Random Fitness Questions

ancapailldorcha

Ush1 wrote: »

https://ss.fitness/

Covers a lot of basics.

This looks really good. Thanks.

I still need to have a think on what my goals actually are. To be honest, and this might sound daft but what's got me to the gym is the mental health/de-stressing benefits of exercise rather than actually trying to get fit.

I'll give that a look.

Alf Veedersane

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

This looks really good. Thanks.

I still need to have a think on what my goals actually are. To be honest, and this might sound daft but what's got me to the gym is the mental health/de-stressing benefits of exercise rather than actually trying to get fit.

I'll give that a look.

Yeah I hear ya but when you have a programme in place, it means there is one less thing to think about in the gym. You have the equipment and you know the sets and reps so you go do it. You don't have to think about what you're doing.

Adds to the de-stressing element

Ush1

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

This looks really good. Thanks.

I still need to have a think on what my goals actually are. To be honest, and this might sound daft but what's got me to the gym is the mental health/de-stressing benefits of exercise rather than actually trying to get fit.

I'll give that a look.

That's fair and often there will be crossover in whatever goals you have, you will get fitter as a by product. Many people go through different phases with it also. As a younger guy I wanted to be big and muscular, then I was all about lean with not so much size and now I'm mainly focused on improving for sports.

Joe Rogan had a funny quote, he said when people say they don't exercise it's like saying "I don't brush my teeth".

ancapailldorcha

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Yeah I hear ya but when you have a programme in place, it means there is one less thing to think about in the gym. You have the equipment and you know the sets and reps so you go do it. You don't have to think about what you're doing.

Adds to the de-stressing element

+1,000

Absolutely. It's so nice to just go in and run through a pre-planned session. I do enough thinking the rest of the time!

funkey_monkey

Last week I was ill with mild food poisoning. Back at the gym last night - I've lost 2kg (now 71kg) and strength has collapsed.
Why have I lost so much weight in a short period of time? If it was water weight, then surely it should be replenished by now. Did my body go into catabolic state and start breaking down the muscles? I can definitely see that my physique has reduced.

Mellor

funkey_monkey wrote: »

If it was water weight, then surely it should be replenished by now.

Not necessarily.
I’d imagine you were definitely dehydrated after “flushing” your system. It’s not a given that you’ve replenished.

funkey_monkey

My appetite was very reduced for 3 days - would that be long enough for any type of catabolic effect to take place?

Mellor

You aren’t going to catabolise 2kg in a week. It’s probably some muscle lost, some day loss, and predominantly water fluctuation.
Getting plenty of salt and electrolytes in and re-weigh yourself in a day or two.

Brian?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

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.

It’s not the amount of time I question. It’s just too much to be productive. Essentially doing arms 2 days a week anyway and then adding a whole day on arms. It’s counterproductive, it will seriously impact your recovery which is where the growth happens.

I’ll be honest it looks like you’ve listed ever exercise available.


If you want to do 4 days a week, you could do push/pull break push/pull. Or something else. But strip it back to 2-3 big compounts and 2-3 isolation movements.

Brian?

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

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

Boards.ie fitness forum

Mellor

Brian? wrote: »

It’s not the amount of time I question. It’s just too much to be productive. Essentially doing arms 2 days a week anyway and then adding a whole day on arms. It’s counterproductive, it will seriously impact your recovery which is where the growth happens.

I’ll be honest it looks like you’ve listed ever exercise available.

Agreed. It's a bit of a mess.
It's like a very bad BB routine.

the baby bull elephant

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

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?

One I'll always recommend is Brian Alsruhe's channel.

I wouldn't drop it as a matter of course. In fact I've started training the eccentric more. Gives more chance for hypertrophy.

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

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

The r/fitness wiki is really good for this I think. The actual subreddit not so much because there's a lot of beginners and a certain amount of the blind leading the blind but the wiki is a great starting point for anyone at all interested in fitness.

deconduo

I've been starting to get fit by doing a bit of running (couch25k) and cycling. I'm now looking around for gyms as I would like to mix in some swimming and core/upper body exercises. Would also be good to have somewhere to go for running/cycling machines when the weather stops being nice

Any recommendations for a gym with a pool in Dublin CC or along the northern DART line?

