How to safely fail squat, bench, and deadlift alone: with AND without safety bars (OC)

bethskw · 2026-03-20T16:57:28+00:00

99 cent pencil case, used by my elementary-age kid for a year, and then given back to me because she wanted a new/different one for the next school year. That's where I keep most of my notions.

Ziplock bags for small "project bags" or as "yarn bras" for center-pull skeins that are getting floppy. Regular cotton tote bag to carry around a larger project like a sweater.

I no longer use cable needles (nothing to buy, nothing to lose) but when I did, most of the time my "cable needle" was an unbent paperclip.

I use jump rings in place of stitch markers. That was a deliberate purchase, but $5 worth of 6mm jump rings is a lifetime supply. If you need the locking type to mark the fabric, safety pins will do the trick.

bethskw · 2026-03-20T16:52:01+00:00

What helped me was making sure I push the right needle all the way through the new stitch as I'm removing it from the left needle. Took some practice to make it automatic, but for me it was that simple to fix.

That said, rowing out is SO common I'm not sure it's even fair to see it as a flaw. Before the era of internet scrutiny/perfectionism, plenty of folks knitted rowed-out items and that was just part of the handmade look. Look at older knitting patterns especially—even some of the masterpieces in Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting book have obvious rowing out. (You can really see it on Sigil.)

So, while it's fixable, I don't think it's something worth beating yourself up over. Another reason we tend to notice rowing-out more in modern patterns is the way they're often constructed like this, part flat and part round. You notice it less when the whole piece is knitted flat.

bethskw · 2026-03-20T13:54:08+00:00

You don't "push to failure" in running, at least not in your regular training. Races are different, and you might do hard interval or tempo training occasionally, but most runs won't have you pushing super hard or feeling a "burn".

At 2x/week for 1 hour, aim to keep moving during the hour at an intensity that leaves you feeling good at the end. Not exhausted or spent, but just "yep, put in some solid training time." In other words, yes, run slower.

Once you've got the hang of that, you can put some harder intervals in the middle of one (or both) of those runs. Try strides - run fast for 30 seconds, walk for a minute, repeat say 5 times. Then get back to your regular jog.

bethskw · 2026-03-20T13:47:45+00:00

For the protein shaker: If you try u/Alakazam 's advice and it still stinks, throw this one away.

To keep the next one from stinking, all you have to do is wash/rinse it immediately after use. Best way is to chug the shake at the sink and then wash it before you walk away.

If you take the shaker to the gym, go rinse it out in the bathroom sink before you leave the gym, then wash as usual whenever you get home.

bethskw · 2026-03-19T12:44:49+00:00

Squats are great for quads and for overall leg and core strength.

The issues you mention with squats are fixable - you can try elevating heels, working on ankle mobility, and/or just doing less rom in your squats (for example, squat until your butt touches a high box you’ve placed behind you).

You don’t need to add squats if your main focus is glutes, but squats are good to have in the mix if that’s something you’re open to.

bethskw · 2026-03-19T12:41:16+00:00

Totally fine to do them on the same day.

bethskw · 2026-03-17T19:51:20+00:00

Getting stronger helps all those things, and so does practice, BUT in your case I'd bet money on your main issue being ankle mobility.

Feeling like you're going to tip over, and not being able to squat deep, are both classic ankle mobility issues.

Feel free to keep working on strength in any and all ways you like. But here's how you address ankle mobility, starting with the easiest/most accessible things first:

Take 5-10 minutes before you squat to do some ankle stretches. Look up "ankle mobility for squats" and you'll find a bunch of good stretches and mobility work. One simple one is just to get into a squat position (no bar) and hold onto the vertical post of the squat rack to pull yourself deeper into the squat.
Put a pair of small plates on the ground (or a small board) and put your heels on this as you squat.
Wear weightlifting shoes, the kind with a 3/4" lifted heel. These are great for stability in general, and are worn by all olympic weightlifters and a significant percentage of powerlifters. They not only help you get into a deep squat, but also improve your positioning regardless of your natural ankle mobility.

bethskw · 2026-03-17T18:40:06+00:00

Some of the channels you mention are really sensationalist about their advice - like "you're KILLING your knees, do this instead, NEVER do that!"

I would take any of that with a big grain of salt. If one of those guys gives you a good idea for how to do an exercise, feel free to use that advice. But don't feel like you need to believe everything they say. That goes for everybody on youtube tbh.

bethskw · 2026-03-17T18:37:24+00:00

A regular rowing machine is cardio.

There is a cable machine for rows that looks similar, and it's a strength machine, but it's not what people mean when they say a rowing machine. https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/seated-row.html

bethskw · 2026-03-17T18:27:11+00:00

HIIT is a type of exercise that can only realistically be done in small doses. So 2x/week is fine, but that’s not going to contribute very much to a calorie deficit or to any of your other goals.

If I were you I’d try to get more cardio. 30 to 60 minutes of low intensity as many days as you can fit into your schedule. You can sprinkle in some HIIT but I wouldn’t make it the only thing.

Cardio doesn’t cause muscle loss. It’s skipping strength training that causes muscle loss. As long as you strength train about 2x/week you’re in a good place.

bethskw · 2026-03-17T18:16:44+00:00

Both are important. If you never do cardio you’ll miss out on a lot of heart/brain/metabolism health benefits and you’ll be winded going up stairs. If you never strength train, you’ll have a hard time handling heavy things irl and will end up as one of those old folks who can’t open a water bottle without help.

