Board 8 > Fitness/Exercise/Health topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

iiaattgg posted...

im sure you are already aware, but it if you are working out with the intensity and consistency that you have shown in these topics, 100% of the population looks at you and sees someone in great shape with a desirable physique, regardless of if you are on a cut, a bulk or maintaining. I know youve got goals for yourself and those are important, but while you feel stressed at the mirror or the scale, just know that that self imposed disappointment should always be chased with the envy of basically everyone you walk by

Oh yeah I'm well aware lol.

I mean most of my lifts taking into account my body weight is considered elite for most strength standards. I'm 100% too hard on myself sometimes, but I think that's also somewhat 'normal' when you are a in the gym all the time, with other people who are also in the gym all the time, you can't help compare sometimes. Just a little body dysmorphia pops up from time to time.

It's not like mentally affecting me or anything, I just like instant results because who doesn't? haha. Since I don't see the progress from a day to day standpoint, I just want it to hit me like a brick wall at the end of the month and I'll being going holy shit, what a difference. I'm also aiming to get as lean as I ever been since I can really lean into my next bulk. I really want my next bulk to be amazing after all the new little things I've been learning over the years.

That being said, amazing leg day today. I wear sweats during the winter and I got a big confidence boost doing raised goblet squats in front of the mirror and seeing the contours of the muscles in my legs.

Fat lifts today

pull-ups 75x5 60x8 45x10
bent over rows 245x3x6
curls 35x3x20
lateral raise 25x28, 30x2x14
lat pull-down 215x7 220x5 225x3
barbell curl 80x3x10
overhead one arm cable row 50x3x12
rear delt machine 120x3x10
hammer curl 45x8 40x12 35x12
dumbell pullover 70x2x10

a decent leg day, still trying to heal from some injuries over the long haul but the weight has been progressing slowly but surely

front squat 185x8 205x5 225x2
hip thrusts 475x9 495x6 515x4 (I was programmed to get 10/7/4, but the bar was absolutely digging into the left side of my hip and I didnt find a good way to adjust it until the last set. Shit hurt lol)
deadlift 320x5 340x3 360x2 385x1 395x1
zercher squat 115x7 135x6 155x5 175x4 195x3 215x2 235x1

physique update, at least upper body anyway. After a few years of seemingly nonstop injuries/illness, Ive been very glad to put together a long run of consistency in the gym that has paid off both strength and aesthetics wise. On the flip side, being in my thirties also makes me feel like Im hanging on for dear life and its also harder to get your body to absolutely pop like it was in your 20s. Still very grateful and happy of course :)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/edd70ab2.jpg

Looking good!

I'm starting to tell that I am getting shredded. My biceps and triceps are getting very distinct lines, especially during a pump. Still not going to look in a mirror with my shirt off till the end of the month, but I think I'll be very satisfied with the results. Getting the squigly veins on my biceps too, that's fun. The actual best part is that my strength is still maintaining, majority of it anyway, I mean my bench has dropped from 285 to 245, squat from 335 to 300, deadlifts from 315 to 295(1reps).

Sorozone posted...

Looking good!

I'm starting to tell that I am getting shredded. My biceps and triceps are getting very distinct lines, especially during a pump. Still not going to look in a mirror with my shirt off till the end of the month, but I think I'll be very satisfied with the results. Getting the squigly veins on my biceps too, that's fun. The actual best part is that my strength is still maintaining, majority of it anyway, I mean my bench has dropped from 285 to 245, squat from 335 to 300, deadlifts from 315 to 295(1reps).

thats what always terrifies me about a cut. I like my numbers! Even going down a little bit is hard for my brain to accept, even if the results are great

Today was not the best lift, Ive been going hard lately so probably should have taken a rest day as it was a struggle across the board.

one major positive tho is I did lat push downs with the rope instead of the bar for the first time today, and hoooooooly f the difference is insane. Never going back

Lats is gonna be one of my main focuses on my upcoming bulk, that along with delts, and legs overall. I'll have to give that a try.

My normal walk/run trail/routine is snowed in so I had to stick to the regular ole fitness trail in the neighborhood but I'm noticing improvement in how much longer I can maintain my run/jog. I never actually stop to rest so after a big run I'll just start power walking to catch my breath instead. Right now my peak heartrate seems to be around 170-ish, resting heartrate is 52. Feeling good!

Yeah, it was like night and day. and I typically like the ones with the bar but this was infinitely better. Try to do it with a longer rope attachment if possible

Welp, was excited for today because Im off from work and was looking forward to a killer leg day.

