Random Fitness Questions

Alf Veedersane

xckjoo wrote: »

Anybody got a good source for cheap resistance bands? I keep buying them and losing them

Depends what you mean by cheap. I've just used strengthshop.ie or d8fitness.

D'Agger

Cill94 wrote: »

By 'progressive overload', I'm assuming you actually mean linear progression? - As in increasing load every training session.

5 weeks is far too early for linear progression to end. I'd guess you're either being greedy with your weight jumps, not recovering properly (food and sleep) and/or need to get your technique looked at by a coach. Or some combination of the above.

People tend to jump to more complex programming far too early when you could just fine tune the above and milk more gains out of LP. Even when that stops working you can make more simple changes like moving from 3x5 to 5x3.

Also, a three day full body split works better for LP in my experience, as you want to keep the number of exercises low and your exposure to them frequent. Basically something like the Starting Strength programme. If you want to look at my training log on here you can see examples of how to structure the week. I'm currently using LP to build back my strength after injury.

Sorry, never came back to this last week

Linear progression yes, though I don't think I'm doing anything overly complex or being too greedy with the jumps. If anything, I feel like I've taken my time getting back to a certain level of lifting, that I have been at before - perhaps a little bit better i.e. I've done 3x3 on 100KG squat previously, currently doing 3x5, before I was doing bench of 3x5 70kg, now at 75kg and will be going up to 80 by the end of this week or start of next week most likely. I've been getting rest and eating well - I think I've seen some pretty decent results 5 weeks in.

So I guess I'm happy with the consistency I've put in with the 4 day (x2 push, x2 pull) sessions I've been doing. I reckon if I keep it up for another three weeks I'll see continued improvement but perhaps sticking to a program other than one I've just put together myself like Starting Strength would be a good idea. I think with the squat & deadlift there's a bit of fear of not being able for the weight and injury. I'm barely comfortable with 100kg (3x5), should I start working towards 3x8 before going up to 110kg?

the baby bull elephant

D'Agger wrote: »

Sorry, never came back to this last week

Linear progression yes, though I don't think I'm doing anything overly complex or being too greedy with the jumps. If anything, I feel like I've taken my time getting back to a certain level of lifting, that I have been at before - perhaps a little bit better i.e. I've done 3x3 on 100KG squat previously, currently doing 3x5, before I was doing bench of 3x5 70kg, now at 75kg and will be going up to 80 by the end of this week or start of next week most likely. I've been getting rest and eating well - I think I've seen some pretty decent results 5 weeks in.

So I guess I'm happy with the consistency I've put in with the 4 day (x2 push, x2 pull) sessions I've been doing. I reckon if I keep it up for another three weeks I'll see continued improvement but perhaps sticking to a program other than one I've just put together myself like Starting Strength would be a good idea. I think with the squat & deadlift there's a bit of fear of not being able for the weight and injury. I'm barely comfortable with 100kg (3x5), should I start working towards 3x8 before going up to 110kg?

Would you not just do a smaller jump? 5kg or 2.5kg? 10kg jump in a week is a big leap for anyone. Also I would say squats at a heavy percentage are never going to feel 'comfortable' if you're hitting the weight without seriously decreasing your range of motion or a dramatic breakdown in form you're probably ok.

Also you probably (like almost everyone) are better off following a recognised programme but I fell obligated to post the following link: https://thefitness.wiki/faq/starting-strength-and-stronglifts-not-recommended/

Alf Veedersane

D'Agger wrote: »

Sorry, never came back to this last week

Linear progression yes, though I don't think I'm doing anything overly complex or being too greedy with the jumps. If anything, I feel like I've taken my time getting back to a certain level of lifting, that I have been at before - perhaps a little bit better i.e. I've done 3x3 on 100KG squat previously, currently doing 3x5, before I was doing bench of 3x5 70kg, now at 75kg and will be going up to 80 by the end of this week or start of next week most likely. I've been getting rest and eating well - I think I've seen some pretty decent results 5 weeks in.

So I guess I'm happy with the consistency I've put in with the 4 day (x2 push, x2 pull) sessions I've been doing. I reckon if I keep it up for another three weeks I'll see continued improvement but perhaps sticking to a program other than one I've just put together myself like Starting Strength would be a good idea. I think with the squat & deadlift there's a bit of fear of not being able for the weight and injury. I'm barely comfortable with 100kg (3x5), should I start working towards 3x8 before going up to 110kg?

