Atlas Squatted

Just some knowledge I've picked up along my journey.

[atlassquatted-blog]

Found this on /fit/. Thought I'd share with all my fellow lifters out there.

I'll post about my own soon, but how's everyone's workouts coming along?

[exercisescience]

“We are all born originals - why is it so many of us die copies?”

- Edward Young

Go get a massage.

These people are annoying.

What’s your excuse?

Eat your fish.

More on the fight against obesity.

Joggers live longer.

Five common running mistakes.

...

[atlassquatted-blog]

exercisescience is an amazing blog. I would definitely recommend following, regardless of your goals/specialization.

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Smith Machines.

Just...ajkdndfsjnk. My hatred of Smith machines is far beyond what it should be, but just know I resent them, okay?

Yesterday, I went to work out at the gym/country club nearest to my house. I can't tell you how ridiculous it is to do Smith squats or Smith strict presses, due to the LACK OF A REAL SQUAT RACK. It's something you have to try once. Only adding to my frustration was the fact I was working through sets until I hit what I thought was a 185 x 4 press. I went to get water, looked at the side of the machine, and saw that the bar was 15, not 45. People these days.

I then went and played with a bunch of the machines. It was a fun workout after all.

On the bright side, nailed my 405 x 3 x 3 deads. Not too shabby.

Now for a rest day. I hate rest days. 

How's everyone doing?

[atlassquatted-blog]

Power Cleans and Powerful Minds

Decent workout with cleans and snatches in the garage/oven. It feels weird lifting light, but my form needs it.

Also, I'm just just trying to work on physical fitness, but mental fitness. I'm going to be working on the n-back a lot this summer. You all should give it a try; I did it a bit last summer after reading about it a few times here and there, but never gave it good time. I'm gonna do it this summer, and see how it works out for me.

 Some related links:

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/smart_software

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/can-you-make-yourself-smarter.html?pagewanted=all

Some articles on the n-back. I can't find the original research brief, but here's a link to the version I should be using:

http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/

Look forward to hearing from everyone! Hope your workouts went/are going/go well!

[atlassquatted-blog]

Cleans and Snatches

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Today, I'm working on my power cleans and snatches, which are dreadfully behind my powerlifts. I can do, if I remember correctly, the ugliest 165 clean and 135 snatch you'll ever see. One of my goals was to fix this over the summer. I've also noticed that my flexibility has been shoddy recently, so I'm also thinking of throwing in some yoga somewhere in my routine. I'll look around for stuff on that - I'll probably go with the same yoga routine I used last summer for the same issue.

Time to get working!

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That was ugly.

It ended up raining as I headed out, so I cut my run to just over two miles. I didn't time it, but I know from a general feel that I was nowhere near eight-minute (or maybe even nine-minute) pace. Well, that's what I get for running a handful of times in the past year and expecting to go out there and run like I did in my "prime".

We all start from somewhere.

[atlassquatted-blog]

Going out for a run.

(+ horribly out-of-shape runner.)

This could get ugly quickly. This is Tampa's welcome home present. Let's go.

Goal Run: 5 miles, <50 min.

I know, incredibly low standards, considering I used to run 2 mi. in <12 min. and was training for a marathon just a few years ago. Almost shameful, but everyone starts somewhere, whether you're just starting to lift and you're benching the bar, or you're running >10-minute miles.

How is everyone's days/workouts going? 

[stevelifts]

Look, if you’ve been lifting and you haven’t run into the name “Mark Rippetoe,” stop everything you’re doing right now. Don’t even click this link, look up Starting Strength, stuff like that.

If you HAVE heard of Mark Rippetoe, chances are you’ve seen some of the funny stuff he says. Here’s a link to a compilation of his responses to questions about Starting Strength.

Enjoy.

[operationwonderman-blog]

My favorites:

If you want to look like a bodybuilder, that’s fine with me. That is a matter for you to discuss with your God and your psychologist.

Go home and tell Mom that you’re a man now.

Stop doing this immediately or I will have you killed.

Rippetoe is not only a lifting genius, but also hilarious. Side note, Starting Strength is a great place to start lifting. Hence the name, geniuses.  

[atlassquatted-blog]

 Accidentally posted this to the wrong blog. In before incoming meathead jokes.

[atlassquatted-blog]

I guess I should talk about myself.

Well. As for my athletic career history, I pretty much played everything as a kid. Baseball, soccer (futbol), basketball, and football.

I stuck with football into sophomore year of high school and became convinced I was going to go into the NFL, when I realized they don't draft many linebackers under 6 feet and 200 pounds, and I didn't put in enough work to start at runningback.

I then wrestled, and began to train for a marathon, and my hubris led me to believe I would be ready in time to win the London 2012 Olympics. Keep in mind that I have only ever run a 5:30 mile, am built like a sprinter (I have tree trunk calves), and I've only ever ran 10 miles at a 8-minute pace. I ran 19 miles after training for a good bit senior year, decided I couldn't do it, because I didn't love it enough to put in a decent amount of training. I'm going to become an ultramarathoner once I hit 30 and retire from powerlifting, no worries.

Freshman year of college, I played rugby. It was awesome. Awesome people, awesome sport. I might play again, but Auburn's practice and game schedule took a lot of time out of my week.

Freshman/sophomore summer, I discovered powerlifting. I haven't turned back. This is my quest to a 1219 total right now, and we'll see where powerlifting takes me.

My lifting stats/gym totals, for those who care:

(As of April 2012)

Squat: 440 pounds

Bench: 265 pounds

Deadlift: 455 pounds

Total: 1150 pounds

Weight: 170 (competing at 165 weight class)

[atlassquatted-blog]

Also, personal blog, if you care. 

http://operationwonderman.tumblr.com/

Warning, I don't actually post on it much. For now.

Also, this is what I'll follow back on.

[atlassquatted-blog]

Start here.

Also, I made pages for sources I've found to be greatly valuable. I would definitely recommend them as a start to your path. And I'm always open for questions, feel free to ask (and tell me if you want to keep it private, of course.)

[atlassquatted-blog]

Welcome, everyone.

I want this to be a blog where I can help other people (that's you all) out on their quests to whatever they want to achieve, where I can detail my own quest, and where you guys can teach me a thing or two a lot as well.

This blog will cover lifting (especially powerlifting), running, and lots of various random health aspects.

So... welcome, follow me now, and let's get going.