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[NRDL]

Sorry to hear about the injury Nenjin, hope you heal quick.

For my part, I'm really getting more interested in barbell training. The two movements I want to get really strong at are the Zercher Squat, and the barbell standing overhead press. For more aesthetic reasons, I'll try to do as much rowing as I can, along with trap and neck work.

Currently a bit sick cause I pushed myself hard for the past two days, and also coming off a trip overseas. Currently planning on eating a crap ton so I actually make progress.

[nenjin]

Turns out Alan Thrall was right.

Not doing too bad today. Since Friday every day has progressively been less painful. Today my lower back is still tight and a little sore. But if you'd told me on Friday that by Monday I'd be 80%, I wouldn't have believed it based on how much pain I was in and how little I could move. I have a whole bottle of Hydrocodone left over from a previous thing and I was tempted several times to start taking some to manage the pain. But I didn't. Figured I should embrace the pain and understand it rather than trying to mask it and possibly overexerting myself.

So instead on Alan Thrall's advice, I started doing air squats and faux-deadlifts. At least for an over-stressed lower back, I think the best bet really is "keep moving." I'd notice after an hour or two of sitting that getting up and walking around was agony. Legs were shaking (due to working overtime to support me since my lower back wouldn't, AND because they were still fried from Friday's workout), glutes were seizing up, hamstrings and quads were uncomfortably tight, lower back was twinging constantly.....but then sitting down was actually easier and less painful after getting up for a little bit. So I started getting up like every 20 minutes, moving around, bending over to the best of my ability....and it just continued to get easier and less painful.

So I think I'll try an upper body workout today after all, see how it goes. If my back starts pulling too much, I'll drop the weights. Doubt I'll be doing situps today, that's probably asking for a little too much of my lower back. But I imagine by Friday I'll be able to squat and deadlift again.

And here's an obligatory Tyson in honor of my back:

[nenjin]

Today's bastardized inspirational quote:

"When you think about fitness and where you want to get to, don't look at the top of the mountain. The challenge will seem insurmountable from the bottom. Instead, keep your eyes firmly focused on the next step directly in front of you and keep moving forward. And eventually you will look back and see how far you've come, and the top will be that much closer than the last time you really looked."

(Back is doing great, pounds are still coming off. Where I want to be seems closer than ever!)

[JoshuaFH]

It's finally warm enough to start jogging outside without freezing to death... I've only ever jogged on a treadmill, why does jogging outside on a sidewalk feel so much harder and more tiring?

[nenjin]

Uneven surfaces, inconsistent angles and harder material. There's no shock absorption on concrete. Your body notices these things after a while even if you don't consciously.

[Gentlefish]

Plus you're actually pushing your body forward, not just running to stay in place. It's a much different experience for your body.

[nenjin]

Shows you how much running I do.

[Retropunch]

It's finally warm enough to start jogging outside without freezing to death... I've only ever jogged on a treadmill, why does jogging outside on a sidewalk feel so much harder and more tiring?

Good tip for getting into road running from the treadmill (depending on how adjustable your machine is) is to set the angle up to 1.5 and then do really light 'random' pattern. My gym ones let me do between 1.5 and 3 and it helps a lot for road running.

[nenjin]

Don't know if I've mentioned this channel before, but it deserves it.

Smashwerx

It's primarily a mobility and "corrective" channel. Crunching joints? Pains? Impingements? This guy delivers.

Holy shit though, this stuff is not easy. You know when a trainer describes things as "disgusting" and "awful" with a certain relish in their tone, you're going to feel it. (Pretty sure he's a Crossfit guy so he's kind of into difficult shit.)

I found this channel a while ago while troubleshooting some shoulder discomfort. Worked like a charm but I didn't look for much else at the time.

Well, I've had "crunchy knees" probably half my adult life. Bad posture, injuries, tons of stuff. I can do this thing with my right knee after a day's worth of sitting and what not that can pop so loud it can be heard across a room.

Over the last year+, I've been hearing a lot more out of my knees (and other joints.) And today I came across a video of his for crunchy knees.

And damn me if it didn't do exactly as advertised. Three drills, two of which I can do to the letter, the 3rd I don't quite have the equipment for. Crunchy knees, gone.

Most of his drills use resistance bands, and I again maintain they're one of the best investments you can make in fitness for exactly stuff like this. Repositioning joints, loading them up, forcing your hips to move in to positions we're too weak to maintain without help.

This is the kind of stuff you do repeatedly over time, progressively correcting long term issues and continually stretching out, loading and unloading muscles and joints that get tight from working out.

I've considered myself pretty limber but over the course of this fitness thing I've learned a lack some hip and lower back flexibility and mobility. And strength. But I've made stretching a priority and have watched my mobility increase dramatically over time. I can touch my toes, do a fold over, squat comfortably for a good amount of time. But there's lots more angles and configurations of the hip and pelvis that I'm still super weak (and tight) on.

Smashwerx is like stretching++. Some of these are damn uncomfortable but if you bear it and let it stretch you out until things finally, truly relax, you will get up feeling warm and loose and buttery in a way probably haven't felt in years.

In other news.....I'm getting very close to lean. I've learned to stop trying to put timelines on things, but I think within another couple of months I'll have reached the goals that initially got me started on all this. Then it might be time for a few photos.

[Xantalos]

Don't know if I've mentioned this channel before, but it deserves it.

