Hope to bring some working out discussions to the table (Videos/Picture thread)

[supramax]

WONDERFUL! I wish everyone could say the same!
I'm getting there for the first time in my life and really happy about it...

It's amazing that doing something that was thought to be a difficult challenge is in reality so very easy, so natural. Ask induced_drag; he'll tell ya.

[supramax]

That is what I call my 'hard fast' days. I started out with one and have been doing one meal a day after a 20-22 hour fast 3 days per week on non-workout days.

I am using that to control my deficit. There is no way I could ever eat enough in one sitting to hit my TDEE so anytime I do it, it will be at a deficit state. Which is OK if fat loss is the goal. When I get to where I want to be, I will rotate one meal/day in an out as many days as I need to in order to maintain where I want to be.

I am all about rolling with it and playing by ear. I like the flexibility in my life now. I am no longer a slave to food. And I have my cake and eat it too!

I wasn't and I'm still not sure if your ''hard fast days" are in reference to Natural Hygiene, but regardless, it's fantastic to not be a slave to food and to get pleasure from eating while not eating for pleasure.

Do you have coffee in the morning and is that part of your eating window?

[induced_drag]

I wasn't and I'm still not sure if your ''hard fast days" are in reference to Natural Hygiene, but regardless, it's fantastic to not be a slave to food and to get pleasure from eating while not eating for pleasure.

Do you have coffee in the morning and is that part of your eating window?

Not really sure what 'natural hygiene" is. I googled and got some various hits. But it kinda looks like I am the OPPOSITE of that

There are examples of what I break my longer fasts with on my OMAD





Yes I drink coffee starting AM. I dont consider it breaking my fast. I use splenda and powdered C8 mct for creamer. It is about 7 cals, but mct in fasted state has some neat benefits too. It is not really about the MCT but I want creamer in my coffee so I just roll with it.

[supramax]

Not really sure what 'natural hygiene" is. I googled and got some various hits. But it kinda looks like I am the OPPOSITE of that

There are examples of what I break my longer fasts with on my OMAD





Yes I drink coffee starting AM. I dont consider it breaking my fast. I use splenda and powdered C8 mct for creamer. It is about 7 cals, but mct in fasted state has some neat benefits too. It is not really about the MCT but I want creamer in my coffee so I just roll with it.

That's the great thing about OMAD, in your eating window, you can can eat whatever the **** you want to eat.

Natural Hygiene, as I can tell you know from your pics, is fundamentally about food combining. It's quite difficult to eat like that on an ongoing basis, but it has surprising benefits.

[induced_drag]

That's the great thing about OMAD, in your eating window, you can can eat whatever the **** you want to eat.

Natural Hygiene, as I can tell you know from your pics, is fundamentally about food combining. It's quite difficult to eat like that on an ongoing basis, but it has surprising benefits.

Some of my eating 'rules'. I NEVER break a fast w/ carbs. I always eat my protein w/ associated fats first. >>>>then carbs.

If I want something sweet or carb intensive, I do it AFTER my main meal. EG, After lunch, I will often eat a bowl of strawberry greek yogurt and eat a few granola bars.

If I want some REALLY bad sweets/carbs, I do post workout. I always ingest about 60g simple carbs and protein post workout. My shake of apple juice, a cup of frozen strawberries, and a frozen banana w/ 2 scoops whey. I drink that immediately after workout (I make it before). I give that 30-40 min and then I eat dinner. AFTER that, I usually attack some form of icecream maybe a few cookies.

If I have a candy craving (once a week or so) I will eat a pack of skittles or some airhead taffy. I steal them from my wife's stash that she gives to her piano students' Those will just stack on top of simple sugars from my post workout shake. I have found I can take in MASS amounts of simple carbs post workout. I just never add in fat with those extreme boluses.

[LWW]

If I want some REALLY bad sweets/carbs, I do post workout.

Best time to have some beers!!!

[induced_drag]

Best time to have some beers!!!

I dont drink a lot of alcohol. I only drink socially. It is 100% fact that your body cant burn fat for energy in the presence of alcohol. I have a few beers a month...thats about it. If I get together with friends, that may turn into 10-12, but those are rare occasions.

I will have some wine from time to time in the evenings, but my intake is limited. Truthfully I would rather eat a giant bowl of icream coverd in chocolate syrup with some cookies than have a beers.

