To Infinity.... and Beyond!

Dustin07 said:
I have a feeling I'm probably the same way. warm up sets are one thing, but when I'm in that upper portion of my session my focus is 100% on the next set, what went well or wrong with the last set, and making sure I'm prepared to not fail on my next attempt etc.
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Yeah warm up sets, or in between exercises is my time to engage in any chat. Work Set time is focus time. If someone insists on talking to me in between working sets I will just do my set while they are talking and typically once I start working they will either wait and finish after my set, or walk off realizing they are interrupting my session. Of course i am polite the whole time.
 
dapack said:
Agree with you. Don't talk to anyone at the gym but once the weights start moving up, specially the top set, a switch goes off and go from smiling to looking like I am pissed at the world. Really not to approachable around that time.
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My wife told me recently her coworker said they had seen me the night prior squatting at the commercial gym. She asked them if they had introduced themselves to me (they hadn’t). Their response: “Oh no, he looked like a man on a mission. I was not about to interrupt any of that.”
 
The funny thing is, I’m always quite polite and try to smile when I make eye contact & generally make myself approachable. I don’t want to feed the stereotype that strong is violent.

But I think most people have no clue about quality training intensity, where it should be when you’re trying to execute, so to them it’s bizarre and scary.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah warm up sets, or in between exercises is my time to engage in any chat. Work Set time is focus time. If someone insists on talking to me in between working sets I will just do my set while they are talking and typically once I start working they will either wait and finish after my set, or walk off realizing they are interrupting my session. Of course i am polite the whole time.
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Hyde said:
My wife told me recently her coworker said they had seen me the night prior squatting at the commercial gym. She asked them if they had introduced themselves to me (they hadn’t). Their response: “Oh no, he looked like a man on a mission. I was not about to interrupt any of that.”
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I mean you gotta respect his decency even though you do come off as a pretty friendly and helpful guy.
I was going over my numbers in my head yesterday, thinking about what you said about getting 315 in my hands as often as possible and calculating how big I wanted my jumps to be (which is how I ended up at 320). Then I was contemplating, do I go above 320 and risk a fail, or try to hit 320 again better on the second rep (which turned out to be smart).

On top of that I was calculating my drop sets, where I wanted my volume to be and if I wanted straight raw volume somewhere or more banded work and the whole time this guy is standing next to me asking me if that's 320 on the bar, telling me what weight I should drop set to, etc etc.

knowing I can be rude and off putting I tried to agree with him on anything he said (rather than argue and risk a longer conversation) so that I could stay focused.

I mean criminy dude, I've only held 320 like 3 or 4 times in my life... I need some focus here 😅
 
Hyde said:
The funny thing is, I’m always quite polite and try to smile when I make eye contact & generally make myself approachable. I don’t want to feed the stereotype that strong is violent.

But I think most people have no clue about quality training intensity, where it should be when you’re trying to execute, so to them it’s bizarre and scary.
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I think generally most serious lifters are eager to be friendly to others who share their passion/hobby. That tends to be true with any extra curricular, right? I'm always available for a spot, and anyone I've ever asked for a spot has always seemed not only eager and happy to help, but almost happy to be asked. but yeah, once I get into a particular zone I'm probably avoiding eye contact until I can relieve my focus a bit...
 
Hyde said:
My wife told me recently her coworker said they had seen me the night prior squatting at the commercial gym. She asked them if they had introduced themselves to me (they hadn’t). Their response: “Oh no, he looked like a man on a mission. I was not about to interrupt any of that.”
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I don't even talk to people I know well when they are in that mode. I might nod at them or fist bump and walk by if they are looking at me but I don't get into anyone's space that is in that zone.
 
Hyde said:
The funny thing is, I’m always quite polite and try to smile when I make eye contact & generally make myself approachable. I don’t want to feed the stereotype that strong is violent.

But I think most people have no clue about quality training intensity, where it should be when you’re trying to execute, so to them it’s bizarre and scary.
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This is so true, I get pretty focused and imagine I might look annoyed but if I make eye contact with someone I will smile, and nod or something. However once mentally engaging for my next set which is about 30 seconds before starting the set I go internal. I might see things around me, but I am only focusing on preparing for a perfectly executed set. Visualizing perfect execution and then trying to make that my reality. At that point you would honestly have to intentionally come and interrupt me to get my attention away from the set I am about to do. Otherwise I may not be aware of you at all.
 
