Hey, have you been working out?

[Al B. Sure!]

I know a lot of guys who praise the Vibrams. I just don't want to look like a complete weirdo I wear Nike Frees instead. Socks for them also exist, Jon, for when it gets cold up in Uppsala... they're expensive though and sold by Injinji.

The gym was crowded as **** today because it's the first day of classes... they've also moved almost all the machines out of the strength room to a new facility which is great since I never used them and it means long-term when the new facility opens, this gym will be less crowded during the school year. I'm a little puzzled by why the University has three separate gyms all within a block of each other in three separate buildings though. I guess it reduces the crowd which will be great but it also means my alumni fees have doubled to freaking $100/semester which is borderline commercial gym prices ($25/month).

I didn't feel like waiting an hour til on of the squat racks freed up (there's only two, and one of them was getting double duty by one guy squatting and another doing power cleans) so it looks like I'm going to switch my schedule to the morning so I only have to compete with the Army ROTC crowd for space. I always feel weak in the morning for some reason, though.

[Al B. Sure!]

Well they're really enforcing their stupid no powerlifting rule again this semester On the plus side, the lady told me they have a powerlifting rack on backorder and are going to allow powerlifting in a specific section I just hope they get more than one rack because there's a crapload of powerlifters, athletes, and regular guys who do cleans, jerks, snatches, and presses. The squat racks already are always a long wait.

So since I couldn't do my cleans or presses, I did standing dumbbell presses instead. Did Standing Palms-In Presses which I'm not sure if they're harder, easier, or the same as your normal dumbbell press. Dumbbell presses are tough though. I did sets of 5 bumping up the weight by 5 lbs each time til I couldn't get 5 reps. Got up to 4x60lbs. It's interesting how much poundages are different when they're on a bar or on a dumbbell. 120lbs on a bar for presses is a joke but it's tough distributed between two dumbbells.

I also back squatted 3 sets of 5 at 205lbs (don't laugh; squats have always been lagging for me). And I did grease-the-groove chinups in sets of 11... I wasn't really counting my sets but I know I did more than 6 sets, don't know how many more though.

[Al B. Sure!]

Out of curiosity, how do you do your presses, Jon? Seated or standing? Do you do them Palms-In like I like to do because it mimics the ammo can press I need to be good at for the Marines:


or do you do them the traditional way with arms out to the sides and palms forward?

[Jon Miller]

I do them standing and arms out to the sides/palms forward.

JM

[MOBIUS]

I'm playing Badminton this lunchtime with some girls, will this help with my fitness...?

[Jon Miller]

attempts at least

5/4/3 pullups
4/6/4 lunges (27/27/27)
5/4/3 chinups
15/15/15 back extensions
6/6/6 bent over row - same as usual (27/27/27)
spine rotations (stomach)
10/6/6 dumbell bicep curl/etc (11/11/11)

some barefoot running (to gym and back)

JM

[Jon Miller]

Ran home, ~5km. I did stop and walk a couple of times for a minute or two to try to make sure I wasn't hurting myself.

Hopefully I didn't rush things.

Longest I have barefoot run yet, my calves feel it.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Your calves feel it but are your shins okay? Your calves should definitely feel it the first few times (your feet themselves could also feel it), but if your shins are good, you are good.

[Jon Miller]

Shins are front part? Yeah, everything right now feels fine but my calves ache a bit (not in a bad way).

I worry that might feet aren't use to it, they feel fine right now.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Your calves will hurt. Are you also fore-foot running?

[Jon Miller]

I land and lift from my front of my foot. I don't land on my heels. I feel very 'forward'.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Good.

As for me, I did 7 or 8 sets of 11 chinups distributed throughout my workout. Bench 3x5x170lbs; Deadlift 1x5x225; Squat 3x5x210. Low weight, I know, but that's the point. It's a steady program designed to add weight to the bar each workout.

[Jon Miller]

Ran to work today.

Will bike home.

Short duration lifting, ended up OK because of discomfort.

6/6/6 assisted dips (-10/-10/10)
10/8/7 cable flys (40/40/40)
stomach (spine rotation)
8/8/6 vertical press (11/11/11)
8/6/5 stomach over head (27/27/27)

Once more my shoulder became discomforted during the dips. This often happens, and then I can't put my all into the cable flys/vertical presses (Which are suppose to be my key lifts). I think I am going to just quit them entirely and pick something else for my warmup.

Maybe negative, high reps machine incline press? Would change to:
machine press
vertical press
stomach
cable fly
lateral raise
stomach/shoulder shrugs/adductor/abductor/etc
stomach over head (are these suicides?)
tricep pulldowns

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

stomach over head

What is that?

[Al B. Sure!]

I get shoulder pain on dips for some reason. Right along the clavicle and the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I think it's a rotator cuff weakness. If the pain is at the same spot, you may have whatever issue I have (which I think is rotator cuff weakness). There's exercises with light weights you can do such as lateral raises and side raises that are supposed to help with this. I've just been lazy keeping up with them but they have definitely helped but it's not 100% yet.

I'm curious about why you choose to do cable flys as a 'key lift'. I don't do them but generally I've seen people consider them more a supplementary or assistance exercise. Bench press is usually the primary 'chest' (i use that term loosely since bench press is not an isolated movement) exercise that people do. There's also a bit more carry-over between bench press and pushups, dips, and shoulder presses.

I do think you should reorganize your training schedule a bit. In my opinion, things like lateral raises, tricep pulldowns, and flys are more supplementary because they're more isolated exercises. As a novice, it's better to do compound exercises to ensure more balance in your muscles and prevent injuries.

Here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/saved/id/5011/main-muscle/chest-glutes

I went and used the actually pretty cool bodybuilding.com exercise database set to search for only beginner, compound lifts for the major muscle groups. Now, the search is very chest-heavy but that's only because there are many chest exercises in their database; don't let the number of exercises indicate importance.

You could pick some exercises from there, noting the different groups.

I could help you further if I know how many days you prefer to go to the gym and if you have any equipment limitations at the gym.

Honestly, I do think you'd probably be best served by doing something similar to what I'm doing with bench press, shoulder press, squats, deadlifts, and chinups. That's really a great combination of exercises because they're all compound exercises that hit every part of your body except maybe the calves (but you run so that's not an issue). I notice your exercises are lacking in much 'leg' work aside from occasional lunges and your running.