u/Free-Engineering6759

I have long femurs and short torso. My ankle dorsiflexion, namely on my right side, seems to be lacking (I get impingement in front of my ankle, due to an old ankle injury). However, I can do the '10 cm from the wall' test just fine, but it seems like it is still not enough to allow me to squat deep with my bodyweight, my heels rise up.

In the gym, I use raised heel shoes. I can do front squats, but the toe angle I have to use with them is a bit comical (45° plus minus).

So, this is a long-winded question: how much, measurably, dorsiflexion do I need in squat, and how can I measure it? What can I do with the impingement?

I have been running my own program for a while. I have been doing OHP as the main pressing movement for 3x a week. I do 3x10, and lately I have been incorporating overwarm singles. I have increased the weight 2,5 kg per week, so during the week I press with the same weight every session.

However, lately I have noticed I always fail at the last of the three working sets, in the first day of the week. My overwarm single is 60 kg, and working sets are 47,5 kg. I fail at the same point: at my forehead or a bit over the top of my head.

I'm doing BTN press, upright row, lateral raise and facepull plus overhead tricep extension and pressdown as my accessories.

My theory is that my triceps are now the weak link, as I have not been doing bench press for a while, and tricep isolation work is not overloading them properly.

If off-road chassis uses a separate ladder frame, is it better to attach the spring ends to the ladder frame or to the body of the vehicle?

I have heard an argument that attaching them to the body is better, as the body-ladder frame attachment points are then in constant tension. But I think this leads to a situation, where you have to reinforce the body to handle the spring forces vs if those spring forces would be carried totally by the ladder frame.

I have been playing the first mission a few times, and bar the first couple of tries, Japs get to strike me first, although I sent the scout plane first thing to scout.

How should it be played, or is it one of those Graviteam Tactics style missions, where the best you can get is a draw (I achieved a strategic victory but a tactical draw).

A while back I wrote about my experiences with Lone Peak 9 shoes. As I have run for 16 years in barefoot shoes, I bought them as cushioned shoes for pavement. However, although I could walk in them just fine, I never got comfortable running with them.

Many recommended Escalantes and after consulting the running store owner, I bought them.

I went for a 4 km test run. Halfway I had to take insoles off, as my arches were getting pain. It made them better, but there was still a problem with sharpish pain somewhere along the Achilles, around the "sock edge" area, on the outer edge.

How long does it take to break in the Escalantes? Or is this a hopeless try to come back to cushioning?

I have been doing two squat days a week - one with a back squat and one with a front squat. I have been doing 3 sets for each, and increasing weight weekly.

Additionally, I have done leg extensions, Bulgarian split squats and single leg presses as accessories. Maybe you can count the glute bridge as well.

However, with the back squat I have noticed they start to feel heavy. I struggle to maintain form. My hypothesis is that my practise with squat might not be enough with just 3 sets per week, although I do front squats as well.

This contrasts with OHP, with which I can do weekly weight increase, but I do it 3x a week, with three sets per day.

I'm wondering if I should swap the FS to do more back squatting , or increase the sets for the back squat day to say 5.

I have owned Lone Peaks for a year, and I have had other Altra pair also a few years ago.

Walking in LPs is fine. But when I try to run with them, my soles get tired / painful, and my ankles tire out.

Mind you, I have been running with barefoot shoes for 16 years. I bought LPs because 1) they have space for toes (my feet are extremely wide) 2) they are zero drop 3) they are light 4) they have cushioning bc I run mostly on pavement.

But I cannot use them for running, as it gets painful.

I had a similar experience with other Altra pair.

I think it is quite paradoxical that I can run in barefoot shoes fine, but with Altras I get pain.

I have been working in the automotive related industry for a couple of years, and I have always been flabbergasted by the lack of basic understanding of strength, stiffness and CFD of the average designer.

We have designers that have auto sport backgrounds, but usually they just "make a thing" in CAD and then throw it to FEA and CFD guys. Usually the thing has no thought given about load introduction, supports, optimal geometry or manufacturing (the last bit always puzzles me, that I, a FEA guy, have to ask if the designer thought about how the hell it is manufactured). Not to mention thought given to corrosion.