Dustin07 said:
I think generally most serious lifters are eager to be friendly to others who share their passion/hobby. That tends to be true with any extra curricular, right? I'm always available for a spot, and anyone I've ever asked for a spot has always seemed not only eager and happy to help, but almost happy to be asked. but yeah, once I get into a particular zone I'm probably avoiding eye contact until I can relieve my focus a bit...
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Totally agree, and I actually enjoy it when someone asks me a question too. As long as it is not a dumb one, and they are actually going to do something with the information i give them. Some people just want to talk and not do. I don't have time for that.
 
Dustin07 said:
we joke about people now days always on their phones etc but I gotta say... head phones sure can be a Godsend in this scenario. you see homie at the gym, quick fist bump or peace sign in passing is plenty especially if both have head phones in, lol.
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Oh, I have my phone out at all times at the gym now with the RP App. That being said it is only in my hands long enough to put my sets in, and answer the questions then I toss it back on top of my bag or whatever machine I am on. I love it, but yeah before that I liked my bigger beats headphones because people could see them more easily and knew I couldn't hear them. Now with the Beats FitPro they are pretty small and people are always coming up and talking to me before I can mute or pause my music. There are a few people as soon as I see them I just pause it because they can not ever pass by without saying hello.
 
That’s what I enjoy about going first thing in the AM. At 5 am no one is in the mood to chit chat they have **** to do then get ready for work.
 
akboom87 said:
That’s what I enjoy about going first thing in the AM. At 5 am no one is in the mood to chit chat they have **** to do then get ready for work.
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haha ironically I was at a 24hr fitness for like 12 years as one of my main back-up gyms and the same guys were there every single day at 5am. I remember doing a before work session for the first time in like a few years, and the same crew was there that I used to always see, none of them lifting, all of them chatting 😅😅

but that was just their... like... coffee social. all of them were 20 years older than me or more. I figured it was their out of the house time with the guys. I just had to avoid it or they'd try to rope me in and it made it hard to work.
 
Dustin07 said:
haha ironically I was at a 24hr fitness for like 12 years as one of my main back-up gyms and the same guys were there every single day at 5am. I remember doing a before work session for the first time in like a few years, and the same crew was there that I used to always see, none of them lifting, all of them chatting 😅😅

but that was just their... like... coffee social. all of them were 20 years older than me or more. I figured it was their out of the house time with the guys. I just had to avoid it or they'd try to rope me in and it made it hard to work.
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That'll be you one day...don't fight it 😆
 
Last night was digging ditches until 11pm looking for a leaky pipe, weighed in 6lbs lighter this morning at barely 190... Today back at it for another four hours. I was pretty beat up today I might skip deadlifts tomorrow and give myself one more rest day. Invalid Link Removed
 
Crap so more hours, I am guessing you didn't find the leak? Yeah Deadlifting after shoveling all day sounds horrible unless you are used to shoveling all day. Such hard work!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Crap so more hours, I am guessing you didn't find the leak? Yeah Deadlifting after shoveling all day sounds horrible unless you are used to shoveling all day. Such hard work!
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it's a really complicated property, about 80+ years old. our plumbing chases down our rear embankment roughly 6 acres and maybe a 1/4 mile to the local park because back in the day the park was owned by relatives of the house we live in now, so we have plumbing and electrical basically going to the equivalent of a small city block, all starting at our house. we let it go for a few years because the parks reimbursed us for the water consumption and always fixed leaks (always end up on their side of the property anyways). Now the park has decided not to use the house anymore and turn off their water (they didn't. I went to the parks land, inspected, and the water was still on everywhere so I shut that off ). I don't expect to find the leak, but I think I found enough of the piping to get to a point where I can cut it off, cap it, and make sure no more water flows past our property.....

on another note, I swear I was not making out with @GreenMachineX but I had this sore throat start last night. I assumed it was from dust cause I was upside down in some holes excavating piping with tiny shovels and screw drivers like a dinosaur dig (trying not to damage pipes). but today I'm feeling extremely wore down, stomach issues etc. so I'm doubling up my elderberry and giving myself a rest day!
 
two long days of shoveling in rock hard soil though, pick axe, weird positions, etc really beat my body up. my palms were bruised last night and just everything is sore like I finished a full body xfit wod that lasted hours lol.
 