Third set of squats strained the shit outta my back, lmao

I hate when that happens, total buzzkill. I hope the back is okay

my day was kind of similar. I dont want to say I was excited for the lift lol, but its been a lot of good workouts lately and Ive been riding that high. But last leg day I had the bar dig in a little too much on the hip thrusts that was causing some discomfort, and then today when I tried to HT it was far too painful and I realized its gonna be a few lifts for that to heal. Front squats I was a rep short on everything, had to cut the HTs out, and when it came time for the zerchers I was so disappointed that I just skipped it. Gonna take two rest days and get in a good headspace again

Yeah, good news is that I think it's the same thing I did to my back like over half a year ago when I strained it at work stretching too far to reach for something at an awkward angle, and it's not nearly as debilitating as it was last time. Last time I could barely walk after it happened because it hurt so much, and while it hurts right now it's not nearly the same level.

I think I may have mentioned it here, maybe not, but I injured my lower back/tailbone as a kid when I was 10-11 or so, by jumping and trying to buttsmack a ball and well, missed and landed straight on the field. Never told my parents and just kind of let it heal on it's own even though I couldn't even sit without being in pain. I'm also fairly certain it stunted my growth as a kid because I literally stopped growing after that injury and I was a giant of a 6th grader(5'8).

I should probably get that checked out, especially with these two back strains that I've had and they just so happen to be in the same lower back/tailbone area. Wouldn't entirely surprise me if there is at least some damage there.

That being said, fuck getting older, I never had this shit happen haha

Well, fine, I'll talk about my aches and pains too!

Last few days, my lower back has felt fatigued, especially in the morning. Not necessarily achy or sore, more like feeling it needs a bit more time off than I'd usually give it with squats and deads alternating ever 3-4 days.

I've also got this soreness in my front shoulder area. Both sides though maybe slightly worse on the right. Definitely impacts my lifting, both physically and mentally. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong (lifting shoulders during bench, doing incline bench on a smith machine..., maybe overextending on rows/pulldowns) or just doing too much. But it's basically felt about this level for the last month or so.

Going to go lighter and less volume recovery next week to see if that makes a difference.

I do a 7 day cycle at the moment (Squats/Legs, OHP/Arms, Off, Deads & Rows, Off, Bench/Chest & Pulldowns). Honestly, I feel like I should be doing an 8 day cycle, with an added day off between Squats and OHP, to give my body a little more rest. But I'm having a hard time mentally getting around not doing "Saturday Squats" or whatever.

Probably a better plan would be to do a 3 day split (haven't done that in a loooong time) but I can't reconcile trying to do 2 of the big lifts on one day. I mean, Push/Pull/Legs is a tried and true.

Fatigue, general or muscle related is the worst. Because I know it absolutely does you no favors in the long run to keep going/lifting yet I'm compelled to keep going at it. Though I've started to take my rest more seriously now especially since I am getting older.

And speaking of fatigue. Figured out why my bulk capped at around 177 earlier. Turns out I walk a shit ton at work. Depending on what I'm doing I can walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps in 8 hours. Then on top of that I was doing another 13,000 to 20,000 going on a walk or run after work. So there are days I was doing almost 40,000 steps. Good for my cutting right now of course, but I had no idea until I got this watch for Christmas. Explains why I was dead tired all the time too.

My back is healing nicely. Still got some stiffness, hope to get back into lifting in a couple days.

I'm very out of shape. I'm also Diabetic (type 2), and to make a long story short, I told my doctor that I'd start trying to do some basic exercise because I don't have the space to do much. I can't do cardio because I'm in a top floor apartment.

I am extremely out of shape. I managed five pushups and not a single sit-up during my first attempt. A good part of the problem is that I'm much heavier now than I was before. I've cut back on sugar and carbs since my doctor visit, and I'm starting the exercise (better than not starting).

^Hell yeah! Gotta start somewhere dude!

Start small, always. Diet will always be the most important, and don't be afraid if you fail a couple days. If you know you can cut sugar and carbs down for 3 days, but fail on the 4th day, at the very least you know you are capable of doing such things. Exercise when you can, it just always aim to do a little bit more than the previous day. If you did five pushups, try for 6 or 7 the next.