I've had a look and the most reasonable price wise (300-450/year) seem to be:

- Gym Plus Clarendon
- Markievicz Gym
- Trinity Sports Center

There's a couple of others like Westwood Clontarf, Spencer Hotel, etc. that are 650+, not sure if they have any big differentiation to make the price difference worth it?

D'Agger

Was doing squats yesterday and enjoyed the set I did

8 x Bar
8 x 40KG
6 x 60KG
6 x 70KG
4 x 5 @ 80KG

For the 4 main sets I did landmine press as a secondary exercise. For all sets prior to that, I was doing a bodyweight squat hold using a pole for balance and doing another exercise that's a hip opener (I don't know the name but came across it on bodyweight warrior on YouTube).

So I woke up today and stretched out some sore glutes, back hips, but I'm noticing my hips are quite stiff. I have poor hip mobility and I'm doing gymnastics where I'm struggling to do straddle.

Other than increasing my stretching for hips, is there anything else I should be doing do you think?

I like to think I'm doing enough of a warm up and activating exercises prior to and during the squats I'm doing. Perhaps my form is poor leading to tight hips if so would it be best to stay on a lower weight and go for higher reps?

0byme75341jo28

Another man with tight hips here. I've been doing a lot of stretching and feeling some bit of progress but also wondering if using the hip abductor/adductor machines would be any benefit to my squat? I find the outside of my hips get quite sore after squatting and my hips tend to internally rotate.

Alf Veedersane

Cadence Uninterested Slugger wrote: »

Another man with tight hips here. I've been doing a lot of stretching and feeling some bit of progress but also wondering if using the hip abductor/adductor machines would be any benefit to my squat? I find the outside of my hips get quite sore after squatting and my hips tend to internally rotate.

Your hips tend to internally rotate because you're not externally rotating them to prevent the internal rotation of you're lifting heavier than you should be. If that's happening, the glute med, amongst other tissue, is likely carrying too much load during squats.

Strengthening tissue there may help but ultimately you need to look at dropping the weight to where hip internal rotation / knee collapsing in isn't happening and building slowly up from there.

There may be other reasons but that's just my take on it.

silverharp

Whats the skinny on the Belt squat? , one appeared recently though I have never seen anyone using it, asked a trainer what it was , he said "the lads wanted it" but stick to back squat.

Reps4jesus

silverharp wrote: »

Whats the skinny on the Belt squat? , one appeared recently though I have never seen anyone using it, asked a trainer what it was , he said "the lads wanted it" but stick to back squat.

I actually think belt squats are pretty damn good, particularly after you have done your squats and your back might be a bit tired or if its beaten up a bit. can be awkward getting set up on it and i generally have problems with the belt rubbing against my inner thighs at times which is uncomfortable but i actually really like them apart from that

Deano7788

silverharp wrote: »

Whats the skinny on the Belt squat? , one appeared recently though I have never seen anyone using it, asked a trainer what it was , he said "the lads wanted it" but stick to back squat.

It's programmed in for me as assistance for my comp squat. I really like it, it's a good way of getting in volume without fatiguing the lower back.

Alf Veedersane

silverharp wrote: »

Whats the skinny on the Belt squat? , one appeared recently though I have never seen anyone using it, asked a trainer what it was , he said "the lads wanted it" but stick to back squat.

There's one in the Flyefit I use. Max load allowed: 80kg.

I think it'd be pretty useful as the other posts have said. Quadzzzz.

silverharp

It sounds like a good idea to have a squatting option not having to have a bar on your back. Why would be limited to 80KG it looks like something that would be designed for heavier?

Alf Veedersane

silverharp wrote: »

It sounds like a good idea to have a squatting option not having to have a bar on your back. Why would be limited to 80KG it looks like something that would be designed for heavier?

Probably needs to be fixed but isn't bad enough to take out of use but just restrict load.

People use it as an exercise to complement squatting with a barbell as opposed to an alternative.

