FIT.Y.E.R.O. (Meathead, wellness, fitness, diet, exercise) Thread

Aug 6, 2008
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Anyone ever do seated barbell overhead press off pins?

First time doing it today, sat pins just above my chest and sat up tall, only used 135, didn’t feel that bad but harder than standing I think
 
Aug 6, 2008
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dead press! Yes, I have. I hate OHP in general (long arm whiny problems) but I actually prefer OHP dead press off pins more than regular standing barbell OHP.
I’ve got long arms also (I’m 6’5) but yeah I loved how it felt. Didn’t know it was called dead press, I’ll use that when I log.
 

pretzel__logic

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try benching off pins that way (or deadlifting). nice way to move the starting spot to work on sticking points.
 

Kooky Kats_anon

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More trade secrets, @pretzel__logic …TIA.

I do what my trainer calls Drag Press. Who knows if that’s a real thing, but it is an overhead press, standing, where then bar starts on the rack nose height and you go straight up, dragging the bar against the arms of the rack.

Core tight, little bit of stress on lower back, hammies - but crushes shoulders.
 
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pretzel__logic

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Kook, that sounds NASTY. I want to try it. haha. I've done something sort of similar where you put a barbell on pins and secure it with bands, then do a seated row motion dragging the bar on the pins against the bands. It is deceptively difficult (also a pain to set up) but really forces you to focus on lat activation.
 
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Aug 10, 2021
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Under 200, @Kooky Kats? Nice!

@-BBH- sometimes acknowledging that you've made good progress is good enough. I've had much better success changing one habit at a time and making sure I stick with it as opposed to the typical New Year's Resolution stuff like "I'm never drinking again! I'm going to the gym twice a day AND doing BJJ! I'm going on the Super Anabolic ChampagneGainz Mega Gainer Diet and snorting Jack3d until the Earth trembles when I squat!" or whatever.

If you've avoided alcohol for whole year, that's a solid accomplishment on its own. Be careful to never chase too many rabbits, imo.
 

anthonys735

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Jan 29, 2004
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I eat buffalo chicken thighs, white rice, and tobys yougurt ranch several times a week. Same with ground beef and several different spices, white rice, and spinach. You could easily make a burger bowl with light cheese, lettuce, pickle, and a yougurt based thousand island. Just weigh out your portions and lock in your macros. Use pizza as an occasional treat.

A lot of really good foods can be consumed in a healthy version.

After 8 weeks of cutting, the last 2 and next week were loosening up the constraints before the big push. I'm a great place compared to last year.

Did safety bar Bulgarians this morning. Diabolical.
 
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LineSkiCat14

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Aug 5, 2015
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A food item I've been digging (mostly for the kid): Goodles. Basically a protein/health inspired take on the boxed mac and cheese you'd get in a grocery store. 14g of protein and 7g of fiber per serving and thats 340 calories. The taste is pretty spot on too, whether it's the Kraft replica, White cheddar, Gouda, Hatch Chile, etc. Good shelf life, seems to be at most stores.

The downside is that it's like $3-4 a box and the total serving is on the smaller side. But, for such a solid alternative, having protein and being kid friendly.. it's pretty great.
 

LineSkiCat14

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Those look good. I'm trying to find as many ways as possible up get protein in the boys diet.

@Wodie Sloot


You're gonna be surprised at just how good they taste. Because as everyone here knows, some healthy/protein items taste good, and some taste awful. This is pretty damn close to the taste of Kraft Mac and Cheese.

I like the high fiber too. IIRC, in researching it, the protein and the fiber comes from the pasta.. Might need to double check that.
 

pretzel__logic

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Goodles are solid. I can deal with Banza pasta too for certain dishes, but I would rather be obese than replace real spaghetti or penne with those things. Although, the Barilla protein versions are pretty damn good. Definitely a big leap forward from when they first came out with whole wheat versions that were just foul.

My shoulder veins are popping out again. WE ARE SO BACK. And I benched 155 last night, which I haven't done since baby was born. Brick by brick!
 
Aug 10, 2021
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I've actually managed to food log and consistently hit protein and fiber goals using my Claude AI for the last month or so. I can simply take pictures of meals and it will identify foods and estimate macros with scary accuracy. If it looks wrong, I can ask it to recalculate. (Insert HOT DOG / NOT HOT DOG Jian Yang clip here). It also has great voice recognition software and lets me store common meals for easy repeating. There are also tons of bugs in the AI and the quality of it depends on the day, weirdly enough.