Progress is always slow! Just stay consistent. :)

I've been dealing with a digestive issue since sometime between Christmas and New Year's. At first I thought it was just my body adjusting to the kinds/quantities of food I was eating during that time period but we're well beyond that point now and it's gone from an annoyance to a major disruption in my life. I've already seen my doctor once and I'm calling him back on Monday. It's been difficult to work out because I'm on a diet with pretty minimal protein.

iiaattgg posted...

I hate when that happens, total buzzkill. I hope the back is okay

my day was kind of similar. I dont want to say I was excited for the lift lol, but its been a lot of good workouts lately and Ive been riding that high. But last leg day I had the bar dig in a little too much on the hip thrusts that was causing some discomfort, and then today when I tried to HT it was far too painful and I realized its gonna be a few lifts for that to heal. Front squats I was a rep short on everything, had to cut the HTs out, and when it came time for the zerchers I was so disappointed that I just skipped it. Gonna take two rest days and get in a good headspace again

follow up: I think I have a hernia lol

KateMarsh posted...

I've been dealing with a digestive issue since sometime between Christmas and New Year's. At first I thought it was just my body adjusting to the kinds/quantities of food I was eating during that time period but we're well beyond that point now and it's gone from an annoyance to a major disruption in my life. I've already seen my doctor once and I'm calling him back on Monday. It's been difficult to work out because I'm on a diet with pretty minimal protein.

OH NO!

iiaattgg posted...

follow up: I think I have a hernia lol

OH NO!

Yeah. I noticed it in the shower today. Its not visible from the outside or anything, but somethings definitely there. Hernia is honestly best case scenario, also the most likely thankfully

So speaking of injuries and people starting to work out, I may as well post my random story since a random comment in a reddit thread might have saved my life (or at least prevented permanent organ damage). So who knows if this'll help anyone.

tl;dr, be very mindful of your limits when you're first starting to work out, especially if you're coming off an a long period of inactivity. Not doing that can injure or kill you.

I started lifting weights back in October, having very little experience with it, and decided to get a trainer. I'm the type of person that refuses to quit, even if it's obvious that I should or can't handle what I'm doing, and hate failing at something, so I almost always push myself past my limits. On my first leg day with the trainer, I struggled a lot even though I felt like what we were doing shouldn't be particularly intense. (I'm overweight and have a sedentary office job with long hours, and that meant for years I had very little physical activity). I forced myself to keep going and tried to hide how much I was struggling with it. About halfway through, my trainer caught on and ended the workout early.

About 15 minutes after I got home, my legs lost pretty much all of their strength, I collapsed onto the floor, and was completely unable to stand back up. I managed to crawl over to the couch and pull myself onto it. Every time I attempted to stand up, I would either fail to get off the couch or fall over within a few seconds if I did manage to stand. It ended up taking around 8 hours until my legs had recovered enough for me to be able to consistently stand up and walk around. During that time I was trying to text people, text my trainer, and ask Google to figure out if this was in any way normal, and a lot of people assured me that this happens sometimes (and had even happened to them) when you first start. I came across a reddit thread from someone that seemed to be in a similar situation to me, and there was a comment that said "monitor you urine, if it starts to turn brown go to the hospital immediately, you probably have rhabdomyolysis."

So I looked more into it and found out that it can develop even you jump into an exercise routine too quickly when you're just a beginner. It's apparently gotten a lot more common because of CrossFit (which is not what I was doing). Essentially you end up crushing your muscles, parts of your muscles die, start to disintegrate, and enter your bloodstream. Your kidneys can't process those proteins, so if it's severe enough it can cause long term kidney damage or kidney failure, which can be fatal. The next day when I woke up, my quads were swollen, and it was extremely painful. And throughout the day I lost almost all range of motion in my legs, like I could pretty much only move around by locking my knees and waddling. Even though those were all consistent with rhabdo, I didn't want to go to the hospital because I didn't want to waste their time if it turned out that I was just being a big baby. Then later that night, my urine started to turn brown (like the color of watery soda), and I remembered what that comment said. So I went to the ER.

When I was finally able to get my blood tested, it was so thick that they had trouble getting it into the vial, and once they were finally able to fill it I passed out and vomited, at which point they moved me to an individual waiting room and hooked me up to a bunch of stuff. When they finally got the test results, they said that the only way to check for rhabdo is to measure your CK levels (that's the muscle protein that would be entering your blood). They said that a normal value is under 100. The threshold for severe rhabdo is about 3k. Mine was 45k. Also my kidneys, liver, and thyroid were all going haywire as a result. So they admitted me, hooked me up to an extremely aggressive IV, and I ended up having to stay for 5 days continuously hooked to that IV until my CK levels were low enough to release me (they decided to release me even they got down to 5k), along with a $30k hospital bill (which thankfully my insurance covered most of). It took my legs a long time to recover after that, being able to walk more than extremely short distances without getting tired, etc.

