Well, my absence wasn't without special news. Friday morning at 12:10 p.m. my son Matthew joined us at a whopping 10lbs 9oz(C-Section). The doctor said that he's "Strong as hell" and he looks great. It's obvious to me that he was conceived on a heavy squat day because I've had more than 3 nurses/doctors say that he has incredible leg strength. He is very active and loves to eat and poop, and his two older sisters are absolutely in love with him. I couldn't be happier.
5x5 Deadlifts!
- Thread starter JustinRVA
- Start date
Ditto Claire.
Obviously Matthew is fit and well, hope mum is too.
Brilliant news. You will obviously need to be pulling up a lot of slack while your wife recovers from the Caesarian and know you won't care. Wife and son will be more than worth it.
Obviously Matthew is fit and well, hope mum is too.
Brilliant news. You will obviously need to be pulling up a lot of slack while your wife recovers from the Caesarian and know you won't care. Wife and son will be more than worth it.
Congratulations Justin! All the best wishes to you and your family! 
arty2:
arty2:Ok, I need to go on a serious cut. As you all know, since I started my new job, my training has been less than stellar, and I haven't been to the gym since my son was born. Needless to say, I have a gained a little weight. I need to go on a serious cut. I was thinking of the "leg training" cut. I call it that because I have only heard guys talk about it, but I've never seen a real routine laid out for it. Basically, you do heavy legs three times a week and keep everything else normal. Now, don't ask me when I'm going to have time to do heavy squats three times a week considering I'm having a hard time getting in my regular routine now, but from what I hear, heavy legs three times a week is a fat killer. Working that large of a muscle group that many times a week would keep it's need for nutrition sky high and would make eating in a deficit much easier. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to get to the gym a couple times a week and do a few sets of squats and that's it. Time wise, that sounds easier than trying to find an hour to go. Hell, I could stop on the way home from work and squat in my jeans for 20 minutes if that's all I were planning on doing.
See how it goes. Can definitely see how this would work, use large muscle groups at high intensity frequently.
Should be an issue on three times a week. Recovery should be practical. Says the person who has been overtraining for decades.
Ok, I'm sick of wondering whether or not I'm going to be able to find time to go to the gym or not, so I'm ditching everything and starting over. I'm going to have to take a corner of the rec room in my house and get some equipment in there. Up to this point, I was concerned about space because I don't have room for a bench, so I started reading about technique and routines. There was a gentleman named Vince Gironda who trained many body builders and Hollywood celebrities. He owned a gym in California that did not have one bench press. His weapon of choice for chest was the dip, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a power tower and a squat rack and move my body through space. After reading, a lot, it makes total sense to me. I have 240lbs of body weight that I can move through my chest, plus with a chain belt, I can add more. I love the thought of all realistic movements, plus when I'm not using my equipment I can put my power tower into the squat rack to save space. Another reason I would like to switch is because my bench press has never been impressive, and I've always had a hard time progressing, so it's not like I'm leaving much behind. I like the idea that throughout all of my movements, my entire body will be moving.
I'm going to focus my routine around Squats, dips, deads, wide grip pulls, rows and military press. Anything else will be bonus stuff, like curls or tricep work, plus I'll be able to train whenever I want. I really don't have the space, but between my new job(that I unfortunately still have) and my new son, I can't get out of the house, so I have to make space.
I'm going to focus my routine around Squats, dips, deads, wide grip pulls, rows and military press. Anything else will be bonus stuff, like curls or tricep work, plus I'll be able to train whenever I want. I really don't have the space, but between my new job(that I unfortunately still have) and my new son, I can't get out of the house, so I have to make space.
My suspension trainer is great for making bodyweight work difficult. There are really cheep versions out there or you can do what I did keep searching until you find someone selling a leading brand cheap because the cheap ones can be less than confidence inspiring.
As a naturally scrawny trainer I have always found body weight work easy and have done bar dips with 50kg on a belt for sets of 6. When I first tried them on suspension trainer I struggled to do 10 with just me. Any slight cheating that makes the movement easier, aka good technique, stops helping you and you have to muscle through feeling pathetic.
My gym area has just shrunk again meaning the bench has to be stored upright in the rack when not training, apparently there are a couple of other people living in my house and they want space. What's that about?
As a naturally scrawny trainer I have always found body weight work easy and have done bar dips with 50kg on a belt for sets of 6. When I first tried them on suspension trainer I struggled to do 10 with just me. Any slight cheating that makes the movement easier, aka good technique, stops helping you and you have to muscle through feeling pathetic.
My gym area has just shrunk again meaning the bench has to be stored upright in the rack when not training, apparently there are a couple of other people living in my house and they want space. What's that about?
I know right. What's with all these greedy kids who want a place to put their "toys" and "arts and crafts". When I was a kid, I had a stick, and I was damn happy to have that!
