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Thread: Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

  1. #661
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Wolf, the squat set was legit. Nice work!

    I almost went to sleep waiting for the first 1:40 to go by, but it was worth it just to see the socks again.

  2. #662
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    Apr 2010
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    Warning: 90% of this will be me complaining. For those who don't give a shit about me and my Manhattan Gym Problems, skip to the bottom:

    Horrible day today. I was all out of sorts. First day at the new gym, which was nice because I didn't have to carry my clothes, belt, shoes, chalk, and microplates with me to the subway, down the stairs, back up the stairs, and to the gym. For the first time in forever. Literally.

    But despite the place billing itself as NYC's most hardcore gym, this just means they have at least two machines to work every bodypart. It's a BB gym. Huge, beautiful space with exposed brick and 30' high ceilings used for...about 100 selectorized and plate loaded machines. There are two angled squat racks and one power rack stuffed into the corner, where there's about 3 inches of space between the end of one bar and the beginning of the next, and the ceiling is only about 8' tall. Fuck me. Also shit bars, of course. They do have 4 (that I saw) round 45lb iron plates, but the rest hex plates. And some plates are inaccessible because everything is so close together that you can't get to it without moving several other pieces of heavy equipment.

    Also, the power rack doesn't have safety bars low enough to rack pull from. One of the angles squat racks has spotter arms that do go to approx the right position for rack pulls (maybe 1/2 an inch to an inch too high, but do-able). But that rack's spotter arms' highest position is too low for actual use while squatting. So if you want to squat and be able to fail, you have to use the power rack. And press in there, too, because there's a light fixture over the squat rack with spotter arms, so can't press there. So you have to squat and press in the power rack, then move over to the angled squat rack with spotter arms for rack pulls. And hope everything is available when you need it. Which it wasn't today as you'll see.

    Except one problem. When I get there - and this is 2pm, mind you, the least busy time in any gym's day - there's a guy curling in the power rack. No I'm not shitting you. He's curling 55lbs and taking up the only power rack to do so. I figure he won't be long so I start warming up on a squat rack. He proceeds to do 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, and 105 lb curls, all waiting about 3 minutes between sets. Then shrugs with 115 for several sets. He was in there for about 40 minutes, not counting any time before I got there.

    So I ended up doing my first two sets on the squat rack with no option for failure. Not usually a problem on volume day, but it's nice to have them there just in case.

    Something felt very off on the first set. 3 reps in I realized I forgot my belt. Fuck me. twice. Because I usually pack a big backpack full of all my stuff, and today I didn't do that because this new gym is close. The change from my usual routine threw me off and I forgot to bring my belt. No wonder the first set was so hard.

    I live very close by, so went home, got belt, came back. Next set sucked too. I felt like my right lumbar erectors were just screaming. Haven't had that happen in a long time. I checked the bar, and besides for being a cheap ass shitty bar, also realized I had loaded one side in correctly. Instead of 390, I had an extra 5 on the right side and had done 395 - unbalanced - for the first two sets of 5. Fuck me again. Twice.

    By this time the dude left the rack (asshole), so I moved everything over there since I felt so shitty and was actually worried I might need the spotter arms. Unloaded my bar, moved over to the power rack, loaded it back up (correctly) to 390 for two more sets of 5.

    Then, for the first time I can remember, I voluntarily chose to forgo a work set. Today was just a shit day and that 5th set wasn't in the books. In that god damn cramped little corner of what could be the absolutely most beautiful gym in Manhattan. Dammit.

    Press went ok. Moved back over to the spotter armed squat rack for rack pulls. Went a little light since first time doing them in almost 3 months, but went ok.

    I don't know if I can stay at this gym. It's really pretty horrible. I pre-paid for 6 months but have 3 days to cancel. I might. Even though I just spent $700 on equipment from Rogue (which hasn't yet arrived) so I could at least use a decent bar and have some bumpers for cleans there. But it's such a horrible area to lift in. There's barely space for deadlifts or cleans anyway. God dammit!!!

    Forgot to add that the gym storage closet is back there by the rack. So about 20 separate times, gym maintenance staff had to walk back and forth through the extremely narrow space of the little area where the racks are, which they also crammed with a few selectorized pieces. They would do this while I was in the middle of a set, coming very close to me. Several times, they clanged into my equipment while walking by carrying pr pushing some rolling stuff. None of these times was I actually in the middle of a set, or someone might have gotten killed. So ya. Fuck me.

    Actual lifts:

    Squat
    warm up to 395x5x2 (unevenly loaded by mistake), 390x5x2
    Notes: Right erectors fatigued and screaming

    Press
    Warm up to 196.75x5x3 - PR
    Notes: Not sure how meaningful this PR is since bar and all plates are different than before, so no idea on actual weight. But never done more than 195 for 3 sets of 5 before.

    Rack Pulls
    225x4, 365x2, 405x1, 495x1, 525x5
    Notes: A little harder than I expected, in the hamstrings no less. No problem with the rogue erector, which is what I was worried about.

    I feel very shitty and unaccomplished right now, and worried about if I can make it work at this place to hit a 550 (575 stretch) squat and 630 (650 stretch) deadlift this year.

    I won't even tell you how much horrible training - among the regular members, and the "personal trainers" that I saw during my time there. It was absolutely brutal. Funny thing is how many people actually squatted, but how few even went halfway down.

