Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Pulled/strained something in my upper left arm on the eccentric motion of a full ROM hspu cause I just had to do it.

I did fall on my head once though attempting a closing bridge. Miscommunication between myself and spotter. No harm.

Needless to say I haven't progressed with bridges in a long time.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

No, sorry, I forgot to say: against the wall (of course).
I need to train my balance sense to the position, and then I can try the movement itself.
I was able to do one rep, lowering my head to a 500-page book (let's say 4-5 cmts, 1-2 inches?).
I made 40 attempts or so, though, so I need to learn the starting movement (flip upside down), and increase the balance sense.
This could take months, but I am not in a hurry.

Re: sleep. I sleep in complete darkness and also use various methods to keep temperature low.
I generally break sleep in two parts, during the day: night time (max 7 hours, then I need to hit the loo), and a short power nap in the afternoon (max 15 minutes, and it's more like drowsing off).
The power nap is after lunch, before 2 pm, as I generally work 8-11, 14-21 (flexi hours, in case you wonder).
I live on campus, so I do something like this: 8-11 work at home, 11-14 train and have lunch+nap, 14-21 head to the office and work there until dinner time (not all weekdays, but you get the picture).

I honestly feel that the nap is more useful than the night sleep, as it helps me to "refresh" memory and body energy levels enough to face the afternoon work session.
I do spend 10 minutes or so in bed before the night sleep, in the darkness, and I may spend a few minutes resting on the bed in the afternoon.
I also have a sofa at work, so I feel the need I just lie down for a few minutes and think a bit: the back loves those short breaks.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

If you haven't tried it yet - when you kick up and your feet find the wall - spread your legs apart so your feet are outside your body. This may help with your balance.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

I feel like i may have missed my window to try hand stand push ups.
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Stevens
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Perhaps not. I'll post a progression for you later today. It may be more feasible than you think.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

Stevens wrote:Perhaps not. I'll post a progression for you later today. It may be more feasible than you think.
Word. Life has been throwing me curve balls left and right (I guess it has to everyone) so decided now I'm just gonna learn new shit that I wanna do. My sewing skills still need a serious boost.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

OK, opening legs helps, but I guess that I will take a very slow approach to learning HSPU's Thanks for reminding me this, Steve!

...last week of the semester from next Monday: I plan an all-immersive, fixed-seat finale (5 days, 1 h 20', 2 h' per session).
Fixed seat rowing is a killer: legs do not push, but must hold the body in place while the upper body rows.
This means that lower back and abs must hold spend the whole time stabilising the body.
All of this at 35 C, 80% humidity, mosquitoes not being picky about me being covered with sweat...
ah, fatigue is the greatest intellectual pleasure of life! (The corny punch-line is a must, in a corny post like this one).

Also, should we open a "sewing" thread? As my grandma would say, a manly man sews buttons on shirts by himself and *never* irons shirts improperly :wink:
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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When I started my beginning progression was:

-Wall Headstands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAmWHoc-hPw
-Crow/Frog stands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2S91-UtFeY
-Static handstands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMFRkQpXVoI&t

Probably goes without saying, but these are all done against a wall.

The steps I have linked above are designed to do two things - help strengthen your shoulder girdle, improve your balance, and get you used to being inverted.

Now interestingly enough the guy I linked above starts with the Frog/Crow as the first step and then goes into headstands as step two. There is in fact more than one way to skin a cat here, so whichever you begin with will ultimately be up to you. You may be able to start with wall handstands, and if you can bad ass.

That said I wouldn't start 1/2 handstand push ups until you can hold a wall handstand for at least 90 seconds.

Eventually when you do start the 1/2 handstand pushups you're not going to go all the way down to the floor. I suggest some books under your head. How high? You'll figure it out when you get there, but the idea is that you'll always have a concrete stopping point when you lower yourself. Also when you get to the lowest point you don't want to stop, you'll want to kind of touch your head and push back up. Touch n go as I like to call it. It is very difficult to start from a dead stop at the bottom.

For reference my current stack of books is 4 3/4 high, previously it was 5 inches. The idea is that the change in depth, which increases your ROM, is so small it is hardly noticeable but you are in fact doing more work.

I hope you will find this useful. Be patient. Experiment with the steps listed. Only you can figure out where you should start/what your ability/comfort level is. I've gone very slowly with these, but finally after many years (mistakes) my path forward is clear.

