DanCR Goes Full Bro

[EricK]

I wanted to say, "... and then you can have an opinion," but I wasn't sure that you'd be so aware of Rippetoe-lore as to get the joke and not think that I just was being a dick.

Also, I wouldn't get to have an opinion.

I'm pretty up to speed on my taint-lord lore. Lay it on me bro, do yer fahves and don't be a pussy.

Were you not an SSC at one point? Are we not supposed to talk about that?

The first rule of something something...

Like every angsty late teen when that movie came out, I loved it.

I'm still working through my feelings on this. (@EricK being not not an SSC, not Fight Club.)

[alek]

As far as the single beer goes, that's generally what I do for "good beers" nowadays, especially those at local breweries. I just had a brown ale at Rapps Barren in Mountain Home, AR about a week ago, and it's always delicious. I could drink more than one, or two, or more, but I'm also satisfied with the one.

For sure those are always easy peasy to be one and done, typically because they're:

1) Bigger, if I'm at a spot or ordering a beer with food, it's usually a tall anyway...

2) Better, this isn't a 12 pack of Genny light that tastes like river with a hint of beer...

3) More expensive, easy to call it at one when I just paid what I could have got a gas station 12'r for...

Yeah, all of this is true.

My wife is from the St. Louis area, and I really like a cheap beer that's originally from the area--Stag. My wife describes it as "sugar free as beer can be", but I actually like it. I've shared it with several friends around here, and they usually say, "Yeah, I'll take a Stag." when I offer them one. That being said, it's super cheap, and not exactly the epitome of beer making. Even then, I usually drink at most two. Unless I'm bbq'ing. Then I'm drinking a six-pack.

[alek]

I haven't been keeping up too much on your cardio quest, but do you like doing incline treadmill? I know it can cause some calf strain after a while, but I haven't read if you've done that.

Now that I've got real sneakers (I did these in my lifting Vans once and it was awful), this is my planned second option for if/when I can't stand to get on the elliptical, which only is my preference because of my neurosis about "full body" cardio. Thinking about shipping my Echo Bike down here from New York where it's gathering dust, but have been too lazy to get that figured and afraid of the cost.

Gross. I know they are good cardio equipment, but I have a hate/like relationship with those things.

As far as the single beer goes, that's generally what I do for "good beers" nowadays, especially those at local breweries. I just had a brown ale at Rapps Barren in Mountain Home, AR about a week ago, and it's always delicious. I could drink more than one, or two, or more, but I'm also satisfied with the one.

Actually promptly googled how far that is from here. 9 hours. I'm not above a four-day weekend checking off AR micro breweries.

Arkansas became a really good place for microbreweries sometime in the early 2010s, pretty much overnight. In one year, Arkansas was one of the most restrictive states on microbreweries, and they changed all the laws, making one of the best the following year. They're popping up all over the place. A really good one is actually in Hot Springs, AR in the Superior Bath House--one of the old spa houses was retrofitted as a brewery and restaurant. It's the only microbrewery in the National Park System, and it is excellent. The food is great, too!

[DanCR]

I haven't been keeping up too much on your cardio quest, but do you like doing incline treadmill? I know it can cause some calf strain after a while, but I haven't read if you've done that.

Now that I've got real sneakers (I did these in my lifting Vans once and it was awful), this is my planned second option for if/when I can't stand to get on the elliptical, which only is my preference because of my neurosis about "full body" cardio. Thinking about shipping my Echo Bike down here from New York where it's gathering dust, but have been too lazy to get that figured and afraid of the cost.

Gross. I know they are good cardio equipment, but I have a hate/like relationship with those things.

Truly vile. That said, the thing never seemed to affect my strength despite being much harder work than this elliptical. I don’t get it. With that in mind:

***

9/17/24

HBBS (paused) 55,105,145,195,235x5 285x1
Deadlifts 190x20 (DOH)
Seated Leg Curls 50,90x10 120x5 +110+4+4 (DC)
Leg Extensions 50,90x10 130x10+3+3 (DC)
Standing Calf Machine 200x20,15,15
Ab Coaster 40x45

Elliptical 10:00
14 incline, 8 resistance, 104 cals

190x20:


Notes: RIP my squat progress. The idea today was to match my lifetime paused 1RM of 315. Would have been @11 but I was expecting to get it. Then 285 nearly pinned me. If we’re really being honest, 235x5 was a struggle. My legs just felt so tired. I’m gonna get used to this cardio shit and it’s gonna pass, right? Right?