Well, you could use it as an alternative to squat but you'd lose an awful lot of the other work you get from squatting with a bar.

Would I be right in saying that not feeling anything in the back whatsoever during deadlifts / squat, but feeling that regular worked out sort of "pain" in the days after, means my technique is pretty good?

My brother hated deadlifts because it hurt his back while doing them, but then I gave him the pointers I learned and if doesn't hurt him at all now. Blind leading the blind but seems to work.


Someone on here talked about tensioning the bar before the lift and that helped a lot. So thanks for that whoever you are.

bladespin

Deleted User wrote: »

Would I be right in saying that not feeling anything in the back whatsoever during deadlifts / squat, but feeling that regular worked out sort of "pain" in the days after, means my technique is pretty good?

I definitely feel it in my glutes and arching into the lower back from there - not pain, just a pull type sensation, did legs and RDLs a few days ago and the back is fine but my legs/sides of hips feel like they've been worked over.

Brian?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Would I be right in saying that not feeling anything in the back whatsoever during deadlifts / squat, but feeling that regular worked out sort of "pain" in the days after, means my technique is pretty good?

My brother hated deadlifts because it hurt his back while doing them, but then I gave him the pointers I learned and if doesn't hurt him at all now. Blind leading the blind but seems to work.


Someone on here talked about tensioning the bar before the lift and that helped a lot. So thanks for that whoever you are.

I've had a sore back on and off for a few weeks. Too much sitting at work I think, but nothing serious. It doesn't hurt at all during deadlifts, because it's a perfect neutral position. Hurts a little when I put on my shoes though.

Once you keep a neutral spine and brace your and properly it's great for the back. I've found doing planks to activate the core before squats or deads really helps.

silverharp

Ive been targeting hamstrings lately as I reaslised I was mostly doing quad loaded exercises, back squats and a more squat style hex bar lift. Yesterday I did the legpress with a high position to make it hamstring focused. Today I feel like someone took a baseball bat to the back of my legs, though any stretch wasn’t memorable at the time. I have also started doing a more hinge pattern with the hex bar with lower weight, I feel it the next day for sure, not sure what I would notice when doing it though. I find the cable deadlift good for feeling the stretch at the time because of the constant tension.

Reps4jesus

silverharp wrote: »

Ive been targeting hamstrings lately as I reaslised I was mostly doing quad loaded exercises, back squats and a more squat style hex bar lift. Yesterday I did the legpress with a high position to make it hamstring focused. Today I feel like someone took a baseball bat to the back of my legs, though any stretch wasn’t memorable at the time. I have also started doing a more hinge pattern with the hex bar with lower weight, I feel it the next day for sure, not sure what I would notice when doing it though. I find the cable deadlift good for feeling the stretch at the time because of the constant tension.

Yeah leg press with a wide stance and feet at the very top of the platform really burns my hamstrings too. kinda like a sumo stance squat. Hex bar Romanian deadlifts are great too

silverharp

Reps4jesus wrote: »

Yeah leg press with a wide stance and feet at the very top of the platform really burns my hamstrings too. kinda like a sumo stance squat. Hex bar Romanian deadlifts are great too

That’s the plan , Im doing an RDL style hex bar lift with at lower weights , combined with the hexbar “upside down” for the squat version , then flip it back for the higher weights, but yeah the legpress is merciless when targeted and I wasnt using stupid high weights.

Brian?

silverharp wrote: »

That’s the plan , Im doing an RDL style hex bar lift with at lower weights , combined with the hexbar “upside down” for the squat version , then flip it back for the higher weights, but yeah the legpress is merciless when targeted and I wasnt using stupid high weights.

Why not just do normal RDLs? Doing them with a trap bar is limiting the ROM, it's like doing RDLs off blocks or pins.

silverharp

Brian? wrote: »

Why not just do normal RDLs? Doing them with a trap bar is limiting the ROM, it's like doing RDLs off blocks or pins.

its simpler to use and I like the idea behind it that the weight is more centered and not having to lift a bar that has to go around the knees.

this article by Greg Nuckols was very positive about it

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/trap-bar-deadlifts/