SSD: Still not respectable

[stuffedsuperdud]

@Idlehands
You can theoretically use suspenders with any pants, but they are most comfortable if the pants have a slightly higher rise. For some reason, with lower rise pants, i.e. what's standard today, they are more likely to tug on your waistband and shoulders when you sit. You don't have to go full old-man high-waist but ideally the waistband is right near your belly button, where your torso is narrowest.

Suspenders with the metal clips are perfectly functional, "correct" suspenders have kips, leather loops on the ends of the three straps (two in front of you, and one behind you) that hook onto suspender buttons sewn inside your waistband. Ideally your kips match your shoes, unless they're white, but that's just a bit of OCD, since really no one sees these things anyway.

Suspenders can be very informal, e.g. the heavy-duty ones that hold up a tool belt, but when we think of them we're usually referring to the silky kind, and those pair best with garments of equal formality, such as wool trousers. More rugged garments with sporty/military applications, such as chinos, jeans, and cords, clash a bit with this, and those probably look better with a belt, even if it's less comfortable. If you want to go full-retard, some pants have what is called a fishtail-back waistband that is supposed to be more comfortable with suspenders, esp. when sitting. The tradeoff is that they look and feel really weird when you are not wearing suspenders.

I'm getting the idea from groomsmen pics that guys seem to think suspenders make your look more formal or something, and can, say, replace a blazer/sportcoat? A more accurate way to think about them is the way you would your socks: it's kind of underwear-ish and not meant to be noticed, but it can be a way to add a fun bit of color or pattern. It seems like you know this part quite well! So your staple pair might be navy blue or gray with black or dark brown leather loops, but then you can throw a patterned or pink pair in if the night is right. With black tie / white tie, you're technically supposed to wear white suspenders with white loops, but again, since no one really sees them, it doesn't really matter.

Don't be that guy who combines belts and suspenders.

Lifty:
Dealing with a cold but at least it's not flu so I lifted a little:

Squat:
90x8
120x5
140x3
150x5
160x5x2
170x5

The unusual warmup was because I was working in with a guy I hadn't seen in a long time. He said something like, "pretty good pretty good." The assistant coach working the floor heard and said, "Eh. You should see his competition lifts. He's a one trick pony." BoooooooooOOOOooooo.

[simonrest]

... ideally the waistband is right near your belly button, where your torso is narrowest.

[stuffedsuperdud]

Spent the past few days fighting a cold. Got back in today to do my least favorite exercise, the high-rep jerk.

Power clean + push jerk + split jerk 1+3+2

20kg x many
40x1
60x1
70x1
80x1
90x1x3

Got winded on some of the split jerks and had to dance on the platform but otherwise nbd. One of the assistant coaches has made some hyooge gains this cycle, maxed out today, and surpassed me with a 108/124 performance and then squatted 208x1 at a lean 99kg BW. As a reference, when I met him 1.5 years ago, he was doing about 80/100 with a 170 squat, at soft 85kg BW. "I never miss a meal. I mean training. I mean meal." That's consistency, I guess. I wouldn't know.

[stuffedsuperdud]

LOLOL @simonrest how did I miss that? Suspenders are a godsend for us rounder fellas because you stop constricting yourself around the middle, but you probably won't be able to combine them with high waisted pants the way sexier guys like idlehands can. Instead the pants will sort of sit under your tummy. The only way around this is to get get really really big pants that can fit over and around your middle, like these goons, but it's not really recommended unless you have access to Taft's tailor, because as Chris proves, things can go shithouse on you in a hurry.





^^Also a helpful illustration on how important a well-fitting jacket, or better yet, a jacket + vest, is in improving one's perceived physique.


Training so that I am not as fat:
Hang clean + clean 2 + 1

20kg x many
40x1
50x1
60x1
70x1
80x1
90x1
100x1

That was unfortunately all I had time for. Gym was a madhouse and we were all 4 to a platform. Coach was rather cross with me because I forgot that I was competing this weekend, and she has to incorporate me into the logistics of rep-counting and whatnot.

[SeanHerbison]

Coach was rather cross with me because I forgot that I was competing this weekend

How is that something you forget?

[simonrest]

Yeah, Christie is fat, but his pant height is not helping.

