No Crust Racing

Ugh, why is everyone so strong =\ Gyming was so much easier when all I cared about was the look and wearing tight shirts lol

Well I need to at least try and not be weaker than Markos' girls, so that's a fair way off where I am lol.

As someone who enjoys those tampered days I'd really like to know who the guy is (someone PM me), though the car is easy enough to identify. I commented on the MX-5 youtube vid yesterday about how he was in the wrong and the comment was deleted, another similar comment appeared this morning which I've replied to so we'll see how long they last. No doubt the camera car is in the wrong and if the guy can run a 27 around Winton he must be able to steer half decently, that sayd nothing for his etiquette or as I mentioned on Youtube his racecraft. I know my times well and report them honestly but I always find I am in a category with cars that are considerably faster and slower than me which makes me wonder if some people either don't know their times or report them inaccurately so they can feel awesome blasting past everyone. I've said before I think the groups should be re-ordered part way through the day as drivers put down faster times. I get, and try to abide by, the passing on straights only or only when waved through but I'll admit that there's been times when I've been on a hot lap and know it's a good time where I've taken a greater risk to pass someone at speed on a corner who did not wave me through, partly because it's costing me money to be there and I'm there to set times and partly because sometimes people have you sit behind them for half the bloody track before they will wave you through. The issue is also one of balance as you get things like XR6 Turbos hammering down straights then holding you up through every corner, as the MX-5 guys will be acutely aware. I think there should be much stricter adherence to groupings based on lap times run not just reported and that people running beyond a certain time should be classified as being experience drivers who should know better and be punished accordingly when they get it so badly wrong.

So realistically, the goal for me should be like 200 or more 0_0 I'm going to need more plates... (I am not aiming that high lol)

To say I was surprised is an understatement. Not that I doubted what you were saying Markos, moreso that I doubted I could do it given what I thought of my back and ankle. Based on how I feel today, my back and ankle must be stronger than I gave them credit for. Initially my goal for this year, as in year starting October when I busted my leg, was to squat and DL BW for reps and get those areas more balanced with the bench. I'm confident I can do that and will have to pick some new goals for the remainder of the year.

Well tonight was very beneficial in terms of learning. Working with Matt was really helpful. Here's what he had to say. Squat: high bar form is fine but flexibility is not great, he had me widen my stance and let my feet rotate out a bit which helped with depth, even without my block under the heels. He said I should be aiming to low bar though as its better for an overall workout and uses more posterior muscles. I tried it and found it "interesting" he said keep practicing but said my form was fine overall, but again not great flexibility and depth. He said ultimately I was selling myself a long way short on the weight I could be doing right now and that I was not trusting my strength enough. Bench he said was pretty decent but wanted me to keep my elbows closer to my body. Same thing as squat about the weight, plenty more in the tank he said. Deadlift was the main reason I went and after showing me a few things I pulled a set of 8 at 80kg with ease then did another set at 100kg. He said he was confident I could rep 120-140. I was blown away with being able to get 100 up and far easier than I thought. I believe him that I could do a few reps at 120 plus. Maybe the most important thing I learned was a better idea of my lower back position and that I have been over compensating. When I think it's rounded it's actually very flat. All in all money well spent.

Computers gun' compute son.

So I wont be getting my lifetime supply of chocolate then =\

I know right?!

Birds: Funnily enough, I tend to find that the increase in "app" development for things like phones and tablets has made developers a bit smarter at presenting info and more efficient navigation. PC App and Web interface devs still have a ways to go.

If I had to do that shit on the regular I'd rant as hard as Birds did about calorie counting and would honestly just add 1 rep to everything as a calorie buffer rather than waste my time with apps like that. As I said earlier though, you do what works for you. I do not have the patience for something like that, I'd rather just jog an extra few mins (or have another shake if I was trying to go up instead of down). I'm a lazy kent.

I I was using it on a PC, still thought it was shitty to use. I work in IT though so I'll happily bitch about everything that isn't fully awesome.

lol you give too many f**ks Troy.

I assumed it was a motorbike reference given he rides one and you have one as an avatar?

There's a few ways you can try to break a plateau, what have you tried so far? Sidebar: Ordered some of that Bulk Nutrients WPC 5kg of Vanilla, see how it goes. I did a quick run through using that app Troy uses and it was very interesting to see what it came out with, I could really use some more protein apparently, but I note that when comparing what it thought was the nutritional values for a given food, and I'll used rolled oats as an example as it was the most obvious and it's what I eat for breakfast, it listed no protien in them when the pack lists 5ish grams per 50g serve. To be fair I was only doing a very quick run through and I can see that you can fully tailor the listing with your own values for foods you eat so you could make it accurate, but off the bat it was a little misleading.

And at the moment you are probably stronger in pretty much all directions lol

Hah, average girl. Gotta set realistic goals.

Oh man, this is what my life has become lol

I'll report back on how I go. He laughed when I told him about you giving me a hard time for squat/DL less than the girls Goal for me, squat and DL more than the average girl lol

Edit: Booked with Matt for tomorrow night.

I wish you guys were closer. As much as I love learning online I think the reality is I might just have to shell out a couple bucks (not a biggy) and go in and see someone for a session either Laurie or Matt (as you suggested). Finding the time is the problem but if need be I'll just go when I would have been gyming, I'll probably get more out of that anyway. And I agree completely Markos, when I have a twinge I do pull up and be very careful as I don't have your experience and expertise so I'd rather err on the side of caution til I'm confident I'm doing it right and the back is just protesting from genuine weakness (which it has) and not poor form (which I also have).

Fair enough Markos, keep in mind though my goals are not the same as your goals, I will always be on the light side in your eyes but that's honestly fine with me as I don't need to squat 200 or DL the same to look the way I'd like to look and to have usable strength in my day to day life or hobbies. I wasn't humbled, as I've never had an ego to begin with, I was humorously surprised though to find the gap between what I can do and what everyone else can do is as wide as it is, especially when you talked about what people START at, again I'm OK with that though, I clearly have a weak back or shit form - likely both which I'm looking to improve. One question you missed though, If I know I have back issues, would I be wiser in the short term to focus on a DL assist exercise until I'm confident my back is in a better place. As in SLDL or RDL or rack pulls etc. Thanks again, always appreciate your feedback.

Didn't get to make a vid last night, skipped gym as I'd spent most of the weekend working on the car and my back and ankle were not great. Long way to go if doing normal things causes me that much of an issue. Physio this morning. On the topic of Deadlifting, and don't shoot me for saying this, but doesn't that motion fly in the face of conventional wisdom about how to lift heavy things safely? Or is it only if done poorly, rounded back etc. True I'm only thinking about back in the early days of working in a supermarket where you were told to get down and lift with your knees not your back to avoid injury. So is it that the back is actually stronger than we give it credit for or that deadlifting is specifically targeting a known weak spot to ensure it's strong for everything else we do? Would I be better SLDL'ing instead to get my back stronger before moving to full DL.

Thanks for that, good to watch, I put my vid side by side and I see what you mean about the hip height, I didn't realise that DLs were THAT back centric which makes it even more amazing for me to think about people having backs that strong, very impressive. Come Monday I'll drop off some weight and try some different things and take another vid. I can't see my back being able to handle much weight at all and it looks like I've been cheating til now by making it more a leg exercise which is probably why my squat is finally starting to go in a positive direction. The good news is through my physio it looks like I'm almost over my SIJ discomfort so that's a good sign that my things are improving in there also.

You guys should chuck up some vids as an example of good form.