Lifting Thread;training for the tattooed warrior.

[RoryQ]

@eisen777

Sounds like good progress. You'll probably see a lot more if you stick with it.

The upside of making strength gains is that when you start doing conditioning workouts for the fat loss (barbell complexes for example) you'll be able to use challenging weights.

The nice weather is always a good motivator. I find myself getting out and trying to play more leisurely sports like beach volleyball and tennis. Weightlifting is still a priority but it's fun to get outside.

Agreed, good time of year for sports, walking and no-frills park workouts.

I did something like this for a while too with pull ups. I enjoy a lot of Pavel's writing and the way he explains certain things. I would say 55 pull ups in a day is pretty good. You figure if you were doing them in a normal workout, average would probably be 3 sets of 10-12?

Yeah, 3 sets of 10 would probably be 'good' going at the moment. Be interesting to see whether after this GTG my max has moved up... I think it probably already has.

I think I'm going to aim for 50-60 a day for now. Switched from regular push-ups to diamond push-ups, looking for 60-80 a day.

I'll stop this when my elbows complain!

Anyone else having stretching issues, I highly recommend the Limber 11 by Defranco. It may have been mentioned in this thread already, but I figure it's always good to get a reminder. I really like this routine for hip flexibility. He has one similar for shoulder mobility, but I don't think it is nearly as effective as the Limber 11 is for hips. I prefer Starret's shoulder mobility exercises from what I've seen and used on myself.

DeFranco is, for me, one of the best "one stop shop" guys for programming and sensible advice on training. I think I saw an older incarnation of that mobility set from him but not this version.

[tatB]

Those crossfit days will probably really help your oly movements provided you have good coaches. Have fun with that.

I don't really have anything to compare to them to but I feel like the coaches are great. The focus is form/technique first.

Last night I DLed 195lb x5, this is PR for most weight moved with any lift and very close to my body weight.

[eisen777]

@eisen777

Sounds like good progress. You'll probably see a lot more if you stick with it.

The upside of making strength gains is that when you start doing conditioning workouts for the fat loss (barbell complexes for example) you'll be able to use challenging weights.

Totally...I really want to do barcomplex workouts. Esp when I add in more of the fat burning workouts/conditioning which is very important. Ive been impressed with my wife who decided to stop doing workout video and yoga tapes 2 months ago and lift is is squating 115 3x5 and deadlifting 145 1x5 and making good gains. Her bench and press arent high but its getting better. Some reason tho her stomach got bigger/fatter but it seems to be going away. Still lifting together is fun esp since id dint have a patner before.

[tatB]

overhead squats are a humbling experience... 45# (empty barbell) was a big challenge for me.

on a positive note my coach was wearing a kings ave t-shirt last night but didn't have a chance to ask him if any of his tattoos are from there.

[RoryQ]

A classic OHS squat challenge in CrossFit used to be 50 overhead squats at half bodyweight. My shoulders went to sleep and I nearly knocked myself out. There was a lot of that :0

I think OHS are a good illustrator of whether you can stabilise weight overhead and your shoulder mobility but unless you're doing o-lifting or CF (and need them for your sport, essentially) I feel like there are better barbell squat variations if the goal is strength building or hypertrophy. Most people seem to need months before they can put working weight on the bar.

Haven't featured them since last year, I'd hazard a guess they'd be a struggle now.

[CaptainMidnight]

So I join a tattoo forum and I immediately find a lifting thread lol. Combining the best of both worlds.

I have a few questions for those more decorated than me - do you take gym time off (other than avoiding areas that are fresh and could get irritated like back tattoo & squats) post tattoo? Like avoiding sweat or avoiding the gym with fresh work because its non-sterile? I suppose the same question applies to cardio and / or saunas with fresh work...if this has been asked and answered 1000 times please ignore my rudeness while I read back a few pages.

As for me, I'm a strongman & powerlifter with a few tattoos. I had a big piece scheduled to start a few days from now but unfortunately my last comp (last weekend) left some nasty friction damage in part of the work area so my artist and I pushed the start date. Boooooo.

[Cork]

I think OHS are a good illustrator of whether you can stabilise weight overhead and your shoulder mobility but unless you're doing o-lifting or CF (and need them for your sport, essentially) I feel like there are better barbell squat variations if the goal is strength building or hypertrophy. Most people seem to need months before they can put working weight on the bar.

I totally agree with this. Overhead squats are pretty pointless for an average athlete. Just not worth the return once you get over the learning curve. I might even be inclined to generalize and say the whole snatch. The clean and jerk translates way better... says some unknown guy on the internet.

So I join a tattoo forum and I immediately find a lifting thread lol. Combining the best of both worlds.

I have a few questions for those more decorated than me - do you take gym time off (other than avoiding areas that are fresh and could get irritated like back tattoo & squats) post tattoo? Like avoiding sweat or avoiding the gym with fresh work because its non-sterile? I suppose the same question applies to cardio and / or saunas with fresh work...if this has been asked and answered 1000 times please ignore my rudeness while I read back a few pages.

