Random Fitness Questions

Brian?

Deleted User wrote: »

I said I'll move to the bar in the future. For now, dumbbell squatting does me fine and let's me only go down as far as I feel comfortable with. Deadlifting can come later.


For anyone who wants tips from the record holder, Eddie Hall just uploaded a video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NyJPgBUREw

As far as you feel comfortable? Are you keeping an eye on your hip mobility.

Brian?

Brian? wrote: »

As far as you feel comfortable? Are you keeping an eye on your hip mobility.

I'm just not very flexible after a decade of no physical activity apart from walking. I want to take things easy for a while, even if I have no problems with my back etc. Controlling how far I go down feels safer for now.


Anyways, what do you guys think of this routine? For almost all of them, it's three sets of 12 > 10 > 8 with increasing weight. For a few like bicep curls, it's 3x8 same weight. I feel like there's too many exercises and I should do more compound stuff.

Pineapple1

How low should you go when doing squats? Does it have to be ass to grass?

Alf Veedersane

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm just not very flexible after a decade of no physical activity apart from walking. I want to take things easy for a while, even if I have no problems with my back etc. Controlling how far I go down feels safer for now.

What mobility work are you doing?

Alf Veedersane

Pineapple1 wrote: »

How low should you go when doing squats? Does it have to be ass to grass?

It doesn't have to be ass to grass but there are different things that dictate the answer.

If you're training for powerlifting comp, then it might be more efficient to just take it below parallel (though for some people ass to grass is the most effective for them).

If you're just training the squat, then I would go through as full a range of motion as you can do safely. And work on mobility so that you can go ass to grass.

But full range of motion can be different for different people.

vargoo

Transform wrote: »

agreed - simple key hole is generally fine but the rehab after is essential

Essential how?

ancapailldorcha

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm just not very flexible after a decade of no physical activity apart from walking. I want to take things easy for a while, even if I have no problems with my back etc. Controlling how far I go down feels safer for now.


Anyways, what do you guys think of this routine? For almost all of them, it's three sets of 12 > 10 > 8 with increasing weight. For a few like bicep curls, it's 3x8 same weight. I feel like there's too many exercises and I should do more compound stuff.

I think it might be too many exercises to be honest.

Alf Veedersane

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What mobility work are you doing?

None, but probably taking up yoga soon with my gf.

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I think it might be too many exercises to be honest.

Yeah, and it takes quite a long time. Fine now, when I'm back at work, it will be harder to fit it all in. I'm gaining on all of those because I'm a beginner, so it's still ok.


Because I can't go anywhere without people saying to learn this stuff, I decided to try my first deadlifts today. I think the first one below was pretty ok? but the second heavier one seems like I bend my lower back dangerously? Or am I using my back too much in both?

0byme75341jo28

Guys I started strength training three weeks ago so I put myself in a caloric surplus, eating about 2700 calories a day since then. I weighed 10st 11lbs the day I started and now my scale reads that I'm 11st 13? I've been taking creatine so I know that causes some water retention but Jesus 16lbs in three weeks sounds impossible? What should I do?

Mr. CooL ICE

The angle isn't great in those videos but yeah, first looked better than the first. From what I can see, there are four problems; knees are too far forward, hips might be too low, you're not locking your shoulders and you may not pulling the slack out of the bar.

Knees: The bar, or the weight of it, should be over the middle of your foot. Your knees being forward means that the bar is more towards your toes. When you begin the pull, I can see the plates immediately go back towards you before going up and at the top, your toes go up. Bar should ideally go straight up and straight down and the weight should never be felt on your heels and toes; only the mid foot. When you walk up to the bar, look down and line your feet up so bar is over the middle (aligned with your shoelaces or something). Move your knees forward until your shin tickles the bar. That's your starting knee position.

Hips: Your hip height looks too low from the videos, but it might actually be ok. If you fix your knee position above, you might in turn fix your hip position. Note that there is no universal 'correct' hip height as it varies from person to person depending on your body proportions.

Shoulders: They look relaxed from the ground and you shrug them up at the top. Your shoulders should be locked down and backwards. There are a number of cues that help with this and you'll have to try and see what works for you. Popular one is "tuck your lats into your pockets". Another is "chest up". What personally works for me is "chest forward and then up". Each to their own, but it does need to be addressed.

Slack: Again, video might be misleading but it looks like you're not pulling the slack out of the bar on the initial pull. You know that little clink noise the bar makes when it hits the plates before the plates leave the floor? If you can hear that, it means you're not pulling the slack out of it. Just make sure you're not only gripping the bar with your hands when setting up; try to let the bar feel heavy in your hands. Personally, I pull the slack out when I lock my shoulders, but someone else might have a better tip.

But tbh, for your first time deadlifting, it looks alright. But just make sure you get the basics right before adding weight.