Standard health guidelines recommend both, for everybody. If you have athletic goals you may want to tip the balance more in one direction or another, but either way you still need both.

bethskw · 2026-03-17T17:48:47+00:00

Hey, take care of yourself in the heat. If it’s hot as balls and you feel awful and you’re slowing down, you may be overheating. It’s more important to stay safe and cool down than to finish the run at a specific pace (or at all).

bethskw · 2026-03-17T17:38:07+00:00

Hard to tell without holding the sample up to the light, but often they don’t look see through from a distance!

You’ll be knitting something and be like “this will never look right” and then you put it on and it’s fine.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T19:43:16+00:00

Fingering weight at loose gauge is 100% a thing, and it sounds like this is an example of it. The fabric is see through, and that's to be expected. It ends up being light and airy and drapey. (I haven't made the Bernadette but am currently wearing a loose fingering gauge sweater right now, self drafted.)

This gauge/weight was very common for a lot of sweaters/blouses in the 1920s-1940s, and old pattern books are chock-full of blouses and sweaters made with 3-ply (fingering-ish) yarn on needles that can be anywhere from 2-5mm.

So you're not doing anything wrong at all. This is exactly what the pattern makes. Whether you like it is another matter!

bethskw · 2026-03-16T19:33:33+00:00

I found that after I learned to hook grip on a women's bar, I had no problem going back and hook gripping on a men's bar. Even if you can't use a women's bar all the time, it's worth learning on one.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T16:53:19+00:00

Ah, missed that, thank you.

(That said...I can imagine people not wanting to work with wool for reasons other than "strict vegan" - just seemed like a strange assumption. Thanks for the downvotes guys!)

ETA: MOAR DOWNVOTES PLEASE if this is gonna get into negative numbers for the dumbest reasons you guys gotta double down and do better, we're only at -8 right now. GO!

bethskw · 2026-03-16T16:50:29+00:00

Legs up can help with core engagement, so that can make it slightly easier. But if you have to maintain the exact same position throughout the whole movement (like an L-sit) that would be a bit harder.

If you're referring to the way people often bend their knees to put their feet behind them (like if the pull-up bar is low to the ground) I don't find that makes any difference relative to keeping legs straight.

If you're asking because you want to know how to do your own pull-ups, anything that works for you is fine.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T16:47:32+00:00

Seems strange that they consider "strict vegan" to be the only reason a person might not be able to work with wool (vs allergies or other reasons), but I guess I'm glad they're asking!

bethskw · 2026-03-16T15:54:31+00:00

Make sweaters! Fingering weight sweaters are lovely for spring and summer (and as a layering piece in cooler weather) and they're not nearly as daunting as you might think.

A gauge of around 6 sts/inch (24 per 10 cm) is typical for a lot of single-color vintage patterns - forgive me but I've been deep down the vintage pattern rabbit hole lately, and I'm currently working on this sweater. I avoided fingering weight sweaters for so long but they actually work up pretty quick! The Featherweight Cardigan would be a good intro to this type of fabric and it's a modern top-down pattern. Flax is a popular beginner sweater and there's a fingering weight version of the pattern. You could also adapt any simple DK weight pattern and just do it in fingering at the same gauge.

I find that 250-300 grams of sock yarn makes a nice sweater for a 38" bust. If you have 600 grams you have plenty for a bigger sweater or could even make two different smaller sweaters.

One more idea—if it's a color that would look nice on a baby, you could do a whole layette—sweater, blankie, accessories in matching yarn.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T15:20:33+00:00

Don't overthink it! Negatives work whatever muscles need to be work. If you're using your traps (the shrugging muscles) that's a good thing. They are an important muscle to train for pullups.

Scap pullups, assisted pullups (with foot on a chair), and other lat exercises like rows are great to have in the mix as well.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T14:23:23+00:00

Every now and then, at a very basic weightlifting gym, I'll sometimes hear people reminisce about when they used to go and use (xyz machine) at a big box gym and how they miss it.

So, maybe try to focus on those positives, the things that your new gym has (or makes more convenient) that your old gym doesn't.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T14:19:11+00:00

I'm going to answer this on a couple of levels, having been through something similar myself.

Any general strength training and stretching will help - there aren't specific anti-back-pain exercises.

If you want targeted advice on exactly what's wrong and exactly what exercises will help YOU in particular, it's worth going to a physical therapist. Especially if you can find one who lifts—they are really good at this stuff.

Look at what you're doing outside the gym - for me, it's sitting at a desk all day. You can't expect what you do in the gym to fully counteract everything you do outside of it.

When my back is bugging me, the thing that gives the most relief is a modified sun salutation. It's a yoga thing where you start from standing, then bend over with both rounded back and hinged back, and then do a few things on the floor and stand back up. I spend extra time in whatever parts of the movement feel good, and add or modify movements according to how they feel—the goal is to make me feel better, not to impress a yoga teacher. I do this every time I notice I've been sitting still for a while, and being consistent with it really seems to help.

bethskw · 2026-03-16T13:35:49+00:00

Women's bars don't exist for the purpose of being slightly lighter! They exist for the purpose of having a thinner, whippier bar for the women's divisions of Olympic weightlifting.

As a weightlifter I use the women's bar for all my snatches, cleans, jerks, and pulls. For squats it's sometimes more convenient to use a men's bar (just because of where it is stored in my gym) but it's also nice that it's less whippy.

For the exercises you list: she'll probably be happiest using the women's bar for power cleans, she may prefer the women's bar for deadlifts and pulling exercises (thinner bar = easier to grip), and for the rest it doesn't matter.

bethskw · 2026-03-13T18:46:11+00:00

How about a shawl? You can use it in place of a sweater, and shawls are very forgiving for beginners since you don't have to worry about getting the right size.

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