I hate looking for excuses to lower the weight but I’m considering dropping down and putting this on a higher volume progression that’ll build more of a base.

Squatting first, for the first time in awhile, felt like shit.

The deadlifts continue. That is good.

[SaviorSelf]

IDK about you but the elliptical always makes my lower back work into overdrive. I just stuck to incline treadmill cause it murders my low back. It would affect my squats too, but maybe for a different reason

[Hardartery]

IDK about you but the elliptical always makes my lower back work into overdrive. I just stuck to incline treadmill cause it murders my low back. It would affect my squats too, but maybe for a different reason

Ellipticals piss my knees off. Quite a bit. I know, they're designed to be better for your knees or some such thing. They piss my knees right off.

[DanCR]

IDK about you but the elliptical always makes my lower back work into overdrive. I just stuck to incline treadmill cause it murders my low back. It would affect my squats too, but maybe for a different reason

Same, I just didn’t mention it because although it has sucked, it’s been secondary to how languid my legs feel. I don’t recall the back thing at all from my prior elliptical use, but that all was 25 years ago which I guess speaks for itself.

Incline treadmill walking looking better and better.

[DanCR]

IDK about you but the elliptical always makes my lower back work into overdrive. I just stuck to incline treadmill cause it murders my low back. It would affect my squats too, but maybe for a different reason

Ellipticals piss my knees off. Quite a bit. I know, they're designed to be better for your knees or some such thing. They piss my knees right off.

I found that if I go in reverse, my knees hate it. Normal / forward mostly has been fine so long as I stay on my heels (the opposite of how I squat, funnily enough). If my weight starts to drift forward, I definitely can feel my bad knee protesting.

[slowmotion]

Squatting first, for the first time in awhile, felt like shit.

Maybe try doing more warm-up sets?

[DanCR]

Squatting first, for the first time in awhile, felt like shit.

Maybe try doing more warm-up sets?

That's certainly one way to skin it. More likely I'd return to my past practice of working up with higher reps, rather than more sets, because with a bodybuilding concentration I don't want to spend more time squatting than I do now, which already is unjustifiable. If I could put my ego / residual powerlifting mindset aside, I'd barely need a work up at all, because I'd be doing something like 3x15 with much lighter weight. Unfortunately I don't seem to have any self-control in this regard.

[DanCR]

9/18/24

HBBS tempo 4-0-0 55x5 105x5,5,6 145x5,6

Notes: Can't believe that I'm logging this. tl;dr it's another DanCR post getting neurotic about squatting. Please do feel free to move on.

Oh you're still reading this? Was supposed to be a cardio day, but my elbows were killing me and I was pissed about yesterday's squatting. It wasn't just the weakness, but also the lack of control despite the pauses that was grating on me.

I don't actually think that the elliptical has been the cause of my elbows being annoyed - rather, I think that the culprit is the substantial increase in upper body work - but I do think that it wasn't helping. I really need full on "off days," as I just was saying to @EricK. Next cardio day I'm gonna take @alek's suggestion re: incline treadmill walking. I've got the new sneakers, might as well put em to use.

In the past, I've used paused squats to good effect in terms of nailing form down, but lately they're not doing it for me. Two things have bothered me. First, despite the pause in the hole, I've still been ending up a bit more off to one side or the other on the way down, so that all the pause has been getting me is an opportunity to fix a movement that's already fucked up, as opposed to keeping it from getting fucked up in the first place. Second, I know that I need practice reversing as soon as I hit the hole while holding position, and the pause doesn't afford that opportunity. My solution this evening was to ditch the pause and instead work with a tempo eccentric. That forced me to begin with a slow break, allowed me to keep control and stay centered, and provided an opportunity to work on reversing out of the hole but at a slow speed for practice. With the tempo set, I worked on knees forward (not out), and on holding foot pressure all the way up. I made sure to flex hard to lockout and beyond - held it a second more to prohibit any rock back even after the rep had been completed. This all felt good and I had a massive quadz pump even with the light weight. Left the gym feeling much better.

