The Workout Thread

[Kidnemo]

Dumbbell squats: worth doing or a poor substitute? I don't have a straight bar.

lol, absolutely.

There are a million squat variations and only a few of them involve using a barbell.

[Regus]

I'm not a big fan of machines that lock the motion into a strict up/down motion (like a smith machine squat for example) because your body doesn't follow that perfect of a path.

Plus, there is the issue that the machine is doing all the balancing for you, so you're not building up the muscles that normally handle those functions. Its like the guys who can leg press 1,000lbs, thats all well and good, but the strength you gain on a machine does not translate over into the real world.

[Dyne]

Most of the "strength" people gain does not translate into the real world.

[D_N_G]

I dont have time to head to the gym on a regular basis, so got my smith to do squats, bench, and leg presses without a spotter.

This specific model made more sense for me than a power rack at the time because, it takes up less space. (plus the added bonus of the pulley system and pull/chin up bar) Someday when space is not a constraint ill prob upgrade

For me it was a great purchase because it allows me to do several exercises I was not able to do before safely. plus i can utilize more weight on other exercises where i was plateaued.

I still use barbells and dumbbells for a whole range of other exercises to supplement and work on the stabilizers.

[Dolemite]

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. It's certainly way better than nothing.

[Tones]

Woop woop, new longest run: 9.1 miles. The strange thing about longer runs is that time doesn't pass, it dissappears.

[Razor Ramon]

I've started running again but on the street. Anything I can use to judge the distance I'm running?

[D_N_G]

I've started running again but on the street. Anything I can use to judge the distance I'm running?

as you get closer, you will see these every 1/2 mile or so:



map out your route in mapquest/google maps, and it will tell you how far it is.
or do it in real-time... if you have an iphone, use the gps along with an app like runtracker or path tracker, a cheap digital pedometer will run you 20 bucks, or you can go fancy with a gps watch/unit or a nike+ ipod setup

[Razor Ramon]

I run in a park. I'll try to find a meter or some shit. Either that or start running at the gym.

[Kidnemo]

Or figure out your average pace it takes you to run a mile (to figure out the length of a mile, drive the route you are going to run one time with a car) and then use that as a general mile indicator.

"It's been around 8 minutes, I am done with my first mile"

re: my work out progress -

I was up to 175 at 13% bodyfat, the heaviest by a huge margin that I have ever been in my entire life. Pretty crazy stuff!

Now that it's starting to get nice out, I'm two and a half weeks into my bf% cut so I can bring out the full six (or eight!) pack. I have the top four abs visible now, but I wanna go all the way.

After summer is over it will be back to bulking again.