If I haven't explained things well enough feel free to ask more questions, and as always I am not the leading authority on this - there are others here who may be able to offer you some guidance as well.

I wish you luck with this endeavor GP. Calisthenics are amazingly satisfying to progress with. Remember above all - be patient (I know I already said it). Your body will grow stronger at it's own pace.

Which sometimes doesn't happen as fast as we would like it to.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Thanks Stevens, I saved the instructions for future reference so thumbs up from me!

I can certainly say that I will train balance first, as 90 seconds in static position are clearly *not* within my reach, right now.
Off the top of my head, I need more training for balance due to my own issues with it, and then strength can come next.
If issues arise, I'll check with coach Stevens :wink:

Re: hippie-ness of calisthenics (aka my two cents on the matter).

I think that I could dig up entire books on the classical roots of calisthenics.
I mean, the name comes from *Classical Greek*, after all.

Generally speaking, classical cultures across the globe tended to see body weight exercises as the golden standard, for many obvious reasons (simple to perform, take forever to master, offer all-round improvements on strength, balance, proprioception, etc. etc. etc.).

I remember that someone like Seneca (Roman emperor Nero's teacher and a philosopher) bitched about how gladiators were weight-lifting monkeys and pull-ups were the way to go, in an essay.
The Victorians should have been the ones recovering the classical tradition "in the West", whereas Classical Chinese culture (especially martial arts) is all about calisthenics and weapons training.
Indian culture follows a similar tack but also includes Yoga, and I would add with good reasons.
Vikings? They added fartlekking techniques and "strongman" training (lift "*stuff* and run, for instance, not just lift *stuff*), and the list would go on for a while.

Modern calisthenics are a different beast, as they build on a scientifical understanding of the body, nutrition, and so on.
I mean, we're 21st century beasts, after all.
The spirit is nevertheless the same.
"Train on the classics for a better future", I even said a few times to the naysayers.
Last edited by Randorama on Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Great post^

Some bits of info I was not aware of, like the part about Senaca and the Vikings.

Today would have been day four of my cycle leading into three days off, but I decided I needed some extra rest and took the day. I'll take today and tomorrow and start up on Monday. I want to get a full cycle in before we travel again.

On the flip side my day four exercises - dips, static bridges, wall walks, finger push ups, and press flag work - will be well rested when I get back to them Thursday.

Whenever I take a week off from an exercise (or the entire week off) the following week is always fruitful. Lots of extra reps, longer holds, and what have you.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Cheers for that. I will check that out. I'm not totally useless. I did Yoga for 3 months once (pass from a gym buddy to critique his program) and was able to do a head stand (no wall) by the time it was over. I was also an offensive tackle in high school although you'd think I was a tight tend at best to look at me now. Crazy times. My balance is shit though and am always looking to improve it.

All this reminds me... we had a fantastic body weight thread here aaaaaaall the way back in 2007 I believe. And with my ninja skills, I can now present it to you.. Ah, PaCrappa. Wonder how he's doing. Man the old days... I can't fucking believe it has been 14 years since this thread -- this was the month I moved back to Japan after my 2 year stint in Hawaii which was a pretty dark moment for me. Cave was still putting out good games... oh to be young again.

EDIT: Some of the links in there are dead now, sadly. One of them was called "presstohandstand.com" which probably would have been pretty cool. It's available on the Wayback Machine but looks a bit wonky.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by bkk »

BryanM wrote:My opinion on the deadlift mirrors that of the minority naysayers from the past: "Why do an exercise that takes more than it gives back?"
I do a single set of deadlifts about once a week, it's probably the best thing I do for health and quality of life in general, compared to the risk or time spent. Done correctly it's incredibly safe, and it's not even that difficult to do correctly. That doesn't mean you may not need a coach, of course.
Randorama wrote:In general, anyone who spends the long hours typing stuff on a keyboard can only benefit from a strong back and core,
...shoulders, neck, grip, ass, legs...
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Cheers Steve, but I made a bit of a mess on the details. :wink:

"Fartlekking" ('speed play'? I forgot all of my Swedish) was originally a type of training for cross-country skiing (short periods of intense activity - long eriods of relatively calm activity - repeat the cycle).
I think that it was invented in the 1930's in Sweden, by some (then) famous skiing coach.

