Cord's Quest

Free weight.

My gym has a squat rack, and that is where I set the bar between sets, but when doing the actual squats I step away from the rack.

I do use the rack for my inverted rows - that is where I put the bar.

I started just doing bodyweight squats too, then went to a bare bar, then slowly added weight. It was not the function of an instant.
 
Last edited:
Nice to be lifting isn't it Cord? I always love the way I feel afterwards. Not the soreness part, although that is tolerable most days. The feeling of being alive and pumped afterwards.

BTW, Tony may have been referring to a Smith machine? Squat rack = freeweights, just with a place to rest the BB between sets etc. Whereas Smith = one plane of movement up and down with tracks. Just wasn't sure if that might have been where he was going with that.

I did some traditional squats today too. Actually felt more stable than usual, so maybe I don't hate 'em as much as I thought.

Lift stuff = happy Cord = happy Cabbie too
 
Yeah, I guess he could have meant a Smith machine. I don't really think about those much, and would never use one.

But what I said is true - I step completely away from the rack to do my squats, so there are no bars/rails for me to set down on if I should lose it.
Maybe I should stay inside the rack, but it makes me feel all confined.
 
I generally stay inside the rack. Not a big deal, it's unlikely I'm going to be dropping the weight I use (not very strong at it yet).

I use the pins on the lower portion of the rack when I'm doing rack pulls though That is a good exercise for glute development.
 
get in the habit of staying there. I would be dead if i stepped too far back after today's incident. I know I squat a lot more than you guys, but get in the habit now so that you don't make the mistake of failing without the safety of the rack. even if i would have dropped the weight behind me, 405lbs rolling down my back would have been some serious damage. use the rack, cord. The hardest part for me was builing up my traps to withstand so much weight on then across that thin little bar. the guys at the gym call the relief pads for the bar for squats maxi pads and say that only women use them lol. after enough weeks or torment i finally just gave it and went with the raw bar lol. i do 315 pretty comfrotably now, so you build up a tolerance fast. 405 isn't bad, but you cna definitely feel the pressure of the bar digging in.
 
kureransu said:
get in the habit of staying there. I would be dead if i stepped too far back after today's incident. I know I squat a lot more than you guys, but get in the habit now so that you don't make the mistake of failing without the safety of the rack. even if i would have dropped the weight behind me, 405lbs rolling down my back would have been some serious damage. use the rack, cord. The hardest part for me was builing up my traps to withstand so much weight on then across that thin little bar. the guys at the gym call the relief pads for the bar for squats maxi pads and say that only women use them lol. after enough weeks or torment i finally just gave it and went with the raw bar lol. i do 315 pretty comfrotably now, so you build up a tolerance fast. 405 isn't bad, but you cna definitely feel the pressure of the bar digging in.
Click to expand...

Yes, Mr. Hulk, sir. :)

No seriously, you're right. As hard as it is to imagine right now, I will eventually increase my squat weight, and it would be smart to already feel comfortable in there when that happens.
 
The day I'm doing 405... Damn... I don't even do that on the rack pulls, and they are a short range of motion, high weight lift.

Nope, I'll not be doing them any time soon.
 
cabbie was right I was talking about a smith type machine, our gym does not even have a traditional type squat rack.

I asked the trainer about one he said he would love to get one but for insurance reasons Snap fitness does not allow them.
 
Tony, the smith works okay. The only negative is that it doesn't always train some of the supporting muscles like it should. As a result, your form may not be perfect on a squat with a Smith, and you can still get away with it. The negative to this is that you can end up pushing more weight than you should be pushing with poor form, and in the end, doing damage to yourself because of it. It's kind of a catch 22. I use a smith when i have to, because I don't always have access to a decent supply of free weights (college gym isn't always open), but I always prefer to do my heavy lifts at the school gym with the free weights.
 
reluctantcabbie said:
As a result, your form may not be perfect on a squat with a Smith, and you can still get away with it. The negative to this is that you can end up pushing more weight than you should be pushing with poor form, and in the end, doing damage to yourself because of it.
Click to expand...

