Will this work

guil

Sorry if this a stupid question or idea but I play squash and I'm losing about 1-2lb a week. Im 5'8 and weigh 15st 4lb now.

There's a bit of a gym in the squash club but it's only to compliment the club so no instructors etc. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to do some benching pressing and barbell squats after squash.

Yesterday I tried it and I can do 5 sets of 5 reps bench with 20kg either side and the bar is 20kg. For squats I had 15kg either side but I think I can easily add a lot more onto that.

When I lose some more weight I'm thinking of joining a better gym as well as playing squash so am I pissing in the wind doing them now while I'm still trying to lose weight?

Thanks.

Transform

guil wrote: »

Sorry if this a stupid question or idea but I play squash and I'm losing about 1-2lb a week. Im 5'8 and weigh 15st 4lb now.

There's a bit of a gym in the squash club but it's only to compliment the club so no instructors etc. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to do some benching pressing and barbell squats after squash.

Yesterday I tried it and I can do 5 sets of 5 reps bench with 20kg either side and the bar is 20kg. For squats I had 15kg either side but I think I can easily add a lot more onto that.

When I lose some more weight I'm thinking of joining a better gym as well as playing squash so am I pissing in the wind doing them now while I'm still trying to lose weight?

Thanks.

just walk a bit more, do loads more mobility work and sort your diet out.

yes some weights help but if you cant do push ups, squats and pull ups with body weight first then id get really focused on them first

guil

I was never really good with pull-ups even before I put on all the weight. I can do body weight squats and push-ups no problem though.

Johnnyhpipe

No matter what you're trying to achieve (when it comes to body composition) i'd guess its in the order of 70% diet and 30% gym.

So do what you're doing and throw in some weights if you want, why not, but make aure the diet's good too.

Zillah

Transform wrote: »

just walk a bit more, do loads more mobility work and sort your diet out.

yes some weights help but if you cant do push ups, squats and pull ups with body weight first then id get really focused on them first

That's a weirdly negative thing to say.

OP it's a great idea, keep at it, add as much weight as you're comfortable with.

guil

Zillah wrote: »

That's a weirdly negative thing to say.

OP it's a great idea, keep at it, add as much weight as you're comfortable with.

Probably a silly question but for squats, how will I know how much is enough?

Transform

Zillah wrote: »

That's a weirdly negative thing to say.

OP it's a great idea, keep at it, add as much weight as you're comfortable with.

if the individual in question is overweight (current height and weight puts the OP BMI (32.5) higher than id feel comfortable putting them on any program beyond body weight movements) then the focus should be put in building some basic strength on body weight movements and maybe some slight loading via kettlebell swings etc

30mins working on bench press and loaded squats v's doing pull ups, squats, press ups, throw in some core work, mobility work and you have a far better use of ones time.

Add in some walking on other days which is low impact = winning

You're going to have plenty of strength built and have a significantly higher calorie burn on the latter

Guil - how much weight? Body weight is more than enough until you get your weight under 13st 7lbs ish

guil

I've always been generally strong in my legs and chest/arms. Squash has my legs stronger than ever. When you ask what weight are you asking what weight I want to get to?

PaddyWilliams

guil wrote: »

Probably a silly question but for squats, how will I know how much is enough?

Hello mate, keep going as you are now and add maybe 5 kg (2.5kg plate each side) each session. Keep going with that as long as you can and you'll be alright

rtron

If you start doing weights your appitite may increase, ensure you eat the right kinds if foods if that happens.

Transform

guil wrote: »

I've always been generally strong in my legs and chest/arms. Squash has my legs stronger than ever. When you ask what weight are you asking what weight I want to get to?

you question asked what weight to lift so thats what i referred to.

guil

Transform wrote: »

you question asked what weight to lift so thats what i referred to.

Oh yes sorry.

guil

Just on the body weight squats, I can do them no problem and even 3 sets of 15 every day doesn't hurt my legs.

Zillah

If you can do 15 in one set you should ramp up the weight so it's a bit more challenging.

guil

That's what I thought. I'm going to try 20/25 each side tonight and see how I get on.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

That's what I thought. I'm going to try 20/25 each side tonight and see how I get on.

No. Increase the weight, not the reps.

guil

Brian? wrote: »

No. Increase the weight, not the reps.

That's why I meant. I'm only doing 5x5.

Mellor

i think people are talking about different from things in the thread. Hence some of the confusion.

guil wrote: »

Just on the body weight squats, I can do them no problem and even 3 sets of 15 every day doesn't hurt my legs.

Are you talking about squats without any weight. Or are you doing 15 reps with 100kg?

