Aug '16 Photo/Video Check-In

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Continuing the discussion from Feb '16 Photo/Video Check-In:

This is an idea to improve the forum community, but this thread absolutely does not reflect any type of “official” T-Nation site membership requirement. It’s an idea that’s been percolating for a while, and I’m just some schmoe on the forum (okay, maybe that’s not so accurate anymore) who figured I’d start a thread about it.

It’s a check-in, not a call-out. The idea is to improve the sense of community and remind us all that, no matter what we post about here and what initially brought us to the site, the one common trait that every forum member should have is a consistent drive to attack our training and see results, period.

I’m asking for all forum members to post a current snapshot of themselves. And let’s try not to get too distracted or off-topic with critiques of what gets posted. There should end up being more posts with images attached, than not.

If your goals are physique-based - you want to get bigger or get leaner or get bigger and leaner - toss up a current pic.

If your goals are performance-based - the powerlifter, the fighter, the Olympic lifter, etc. - you’re not excused. You’re invited to post a short video clip from a recent training session.

I’m just asking you to participate and play a role in improving the quality of the forum as a whole by reinforcing the idea that T-Nation members know how to do more than just rack up high post counts in the non-training-related sections of the site.

Concerned about staying anonymous? Sites like pixlr and fotoflexer are free Photoshop-like websites that make it ridiculously simple to edit/blur/obscure your face, identifying tattoos, birthmarks, background detail, or anything else that might threaten your anonymity.

So, no excuses.

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My proudest lift so far - 480 squat with no wraps from my meet last weekend. Wraps are in the mail and training for my next meet begins tonight. Bout to take this baby well over 500.

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Decided to actually train again…

2560×1440 2.83 MB

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From last week:

My stance for cleans is closer than my pressing stance but I didn’t adjust, so I ended up on my toes. Still calling it a strict press since there’s no leg drive and I don’t think “calf drive” is a thing for presses.

So… here’s the conversation that happened in my head for the second rep. “Okay, good clean. Now, breath, glutes, and press. Wait, nope, not going. Okay, try again. Haha, wtf, not a push press, dummy. Okay, well, this is taking too long and now you’re done. Might as well push press it. Go.”

For giggles after, I gave this a shot:

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I’ve dropped from 310+ in November to about 265 right now with no real loss of strength. I am even setting some minor PR’s, and still having as much fun with barbells as I’ve ever had.

Here’s my most recent squat set, beating my previous best of 15 reps at 315. My sights are set on 20 reps with 315.

I pulled 600 the other week, a 15lb PR, but the video is shit. I still had the urge to hoist something heavy last week, so I did, and got a better video of the pull. Next time I will remember both bar collars.

I’m also doing ugly fat boy pullups now, and I hit a set of 10 for the first time in my life on Friday. So another PR there, I guess. Here’s a set of 8 from the other week.

In other news, I still have pretty mediocre pressing strength and I still have a lot of fat to lose. I’m not likely to solve the former problem anytime soon, but I’m pleased with my progress on the latter.

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@twojarslave That is fantastic progress

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Great stuff guys. I’m coming back from a bad tibial fracture in January (skiing injury) and hit a 197.5kg (435lb) trap bar deadlift PR last month. Also got married.

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Recent lifting:
301 pound clean

272 pound power clean

198 pound snatch

The snatch weight isn’t the important part (I can power snatch more than that), the important part is that I now have the shoulder mobility to do a full snatch. I’m also now regularly back squatting and am even back into doing some light deadlifting.

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Lots of really cool stuff here.

@max13: nice squat!

@Chris_Colucci: the pause on the chest in that second rep is hilarious (and honestly I’m surprised that you tried after the grinder that was your first press, haha).

@twojarslave: we’ve chatted several times on your training log, so keep it up.

@furo: marriage PR, nice. Also, seems like that trap-bar DL is progressing well for you.

@DoubleDuce: that 300-pound full clean! What a grind!

Finally, here’s my contibution: a 500-pound deadlift @ bodyweight 217.

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Ya, that was pretty beastly.

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Yeah, I have to get my legs stronger. I’m now pretty easily
racking 140 KG (308 pounds) but I can’t stand up with it.

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At the time, it felt easier than it ended up looking.

[quote=“twojarslave, post:5, topic:220043”]
I’ve dropped from 310+ in November to about 265 right now with no real loss of strength. I am even setting some minor PR’s, and still having as much fun with barbells as I’ve ever had.[/quote]
So basically, you’re pretty much everything “adopting the lifting lifestyle” is supposed to be. You started training, dropped fat, built crazy strength, and changed habits with simple, consistent steps. Fucking awesome, man.

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I’m the opposite: my max deadlift attempts usually feel like my head is about to explode, then I watch the video and tell myself “Hm, I think I’m good for more.”

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All this overhead work has got my blood goin!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIkkANch2I3/

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@ActivitiesGuy this was a huge revelation for me also. I never recorded myself lifting but when I finally did, I realized I was bailing on deadlifts way too early when they felt heavy. Had to actually see how fast I was moving the weight to realize that if I hung in there to grind it out I would likely make it.

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Training for a strongman show, so I’ve got a couple fairly recent vids. A 405 front squat and a 405 deadlift for max reps in a minute.

And here’s a video that I don’t think I shared from earlier this year, in April. 345x20 back squat. I did 355 the next week for 20 but didn’t get it on video. That’s as high as I went with these.

Bodyweight is just under 200 right now.

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That’s some serious shakin’ going on as you re-racked the weight, haha.

Nice lift!

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Some great work in here.

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it felt even worse than it looked!!! lol.

So the next week I did 375 on front squat with a clean grip and no wraps instead of the cross hand and wrapped. The grip was much more stable. I’ll be doing that going forward. It’ll be interesting to see how the 400+ loads feel with the clean grip when I try wrapping again.

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I swore (to myself) that I would be ready to participate in this month’s check-in. I’m not, exactly. This pic was taken in May, after a big post-injury push. I’m again recovering from an injury, but wasn’t sidelined for very long before acting (got a rower so I’m not running-dependent).

Anyway, this is not impressive in any regard unless you bear in mind that I’ve had four c-sections and have now topped 50, in which case - well, I’m proud of myself for having held it together to this extent. I’m hoping to drop a couple more pounds and see what differences a month of rowing will make. It’s definitely hitting my upper body, so I’m hoping for lifting gains as well. And then, MAYBE, some muscle. I measured my guns, so I’ll know if I’m getting swole. : )

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