As for me, I'm a strongman & powerlifter with a few tattoos. I had a big piece scheduled to start a few days from now but unfortunately my last comp (last weekend) left some nasty friction damage in part of the work area so my artist and I pushed the start date. Boooooo.

I take time off until I'm ready to move again. But I might be a special case because I'm getting a kame no koh, and I'm a baby. I have to take about 3 full days off before I feel comfortable lifting again. Even then, benching is out of the question for about 7 days.

What do you have planned? Might want to pick a safer spot that won't have an atlas stone tearing at it?

[tatB]

@Cork and @RoryQ definitely agree with you guys about the questionable practicality of things like the OHS and snatch for the average person who is just looking to be strong and "in shape".

I ordered the "Starting Strength" book so I can gain a better understanding of the basics and set up a routine where I am practicing those basic lifts 2-3 times a week. I feel like I have decent form but doing conventional, straight leg, snatch grip, and romanian deadlifts in 14 days is making my head spin. Too much variety too early for me.

[RoryQ]

I totally agree with this. Overhead squats are pretty pointless for an average athlete. Just not worth the return once you get over the learning curve. I might even be inclined to generalize and say the whole snatch. The clean and jerk translates way better... says some unknown guy on the internet.

I have to give CrossFit kudos because without it I wouldn't have actually learned the olympic lifts at all. We did certs with people like Mike Burgener and ended up competing in a few amateur competitions. I felt like it was good to hit a basic benchmark like bodyweight snatch, but after that it was diminishing returns for me. A few people I know kept o-lifting intensively, and although several years have passed they've really had to fight to add fairly modest weight. Only a couple of them really broke the ceiling and are snatching and clean and jerking really big numbers. Part of me also rejects too much o-lifting because unless you've really got the genes then they won't hypertrophy. I hate the idea of training so hard and looking like you don't train at all.

In my view the same logic as with the OHS applies: Unless you're a CFer or (obviously) O-lifter there is too little return for the investment required.

The absolute king of alternatives, when it comes to power movements, is the power clean. Mark Rippetoe champions this and obviously it's part of Starting Strength, so I guess I can appeal to his authority in my argument. To me the power clean is easier to learn, safer and also probably translates into more raw power development because more people are able to comfortably add more weight to the bar quicker (whew, what a sentence).

Of course then I gradually buggered up my neck doing BJJ and now I tend to steer clear of power cleans also, but for anyone whose spine is in one healthy piece I heartily recommend them.

[CaptainMidnight]

I totally agree with this. Overhead squats are pretty pointless for an average athlete. Just not worth the return once you get over the learning curve. I might even be inclined to generalize and say the whole snatch. The clean and jerk translates way better... says some unknown guy on the internet.

I take time off until I'm ready to move again. But I might be a special case because I'm getting a kame no koh, and I'm a baby. I have to take about 3 full days off before I feel comfortable lifting again. Even then, benching is out of the question for about 7 days.

What do you have planned? Might want to pick a safer spot that won't have an atlas stone tearing at it?

Agree on OHS & snatch - unless you compete in snatch C&J is a better movement.

I took a few days off last time, but the work was smaller - I guess I will know when it feels right. For some reason because this work will be so much larger I'm a bit paranoid.

Have a Japanese style piece planned for my right upper arm, shoulder and chest - the main motif in it is a kitsune. Funny you mention the stones - I've developed alligator skin on my forearms from it. They still get chewed up but really not so bad anymore. This is actually damage on my biceps because the promoter had us in sleeveless shirts and the tire flips tore me up.

[hogg]

Where'd you hear about that DeFranco warmup, @Cork? :p And yeah, @RoryQ, the earlier incarnation is called DeFranco's Agile 8. I do that one before squats and deads, and I do his Simple 6 before bench and OH pressing.

[Cork]

If I were to have discovered a thing, surely it would be in the same place I would want to write down my workouts. @hogg

@CaptainMidnight I feel your pain with those tires. I did them once with a sleeveless tee and had pretty bad marks that were like bruise/stretch/blood blisters. Completely pain free though. If only I still had access to that gear though.

[MrsGougeTheEyes]

So I join a tattoo forum and I immediately find a lifting thread lol. Combining the best of both worlds.

I have a few questions for those more decorated than me - do you take gym time off (other than avoiding areas that are fresh and could get irritated like back tattoo & squats) post tattoo? Like avoiding sweat or avoiding the gym with fresh work because its non-sterile? I suppose the same question applies to cardio and / or saunas with fresh work...if this has been asked and answered 1000 times please ignore my rudeness while I read back a few pages.

As for me, I'm a strongman & powerlifter with a few tattoos. I had a big piece scheduled to start a few days from now but unfortunately my last comp (last weekend) left some nasty friction damage in part of the work area so my artist and I pushed the start date. Boooooo.