I am relatively confident that the guy who invented it aimed at recreating a type of training that vikings used for what we would currently call "rucking", and (body) weight exercises.
Vikings' military training should have included an early form of training in which fighters would do some "long range" exercise (e.g. march 3 hours, fully geared), and then calisthenics and weapons training.
So, the guy who invented modern fartlekking in a sense extended the technique from rucking & calisthenics (the quintessential military training to these days!) to skiing, and then the technique become a standard staple in many sports.

I promise that I will look up some decent references & readings on this topic, these coming days :wink:

GP: whoa, the link reads like a veritable time machine. I also wonder about PaCrappa and the other folks...
To quote Joe Jackson, tough, "I'm gonna beee, nineteen, foreveeeer" (and so on).

bkk: yes, all agreed...sitting for long hours requires lots of training to avoid very unpleasant consequences. We move a lot to...endure hours of sedentary life without too much damage.
Three cheers for modern life.

...the wife does a lot of rucking, which really amounts to walking (how much you wish) with a bag and some weight (to your needs and desires).
She is an ex-ballerina who started becoming really lazy a few years ago, and after a stormy fight because her health was becoming really poor, she acknowledged that she needed some exercise.
What to do? Well, a stroll around the town can be very relaxing, but with a few tweaks it can become a proper full training: so, she decided to practice rucking.

Rucking seems to be the "classical cardio twin" to calisthenics, for obvious reasons: warriors had to march for days and then fight (an intro is here).
In modern times, it could be seen as an antidote to sedentary life that is less stressful for mind and body than any other cardio activity, and has practical applications.
For instance, the wife goes out to buy groceries and other daily necessities, but usually takes very long detours with up to 20% of her body weight in the form of a loaded rucksack.
I also walk everywhere, and I do go to a shopping centre 25 minutes from here and buy imported food (e.g. pasta), once per week, by basically rucking to the centre, add the groceries to the sack, and then coming back.

It *does* wonders of health and its a cardio alternative for those less inclined for this type of training, and training sessions can be improvised easily (again: buying groceries).
Once you start using serious weight (I *believe* 20% of body weight and higher), calories consumption also sky-rockets and muscle mass building becomes non-trivial.

...or more in general: people, walk, whenever possible!
Last edited by Randorama on Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

You reminded me of Anatoli Tarazov. He was basically using Crossfit to train hockey players 70 years ago.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Ah, not surprised!

My two cents are this: humans always had a good understanding of their bodies, but the "scientific" (re-)discovery of the body and its potential is a 20th century thing, and of course it was driven by business reasons. However, coaches and trainers who want to have an edge in the business also pushed new methods based on daring bets turning out to be the winning ones.

Ultra-vague generalization, I know, but I guess that each sport had pioneers who vastly changed the training landscape by introducing new techniques and approaches and...styles.

I mean: who would have ever thought that something as "anti-anatomic" as the butterfly stroke can bring humans to swim as fast as the ultra-classic free style? :wink:

Off I go for the final week of the semester... 34C, 68% humidity, 34 points air quality ("green" or "clean": China is doing the hard work when it comes to pollution), pure cardio week with running and rowing sessions and monitoring of health conditions. Risky, but calculated :wink:
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Oh hai.

Probably doesn't need to be said, but I forgot to mention it - socks are your friends during wall handstands/hspus. Bare feet/sneakers have too much friction for my liking.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Got it, and thanks. With shoes, I have the coordination and balance of a drunken stone or something...I hate shoes anyway.

BTW:

Day 2 of the "ultra-hot and humid, and I go all cardio!" cycle (today 30' of running, slow pace, and 1 h 20' of fixed seat rowing, steady pace). 37 Celsius bur 45% humidity: hot and dry is easy to handle. I did squeeze my t-shirt and left a small pool of sweat on the grass, at the endf.

I am doing fine, though I am sleeping like a log and having 1-2 hours of "testosterone drunkenness". This really means:

When I do tons of cardio, I generally have these hormone excesses and spikes that put me out of balance (horny/hyperactive but unfocused, which are a pain since I must work), a couple of hours after closing the session. After this weird "up", the "down" is 30-40 minutes of necessary afternoon nap in which not even a continuous 200-decibel noise could wake me up.

Cardio is fun, all-right.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Double Post!