It all ultimately ended up fine, I'm still working out and things are going pretty well (though we have been extremely cautious around my legs lol). Just thought I would share since I had no idea something like this was even possible and ultimately that random comment was the reason I knew I had to go to the hospital. Had I waited longer to go, it's very possible that I would have suffered permanent kidney damage or worse. So I guess the more people know about it, the better, and just be careful any time you jump into exercising after a long time being sedentary. Make sure that you ease yourself into it, and don't be an idiot like I was and try to go full throttle when it's obvious you should stop.

Damn dude that's fucking crazy. Glad you are ok.

Was able to hit the weights today. My back isn't 100% but I wanted to lift, so I'm just gonna deload for the next 10 days or so. Take it easy. Went nuts on cables with low weight and definitely was feeling it in my upper chest today. Gonna keep cutting for the next couple weeks, do a weigh-in sometime around the week of Feb 4th and see where I am at.

What an insane story! Glad you recovered and it didn't scare you from working out.

I think that story, along with basically everything that's been said the past dozen posts, really highlights that you need to listen to your body. "Fighting through it" only leads to bad results.

I asked to work in a set today and the dude complimented me for a set of weighted chinups I did earlier (11@45, fyi). Felt good, man!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNeiLSEwTHk&t=557s

Mike comes up on my feed and I enjoy his videos a lot. I thought this one was just amusing to me personally, because this is how I always did these exercises(and you should do them too because they stretch they shit out of your muscles).

Didn't go too crazy, but was able to squat up to 275 without any back pain. Didn't want to push my luck so opted to stop there. Have a little bit of back tightness on the right side but other than that I think my back is mostly fine. Thank the lord.

Had a solid leg day. Legs really starting to pop.

Realistically, I am probably in the best shape of my life, but a runner's high is amazing. I straight up jogged at a pretty decent pace to finish off my walk/run today for 20 straight minutes. Never been able to do that.

End up with 40,000 steps yesterday, bonkers amount. Also currently averaging 30,000 this week for the past 3 days, all three were 20,000+.

Did arms today in the gym, gonna weigh myself and finally look at myself with my shirt off/naked in the mirror sometime next week after holding off on both of those things for about 5 weeks. I am for sure getting ripped out of my mind now though. If only because I can see the definition coming in on my arms from the front where you can clearly see the bicep separated from the tricep, and my triceps popping today. Definitely a confident boost but I can push it further for the next week or so. I'm probably gonna continue to cut for another 2-3 weeks and then finally start a nice good clean bulk.

Well today was great.

Piece of advice for people who want to deadlift. Nerve floss first if you have tight nerves, like me. I am 100% contributing that for the fact I hit 320 on deadlift today, where previous sessions I was struggling at 300, and I weigh way less than the last time I deadlifted which was before I hurt my back a couple weeks ago too. Just makes me even more excited to bulk up. I'm weighing myself next Saturday, see where I'm at. I'll probably continue to cut a couple weeks after that, so hopefully I'll begin bulking up in about 3 weeks and start cranking out some PR's.

Just would like to say I'm in my company's weight loss contest and currently in third place. I've dropped from 242 to 230 through the first 4 weeks and there's cash prizes for the top 3: $250, $150, and $100. You also get a matching gift card and apparently our CEO usually matches the winners amount.

Well I planned on hitting the gym hard these last few days until my weigh in, but the snow just won't stop. So I'm gonna rest up, get rid of some fatigue, and play video games lol.

Been off for a few days with a funeral and some other stuff. Thought I would be rested but just felt eh the whole time today. Didnt really push anything as a result. But glad I went and even if I didnt go as intense or as heavy as I planned, I still did a full workout and didnt leave early

deadlifts 355x5 375x3 395x2
hip thrust 315x12 405x6 495x5
front squat 135x8 155x8 175x8 195x8

I've been experimenting with those Zercher squats at the end of my leg day the last few weeks. Just a few very light, 10 rep sets. It's a really different feeling exercise keeping the bar in the crooks of your elbows. Plus, as someone who otherwise does low bar back squats, it's a much more upright position overall.

