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Gentleman Argentum
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20 Mar 2021, 12:12 pm

 ! magz wrote:
Split from viewtopic.php?t=395206


O.K. changing the subject to weight-lifting, I dissent strongly from your view about gym closings. I like gyms due to the potential for social interaction. Mainly, as a single man, I am thinking about women, but it is also pleasant just being around other people, period. But I don't have a gym membership.

You can keep weight-llifting. Just do like I did, and order dumbbells online. If you are more advanced down that road, you may want a complete weight set and stand. I do not really see the need for machines like in a gym. I am old school and just prefer free weights, because I can do everything at home, anytime I please, for free. :cheers:

I'm not a muscle-bound guy. :nerdy:

I just have:
2x 5lb dumbbells,
2x 15lb dumbbells, and
2x 20lb dumbbells.

This satisfies all of my admittedly limited weight-lifting needs. I supplement with push-ups, about fifty per day, in sets of 21. The math doesn't add up, does it? That's because I shoot for 50, nice round number, anymore than that is bonus, it means I'm extra good and by golly I DESERVE that extra helping of whatever it is I'm craving (dark chocolate).


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Last edited by magz on 27 Mar 2021, 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total.: Origin explained

Vito
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20 Mar 2021, 3:36 pm

Unfortunately, I have the following problem with gyms closing. My training plan revolves around compound exercises with heavy weights – sort of powerlifting-style training. Although I could dispense with machines (I only really use machines for leg press and calf raises and these exercises can be easily substituted with something like Bulgarian squats and barbell calf raises), the main issue is with squatting. I lift in the 4-6 rep range and even though I am now pretty decent in understanding my limits as to when to stop, I still greatly fear getting stuck during the squat so I feel much safer squatting in a cage with safety bars. It already saved me once.

Moreover, doing deadlifts in 4-6 rep range means that although I have a great degree of control with respect to lowering the weights, it still is a pretty heavy load (I was doing 110 kg when the gyms closed), with significant force being applied to the floor. So here I am looking at a set up where I need bumper plates and padding for the floor in order not to damage the floor. Also, I require some higher quality padding, since I live in an apartment on a 4th floor, so the comfort of people living underneath my apartment is of concern as well (even though I deadlift only once a week). With adjustable bench (for incline bench pressing), Olympic barbell (for the bumper plates) and with all the loadable dumbbells I need for dumbbell bench pressing, I’m looking at a price in an equivalent of ca. 2500 USD, which is around twice my monthly salary right now and bit out of my budget for this year. As my wife is in a financially tight spot too, due to some investments she has made, she would not be able to help me either.

I feel therefore, that spending that kind of money due to coronavirus situation which will not last that long is a bit unjustified right now. Gym membership had cost me equivalent of ca. 300 USD yearly, so it would take more than 8 years for the gym to pay for itself. Even if money would not be the issue, as I could borrow some from my dad who has plenty and would be more than willing to lend them or even to finance my home gym from his pocket, there is another, more serious problem.

I live in approx. 50 sqm apartment and currently don’t have the space for such gym. The only two ways for me to fit it into the apartment would be either to get rid of the couch I have in the living room and replace it with smaller one (which entails buying a new couch – additional money spent) or to get rid of my wife’s shoe shelf from the bedroom. And relationship of attractive fashion-conscious Russian women with their shoes is not to be trifled with.

I could, of course, redesign my training program with a focus on bodyweight exercises, or perhaps buy some cheap equipment (dumbbells, etc.) to train with. However, I do not want to spend money on something that would be of no use after the gyms are reopened. Moreover, designing such a training plan would require some time and effort of putting together an exercise plan and learning proper form of all the exercises involved. I am not eager to do either of those things. I had my eye on unicycling for the past year or so, so I decided to give it a shot until the gyms are reopened, mostly because I want to prove to myself that I can learn to ride it.


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Vito
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20 Mar 2021, 3:39 pm

Also, last time I tried to do bodyweight based training program (I used some online program for beginners), I ended up with inflammation in my elbow joints after 3 weeks or so. Admittedly, it was before I started with weight training, so I was in much worse shape than I am now.


