Soul Splint

Haha, right on. If you guys get a group shot I'll take a solo pic.

Aw man, I'm gonna miss the group workout

Yep, I am indeed familiar with 5/3/1. Good program. Sounds like you're on the right track to build some serious power behind those registered weapons.

Awesomesauce, congrats on the belt! When it comes to practical or 'functional' strength, compound exercises are king. And since you also described a desire for 'burst strength,' I'd start training heavily in exercises that provide the most explosive power, especially Olympic lifts. If you're not familiar with them, look into exercises such as cleans, power cleans, clean and jerk, etc. HOWEVER, these exercises require very good form, and you'll likely want to find someone who can help instruct you. On top of the Oly lifts, I would start training in low rep ranges on other compound movements such as squats and their variations (front squats FTW!), deadlifts and their variations, pullups, bench press, overhead press, etc. Avoid isolation work (curls, crunches, tricep extensions, etc.), and focus on the compound movements. Isos are great for tweaking aesthetics and addressing certain possible weak points to gain strength on a compound lift, but for what you're describing, they'll mostly be a waste of time and energy.

^ Thanks. I hover around 190 usually, but I'm at about 195 right now and making a strong push to break 200 by early next year. I'm also 6'3, which isn't very helpful when it comes to lifting. What makes me think my migraine was not related to lifting was that every single variable I can think of up to my lifting session was exactly as it usually is during a workday. Lifted while fasted, same hydration, amount of sleep, preworkout, normal work routine, etc. *shrug*

Two new PRs on 5-rep maxes yesterday, bros. I got 240 for 5 on squats (ass to grass, of course), and 300 for 5 on deadlifts. Nothing astounding, but I used to be built like an anorexic flamingo, so I'm pretty happy about it. I'm hoping these were totally unrelated to me getting my first-ever migraine about half an hour later. Definitely brought me down from my lifting/PR high in a hurry.

Best of luck! Remind yourself that you're well-prepared for this.

Well, three days later than when you asked, but here goes: Because you expect the test to be grueling, I would not do anything above mildly strenuous for 4-5 days beforehand. Personally, I would reduce the volume of my training by around 50% for any of those training days falling within that window, and probably would not train at all for the 1-2 days directly before the test except for mild stretching/foam rolling etc. Your diet leading up to it depends a bit on the individual, but I would take it easy on the carbs (especially processed carbs such as pasta) until 1-2 days before the test. Then I would begin a moderate-high carb intake (40-60% of your daily calories) of mostly low-glycemic sources (lentils, sweet potatoes, etc.) Directly before the test (1-2 hours) you can add in some more of the higher-glycemic sources, such as bananas. PM me if you want to discuss further. Good luck!

I'm guessing the iso-lateral plate press, aka the point-whore

Half stoked for you, half jealous. I have to get down to damn near emaciated before my abs start to pop. Just the way they are.

I am sadface for you. Hope it feels better quickly. I remember being amazed when I really came to grips with how much of a mental game lifting can be.

Touché, but to be fair, practically everything about that guy screams what an inexperienced lifter he is. But I appreciate your concern for my back (and face, apparently ). Nice running pic, too. Finish line photos are the best.

Deadlift is moving on up. Approx. 6 months ago, my 3-rep max was 320, and it was far from pretty (max effort, wore me out, form broke down, etc). Today, I pulled 300 with clean form for 6, 5, 4, 4, and 3 reps. Am happy.

Nice and fun. How about Cranky's Concierto? Or the DK Rhap...sody?

Seeing as this is how Rocky got in good enough shape to challenge and eventually beat Apollo Creed, this has got be worth 10k at least.

This post deserves all kinds of props. The fact that you are enjoying yourself and are excited about what's on the road ahead is a wonderful and addictive thing. I have no doubt you are going to reach your goal and go beyond. Please keep us updated on your progress!