Smashwerx

It's primarily a mobility and "corrective" channel. Crunching joints? Pains? Impingements? This guy delivers.

Holy shit though, this stuff is not easy. You know when a trainer describes things as "disgusting" and "awful" with a certain relish in their tone, you're going to feel it. (Pretty sure he's a Crossfit guy so he's kind of into difficult shit.)

I found this channel a while ago while troubleshooting some shoulder discomfort. Worked like a charm but I didn't look for much else at the time.

Well, I've had "crunchy knees" probably half my adult life. Bad posture, injuries, tons of stuff. I can do this thing with my right knee after a day's worth of sitting and what not that can pop so loud it can be heard across a room.

Over the last year+, I've been hearing a lot more out of my knees (and other joints.) And today I came across a video of his for crunchy knees.

And damn me if it didn't do exactly as advertised. Three drills, two of which I can do to the letter, the 3rd I don't quite have the equipment for. Crunchy knees, gone.

Most of his drills use resistance bands, and I again maintain they're one of the best investments you can make in fitness for exactly stuff like this. Repositioning joints, loading them up, forcing your hips to move in to positions we're too weak to maintain without help.

This is the kind of stuff you do repeatedly over time, progressively correcting long term issues and continually stretching out, loading and unloading muscles and joints that get tight from working out.

I've considered myself pretty limber but over the course of this fitness thing I've learned a lack some hip and lower back flexibility and mobility. And strength. But I've made stretching a priority and have watched my mobility increase dramatically over time. I can touch my toes, do a fold over, squat comfortably for a good amount of time. But there's lots more angles and configurations of the hip and pelvis that I'm still super weak (and tight) on.

Smashwerx is like stretching++. Some of these are damn uncomfortable but if you bear it and let it stretch you out until things finally, truly relax, you will get up feeling warm and loose and buttery in a way probably haven't felt in years.

In other news.....I'm getting very close to lean. I've learned to stop trying to put timelines on things, but I think within another couple of months I'll have reached the goals that initially got me started on all this. Then it might be time for a few photos.

Oh my me, this guy's stuff is good! Really damn good. Thanks for the link, nenjin. And good to hear that you're continuing to progress towards your goals. I'm nowhere near as close to articulate about this stuff as you are, but it's always neat to see you give an update on how your efforts have been going.

[Gentlefish]

Ugh. I started running, which actually feels great (when it doesn't feel like I'm crushing my ankles) but the lower back pain associated with it isn't.

I've been lying to my partner (running and otherwise) about the past two runs because it just ruins me to run for two weeks in a row (3x/week using a c25k app. We're "repeating" a week since we both had to miss a run last week) and honestly, I hate that.

Everything I'm reading says I need to build up core strength before it gets any better. Should I just stop running for like, a month and work on core exercises alone just to get my back feeling better?

[NRDL]

Speakign purely from my running experience, it might be a form thing.

I used to be a heel-striker. Then I got into the whole barefoot/minimalist running craze, and got some extremely thin running shoes, started running more on the balls of my feet, always made sure my upper back was engaged, stopped staring at the ground when I ran, etc.

Now running actually feels therapeutic for my back.

Obviously building core strength won't hurt, but it might not be the core of the problem, pun intended.

[nenjin]

I guess I'm the opposite. I think I tend to walk toe-heel by default. But after my 5 mile walks lately my Achilles tendon started KILLING. Like savagely sore. When I started walking heel-toe, my pains stopped happening.

[NRDL]

Mid-foot works better for some people. I just feel like however you'd naturally when you run barefoot, is how you should run when wearing a shoe.

[Ulfarr]

Is this the train to Swoleville?

After hovering for MANY years at  88-93 kg, I'm finally at a stage where getting fit is slowly becoming reality.

I started a keto diet, on my own, back in December which while it was very effective in helping me drop from 87kg to 78 kg in about 3 months, it was ultimately a life style I couldn't realistically maintain. I was getting bored of eating the same 4 dishes all the time. So I tried to ease up and add carbs back in the menu.... aand within a month I was back at 81kg and struggling to keep it from going up.

In late May I made the decision to go to a nutritionist¹ and today I'm happy to say I'm at 77kg,  18% of which is fat.

Meanwhile in the these 7 months, I started working out at home and getting myself comfortable with a 2-3 days per week regime. I didn't really do any heavy stuff (crunches, push ups, some dumbbell exercises and lots of walking), the goal then was to get myself to workout regularly and prevent my body from becoming loose from the weight loss. July is going to be one hell of month

Question time: Knuckle push ups or open palm?

I'm used to do them on my knuckles (using a set of hand wraps both as padding and for the extra support on the palm's bones and wrist) because doing them with open palm feels like it puts too much strain on my wrists. However  the vast majority of videos/articles on push ups say to use open palms and any article more specifically about knuckles vs open hand is always full of "martial artist use knuckles because it resembles the act of punching" or some other mumbo jumbo bullshit without giving any convincing explanation of which one to prefer and when.

1. If anyone is interested in it I could post my nutrition plan, it's for about 2000 kcal daily intake. Quick disclaimer: it's based on my needs and daily life so YMMV.


Current Goals:

• Lose 2 more kg of fat
• Set a more complete workout plan and focus on the muscles I have been neglecting so far.

P.S. I have to say that reading this thread over the months has been a good source of motivation