I actually found a power tower a guy on eBay is selling for 90$, shipped. I'm iffy about it because it's a cheaper one. Actually, here's the link...
The price sucked me in, but it does seem to be a bit cheap. There's one on Amazon I was looking at, and being a Prime member, I wouldn't have to pay shipping...
The only thing about that one is that, everything is on the front, so I'd be concerned about the angle of the back pad while doing weighted wide grips. I think I'll be ok, and as far as space is concerned, it would be better than the eBay bluelight special.
This is the squat rack I was looking at...
Fairly simple. Space saver, which is what I need, and can be adjusted low enough to rack the bar for rows or curls.
Thoughts?
I actually found a power tower a guy on eBay is selling for 90$, shipped. I'm iffy about it because it's a cheaper one. Actually, here's the link...
The price sucked me in, but it does seem to be a bit cheap. There's one on Amazon I was looking at, and being a Prime member, I wouldn't have to pay shipping...
The only thing about that one is that, everything is on the front, so I'd be concerned about the angle of the back pad while doing weighted wide grips. I think I'll be ok, and as far as space is concerned, it would be better than the eBay bluelight special.
This is the squat rack I was looking at...
Fairly simple. Space saver, which is what I need, and can be adjusted low enough to rack the bar for rows or curls.
Thoughts?
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I like my cage for safety I must admit. But with lack of space and care the rack looks fine.
Like the cheap tower if honest. How intricate does it need to be.
Wonder if you could have a bench and just up end it for storage as I do.
Like the cheap tower if honest. How intricate does it need to be.
Wonder if you could have a bench and just up end it for storage as I do.
We just got these rings from Amazon and while we haven't used them much (Tom's cold, my back) we have done some "testing" because we wanted to be sure the straps/buckles really wouldn't slip. We are convinced that those who left reviews complaining about that had the buckles threaded incorrectly and to be honest, the instructions are poor. Tom hung them, then attached climbing ettriers (can't think how to spell that) and we both stood and bounced on the ring/strap trying to get it to slip. Our combined weight with clothes/shoes is easily 330 lbs, and the strap didn't budge. I'm super excited to fool with them some more just as soon as I can and the body and weather cooperate.
It's possible I could fold a bench up in there. I would just need to get the equipment I want and see what space is left over. I'm debating on which one I want. The more expensive one will be better space-wise(backed up to a wall), and the cheaper one is, well, cheaper, but requires more room as it is two sided, but also seems like it will work better with my 6'5 frame. Decisions, decisions.
I love Amazon. I would buy my groceries from them if I could. I saved around $100 this year using my phone to scan Christmas present for the kids at Toys 'r Us and ordering them cheaper on Amazon. Having said that, I try to ignore most of the idiots who post reviews on there because most of them, it seems, lack basic common sense. I recently ordered a Solar Powered flood light from Amazon and there was some nut that wrote a review giving it one star and bashing it because they "Couldn't figure out how to put batteries in it, and there was nothing in the instructions on how to". Notice I italicized the words Solar Powered.
So, the seller of the eBay power tower took it down. I sent them a message telling them I'd buy it for $30 plus the original shipping charge. Hopefully they'll take that.
I also came across these stands...
With those, I'll be able to squat and put them in the power tower when I'm not training. After those, I'll just need a bar and weights as needed, and a bench would be great if I have leftover space.
If it works out, I'll make out pretty good for under $200.
I also came across these stands...
With those, I'll be able to squat and put them in the power tower when I'm not training. After those, I'll just need a bar and weights as needed, and a bench would be great if I have leftover space.
If it works out, I'll make out pretty good for under $200.
Well, I just purchased the first piece of my home "gym".
View attachment 6109
$90 wasn't bad at all, plus it isn't used. Now I just have to get the squat stands and my weights.
View attachment 6109
$90 wasn't bad at all, plus it isn't used. Now I just have to get the squat stands and my weights.
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Two more purchases have been made for my at home training. I stopped at a local second hand sports shop last night and picked up an Olympic size barbell for only $50. When I got home, I purchased these stands..
I've spent most of my day making and putting up shelving in my rec room to help make space for having to move stuff. My equipment should all be here this week, and I can stop by that same store and pick up whatever plates I need. I'll be lifting at home by next weekend. I'm glad I sucked it up and finally did this. Now I can train better than ever because I won't have to worry about going anywhere to do it. I may even have room to put a bench in there, but I'm not holding my breath on that. It will be a great bonus if I do.
I've spent most of my day making and putting up shelving in my rec room to help make space for having to move stuff. My equipment should all be here this week, and I can stop by that same store and pick up whatever plates I need. I'll be lifting at home by next weekend. I'm glad I sucked it up and finally did this. Now I can train better than ever because I won't have to worry about going anywhere to do it. I may even have room to put a bench in there, but I'm not holding my breath on that. It will be a great bonus if I do.