CFD and cooling is also something that goes over the head of most. Designers are one thing, but Chief Engineers and Senior Engineer Managers are another. Because they want light, simple, cheap and fast things. Every project is done in a rush, with a tight budget. Then comes the reclamation that something isn't working, or has broken. Because it wasn't tested and it was the first idea that came to CE's or SEM's or designer's mind and they just put that into the production. The first FEA and CFD is usually done after the reclamation. And because it is already in production, it cannot be altered much. Only "a quick cheap fix" is allowed. Which usually ends up not working, because it was not designed properly in the first place, and trying to fix something fundamentally wrong with 5c fix does not make it work.

Is this like this everywhere, or am I unlucky?

I came across this "game" of naval design. I have found nearly no demonstrations or gameplay of it. Has anyone tried it? Drach has mentioned it a couple of times over the years.

http://www.springsharp.com/

I'm 190 cm and a 100 kg guy. I'm looking for a bike to commute. I have been looking at Dew for some years, I even tested one few years back but back then ended up with Orbea Alma.

Now, after my Orbea continued to her new proud owner, I am once again looking for a bike. However, I am also intrigued by the gravel bike option, and Kona Rove fits my budget.

I bought Orbea while living in a hilly area, where the climbing ability was more important than long-distances or speed.

Now, when living in a less hilly place, I am looking for a bike to commute, and occasionally to take longer trips (30-40 km).

Orbea had a hickup in an otherwise good bike for me: it caused me lower back and wrist pain with its aggressive geometry. Thus, gravel bikes cause me to hesitate a bit.

Which one would you recommend? Or something totally else?

I'm doing a bit human experiment on myself. I have had the problem of accumulating fatigue too quickly and getting pains/aches after few weeks while following general gym programs.

Also I want to test theories of mechanical tension and metabolic stress on hypertrophy. Not very scientific, but hey, experimenting and being wrong or right is always fun!

*The Program*

I'm doing 3x a week, full-body program. It consists of 1) main movements 2) assistance movements.

Nothing extraordinary, as you can see.

However, I approach this a bit differently than the most programs I have tested.

1. Main movements 1x 6 - 8 @RPE 7-8

squat/ front squat: 2x a week

OHP: 3x a week

deadlift: 1x a week

row: 3x a week

The rep range allows for a little adjustment (say in OHP, as the smallest jump available is 2,5 kg, I can microload by doing one or two reps more). I try to hit 8 reps before increasing the weight next time, although RPE is also a metric ( if it feels like RPE10 but I hit 8 reps, I don't increase the weight).

2. Assistance movements 1x20-30 @RPE9-10

This includes leg extensions, leg curls, machines, tricep extensions etc. The focus is "bodybuilding". Da Pump, like the Big Arnold said. I chase the pump, not the weight. I try to fail in the rep range of 20 - 30; if I hit 30, next time I use more weight. Slow, controlled reps. Feel the burn. Or other way: find the lightest weight you can fail with.

*Why*

Why am I doing this? Well, because I have tried multiple programs over the 7 years of lifting. And this is different. This also kinda combines the SBS article about powerbuilding principles of low-volume strength specific movements, combined with high-volume bodybuilding movements. IRC, the article pointed out that the volume work should be something totally different than the strength specific work (aka volume should be say leg press and not light squat, as lifting heavy is a skill in itself).

Why am I using 20-30 rep range? Well, firstly because I have not used that rep range before. Only thing that came close was T3 work with GZCL OG program with its 25 rep final sets. Secondly, I want to see if this work can spare my tendons, as it seems I have the problem of getting aching tendons with volume of heavy work (and maybe it boosts the blood flow). Thirdly, I wanted to see the effect of metabolic stress. Fourthly, as I'm doing only one set, it is a time-effective way of getting volume (it is at least my hypothesis).

*Summary*

Will this be the most effective, most efficient way for hypertrophy? Probably not. I have no idea how it will work in a long term. But thusfar it has felt good, and refreshing. And in the end I hope I learn something about myself, and programming in general.

With hindsight, and compared to other warring nations, how good training did Japanese soldiers get at squad and platoon level? Were they able to "overcome material deficiency by level of training" as it is sometimes stated? Are there still some lessons we could use in modern warfare?

I remember playing Destroyer Command as a kid. It was quite fascinating, as an offshoot of SH2, to have surface vessels. And of surface vessels have the destroyers.

