Has anyone had a silly “lightbulb” moment while exercising?

[lunalovesjesus]

@ilkao223 For sure! So a push day would be exercises targeting chest/ triceps/ shoulders so you might start with a bench press and add some shoulder presses and tricep accessory work, pull focuses on back and biceps so you’d have your deadlifts, rows, and bicep curls here, and then legs has your squats, lunges, and other leg work!

There’s a routine I like on the myprotein website but it never works properly if I link it in a comment, I’ll DM it to you

 

[dawn16]

@m32s That I have to start using free weights and not just the smith machine/machines.

My bf pointed this out when I complained to him that I’ll start shaking under tension during some exercises but can easily handle the weight. He said that lifting free weights helps strengthen your stabilizer muscles that don’t activate when you’re using machines (!!) now I wanna change up my whole routine

 

[m32s]

@dawn16 Ugh, yes this is a good one! I immediately thought of my sister who uses the smith machine for squats. She goes to PF, so it’s all she has and not her fault at all, but I would love to bring her to my gym and use the squat rack and barbell. Such a difference! If you have access to these things, definitely use them. It engages so many other muscles too in one movement.

 

[codeforchrist]

@m32s mine doesn’t have to do with lifting better, but more with issues or whatever that bothered me throughout the day. then once i stop thinking about it while i’m lifting all off a sudden i get an idea on how to deal with it.. it’s super fun and exciting LOL

 

[dawn16]

@m32s I had a moment while doing lunges this morning where I felt like “oh shit, I’ve been doing these wrong for years. this is how it’s supposed to feel”

 

[jag15]

@dawn16 I used to only feel lunges in my quads and knees, now that my form is better I feel it mostly in my glutes! Which is great because I'm quad-dominate and want to strengthen glutes more.

 

[jesse79]

@jag15 Tell me your ways! I also only feel lunges in my quads and knees.

 

[jag15]

@jesse79 I find it helpful to pretend you're pulling the floor apart with your feet (with your front foot pushing forward and back foot pushing backwards), that seems to help with stabilising and adding more tension to your legs.

Then I make sure I'm lowering straight down, not leaning forward. I try to keep my front knee directly above my front toes, not too far in front of them.

I also make sure my hips are pointed directly forward. Putting my hands in my hips reminds me not to twist to the side.

I also find the cue of your feet being on "railroad tracks" instead of a "tightrope" useful. If your feet are spread a bit further apart you'll have better balance.

 

[jesse79]

@jag15 Ohh thanks so much for your detailed tips! I'm going to try it with just body weight first by resting my hands on the hips.

 

[sheyla_musicofgod]

@m32s Realized that pushing my head into my hands when I do crunches helps me actually engage all the ab muscles I need to use

 

[pijow]

@m32s I was arching my tongue up in the back of my mouth when breathing in when I got tired. Which restricts airflow

 

[yang]

@pijow mindblown! stopping this immediately.

 

[ottostern]

@m32s Yes! Putting the bar on the lowest hooks on the bench press station, the ones nobody ever uses.

Then taking a wide grip.

Then PRing by like 20 pounds because I had been doing close grip bench all along

 

[worshipremixed]

@ottostern This made me realize that every time I lower the bar to the lowest rung my internal monologue is like “that’s right, moving the bar down so I can blow this shit up!!”.

 

[shnn18]

@m32s So, at my powerlifting gym, we used to put on our powerlifting gear by getting halfway in, waddling onto the gym floor, then having a coach or friend stand on the bench and lift you up by your pants as you squirm and kick your legs and try to get yourself into the suit. It was always incredibly embarrassing, and sometimes assholes would sit around to watch me in particular get into my gear, because lol fat chick thinks she needs a squat suit har har har.

Well, one day I realized, I could just hook one strap of my suit from a hook in the squat rack, and dangle myself by my own damn pants all by myself.

A week later, all the dudes in the gym was doing the same thing, and nobody ever had to throw out their back helping their friend into their outfit.

 

[helenaadelia]

@m32s I always told myself that curls were dumb and that my biceps got enough from various back exercises.

I did preacher curls once on a whim while I was a guest in a gym of a friend: Holy shit!

 

[jamie0921]

@m32s I just realized today, after training weights off and on since late high school, that if I turn out my legs to squat it's a million times easier with my hip anatomy.

 

[biblereader777]

@jamie0921 Gotta get that saddle on a horse stance!!

 

[leon007]

@m32s Run slower. No, slower. Even slower than that.

I realized when I tried out the running coach on my fitness watch and it kept telling me to run slower. And slower. And slower. And every time I was like "I can't run any slower than I'm already running", but I could.

This fricken blew the door off my long runs. I went from struggling to get through a 10k to easy breezing a half marathon. At this point I really don't care how long it takes me to go a distance, I'm just here to run as far as I can however long it takes. And I actually get what someone means when they say 'easy run'.

 

[tnkettman]

@leon007 Holy crap, thank you so much for this. I’ve always struggled with running for longer than a couple of minutes at a time, and yesterday I tried running slower after seeing your comment and I BREEZED through 30 full minutes of running. Such a game-changer!!