Agree with TBBE. If you're just about comfortable with 100kg, then why would you add 10% on? I wouldn't suggest going to 3x8 either if you're barely comfortable with 3x5.

Progression is progression. If you add weight or you do a set better or more comfortably...they're all progression. You're in no hurry so stop looking at 10kg jumps on squat and deadlift.

D'Agger

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Agree with TBBE. If you're just about comfortable with 100kg, then why would you add 10% on?

Because gainz bruh :pac:

Progression is progression. If you add weight or you do a set better or more comfortably...they're all progression. You're in no hurry so stop looking at 10kg jumps on squat and deadlift.

Nail on head here, I just had it in my head that I should be progressing more or that I've plateaued somewhat but I'll keep on keeping on with what I'm doing for now without any major jumps in weight.

Alf Veedersane

D'Agger wrote: »

Because gainz bruh :pac:



Nail on head here, I just had it in my head that I should be progressing more or that I've plateaued somewhat but I'll keep on keeping on with what I'm doing for now without any major jumps in weight.

A chap formerly of this parish had a shoulder injury that kept him from benching and squatting for a year. Started back with an empty bar...adds 2.5kg every session and just got back to 100kg.

I get that people want to progress faster than that but play the long game. You want to get stronger. You don't need to rush that to hit an arbitrary target in an arbitrary number of weeks.

Aliastar

italodisco wrote: »

Are you training for physique or strenght?

Rather physique, than strength.

What is your super breakfast?

Cill94

D'Agger wrote: »

Sorry, never came back to this last week

Linear progression yes, though I don't think I'm doing anything overly complex or being too greedy with the jumps. If anything, I feel like I've taken my time getting back to a certain level of lifting, that I have been at before - perhaps a little bit better i.e. I've done 3x3 on 100KG squat previously, currently doing 3x5, before I was doing bench of 3x5 70kg, now at 75kg and will be going up to 80 by the end of this week or start of next week most likely. I've been getting rest and eating well - I think I've seen some pretty decent results 5 weeks in.

So I guess I'm happy with the consistency I've put in with the 4 day (x2 push, x2 pull) sessions I've been doing. I reckon if I keep it up for another three weeks I'll see continued improvement but perhaps sticking to a program other than one I've just put together myself like Starting Strength would be a good idea. I think with the squat & deadlift there's a bit of fear of not being able for the weight and injury. I'm barely comfortable with 100kg (3x5), should I start working towards 3x8 before going up to 110kg?

10kg jumps are too much as the lads above have already said. At the stage you're at now (mid to late novice I would estimate) you'd be best just taking 2.5kg jumps.

I'd put the injury concern to the side. Most injuries occur from either ramping up the load too quickly or using bad technique. Get a form check off a good coach and don't make crazy jumps and you'll be fine. No need to go to 3x8, just try 102.5kg next time. If you get all your reps and your form doesn't break down then try 105 the next time and so on. This will be easier to do on the 3 day split I mentioned.

And as another poster said already, it isn't mean to feel comfortable!

silverharp

Question about hack squat , trainer added it to my prog , no added weight and told me to have feet low on the plate, reasonably close together(if I remember correctly) . he said not to worry about heels rising off the plate, I have seen elsewhere that this is not recommended, is that just for people adding a lot of weight? Or is it worth focusing on stopping?

Alf Veedersane

silverharp wrote: »

Question about hack squat , trainer added it to my prog , no added weight and told me to have feet low on the plate, reasonably close together(if I remember correctly) . he said not to worry about heels rising off the plate, I have seen elsewhere that this is not recommended, is that just for people adding a lot of weight? Or is it worth focusing on stopping?

You don't really need your feet to be so low on the plate that heels coming up is an issue. Lower on the plate just means more stress on the quads.

Is it a massive issue if your heels come up? No. Is it better if they stay down? Yes.

I just find it better to focus on getting more out of it in terms of muscle engagement and if your heels are coming up at the bottom, then it may affect that to some degree.

Reps4jesus

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

You don't really need your feet to be so low on the plate that heels coming up is an issue. Lower on the plate just means more stress on the quads.

Is it a massive issue if your heels come up? No. Is it better if they stay down? Yes.

I just find it better to focus on getting more out of it in terms of muscle engagement and if your heels are coming up at the bottom, then it may affect that to some degree.

Some people even deliberately come up onto their toes with a very narrow stance to really try target the quads. Wouldnt be doing that with a lot of weight however and really need to make sure your knees are ok when doing this.

