes each day, even if you're maintaining the depersonalized exterior. Sounds like you've already got that on lock though.
 

Meowzers

Member
My machine runs on anything. I just make sure I get in the right amount of protein and calories and it's easy going from there. When gyms re-open here, I'll be trying out calorie cycling for fat loss. So for Monday it may be 3500 and then Tuesday at 2000. As long as calories are equated for the week, weight loss is the same.
Heineken, chicken and broccoli ha.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Got first workout in since getting some random sickness 4 days ago

All compound movements, like 90% of usual volume, full body routine. I think the main movements are key. Walking, and a stimulating weight for each compound exercise and throw in maybe some cardio in between sets if it’s a prolonged session. I might tone down the accessory exercises a bit and instead focus on the main lifts a bit more

Today:

-Walk 20 min
-warm up circuit + warm up sets (OHP + Rows 1 set each)
-Farmer carries
-DB OHP
-DB Rows
-Assisted Pullups
-Skipped Chest, next time w/ Perfect Pushup handles
-Mobility work for joint capsules and hamstring
-Light Stretch

Now trying to eat as much chicken + vegetable bone broth soup as possible. On bowl number 3 trying to get these gains

Looking into best vitamin C and Omega 3 supplements
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Cutty Flam Cutty Flam it pleases me greatly to see more people in the thread incorporate farmer carries. If you have the shoulder strength/stability to press the weight above your head and lock it there, overhead 1-handed farmer walks are even more beneficial.

VlaudTheImpaler VlaudTheImpaler I wanted to boast that I can now hold myself up on the rings with elbows locked out for minutes at a time. My entire upper body is much stronger thanks to these exercises, so thank you for all the info provided in the thread over the weeks/months. Also I'm still doing that rice bucket and the "mobility" stuff. My forearms are like bundles of aircraft cable and my joints are super flexible.

As an aside, If you can't pump iron to smooth woodwind instruments, you're low T 🤷‍♀️

 
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Blond

Banned
Ain't much compared to some people but I feel really proud of myself with this one. If the heat wasn't rapidly rising I would've gone farther! If there are any cyclist in Sacramento HMU, I'd love a riding buddy. I'm still learning my little vintage Fuji here, but when I was peaking on speeds it was awesome.


NqubeMc.jpg
 
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Tesseract

Banned
Do you have a home gym brah? I haven't been to the gym since they shut everything down here in NY back in March. Now that my GF left me I gotta put my energy somewhere. Maybe do some body weight exercises or something.
bench and dbells, olympic bar, rings, kettle, bands, elliptical, rower, pulll up bar, parallel bar, battle rope

i do a lot of ground work, isos and such
 
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SpiceRacz

Member
This is my favorite thread on Gaf. I always enjoy checking in and seeing what you guys are up to. It motivates me. Also cool to have a place free of judgement where we can all share our progress.

As for me, I'm still at it. Not much lifting. Keeping the body moving. Gyms in Arizona are closed for an indefinite length of time. Biggest lesson from this pandemic is that I need to invest in my own equipment again when my wife and I buy a house, hopefully in October. Never going to rely on a gym ever again.

On another note, here's a short documentary on one of the more interesting people to ever come out of the fitness community. The video is equal parts hilarious and disturbing.



Cheers
 
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God Enel

Member
Couple days ago I bought fat grips just for fun. To see how different it is to work out with them. Tried them yesterday for the first time on a “back routine” - even though I think they are not specifically designed for it. well, anyways..
I always knew that my left arm/side/hand is weaker than the right one. Using fat gripz unveils this fact even more. Was doing deadlifts with 40kg because I knew it’s not gonna be heavy for my back but for my fore arms. The grip always started slipping in my left hand. I mean it’s a rather small difference between left and right but it still annoys me that I cannot bring them on the same level - though I have to admit that I’m not forcing it enough maybe. I’m giving both arms the same treatment.

shit’s insane. My Deadlift max is 110? Or 100? Not sure anymore. I can deadlift 80kg ~my body weight ~ 3 sets 12 times. With fat gripz I cannot even pick them up from the ground lol. I have to admit though that I tried the 80kg after I was finished the sets... so maybe this was it.

will use again for sure. has anybody else tried them?

edit: today is skill day. Will work on handstand/arm balances/muscle ups/Russian dips/the cross and straight arm and scapula strength. Will be more of just me playing around.

Btw Cutty Flam Cutty Flam and DunDunDunpachi DunDunDunpachi yesterday I went into the shower and turned it directly to max cold and I have to say it’s way harder than hot -> cold. it was manageable though. I had to find my breath first and then it was business as usual (never thought I’d say that about cold showers lol)

I’m gonna throw a hip hop track in
 
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Getting sleep schedule back on track after a wild work week and schedule for my wife. Up at 9. Got lots of sleep. Will be up all night and try to stay up all day and go to bed at a normal time.

Switching up my routine a bit. Going to try something a little different leading up to the tournament outside of weekly practice on Tuesdays, where I go H. A. R. D.

My body seems to be regenerating pretty fast at this point in my training and I have so much freaking energy I can't sit still so I'm going to start working out all day, every day if I can. I usually only need 1 and a half to two days after practice for recuperation now. Plan is to work out 3 times a day. Morning before breakfast. Midday before lunch. End of day before supper. Might throw in a burner, (1 set till failure) for a body part I didn't focus on right before bed.