It can now access the web so we use it take make grocery lists and meal plans using ingredients located at the local Sam's or Kroger. We used to "have" to go to both stores most weekends. With the AI bot being able to scan the websites, we've been able to get down to one store most weekends. Pretty solid little perk. If Sam's Club will start carrying Fairlife milk and get a butcher on site, I may get out of Krogering completely and leave the occasional trip to my wife.

We head to the beach in 6 weeks, so I am doing a mild cut at about 2,250 calories per day while keeping protein above 175 grams and trying to get 38 grams of fiber per day. Hope to cut an inch or so off my waist while keeping up muscle tone and continuing to increase performance with kettlebells.
 

LineSkiCat14

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Two pots of Goodles tonight for a sick kid lol.

Trying to get back into rowing and see if I can just hit a consistent schedule of rowing for the month of April.

Did pretty good cutting back on Alcohol since end of December. Down 5lbs. Haven't really had the time to lift this past month though. Had a nasty *** head cold that lasted for like 3 weeks (probably why my kid is sick).

Only a small amount of time before shirt and shorts weather. Gotta tone it up.
 

Kooky Kats_anon

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Aug 17, 2002
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Tracking food is one thing…. Weighing it is another. You can’t eyeball ****. Unless you’re a carnival barker.

Seared 10oz Bison strip loins, naked baked sweet potato. Butter lettuce w/ Walden farms dressing, yogurt with blackberries.

725 Cals
81g Protein
31g fat
 
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anthonys735

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Jan 29, 2004
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First weigh in since adding more calories in after 8 week cut. 2 week mini bulk.

Up 3#s. Up 2.5# muscle. BF decreased 1.5%. Lowest BF of the year and broke a 3 week BF stall.

Hard to wrap your head around but you can't cut all the time. Body adjusts and if you cut lower you'll sacrifice hard earned muscle. Same with long term bulks, you're bound to put on more fat than you want. I think mini cuts and mini bulks have some real merit. Probably healthier and more efficient than extended.
 

pretzel__logic

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Permabulks/cuts aren't sustainable. There's a lot to be said for eating at "maintenance" most of the time. The longer you train/the more muscle you have, the more that maintenance number creeps upward, anyway.

officially back on my coached training game. still looks different than pre-baby, since I'm still shooting for 3 lifts a week instead of 4-5, but I'm genuinely enjoying it. I missed this.
 
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Until I started using the AI bot, I never followed a diet enough to know what I was eating anyway. I think I'm going to stick with 2500ish calories, 150-180g protein, and 38+g fiber per day for a while. I've basically done that for a month and a half now and I've gained threeish pounds while my waist remained the same. I figured that's probably a good sign.

I don't even know what a baseline is of working out consistently and following a reasonable diet for a year, for instance. I am just gonna use that as a goal and see what happens. So far, so good.
 
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Kooky Kats_anon

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6 days off my routine for my voyage south. Lexington unhealthy food and many a pour of supreme juice….worked out in less than ideal hotel gym every morning tho. Just move around…dumbbells is all you need.

Shocked my Lville friends with my appearance. 😝

All in all, only gained 2.5 pounds. Was dreading hopping on the scale this am. ‘Metabolic Age’ down from 63 to 54 since January, per my Body Pod.

Did go to gym this morning, slightly pulled a groin muscle doing the ‘good girl’ hip adductor machine 😢. The walk into the office was a treat.
 

UK-Chulo

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6 days off my routine for my voyage south. Lexington unhealthy food and many a pour of supreme juice….worked out in less than ideal hotel gym every morning tho. Just move around…dumbbells is all you need.

Shocked my Lville friends with my appearance. 😝

All in all, only gained 2.5 pounds. Was dreading hopping on the scale this am. ‘Metabolic Age’ down from 63 to 54 since January, per my Body Pod.

Did go to gym this morning, slightly pulled a groin muscle doing the ‘good girl’ hip adductor machine 😢. The walk into the office was a treat.
Sounds like you got off easy. Good job.
Next time you see Action tell him his last NB drop sucked.
 
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Kooky Kats_anon

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Sounds like you got off easy. Good job.
Next time you see Action tell him his last NB drop sucked.
It did. They suck.

I love these tho.