[LWW]

I dont drink a lot of alcohol. I only drink socially. It is 100% fact that your body cant burn fat for energy in the presence of alcohol. I have a few beers a month...thats about it. If I get together with friends, that may turn into 10-12, but those are rare occasions.

I will have some wine from time to time in the evenings, but my intake is limited. Truthfully I would rather eat a giant bowl of icream coverd in chocolate syrup with some cookies than have a beers.

That’s fine I was kinda playing but I know some people who drink after a workout, one guy is lean and over 60. Ronnie drank vodka the night before shows.

If I ever get stronger I’m gonna mix protein powder with beer just to try it.

I don’t drink after training because it’s noon anyway, usually. If I train late on a weekend, then it’s on!

[supramax]

Some of my eating 'rules'. I NEVER break a fast w/ carbs. I always eat my protein w/ associated fats first. >>>>then carbs.

If I want something sweet or carb intensive, I do it AFTER my main meal. EG, After lunch, I will often eat a bowl of strawberry greek yogurt and eat a few granola bars.

If I want some REALLY bad sweets/carbs, I do post workout. I always ingest about 60g simple carbs and protein post workout. My shake of apple juice, a cup of frozen strawberries, and a frozen banana w/ 2 scoops whey. I drink that immediately after workout (I make it before). I give that 30-40 min and then I eat dinner. AFTER that, I usually attack some form of icecream maybe a few cookies.

If I have a candy craving (once a week or so) I will eat a pack of skittles or some airhead taffy. I steal them from my wife's stash that she gives to her piano students' Those will just stack on top of simple sugars from my post workout shake. I have found I can take in MASS amounts of simple carbs post workout. I just never add in fat with those extreme boluses.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm not quite sure if you're talking about the fasting periods between OMADs or days of not eating.
Anyways, like you said; you are the OPPOSITE of Natural Hygiene food combining.

[induced_drag]

Maybe I missed it, but I'm not quite sure if you're talking about the fasting periods between OMADs or days of not eating.
Anyways, like you said; you are the OPPOSITE of Natural Hygiene food combining.

I do IF every day. First meal generally 230-300pm

On my non workout days, I will wait till 7pm or so to eat my first meal. So if my last food was 9-10 pm (generally some ice-cream or dissert at night on a workout night), that make my OMAD day a 21-22 hour fast then one VERY LARGE feast and maybe a few snacks later and then right back to my 'normal' IF.

So currently MT/TF are regular IF. W/S/Sun are longer fasts with one main meal and a few snacks later in eve if I feel like it. Most of the time I just take extra protein and leucine w/ fiber before bed on those days.

[LWW]

You know it's a good training day when you can grab a PR for reps on Medium Effort day!

360 x 8 didn't push it too hard, man this set felt so good. PP the heartrate was only half from last time, wasn't maxed and only high for 5-8 minutes.

Those rugs make the lift about 1/2" deficit.

360 x 8-

[bodyhard]

You know it's a good training day when you can grab a PR for reps on Medium Effort day!

360 x 8 didn't push it too hard, man this set felt so good. PP the heartrate was only half from last time, wasn't maxed and only high for 5-8 minutes.

Those rugs make the lift about 1/2" deficit.

360 x 8-

dude how many places do you workout at??

[LWW]

dude how many places do you workout at??

whereever I can. This is my new house, it's a brand new build, so I was in an apartment for 2 months after I sold my old house.

So I train at the house and the gym, I love my gym, the owner is a childhood friend.

[bodyhard]

whereever I can. This is my new house, it's a brand new build, so I was in an apartment for 2 months after I sold my old house.

So I train at the house and the gym, I love my gym, the owner is a childhood friend.

Ohhh OK, congrats on the new house!!

[PhDPepper1111]

You know it's a good training day when you can grab a PR for reps on Medium Effort day!

360 x 8 didn't push it too hard, man this set felt so good. PP the heartrate was only half from last time, wasn't maxed and only high for 5-8 minutes.

Those rugs make the lift about 1/2" deficit.

360 x 8-

ALWAYS love a PR - no matter what type! I had one yesterday too which I'll share below.

I dont drink a lot of alcohol. I only drink socially. It is 100% fact that your body cant burn fat for energy in the presence of alcohol. I have a few beers a month...thats about it. If I get together with friends, that may turn into 10-12, but those are rare occasions.