Alf Veedersane

Reps4jesus wrote: »

Some people even deliberately come up onto their toes with a very narrow stance to really try target the quads. Wouldnt be doing that with a lot of weight however and really need to make sure your knees are ok when doing this.

Yeah there's a trade-off there...lower weight to do that versus heavier weight and keeping heels down. I know my preference would be for the latter. Even in the context of high-rep training.

silverharp

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

You don't really need your feet to be so low on the plate that heels coming up is an issue. Lower on the plate just means more stress on the quads.

Is it a massive issue if your heels come up? No. Is it better if they stay down? Yes.

I just find it better to focus on getting more out of it in terms of muscle engagement and if your heels are coming up at the bottom, then it may affect that to some degree.

Thanks, I think he just wanted to make it more hamstring dominant but good to know its more an engagement issue if the heels come up. Ill try work on it.

Cant say its my favourite exercise

funkey_monkey

Was squatting tonight and I've realised that I need to loosen up around hips as it is affecting the squat.

Any recommendations on what to do? There seems to be a vat array of opinions as to whether static or dynamic should be done and when.

Alf Veedersane

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Was squatting tonight and I've realised that I need to loosen up around hips as it is affecting the squat.

Any recommendations on what to do? There seems to be a vat array of opinions as to whether static or dynamic should be done and when.

Limber 11

Cake Man

Definitely agree limber 11 is very good. I have a resistance band I use to get the legs and hips warmed up followed by a set with just the bar, a set with 10kg each side, set with 20kg each side....etc up to working weight.

Probably a stupid question lads but are any of ye doing anything differently in the gym with this virus about? Not based in Ireland myself so not too sure what the situation is like there but I notice the last few days I'm subconsciously trying not to touch my face (it's hard as you don't realise how often you do it until you know you shouldn't, especially in the gym) and washing my hands once or twice in between a session. I know the reality is gyms are probably breeding grounds for this kind of thing but no harm in at least trying to maintain good hygiene.

Alf Veedersane

Cake Man wrote: »

Definitely agree limber 11 is very good. I have a resistance band I use to get the legs and hips warmed up followed by a set with just the bar, a set with 10kg each side, set with 20kg each side....etc up to working weight.

Probably a stupid question lads but are any of ye doing anything differently in the gym with this virus about? Not based in Ireland myself so not too sure what the situation is like there but I notice the last few days I'm subconsciously trying not to touch my face (it's hard as you don't realise how often you do it until you know you shouldn't, especially in the gym) and washing my hands once or twice in between a session. I know the reality is gyms are probably breeding grounds for this kind of thing but no harm in at least trying to maintain good hygiene.

Im not licking my hands to give them extra grip 'til we get the all clear.

In all seriousness, not a whole lot you can do if everything you do involves handling bars etc that everyone else is touching. I just scrub them after but that's nothing new tbh

Sunrise_Sunset

Cake Man wrote: »

Probably a stupid question lads but are any of ye doing anything differently in the gym with this virus about? Not based in Ireland myself so not too sure what the situation is like there but I notice the last few days I'm subconsciously trying not to touch my face (it's hard as you don't realise how often you do it until you know you shouldn't, especially in the gym) and washing my hands once or twice in between a session. I know the reality is gyms are probably breeding grounds for this kind of thing but no harm in at least trying to maintain good hygiene.

Washing hands before and after and trying not to touch my face in between.

Minime2.5

D'Agger wrote: »

Happy Friday folks

Has anybody had issues maintaining progressive overload? Maybe it's just tiredness creeping into my training but got my squat up to 3x5 100kg last week, went this morning and finished with 90kg 3x6 - I'm not overly bothered by it but my goal is to get to 120kg 3x5 in the next 3 weeks so perhaps if somebody has some tips for reaching that I'd appreciate it, maybe it should be one day heavy, one day go for reps/form?

Progressive overload isn't mutually exclusive to weight , extra sets and reps is also a factor

el Fenomeno

Are people avoiding the gym? I go to the gym at 5am most mornings, and usually by 6am there's 10 to 15 people there. Yesterday, there was only 2 other people. Thought it was quite odd.

silverharp

one girl at work said she was going to suspend her membership, more an aerobic type so will just go running.

im just going to bring my own wipes and use the sauna more, the bugs aren't meant to like temperatures above 40C. My main avoidable risk is public transport so will be giving that a miss

Cill94

el Fenomeno wrote: »

Are people avoiding the gym? I go to the gym at 5am most mornings, and usually by 6am there's 10 to 15 people there. Yesterday, there was only 2 other people. Thought it was quite odd.

