Hey, Mehdi (from SL 5x5)is dead against using the smith machine. He recommends that you do free squats even if your weights are less.
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Party Monger
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Dont have a squat rack at the gym. Don't want to get killed >.<
oh, thats bad. In fact, this problem kept me searching for gyms for quite a while until I landed up at a very low-key gym, but with a squat rack
And it turned out to be much cheaper since it did not have any fancy equipment.
i have iterated it earlier too. proper/simple squat-racks are a 'specialty' of mostly cheaper/low-profile gyms only in India.
Reminds me of various gyms that I have come across.i have iterated it earlier too. proper/simple squat-racks are a 'specialty' of mostly cheaper/low-profile gyms only in India.
Most of the hi profile ones (means more rich people frequent), are packed with machinery.
But when I ask about the simplest of simple machines - a rack or even a stand - they don't have any reasonable answer.
One gym told me that they don't require the setup because the spotters lift the bar and place it on squatter shoulder/back.
Depends on your structure of body = bones, tendons, muscles.
Read a little bit about mechanical levers.
Bones are levers, tendons are ropes, joints are pivots.
true. fancy machines galore there, but equipment most useful is tough to find.
and those spotters/trainers/helpers/distractors, call them what you may, these are thankfully generally less or not to be seen in the low-key gyms, as the moment you start a rep of say an 'a$$ to the grass' squat, they will interrupt with how harmful it is, and how you should go only 1/4th or max half the distance down, and how you should do it so that shins/legs stay straight in line with your knees and not angle back and what-have-you. although they suggest with good intentions, speaking perhaps from the knowledge gathered from the textbooks they studied during their cert.-courses, but more often than not, it becomes a kind of nuisance.
Actually, they speak out of their ass. The most annoying pricks in a gym. They're not speaking with "good intentions," because if they were they would've researched the nonsense they're spewing when somebody points it out. But no, they make the ignorance spread further.
perhaps some of them are really dense to not pay heed when corrected, but haven't met as many trainers. i would be inclined to blame those who organise certification-courses for them and compile/design the course-material. one trainer, a quite polite & humble chap from a rural background, i asked him from where was he pursuing his course, and he named K11 (Kaizzad's course). similar goes for Leena Mogre's school and perhaps many such fitness-industry businessfolks. i had later cross-checked some of the tips these people so enthusiastically distribute to customers, and found such 'legends' to have been done with long back by the better-informed pros and researchers. didn't really expect these trainers to go out of their line (some don't have the resources or/and inclination to find out more). they just keep prattling the same lines taught to them, and wouldn't care if anyone tells better or corrects them, as neither we have the credentials of an 'authority' that distributes certificates in exchange of their hard-earned money, and nor are we capable of affecting/enhancing their job. that's often the fate of 'phokat ka gyaan' (free advice) - it slips off ears and minds uninterested in listening & learning. 
though yes, the 'pricks of the gym', i would mostly nominate for that honour from the gym-bandwagon the likes of 'mobile-lifters' (who work-out with their cellphones more than with the weights, or make their phones work-out more than themselves), the 'capt. upper bodies' carrying (invisible) logs under their arms, the singers & dancers (more interested in shuffling tracks on the gym's music-system, increasing the volume with their decreasing interest, singing, and dancing between sets), and the serious onlookers. they would sometimes gather around or intrude your space to see what blasphemous exercises are you doing, sneer & pass on some comments, esp. if they have managed to bloat up their bodies and you've just started out or returning from a long break, and then engage in their self-righteous work-out and ego-massage routines. perhaps the best remedy to this, as some fellow participants of this thread have realised, is to may be smile back, ignore them, keep continuing with your regimen, and then see their eyes & faces a few weeks/months later, when they start dispersing. a few honest ones among them do relent & repent.
though yes, the 'pricks of the gym', i would mostly nominate for that honour from the gym-bandwagon the likes of 'mobile-lifters' (who work-out with their cellphones more than with the weights, or make their phones work-out more than themselves), the 'capt. upper bodies' carrying (invisible) logs under their arms, the singers & dancers (more interested in shuffling tracks on the gym's music-system, increasing the volume with their decreasing interest, singing, and dancing between sets), and the serious onlookers. they would sometimes gather around or intrude your space to see what blasphemous exercises are you doing, sneer & pass on some comments, esp. if they have managed to bloat up their bodies and you've just started out or returning from a long break, and then engage in their self-righteous work-out and ego-massage routines. perhaps the best remedy to this, as some fellow participants of this thread have realised, is to may be smile back, ignore them, keep continuing with your regimen, and then see their eyes & faces a few weeks/months later, when they start dispersing. a few honest ones among them do relent & repent.
