Thanks Jim and Others

About 18 months ago, I stopped martial arts pretty much for good, and just lifted with lots of dumbbells and single leg exercises and plyometrics that I had migrated towards over the 12 years of martial arts. With a troubled knee and back at 40, I figured I would be 175lb at 6 ft tall and start doing triathlons or something to finish my time on earth.

Nine months later, I felt the need to squat again, and found the 531 workout on T-Nation. I bought a squat rack for my garage, started using 531 on my major exercise and my assistance exercises were dumbbell and kettlebell complexes that exhausted me because I was stupid and didn’t realize it. I couldn’t squat worth shit and I never could deadlift normally in my 20’s - so I bought a trap bar.

I alternated between squats and deadlifts per month because they were both terrible and I kept fucking up my back and knee - so tried harder. I bought a hip belt to squat with…now the pain was either my back OR my knee, but not both :slight_smile:

Jim and y’all gave me some advice on full ROM and going to conventional deadlift, so fuck it - I watched Mark Rippetoe on youtube and squatted everyday for two weeks - every time I walked by the garage, I went in and did some squats. It worked, and now the hip belt is shelved. I tried the same with deadlifts, but failed, and then failed again, so I stuck with the trap bar. Jim says to stick with one until you reach your goal.

But last night, I went conventional anyways - fuck Rippetoe’s form guidance, Jim’s is better - so I just reached down and pulled it up - laddered up to my goal weight and back down the ladder. Fuck you deadlift. I shelved the trap bar this morning.

Just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to everyone on this forum and especially Jim. Had I not found your 531 article, I may have never have gathered the momentum and direction to begin my trek out of the land of vag.

This is a testament to the power of having actual goals. You decided what was important to you, took steps to achieve it and cut the things that were holding you back.