Dustin07 said:
two long days of shoveling in rock hard soil though, pick axe, weird positions, etc really beat my body up. my palms were bruised last night and just everything is sore like I finished a full body xfit wod that lasted hours lol.
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Oh yeah, my whole body would be aching and bitching at me!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Oh yeah, my whole body would be aching and bitching at me!
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the funny thing is, the harder it is the more you go, the harder you work at it. I was basically going until I was passing out and just couldn't move the shovel anymore 😅😅😅

something about how I was raised. I watch people struggle with this pipe/leak issue for years. tried about a dozen contractors, plumbers, handymen etc nobody had solutions so once I embraced the struggle it was a "this is going to get fixed no matter what and no matter how hard it is, get out of my way and watch" type scenario.
 
Sometimes that is what it takes and once I am going on a project I don't like to stop until it is done or I have reached a predetermined stopping point. I just get super focused.

I got it in my head one day I was going to cut this big pecan tree down with a 14 inch saw, then did it and cut the tree up, bunched the branches and drug everything to the curb all in one day. I worked pretty much nonstop from 9:00AM to 1:00AM out there with the big halogen site lamps lighting things up so I could see. LOL
 
MrKleen73 said:
I got it in my head one day I was going to cut this big pecan tree down with a 14 inch saw, then did it and cut the tree up, bunched the branches and drug everything to the curb all in one day. I worked pretty much nonstop from 9:00AM to 1:00AM out there with the big halogen site lamps lighting things up so I could see. LOL
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haha this is why farm mamas know what American cuisine is cause those farm boys doing this stuff on the daily never look skinny!! 😅😅 we'd waste away!
 
Dustin07 said:
it's a really complicated property, about 80+ years old. our plumbing chases down our rear embankment roughly 6 acres and maybe a 1/4 mile to the local park because back in the day the park was owned by relatives of the house we live in now, so we have plumbing and electrical basically going to the equivalent of a small city block, all starting at our house. we let it go for a few years because the parks reimbursed us for the water consumption and always fixed leaks (always end up on their side of the property anyways). Now the park has decided not to use the house anymore and turn off their water (they didn't. I went to the parks land, inspected, and the water was still on everywhere so I shut that off ). I don't expect to find the leak, but I think I found enough of the piping to get to a point where I can cut it off, cap it, and make sure no more water flows past our property.....

on another note, I swear I was not making out with @GreenMachineX but I had this sore throat start last night. I assumed it was from dust cause I was upside down in some holes excavating piping with tiny shovels and screw drivers like a dinosaur dig (trying not to damage pipes). but today I'm feeling extremely wore down, stomach issues etc. so I'm doubling up my elderberry and giving myself a rest day!
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Lol
I had the stomach issues and wore down feeling also, but it's all been easing up including the sore throat, so hopefully it only lasts 36 hours like mine just did. At least, hoping it continues to improve.
 
Dustin07 said:
just ignore it and throw down some elderberry + bourbon lol. always works for me
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At least the bourbon helps you forget anyway...
 
MrKleen73 said:
At least the bourbon helps you forget anyway...
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well I can take a dayquil, tylenol, ibuprofen, nyquil, or whatever other painkiller you can think of otc.
or enjoy a nice bourbon.... I figure the damage is probably equal to or less than and less pharmaceutical companies benefit from my approach lol
 
Dustin07 said:
well I can take a dayquil, tylenol, ibuprofen, nyquil, or whatever other painkiller you can think of otc.
or enjoy a nice bourbon.... I figure the damage is probably equal to or less than and less pharmaceutical companies benefit from my approach lol
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Plus you will definitely "feel better".

I will have to substitute Rye, Bourbon kills me, heartburn almost immediately and it lasts sometimes into the next day. Just not worth it anymore.
 
