No Crust Racing

lol I'll be honest, I get far more cardio out of hard bike riding than I do weights. But I don't feel like I'm going to pass out when I've really pushed on the bike, just puffed.

So go to 42.5 or 45?

Have you tried? You might be surprised. But Rev is a machine, we all know this. I'm pretty sure he was sent back in time to change the future for one lucky lady.

Agreed, I just don't think the Physio is trained to deal with my particular issue at present. The ankle is simply stretch as much as you can and keep using it and that's as good as it'll get, which I' say is probably 80% as good as it was. It's plenty strong, but it the ROM is not stellar and that impairs other exercises, like squats. My back is either a DL or squat issue, I'd say squat, caused by ankle not moving properly. Once the Chrio helps me out there, I'll move on to a Podiatrist and see about some orthotics or something. It really does kill me inside to know that what I did was permanent, I've never injured anything badly to the point where it was an ongoing problem so this has been a hard pill to swallow, which sounds dramatic given the injuries and disabilities other people live with, so I keep that in perspective. If it turns out the ankle ROM/Gait can't be "fixed" I will abandon squatting and stick to DL, I'll do lunges and take up cycling for my leg work and bonus cardio.

Cheers. I've also dropped the physio I had from after the surgery, I think we were both sick of how little it was helping.

Consensus on foot position when squatting? 1 school is about shoulder width apart, a little angle on feet is fine. The other tends to be, find the most comfortable position for you to allow you to get the depth you want and use that. At the moment, with my lower back being a bit funny I've just started doing sets of 20 reps (no bar or weights just BW) and fiddling with feet position. For me, feet outside shoulder width and a good 40+degrees of angle seems to be the most comfortable spot, anything narrower in the stance or straighter in the feet sees my butt want to roll under when going below parallel. When I spoke with Matt last time, he said where is comfy but there appears to be a lot of conflicting info. Thoughts?

I'm off to see her again, this will be the 3rd visit and based on seeing some improement after the second I might extend it to 4-5 and see where we're at. On the gym front, back into 3x a week and 3x8 (attempting) on the few weighted exercises I do. Last night I managed: 8/8/5 at 110 on the bench. Then did 20 reps of squats with just body weight, no bar, moving feet around to find a comfy spot that allows me to get low (see main thread for question on that) Then did 20 BW calf raises on a wooden board to allow me to get lower. 20 more BW squats, 20 BW more calf raises. Managed 8/8/6 at 20kg for chins. Then did 20 alternating lunges, 10 per side, then some more calf raises, then another 20 BW squats, then another 20 lunges. Then did some REALLY light dumbell reverse deadlift type things - just feeling out my back, only had 3kg on each hand. Then managed 8/8/8 at 25kg for dips. Then did 75 sec front plank, 15sec break, 45sec side plank, 10 sec break, other side plank, 30 sec break another 45 sec front plank and called that a day. Lower back just above and central to my butt cheeks is still quite tight and tender and stretching doesn't help it (but I continue to stretch daily) but at least the really sharp grabs/twinges have eased off in my leg. Still uncomfortable but say 20% improved. After that went for a very brisk 3k walk, which I've been doing daily as advised by chrio - everything above has been ok'd by her also. I'm cutting down a little on the eating as well and weirdly I'm looking a touch leaner in the mid section but my weight is not changing.

I'm with Rev on this one, I'm not sure I see squats as a great candidate for volume training, Look at Markos beginner program, 2x 20 rep sets I think it is, then as soon as you can do that, you move into more focused training and the reps drop dramatically, regardless of if you want looks/size/strength, really high reps of squats isn't a good idea, but that's just my 2 cents and I know Birds you on a program which you're great at sticking to. If you can do SIXTY reps before the knee bends in, I think you're doing fine.

Solid effort is solid. Your base strength levels are very good, but you know that. What's the goal?

I think she might be on the right track as I've seen some signs of improvement, or it just coincidences with the natural time needed to heal?

What's Ottermode?