Is it true that Taft once got stick in a white house bath and needed to be pulled out?

[stuffedsuperdud]

@SeanHerbison I registered for this back in October, and then my training became really inconsistent due to nagging little aches and pains, work schedule, and travel. Ended up starting the training cycle over a few weeks ago and figured I'd just withdraw from the meet. Well, I forgot to withdraw until a few days ago when the deadline had already passed, so I could either eat the registration fee or I could show up and just call it a training session. Decided on the latter, but coach was still upset with my forgetting till the last minute + my not taking this super seriously. That's why she made world teams while I'm struggling to keep up with the women's 75kg C session at the AO OH WELL.

@simonrest The Taft thing is just a myth, I think. But Chris can definitely do better with suspenders. Notice how all his shit in the middle is accentuated by the belt: it pinches him in, chopping him in half, plus it makes the shirt bag all over the place. With suspenders, he'd have a cleaner flow from shoulders to feet. Wouldn't make him a less despicable piece of shit though.

[stuffedsuperdud]

Snatch:
20kg x 5
40x3
50x3
60x3
70x2
80x1
85x1
90x1
93x1

Was working up to the planned 90 opener for this weekend, but it went up easily enough so coach had me do 93. Remember how the Polish coach used to be all like, "Come on give me the beeeg pull!" Well these coaches have noticed my problem too, only they're a bit more analytical about addressing it. Their explanation is that I tend to give the bar a kick upwards with my hips but then I'll release all tension in my body, dive under the bar, let it crash down onto me, lock my shoulders and elbows, sit at the bottom fighting the weight for a sec, and finally stand up. The new cue is "keep pulling" meaning to maintain and perhaps increase, even, tension after the 2nd pull, and then lock the shoulders as soon as my arms are overhead, instead of after the barbell comes down. The other, more straightforward, cue is to keep waiting over the bar a split second longer before launching into the 2nd pull.

Recall I hadn't talked to Lyudmila in like a month, because I figured she was too entranced by that Persian cocksucker* in New Jersey anyway for her to be of any relevance to me and jokes aside I'm not going to hang around and be some friendzone fella, right? (Did I tell that story already btw? TLDR turns out she was driving up every weekend to extract tzatziki from that dude's koobideh). Well apparently he thought they were friends with benefits and she thought she was going to have his babies, so that led to a sloppy misunderstanding and now she's not driving up to NJ anymore whoops. None of this would have any bearing at all on me except she now had no one to help her move this coming weekend so she called me and trapped me into it when I stupidly answered.

"But I have to lift that day."
"Can you skip it?"
"Yes but I don't want to."
"Oh okay help me on Saturday then. You can think of it as a warmup for your competition."
"That's not how tapering works." [Never mind that I am not tapering and am just training through this because that is irrelevant OKAY]
"Are you going to help me or what? I'm asking nicely."
"Jesus fuck get Alireza to do it. He owes you"
"Don't be shitty and just help me. I don't have much stuff. It's mostly the dresser."
"...Just the dresser."
"And two night stands. And my bed."
"...."
^This is the part where I blowbang the shotguns, right?

^^#beta #omega #cuck #niceguy #redpill #MRA etc

*I cannot believe I moved a whole country's width away from Beverly Hills and these arrogant cumbuckets are still haunting me.

[mgil]

Things sound like they are going well.

[Idlehands]

Entertaining as usual man! I need to get to dc and be in the audience for an episode.

[stuffedsuperdud]

Just swell, @mgil

Training:
Clean and jerk:
20kg x many
40x3
60x2
80x1
90x1
100x1
110x1,0
103x1

Coach called me for a slight pressout on the 110 and made me do it again. Got too many cues into my head and botched the jerk completely. So to be uber conservative we're going to open on something like 87/103 and try to finish on 97/112. Unless I am feeling great on gameday, which hey it's me so what are the odds of that happening? See y'all on the flip side.

I also have some work-related interviews coming up so....gais WTF do I wear?? I need, like, a suit or something, right?

[mgil]

Internal interviews?

A good sports coat and tie deal with clean pants should suffice. Good shoes. Nothing overly bold or way out of the ordinary. Enough to say you respect the interview but not so much you look like you don’t care about your current role.