Todays plan is to hit...

Table top hammer curl pumps while doing knuckle ups with my wrist at the same time. 1 set of 100. I take my punching dummy and stack it on the chair then attach my resistance band onto it. Then I take the other end, put a handle on it, then tie a towel onto that. I bundle up and grab the towel so that it has a fat grip. And so that the band is pulling on my hand from the top only. I lean back in an armwrestling position as if I where trying to apply upwards pressure until the band is nice and taught. Then I pump my bicep rapidly. At the same time, at the bottom of the pump I let my wrist and knuckles down. As I am coming up with the pump, I bring my wrist and knuckles up as well. This simulates taking their hand. Every other day I might change my wrist technique. So I might knuckle up into a toproll. Or go for an inside hook.

Side pressure pumps while cupping and hooking. 1 set of 100. Very hard to explain this one. But basically I lock my arm in a good position and get my weight over my bicep. I pump the following muscle groups. My arm, shoulder, lats, traps, lower back and hips. Imagine all those muscles on the side of the arm I'm using wrapping all the way around to my hips/glutes on the opposite side like a spiral. I'm grabbing the towel bundled up around my handle for a fat grip with the band pulling from the top again which forces me to rotate my wrist as well as I am pulling in order to keep it stable. I then hook in at the top of the pump.

Inverted hangs on the rings with a cupping grip, (no thumbs). 1 set of 1 minute. To simulate carries since I don't have weights. I weigh 170lbs right now so this will do for now. I realize that I'm not stimulating my spine and such nearly as much as upright carries but I do lift during our practices and since I had a back injury, I do try to baby my back. Feeling great though, no pain so far.

Three sets. With a fourth set till failure for each session throughout the day.

I will progress with the weight for each session.

Morning is super light.

Midday is light.

Evening is medium.

I still do rice bucket in-between whenever I feel like it... So like all the freaking time. As well as cardio and such. But there is plenty of yard work and mowing to do that I am not worried about my legs. And if I somehow get all that done, I'll just do some turkish getups.

Will report back with my progress.

Never give up brothers. There's always something to improve upon, even in the midst of injury. Whether spiritual or physical. Always a hurdle that's screaming at us to be conquered. The wise and brave relentlessly forge their body's, minds and souls so that they are ready to answer the call valiantly and to reap the rewards of triumph compassionately and with humility. This strengthens us all.

 
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Cutty Flam Cutty Flam it pleases me greatly to see more people in the thread incorporate farmer carries. If you have the shoulder strength/stability to press the weight above your head and lock it there, overhead 1-handed farmer walks are even more beneficial.

VlaudTheImpaler VlaudTheImpaler I wanted to boast that I can now hold myself up on the rings with elbows locked out for minutes at a time. My entire upper body is much stronger thanks to these exercises, so thank you for all the info provided in the thread over the weeks/months. Also I'm still doing that rice bucket and the "mobility" stuff. My forearms are like bundles of aircraft cable and my joints are super flexible.

As an aside, If you can't pump iron to smooth woodwind instruments, you're low T 🤷‍♀️



Glad you are seeing progress mate. Do you get excited for rice bucket sessions? I've come to crave the smell as well for whatever reason. You doing the beans too? Can't remember if I asked that. Dude, I love how pumped both my hands and forearms feel after a session. I was actually kind of surprised to see how much bigger one hand is than the other that hasn't gone in yet. I don't believe that's something I've experienced with any other workout. Even grippers.

And btw, that song moves me. Thank you.

Couple days ago I bought fat grips just for fun. To see how different it is to work out with them. Tried them yesterday for the first time on a “back routine” - even though I think they are not specifically designed for it. well, anyways..
I always knew that my left arm/side/hand is weaker than the right one. Using fat gripz unveils this fact even more. Was doing deadlifts with 40kg because I knew it’s not gonna be heavy for my back but for my fore arms. The grip always started slipping in my left hand. I mean it’s a rather small difference between left and right but it still annoys me that I cannot bring them on the same level - though I have to admit that I’m not forcing it enough maybe. I’m giving both arms the same treatment.

shit’s insane. My Deadlift max is 110? Or 100? Not sure anymore. I can deadlift 80kg ~my body weight ~ 3 sets 12 times. With fat gripz I cannot even pick them up from the ground lol. I have to admit though that I tried the 80kg after I was finished the sets... so maybe this was it.

will use again for sure. has anybody else tried them?

edit: today is skill day. Will work on handstand/arm balances/muscle ups/Russian dips/the cross and straight arm and scapula strength. Will be more of just me playing around.

Btw Cutty Flam Cutty Flam and DunDunDunpachi DunDunDunpachi yesterday I went into the shower and turned it directly to max cold and I have to say it’s way harder than hot -> cold. it was manageable though. I had to find my breath first and then it was business as usual (never thought I’d say that about cold showers lol)

I’m gonna throw a hip hop track in


I use a thick grip for just about everything I can. I love it. Personally, I feel better that way.

