Foxybass Training

[guru]

That was scary foxybass. You don't have safety bars or things like that on the rack? Glad you didn't hurt yourself.

[Mouse]

Dave
Within a few WOs you'll be deadlifting your bodyweight
That's a major achievement in itself
The squats will follow in time
Take it steady and it will happen

I’m seeing some of you guys in the forum blitz through squatting bodyweight and I’m thinking why can’t I?

Everyone is different - as hard/tempting as it is - don't compare yourself to anyone else
The battle is with you and your weights

Keep it up - you're doing great

[markg]

Glad you escaped the wrath of the falling bar Dave.

Didn't know you were a Villain. Another team on the long list of Everton's FA cup conquests this season

Don't rush those squats mate. Form before weight. I ain't close to BW squats yet and I've had since 1/11/08 to get them right! One day...

Cheers,
Mark.

[Foxybass]

Cheers lads for checking in on me.

@ Guru - Unfortunately my homemade rack isn't that sophisticated. It's like something you'd see out of the Flintstones. I'm gonna take extra care in the future and I must listen to my body more.

@ Mouse - Yep, deadlifts are going great. I love them and form is bang on. I'm going to do lighter squats and do them until they are ingrained in me. I'm still learning them - so slowly does it.

@ Markg - Yep, a lifelong Villa fan. We were doing alright until you Toffees stuffed us in the cup. It's all gone tits now but there's still a chance of 4th. If I can get bw 5x5 on the squat this year I'll be happy.

While I'm going lighter on the squats I'm going to try and loose a bit more flab. Maybe aim for loosing 1lb a week or so by doing more intense Stronglifts workouts/cardio etc. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's session; I feel that the incident last Thursday was a turning point/lesson learned.

[Foxybass]

Sunday 8 March

Had to make this one a quickie today; it’s our daughter’s 5th birthday and all the family are coming round for a party.

Soft tissue work, hip & glute stretches
Squats 60kg: 5/5/5/5/5 (1 min rest)
Bench Press 60kg: 5/5/5/5/5 (1 min rest)
Inverted Rows: 6,6,5

Squats – Form was ok. Really felt the muscles working but still not finding a rhythm.

Bench Press – Tried keeping my feet flat on the floor which made things feel different. Focused more on form rather than just getting the weight up.

Inverted rows felt hard today but I’m feeling it in the right places.

It all took 50 minutes and that included a lengthy warm up. I felt pleased with the workout and am looking forward to Tuesday to incorporate some bodyweight assistance stuff and a quick variable speed run.

[Foxybass]

Tuesday 10 March

Soft tissue work, hip & glute stretches.
Squats 60kg: 5/5/5/5/5 (1 min rest in between sets)
Overhead Press 42.5kg: 5/5/5/5 @ (1 min rest) then a 2 min rest before last set but: 4 reps.
Deadlift 82.5kg: 5/5/5
Prone Bridges: 3 sets @ 38 secs
Supermans: 3 sets @ 31 secs
Chins: 6/4/2

Squats – Gave me a good workout. Form still not good enough though and I felt a little tweak in my lower back; nothing serious…..I hope.

Overhead Press – Felt really heavy. Thought I’d give myself an extra minute before the last set but I was struggling on the 3rd rep and form went out the window for the 4th rep; the 5th rep wouldn’t go above head height.

Deadlifts – After doing the one set I couldn’t resist knocking out another 2 sets. I really enjoyed them and form felt great.

A great workout.

[BLUEBLAH]

Hi Dave,
Good idea I think to reduce the squats to work on form. It also gives you time to build up muscle mass for that exercise.
I should know, but what are supermans?
Still need to check out your vid.

[trnitz]

Hey Dave,

We're about the same age/height/weight, just on opposite sides of the Pond (Atlantic).

Given your past incident with your squat rack, and your near miss earlier, probably a good idea to roll back the weight on the squat. Work on the form and the weight will get there.

I know the feeling trying to work out when you get a few nights of not-so-good sleep. Makes everything difficult, especially lifting any weight.

Tom

[Foxybass]

Cheers for looking in lads

@ Blueblah – Yeah, I’m taking it easy on the squats. I think supermans are when you lay on your front, lift your legs and arms up a bit and “fly” like superman – I could be wrong. I’m doing them to work on my lower back. Hope your shoulder is getting better.

Pleased to meet you Tom! – You’re right; form then weight. I was working at 60kg but I may go lower. I felt a twinge in my lower back on Tuesday during squats and today I’m suffering with pain above my right arse cheek. I’ll see how things go tomorrow. It’s weird but since I’ve reduced the weight on the squats I’m sleeping better; I don’t know whether it’s a coincidence or that I’m mentally more relaxed as I’m not worrying about failing during the next workout. Good luck with your journey.