Which is why I would never use one.

Squats are dangerous if you try to lift too much with poor form.
 
Well, I may as well post the day's activity now - still a couple of hours to go, but I don't expect much will happen between now and then.

My wife and I went for a pretty long walk today - 6.8 miles (11km) - along the river valley trail. The weather was good and we went at a reasonable clip.

Other than that - food has been somewhat okay.
Breakfast - steelcut oats w/hemp seeds and agave nectar, 1 banana, 1/2 cup milk
Lunch - 2 eggs, 2 slices wholegrain toast with peanut butter, hash browns.
Snack - 1/2 a yum bar (oatmeal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cocoa, something sweet - they make 'em at the little hippie cafe we go to and they are fantastic)
Dinner and nibblements - 2 pears, a salad (lettuce/tomato/cucumber/carrot/snap peas), 2 cups dry cereal

This coming Sunday I will be doing the Terry Fox Run. For you non-Canadians, it is a national annual run to raise funds for cancer research.
I will be doing the 10k, and hope to do the 1/2 walk, 1/2 run thing I have been doing lately. Should be fun.


Um, I don't know if this is inappropriate, but, should anyone feel like sponsoring me in this run (it is a fund-raiser, after all), they can do so here:



But, no pressure, and of course it is a Canadian charity, so if you're not from here it isn't tax-deductible.

I'm putting it out there, just in case.
 
Hey Cord!!!!...It's been a minute since I've been in here & it's GREAT to see you doing so wonderful!!!!....your eating, your working out, your mindframe...all of the above!!! :coolgleamA:

...you really just inspired me to want to get my weights out and do those squats...of course GIRLY style hahaha ;).....but none the less, thank you!!! :iagree:

....that walk sounded real nice with your wife....:beating: I love when me and my bf take long walks or hikes as well...last Saturday we took one, and I hope that this Saturday we can too!! :D! You are a big Sweetheart!!! ....(i see through you...no hiding there!!!!)

...and WAY TO GO on that RACE!!!!!!!!! :party: You are going to do Fantastic...and am SUPER excited for you and your running!!!...That's GREAT mileage!!! Keep up the Great work and Keep on getting Stronger and Stronger!!! Get em Tiger!!!!!
 
KaraCooks said:
Hey Cord. Good luck on your run.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

kureransu said:
hit it hard man. i can't wait to hear aout how it went. most of all have fun. good job on the uber long walk as well!
Click to expand...

It was a good walk. I look forward to being able to do more things like that now that our daughter is in school full time.

Alta818 said:
Hey Cord!!!!...It's been a minute since I've been in here & it's GREAT to see you doing so wonderful!!!!....your eating, your working out, your mindframe...all of the above!!! :coolgleamA:

...you really just inspired me to want to get my weights out and do those squats...of course GIRLY style hahaha ;).....but none the less, thank you!!! :iagree:

....that walk sounded real nice with your wife....:beating: I love when me and my bf take long walks or hikes as well...last Saturday we took one, and I hope that this Saturday we can too!! :D! You are a big Sweetheart!!! ....(i see through you...no hiding there!!!!)

...and WAY TO GO on that RACE!!!!!!!!! :party: You are going to do Fantastic...and am SUPER excited for you and your running!!!...That's GREAT mileage!!! Keep up the Great work and Keep on getting Stronger and Stronger!!! Get em Tiger!!!!!
Click to expand...


Wow, Alta, you just made me feel incredibly good about myself! Thank you so much!

I haven't posted on your journal page in a while, but I check in on it from time to time.

I'm pretty excited about the running, yeah. Who would have thought a huge blob like me would ever run? :)
But it is going great, I think. I still can't run very far at once, but I'll work on it as long as the weather holds. I don't know what I'll do once it gets cold.
Switch to the nordictrack, and then cross-country skiing once we get enough snow, probably.

