That shit is annoying. I know my E2 is getting too high when I get heartburn for no reason and when I start getting emotional about stupid shit.

I missed my AI for a couple doses before the Superbowl and I almost cried like a little girl when they showed Travis and Taylor together.

or maybe it was justa bit dusty.
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So originally, I thought that HIIT was pretty much as you described it above. But after a couple weeks of doing some research, I lit upon Mike Mentzer's version of HIIT, and began doing it his way (mostly), which looks something like this:
https://www.muscleandfitness.com/fle...nsity-workout/


And this is basically the template I've been using for about 3 months now. Seems to have worked for my back/chest/arms, with noticeable improvement/gains in those areas.

Overall, I'd say I was happy with the results that I got over the past 3.5-4 months. Going back to a more conventional workout plan next week, but I'm planning on going back to Mentzer's HIIT program in the fall.
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I tried to send via PM, but your inbox is full. I'll send here... none of you weirdos jump into my son's instagram DMs telling him his dad is an asshole on here:

How was Windrock? We had a great long weekend. My kid's race frame from GT didn't come in time, so we had to build up my bike (Stumpy Evo Alloy) to ride last minute. We probably should have just had him race his bike from the last couple of years, but it's really small on him. Anyway, we tempted fate and fate bit us.

Jodie from BTR, who is always awesome, helped us sort through a lot of problems in the leadup to race, and the bike was feeling pretty dialed on race day.

The plan was to take Stage 1 fairly easy, as he's been having issues with arm pump and just wanted to stay clean and build pace through the day. He finished 7th in U21 Pro for Stage 1 (6:58, I think). We were pretty stoked on that, as he was hoping for a finish between 5th and 10th and really just wanted to stack times with his peers to see where he stands with the folks he'll be racing at nationals. Top 3 u21 are all closer to 20 years of age, and he's 16. So we were happy with stage 1.

Stage 2: rear wheel blew up and bike seized up sending him OTB with a big crash of the bike into rocks. He had to walk down and ended up losing any chance of a decent finish as he was 3 minutes off the pace due to the mechanical. Gets to the bottom, and crank is also bent and bars are loose. Straighten crank sort of (made for weird foot position when pushing into corners). Swap out wheel, tighten and straighten bars, let's go. Attitude is still good because he just wanted to throw down two more runs and see where he stacked.

Stage 3: Feeling strong, then pushes into corner. We'd had problem with the starnut backing out, and it happened again and bars turned. Major crash. He thought he'd broken ribs. Lays on side of trail then realizes only knocked the breath out of him. Lost over a minute on the stage due to crash.

Stage 4: Just finish at this point. 12th on this stage.

Rough day, but he was stoked on the pace on stage 1. Learned a lot and had a great time riding and hanging with folks.

Coolest thing was the number of parents and other riders talking about how good his attitude remained when things were going to shit. I have no idea where he got that grit and growth mindset, but it's pretty awesome to see. We usually travel with his older brother (who is on the spectrum) and mom, and it was pretty fun for it to just be the two of us road dogging it.

I think I've sent it to you before, but this is his instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/floganmtb/

We may end up doing some GoNuts and other races this year (and obviously Nats), so would love to officially say , "Hello" if you're at any.
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I've watched some stuff on even lower rep ranges and lately have heard a few mentions of mixed rep ranges. I've found it interesting because I've been pretty consistent at improving from 8 reps and then increasing weight when I can do 12 reps.

The main reason is being old and worrying about joints, but considering maybe dropping into <8 here and there.

re: 'beyond failure' of sorts, I've been doing drop sets for a little while on leg day.... I don't track so close that I can say whether there's been significant increase in progress per workout compared to before, but it's at least a quicker way to add a few sets at the end of a workout. And it feels accomplished to be super wobbly heading out of the gym, heh.



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Everyone keeping up on fitness goals? I committed to a powerlifting meet in August. Is a sanctioned meet so numbers will be documented on https://www.openpowerlifting.org/

Is a smaller organization so i should end with national records for my age/weight in their record books.
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Good luck bro.