[SeanHerbison]

Good luck on the meet.

[mgil]

@stuffedsuperdud, do you still follow Gerald Vega on Instagram? Does it make you feel uncomfortable?

[stuffedsuperdud]

I wrote up a longish blurb but then Chrome crashed, so here's a TL;DR

Weighed in at 103kg (too fat....gotta take care of this...). I carbed up with a few Pop-Tarts (no idea why some of y'all like these things btw) and a liter of sweet tea.

Snatch warmup
20kg x a bunch
40x3
50x3
60x3
70x2
(stop for introductions)
70x1
80x1
85x1
87x1
There was some sort of stoppage onstage that dragged on so coach had me do a few at 60.

Attempts:
87x0 The bar felt weirdly heavy off the floor and I rushed it a little. Caught it overhead and tried to stand up with it but it was drifting backwards on me and I lost it behind. This had the double-whammy of stretching my left rotator cuff a bit. Obnoxious. Haven't felt this since the early days when I would miss lifts behind all the time.

Came back and did
87x1
89x1 nbd

Spent a bunch of time in the back trying to loosen the cramps that had developed in my calves and then did

CJ warmup
20kg x a bunch
40x3
60x3
70x1
80x1
90x1
100x1

Attempts:
103x1
106x1
109x1
all easy.

So nothing dramatic and not even anything close to my PRs. Coach just wanted me to make lifts and get rid of the bad taste from the last meet. I wanted to argue for a more aggressive CJ but the judges were really strict with press-outs and coach knew my jerk was shaky, so no go this time.


On Monday I was destroyed all day and on Tuesday my shoulder was still uncomfortable. Moar ice, heat, and 800mg hits of ibuprofen, right? I also caught a cold from my boss and was under the weather all week. Today I lifted though and did:

Press:
20kg x 10
40x8
50x5
60x5
65x5,4,5
with emphasis on lockout and eccentric

Squat:
60x8
100x6
130x5
150x5
160x5
170x5,6
meh business as usual

More later. Really tired for now.

[SeanHerbison]

Nice work.

I carbed up with a few Pop-Tarts (no idea why some of y'all like these things btw)

Depends on what type you get. What'd you go with?

[simonrest]

Nice work ssd

[stuffedsuperdud]

@SeanHerbison
Regular strawberry with frosting. So which ones are the good ones? Off the top of my head I'm definitely not a fan of brown sugar or s'mores, and am kind of meh about the rest.

@mgil
IIRC Geralee was notable for posting decent #s by American standards but quite frankly, as a fan, I found Rizelyx Rivera the more entertaining social media character in that same weight class...(well, right up until we found out that Rivera's antics were more due to her fucked up personal life and oxycodone use than simply a colorful personality). Right now it's kind of notable that Gerald's #s are way down from 2013 or so, despite being a bit heavier and, you know, being a wildly jacked dude. Goes to show that technique, flexibility and coordination are probably important...

Outside of lifting, I do notice that Gerald is always impeccably dressed outside the gym, and favors a bit of a rakish Riviera flair that I could never pull off. Y'all should get him over here to post in the clothes thread.

[SeanHerbison]

So which ones are the good ones?

My preference:

[stuffedsuperdud]

Where have I been?!

I fought a bit too hard trying to save that snatch at thee meet and my shoulder has been a bit upset with me since, which sort of took the wind out of my sails for a bit. I also had to either work late or travel for work, which further derailed things. Went back in today and finally feel like myself again, ish.

Hang clean from knees:
20kg x a bunch
40x3
60x3
80x3
90x3x3
100x3
Current biggest problem is the timing between 2nd and 3rd pulls, resulting in me powering them and then riding them down, like a noob. I suspect this was a bit of technique creep that came in when I was having elbow and wrist issues, resulting in a painful rack.

Front squat:
60x5
80x5
100x5
110x5
120x5
130x4

The 4th rep at 130 choked me out a little and I had to drop the bar after standing up.

Deadlift:
100x5
130x5
150x5
160x5

Juust keeping the blood moving.

So which ones are the good ones?

My preference:

Where did you get these????? I've looked all over and haven't been able to find them in stores or online. Even tried ebay, ugh...