    God. Dammit.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 03-18-2013 at 02:47 PM.

  3. #663
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    Forgot to add that there's not a single straight bar for chins or pull-ups in the whole place. Lots of places to Lacerate the Lats though, don't worry. (That was for you, Paul)

  4. #664
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    Apr 2011
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    I would cancel. You are better off at NYSC than there. That squat rack area is ridiculously cramped.

    I still think Mid-town and Crunch are decent options.

  5. #665
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    Nov 2009
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    Oof. Haven't been to Mid City in a while, but it was heaven for Gillian and I. But we were not squatting at that time like we do now.

    You could always join the Plaza

  6. #666
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Israel View Post
    I would cancel. You are better off at NYSC than there. That squat rack area is ridiculously cramped.

    I still think Mid-town and Crunch are decent options.
    One thing I'm tired of is carrying the 20-25lbs of stuff all over town right before I lift. With a car it's no big deal, or even a short walk is fine. But I have to:
    - Walk to subway
    - Walk down stairs
    - Wait for subway
    - Stand on subway (usually)
    - Walk up stairs
    - Walk to gym

    all with 20-25lbs on my back and in my hands. I'm tired of that. It takes a lot out of you right before you need to lift heavy. I suppose they may have locker rentals for like $40 extra/month or something.

    Quote Originally Posted by Staci Rudnitsky View Post
    You could always join the Plaza
    Only like $20 grand a year, right?

  7. #667
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    Jan 2008
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    Kingwood TX
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    Kingwood Strength & Conditioning is always looking for qualified coaches......

  8. #668
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    I'll add for anyone who is wondering what the main reasons I chose this place are:

    1. There's no actually good gym to lift in within a reliable 25-minutes-each-way-or-less commute from where I live. Considering how long Volume Day, especially, takes and my coaching schedule, I can't take more than 50 minutes of total commuting time to and from the gym. So it's not like the other options I can get to are actual good lifting gyms. Each has its own significant drawback.

    2. This gym happens to be exceptionally close, so convenience factor is huge.

    3. Though not a PL or OL friendly gym, equipment and setup wise, it is friendly to hardcore BB-ers. So noise, deadlifting, chalk, etc...all those kind of things are fine. Not because a lot of people actually do them, but because they're no noisier or more disturbing than what the BB-ers do. This is not the case at most gyms in Manhattan, which have issues with deadlifting, much less cleans.

    4. Perhaps the biggest key: it's a small business, owned by a person, not a huge corporation with a stooge manager who has no power. So they're willing to let me keep my equipment (B&R bar and bumpers) locked up there. No other gym in Manhattan is likely to do this, and no other gym here that I know of is well equipped enough that I don't have to do that. Except Equinox Greenwich, which costs $200/month and is so busy that it's just as likely that when I get there, someone is using their 1 B&R bar and/or rack and/or platform to do wrist curls or upright rows.

    So as horrible as this place is, it's not clear there's a better option that I can get to. I'd love to head out to Brooklyn, but at a 45-50 minute commute each way (without any subway delays), I just don't have the time on a regular basis.

    Dana (Z, not Rip's Sub) was nice enough to put me in touch with the owner of the just opened Crossfit Gantry in LIC, and the owner Jay was the only Crossfit I've tried to get in touch with who was willing to let me do my own open gym membership, but it's just a bit too far for me to get to and from in time. It's 25-30 minutes each way if everything runs smoothly, but could easily be 40 depending on subways.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 03-18-2013 at 09:33 PM.

  9. #669
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    So when're you gonna move Jersey so you can train with me?

  10. #670
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    Apr 2010
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    starting strength coach development program
    Even though it was recovery day, felt a lot better today. Right upper lumbar/thoracic erector still a little hot, but less than Monday. Squats felt lighter today even though I went heavier than usual on recovery day.

    Squat
    45x5x2, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 355x2, 385x1x3 (3 singles)
    Notes: I wasn't as discombobulated and out of sorts as I was Monday, and I also got the one power rack because I came in earlier than that curlshrug douche (who still came in at 2pm and went straight to the power rack and curled again today, dammit).
    Knees behaved better today as well. Not perfect, but better, considering Monday was a shit show. Not sure what I'm gonna do Friday yet, will have to play by ear.

    Chin-ups
    10,10,10,5 paused
    Notes: As I mentioned Monday, there's no actual chin-up bar anywhere, but there's angled handles that allow almost complete supination. They're attached to a cable crossover that's not very high off the ground though, so I have to cross ankles and lift my legs up behind me to do them from a hang. Seemed to make it easier, because the 10's felt easier than usual. Did a last set of 5 with a pause at the bottom of each.

    DB Bench
    40x8, 50x8, 60x8, 70x8, 80x8
    Notes: Easy, and actually felt fine on the shoulder. Was happy with how easy the 80's were, considering I haven't benched in 3.5 months. Last time I tried DB Bench (maybe 4 weeks ago?) the shoulder wasn't completely happy with them yet, so good to see progress, even if slow.

    Conditioning
    Old Man Runs: 1 min walk, 1 min run x 5, then two 30 second faster runs
    Started at 5.5, finished at 8.1. Two runs @ 9.5 and 10.0. Treadmills are lame.

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