I will have some wine from time to time in the evenings, but my intake is limited. Truthfully I would rather eat a giant bowl of ice ream covered in chocolate syrup with some cookies than have a beers.

Same for me; I very much enjoy beer and whiskey even more, but the empty calories make it less attractive (even on my current 'bulk'). I've been eating more ice cream and other dairy/sweets on my bulk - which seems more worth it

So yesterday was a good bench day which have been few and far between since I started back training almost a year ago:
Did heavy doubles, then a couple singles including 297 comp pause, then did two sets of 10 @ 225 - both of which are a PR since I started back, and were on the heels of heavy work! Felt really good!

[LWW]

Ohhh OK, congrats on the new house!!

Thank you!

[induced_drag]

Nothing special, just checking in.....415 lb squats for a triple this morning.

(25kg Rogue Squat Bar)

Very nice a$$ hole! Why you gotta post that and I see it just before I go down in the gym for leg training

J/k...kinda! Props man. Always love watching you squat.

Jelly of the mono lift type hooks too!

[PhDPepper1111]

Deadlift day!
I have been lifting with cardboard and rugs under the weights in my garage, finally found a better solution until I can build a proper platform.... Feed stores sell 3/4" stall mats that are very sturdy and cheaper than exercise mats. Worked really well!!
This being week 1 of my meet prep cycle I've really enjoyed going heavy .... did a triple @ 463 after some tiring Boris deads.... Good stuff

[LWW]

160 overhead press from the rack, did several sets of singles, this was last set-



Squat 315 x 9, this should be a PR, but I really think they look like $hit-

[ajdahlheimer]

My son had a huge play on a 3rd and Goal vs one of his high school's big rivals. They sent him on a blitz around the outside from his middle linebacker spot and guessed right (they won the game--FYI). All that pumping iron with his old man is paying off



-AJ

[PhDPepper1111]

My son had a huge play on a 3rd and Goal vs one of his high school's big rivals. They sent him on a blitz around the outside from his middle linebacker spot and guessed right (they won the game--FYI). All that pumping iron with his old man is paying off


-AJ

Nice!!!

Did bench this weekend, have a few other friends of my kids starting to show up so I'm trying to do a little coaching with them.
Trying to add a bench workout - we'll see how my fatigue management goes with my shoulders.

[LWW]

When I was a young pup finding my way in the gym. A wise old lifter, a giant of a man told me that in order to get a good back workout in, you need to pull from overhead, a front row and something from the floor at every session, he said doing this will not only maximize your back training, but you will never need to do curls.

That is true and definitely from a bodybuilding perspective. There are power curl events though that still need to do the curl from time to time and should do them for some strongman events.

I don’t have a pull-up bar, I mean I’m still going to do my heavy curl but I think I’m going to start doing explosive high pulls to help my clean, maybe today.

I’ll use the same weight I clean not max and try and kiss the bar. I’ll also try to clean the weight without dipping which would be a high pull clean.

[induced_drag]

My son had a huge play on a 3rd and Goal vs one of his high school's big rivals. They sent him on a blitz around the outside from his middle linebacker spot and guessed right they won the game--FYI. All that pumping iron with his old man is paying off



-AJ

That is awesome. You must be proud! Nothing brings me more joy than watching my kids do something they love and do it well.

Did bench this weekend, have a few other friends of my kids starting to show up so I'm trying to do a little coaching with them.
Trying to add a bench workout - we'll see how my fatigue management goes with my shoulders.

That 'slow' benching looks about my normal speed! With messed up shoulders I take it super slow even when I was powerlifting.
Still dropping weight with 3 hard fasts, 20-22 hours and only a single meal. Not going to step on scale or really planning on it any time soon. Ab veins are in and shoulders striated with a few new veins etc.

Just to mess with myself tonight, I decided to see what I could reverse grip bench 315 for. I know most of this is in my head. I think I should have had 2 more in me but my mind is not used to trying to push hard. I am not sure I ever reverse grip'd 315 before, but even 225 feels heavy since I have been so lax.

All in all for being in a hard cut, and not benching heavy for a long time, I am OK with it.

[LWW]

Did my explosive high pulls today, first time. I did these after some floor pressing.

I wanted to do more than I curl. This is about 55 hours after walking out 500, my calves are hit good.