I definitely take time off because gyms are dirty and I don't like to push my body when it needs to heal. I also box so I can't take the chance of getting punched in an fresh wound haha

[CaptainMidnight]

If I were to have discovered a thing, surely it would be in the same place I would want to write down my workouts. @hogg

@CaptainMidnight I feel your pain with those tires. I did them once with a sleeveless tee and had pretty bad marks that were like bruise/stretch/blood blisters. Completely pain free though. If only I still had access to that gear though.

Yeah usually tires just leave nasty bruise/stretches on me but this thing was an 800lb monster and it tore the crap out of me for some reason. Even in sleeves this tire leaves a mark.I love having access to a strongman gym even though its an hour from me - has really given me more confidence in competition and helped my events like crazy.

I definitely take time off because gyms are dirty and I don't like to push my body when it needs to heal. I also box so I can't take the chance of getting punched in an fresh wound haha

Gyms are filthy. Yeah I wouldn't want to get punched in a fresh tattoo either lol.

[eisen777]

When I got my back extended over my butt I didn't take off for the outline. Chad puts it in hard and I am also a beginner so I think I was squating 135 or something small. Then 5 weeks later he shades one butt check and i absolutely needed time off. It took soo much out of me and my lifts were higher and is just worked my ass off past a plateau over 2 weeks before. Best thing I evet did. I've got 2 back appointments a week apart in June so going to take some time and do other lifts and change it up but only take 3 full days off and see how it goes. I bleach white shirts and put on fresh work out cloths when I'm healing.

[tatB]

in the past 3-4 weeks my 5rm back squat has increased from 135lb to 165lb and my 5rm dead lift has gone from 195lb to 225lb. still very light for a 6'3'' 210lb guy but i'm personally very excited about making progress and feeling strong. If I average 5-10lb increases every week I could be lifting 300lb at the end of summer. Is that reasonable for a beginner? Adding 135lb to my squat and 75lb to my dead lift in ~20 weeks?

[RoryQ]

@BrianH

Your deadlift and squat are probably going to continue to progress at different rates and remain different in terms of your PR:-

Your deadlift will likely always be higher than your squat unless something has gone wrong.

At a bodyweight of 210 you should be able to *eventually* deadlift 420 (x2 bodyweight) and squat 315 (x1.5 bodyweight) for singles.

I reckon it's likely that you could deadlift 300 x 5 on your way to that, but squatting 300 x 5 would be tougher.

300 x 5 squat at any bodyweight would be pretty good going for someone on CF programming in my opinion.

In the timeframe you outline it's hard to say. Adding 5-10lbs a week becomes harder the further you get from being a novice.

A lot might also hinge on your bodyweight. If you are going to lean out more over the next while and drop down to, for example, 190 or below, then re-figure what your likely strength standards are.... 300 for 5 might be really good going then.

I said this before, but for the above I'm referencing Dan John's basic benchmarks. I think Mark Rippetoe has similar standards.

[RoryQ]

I've got a one to one session with a level two SFG tomorrow (that's Pavel Tsatsouline's organisation).

To be honest I need a coach to tell me if I've gone wrong, so this is overdue.

Doing a Kettlebell program at the moment that's 10x10 swings and 10 Turkish get ups a day (doing near daily sessions). I'm using a 24kg and 16-20kgs for the TGUs. My goal is to use a 32kg bell for all of it, hitting particular time targets. The swings will be do able but the TGUs will be a lot harder!

Something a bit different. I'm giving it till the end of summer.

[tatB]

2 sets of 200lb x 3 back squat last night.

[RoryQ]

Great session with that level 2 SFG Kettlebell instructor. We broke down my swing and get up in detail, I really feel like I got a lot out of having some of the finer points tweaked. I'm confident the targets with the 32kg are do-able now with consistency.

[Mick Weder]

Doing a Kettlebell program at the moment that's 10x10 swings and 10 Turkish get ups a day (doing near daily sessions). I'm using a 24kg and 16-20kgs for the TGUs. My goal is to use a 32kg bell for all of it, hitting particular time targets. The swings will be do able but the TGUs will be a lot harder!

Something a bit different. I'm giving it till the end of summer.

Kettle bells are kick arse.

I don't lift the big 3 anymore.

I hit a tabata, 3 min rounds all single arm alternate, pyramid 24,20,16 & back up with something like a high swing, deep squat push press, snatch, shoulder press.

Battle ropes are awesome too. The same, hit tabata 3 min rounds alternating between a 24 & 16 kg rope. That shit works ya over fkn big time.

[RoryQ]

Did battling ropes recently at a strongman conditioning session for the first time... Quite devilish.

[hogg]

Two months ago, I deadlifted 315x1 (for the first time in over two years) and an all-time PR of 325x1. Today, I pulled 315x3. It feels great to be progressing and breaking through some physical and mental barriers.

[Cork]

Aw yeah buddy!

[Rikhall]

We had a wild night deadlifting last night and both hit new PRs on deadlift 245 and a 465 getting closer to that 500 so fairly happy