Dustin07 said:
it's a really complicated property, about 80+ years old. our plumbing chases down our rear embankment roughly 6 acres and maybe a 1/4 mile to the local park because back in the day the park was owned by relatives of the house we live in now, so we have plumbing and electrical basically going to the equivalent of a small city block, all starting at our house. we let it go for a few years because the parks reimbursed us for the water consumption and always fixed leaks (always end up on their side of the property anyways). Now the park has decided not to use the house anymore and turn off their water (they didn't. I went to the parks land, inspected, and the water was still on everywhere so I shut that off ). I don't expect to find the leak, but I think I found enough of the piping to get to a point where I can cut it off, cap it, and make sure no more water flows past our property.....

on another note, I swear I was not making out with @GreenMachineX but I had this sore throat start last night. I assumed it was from dust cause I was upside down in some holes excavating piping with tiny shovels and screw drivers like a dinosaur dig (trying not to damage pipes). but today I'm feeling extremely wore down, stomach issues etc. so I'm doubling up my elderberry and giving myself a rest day!
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Man that sucks! My parents property was like that when they bought it we had to g and fix a bunch of leaking ****. Lucky though we had a backhoe to do all the big digging.
 
Dustin07 said:
well I can take a dayquil, tylenol, ibuprofen, nyquil, or whatever other painkiller you can think of otc.
or enjoy a nice bourbon.... I figure the damage is probably equal to or less than and less pharmaceutical companies benefit from my approach lol
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How you feeling today?
 
GreenMachineX said:
How you feeling today?
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about 10x better, dragging a little bit and looking forward to sleeping in this weekend though lol

akboom87 said:
Man that sucks! My parents property was like that when they bought it we had to g and fix a bunch of leaking ****. Lucky though we had a backhoe to do all the big digging.
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my wife inherited this property so it comes with lots of people knowing everything there is to know about it and their sentimental attachment (turns out nobody has any clue about any of the details about it but they all want to tell you how it is). I spent the first 4 or 5 years respecting the nostalgia and sentiment of family compound property and the last two years having to basically fix everything lol.

in this scenario I really had to do everything by hand cause I couldn't risk destroying the pipe I was looking for until I knew where it went....
 
You literally hulked out of your shirt, well your sleeve anyway! You know things are going in the right direction!
 
Power cleans
5 x 95, 135, 155
3 x 175, 195, 215
1 x 225, 235

Deads
3 x 275, 325, 365, 390

RDLs
3 x 10 x 225

Bb rows
3 x 10 x 135

Ez bar curls
3 x 10

Superset with
Hammer curls
3 x 10



Notes
Been feeling pretty run down all week with that trench digging so I had meant to actually go a little lower than this and cap myself at 315 just for practice but....


That was enough for today, thought I was gonna pass out or fall asleep a few times lol
 
I started getting that sorta "fevery hot" feeling behind the eyes. while the sore throat is gone and stomach issues mostly resolved, the fatigue is there so I'm admitting that I'm fighting something. staying on my vitamins and elderberry regiment, going to go golfing again, then resume trench digging Saturday and Upper gym day on Sunday. Should be better by then I'm sure. especially getting sunshine today.

weight is still slipping though... down to 190.6 this morning so I need to watch that a bit. I'd love to be leaner but I need to be healthy and keep my strength progress first.
 
Nothing like a day of hard trench digging tomorrow to ensure you don’t recover whatever you’re fighting off
 
Hyde said:
Nothing like a day of hard trench digging tomorrow to ensure you don’t recover whatever you’re fighting off
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The stubborness is strong with this one! That is some serious work!
 
Warm up
DB curls, laterals

DB bench
4 x 12 x 60s

Bench
5 x 135, 185, 225
3 x 265

Sling shot
1 x 285, 305, 315
15 x 225 (PR by reps with SS lol)

No SS
30 x 135

Tricep ext
3 x 20

Hammer strength dips
3 x 12

LISS
20 min with the boy

Notes:
Gym day with my boy! He's doing great with liftoff and spot but didn't want to risk getting pinned under 330+ with him still learning. 315 felt clean and easy, just a tiny bit slow.

My boy did have a bench PR today tho!
 
Hyde said:
Growing, his powers are.
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One of the bigger dudes walked over and gave him a fist bump, he said was that a PR? He was pretty happy about that.

I said dude when the other guys recognize you, your weights and PRs you're a real lifter, this is your sport now

Which of course makes dad super happy cause he's tried baseball, wrestling, basketball, and golf but hasn't really taken to any of them like he's starting to with lifting.
 
Dustin07 said:
One of the bigger dudes walked over and gave him a fist bump, he said was that a PR? He was pretty happy about that.

