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Comment by ricc | Hacker News Reader

It's because it literally targets your whole body. The weight is pulling down your arms, which itself is pulling down your back and shoulders. And since you are carrying the weight, it's putting compressive forces on your legs via gravity. Even your neck muscles will hurt if you position your head the wrong way. XD

One of my personal best gym moments is when I deadlifted about 25% more than my bodyweight, which I was not able to repeat since.

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Is that a goal of yours to hit or exceed that? I’m nearing 3x my bodyweight in DL which I attribute to simply following a program that starts with linear progression then moves to more wave based strength training like 531. I can share more if you’re interested, but it depends on your goals.

Appreciate the offer! I'm actually just lifting for health right now, so most of my goals are to "lift heavier than last week" XD My only specific goal right now is to do more than one slow and proper pull-up. That DL PR, by the way, was also done raw (no straps or belts), so I was thinking I can do more when I do it with straps (or Versa Gripps) later after my tennis elbow heals.

I'd avoid straps or belts until you're at least around ~400lb so you develop your grip and core strength. If you think you need a belt, you could try lifting with a trap (hex bar). That's what I switched to recently and it's more comfortable as someone tall and turning 40.

Try again! (to hit that PR)

Some weeks you'll have the right combo, some weeks you won't. But my general approach is to work toward a PR of some sort every 6 weeks or so. I don't always get there, but, I keep trying!

Thanks! Appreciate the digital push. :-) I'm just nursing a tennis elbow right now, so I'll probably try again before or by end of July.

Understood - I have that problem too which unfortunately limits the heavy stuff sometimes.

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