Weighed myself yesterday and the results are in! I lost one pound! So currently at an even 170.

Just goes to show that water weight is very, very sneaky, because I look a lot different. First time in a long time that the lining of my abs(so the line that differentiates the abs and obliques, w.e that's called) is clearly visible from the front and side. However, I'm so close to being at my goal of being absolutely shredded everywhere else that I'm just gonna keep pushing on my cut for an extra couple to three weeks.

The additional cardio has helped my cardio vascular health too. Currently have a resting BPM of 40. I've never had it that low.

And to top it off, that couple days to help with fatigue definitely helped. Since I missed a few days because of being snowed in I hit my legs and bench yesterday. Still hitting 300 on squat, and hit 240 on bench so my strength hasn't been sapped all that much either. The anxiousness of wanting to bulk up is getting much harder now though.

Seanchan posted...

I've been experimenting with those Zercher squats at the end of my leg day the last few weeks. Just a few very light, 10 rep sets. It's a really different feeling exercise keeping the bar in the crooks of your elbows. Plus, as someone who otherwise does low bar back squats, it's a much more upright position overall.

I love them. They translate so much to both other lifts and real world functional strength. EVERYTHING became incredibly light to hold and carry once I started doing them. Sadly the hernia situation makes them undoable at the moment :( I had gotten my weight pretty good on them too

Sorozone posted...

Weighed myself yesterday and the results are in! I lost one pound! So currently at an even 170.

Just goes to show that water weight is very, very sneaky, because I look a lot different. First time in a long time that the lining of my abs(so the line that differentiates the abs and obliques, w.e that's called) is clearly visible from the front and side. However, I'm so close to being at my goal of being absolutely shredded everywhere else that I'm just gonna keep pushing on my cut for an extra couple to three weeks.

The additional cardio has helped my cardio vascular health too. Currently have a resting BPM of 40. I've never had it that low.

And to top it off, that couple days to help with fatigue definitely helped. Since I missed a few days because of being snowed in I hit my legs and bench yesterday. Still hitting 300 on squat, and hit 240 on bench so my strength hasn't been sapped all that much either. The anxiousness of wanting to bulk up is getting much harder now though.

congrats man, sounds like a lot of effort and planning is paying off ! :)

my push days are back in a high volume low weight period which I absolutely hate. It just gets so hard to finish the actual workout in time and my triceps get so toast so quickly that its just blah

incline 155x3x15
ohp 110x12 100x12 90x12
Pause bench 150x3x12
weighted dips 50x10 60x6 70x3
lateral raises 35x15 35x10
tricep pushdown 75x3x12

I dont want to lift today and no one can make me!!!

I feel pretty lucky that food doesn't...I don't know how to put this. Make me happy? Ha, I dunno.

Like I know people struggle with dieting because of certain food cravings. Or they don't enjoy dieting because they don't like "healthy" foods. I love pizza and burgers, ice creams, ect, but I'm able to just turn off a switch and just eat Greek yogurt, eggs, oatmeal, chicken and fruits and veggies. Which is basically all I've been eating for the past couple of months.

Do you all have a favorite/least-favorite time crowd at the gym? Our early morning crowd is lovely, which is great because that's my favorite time to go. Mostly very pleasant and most people keep to themselves but are conscious of others. Night crowd is a close second. Late morning/early afternoon (like 10-2ish) is also usually not bad. Late afternoon/early evening (like 3-6ish) is easily the worst. A lot of obnoxious idiots who think they own the place (loud teenagers, machine/equipment hogs, people using machines/equipment for the entirely wrong purpose, circuit trainers using like 6 things at once, and obvious attention whores).

The gym I go to is relatively small. It's essentially a garage gym, and the owners make most of their money from their MMA side of things(where the bulk of people go, and it's separate from the lifting area). So it's never super busy or crowded. I do try to avoid the late afternoon, early evening because that's when it's the busiest, any other time there it ranges from 0-4 people.

But yeah from my experience from other bigger gyms, late afternoon is usually the worst because everyone is getting off work and trying to get a workout in which means limited equipment, people standing around and talking instead of using the equipment, ect.

Maybe because I am also more built I can get away with it, but if people are circuit training and I need to use something in their circuit, I just take it lol. They can say something, and when they do I just point out they were using something else so I figured it was free to use. Which is true of course, but at the same time I'm also paying to be there and use the equipment. Their time isn't more important than anyone else's.

