First blast! Any tips/recomendations are welcome

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks for the tip on dip belts as I would def have tried it and racked my head as to why it doesn't work haha. Plus I might have broken my belt. Using the rack height to use different exercises is something I've never thought of and will def try. I have been doing the free weight squats in the rack and it worked pretty well until reaching heavier all-out sets where it has felt a bit unsafe at times to re-rack the weight since I need to create a bit of space between the stopper and the plate and set the weight down unevenly in the rack as the barbell is to narrow to fit the rack. But it have certainly been doable and I've used it this way for 2 odd years What is it they say about not having equipment makes you think outside the box haha.

Indeed... or outside the rack in this case.

AH, I didn't know the bar didn't fit in those racks...

I found another variation of squats too that I thought looked kinda nice. Have you tried landmine belt squats for quads? They look easy to set up and they look like they can create a decent load for the quads. And if done with a raised heel maybe even more? What do you think?

Yes, those are great, with or without raised heels. You can also use a low cable - set out in front of you - to overload quads.


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Hey Scott so just one more question regarding diet. Being a vegetarian and getting my protein from legumes for 2 of my meals. And the rest from vegan protein powders and eggs. Would you make any alterations to the overall amount of protein? What amount of protein would you go with? I've been doing my diet based on Dante's recommendations of 2xbodyweight in Lbs would you keep that number the same or go lower?

This is my current diet:

<SNIP DIET>

That is plenty of protein, I'd say, and you've got an extra margin d/t perhaps lower quality (given some vegan sources)...

If you can swing it, I'd adding 5g of EAA to those meals where all of your protein is from legumes, just to enrich the protein of those meals.

If you find that when adding kcal to ensure weight gain that your appetite is an issue, you could even lower that number a small amount (e.g., to 1x5x BW) and still be just fine as far as protein goes, I'd say.

-S