You have NO right (Rant mode)

I was having a chat with a friend a few weeks back and he commented that my precious home gym will be lying in my living room collecting dust sooner or later.

If he would have said that a few years back I would have given him a snide remark as a reply and we will no longer be friends.

But I just looked at him square in the eyes and told him I have been training consistently for about 5 years now.  Having shared that little detail with him, does he think that my barbell would collect dust?

He changed the subject after that.  Rightfully so.  I have enough ammo to put bullets the size of a bowling ball through his body if he so choose to continue with the conversation.

You see, people who do not train consistently do not have the right to make any kind of statements about my training lifestyle.

People whose idea of training revolves around a few sets of benchpress and bicep curls do not have the right to make any kind of statements about my training lifestyle.

People who have the audacity to say they don't need to train legs because it could grow big too easily (seriously... you gotta be shitting me!) do not have the right to make any kind of statements about my training lifestyle.

You do not deserve to make any kind of condescending statements about my training when you:

Do not bust your ass each day trying to achieve some kind of PR (be it reps or weight).

Do not have the discipline and self control to not go overboard when you have your nights out.

Do not have the discipline and self control to stick to a schedule.

Do not spend a bit of time and/or cash to gain some knowledge about training and nutrition.

So until you walk the talk, you can shut your stinking trap and leave me be.

I'm baaaacccckkkkk

Phew!  Looks like I have been away for a month at least.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been feeling pretty crappy, stressed out and downright bitchy.  I have continued with my training but somehow I didn't look forward to it.  I still go through the sessions out of habit and I know even though I feel shitty now, I always feel better after sweating it out.

Last night was leg day and boy.... was it one of the better leg days that I've had in quite some time!  I did:

1)  Glute bridges (still not strong enough... yesterday was 2 sets of 40kg for 20 reps.  I'm trying to build up to a bigger weight and then transition into barbell hip thrusts which are much harder).  Burnt like crazy though.

2) Lumberjack squats.  I was supposed to hit some back squats but to be honest I didn't feel like it.  So I substituted with a few sets of high rep lumberjack squats which was better on my knees and gave my glutes a real nice pump.

3) Landmine reverse lunges.  Again this was a substitution. I'm supposed to do barbell reverse lunges.  But I know my form would suck so I stuck to a 'safer' variation that gives similar effects.

4) Farmer's Walks.  I didn't realize how much I missed this particular exercise.  Carried 15kg  for a duration of 30 seconds for each arm.

I felt really, really good after that session and ate like a king afterwards.  Good times.

Some setbacks

I lost weight.  Sigh.

Work stress is getting to me.  When I'm stressed I tend to not have any appetite.  So even though my training has been still fairly consistent, the fact that I've not been eating well has taken its toll.

And I'm tired throughout this month.  Hoping to recover this weekend.

So no late night outs for me.

A quick weekend escape

Sometimes you just need to get away from structured training and just do what you damn well please.  For me that means frolicking by the beach, practice my swimming skills in the salty sea and get a nice big dose of vitamin D while I'm at it.

Having a peri-workout meal.  Got out of the water for just enough time to get some calories in.  Then its back into the water.

Pretending to be on a photo shoot and started making silly poses.

I hate rides actually.  But these three enjoyed it.  But you can't tell from the screams of terror.

Zercher Squats

One of the main reasons why I developed a creaky knee is because I used to back squat almost exclusively, which puts a lot more stress on the knees. Plus, when I squat heavy my form tends to deteriorate and that also brings undue stress to the knees.

Front squats actually solve the problem of bad form as it forces to keep my body upright.  I hate front squats though.  The main reason being I can't quite get the hang of racking the barbell so near to my throat.  I always feel like I'm choking.

Recently I've gravitated more towards the goblet squat and the lumberjack squat which are cousins to the front squat.

Then I re-discovered the Zercher squat.  I've known about the Zercher squat for quite some time but for some reason I never bothered to try it myself.  Maybe it's because it looks pretty alien.  You don't rest you barbell on your traps, nor do you risk choking yourself with the barbell like how the front squat position makes me feel.

With the Zercher squat, you rest the barbell on the crook of your elbows.  Don't get me wrong, it's gonna get uncomfortable once you're able to lift heavy.  That's why I tend to cushion the barbell with something soft just to try to reduce the discomfort.

But that's the only minus point of the Zercher.  This variation will be a mainstay in my training programmes because:

1. It forces me to stay upright, therefore my form is automatically correct
2. No spinal loading
3. I can load more weights than I can compared to goblet squats and lumberjack squats
4. You can still hit the Zercher squat even if you don't have a squat rack

For a demo of how the Zercher squat is done, check out the vid below.