Mr. Stapleton made his own fat grips for the practice room. We use them on everything we can. He basically took some tubing scraps from work and cut them to size. It fits really well. Only a small gap on the one side but you can just grip over it with your palm on it.

I think he used something like this...


It's really nice because you can just buy the length you need and cut it precisely. His grips fit the dbells very tight on the sides and you can make them fit anything that way.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
I bought my two oldest kids (both under 10yrs) a thick rubber fill-me-up-with-water kettlebell, with a handle on either side. It goes up to 12 lbs (probably 14 if I really filled it) which is the most they should really be hauling around at a pre-pubescent age. I figure it will last them until at least teen years. Since we're homeschooling this year, some of the outdoor / gym duties fall to me. So I have them carrying the kettlebell to the back, doing orbits, learning swings, but otherwise focusing on fun stuff that a kid would be wont to do with a heavy rubber ball with handles on it.... like throwing it and spinning and slingshotting it across the yard. :goog_lol:

Which got me thinking.... The other day my wife and I borrowed one of these and threw it around for about 20m while we talking in the backyard. I did stuff like behind-the-head arced throws like we used to do in basketball (to strengthen our passes and jumpshot) and flinging it and catching it by one handle (that was fun because we'd spin it to make it harder for the other lol).

For such a light weight (it was probably filled to 8 or 10lbs), it was a nice workout! But more to the point, it was a lot of fun. and I am thinking of getting a 4lb and 12lb medicine ball (smaller, like 10") to do more of these sort of routines with the kids. I don't personally mind doing heavy weights, doing calisthenics, etc and I don't think the medicine balls fill any gap in my own routine, but the kids haven't learned all the stuff I have. In the meanwhile, throwing a weighted ball around seems like an excellent workout for kids who haven't yet mastered the safety and proper form for complex lifts.

Anyway, I said i was "done" with new equipment which is 50% true but I suppose I'm about to add a few 10" medicine balls to the home gym. 🤷‍♀️

Now I'm just puzzling over whether I want some nice double-stitched medicine balls or a rubber/nylon "slam balls"

Keep up the cold showers God Enel God Enel , and make sure you're doing some kind of breathing routine (not necessarily right there in the shower) to feed your brown fat with oxygen. Bit by bit, you'll reach the point where you are eager to douse yourself with icy cold water, especially right after a workout.Then before long, you'll be running in the snow like a maniac!

Glad you are seeing progress mate. Do you get excited for rice bucket sessions? I've come to crave the smell as well for whatever reason. You doing the beans too? Can't remember if I asked that. Dude, I love how pumped both my hands and forearms feel after a session. I was actually kind of surprised to see how much bigger one hand is than the other that hasn't gone in yet. I don't believe that's something I've experienced with any other workout. Even grippers.

And btw, that song moves me. Thank you.
lol no I don't get "excited" since it has become a background routine. I sit down, laptop on lap, and squeeze away at the rice mindlessly. I have beans mixed in and I use them for finer finger exercises, but I mainly "swim" the hand through and work individual fingers and the wrist from all angles. It's one of those things that doesn't seem like it will pay off (even if you tire out both arms multiple times a day, the arms never feel truly "tired") but over time you begin to see strength. Since I do a lot of gym rings (thanks for that, too) I am getting major grip/wrist/stability improvements from there, so the results kind of bleed together. I do pushups (which I don't do often on the ground anymore because lolrings) on a closed fist or on three fingers as a gauge to see if/how other exercises are paying off, and the finger/wrist stability has definitely spiked in these past few months.
 

rykomatsu

Member
Ok, dumb question...

I gained <x> lbs of upper body fat during the pandemic (pinch test shows I didn't gain much if anything lower body)
If my 1RM for back squats is 300lb, if I lose <x> lbs of upper body fat, would I effectively PR at 300+(x lbs * some correction factor less than 1), assuming everything else was the same?
 

JimiNutz

Banned
I've had a decent enough week.

Last Saturday was first day back in gyms so did my chest and back.
Mon-Thur I did alternative days of Boxing and Muay Thai
Yesterday I did shoulders and legs. Also threw in some trap bar deadlift in at the end. I've never done much trap bar deadlift but am really feeling it today in my traps and quads!

Gonna rest up today and then will try and do a short run tomorrow and some pull ups and dips before I get back on it Monday.

My lifts are all down at least 25% and I think it's gonna take me a while to fully regain my strength if I continue to do Boxing and Muay Thai Mon-Thur as it really only leaves two days a week to lift.

In my 20s I could do 5x5 strong lifts in the morning and then do 2 hours of MMA in the evenings but now I'm pushing 35 I genuinely think that would kill me lol

I feel like I have to pick and either focus on lifting or striking (still no grappling of any kind at my gym) so will see how my lifting progresses over the next couple weeks before deciding whether I need to cut back on the Boxing and Muay Thai.