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21 Mar 2021, 4:29 am

Vito wrote:
Unfortunately, I have the following problem with gyms closing. My training plan revolves around compound exercises with heavy weights – sort of powerlifting-style training. Although I could dispense with machines (I only really use machines for leg press and calf raises and these exercises can be easily substituted with something like Bulgarian squats and barbell calf raises), the main issue is with squatting. I lift in the 4-6 rep range and even though I am now pretty decent in understanding my limits as to when to stop, I still greatly fear getting stuck during the squat so I feel much safer squatting in a cage with safety bars. It already saved me once.

Moreover, doing deadlifts in 4-6 rep range means that although I have a great degree of control with respect to lowering the weights, it still is a pretty heavy load (I was doing 110 kg when the gyms closed), with significant force being applied to the floor. So here I am looking at a set up where I need bumper plates and padding for the floor in order not to damage the floor. Also, I require some higher quality padding, since I live in an apartment on a 4th floor, so the comfort of people living underneath my apartment is of concern as well (even though I deadlift only once a week). With adjustable bench (for incline bench pressing), Olympic barbell (for the bumper plates) and with all the loadable dumbbells I need for dumbbell bench pressing, I’m looking at a price in an equivalent of ca. 2500 USD, which is around twice my monthly salary right now and bit out of my budget for this year. As my wife is in a financially tight spot too, due to some investments she has made, she would not be able to help me either.

I feel therefore, that spending that kind of money due to coronavirus situation which will not last that long is a bit unjustified right now. Gym membership had cost me equivalent of ca. 300 USD yearly, so it would take more than 8 years for the gym to pay for itself. Even if money would not be the issue, as I could borrow some from my dad who has plenty and would be more than willing to lend them or even to finance my home gym from his pocket, there is another, more serious problem.

I live in approx. 50 sqm apartment and currently don’t have the space for such gym. The only two ways for me to fit it into the apartment would be either to get rid of the couch I have in the living room and replace it with smaller one (which entails buying a new couch – additional money spent) or to get rid of my wife’s shoe shelf from the bedroom. And relationship of attractive fashion-conscious Russian women with their shoes is not to be trifled with.

I could, of course, redesign my training program with a focus on bodyweight exercises, or perhaps buy some cheap equipment (dumbbells, etc.) to train with. However, I do not want to spend money on something that would be of no use after the gyms are reopened. Moreover, designing such a training plan would require some time and effort of putting together an exercise plan and learning proper form of all the exercises involved. I am not eager to do either of those things. I had my eye on unicycling for the past year or so, so I decided to give it a shot until the gyms are reopened, mostly because I want to prove to myself that I can learn to ride it.


Hm, you must be a big guy, 110kg is a lot to deadlift. That's 110 x 2.2 pounds in U.S. measurement or over 200lbs. You are also well-versed on all the terminology of weight-lifting, like my brother. He's a bodybuilder like you and loves machines, free weights, all of it, there is nothing he does not like. He wants big muscles to impress the ladies, and it does work. :)

I would NOT mess with your apartment. For one thing, Russian wife. 50sqm is tiny. I think you're right, just wait (weight?) for gyms to reopen or else just make do with the traditional push-ups and other calisthenics. Think back to ancient Rome, how do you think the gladiators got big? I am sure there are ways and ways.

My goals are modest, I do not want to get really big, I just want a thin, fit body and to lose a few more pounds. The less weight, the better health, the less strain on joints, the less arthritis. People with all these knee/back/hip surgeries tend to carry around a lot of extra baggage, I have noticed. I learned from experience that weight-lifting is useful, because building up muscle increases metabolism a great deal. I lost more through weight-lifting and push-ups than from more walking. I also want to maintain a youthful appearance as long as possible, and I think fitness is key to that.


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21 Mar 2021, 9:42 am

Nah, it's not a lot. Well, it is, if you're a woman. Or so Rippetoe's strength standards say :lol: . For men it's not a lot. I aim for something like 175 kg for 6 reps - that seems appropriate for my size. I'm not a big guy though. 188 cm and 81 kg currently.

I'm not gonna mess with the apartment. As I said, I found unicycling as a challenging skill to learn, so I'm focusing on that. 6 hours / week and hope that I will have learnt to ride by the time gyms reopen.

I totally agree health concern should be in the foreground of any such activity. It does not matter what the activity is, as long as it's healthy and you like it.