Mellor

Cadence Uninterested Slugger wrote: »

Guys I started strength training three weeks ago so I put myself in a caloric surplus, eating about 2700 calories a day since then. I weighed 10st 11lbs the day I started and now my scale reads that I'm 11st 13? I've been taking creatine so I know that causes some water retention but Jesus 16lbs in three weeks sounds impossible? What should I do?

How sure are you that the first measurement is accurate?
How sure are you that the second is accurate?

That would be my first guess.
Can you notice any extra mass? 16lbs would be very obvious.

0byme75341jo28

Mellor wrote: »

How sure are you that the first measurement is accurate?
How sure are you that the second is accurate?

That would be my first guess.
Can you notice any extra mass? 16lbs would be very obvious.

I use the exact same electronic scales all the time. I lost a lot of weight through dieting and exercise from Christmas to the 26th June, weighing myself once a week and the weight it showed me always "made sense", as in it never gave me any erratic readings before so I don't get why it would now. I stopped using the scales then until this morning and it gave me that reading.

Could it just be that through the extra food I'm consuming along with some water retention that it showed such an increase? I notice a small bit of a mass increase but nothing like a stone plus extra. I'd have expected maybe a 6lb increase max... To even increase by 16lbs I'd have to be what, about 3000 calories over maintenance every day? I don't wanna sound like I'm making excuses but I couldn't be going that much over my calorie target without noticing. I track nearly everything on MyFitnessPal.

Mellor

Cadence Uninterested Slugger wrote: »

Mellor wrote: »

I use the exact same electronic scales all the time. I lost a lot of weight through dieting and exercise from Christmas to the 26th June, weighing myself once a week and the weight it showed me always "made sense", as in it never gave me any erratic readings before so I don't get why it would now. I stopped using the scales then until this morning and it gave me that reading.

Could it just be that through the extra food I'm consuming along with some water retention that it showed such an increase? I notice a small bit of a mass increase but nothing like a stone plus extra. I'd have expected maybe a 6lb increase max... To even increase by 16lbs I'd have to be what, about 3000 calories over maintenance every day? I don't wanna sound like I'm making excuses but I couldn't be going that much over my calorie target without noticing. I track nearly everything on MyFitnessPal.

3000 extra would only apply if it was all fat gain.

What did yo weigh after your weigh loss diet?
And was the diet low carb, low fat, etc

0byme75341jo28

Mellor wrote: »

3000 extra would only apply if it was all fat gain.

What did yo weigh after your weigh loss diet?
And was the diet low carb, low fat, etc

All I really looked at for the diet was calories. I ate about 1200-1500 a day for 6 months, just looking at my MyFitnessPal for those dates when I was dieting now and I was never hitting my protein, carbohydrate or fat goals. Would that make a difference? I'm hitting or nearly hitting those goals every day now.

Alf Veedersane

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

The angle isn't great in those videos but yeah, first looked better than the first. From what I can see, there are four problems; knees are too far forward, hips might be too low, you're not locking your shoulders and you may not pulling the slack out of the bar.

Knees: The bar, or the weight of it, should be over the middle of your foot. Your knees being forward means that the bar is more towards your toes. When you begin the pull, I can see the plates immediately go back towards you before going up and at the top, your toes go up. Bar should ideally go straight up and straight down and the weight should never be felt on your heels and toes; only the mid foot. When you walk up to the bar, look down and line your feet up so bar is over the middle (aligned with your shoelaces or something). Move your knees forward until your shin tickles the bar. That's your starting knee position.

Hips: Your hip height looks too low from the videos, but it might actually be ok. If you fix your knee position above, you might in turn fix your hip position. Note that there is no universal 'correct' hip height as it varies from person to person depending on your body proportions.

Shoulders: They look relaxed from the ground and you shrug them up at the top. Your shoulders should be locked down and backwards. There are a number of cues that help with this and you'll have to try and see what works for you. Popular one is "tuck your lats into your pockets". Another is "chest up". What personally works for me is "chest forward and then up". Each to their own, but it does need to be addressed.

Slack: Again, video might be misleading but it looks like you're not pulling the slack out of the bar on the initial pull. You know that little clink noise the bar makes when it hits the plates before the plates leave the floor? If you can hear that, it means you're not pulling the slack out of it. Just make sure you're not only gripping the bar with your hands when setting up; try to let the bar feel heavy in your hands. Personally, I pull the slack out when I lock my shoulders, but someone else might have a better tip.

But tbh, for your first time deadlifting, it looks alright. But just make sure you get the basics right before adding weight.

All of the above but I'd add two things:

Work on bracing to keep your trunk more stable (which will tie in with two).

Work on keeping your upper back tighter. That will tie in with Mark's post on shoulders as well.

Your hips are coming up before the bar leave a the ground. Now that could be just because you start with your hips too low but I would say that there's not enough tightness there either.

That might also be why you were unsteady on the heavier deadlift. You were swaying a bit when you dropped it.

