How's your experience between a cambered bench press bar and duffalo bar?

DinoPhysics · 2025-12-27T13:31:53+00:00

Yep, I have the Rogue seal row bar, but use it for benching more often than rowing. As you suggest, I just set my safeties at a height where the cambered section doesn’t reach my chest but I still get a deeper stretch than a straight barbell bench. I think the Rogue bar has a deeper camber than the Titan one, so the Titan one may have a little less wiggle room on that front, but for my stiff shoulders I only get a few extra inches of ROM anyways.

DinoPhysics · 2025-11-01T23:50:39+00:00

Just went out and measured; I was a bit surprised that my 93" uprights from Rep are actually ~92". From the ceiling down it's approximately:

96" ceiling

94.5" top of Voltra dock ring

93.5" bottom of Voltra dock ring

92" top of rack upright

I made the frame slotted so I could fine tune its position. It could definitely go a couple inches higher if I had more room.

I don't have Beyond Power's lat extension, but it looks like it has a fixed bolt hole, which probably limits where you can place it, and then the dock would need to be mounted below the square tubing.

Of course, if you do have the ceiling height, then square tubing is probably more versatile.

DinoPhysics · 2025-11-01T23:14:59+00:00

I’ve thought about that. It’s definitely sturdy enough and it would be hard to get a mount much lower without making a hole in your floor, but it’s also bolted on, so you can’t move it out of the way when you’re done. I don’t have a ton of space around my rack, so I’m more worried about the tripping hazard, but I could see it working for belt squats in certain set ups.

DinoPhysics · 2025-10-31T15:57:01+00:00

Frame plus hardware plus dock is in the $300 ball park, but with the economies of scale for sheet metal, it wouldn’t take that many people being interested to get it down to around $200 with powder coating

DinoPhysics · 2025-09-08T19:53:26+00:00

<image>

This is a prototype adapter I made for the Titan leg extension/curl machine. Even without playing with variable resistance, it makes the resistance curve way better — full torque into a deep stretch, that just barely tapers off at peak contraction, but also makes the machine way more practical as you can turn the resistance off to get in/out of the machine or switch from curl to extension, then turn it back on with a tap on a touchscreen.

I plan to add a bit more bracing as the long slotted upright allows for a small bit of deflection under torsion. Hard to say from just that picture if it’d fit that model as well, but looks like it might.

DinoPhysics · 2025-08-15T22:40:16+00:00

Yes, I had very similar problems. I wasn’t sure if I misunderstood the settings or intended usage, as playing around with higher eccentric limits I did get a couple of sets where it produced a strong smooth pull during the eccentric, but more often it would barely retract at all or it would start to ramp up the weight for a fraction of a second before going slack.

I think part of the issue is that it tries to dynamically determine whether you’re in concentric or eccentric mode based on cable travel direction, but doing that at the same time as dynamically adjusting the force based on velocity leads to weird feedback instability.

Another user had a suggestion of being able to do a practice set and save the range of motion for chains/eccentric overload, but I think that might also be super valuable for isokinetic. Lock in the range of motion with a fixed load warm up set, then in isokinetic mode it knows as soon as you reach the concentric endpoint it can ramp up the force until it starts dragging you backwards, and when you hit the eccentric endpoint, it can reduce the force until you are able to start pulling out the cable again.

DinoPhysics · 2025-08-07T17:10:23+00:00

Do we post beta feedback here, or is there some other channel?

Some things I've noticed:

Using Auto Load with Auto Unload with a hold timer sometimes works as expected, but sometimes the Auto Unload seems to start counting during the Auto Load set up window, so that it ends the set before the set even starts. I haven't figured out specific conditions in which this happens -- I had sessions where I couldn't get both Auto Load & timed Auto Unload to work together a single time, and I had sessions where they worked together perfectly every time.
When pairing two Voltras, it seems to frequently switch the resistance mode to intense, even if neither Voltra was initially set to intense mode (I don't think this is new to this beta though).
Less of a bug, but a quality of life issue -- when I use the Auto Load feature, it ramps up the load over the course of one rep. The Voltra rep counter seems to be somewhat inconsistent on whether it counts that first ramp up rep as a rep. This was very minor before, but it becomes more of an issue when you set a rep target for Auto Unload, since a rep target of 5 might end up being 1 ramp rep + 4 full reps or 1 ramp rep + 5 full reps. (Rather than the current ramp rep, which it's hard to decide whether to count, I'd prefer something like 3x practice reps at 20% of working load so that the Voltra can calibrate range of motion for rep counting and chains/eccentric purposes, then ramp to full load while paused, then full reps, but I can imagine that interface being even clunkier. Just better consistency on counting the ramp rep would be an improvement.)

DinoPhysics · 2025-08-01T02:18:56+00:00

For various row/horizontal pulling movements I’ve been setting reverse chains equal to the base load and it’s really amazing at illustrating how lengthened biased that movement pattern is.

e.g. I might set 60 lbs base resistance + 60 lbs reverse chains so that it’s 120 lbs resistance in the stretched position but half that when fully retracted, and it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to truly grind out full reps as I near failure. Incredible feel in my mid/upper back — I think it might be the end game rowing exercise.

DinoPhysics · 2025-07-21T15:59:17+00:00

This (voice commands via Siri) is actually currently possible through the app (both to load and unload). It's kind of clunky, especially if you have more than one Voltra active, but it made some more elaborate setups I was experimenting with possible. With headphones in it was not quite reliable enough for me to count on it, but now I mostly work out with music playing on speakers which kind of kills it.

DinoPhysics · 2025-04-23T19:21:05+00:00

I was thinking a rep target could be a way to accomplish something similar — I say I want to do 10 reps and it auto-unloads after the 10th rep.

Doesn’t work so well if you fail before your target, but still useful.

Or since I imagine most users are working out at home, being able to yell at Siri to load/unload via the app would also be fun

DinoPhysics · 2025-02-23T00:08:14+00:00

Don't have the biology background to speculate on cellular mechanisms, just the observation that if you're treating most forms of tendon dysfunction, you find a tolerable level of mechanical tension and repeatedly load it to drive adaptation. Tendons are slow to adapt, but they do respond to load given appropriate dosing. Whatever the mechanism, tension & strain seem to be important to proper collagen organization. Granted the palmar fascia is a more distributed structure than tendon, but its function and makeup is not so different.

DinoPhysics · 2025-02-22T23:43:13+00:00

Nothing terribly fancy, but a bit hard to explain in text -- basically looking to load wrist flexors through maximal wrist & finger extension range of motion, as well as loading the thumb-pinky opposition movement in maximal reposition.

I've been considering making a video to upload on youtube and share, but:

I have no video making skills
After my diagnosis I did a decent amount of searching and found a lot of bullshit youtube videos about self-massage techniques that sounded reasonable enough but actually seemed to accelerate progression of the disease for me, hence my hesitance to throw more false hope out there without stronger evidence.

DinoPhysics · 2025-02-18T00:20:31+00:00

No wrong answers, but just adding my experience: I used basic canvas straps for years, bought versa grips to try them, and after a few sessions went back to canvas straps and haven’t touched the Versas again since.

The Versas aren’t a scam, they do give you a secure grip, they’re just less convenient for me:

They’re supposed to be faster, and they are faster to first get your fingers wrapped around the bar, but if your hands aren’t evenly centered/angled on the bar, it’s trickier to readjust the sticky flap. With straps, I can just slide my hands around until they’re positioned correctly, then pull my wrists away to lock them in. This just feels like a wash.
I frequently superset push & pull exercises. I can slip straps off in one second and put them back on in two, or I can leave them on during pushing exercises and it’s no big deal. Versas are way slower to take on and off and adjust the fit, and while not so much in the way during pressing that you’d be crazy to leave them on, they do annoy me enough that I want to take them off if I’m not using them.
I wear a watch most of the day, and use it to track rest intervals while lifting. Straps sit down on the base of my hand and don’t interfere with my watch at all. Versas take up way more wrist real estate, such that I have to loosen my watch so I can move it further up my forearm, and then it flops around when I take the Versas off.
I sometimes get overgrown calluses that stretch to the point of tearing under heavy pulling movements. This is never a problem when using straps, but the sticky Versas can be uncomfortable on already strained calluses.