And fitness it definitely a key to health and youthful appearance. Look at this guy:


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22 Mar 2021, 2:04 am

Vito wrote:
Nah, it's not a lot. Well, it is, if you're a woman. Or so Rippetoe's strength standards say :lol: . For men it's not a lot. I aim for something like 175 kg for 6 reps - that seems appropriate for my size. I'm not a big guy though. 188 cm and 81 kg currently.

I'm not gonna mess with the apartment. As I said, I found unicycling as a challenging skill to learn, so I'm focusing on that. 6 hours / week and hope that I will have learnt to ride by the time gyms reopen.

I totally agree health concern should be in the foreground of any such activity. It does not matter what the activity is, as long as it's healthy and you like it.

And fitness it definitely a key to health and youthful appearance. Look at this guy:



Careful, half of appearance is in the genes, like whether you go bald, when you go grey, and so on. I have, apparently, been lucky in this department, at least from what I've been told recently.

All of that's impressive, the unicycleing, the lifting. Unicycle seems a little bit crazy to me to be honest but you will definitely get a lot of attention when you ride that contraption. If Russian wife leaves you, then you will probably find a woman while riding the unicycle. I always look at people riding those things to see whether they fall but they never do. Still, I expect them to fall.

You are really challenging me, an American, with this metric business. So you're saying you're 6'2" and 178#. That tells me you're lean and tall.

The lean part is why you say you're not big. Still, I think lean is ideal, we do not need really big bodies unless we are going to be Conan the Barbarian on the battlefield with a halberd slaying in hand-to-hand combat. Nowadays a lean guy just hunkers down in a foxhole and aims a rifle at 500m or whatever or calls in a strike over the radio. Or better yet we don't go to war, you just get with the ladies who love that you're fit. :heart: :heart: :heart:

My goal is just to lose a bit more weight. I used to be 6' and 205# back when I was drinking. I stopped the drinking back in 2018 (completely) and lost a lot of weight. It was like magic.

Right now, I'm 6' and 175# which translates to: 183cm and 79kg (thank you, again, Google!) So, the plan is to get back down to 170#.

When I was 18 years old, I believe I was 150#, according to an old drivers license I have around here somewhere.

I know you Europeans laugh at us Americans as fat :evil: well that is something I am working on. It is not easy, I am old nowadays and have to turn down all kinds of free food at work. They put sugar into every conceivable food over here in the U.S., and about the only way to avoid it is eat unprocessed food (veggie, fruit, meat, seafood).


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22 Mar 2021, 8:50 am

Gentleman Argentum wrote:
Careful, half of appearance is in the genes, like whether you go bald, when you go grey, and so on. I have, apparently, been lucky in this department, at least from what I've been told recently.

All of that's impressive, the unicycleing, the lifting. Unicycle seems a little bit crazy to me to be honest but you will definitely get a lot of attention when you ride that contraption. If Russian wife leaves you, then you will probably find a woman while riding the unicycle. I always look at people riding those things to see whether they fall but they never do. Still, I expect them to fall.

You are really challenging me, an American, with this metric business. So you're saying you're 6'2" and 178#. That tells me you're lean and tall.

The lean part is why you say you're not big. Still, I think lean is ideal, we do not need really big bodies unless we are going to be Conan the Barbarian on the battlefield with a halberd slaying in hand-to-hand combat. Nowadays a lean guy just hunkers down in a foxhole and aims a rifle at 500m or whatever or calls in a strike over the radio. Or better yet we don't go to war, you just get with the ladies who love that you're fit. :heart: :heart: :heart:

My goal is just to lose a bit more weight. I used to be 6' and 205# back when I was drinking. I stopped the drinking back in 2018 (completely) and lost a lot of weight. It was like magic.

Right now, I'm 6' and 175# which translates to: 183cm and 79kg (thank you, again, Google!) So, the plan is to get back down to 170#.

When I was 18 years old, I believe I was 150#, according to an old drivers license I have around here somewhere.

I know you Europeans laugh at us Americans as fat :evil: well that is something I am working on. It is not easy, I am old nowadays and have to turn down all kinds of free food at work. They put sugar into every conceivable food over here in the U.S., and about the only way to avoid it is eat unprocessed food (veggie, fruit, meat, seafood).