I guess I left myself open for that one...yeah, I would definitely be backing stuff up, the question in my case is where to? Thanks for the links and breakdown. I think I'm ever so slightly leaning toward this, the standard and an external later. If the 1 TB console looked good or if I had been looking forward to COD this choice would be easy... The other side of the option A argument that you kind of touched on is that I may end up needing external storage anyway even with the 1 TB, and by that point the price between a 1 and 2 TB external would be pretty negligible. It's almost negligible now. GAH! What to do. At least I have until Nov. 2 to decide, when all consoles and bundles drop another $50 in price.

Hey guys, I have some questions for those of you who wouldn't mind helping me out. Long story short, I've been saving gift cards for a couple of years, and it's now time for a new console. I'll be getting an Xbox One, but I need help in making a decision (posted this in community instead of Xbox thread because all console owners will likely have an opinion on this). The standard console comes with 500 GB. There's no way that will last, so here's what I'm considering: Option A: Buy the COD Advanced Warfare bundle ($100 more expensive), which comes with a 1 TB console. It's ugly as sin, and I didn't care much about the game at first, but I do enjoy shooters so would probably have fun with it. My main reason for doing this is the upgraded space, which although 500 more GBs isn't that much, I figure the drive will be more reliable than an external. However, I may eventually run out of space on this one, too. Option B: Buy a standard console and plan on getting a portable external drive later. Off the top of my head, four games stand out that I'll really want now/soon (Sunset Overdrive, Master Chief Collection, Dragon Age Inquisition and Shadow of Mordor), so I don't anticipate running out of room very soon. My concern is instances I've read/heard about in which people's external drives fail more easily than OP products. From what I've read no brand seems to be immune to this, but I have no experience with external drives myself. Also, I understand the external drive would be cheaper and would offer better performance than the Xbox's internal drive, but my main concern is reliability. I want it to still work after 5-10 years, preferably longer. I would be interested in a one or two TB drive, if I bought one. So what's my best option, factoring in these variables? Of course I don't want to spend more money than I have to, but I even more so don't want something breaking on me for no reason. And if anyone says "Option C, buy a PS4/Wii U," I will hunt you down.

Google 'meat slop' recipes. Can make it however you want with tons of different ingredients, probably the easiest thing in the world to keep making variations of it in a crock pot. That. Sucks. So. Bad. Be careful who you say that around This is exactly why I am so, so careful on my deadlifts, though. However, injuries like that can happen on a variety of exercises. Deadlift is probably most common because of the amount of people who do it incorrectly. More than half of the deadlifters in my gym do it with their backs bent into the shape of a horseshoe. Good for you, don't underestimate what building up your back can do for overall strength as well as your posture. Keep it up And TC, as far as your 5k goes, that sounds like a pretty awesome time, but I despise running, so my experience is super-limited.

Today's training session brought to you by the letter 'uunnnngggghhhhh.' So, I tried something a bit different today for the deadlift portion of my session. Five work sets of deadlifts, followed by four supersets of Romanian deadlifts and standing leg curls. I have a feeling my inner-toddler will be doing the walking tomorrow.

Wow. That's perhaps the worst number to have to skip, I use 15s all the time. Back when I only worked out at home, there was a 2-3 month period where I had 5s and 15s but no 10s, so I would strap on some 2 lb wrist weights while using the 5s to equate to 7 lbs, which helped a bit. Maybe you can find a similar hack.

Hmm. Off the top of my head, I'd say you're either allergic to something in your gym (like mold) or you're catching stuff from your fellow gym-goers. If you don't already, make sure you avoid touching your face/mouth etc. during your workout, then wash your hands really well after you're finished. To cement my point, yesterday as I was getting dressed after training three guys came in within about five minutes of each other to use the stalls. NONE of them washed their hands after, and the last one didn't even flush. Just, eww.

Completely agree, weighted pulls were definitely the biggest factor behind the change in my back.

Can I brag for a second? Plz? Only because upper-body stuff used to be so difficult for me, especially pull-ups. When I first started doing wide-grip pullups, I did 7 reps on my first-ever set (this was about 8-9 months ago). Yesterday, I did 8 reps on my SIXTH set. First set was six reps with a 25-pound weight. Full-extension on every.single.rep. I was STOKED.

Take before pics. LOTS OF THEM. Wish so badly I had done this, it's a huge motivator down the road to see how far you've come. Congrats on the new journey.