This is the leanest I've been a in a while, and the hunger pains are starting to hit more often now. Kinda sucks lol. It's making me more irritable. Trying not to take it out on people and realize that I'll be ok. Doing lots of overtime for work next couple of weeks. So I think I'll weigh myself again after that's all taken care of, see how I'm looking and decide if I want to continue a bit longer or start the bulk.

Hit chest pretty good. Still staying in the 240-250 range for at least one rep. Incline is getting hard though, barely got 200 up.

I mentioned it earlier, but this has me elated. My deadlift is improving, while losing weight. Very bizarre circumstances but I'm 100% sure it's because of nerve flossing. Up to 335 now. I'm getting very confident I can get it back over 450 during my bulk.

I haven't done the gym in about 20 years now - I bought my own stuff and I love it.

I did the gym 1998-2003 or so. Portable MP3 players barely a thing... I didn't have one. CD players couldn't really handle the gym routine. Folks weren't putting new albums on tape. Basically everyone listened to whatever was on the speakers for the whole gym, unless you used a walkman.

So my least favorite time was "whenever the cardio class was going on" because it was always this annoying club/gym bunny music. I never cared for the folks that used the gym like a social gathering. My Gold's was originally hammerstrength equipment, free weights and a couple of treadmills. Then they expanded into the adjacent building to add cardio classes and I had to quit. The equipment hog was no longer using all his equipment at once - he had to also talk to girls for an extra half hour. Asking a dude if I could get a set in used to work, but now it was three dudes talking to a girl and not giving up machines.

I could complain for like 50 more paragraphs but I'd rather just say that having my own bench and weights has kept me going for years, saved a ton of money and if I ever stop for a few months, it's all good. I paid 500 for this stuff 20 years ago.

And yeah like I said I used to have no issue asking if I could grab a set when someone was doing circuits. Before the gym bunnies, even the biggest dude in there would be all "no problem man, need a spot?"

Id love to have a home gym one day. Not possible at the moment though.

So I went on my most intense run, and I got fucked up toes. So that lead to some bloody socks when I got home.

Might be gross, but when I was running I was thinking to myself that my socks felt a lot swampier than usual lol.

How did you manage to get bloody toes? Was it just a friction thing from feet/socks/sneakers moving or rubbing?

Tweaked my lower back a bit doing deadlifts earlier in the week. Did a squat day today with a bit lower weight and it was okay. I was going slow and really thinking about my form. I felt like I was getting too much on my toes on my right side, as when I deliberately tried to lift my toes that seemed to ease the hip/glute issue I've continually had on that side.

I wanted to do some of these, https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/HipAbductor/CBHipAbduction, as I read that the issue I'm having could be related to an instability/weakness in that inner thigh, but the gym was weirdly crowded.

I've been liking the Zercher Squats. I've added a little bit more weight but they're still a high rep exercise for me, especially as I've been trying to do those "ass to grass", which feels very different than the "to parallel" low bar back squat.

With my continued lower body issues, I took a look back at my numbers this year versus the previous 2 years, and it's comical. Weight ranges where in the past I was getting 10-12 reps I'm now struggling to get 3-4 reps. My max numbers for squats and deads are down like 30-40 pounds. Upper body (bench and OHP) are relatively constant, thankfully. I try not to get too down about it overall and just focus on doing the best I can, but man, seeing it in stark relief is eye opening.

Seanchan posted...

How did you manage to get bloody toes? Was it just a friction thing from feet/socks/sneakers moving or rubbing?

I wore ill-fitting shoes growing up which caused my last two toes to be pushed inward. My little toe isn't so bad, but my two 'ring' toes, especially when wearing snug running shoes causes it to push slightly under my middle toe on both feet. The friction of my nail rubbing against my middle toes caused it to gash open basically.

Got some lifting straps to use for my bulk.

Used them today, what a difference when you are no longer relying on tired forearms and fingers lol.

repping 100 on the pull-ups which is a nice feeling considering I have put on a few pounds lately, we will just call it the after credits bulk scene. I was supposed to stop in January but a nice 4 or so pounds crept up on me in the past week lol

one thing that Ive always struggled with is forearm mass. Dont get me wrong, they are strong and as tight as dick skin. But they just struggled to grow mass wise over the years despite hammer curls 3x a week, farmer carries, etc. I recently, as in like two weeks ago, started doing the goofy little cable wrist push downs that sam sulek does, and good lord almighty they have probably grown by literally 10-20% in that short ass timeframe. Highly recommended