[hector]

I like the happy ending about the quad pump and feeling better!!!!

[Fossil]

despite the pause in the hole, I've still been ending up a bit more off to one side or the other on the way down

Not sure of the setup of your facility - and this might be a dumb question - but could it be the floor? I know I've lived in places where I'd quickly find that the space where I was lifting was pretty uneven and I'd have to re-arrange my setup. Might be worth switching racks if you haven't in awhile, just to check.

[slowmotion]

This all felt good and I had a massive quadz pump even with the light weight. Left the gym feeling much better.

Good to hear!

[broseph]

Re: incline treadmill walking;

In recent history I ended the autumn with consistent running and only incline treadmill walked through the winter.

Come spring, it only took a week or two to pick up where I left off in the autumn with running.

In other words, I think it’s pretty legit for steady state cardio.

[EricK]

Re: incline treadmill walking;

In recent history I ended the autumn with consistent running and only incline treadmill walked through the winter.

Come spring, it only took a week or two to pick up where I left off in the autumn with running.

In other words, I think it’s pretty legit for steady state cardio.

I think it's a fantastic fat burning exercise, too.

[lheugh]

Re: incline treadmill walking;

In recent history I ended the autumn with consistent running and only incline treadmill walked through the winter.

Come spring, it only took a week or two to pick up where I left off in the autumn with running.

In other words, I think it’s pretty legit for steady state cardio.

I think it's a fantastic fat burning exercise, too.

It's second only to cycling for my preferred conditioning/cardio endeavours. I would throw in rucking somewhere there as well.

[DanCR]

despite the pause in the hole, I've still been ending up a bit more off to one side or the other on the way down

Not sure of the setup of your facility - and this might be a dumb question - but could it be the floor? I know I've lived in places where I'd quickly find that the space where I was lifting was pretty uneven and I'd have to re-arrange my setup. Might be worth switching racks if you haven't in awhile, just to check.

I wish it were something like this, but it goes both ways and has been a thing at a number of gyms. Not an anatomy guy so not gonna explain this well, but I have very flexible hips and tend to sink into one "hip capsule" or the other without a hard effort to stay centered. Keeping my knees in front of me, and avoiding any "push the knees out" shit, usually is the solution.

***
@broseph, @EricK, @lheugh - thanks, guys. Gonna get into this, starting today after my lifting session. Packing my sneakers now...

[SaviorSelf]

According to he-who-should-not-be-named, it's very common for people to have a leg that's slightly longer than the other. If you can test that, its easy to shim with your shoe

[DanCR]

According to he-who-should-not-be-named, it's very common for people to have a leg that's slightly longer than the other. If you can test that, its easy to shim with your shoe

I know that it isn't, because this was a non-issue before I spent years squatting in my hips, and now I always can solve it instantly by just remembering "knees forward." Of course that doesn't always happen since I'm incapable of retaining any damn cue for more than two sessions.

***

9/19/24

Bench Press 45,135x10 185x5 225x4 250x1
Yukon Bar Bench Press 50x10
Low Incline DB Bench Press 60s x10 65s x5,5
Seated DB Press 55s x6,6,6
Lateral Raises 35s x7+5+5 (DC)
Low Incline DB Flyes 25s x7,7,7
Standing Barbell French Press 75x6,7
Dips x5,5,5
Ab Coaster 40x50

Treadmill Walk 10:00
6.5 incline, 2.0 speed, 55 cals

Notes: I addressed the Yukon bar debacle in @lheugh's log and won't belabor it here. tl;dr: nope.

Moved bench back up front after a few weeks; just transposed it with dips, which now are last. The idea with bench today was similar to last night's squats - I did not want a pause, but did want to reassert control over the movement after feeling sloppy last session. The goal was to refuse to permit any chest cave whatsoever - to fully control the eccentric, just lightly tap, and blow up. That felt great and I didn't mind the drop in numbers at all.

No sinking.