Interestingly my gym is busier than ever. I've wondered if people are realising that increased fitness will help their immunity.

Mellor

Cill94 wrote: »

Interestingly my gym is busier than ever. I've wondered if people are realising that increased fitness will help their immunity.

In the short term it probably hinders immunity tbh.

Cill94

Mellor wrote: »

In the short term it probably hinders immunity tbh.

In the long term it significantly increases it. Fit people get sick less often and recover faster from sickness.

I’d take that for the tradeoff of reduced immune function for a short period after a workout.

Mellor

Cill94 wrote: »

In the long term it significantly increases it. Fit people get sick less often and recover faster from sickness.

I’d take that for the tradeoff of reduced immune function for a short period after a workout.

I'm aware it does. But the implication was that the gyms are busier right now due to coronavirus. It's a little counter productive to weaken your immune system during a pandemic for the sake of a stronger immune system in 12 months time.

bladespin

Cill94 wrote: »

In the long term it significantly increases it. Fit people get sick less often and recover faster from sickness.

I’d take that for the tradeoff of reduced immune function for a short period after a workout.

Think it has more to do with increased exposure rather than post w/o.

funkey_monkey

In light of the inevitable gym shutdowns I'm looking for a home based routine to help me preserve my muscle development - or what little of it there is!

Looking for some good recommendations for a home bodyweight or similar training routines that I can do. I think it is too late to be looking for some kettlebells*.

*Or a routine using a medium set of kettlebells - I might be able to manage to purchase 1 set from somewhere - certainly not a full suite.

Alf Veedersane

funkey_monkey wrote: »

In light of the inevitable gym shutdowns I'm looking for a home based routine to help me preserve my muscle development - or what little of it there is!

Looking for some good recommendations for a home bodyweight or similar training routines that I can do. I think it is too late to be looking for some kettlebells*.

*Or a routine using a medium set of kettlebells - I might be able to manage to purchase 1 set from somewhere - certainly not a full suite.

Couple of suggestions here:

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058061155/1

funkey_monkey

Thanks - I'm considering trying this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc1E5CfRfos

Here is the split - what do you all reckon of it? There is no way I'll be doing the handstand pushups though!

A:
SQUAT / ANTERIOR (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Alt. Single Leg Box Squats (use low box if advanced / higher box for beginners)
• 1 1/2 Bottomed Out Squats (to failure)
• Jump Squats

UPPER PUSH (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Handstand Pushups OR Power Pushaways
• Rotational Pushups OR Knee Rotational Pushups
• Cobra Pushups (long head contracted) OR Knee Cobra Pushups

HINGE / POSTERIOR (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Alt. Single Leg Heel Touch Squats (use “kickstand” if needed)
• Alt. Sprinter Lunges Plyo Sprinter Lunges (jump from higher position if more beginner)

UPPER PULL (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Pullups OR Seated Pullups
• Human Pullovers OR BW Sliding Pulldowns
• Inverted Chin Curls

ABS (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Reverse Corkscrews
• Black Widow Knee Slides
• Levitation Crunches

CORRECTIVE (1 MINUTE PER EXERCISE / REST-PAUSE IF NEEDED)

• Angels and Devils

COMPLETE 1-2 MORE ROUNDS (TOTAL WORKOUT TIME: 35-50 MINUTES)



B:
HINGE / POSTERIOR x 3 ROUNDS

• Slick Floor Bridge Curl (Single Leg) OR Slick Floor Bridge Curl (Dual Leg)
• Long Leg March
• High Hip Bucks

LUNGE / ANTERIOR x 3 ROUNDS

• Alt. Crossover Step Ups
• Alt. Reverse Lunges
• Split Squat Jumps

UPPER PUSH x 3 ROUNDS

• Variable Wall Pushups OR Knee Decline Pushups to Knee
• Flat Pushups
• Alt. BW Side Lateral Raises (from knees for beginners)
• Tricep BW Extensions (long head stretch)

UPPER PULL x 3 ROUNDS

• Chin Ups OR Seated Chin Ups
• Inverted Rows Back Widows

ABS x 2 ROUNDS

• Ab Halos
• V-Up Tucks
• Sit-Up Elbow Thrusts

CORRECTIVE x 2 ROUNDS

• Reverse Hypers

COMPLETE 1-2 MORE ROUNDS (TOTAL WORKOUT TIME: 35-50 MINUTES)

bladespin

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Thanks - I'm considering trying this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc1E5CfRfos

Jeff kicks yer ass, great idea, some are very tough but go for it!