I am doing an extra week with respect to the schedule, all fixed-seat rowing (plus rain...). I am trying to see if I can reach the 2h mark of continuous rowing without:

1. Getting a very bad case of "sore saddle problems" (you can google this one up, for fun);
2. Getting lost in the very long, very repetitive task (endurance is not an issue, keeping track of time is!).

I will study which exercises to add to my routine during the break, though HSPU (well, preparation leading to...), possibly levers and training for one-arm exercises are strong candidates.

A tangent: I've read the books you suggested me, Steve (thanks a lot).
A goldmine of information, but here and there I feel like there is a certain unjustified wariness on using calisthenics for other purposes than increasing strength.
The Kavadlo book is the one that gives me the strongest vibe on this.

'Tis a pity, in my opinion.
Yes, pure strength is obtained by practicing very demanding exercises a low amount of reps.
If you can do lots of reps on some exercise, the exercise is not increasing your strength but your endurance.

But my simple comment is:

Good anyway!
Endurance is very useful in real life! It usually gives you mental fortitude to handle long, tedious and nevertheless potentially difficult tasks!

Sorry, very vague assertion, but arguing the case for this is a bit redundant, isn't it?

My father, a retired army (intelligence) general, would often tell me: "if you can do a single push-up after a 50-km rucking session, then you can claim to be complete in your strength".
He was probably citing someone, I'd guess.

Just a bit of venting, as I may be reading too much of a mono-maniacal "Whoo! Only strength matters!" attitude between the lines.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Randorama wrote:Double Post!

I am doing an extra week with respect to the schedule, all fixed-seat rowing (plus rain...). I am trying to see if I can reach the 2h mark of continuous rowing without:

1. Getting a very bad case of "sore saddle problems" (you can google this one up, for fun);
2. Getting lost in the very long, very repetitive task (endurance is not an issue, keeping track of time is!).

I will study which exercises to add to my routine during the break, though HSPU (well, preparation leading to...), possibly levers and training for one-arm exercises are strong candidates.

A tangent: I've read the books you suggested me, Steve (thanks a lot).
A goldmine of information, but here and there I feel like there is a certain unjustified wariness on using calisthenics for other purposes than increasing strength.
The Kavadlo book is the one that gives me the strongest vibe on this.

'Tis a pity, in my opinion.
Yes, pure strength is obtained by practicing very demanding exercises a low amount of reps.
If you can do lots of reps on some exercise, the exercise is not increasing your strength but your endurance.

But my simple comment is:

Good anyway!
Endurance is very useful in real life! It usually gives you mental fortitude to handle long, tedious and nevertheless potentially difficult tasks!

Sorry, very vague assertion, but arguing the case for this is a bit redundant, isn't it?

My father, a retired army (intelligence) general, would often tell me: "if you can do a single push-up after a 50-km rucking session, then you can claim to be complete in your strength".
He was probably citing someone, I'd guess.

Just a bit of venting, as I may be reading too much of a mono-maniacal "Whoo! Only strength matters!" attitude between the lines.
I'm glad you enjoyed the suggestions and I hope you were able to find some useful bits in there.

As far as the endurance/high reps vs. strength/low reps:

I think there are a lot of people using calisthenics (or any type of strength training in general) to train for strength, and those not in the know automatically think that more is better for that.

Personally I won't move to a harder version of an exercise until I can do 13 - 15 clean reps of whatever my work set is currently. That number has served me well as I have progressed, and I could be mistaken, but I feel the extra reps and time spent at my current level allow my tendons to acclimate better.

I'm not a fan of moving to a harder version of an exercise and struggling with it, no good comes from that. Three to five clean reps is a good indicator imo. I'm probably ready to move on from archer push ups (I can do five sliding 1 arm push ups on each side), but have really been enjoying them and refining my technique.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Steve, I agree entirely with the numbers, of course.

I mean, Iremember reading 2-3 research articles showing the numbers of sets and reps that give the minimal and maximal strength increases tend to converge to well-established numbers.
The factors that play a role are actually many and can vary weekly: e.g., if you suddenly lose weight, then add one rep to compensate; you need extra time for the tendons, add three reps; etc..
Still, one can simply do 3-4 sets x 10 reps on a (good) challenging exercise and be on the safe side.

Said this, I also agree that the myth of the "1000 push-ups will make you stronger!" is hard to dispel (1000? One set? 100 sets? Etc.).
Again, from what I have read the "20 reps" mark is a very good indication that you have reached a certain strength level and more reps increase your endurance.