 
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pretzel__logic

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- Pretty cool full circle moment taking the baby to visit our old gym last night. Without that place, I would never have met my husband and kiddo wouldn't exist. A real mind-bottler, as they say. I don't really recommend taking a 5 month old in full pterodactyl phase to a public place, but that was a pretty special workout. As he gets older I think husband and I are going to try to get down there about once a week to lift with our buds again. We have everything we need at the house, but there is something very valuable about training with friends.

- Husband got cleared at cardiac rehab to lift and run, so he's working up to running a 5k. I never would have imagined saying those words 2 months ago. Follow up cardiac MRI is next Friday . . . praying it shows his heart has recovered as well it appears.

- Kook, inspired by your pain, I did the good girl/bad girl machines at the gym last night. Honestly one of the only machines I miss in the basement gym. It doesn't feel like much (or just feels painful, ha) but it pays pretty incredible dividends in strength and stability for squat and deadlift.
 

anthonys735

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-Careful with running if he's never done it before. Actually a fairly technical discipline that can go poorly if done incorrectly. Especially for big boys like us. Go get sized for correct shoes, based on his gait, and take it slow af. Jogging is great but can really be a can of worms. After 3-4 years of rehabbing and specific weight training geared to getting me back out there, I basically just resigned myself to cycling, walking, rowing for cardio. 5k should be pretty harmless and can be trained for with just 2-3 days per week training.

-For cut I've settled on 2000 calories with 210g protein. Just sounds kinda light on calories. Guess I can adjust if I need to. Goal is to REALLY limited booze. Got some kombucha en route to satisfy that a bit.

-Little man has been lifting the last 6 months. He's put on 5Lbs in that time and last night repped the 20# dumbbells 3x, something he's been trying to do for a month. Deadlifted 85# x 3(hex bar). Kid is a freak runner but we're trying to make him stronger while building some lifelong habits.
 

pretzel__logic

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he's taking it very slow (mostly because he's restricted on heart rate) and he's headed to get fitted for real running shoes. I warned him about shin splints, which plagued me from HS through grad school.

and love to see little guys lift!!
 
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LineSkiCat14

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I gotta give two somewhat-odd shout outs to some diet foods:

- Mustard. Nearly zero calories, nothing bad in it. Extremely versatile and delicious if you find one you like. Some gourmet spicy brown or stone ground muster is fire. And so much better when you can use it in place of things like ranch, mayo, ketchup, etc.

- Canned tuna. In this economy, it's clutch. It's as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. Great shelf life. Amazing source of protein. Portable, easy to eat/make. Easy to find. Throw some hot sauce on it if you're not a fan of the fishy taste, does a good job to mask it if you're not feeling the flavor.
 

anthonys735

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Jan 29, 2004
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I gotta give two somewhat-odd shout outs to some diet foods:

- Mustard. Nearly zero calories, nothing bad in it. Extremely versatile and delicious if you find one you like. Some gourmet spicy brown or stone ground muster is fire. And so much better when you can use it in place of things like ranch, mayo, ketchup, etc.

- Canned tuna. In this economy, it's clutch. It's as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. Great shelf life. Amazing source of protein. Portable, easy to eat/make. Easy to find. Throw some hot sauce on it if you're not a fan of the fishy taste, does a good job to mask it if you're not feeling the flavor.
Just made the switch from buffalo with yogurt ranch to mustard for the cut season. As you said, spicy brown is straight fire.

Don't sleep on sardines. Love those little dudes. Need to add them back in.
 

anthonys735

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Another thought, regular massages should 100% be part of any fitness routine. Treat yo self but also find someone who knows what the f*ck they're doing. Therapeutic >> vacation resort massage.
 
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LineSkiCat14

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Just made the switch from buffalo with yogurt ranch to mustard for the cut season. As you said, spicy brown is straight fire.

Don't sleep on sardines. Love those little dudes. Need to add them back in.

I tried Sardines and I just can't. And I'm pretty good with weird foods. I know they're amazing for you, but they were just TOO fishy/slimy/smelly for me.
 

LineSkiCat14

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Aug 5, 2015
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I've seen variations of this. And I have to say, it's pretty solid if you need to get in your vegetables, which I'm a big believer in being a key to weightloss, health, longevity, etc. She doesn't say what dressing she used.. so for now I did a like a 1/3rd cup of Greek dressing and a little extra red wine vinegar... very good, easy, extremely healthy, and cheap.. that's always key for me: how many boxes can you check off. The more the better, and the more likely I'll eat it.