Enjoying some much needed BBQ and whiskey today on my day off.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Worked legs today, roughly 10 sets and stretch. Real simple stuff, Squats, Hip Bridges, and Calf Raises after a 20 min walk and some marching. Making progress. I've learned that constantly moving and limiting sitting on your off days is key. Or at the very least, a light cardio session and mobility work afterwards is necessary if you want to go into each workout feeling supple and ready to kill it--no doubts or second guessing at any point during the training session itself

Have been making progressions and focusing on resting adequate amounts, and eating more to ensure growth. Eating is actually the toughest part now. Keeping up with protein requirements and water intake is a full time effort

Couple days ago I bought fat grips just for fun. To see how different it is to work out with them. Tried them yesterday for the first time on a “back routine” - even though I think they are not specifically designed for it. well, anyways..
I always knew that my left arm/side/hand is weaker than the right one. Using fat gripz unveils this fact even more. Was doing deadlifts with 40kg because I knew it’s not gonna be heavy for my back but for my fore arms. The grip always started slipping in my left hand. I mean it’s a rather small difference between left and right but it still annoys me that I cannot bring them on the same level - though I have to admit that I’m not forcing it enough maybe. I’m giving both arms the same treatment.

shit’s insane. My Deadlift max is 110? Or 100? Not sure anymore. I can deadlift 80kg ~my body weight ~ 3 sets 12 times. With fat gripz I cannot even pick them up from the ground lol. I have to admit though that I tried the 80kg after I was finished the sets... so maybe this was it.

will use again for sure. has anybody else tried them?

edit: today is skill day. Will work on handstand/arm balances/muscle ups/Russian dips/the cross and straight arm and scapula strength. Will be more of just me playing around.

Btw Cutty Flam Cutty Flam and DunDunDunpachi DunDunDunpachi yesterday I went into the shower and turned it directly to max cold and I have to say it’s way harder than hot -> cold. it was manageable though. I had to find my breath first and then it was business as usual (never thought I’d say that about cold showers lol)

I’m gonna throw a hip hop track in

Sounds badass dude, I think I'll buy those and use them after I can do the amount of pullups I want to reach. I should have bought them a long time ago, grip was always the common weakness that hampered my lifts. I once read an excerpt or maybe it was a quote from the strongest man to ever live (this fool ate like 10-20 lbs of meat every day if the article was true) and he strongly advocated grip strength training. Maybe I'll but that shit now now that I think about it, and just start off using it for a set or two during bicep curls. Something easy just to get a feel and go from there. Good look God Enel God Enel
 

God Enel

Member
Worked legs today, roughly 10 sets and stretch. Real simple stuff, Squats, Hip Bridges, and Calf Raises after a 20 min walk and some marching. Making progress. I've learned that constantly moving and limiting sitting on your off days is key. Or at the very least, a light cardio session and mobility work afterwards is necessary if you want to go into each workout feeling supple and ready to kill it--no doubts or second guessing at any point during the training session itself

Have been making progressions and focusing on resting adequate amounts, and eating more to ensure growth. Eating is actually the toughest part now. Keeping up with protein requirements and water intake is a full time effort


Sounds badass dude, I think I'll buy those and use them after I can do the amount of pullups I want to reach. I should have bought them a long time ago, grip was always the common weakness that hampered my lifts. I once read an excerpt or maybe it was a quote from the strongest man to ever live (this fool ate like 10-20 lbs of meat every day if the article was true) and he strongly advocated grip strength training. Maybe I'll but that shit now now that I think about it, and just start off using it for a set or two during bicep curls. Something easy just to get a feel and go from there. Good look God Enel God Enel

Go for them. They’re awesome and fuck 30 bucks. I’m gonna use them more often.

Today I’m just gonna go light. Work on front lever, planche (I’m at least (or 2-3) a year Away from Achieving it.) a little bit of handstand and that’s it. More or less my rest day.
Yesterday was a yoga session with friends. At one point in my life I’m gonna touch my head with my feet in scorpion. I’m like 5-10cm away.
 
Alright boys, put new batteries in your walkies and air your tires. There is a 50/50 chance that Tesseract Tesseract is either on a top secret mission or he got sucked into the upside down while inspecting a reality portal. Or both.

Tess, if you can see this, react with thumbs up if it's the secret mission and fire if it's the upside down. Triggered if we need to come and get you. I'm geared up and my BMX is ready and waiting.

dc460f5e96771f8ccbc6277787d0e63e.jpg


Also, react with heart if you're just there training...
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Alright boys, put new batteries in your walkies and air your tires. There is a 50/50 chance that Tesseract Tesseract is either on a top secret mission or he got sucked into the upside down while inspecting a reality portal. Or both.

Tess, if you can see this, react with thumbs up if it's the secret mission and fire if it's the upside down. Triggered if we need to come and get you. I'm geared up and my BMX is ready and waiting.

dc460f5e96771f8ccbc6277787d0e63e.jpg


Also, react with heart if you're just there training...
He went back in time help spot Billy on his squats, then proceeds not to rack the weights, but instead grabs the barbell off his back and curls for reps
 
I’m on my mobile could you point me in the right direction. Thank you for you help

Had to split this into parts. Part 1.

So what are you looking for exactly btw? If you are looking for a method that you can use anywhere and are wanting to start on building a strong foundation then my posts will help. I use rings as well though. They are very portable just like bands and you could attach some to a doorway pullup bar, or even a tree. I see lots of people using them on all kinds of things in the gyms, even stair rails.

Anyway, this is my first post in this thread. If you have time, just follow from this one and read the journey. This gives a really good bodyweight routine that will absolutely kick your butt and get you ripped if you stick with it. You can do this anywhere.