I said dude when the other guys recognize you, your weights and PRs you're a real lifter, this is your sport now

Which of course makes dad super happy cause he's tried baseball, wrestling, basketball, and golf but hasn't really taken to any of them like he's starting to with lifting.
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Heck yeah that’s awesome congrats for your boy!
 
Hyde said:
Nothing like a day of hard trench digging tomorrow to ensure you don’t recover whatever you’re fighting off
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MrKleen73 said:
The stubborness is strong with this one! That is some serious work!
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I truly believe nothing fixes the sniffles better than exercise in the fresh air with some natural sunlight. (along with me doubling down on my elderberry, electrolytes, C, etc)

Got some golf in on Friday and about half way through felt the sore through. had a diet coke and by the time it was all done didn't feel the least bit under the weather again all weekend. body is a little beat up from the ditch digging but I think I have most of the hard manual labor portion done, now all I need to do is cut 80yr old pipes and reterminate them. I'm a little apprehensive about how that's gonna go lol. fingers crossed...
 
Warm up... Waiting for platform...

Ez bar curls
DB rows
DB RDLs, shrugs

Thought I was gonna end up getting accessories done before I could get a barbell, lol

Deads
6 x 185
3 x 245, 305, 365, 395, 415

3 x 8 x 315

Pull ups
3 x 8-10

Ez bar curls
6 x 12+ tut for pump

Lat pull downs
3 x 12






Notes
Was dragging my ass until 395# when AC/DC came on the suddenly I came alive


Opted to finish with the 3x8 at 315 instead of RDLs cause I feel like my ROM needs improvement and I wanted full ROM deads for practice/etc.


That session took way longer than it should have. Invalid Link RemovedInvalid Link Removed
 
Dustin07 said:
Warm up... Waiting for platform...

Ez bar curls
DB rows
DB RDLs, shrugs

Thought I was gonna end up getting accessories done before I could get a barbell, lol

Deads
6 x 185
3 x 245, 305, 365, 395, 415

3 x 8 x 315

Pull ups
3 x 8-10

Ez bar curls
6 x 12+ tut for pump

Lat pull downs
3 x 12






Notes
Was dragging my ass until 395# when AC/DC came on the suddenly I came alive


Opted to finish with the 3x8 at 315 instead of RDLs cause I feel like my ROM needs improvement and I wanted full ROM deads for practice/etc.


That session took way longer than it should have. Invalid Link RemovedInvalid Link Removed
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Hard to not come alive when those come on! Nice work on the dead’s man you are putting out great numbers!!
 
akboom87 said:
Hard to not come alive when those come on! Nice work on the dead’s man you are putting out great numbers!!
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Thanks homie I appreciate it!
It's becoming a bit of a mental challenge keeping myself pushing the envelope but it always feels good after I hit my numbers
 
On a side note this absolute monster of a man approached me on the other side of the gym a good 15 minutes after I had finished pulling to ask me how much I hit for my tops sets today etc. Which seemed like a monster of a compliment cause he had easily 60-70+lbs on me. Hell, I bet he's a 270lb+ dude. He seemed as big as my 6'7" buddy.

He asked if I do RDLs, I said yes but today I opted to rep out conventional because I wanted the extra stretch/rom. I said normally I'd likely run my RDL's around 315-335 after a day like today. He said... "really? so light? Normally people would run RDL's over their 1rm".

I had to really think about it. his justification was taking it from the rack so it's an easier first pull. OK I thought... soooo a really low rack? or actually unrack it and back up? He said he'd start with a rack pull, back up a step then slam his RDL's. His best being 480lbs. (so I assume if his best RDL was 480 and he says RDL's are heavier than conventional pulls, he has not pulled 480+ off the ground?)


I'm OK with walking around with 225lbs. I can if I have to, walk 315. But this method sounds like an injury waiting to happen. I have done an RDL of 395 x 3 and I got on the interwebz and did some digging and I don't really see anyone talking about running RDL's over their conventional 1rm. I've honestly never heard of that before. I also don't see a scenario where I'm rack pulling more than my 1rm and backing up out of the rack with it, even to put it down.

I love RDL's but unless I'm running at 110% energy level 335lbs for 5-8 reps requires a ton of mental acuity to hold great form and not let my body shift left or right. Seems like it's hard and dangerous enough as it is.
 
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