I mostly played it as RTS, as the graphics weren't that good, and most of the time you couldn't handle formations if you were doing nitty-gritty shooting with guns.

It got me thinking that there could be a potential for 2D style naval RTS that would concentrate on smaller vessels: destroyers, gunboats, escorts etc. A lot of skirmishes and such happened during the war on that level, and you could easily include smaller countries and navies.

I'm asking a bit help, because I have feel like I'm clueless what is happening and why.

- 32 yo male, 190 cm and 99 kg, some visible muscle especially legs, biceps but no abs

- trained since 2019, peaked with Starting Strength in 2020 S/B/DL/OHP 150, 100, 190, 50 kg as working sets

- Have since tried GZCL, SBS and some Bromley's programs

- My lifts are basically declined since 2020 steadily

- My recovery ability has tanked. Before I could do 3x per week gym and 20 km per week running, now I can barely keep going for 3 weeks before aches and at 6 weeks I plateau

I get that as I'm over 30, my recovery ability is worse than when I was 25. But it feels like it has been quite fast decline. All the blood work (testos, thyroid, hemoglobin etc) are in normal range.

No major eating habit or lifestyle changes since 2020.

How should I approach programming to get back on track?

I had a thyroid surgery in 10.4. After 4 weeks of not going to the gym, I devised a recovery program that was based on few principles.

Main lifts:

Squat, deadlift, press and bent over row (yes, I take rows seriously).

4x6 RPE6, weight progression is by the day, I use the warm-ups to estimate the weight for today.

Assistance:

Leg extension, leg curl, Bulgarian split squats, tricep pushdowns, front raise, seated DB press, DB row, cable row, lat pulldown.

3x10 RPE8.

I organised these as A/B/C format:

A:

Squat 4x6 RPE6

Leg extension 3x10 RPE8

OHP 4x6 RPE6

DB press 3x10 RPE8

Bent row 4x6 RPE6

Cable row 3x10 RPE8

B:

Deadlift 4x6 RPE6

Leg curl 3x10 RPE8

OHP 4x6 RPE6

Front raise 3x10 RPE8

Bent row 4x6 RPE6

DB row 3x10 RPE8

C:

Squat 4x6 RPE6

Bulgarian split squat 3x10 RPE8

OHP 4x6 RPE6

Tricep pushdown 3x10 RPE8

Bent row 4x6 RPE6

Lat pulldown 3x10 RPE8

RPE is new to me, but I wanted to be able to undulate the intensity depending on recovery and get my feet wet on the principle.

After 6 weeks, I swapped front raises to laterals, cable rows to upright rows and squats to front squats. After week 7 I started to increase assistance work from 3 sets to 4.

Within the 6 weeks, I gained +15 kg in squat, +12,5 kg in OHP, +30 kg in DL and around +15 kg in row. Although one could argue it's because I started very cautiously, and my lifts to begin with are very bad for the guy of my training history (7 years), size (190 cm and 99 kg) and consistency (3-4 times a week).

But, I have made progress. And considering being alive and somewhat functional after the botched surgery recovery in the first week, everything is a plus.

I have noticed some fatigue creep in, so that's why I changed to front squats, although due to kyphosis and ankle anterior impingement they have always been a pain in the butt. I changed front raises to laterals bc the latter seemed to work better.

Feel free to comment and discuss.

Ukrainians used some tractors in the early stages of the war, for logistics and troop carrying. Finnish Defence Forces are famous (or infamous) for relying a lot on tractors for war-time mobility of troops.

The question is, why haven't we seen more use of tractors being used in Ukraine by both sides? They offer off-road mobility and versatility that most trucks aren't capable of. And both countries have national production lines for tractors.

I have been following Project 171 in YT. Of course, the makers are not exactly your normal DIYers: they are uni professionals who have done their lifework with vehicle design and dynamics, and use advanced computer modeling as they go.

But, when they talked about aerodynamics, and how CFD is nice to have but not important, I thought: how well can you get aerodynamics right just by feel? Or other way around: if I design a car just by looks, what I think is aerodynamic, how much of a change there is it's anywhere near aerodynamic? Back in the day they thought a teardrop shape is the most aerodynamic, or a wing (apparently causing a bit of problem with lift, well, because obviously).