Scotty wants go get cut - log

[wpr101]

Good luck man. I've recently starting working out again and doing martial arts.

[GottiHotti]

If u want to look cut you need to start going to teh tanning bed and get an azian to wax ur chest.

[Scotty.]

[ QUOTE ]
If u want to look cut you need to start going to teh tanning bed and get an azian to wax ur chest.

[/ QUOTE ]

hah, that will come after im cut

[Scotty.]

I suppose it's time for an update.

I've been very good with the diet and workout plan. Breakfast is typically two eggs on flaxseed bread, a bowl of multigrain cherios, or a bowl of oatmeal. Lunches have been open faced tuna sandwiches on flaxseed, or a can of soup. Most dinners have been a single chicken breast prepared in different ways - in spinach salad, broiled, over brown rice etc. Post workout snacks include a banana and yogurt with protein powder. I've only had one slice of pizza in the last two weeks, and probably a total of 10 drinks which are mostly vodka+coke zero.

I've been to the gym to do some form of workout every day except for two. I took two days off because I woke up, and just felt inexplicably terrible. Also, I had a minor setback with a shoulder injury while a friend was teaching me to powerclean. It prevented me from doing certain lifts, such as benchpress for a few days, but seems to be fine now.

Some figures:

Weight: 203
Squat: 5x5 185 ATG - I think I will change to an athletitc squat and add more weight
Deadlift: 5x5 245
Bench: 5x5 135 - I'm a little demoralized by this as I used to do 4-3-2 of 205 last summer, and probably couldn't push that up once now
Chinups: 4-3-3 - Also not happy about this, as I could formerly do 8-7-6, but I was also 15lbs lighter and had been working out all summer

I have 2 more days worth of Ephedrine pills, and then will be taking a few weeks off of that. I don't know if I will go back on or not. I have been doing 20-30 mins on the bike as cardio after each workout, which gets my heartrate into the mid 160's. I tried running on the treadmill once, and my heartrate went up to 190, so I decided not to do any more of that while on the ephedrine. Once I finish with it, I would like to add other more intense cardio workouts such as running and possibly jumprope into my routine.

Overall, I'm pleased with my progress in this short time. I feel good every morning when I wake up now, instead of like a hungover piece of crap. I think I can even see a bit of a visible difference in myself, and my confidence is much higher in general. Hopefully, I can keep up this weightloss pace, and be looking pretty good by summer.

[thirddan]

what is an athletic squat?

[Scotty.]

[ QUOTE ]
what is an athletic squat?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I guess I mixed up my terminology a little. I believe an athletic squat just refers to any squat performed with feet approximately shoulder width apart. I meant to say that I'm just going to be squatting to about parallel instead of ass-to-grass now.

[SmileyEH]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
what is an athletic squat?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I guess I mixed up my terminology a little. I believe an athletic squat just refers to any squat performed with feet approximately shoulder width apart. I meant to say that I'm just going to be squatting to about parallel instead of ass-to-grass now.

[/ QUOTE ]

noooooo

[thirddan]

why would you move to an inferior squat?

[Scotty.]

[ QUOTE ]
why would you move to an inferior squat?

[/ QUOTE ]

I read the post on bb about rippetoe's starting strength program - here is a quote from it:

"The ATG squat (ATG = ass to grass/ground) makes reference to ANY of the above squat variations whereby the trainee lowers his body as low as he possibly can. This can be both advantageous or dangerous, depending upon the individual. Generally, hamstring flexibility will limit the absolute depth because, in the lowest portion (the "hole") of the squat, the hamstrings get stretched hard, and will pull the hips under the body, which can cause severe strain to the lumbar area. That being said, you should ALWAYS go as low as you can without causing that hip rounding to take place, because this will stimulate the best overall gains. "ATG" is a term that will be different for each person due to hamstring flexibility and structure, as well as overall musculature. Endeavor to stretch your hamstrings frequently to avoid lower back injury, and to allow for the most complete ROM (range of motion). Also note that some people say they do "ATG squats", when in reality, they barely hit parallel. The opposite end of the spectrum are those that go incredibly deep as an excuse for using very light weight."

While performing the ass to grass squats, I think my form isn't great. I seem to be getting some lower back pain when doing them. Also, the line about the using using ATG as a copout for light weights seems to ring true for me a little bit. My legs are pretty strong (I can leg press over 600lbs in sets of 8) yet I'm only squatting 185 with some difficulty. I was thinking of just going to parallel or slightly past until my technique improves. Bad idea?

[SmileyEH]

Scotty,

You answered your own question. Go as low as you can while maintaining proper form. If you can do a perfect air squat to a certain depth I see no reason why you can't reach approximately the same depth with a loaded bar. In anycase, going past parallel should be absolutely no problem unless you have extremely tight hamstrings which really only happens to the genetically cursed or long distance runners.

Also I have my doubts toward the leg press as a measure of any sort of functional strength. Leg strength to me is standing up free from any support, not pushing on a platform with your back smeared against a seat. So I wouldn't try and compare your leg press numbers to anything.