Because you asked what weight to lift for squats, the suggestion was stick to bodyweight for now. I imagine that meant a barbell loaded equal to bodyweight, no unloaded squats.

guil wrote: »

I've always been generally strong in my legs and chest/arms. Squash has my legs stronger than ever.

Squash has your legs stronger than every by what measure?

Brian?

guil wrote: »

That's why I meant. I'm only doing 5x5.

I may missed something in the thread. Do you have use of a gym?

guil

Sorry for all the confusion. I presumed body weight meant just doing a squat with no weight or bar, is that wrong?

I use the gym in the squash club. Tonight I did squats with 25kg each side on the bar. 5 sets of 5 reps. Didn't feel overly hard but I got another lad to record me and I don't think I was going down far enough. I'll try post the vid and can anyone tell me if I'm doing anything wrong other than that.

https://youtu.be/BVef6yi8RTw

Nonoperational

5 reps is very low. I'd increase that especially if weight loss is a goal.

Zillah

guil wrote: »

Sorry for all the confusion. I presumed body weight meant just doing a squat with no weight or bar, is that wrong?

I use the gym in the squash club. Tonight I did squats with 25kg each side on the bar. 5 sets of 5 reps. Didn't feel overly hard but I got another lad to record me and I don't think I was going down far enough. I'll try post the vid and can anyone tell me if I'm doing anything wrong other than that.

https://youtu.be/BVef6yi8RTw

Form looks fine to me. Getting your thighs parallel with the ground is the target.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

Sorry for all the confusion. I presumed body weight meant just doing a squat with no weight or bar, is that wrong?

I use the gym in the squash club. Tonight I did squats with 25kg each side on the bar. 5 sets of 5 reps. Didn't feel overly hard but I got another lad to record me and I don't think I was going down far enough. I'll try post the vid and can anyone tell me if I'm doing anything wrong other than that.

https://youtu.be/BVef6yi8RTw

Good stuff. Sorry for the cousin. Keep at it. Form looks good, weight looks easy.

guil

Thanks for the help. I'm going to try the 5x5 workout and see how I get on. I've been reading and if you can't get parallel it suggests to widen your stance a little, is that right? Also I had no idea about squeezing the bar and your shoulders.

Mellor

guil wrote: »

Sorry for all the confusion. I presumed body weight meant just doing a squat with no weight or bar, is that wrong?

That's is bodyweight squats refers to.
I just though that people where assuming you were doing 15reps with a barbell.
IMO movement quality is more important that the total weight

guil

Mellor wrote: »

That's is bodyweight squats refers to.
I just though that people where assuming you were doing 15reps with a barbell.
IMO movement quality is more important that the total weight

I was explaining it arseways sorry.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

Thanks for the help. I'm going to try the 5x5 workout and see how I get on. I've been reading and if you can't get parallel it suggests to widen your stance a little, is that right? Also I had no idea about squeezing the bar and your shoulders.

There are many 5x5 programs. You're going to do stronglifts 5x5?

If you're worried about your squat depth then take a video from the side and throw it up.

I learned how to squat, deadlift and bench from reading Starting Strength. It's a good free resource. It's also where a small Belgian man plagarised most of his "work" from the start the Stronglifts site and program.

guil

Yeah it's the StrongLifts one. I saw a link for it in another thread, I'll be doing it again tomorrow so I'll try get a vid again.

The only downside is we do circuits on Monday and Wednesday in the squash club so I'm doing my squats etc after that. I started both yesterday and felt fine last night doing the squats.

guil

This stronglift program I'm doing is Monday Wednesday and Friday. I have circuits in the squash club Mondays and Wednesdays so is there any advantage to do one before the other or does it matter?

Todd Toddington III

Nonoperational wrote: »

5 reps is very low. I'd increase that especially if weight loss is a goal.

5x5 is a strength training programme, nothing wrong with this rep range. Diet will be key for the op

guil

How does this look?

https://youtu.be/8shOBY1nfNE

Zillah

guil wrote: »

How does this look?

https://youtu.be/8shOBY1nfNE

You're tilting forward at your hips a bit. Your shoulders, and therefore also the bar, should only go up and down - you've a tendency to tilt forward a bit; stay upright.

guil

Zillah wrote: »

You're tilting forward at your hips a bit. Your shoulders, and therefore also the bar, should only go up and down - you've a tendency to tilt forward a bit; stay upright.

I wonder is it the shoes? They are for squash and have cushioned insoles in them so I'll bring a pair of flatter shoes with me next time and see how I get on.

Zillah

No I don't think it's your shoes, just keep your upper torso upright; you're tilting forward from the hip, not the feet. Look at the barbell in your video, see how it doesn't go straight up and down?

zzfh

guil wrote: »

This stronglift program I'm doing is Monday Wednesday and Friday. I have circuits in the squash club Mondays and Wednesdays so is there any advantage to do one before the other or does it matter?

