Got a deal on a squat cage off Craigslist and spent the rest of Memorial Day Weekend deep cleaning and rearranging the gym. Finally dumping the graveyard - treadmill, attachments for leg extension/curls, bun & thigh roller, worn out bar. The sanctuary is looking pretty sweet. Also made my first video with the new version of iMovie - added a voiceover. All in all, a fun weekend.
Gym - upgraded
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9 comments:
It looks great! Very inspiring! Kat, is there an email address where you can be contacted? Thank you kindly, ~Oscar Ortiz/www.oscarortiz.com/oscarortiz.com@gmail.com
Hi Oscar, thanks for stopping by. Until I know a person, I keep communication through the blog. Don't take it personally.
Greetings Kat. Thank you for replying. I don't take it personally at all. I understand perfectly.
I'm a former amateur IFBB bb tinted by the 80's bb culture of M&F (http://oscarortiz.com/blog/11303/how-to-obtain-that-summer-beach-body). I was also a ISSA PT. Currently I'm 46. A few months ago I bumped into a book, "Dinosaur Training" by Brooks Kubik and it really transformed my outlook about weight training. Now my schedule is a lot simpler, concentrating on basic movements whether their full, partial or quarter movements. I'm truly enjoying this and for the first time focusing on poundage instead of look. Very, very liberating. I've been tempted on incorporating OL into my routine. The problem is that I cannot find the motivation or the reason why to do it. All I can think of is that it looks like something that might be "good for me."
My questions for you are: What do you get out of them? Is it worth it? How do you shift your mindset from bb into OL? Clarence Bass (cbass.com)claims that as you get older it makes more sense to practice these moves. What's your take? Thank you for your time.
Respectfully,
~Oscar
Wow, Oscar, thanks so much for taking the time to write this down to me. I'm enjoying your blog as well. I definitely want to respond to your questions. It may take me a little while, but wanted to let you know I'm cooking on this.
Best,
MK
Hello Kat,
I found your site while looking for reviews of the Pendlay bushing and bearing bars. Their site says that the bushing bar is stiff. It sounds like it is a training bar, while the Olympic bearing bar has more flexibility to it, yet I think the Pendlay bar is not IWF approved. How do you find this to be? You report that you really enjoy using the bar(s) you bought. I wish to get a decent Olympic type of bar.
I do basic compound lifts for strength, so a training bar is fiting, I reckon, for me. However, I am curious about the Olympic lifts. WHen I can exercise outside I have enjoyed doing clean and press or jerks, but these are more the power type, not saying that I have lots of power, but there is not the split or squat Olympic style going on here, I just am interested. As one comment in a York magazine went many years ago, there is something primordial about man lifting an object overhead, like the note of victory. I see that woman enjoys doing this too.
One fellow, who is a powerlifting type, was saying to me on wannabebig, that the Olympic bars have too much whipe and flex, and that if I want a training bar, that I should look at a stiffer bar. He recommended the B&R bar from Rogue. Glenn Pendlay says this B&R bar is of high quality, however, it is of a competitive powerlifting origin, and so is not as good(as his bar) for overall training.
On a curious note, I looked at your picture of your home gym. I am wondering what that table with the sink or the machine is. It is near the rack with the bars, and across from the dumbbells. It looks like a table saw, but I am wondering what it is doing in a gym.
Thanks for the review of the Pendlay bars, it is good to hear from someone who has used them.
bye bye now
Leonard I.
Thanks for stopping by, Leonard. Congratulations on getting ready to purchase a bar. That's a big deal. What you need all comes down to how you're going to use it. It sounds like you're leaning toward a combination of powerlifting, weight training and Olympic-style weightlifting. Depending on how much weight you're putting on the bar, one general rule of thumb is it's easier to use a weightlifting bar for powerlifting than it is to use a powerlifting bar for weightlifting. Weightlifting bars are made to flex, but you're generally not going to notice this while powerlifting or weight training unless you're putting a lot of weight on the bar - 400# lbs and up - and/or doing quick movements. But I've only dabbled in powerlifting, so you might hear differently from actual powerlifters. I can tell you I've used both bars for both purposes, and I do not want to ever have to go back to using a regular bar or powerlifting bar for Oly weightlifting. You do feel and appreciate that flex with even light weights, because of the quick movements.
As for brands, I'm delighted with my Pendlay bars, but I do have a friend who had one bend soon after he got it. He could have returned it on the lifetime guarantee but didn't.
Whichever type of bar you do go with, I'd be sure to get one with a lifetime guarantee in case you run into problems. Since Pendlay is in the U.S., that makes service much more feasible for us U.S. customers.
I hope that helps. Good luck, and keep enjoying that bar-over-your-head feeling. There's nothing like it.
P.S. That IS a table saw. And while you're wondering what it's doing in a gym, my DH is wondering what a gym is doing in his shop. :-)
Just to let you know, your video of the gym/workshop is now an audio. Only voice, no video.
Thanks for letting me know that was a table saw.
Thanks for the heads up. It's working now.
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