I just got back form a run, actually. My previous two sessions were 5 miles (8km). Since the run on Sunday is a 10k (6.2 mi), I thought I would try running that far as a practice session.
I ran on the river trail (the same one my wife and I walked on yesterday - it is really nice right now). Since it isn't marked as regularly as a track (only has markers every 1km), I switched to measuring paces instead of distance. So I walked 100 paces, ran 100 paces, lather rinse and repeat. I managed to do the whole length in 1 hr 7 min, which made me really happy. I got some abdominal cramping at around the 7km mark, guess I wasn't sufficiently hydrated/stretched/warmed up, but it went away by 8km and I was fine the rest of the way.
Stretched out some more afterwards, drank a bunch of water, and now I feel completely fine. It is a really good feeling to see just how far I have come, fitness-wise, in that something that would have killed me five months ago - heck, I wouldn't have been able to do anything even close to this five months ago - now just requires a few minutes recovery, and then life goes on as normal.
It's really cool.

So, having already done 10km, I know I am ready for the run on Sunday.
 
Awww...it's true...;) Any time!!!

AND Exactly!!!!! :iagree:...that is the BEST way to train!!!...you build confidence doing the mileage before the actual day to ensure that you can do it on the actual day....!! The crowd cheering is really fantastic for your endurance as well, you'll see how much less tired you feel that day as well cause of them cheering and the cool tents that they give away with GOODIE BAGS :D!...:smilielol5:..

.(this is really embarrasing...but as I typed that LITERALLY a drop of drool swung out of my mouth on the right and trickled my chin!!!) hahahaha...:blush5:

...Wow!!!....guess I'm hungrier than I thought!! hahaha!!....and the river trail run should be a great confidence builder if ever in the future you want to keep upping your miles cause if "YOU'VE DONE IT ONCE, YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN!"....

....that's the way I jump miles,...I run the same course I know I can...and do it again...because the mind KNOWS that you can finish it ....it acts like you haven't done it at all that day..and WHALA...you are a SUPER RUNNER now!! :party:!!!

...Again....YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!! :iagree:! ;)...and HIGH five to you and your wife!!!...Hope she does the race with you too, but if not, I'm sure she'll be there to snap shots and support you!! Can't wait to hear about the big day!!!
 
great job on the run cord. i can totally relate to wher eyou are coming from. being 330 i would have never guessed i'd be running 5Ks at all in less than 30 min no less. just remember if you run a lot lift a lot lol. I've not tried a 10K. most i've done is 8K (5 miles) and it took me about 50 minutes. now that i have a better stride i think i can get it in between 45 and 48 minutes. I want to be able to do a 10k in under an hour, which sooner or later i will try it! good luck man. and yes alta is a great motivator isn't she lol i bet she could make a turtle run LOLOLOL!
 
Clarence, I'm really impressed that you can run 8k. I'm still trying to work on getting past 400m without slowing to a walk. The only way I am doing these 8k and 10k trips is by alternating walking and running. I keep up a pretty good clip but there is no way I could go even a fraction of that distance just running.

BTW, while I'm talking about you, let me comment on that ticker of yours. 91lbs down. WOOT! Dammit man, that's good!
 
thanks, i'm surprised that i can run it non stop. but its a nice feeling! you'll get to that point soon enough. i'm only on week seven. so there ya go.
 
Well, it's weigh-in day today.

I have moved my weigh-in days to Saturday now, for no particular reason. I have also broken down and purchased a home scale, because I was tired of trying to work around the schedule of the doctor's office to drive into town and weigh myself - and it cost a fair bit of money to keep driving into town.

Anyway, I did manage to lose 1 pound this week. Any loss is a win, right?

So, down to 256.

It looks like the loss is going to slow down a lot from here on in. I've been eating okay and exercising a lot, and this is all I have to show for it.
I knew this was bound to happen eventually.

I'm taking a rest day today, to get ready for the 10k tomorrow morning. I will be doing some stretching and stuff today, to stay limber and such, but no heavy workout.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top