Strength work before your circuits.

guil

Zillah wrote: »

No I don't think it's your shoes, just keep your upper torso upright; you're tilting forward from the hip, not the feet. Look at the barbell in your video, see how it doesn't go straight up and down?

I get what you're saying but don't know how to fix it. I'll see how I get on Friday.

Alf Veedersane

You could probably do with working on your mobility if you don't think that the weight is particularly heavy and you're only getting that low.

See if you can get lower by dropping the weight. You don't need to go much lower bit you should be able to if you don't find the weight altogether challenging.

guil

One thing i noticed while doing my warmup yesterday was that i kept losing my balance and going backwards wuth the empty bar, is that a sign of wrong stance or anything like that?
Maybe that was part of the reason I was leaning forward?

zzfh

guil wrote: »

One thing i noticed while doing my warmup yesterday was that i kept losing my balance and going backwards wuth the empty bar, is that a sign of wrong stance or anything like that?
Maybe that was part of the reason I was leaning forward?

likely a flexibility issue. check your calf and hamstring flexibility.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

How does this look?

https://youtu.be/8shOBY1nfNE

What the others have said, but also your back is slightly rounding out at the bottom.

What kind of warm up do you do? Looks to be like some hip mobility work is needed.

Cake Man

zzfh wrote: »

likely a flexibility issue. check your calf and hamstring flexibility.

Hips and ankle too, OP may not have great ankle dorsiflexion. OP, look up Limber 11 and try out some of those stretches to improve hip mobility/flexibility.


Also do some "third world squats" and just sit in the position for a minute (or as long as you can) at a time. Yes, you'll most likely have to hold on to something in front while in the position to prevent tumbling back but that's normal. Should improve flexibility in the lower areas. You can also put small/thin (1.25kg) plates under your heels when doing squats to counteract the lack of ankle mobility.


I do most of the above with a bit of stretching and foam rolling every day and it helps a bit although my groin (especially right side) is always fairly tight and no matter how much stretching/foam rolling I do, it's always fairly tight.

guil

Thanks for all the suggestions. I only started squatting with a bar last Saturday and did It after playing squash, Monday I did the workout after circuits but Wednesday I did it before the circuits.

For warm up I just did a few sets with the empty bar and then added 10kg each side until I got upto my weight of 72.5kg. I went straight to 72.5 after doing a set with 40.

guil

I feel like I'm pissing into the wind at the moment so should I stop and work on mobility and start again from scratch or do I stay going at the current weights and work on mobility at the same time?

https://youtu.be/cNvKK24IQ5Q

Alf Veedersane

guil wrote: »

I feel like I'm pissing into the wind at the moment so should I stop and work on mobility and start again from scratch or do I stay going at the current weights and work on mobility at the same time?

https://youtu.be/cNvKK24IQ5Q

Both. But just worth noting to check if your mobility is the same at a lower weight is all. The main reason is that if mobility is an issue it will cause problems down the line so best to head it off asap. Doesn't mean you can't work on both though

guil

I certainly need to do something with my shoulders I think. It's not very comfortable trying to get the right position with bar and I'm not sure if I'm too high with it.

Tonight the lower the weight the more unbalanced I was. When I put 10 either side of the bar I was much more stable and more so again with 20 either side.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

I feel like I'm pissing into the wind at the moment so should I stop and work on mobility and start again from scratch or do I stay going at the current weights and work on mobility at the same time?

https://youtu.be/cNvKK24IQ5Q

You need to look at your warm up. Empty bar squats isn't a great warm up. Your mobility work can be incorporated into the warm up.

Something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj_lvl1NNLg

guil

Brian? wrote: »

You need to look at your warm up. Empty bar squats isn't a great warm up. Your mobility work can be incorporated into the warm up.

Something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj_lvl1NNLg

Would playing a game of squash beforehand do as a warmup? Should I still do the warmup with the empty bar and adding weight incrementally?

Alf Veedersane

guil wrote: »

Would playing a game of squash beforehand do as a warmup? Should I still do the warmup with the empty bar and adding weight incrementally?

Warming up for squatting involves preparing yourself for squatting. Warm ups with the bar and lighter weights are part preparing yourself to squat

guil

I thought as much. Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions so far. I really appreciate it.

Brian?

guil wrote: »

Would playing a game of squash beforehand do as a warmup? Should I still do the warmup with the empty bar and adding weight incrementally?

I thinking the term "warming up" is a poor description of what's actually needed. As Alf said, you're preparing to squat. The last part of the preparation is to lift the empty bar and add small weights.

Your mobility needs work. Playing squash won't fix that. You need to do mobility work.

guil

I done the limber 11 once or twice before but going to try doing it everyday now. Started this morning.