But as Mark said it's alright for first time deadlifting. Drill technique at the lighter of the two weights.

vargoo

How many injuries have you lifters on here?

Alf Veedersane

vargoo wrote: »

How many injuries have you lifters on here?

One that was brought about by me going full retard. So not really the fault of lifting but more because I was a moron. Went back to gym a week after first was born. A week of little sleep and food under my belt and I went back in to continue programme I was on. Went home injured but nothing bad. Just had to dial back for a bit.

Other than that, nothing but that's only after about 5 years of having any proper guidance in the gym and 2 and a half years after my first comp (have done 6).

But the high level lifters that have competed for a long time would have a different story to tell about injuries no doubt.

vargoo

vargoo wrote: »

How many injuries have you lifters on here?

none

touch wood
got deadlift form drilled into me at my first session at revfit and my squat broken down, banned for 3 months, and built up again from scratch
that's ... * checks log * 5 years of lifting

i'm still a noob though so i'm not exactly lifting at record levels :pac:

Mr. CooL ICE

vargoo wrote: »

How many injuries have you lifters on here?

Have tweaked my knee and had a sore elbow from squatting like a moron. Had a hamstring issue a while back. Other than that, nothing really. Never any back issue despite spending a long time with bad deadlift form.

I used to run and play football and always had some sort of injury. I remember a few months after my last game when I had a "are those my feet" moment when I realised that for the first time in a long long time, I didn't have at least one black toenail.

el Fenomeno

I do dumbbell side bends for my obliques, and I was just youtubing now to see tips on form and progression (its a hard one to get wrong to be fair) to make sure I wasn't doing anything silly.

As with pretty much any exercise, there's a load of clickbait "DON'T DO THIS EXERCISE" titled videos relating to side bends.

Is there anything particularly wrong with them, or just more YouTube shíte?

They're not my sole oblique workout, I do plenty of core work that targets them too. Theyre just an exercise I like to throw in too.

Mr. CooL ICE

It probably depends on what your overall goals are. If your aim is to shift heavy weight, then doing something like suitcase carries (like farmers but one handed) for obliques would be considered better as it trains core stability and movement resistance under load. Same school of thought would recommend against ab crunches and anything else with movement of the spine.

Transform knows a billion different types of ab exercises so would know more.

ancapailldorcha

Are there any specific Youtube channels people here recommend? There are A LOT of Youtube channels.

Also, do people just drop the bar after deadlifting?

No do not drop the bar or i will personally hunt you down and throw it at you

ancapailldorcha

bluewolf wrote: »

No do not drop the bar or i will personally hunt you down and throw it at you

I would never do such a thing! Seems to be common in Youtube videos though. Why the strong reaction?

Alf Veedersane

bluewolf wrote: »

No do not drop the bar or i will personally hunt you down and throw it at you

Seconded.

Also Juggernaut Training Systems YouTube channel

Brian?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

None, but probably taking up yoga soon with my gf.



Yeah, and it takes quite a long time. Fine now, when I'm back at work, it will be harder to fit it all in. I'm gaining on all of those because I'm a beginner, so it's still ok.


Because I can't go anywhere without people saying to learn this stuff, I decided to try my first deadlifts today. I think the first one below was pretty ok? but the second heavier one seems like I bend my lower back dangerously? Or am I using my back too much in both?

What Mark Rippetoe said.

But please don’t drop the bar from the top, control it on the way down, pause and lift.

Brian?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'm just not very flexible after a decade of no physical activity apart from walking. I want to take things easy for a while, even if I have no problems with my back etc. Controlling how far I go down feels safer for now.


Anyways, what do you guys think of this routine? For almost all of them, it's three sets of 12 > 10 > 8 with increasing weight. For a few like bicep curls, it's 3x8 same weight. I feel like there's too many exercises and I should do more compound stuff.

That’s a bewildering array of exercises. Far too many IMO.

No one, no matter what, needs an entire day for arms.

The best program for a beginner, and most others in fairness, is a full body routine 3 times a week. Based around one or 2 big lifts a day plus some accessory work.

ancapailldorcha

Brian? wrote: »

That’s a bewildering array of exercises. Far too many IMO.

No one, no matter what, needs an entire day for arms.

The best program for a beginner, and most others in fairness, is a full body routine 3 times a week. Based around one or 2 big lifts a day plus some accessory work.

Are there any particularly good websites with suggestions for plans, workouts, nutrition and such?

Brian?

Brian? wrote: »

That’s a bewildering array of exercises. Far too many IMO.

No one, no matter what, needs an entire day for arms.

The best program for a beginner, and most others in fairness, is a full body routine 3 times a week. Based around one or 2 big lifts a day plus some accessory work.

Not working for the summer so was happy to spend a lot of time on it. Thinking of trying GZCLP when I go back to work. It's pretty much what you described.

Ush1

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Are there any particularly good websites with suggestions for plans, workouts, nutrition and such?

https://ss.fitness/

Covers a lot of basics.