Sorry about the metric system! :oops: I tend to forget that on English-language sites, imperial units are preferred. I had spent a year in the U.S. as an teenager, so I have no problem using imperial units, at least with respect to height and weight. 6'2" and ca. 180# it is indeed.

I feel I'm a bit too lean for my comfort, but at least I no longer look ridiculous. I used to weigh over 200# and my top weight was actually 219# (99.5 kg), but I was not big - just skinny fat. Sort of like when you lift a frog by its front legs - thin arms, thin and crooked legs, and large belly - that was me about 3 years ago. :lol: Man-breasts too. Now I have no belly to speak of and before the gyms were shut, my legs, arms and shoulders have started to develop some muscular outline. I even had something like a baby six-pack during the summer. I have no desire (and more importantly no genetic predisposition) to look like Conan the Barbarian, my general aim is physique in the style of Mike Matthews (well developed, but natural), but really I just like to focus on doing the lifting and eating properly rather than worrying about the goals.

It's good to have a good genetics for looking good, but it's not really that important. Good physique from exercise and reasonable sense of style goes a long way. Few years ago, I developed a case of local alopecia areata due to stress related to moving abroad, so I've given a considerable thought about what I would do in case of getting bald. I guess I'd just shave my whole head - it wouldn't look so bad, in comparison with a bald patch. Though I have some grey hairs already and I'm only 29, but graying is not that a big of a deal for me.

#150 sounds a bit low for a 6' guy imo :scratch: but it all depends on the physique of course. Especially body fat levels. Not to be too skinny, but not to be fat either. The proper range of bodyfat being somewhere between 11-15% for men, but okay up to 20%, or so I've read. Also, I am surprised that such info is displayed on the driver's license. That would be against the principles of personal information protection in most of Europe I think. But if I remember it correctly, some US states even indicate the person's race on the license.

As a Czech, I can't really laugh at fat Americans. Czechia is right now the worst (or second worst?) country in Europe, when it comes to obesity. Regular consumption of fatty pork meat with 6 knödels washed down by couple of beers is taking it's toll on the leanness of the populace. And the literally most common breakfast here is to have few of rohlík (type of highly refined bread) with butter substitute and jam. Like you take a bunch of refined carbohydrates, put a thick layer of refined fat on it and then even a thicker layer of flavored sugar. And you feed your kids with it and make them wash it down with refined sweetened juice. Like WTF :eew:

Unicycling was a bit crazy idea, but since I've read about Ed Pratt's unicycle journey around the world, I couldn't stop wondering about it. It certainly looks weird to other people, few (mostly women indeed) have already stopped and chatted to me about it, and most people at least stare or look strangely at me when I practice. All that when I practice when it's dark already, in order not to be too conspicuous. I make a very slow progress though - just can't get the hang of it. Just fall all the time. :? But I guess, eventually I'll manage to learn it - just takes more time than it would for the average folk.


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2011: Your Aspie score: 139 of 200. Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 67 of 200. You are very likely an Aspie.
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Gentleman Argentum
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23 Mar 2021, 11:02 am

Vito wrote:
Sorry about the metric system! :oops: I tend to forget that on English-language sites, imperial units are preferred. I had spent a year in the U.S. as an teenager, so I have no problem using imperial units, at least with respect to height and weight. 6'2" and ca. 180# it is indeed.


No, damn it, you are right, you should continue using Metric. It is high time the U.S. abandoned our obsolete measurement system and embraced Metric, just as Jimmy Carter suggested back in 1979. His plans for a Metric United States were derailed by that male bimbo that came after.

I will look up on Google what I need to and eventually with enough use, become used to Metric.

Vito wrote:
I feel I'm a bit too lean for my comfort, but at least I no longer look ridiculous. I used to weigh over 200# and my top weight was actually 219# (99.5 kg), but I was not big - just skinny fat. Sort of like when you lift a frog by its front legs - thin arms, thin and crooked legs, and large belly - that was me about 3 years ago. :lol: Man-breasts too. Now I have no belly to speak of and before the gyms were shut, my legs, arms and shoulders have started to develop some muscular outline. I even had something like a baby six-pack during the summer. I have no desire (and more importantly no genetic predisposition) to look like Conan the Barbarian, my general aim is physique in the style of Mike Matthews (well developed, but natural), but really I just like to focus on doing the lifting and eating properly rather than worrying about the goals.