Holy freaking crap. This whole time and I never saw this thread? Or maybe I did and I just forgot? Anyway, I'm home.

So I've recently, and finally, acquired my first firearm. It's a Remington 870. I'd rather have had a pistol but atm I'm gonna take what I can get. So I've incorporated this into my workout...



I have a set of gymnastics rings that I hung in the middle of my living room right in front of the TV so I have no excuses...

MgHiCuJ.jpg


I've been doing the Ido portal method for years now btw. It's helped a LOT with my back injury after losing all flexibility.



Here is a very basic beginner routine for those of you who are interested and are at home without a gym or equipment.



Take it slow though, this will absolutely kick your butt if you aren't used to it. It's deceiving for sure. Especially if you do 3 sets as recommended after getting used to it.

For each movement in the order they appear in the vid I'd do the following...

All rests should be no more than 30 seconds between movements and no longer than 3 minutes between sets. Keep that heart rate going.

1st movement. Do 14 squatting leg extensions. So one extension on the left leg and one on the right equals 1 rep.

2nd movement. Do 12 paces of the squatting walk one way, then turn around and do 12 paces back or 24 paces in total in any direction if you have the room.

3rd movement. Do 12 of the spining into squat then leg sweep. Do two on one side then switch to the other. Each side counts as one whole rep.

4th movement. Do 12 of the frog leap into partial handstand one way then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in total in any direction if you have the room.

5th movement. Do 24 total of the crab walk. 4 backwards and 4 forwards then 4 backwards again transitioning as seen in the video each time.

6th movement. This looks complicated but it is actually a practice for a more advanced move if you stick around. Just do 10 of these for now. 5 in each direction. I believe he is just resetting his position when he does the crab walk here so that is optional but effective.

7th movement. Do 12 of the semi hand stands one way then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

8th movement. Do 12 paces of the beginner lizard craw one way then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

9th movement. Do 12 paces of the crawling/flying push-ups one direction then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

10th movement. Do 12 of the... I forget what this one is called so I'm gonna name it the downward dog walk... one way then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

11th movement. Do 12 of the crawling squat one direction then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

12th movement. Again, do 12 of the semi hand stands one way then turn around and do 12 back or 24 in any direction if you have the room.

13th movement. Do 12 of the one armed semi cart wheels one direction with the left arm only then turn around and do 12 back with the right arm only this is one set.

14th movement. Do 12 of these squat into 2 hand semi cartwheel. You can alternate which side you choose to start and any inbetween here. So you could start on your right, do 2 more in that direction, then switch to the left for 3, then right for 5 then left for 2 and so on until you reach 12. This is practice for a more advanced move later on where you will pause while halfway through the movement. Try to keep your arms bent and not straight as you rotate upside down. You want your hands to be about 1 hand width wider than your shoulders on each side as you rotate onto your hands.

And that's it. I would recommend only doing 1 set of these and really taking your time to get the movements right if this is your first time doing anything like this. Work on this 3 times a week resting for a day in-between and 2 days of rest on the weekend. Then just progress from here up to 3 sets. As with any workout, just listen to your body. If you need to take an extra day it's worth it. There is very little healthy benefit to fighting through the pain as your body doesn't heal or develop correctly if you are in a state of pain and stress. If you have any questions feel free to ask.


This is my pre workout prep. It's a warmup that I do every time. It's also where I started as my sole workout when I began my therapy.

So, I actually have, well, had, weak shoulders due to a car accident. Someone rear ended me @60+mph while I was sitting, signaling to turn. It shattered my clavicle and I've had shoulder issues ever since where my bones would come out of joint. At the time it was slight after my shoulder healed. But then my lower back going out on top of it all after that just compounded things a few years later and I developed a flat spine. It took years but I'm pretty determined/stubborn to not quit and now I'm back in better shape than most and even better than I was before it all. Anyway, as I was starting to get back into working out at the tail end of the heavy chiro visits, working out took on a whole new mask for me. Where I took things way more carefully than I ever had before. A friend of mine introduced me to Ido's stuff and I found a routine specifically for my shoulders that I just incorporated into ANY of my pre workout preps if you guys are interested. Apparently, Ido had some shoulder issues as well.

Here is my full pre workout prep. I do this EVERY time, no exceptions. If this is enough to make you start feeling it, don't worry, I couldn't go any further than this when I first started with my injury. I took it slow and built my tendons and stabilizers back up.

I start with an ankle routine that I put together with this vid and reading his blog on top of some other vids I can't remember rn lol. A friend had come to me to train him and we found that he had terrible flexibility in his ankles due to years of hiking in boots while in the army so I ended up putting together a routine for him, this is just one of the things I ended up incorporating into my prep.


I start with my back to the wall. I do 1 set of 12 heel raises with my feet about 1 and a half foot lengths away from the wall. Just stand where you feel it the most.

Then I do 1 set of 12 toe raises with my feet about 1 foot length away from the wall. Just stand where you feel it the most.

Then I have my feet at shoulder width, toes always pointing forward. I turn my ankles all the way out with my ankles pointed toward the ground as far as I can so I am standing on the outsides of my feet with my toes pointing forward. Like this.
Qo7zvPe.png
I do this about 12 times, one second on the side of my foot and one second off.