[Foxybass]

Thursday 12 March

I woke up in the night and I had some pain in lower region of my back. I thought I’d better lay off the workout today.

I still got up at 4am though and did some stretches but when I felt any discomfort I stopped. I felt it most when doing the side leg swings. I had a good walk on the treadmill and had a think about things. I don’t really get time/chance to get on Stronglifts at home because the wife is either on Facebook or our eldest is doing homework or playing on the pc. I thought I’d make the most of the time and do some reading and research on squats. I think I’m going to start them off again. My barbell positioning is more high-bar than low-bar. Although my flexibility is improving; its still shite. My right hamstring is so tight and progressively gets worse throughout the day - I guess due to sitting down at my desk all day.

So the short term plan is to work on flexibility and learn squats properly (3rd time lucky I hope!). I’m going to start doing 3 sets of Deadlifts when they are due as they are going well at the moment. Obviously this depends on my back. Hopefully, in a few months I’ll be able to get full on with progressively increasing the weight on my squats and be confident with my form.

[trnitz]

Have you tried and soft tissue work to help with the pain/discomfort? (http://stronglifts.com/soft-tissue-work ... your-pain/)

Not really for the lower back, but other areas it works really well. You can do it with just a tennis ball or a foam roller. I use my foam roller about every day to help with muscle tension.


I have a desk job too, but at least every other hour I get up and walk around the building for a few minutes. That seems to prevent my legs from getting too tight.


If you really want to check your form, try doing an overhead squat: hold the bar above your head (like at the top of the press), and squat. With the weight above your head, if your form is lacking, you'll get off balance in a hurry.

[Foxybass]

Hi Tom

Yeah, I've been doing soft tissue work for a while now. I love it. I do try to stand up and have a walk every 20 mins or so at work but my right hamstring is pretty shite and it does get worse throughout the day. It's getting better though, I've been stretching well the last 3 days or so and there's a definite improvement.

I'll have to try the overhead squat; thanks for that.

Sunday 15 March

Soft tissue work, hip & glute stretches. 5 min warm up on treadmill.
Squats 21.8kg: 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 44.3kg: 5/5/5/5/5 (2 min rest in between sets)
Deadlift 86.8kg: 5/5/5
Prone Bridges: 3 sets @ 39 secs
Supermans: 3 sets @ 31 secs
Chins: 6/5/3

Squats – Worked on low bar position and grip width. Loads of stretching before, between sets and after. It all felt more solid with the bar lower on my back. In a few weeks it should be easier and grip should be narrower.

Overhead Press – Last set was a killer but it felt good.

Deadlifts – Couldn’t get going with these today. Form didn’t feel quite right. I’ll stay at this weight.

A great workout and the prone bridges are getting really hard now.

I’ve added a bit of cardio and I’ve reduced the calories just a bit over the last week. I’m feeling less sluggish and don’t feel so bloated. I'm feeling pretty good; not bad for an ex-lazy fat old beer guzzler.

[Foxybass]

Tuesday 17 March

Soft tissue work, hip & glute stretches, warm up on treadmill
Squats 21.8kg: 5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 64.3kg: 5/5/5/5/5 (90 sec rest)
Inverted Rows: 7/6/6
Prone Bridges: 3 sets @ 40 secs
Supermans: 3 sets @ 32 secs
Pull Ups: 2/2/1


Squats – Low bar position is getting there. Shoulders felt good but I found that I was not gripping the bar enough in the hole. An improvement on Sunday but still a way to go before I increase the weight. I was tempted though to whack some weight on just to see how it felt.

Bench Press – Great form and flew through them.

Inverted rows felt good.

Another great workout.

[guru]

Squats – Low bar position is getting there. Shoulders felt good but I found that I was not gripping the bar enough in the hole. An improvement on Sunday but still a way to go before I increase the weight. I was tempted though to whack some weight on just to see how it felt.

Good these are grooving in. I don't see a problem with whacking some weight, as long as it's reasonably lower than your max. It will actually help you get the correct feeling. After getting used to 60 kg, the bar seems ridiculously light. Your call though.

[Foxybass]

Thursday 19 March

Soft tissue work, hip & glute stretches. 5 min warm up on treadmill.
Squats 21.8kg: 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 46.8kg: 5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift 86.8kg: 5/5/5
Prone Bridges: 3 sets @ 41 secs
Supermans: 3 sets @ 33 secs
Chins: 6/6/4


Squats – Shoulders and wrists felt more comfortable. I’ll add 2.5kg next week.

Overhead Press – Couldn’t believe I got these. Form was dodgy in 4th set but the 5th was easier.?

Deadlifts – Felt good but still missing the rhythm I got into a few weeks back. Got a nice set of bruises on the shins now.

A great workout again but I suppose everything is easy when you go light on the squats.