130-


140 and 150-

[PhDPepper1111]

That 'slow' benching looks about my normal speed! With messed up shoulders I take it super slow even when I was powerlifting.
Still dropping weight with 3 hard fasts, 20-22 hours and only a single meal. Not going to step on scale or really planning on it any time soon. Ab veins are in and shoulders striated with a few new veins etc.

Just to mess with myself tonight, I decided to see what I could reverse grip bench 315 for. I know most of this is in my head. I think I should have had 2 more in me but my mind is not used to trying to push hard. I am not sure I ever reverse grip'd 315 before, but even 225 feels heavy since I have been so lax.

All in all for being in a hard cut, and not benching heavy for a long time, I am OK with it.

That wasn't slow - and it was impressive! I have yet to attempt reverse presses... would love to rep 315 any which way! :P

Did my explosive high pulls today, first time. I did these after some floor pressing.

I wanted to do more than I curl. This is about 55 hours after walking out 500, my calves are hit good.

Good work!

Squats yesterday, for some reason when I go a little heavier I get skittish at depth - need to really just let it sink. Weight itself felt ok...

[PhDPepper1111]

Bench day! Starting true progressive overload on this part of the meet prep cycle.
Hit a very solid 3x2 @ 285 and felt great, followed by an easy 2x4 @ 265.
Feeling good.
All my bros and sisters, where ya at?

[induced_drag]

Look good man. May I offer some critical feedback?

You are too loose for 'max effort' benching. Your lower body is like jello.

When I used to try to bench 'technically', the set up was one of the most important things. When you are set up, the position is almost uncomfortable. Your leg drive should pin your shoulders and if someone kicked your leg, it should not move you. (you are planted solid). I once strained my knee a touch benching to give you an idea.

Used to be a series 'so you think you can bench' on youtube. 7 parts or so.

When I wanted to learn more technical benching, I broke my form down and started over. I think you will find a good amount more on tap if you get more technical.

[PhDPepper1111]

Look good man. May I offer some critical feedback?

You are too loose for 'max effort' benching. Your lower body is like jello.

When I used to try to bench 'technically', the set up was one of the most important things. When you are set up, the position is almost uncomfortable. Your leg drive should pin your shoulders and if someone kicked your leg, it should not move you. (you are planted solid). I once strained my knee a touch benching to give you an idea.

Used to be a series 'so you think you can bench' on youtube. 7 parts or so.

When I wanted to learn more technical benching, I broke my form down and started over. I think you will find a good amount more on tap if you get more technical.

Feedback always appreciated brother... and I have a ways to go for sure.
I think though what looked like jello wasn't lack of bracing/leg drive, it was lack of stability/muscle shake. I'm certainly braced very hard and using maximal leg drive - I usually cut out the set up from my videos because who wants to watch that, but if you wanted to I'd be happy to share for feedback/ideas.
I definitely watch many videos by expert benchers and have done a fair bit of tweaking on my form this year... right now the setup feels pretty good. Not a lot of arch, my scaps feel nice and tight and 'pinned', I brace into the belt and drive with my legs, but the legs in particular really shake when I try to exert maximal drive on heavy lifts. I also have played quite a bit with where to touch. So far it feels best just below my nipple line but my workout partner/coach wants me going a little lower still. I still think my lats aren't involved enough either and not sure if I need to keep my elbows in a little more on the descent. I have to account for nerve damage to my right outer pec and tricep and finding the right groove has been frustrating.

My coach has a big bench (500+) but he's a big guy and doesn't do much arch so some technical aspects that might work for me aren't in his wheelhouse. I can't get a huge arch because of fractures to my T4/5, but if you think I can get more I can keep working on it.
Any other thoughts/observations?

[PhDPepper1111]

I am really liking meet prep! With about 5 weeks of training left, hitting the progressive overload each week. Yesterday's deads went really well despite feeling pretty flat going in.
I wanted to double 485 at least once which would be a PR for doubles, but ended up getting all three sets of doubles at 485!
Heavy weight, form always goes to $hit a bit, but the initial leg drive felt good and not too back dependent through lockout.

[induced_drag]

Any other thoughts/observations?

No man. Sounds like you have a handle on it and I am only looking at a snip of a vid. If you are working with a good coach...etc, I would just keep doing what you are doing.

Leg drive was / is something I never quite maximized and even when you do, somehow you cant tell if you are still maximizing your efforts. In the end, your performance, and especially critique of other technical benchers can help a lot. I also used to record A LOT of my lifts to try to see myself.

Great work man!