Then I do the opposite side. I turn my ankles in and toward the ground as far as I can so I am standing on the insides of my feet with my toes pointing forward. I do this about 12 times, one second on the side of my foot and one second off.

Then I turn my ankles out again the same way, but this time I try to walk forward with them like that. 12 paces forward and then DON'T turn around, just do 12 paces backwards back to the wall.

Then I turn my ankles the other way, the same as before and I try to walk forward with them like that. It's ok to spread your legs a little wider here as needed. 12 paces forward and then DON'T turn around, just do 12 paces backwards back to the wall.

Do this up to 3 sets and as your body allows.

That's it. On to the next.

Now, I do wrists. So just the first part of this vid until 2:20.


Now onto the shoulders. I start with this.


These are not about building muscle but about fixing weak areas and building tendons and stabilizers so they call for light weight. I've worked my way up to an 8 pound band but I started off with the lightest I had for months, which was 1.5 pounds. This helps immensely with my scapular winging and just holding in the ribs around that area in general. Just concentrate very hard on trying to build that brain body connection if you have a weakness in this area. Feel your scapula rotate and even have someone watch you who can tell you if they are moving properly as you do the motions slowly and make corrections as needed. As you progress and build that connection you will get through this faster.

Then a bit of legs. I had really weak legs and bad knees from years of doing tile with bad pads and then the accident... Plus, it's just great for getting the blood pumping to your legs before the workout.


I do these slow and strong always. Really focusing on what I now understand as my core, my bum and hammies. Which takes much of the stress off of your knees.

Then back to the shoulders.


I use the same band here as I did before. You can go even lighter weight if you need. I've come to find that some people (even some of my beefier friends) are just really weak in some of these areas and need to start really light weight to build up those stabilizers and tendons.

Do these up to 3 sets depending on the length and intensity of your workout. So if you have a high length and intensity workout, just do one set. Do 3 if you have a short or low intensity workout. You can also do the shoulder portion at any time you feel you need to like I do. I even do it before I mow the lawn, but I use one of these for our 1.5 acres...

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I'll often substitute mowing for my cardio and I'll do my entire workout prep beforehand...

And there you go. You are now ready to start your workout.
 
I’m on my mobile could you point me in the right direction. Thank you for you help

Part 2

This is a band routine I do for my arms... For arm wrestling. High reps, low weight. Really, really can't stress the importance of strengthening your tendons in this manner before you go all in on the heavy lifting which focuses mainly on red muscle tissue (bulky muscle) growth. True strength comes when you cultivate a strong base first, then reinforce that with larger muscle fiber. Thing is, most people don't do that because tendons and ligaments take around 3 times as long to develope.

Arm day.

My friend is being trained by a world champion arm wrestler who lives right down the street. Who'd have guessed that? Anyway. He's shared some... trade secrets/methods with me. So sorry I can't be specific with some things. I'll give what I can without giving anything away... I'll mark what I'm being very plain and vague with an *. I won't be explaining those further. So I wouldn't try to follow.

This is all for tendon and stabilizer muscle strengthening with light weight resistance bands. As well as blood vessel/capillary development. <- very important.

All non stop at an even pace. If I'm feeling really brave I'll do the last ten fast... But the last time I did that, I could barely bend my arms the next day. Felt great though.

All of my pre workout prep.

15 mins of cardio.

-I use 5 pound bands for all of these-

100 reps special... curling technique in 3 different directions and wrist positions.*

150 tricep pull down - both arms same time. (I loop my bands onto my rings.)

100 bicep curls - each side. Standing on the bands. I'll do just one or both arms at the same time. Whichever I prefer.

150 tricep pull downs.

100 bicep curls - each side. Same as last time.

150 tricep pull ups, standing on the bands elbows above head hands at the back of the neck. Like I'm back to back with an enemy and I'm trying to rip off their head along with their spine. - I try to stretch the bands out as far as I can while only using one foot before I step onto them with the other for this one since it stretches them pretty far.

Some grip and wrist work with a towel. I basically bundle up and twist the towel to simulate someone else's wrist. It's got just enough resistance and give I think. And you can make it as big or small as you want, working diff muscle groups. - I practice wrist locks with this. I'll do one type of lock 5 times in a row on one wrist, then I'll switch to the other and do 5 there. I'll do about 4 minutes of these for one set.

Then some finger grip training. I started doing this recently after seeing this...



I do half a pad on some framework around a really large entryway. 6 second hang. 4 minute rest. But I continue with more grip work...

More grip work with the towel. 5 each side, 4 minutes

Finger hang again. 6 seconds. 4 min rest.

Some special grip work.* <-- really wish I could tell you, it's really clever.

Back for the last finger hang. 6 seconds. 4 minute rest.

Then I put my pull up bar in-between my rings so it spins and I practice hanging with all my strength. I do 3 sets.

First I turn on the tv and put something interesting on lol.

First set. Hang as long as I can, both arms. 1 minute rest.

Second set. Hang as long as I can. One arm at a time. 1.5 minute rest.

Third set. Hang as long as I can. Both arms. done.