I took a week off for my birthday I needed a break then got sick. So Ive worked out once in 2 weeks. Ate like shit too. I plan on getting back at it tomorrow
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Anyone have any issues with hamstring tightness?

I’ve been trying to get back into sprinting and my hamstrings are by far the limiting factor. I can’t get to 80% without feeling like my hamstrings are going to rip off the bone.

I’ve done some research and apparently extended periods of sitting down can cause your hammies to shorten. I also haven’t kept any sort of stretching routine over the last 15 years so I’m sure that doesn’t help.

I’ve been focusing on hitting leg curls just in case it’s a lack of strength or muscle imbalance issue while stretching from time to time but curious if any others have dealt with similar issues..
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Sitting is one of the most destructive things you can do for any soft tissue between the belly button and knees.

Stretching without weight is pretty useless.

I would look at doing straight and romanian deadlifts to target the hammys. on RDLs go to you feel it good in your hammy, hold it for a couple seconds and then explode back up. With each rep you should be able to increase the stretch a bit.
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Kind of. I thought I might be able to do a show during late summer or fall. I'm very close to being lean enough, but as anyone that has ever serously cut knows, you end up much smaller than you thought you'd be. I'm at like 210 lbs right now and super lean, but that would'nt be anywhere near big enough for my 6'2 frame in a classic physique category. I could try men's physique maybe, but wearing board shorts and not hitting real poses always seemed kind of lame to me.



I have a friend that just turned pro in IFBB bikini and she referred me to her coach, but man, it's expensive. I don't know if I'm willing to go that route.
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If you really want to compete and at a high level get a coach. Even those that are top of their game will work with a coach. Even those that are coaches themselves.
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Does anyone follow Paul Carter on IG?
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It's probably not just your hammys. Your hip adductors(?) are probably shortened as well.

When I began trying to try and run again after years off, I think it took 3-5 months to get most of my range of motion back. And I was stretching 5-6 days a week to get there. Pretty sure ta the time it took at least two months before I even noticed much improvement. Bottom line, you have to be committed and consistent to see results, once you've neglected those areas for decades.
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The thing that got really tight on me after getting an office job is a little muscle called the psoas. it goes from your lower spine, through your pelvis, and attaches to your groins. Sitting for long periods of time puts this muscle in a shortened position and that shortening can become chronic quite quickly. It caused a good amount of lower back pain, and kept me from being able to get good depth on squats. It got much better since I was able to move to a work from home position where I can get up and move around regularly without worying about who is watching me get up and leave the desk. Also, I got a kneeling chair and that helped.
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I hear you about the getting old part, lol. I'm pretty careful, maybe too careful, about how I lift these days as well. Doesn't help that I don't have anything like a regular partner/spotter right now since my trainer friend decided to go and get pregnant. Woman has no sense of priorities,:-).


I've had so many lower body/leg injuries over the years that I decided this year that I was going to go back to the fundamentals and focus on rebuilding my lower back, glutes and quads, before going back to heavy squats. So right now I'm doing a lot of Bulgarians, something called ATK stretches, those side squats, farmer's walks, etc. Lot of body weight and/or low weights. And a crap ton of stretches. Takes up a ton of time, so a lot of leg days I don't even get to quad extensions or hammy curl machines.

But just last week I finally started to feel more balanced, I'm able to drop deeper into squats, particularly in those side squats (brainfarting the actual name right now). I can finally get to the right depth, and my upper torso is still relatively upright, something that was impossible just a couple months ago.



Side question: is anyone using those workout programs I keep seeing on my FB feed? Is there one or two anyone would recommend? Looking to try something different than my usual.
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Depends on what type of lifting and your goals. A body building program will be shit for powerlifting or strongman, powerlifting shit for bodybuilding, strongman, etc...

If you can't afford or don't want so spend $ on a coach the free programs are better than nothing but they are not the greatest.

Part of a coach is to critique your weaknesses and strengths and program accordingly.
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