STAY/GET BACK IN SHAPE VOL 3.0 -- A New Niketalk = A New Thread

The irony here being that I actually do respect you and bwood's lifts regardless of relative strength. And unlike both of you I don't take any jokes about my weight or lifts to heart, thus the tone of my responses isn't ever butthurt. Keep up the good work, bro.
 
A year ago today I decided I needed a change in my life. Living on my own since 18 and focusing on my career led me to bad habits of eating out EVERY single day. I remember one year I went from 135 lbs to 160 lbs, I thought it was the best thing ever for me but then realized I turned out to be what's consider skinny fat. Jay z status haha. I started watching transformation videos on YouTube and quickly learned how possible it is to transform your body. I knew I had to complete change my diet and learning about nutrition was the first thing I had to do before starting anything. Since then I started cooking all my meals and drinking only water still today (had probably 7-10 beers in total) and wow no one told me how much money I would save from cooking my own food. It's been great! I knew if I went to the gym JUST to gain muscle I would have got bored in 2-3 months and quit. I needed something to challenge myself everyday, every week, every rep. In that same week I learned about powerlifting and decided to base my program around that with some hypertrophy after my main movements. A year ago I started at 155 lbs and today weighed in at 181 lbs (5'10"), I'm guessing I lost about 3-5 lbs of fat. I gained 26 lbs in one year! Probably the norm for beginners? Going to stay on this surplus for another year then back down to 8-12% body fat. Probably the best thing I learned from this past year, which I have applied to my day to day life outside the gym is consistently and dedication takes you a long way. I wake up with energy now, I wake up happy and always with a positive attitude. Just sharing my story with guys hopefully motivate/teach someone what I've learned this past year.

Current 1RP Max:

Bench: 245 lbs
Squat: 370 lbs - 4 months ago (going to attempt 405 soon)
Deadlift: 425 lbs
 
I have no idea how some people even consider skipping leg day. Today I had this long elaborate plan of stuff I wanted to do and instead just ended up squatting the whole time. That happens a lot. Favorite lift by far.

(I go when the gym is mostly empty and let people work in with me before I'm accused of hogging the squat rack
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For realz! On my 10x3 lower power I have accessiores but after squats Im dunzo 
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Leg day for me. Well deadlifts and front squats. Ive gotten so accustomed to front squats that I cant even back squat anymore. My back squat had TERRIBLE form. Any exercise I can add to my front squat to "even it out" with a back squat?
 
Just practice, dog. It just comes from not doing it enough.

When I was doing front squats a lot, my back squat form would suffer until I started doing enough of it again, and vice versa.
 
My back squat has always been bad, my mobility sucks and trust me I worked at it for months. My friends always gave me the eh look whenever I did it, and the final straw was when I nearly passed out after tweaking my back during a set.
 
When ever I try to front squat or even low bar squat i find myself leaning forward.
 
Leg day for me. Well deadlifts and front squats. Ive gotten so accustomed to front squats that I cant even back squat anymore. My back squat had TERRIBLE form. Any exercise I can add to my front squat to "even it out" with a back squat?
Getting your quads and hamstrings stronger will always help your squat but for form its just better to keep doing them over and over again. Post a video and Ill see what needs help.

When I first started squatting I hated it, but over time I've come to love it and can even hit my bodyweight now.
 
So I've been back in the gym consistently for three months. I'm trying to concentrate on chest and abs to eliminate the moobs and get my abs showing again. Problem is my weight isn't going down. I feel much better, but I want to get down to 200 from 233.
 
Getting your quads and hamstrings stronger will always help your squat but for form its just better to keep doing them over and over again. Post a video and Ill see what needs help.

When I first started squatting I hated it, but over time I've come to love it and can even hit my bodyweight now.

How do u send videos through pm here? I took a vid 2 weeks ago
 
Getting your quads and hamstrings stronger will always help your squat but for form its just better to keep doing them over and over again. Post a video and Ill see what needs help.

When I first started squatting I hated it, but over time I've come to love it and can even hit my bodyweight now.

Pretty much all this.

If you want your squat to get better, just squat more.

Squatting will help your squat mobility.

I'd recommend squatting 3 times a week to anyone trying to drastically improve their form.
 
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Pretty much all this.

If you want your squat to get better, just squat more.

Squatting will help your squat mobility.

I'd recommend squatting 3 times a week to anyone trying to drastically improve their form.

don't sleep on stretching either, equally important imo
 
it took me over a year to get parallel on back squat with just a plate on the bar and have my back relatively straight up. i watched tons of vids on youtube. i tried going wider stance and kept pulling something in my groin that would take a month to heal each time. i just kept at it and when i found a stance that was comfortable enough, i did them over and over. ended my squat sessions doing long paused goblet squats. nowadays, i really enjoy back squats. front squats, not so much.
 
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