Then I finish off with some more special grip work.* It's "basically" holding weight by your side for as long as you can one hand at a time... I couldn't even let go of the thing last time. I had to pry my fingers off lol. I think I went to long because I have a high pain threshold because of all the years of dealing with the back stuff with no pain meds and I just forgot about it basically.

And done.

If you are interested, you can easily get a good workout even without doing all the *. Sorry but I hope you understand why I can't give it away. My friends trust is sacred.

Now to get pumped up and do it!



This is how I set up my bands and rings for arm wrestling. Just to show you how versatile they are.

Welp. Practice was canceled yesterday. Mr Staples sump pump went out in his basement and he had to fix it or something. So no arm wrestling for me this week I guess...

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Nothing is going to stop this momentum I've built. Short of an injury. So I did what I could and rigged my bands up as best as I could, MacGyver style.

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Mind the blinds... The previous owners dog got to them and then our cats added their own touch...

Did all my warm up from here,


Then onto my new... replacement practice workout.

The tubs you see in the pic where the closest I could rig up for an arm wrestling table. I put my arm near the edge and just use the bin like it's half a table. It actually works ok, but it does move around a lot if you don't keep enough pressure on your elbows. Which is sort of a good thing I guess.

Anyway, I grabbed my wife and had her help me warm up before I started pulling. Then I had her go one round with me on each arm to break my arms in... but I let her use both arms lol. It was actually pretty tough because she pretty much put all her weight on it... All I could do was hold it there till she couldn't hold it.

After that I grabbed the bands and started in. 15 reps on one arm then switch to the other... Then I take my rebounder trampoline and curl it. I grab it with both hands close together and my elbows in as much as I can to simulate an arm wrestling position. Imagine my elbows down vertically, my forearms horizontal and my palms up. I grip it with my thumbs on top and have my fingers underneath, fully extended, hand as flat as possible. I curl it till my nose touches the trampoline. This trains open hand strength and helps immensely with locking your wrist as you pin or are being pinned. It's much heavier than it seems since the trampoline is so long it provides a lot of... torque? on your wrists.

Then I'd throw some wall push offs in there to counter balance all the pulling. So again, I'd have my fingers extended, hand open and as flat as I could. I'd get as low as I could without too much pain, so it felt just right, and I'd push off as fast as I could for 20 reps.

So the workout went like this,

15 reps each arm, 20 bicep curls with rebounder, 15 reps each arm, wall push offs... Repeatedly for 3 hours straight. So like, hundreds of reps. I didn't keep count.

For the first hour I felt like I was suffering pretty bad. Then my body took over and started getting rid of all the lactic acid and I felt amazing and strong for the rest of it.

To finish off I did some inverted one minute holds on the rings. So basically hanging upside down with my feet in the air to simulate carrying weight. And then for another hour I did some grip work with my top secret grip trainer... Half an hour for each hand.

I'm so happy right now because this time I made a breakthrough that according to Mr Staple, normally takes quite a lot of training for most to do. I made the brain body connection with my traps, lats, shoulders and arms. It was amazing. Everything just activated during the motion and worked together to add to the strength of my arm. It felt WAY stronger. It's a crazy feeling to feel your traps THAT much while you pull and pin.

This is how I used the bands. (wife decided to take a picture while I was going at it)

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The big blue band attached to the chair is an 80 pound band. The beige one is a 5 pound band put doubled up like that and at the range I was using it it's more like 15-20.

I tried to simulate the pressure I feel when wrestling. So the big blue band simulates the pulling as best I could all the way to the pin. It's angle changes as I get to the pinning side so that it pulls harder in the right direction. The beige band is pulling up to simulate the upward pressure of someone fighting to get out of a pin. It's not perfect, but it's all I could come up with. Nothing is going to totally make up for another human being on the other side of the table... But nothings going to stop me from trying either...

Never give up guys. No matter how hard it gets.



Here is a great method to strengthen your hands. Shown to me by a world class arm wrestler. You can take this with you everywhere as well.

Here it is as promised. This is one of the main ways Mr. Stapleton trained his grip to be like a vise. (I labeled it before I knew he didn't keep any secrets lol)

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So as you saw in my previous post on the last page I just used a cleaned out 1 gallon coconut oil bucket.

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I filled that with 1 smaller bag of black beans for the bottom and 1 big bag of rice. Sorry, I didn't pay attention to exactly how much. Just fill it up enough so that rice isn't spilling out of it when you use it. I showed Mr. Stapleton this one and he said it was perfect for beginners and would even work just fine if it's all you used. Light weight, high reps is his philosophy.

I love it because it's so simple and clever and it's super duper cheap and accessible for the vast majority to make.

To use it, you place your hand over the bucket and slowly lower your hand down into the rice. wiggle your fingers back and forth in order to reach the bottom of the bucket. Though you will be using a lot of the muscles all the way up your arm, DON'T use the weight your arm or body to help push your hand down. Let it sink to the bottom with the weight of your hand only as you move your fingers and thumb.

When I use it, I sit or stand, but I will always have the bucket propped up on something so that I can have my arm and wrist to my side as straight as possible so that my arm isn't resting on or touching the sides of the bucket when I'm using it. For me when I'm sitting, this means setting the rebounder next to the chair (Note, we don't have any thick chairs like lazy boys. Just a glider and some thinner deck and dinning room chairs. I use the glider for this just fine. It's wooden arms don't get in the way very much.) and putting the bucket on that since this is the perfect height, then moving it all to the other side of the chair for the other arm.