We have about the same body type, and I prefer this body, because I am pretty quick on my feet unlike people hauling around heft. The sad reality for most males is that physical strength has in large part been made rather obsolete by machinery. And peace. And laws. I don't, of course, recommend picking fights with big guys.

Vito wrote:
#150 sounds a bit low for a 6' guy imo :scratch: but it all depends on the physique of course. Especially body fat levels. Not to be too skinny, but not to be fat either. The proper range of bodyfat being somewhere between 11-15% for men, but okay up to 20%, or so I've read. Also, I am surprised that such info is displayed on the driver's license. That would be against the principles of personal information protection in most of Europe I think. But if I remember it correctly, some US states even indicate the person's race on the license.


Yeah, my goal is 170#, not 150# which probably is too low.

My last date, the woman told me that I look better than my profile, that my profile pictures did not even do me justice. :heart:

I take that to mean I must be doing something right.

Vito wrote:
As a Czech, I can't really laugh at fat Americans. Czechia is right now the worst (or second worst?) country in Europe, when it comes to obesity. Regular consumption of fatty pork meat with 6 knödels washed down by couple of beers is taking it's toll on the leanness of the populace. And the literally most common breakfast here is to have few of rohlík (type of highly refined bread) with butter substitute and jam. Like you take a bunch of refined carbohydrates, put a thick layer of refined fat on it and then even a thicker layer of flavored sugar. And you feed your kids with it and make them wash it down with refined sweetened juice. Like WTF :eew:


Yes, that's terrible, all of it.


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Vito
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23 Mar 2021, 11:50 am

Gentleman Argentum wrote:
No, damn it, you are right, you should continue using Metric. It is high time the U.S. abandoned our obsolete measurement system and embraced Metric, just as Jimmy Carter suggested back in 1979. His plans for a Metric United States were derailed by that male bimbo that came after.

I will look up on Google what I need to and eventually with enough use, become used to Metric.


I just don't understand how Americans (and English) can defend it so vehemently? :scratch: It must be tiring to recalculate inches into feet into yards into miles. Not talking about squares. In metric you just use multiples of 10 all the time, even with squares or cubes.

Gentleman Argentum wrote:
We have about the same body type, and I prefer this body, because I am pretty quick on my feet unlike people hauling around heft. The sad reality for most males is that physical strength has in large part been made rather obsolete by machinery. And peace. And laws. I don't, of course, recommend picking fights with big guys.


Yeah, likely we do. But I don't know about being quick on my feet. My wife has a pretty 'bulky' body type (not fat, but having, for her height, thick arms, legs, torso, and wide shoulders), and she's very agile and excellent sprinter. I'm not either of those.

Physical strength is not that obsolete. There are many occasions in life when it's necessary or at least advisable to have it. You can manage objects such as heavy boxes, luggage, etc. much better with considerable physical strength. Last year I had to inspect (and then throw away) my old combined oven. It was small, but weighed around 85# and was placed on a shelf that is on the level of my shoulders. I had to bring it down from the shelf for inspection and then carry it to my car. It's a lot easier to handle 85# oven at your shoulder height if you can overhead press 100#. Carrying it into the car was a breeze as it's a bit over 1/3 of my deadlifts. :)

There are plenty of guys that get sciatica or other types of back issues every year from lifting boxes, etc. without having the strength and/or proper technique for doing it.

Besides, Mark Rippetoe has said: “A weak man is not as happy as that same man would be if he were strong. This reality is offensive to some people who would like the intellectual or spiritual to take precedence. It is instructive to see what happens to these very people as their squat strength goes up.” :lol:

As a person who used to scoff at physical strength, I agree with him wholeheartedly now.

Gentleman Argentum wrote:
My last date, the woman told me that I look better than my profile, that my profile pictures did not even do me justice. :heart:

I take that to mean I must be doing something right.


Yeah, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Gentleman Argentum wrote:
Yes, that's terrible, all of it.


Especially when they start explaining how it's all "genetics".


_________________
2011: Your Aspie score: 139 of 200. Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 67 of 200. You are very likely an Aspie.
2021: Your broader autism cluster (Aspie) score: 106 of 200. Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 121 of 200. You have both broader autism cluster and neurotypical traits.
I'm getting better at this stuff!