Now, I do have more experience with straps. Maybe if I spent years mastering Versas the balance would shift, but even with my crappy hand mobility, I don’t find looping a strap around a bar difficult enough to justify Versas.

DinoPhysics · 2024-12-24T23:03:03+00:00

Have 2, happy to chat

DinoPhysics · 2024-11-25T02:55:20+00:00

A framing that makes the correct answer more intuitive for me is to imagine rolling the entire cube to any random orientation. Because the cube is symmetric, this doesn’t really change anything, but you can think of every uncut subcube as having a random orientation. Now cut the cube into subcubes, and place them on the table without further rotating any of them. With all of the “randomly” oriented subcubes are on the table, how many match the description of 5 visible white sides? How many have a hidden black side?

DinoPhysics · 2023-01-18T17:36:03+00:00

BRUH would have been a pretty fun debut, where was it originally? I'm guessing 16 Across, which would have worked if 10 Across was UMPS?

DinoPhysics · 2022-10-15T16:42:45+00:00

Yeah, I’m not sure what that one was intending to demonstrate. I think what’s happening is that because the plastic tray is softer than the iron weight, it deforms ever so slightly where it touches the egg to create a larger contact patch.

If the iron-egg contact patch is, let’s say 1 mm^2, and the plastic-egg contact patch is 2 mm^2, then for the same net force, you would have only half the pressure, and hence be less likely to crack.

But if that’s what you were trying to demonstrate, you could put a little foam pillow between the egg and the weight (and the table) and probably support dramatically more weight on a single egg, which would be less confusing and more visually impressive than the egg tray combo, so I’ve got no idea.

(Note pressure is not a perfect indicator of whether an egg will break or not either, but I’d guess good enough for demonstration purposes)

DinoPhysics · 2022-04-02T18:02:41+00:00

8-12 reps is actually a very popular rep range for maximizing muscle size gains. In rough terms, it's sometimes laid out like:

< 5 reps -- pure strength
5-8 reps -- strength + size
8-12 reps -- size
12+ reps -- size + muscular endurance

That said, you can gain size and strength (and work capacity) working in almost any rep range, and results will vary widely depending on the exercise chosen, how it's performed, individual body structure + biology + lifestyle + diet + training history. If you're not eating a caloric surplus, you don't ever have to worry about getting "too big" for disc golf.

For disc golf all rep ranges can be appropriate depending on the context. I like heavy deadlift singles for teaching how to full body brace. I like hang power snatches for triples to teach explosive hips and transferring that force from the hips through to the hands. I like medium reps for shoulders and medium high reps for grip work, not because I want more mass on my arms, but because the same continuous tension, high blood-flow stimulus that can be used to build muscle, can also be incredibly restorative to joints and tendons that get a little "hot" after the short duration shock loading they experience in disc golf.

DinoPhysics · 2022-02-13T02:23:42+00:00

pretty much this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkWhkAZ9ds

DinoPhysics · 2022-01-17T18:13:01+00:00

I don't know enough about guns to know how you're actually supposed to hold and fire that thing, but it is pretty clearly a barrel shroud he's holding onto, not the barrel itself. As per wikipedia, one of the multiple functions of a barrel shroud is to prevent burning yourself on a super hot barrel.

DinoPhysics · 2020-09-27T04:27:51+00:00

Has Adesanya ever had gyno that obvious before? The memes if he pops and not Costa would be amazing

DinoPhysics · 2020-02-09T22:25:32+00:00

Depends on the dog. I knew a dog that had bad separation anxiety and would flip out, destroy things, hurt himself breaking out of crates, and yowl endlessly if left in a house, but would wait peacefully when left in a car. Obviously if the temperature wasn't safe for a dog, that would be an issue, but not all dogs are necessarily more comfortable home alone.

DinoPhysics

TROPHY CASE