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Once you feel the bottom, check and see if the rice is up to at least the middle of your palm. If it isn't then fill the bucket with more rice. This is where you want it for a beginner. If your hand is too big or fingers are too long and the rice is spilling everywhere then upgrade to a bigger bucket.

Once the level is right, with your finger touching the bottom, swim your fingers till you feel a bean and try to grab it with your thumb and one of your fingers.

At first I was barely able to even open my hand at all. I could hardly even feel any beans, even when they where right there at the bottom. It took a lot for me to even fish one out during one 45 minute session. But I'm also doing this in-between practices and during recovery so you guys might fare better.

I've become addicted to this thing. If I'm sitting down watching a show, one of my hands are in the rice. I divide the time I'm spending watching something between both hands. I usually watch two episodes of something like Bosch so that's about 45 minutes per hand now at the very least.

I'm about to upgrade to a 5 gallon bucket myself as this seems pretty easy to me now. With that I could still adjust the difficulty by how far I stick in my hand. But I don't know how much of a difference it will actually make. I'll report back when I do it. For now, I've come up with a way to make this one I'm showing you harder on me and you guys can do it too. Every time I reach a bean now, I fish my hands back down to the bottom and then grab a handful and squeeze like I'm trying to grind the rice into dust.

So for me a session would look something like this.

Left or right hand, 45 minutes non stop, swim hand down till fingers touch bottom. Fish for bean. Place bean in bucket lid. Fish hand back down. Grab handful of rice and squeeze and grind as hard as you can till hand closes, while hand is at bottom of bucket. Touch bottom of bucket again and repeat.

Repeat for other hand.

I ramp it up a little further by starting with my pointer finger for grabbing the beans with my thumb and then using the next finger for the next bean till I reach my pinky, repeat till the end of the session.

I'm up to 14 beans per hand for that time.

One thing you're most likely going to immediately notice is how weak your opening strength is. I could close my hands alright and curl in my fingers but going the other direction was torture in the beginning. The next you are going to notice is how weak your fine motor muscles are for minor adjustments in different directions. This is one thing I love about this tool. It allows me to keep my fine, stabilizer, muscles trained in every direction so that I don't lose so much dexterity for fingerstyle guitar and anything else that would require it. If I only trained one direction like most do with grippers, I would over develop that muscle group, train and develop the fibers in one specific direction, and my smaller stabilizers wouldn't be able to work as efficiently when trying to move in different directions because they would have to fight against them so to speak. Developing my grip this way makes it so MUCH more of my muscle group is utilized and developed at the same time. I can absolutely feel a HUGE difference in my grip and overall hand strength and endurance since I started.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy. If any of you try this please let me know how you like it!

I left out lots of good stuff and there are a lot of other good posts here as well with info that might interest you. DunDunDunpachi DunDunDunpachi makes great posts about and has seen great success with kettlebells which I have started to use as well for certain things. Specifically the turkish getup and halos.

So a bit of a tangent because it sounds a bit similar to my mindset from months ago: I participated in various sports / athletic programs growing up. I was always fairly fit if not a bit pudgy sometimes. I followed the traditional "American dumbbell/ barbell / plyometrics" sort of exercises for most of my life, doing lunges, pushups, deadlifts, bicep curls, burpees, etc etc and playing sports like basketball, football, baseball, etc etc

None of this worked to keep me in shape because I still got fat in my adult life. When I got into kettlebell and joined this thread I was only doing calisthenics and fasting to stay in shape. I wanted a weighted exercise, but I was leery of returning to my good ol' American heavy barbel / racking / push-to-failure sort of routine.

I got into kettlebells specifically because I was worried about injury, especially joint and spinal injury. I learned these because Ballistic exercise is supposed to be great for those issues.

If you want kettlebell stuff start with Pavel. He will explain proper form, safety, and a variety of kettlebell moves.



I would avoid learning a huge range of kettlebell moves at the same time (that was the advice I was given when starting). Just start with swings. Then add in cleans or begin practicing your turkish getup with a lighter weight.

EDIT: oh and I do my halos with a 35 lb kettlebell. I'm not sure if that's heavy or light.


But I do it gripping a 10 pound medicine/toning ball atm. Working on making some kettlebells though. They are just a bit too expensive for me right now. A friend of mine sent me this and we are going to try it out.

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So, hope that helps and hope you stick around breh.
 
I've been focusing on my breathing lately during workouts. There was this joe rogan ep where the guest was all about breathing.

So I am noticing I can go longer and longer while only breathing in through the nose.

I'm now in a 6 days per week of working out routine: 2 days krav maga, 2 days kickboxing, 2 days more fitness/muscle stuff. It's all in groups so it's extra motivating for me.
 

rykomatsu

Member
I'm going to set up my home gym in the garage - the thought is to lay down some horse stall mats that are 3/4" thick.

Is this enough to protect the floor from dead lifts (335lb) and overhead presses (145lb), or should I put plywood underneath the rubber mats?
 
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