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LOL at the above!!
Yes indeed. After the initial gyaan session they left me alone, probably thinking that I wouldn't listen.
And after 4 months and a 115kg deadlift , they are like, "oh, you are lifting heavy"!!
i read your earlier post. i used to do SL early on last year. yes, the hunger-thing is quite true. used to feel it after the body had rested a little. but i get those pangs even now (no more regular training with weights, nor doing SL or any hybrid routine), and it becomes quite tough to tolerate if there're no provisions immediately around or am not in a situation to go quickly grab a few food-bites somewhere. funny thing is, it can happen within hours of having a rather good meal. earlier it isn't used to be like that. could carry myself well for quite some time before giving in. but its become very difficult now; the mind seems like going berserk, accompanied by beginning of slight headache, if not taken care of soon. i don't take this as a good after-effect or sign, esp. for some activities wherein resilience & conditioning to endure pain & discomfort is reqd./practiced.
and could you pls explain a bit about the 'burning-hands' issue after doing deadlifts? did it affect the forearms too, or only the palms?
Well, SL recommends gripping the bar as tight as you can. So I do that for all the exercises. Maybe, since deadlifts mean a little bit more weight than the other exercises, the afterburn is more.
The body feels overall hot even in Ac. And I find myself looking for metal parts to rest my palms on because the burning feeling is maximum there.
He knows it. I don't know why he still does Smith.
alright. i used to experience some 'burning' in the forearms and a little bit in the palms, but nothing to the extent that you described.
The burning sensation that you feel in your palms, are not actually in the palm.
It is the base of your fingers (Yes, the exact place where callus build up) which burn because of friction (you are preventing the rolling of the bar). You cannot avoid it.
The only thing that you can do perhaps is change your grip a little.
FOR all pulling exercises, hang the bar a little low.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words:
I would place the bar slight more towards right, than shown here.
Say right where the fingers begin.
Most of the people who get burn in callus place the bar more left than shown in the pic.
Oh, is it ?
Maybe, let me try the deadlifts with a grip a little higher then. Not sure if I would be comfortable lifting with it though.
Maybe, let me try the deadlifts with a grip a little higher then. Not sure if I would be comfortable lifting with it though.
Swimming?
With programs like SL SS and other strength based routines it is understood we will get injured once in a while and experts says it is all part of the game. It does not mean EVERYONE WILL get injured on progression but chances are higher but still lower as compared to other sports. Lower when lifts are done properly and that is not easy to do without direct expert coaching specially when the weights get real heavy 100 kgs + squat for me for e.g) Even after reading books and online vids, situation is different under the bar working out alone (still better than working out with idiot spotters in the gym busy on phones) I am considering All Pro workout as it works even without calorie surplus. 5x5, 3x5 etc work best on calories surplus for most of us. Calorie surplus = chances of getting fat along with getting strong though.
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Guy I have this strange sensitivity in my knee following a squat session + cardio a week or two ago. Its like I can constantly feel the muscles in the knee and they sometimes pain a slight bit when put in some positions(didnt used to before.) Also some other times there is very low static pain. No swelling or anything.
I stopped working out since two weeks, but its not going. Has anyone experienced the same before? Like its just the right knee.
I stopped working out since two weeks, but its not going. Has anyone experienced the same before? Like its just the right knee.
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i've had knee-pain (mostly right knee) sometimes after squats, cycling, etc. earlier, but nothing that half-a-day's rest or/and a gentle oil-massage couldn't take care of.
it could be tendonitis. can't say. what area of the knee do you feel the pain and that feeling of 'muscles' in there? although there's no swelling, but did you do some cold treatment? i would advise getting a check-up done by an orthopaedic soon.
it could be tendonitis. can't say. what area of the knee do you feel the pain and that feeling of 'muscles' in there? although there's no swelling, but did you do some cold treatment? i would advise getting a check-up done by an orthopaedic soon.