No idea in grams, most of our meals include either staple veggies, corn, carrots, broccoli etc and then other meals have side salads, so lettuce, carrot, red/green capcisum, cucumber etc. I also have a few bits of fruit of each day. Even something like a bolognaise will have grated zucchini and carrot in it. Home made pizzas on pitas will have grated zucchini, red/green caps, mushrooms, pineapple etc. We try and include then in the majority of meals.

Whatever makes you happy bruh. Within the confines of the law where possible...

Silly Troy, thinking he can come in here and say anything without someone busting his chops As I said. " I'm not qualified, or care enough, to get into that side of things."

LOL I do love a good cucumber.... Speaking of, I think I might be seeing some signs of improvement on that front.

Yeah I'm pretty indecisive, give me a few days and I'll ask Troy what's the best way to fast lol

lol no thanks, for the sake of a few extra % points of BF, I'll keep eating what I like. I'm not about gain to much from dropping a bit of extra fat, maybe some satisfaction? Which I get more than enough of by eating what I like I'm sure it could be argued that there are healthier ways to lose fat than fasting, but I'm not qualified, or care enough, to get into that side of things.

Fasting... lol You girls and your silly fads.

lol It's Friday so things are bound to get loose in here, a bit like Troy.

Every hole's a goal!

Did you lube it up first or just jam it straight in your butt?

Pfft, sif Bird's doesn't do enough cardio/volume to accommodate, don't assume that your fat macro is the same as his. Fat Troy... FYI, had some really nice cookies ice cream last night, with sprinkles and milo, BOOM.

I thought as much. I'm having them concrete the outside edge of the slab to ground so the fill stays in under it, I'll do the same with the apron. I think rather than cut on the high side I'd rather fill on the low side and retain that with a concrete sleeper or two as it's closer to the fence and will be less unsightly. I was curious as to whether or not aprons are sometimes laid "with" the land so to speak, so in my case there'd be quite an apron on the low side that would need to extend a good 1-1.5m to get a suitable entry angle, but on the high side it'd be quite short, as such it'd have more of a triangle shape. I suppose that could be done but it might look retarded.

I think if I've learned anything, it's that the plateau I'm at in some things will only be broken by going back to my old training methods and that's not something I'm willing to do at this point. Old methods in terms of training intensity, eating habits, dedication etc. I've got a lot of other things on the plate now that I see as equally and in some cases more important so mentally I've settled into a happy spot where I can maintain some strength and physique without sacrificing too much of those others things, time money, relationship happiness. When I can do legs and back again I might switch to a a 3 days split, push, pull, legs, so I can hit bench, DL and squat a bit harder knowing i have a week to recover. Plus I think I can shorten the total time in the gym (important to me at the moment) and still get enough out of it to be happy. If there's a mental hurdle (beyond having this back/leg issue right now which to me is as much mental as physical) it's about achieving balance. As for the benching, I get you, I could definitely push harder, but I will say that I was giving it a pretty red hot go on the 8th rep of the last set I did at that weight, I pushed harder than I would normally (as I tend to hold a little back to avoid injury and by hold a little back I just mean that I'll push as hard as I can up until the point I feel stabilizing/secondary muscles faltering and I won't keep smashing through that point like I used to as I know what happens when I do and I like that I've been able to avoid injuries in that way). If I'd had a spotter I think only a little assistance would've been needed to get me through that sticking point and onto the home stretch.

Rev: You never commented on why yopu thought I didn't make an improvement, fair enough I only had a 2 week go at it, but it seemed like you had something to add earlier and didn't. That aside, another lighter workout last night getting back to 3x weekly. Bench 110 for 8 reps then 6 reps, which was only 5 reps on Monday and failed 6. 20kg chins x 2 sets of 8. 25kg dips x2 sets of 8. 2 sets of 10 per leg body weight lunges, 2 sets of 20 body weight calf raises, a 1min front plank, 30 secs each side, then another 30 sec front plank and some body weight squatting motions to see how things feel, I note the bum wants to tuck just above parallel. I'd also be inclined to say that I am experiencing a little less leg and back discomfort, normally by the end of the day I'll get some real sharp grabs and twinges but they were more minor last night. Whether that's chrio or just movement from walking/squat motions/lunges/stretching I'm not sure.