That's nothing- believe it or not, I went through a phase for several months where I would one rep max on all compound exercises, every single workout


Exactly- isn't is awesome? It literally makes you mentally and physically stronger, and so makes the same weight feel lighter. It is one of the best skills involved in unleashing the masculine beast within and pushing yourself to your highest limits.

And, of course, the more intense a set (that is, the more weight you can do for a given number of reps), the greater the muscle stimulation, and so over time the greater the muscle growth.

Every single exercise, every single workout? Holy hell!

Damn, you must be some kind of genetic freak or something, the part about achieving orgasms while working out would definitely lend itself to that explanation.

I think it may be possible to rewire the pleasure response of the brain to react to an alternate set of stimuli. It is, after all, just a big neural network. If you spend many years purposefully subjecting yourself to physical pain and discomfort, the network might be retrained to interpret those stimuli as pleasurable. Yes I'm talking out of my ass, but it seems plausible.

Unfortunately for Lykos, this means that to experience suffering in the future, he's going to have to lay on the couch, watch TV, and eat cheesy puffs.

Do any of you guys use a belt when lifting? There doesn't seem to be any consensus about them, among either bodybuilders or scientists.

This article makes a pretty convincing case against them, though.

The funny thing with that is you'll likely find countless articles saying why should always wear one too. Pretty much everyone is different.

Me myself, I only put one on when I'm doing a very heavy deadlift.

Tried it out to see this morning and I did manage to deadlift 180kg again.

It didn't feel too bad either, I reckon there's probably more in me too. I guess it's a nice number for a short small guy who only weighs 74kg.

Another 5kg, and I'm in the "Advanced" category, going by this:
http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifti ... rdsKg.html

my "home gym" is complete enough to start doing stuff




Now I could do with a rubber mat and some kind of setup for holding the bar a little higher off the ground for deadlifts. Deadlifting right from the ground is uncomfortable. Although if I put bigger weights on it should hold it a bit higher.

Kinda annoyed with the bench. The seat on it is a bit too narrow, and flimsy. The end which hangs over the support bar bends a lot if I sit on it. But it'll do for now.
I need to learn more DIY stuff, then I could just weld a bar on to stabilise the end of the seat. Or make my own seat.

That bench does look a little suspect. You are a big guy, and I myself, as average sizish, already think that bench too narrow. The weight columns are too close together (should be beyond reach of lifter, while it looks to be no more than shoulder width). The bar doesn't look like a standard Olympic bar, as the part for the weights is too large compared to the rest of the bar. I will say that, since this set is not bolted to the floor, nor does it have any counterweight at the foot-side of the bench, you run the risk of the entire machine tipping over head-side (ahem, no I do not know this from experience ), especially if you exert force upward with your feet, which is actually correct form for benchpress. I might suggest getting something to weigh that side down, somehow, such as heavy textbooks or other weight plates.

Just my two cents worth from the picture.

Nothing a bit of sawing and drilling couldn't fix

First workout, managing 18 reps at 120lbs on bench press. I'm aiming for more of a hypertrophy/strength balance this time round instead of pure strength, maybe about 12 reps. Guess I need to increase the weight.

It's weird how everything seems much lighter on a barbell. 60lbs of weights in a box, it took a lot of effort to get a grip on it and get them upstairs. Could have sworn they were heavier than that. But then a 45lb bar +15lbs weights I can lift up with one hand. I guess it must just be how much easier it is to grip it.

Ergonomic=easier. Boxes are awkward as fuck.

I've stopped officially dieting because the plan was too expensive and inconvenient, but somehow my jeans that have traditionally been tight enough that they didn't need a belt are now slipping down a lot.

I think I'll just keep on eating normally but avoiding any particularly high calorie foods and see what happens.

You know, I was thinking last night about this sarcoplasmic hypertrophy stuff. If it expands muscle size without increasing strength, what's the point of it? Is it really feasible that a large muscle, the originator of strength, could be weak? How likely is it really that our central presumption of how we view strength, that large muscles imply it, and small muscles imply its absence, has been turned completely on our heads? Is the world full of muscular weaklings and scrawny strongmen?

So I looked into it a bit more. It seems like the idea has never really been thoroughly scrutinised or accepted outside of "bro-science" circles.
The best consensus I can find seems to be that it applies on a genetic level to some degree - different people have different ratios of muscle size to strength. That's why power lifters aren't always the biggest - the sport self-selects for certain genetics.
However, in a given individual, strength is basically proportional to muscle size.

So I think we can basically stop worrying too much about balancing size and strength. We just need to work out which rep range/ranges/variations will build us muscle the best, and strength gains will follow too.

My first time doing deadlifts for serious. I did them once before, and I think I might have actually just been squat-lifting it lol.

How's my form? I think my back is slightly bent.

https://vid.me/4zfI

I'm starting about 180lbs for now.

Sorry for motion blur/my arse sticking out slightly. T shirt is too short.

Yes there's a round in your back. Probably not enough to cause problems, but it's still a bit of a round. When deadlifting very heavy it's inevitable you'll have some sort of rounding going on in your back, but for light weights you should be concentrating on keeping your back as straight as straight can be.

180lbs? You're better off you start extremely light, get the form down and only then build it up from there.

I think I started deadlifting with a measely 40kg. I usually pull 4 times that now for sets of reps.