Nevertheless, since I grew up with a "classical calisthenics" education (...army father, navy past myself), the golden pairing for me remains strength and endurance.
So, I always add an endurance dimension to my sections (...say, loads of reps for movements that I find very easy).

My very mild criticism is on the pedagogical side.

Instructors & trainers can simply point out how the "strength to endurance" continuum works, and avoid implying that endurance training is not useful, when related to strength. Case in point, yesterday I had to collect a 20 kg package after 2 hours of rowing, and bring it home.
No endurance, no package, even if the strength level required to lift it was in the "my grandma could do that!" range :wink:

I ultimately think that this attitude is inherited from modern gymnastics and weight lifting et similia, sports in which people have zero endurance and think that 20 secs performances or lifting huge loads for 3 seconds are useful skills in real life and actual, daily situations (definitely grinding my axe with this comment :wink:)

EDIT: Actually, I feel like there is a marketing attitude at work that seems to revolve around false conflicts.
The wife asked me if it is true that rucking is perfect and running will destroy your knees, because the site she uses as a reference offered a "rucking vs. running" comparison, in favour of rucking.

I am a classically-oriented man, so I am all for the "opposites complement each other" philosophy, and so I generally shudder when I spot false dichotomies :wink:
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by bkk »

Sammy00 wrote:I hope that I will not stop doing exercises, because sometimes I am very lazy, especially after a hard day's work.
I'll hope along with you.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Re: Rucking vs. Running

I think anything, when done correctly, can be done long term and safely. That said I would prefer rucking or short sprints over say running 10 miles.

I know there are groups of people who have evolved in certain parts of the world that can run incredible distances, but I don't love punishing myself like that.

https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden- ... 0664&psc=1

My wife has read it, I admittedly have not but I probably should.

Working out on vacation.

This has actually gotten easier as I've gotten older due to my preference for a weeks rest in between specific skills.

I used to try and work everyday, but that just wasn't realistic on holiday. If were gone for a week I can pretty much take the week off and come back stronger. If were gone for two weeks (which is the longest we'll travel for) I'll pick a morning, maybe two, and do everything.

Pros: I get my workout in and don't dwell on finding time everyday.

Cons: Doing everything in the same day is very taxing. Might have to skip stuff if I can't find something to hang from (rare) or a suitable wall to kick up against.

Sometimes I'll inadvertently makes things a bit harder. For example, when I single leg squat, my current depth is to a foot off the floor. Yesterday with what I had on hand it was two in inches lower, so I was happy with that.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

The whole " A vs. B" is a reflection of humans' bad habits in conceiving the world in simple, marketable dichotomies (and pretending that only two dimensions exist: why not "rucking vs. running vs. swimming vs..."? Ah, humans).
For instance, rucking can get you injured the very moment you make an incorrect movement and you are carrying anything more than 10% of your body weight in rucking load, if I can get away with raw numbers.
Sometimes, when this type of discussions arises, I simply say that: "not knowing and not following the instructions can kill you easily, even if it involves simple actions such as breathing".
Using one's brains is a nice trick to avoid problems :wink:

Also, I remember reading the McDougall book and it's really interesting, as it covers running in general from several points of view.
Truth to be told, these days I seldom go beyond the half and hour mark, trying to keep a decent speed and challenges my lungs without overdoing it.
I lost most of my speed, so short distances are a bit depressing :wink:

I am going to do three weeks of "rest", and then start a new semester.
I had a week of very long rowing sessions (2h x 5), as a final test of endurance.
I write "rest" because I will walk and stretch anyway, and probably test the new exercises :wink:
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

What are these new exercises you speak of?

Usually when I try new exercises it's a trial to see if I want to add it to my rotation.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

I would like to develop enough strength to be able to do:

1. One arm push ups;
2. One arm chin- and pull-ups*;
3. HSPU;

So, I am planning in the long term and trying to understand from which exercise I could start the progression (e.g., archer push-ups?).

The interesting bit is that when I was a teen (15-20), I was indeed strong enough to do 1. and 2., but then again I was also doing strength conditioning by using rings and parallel bars (I was in the Navy, after all).
I am reasoning in terms of a strength level that I would require to, say, climb a wall with one arm while lifting the waifu with the other arm, in an apocalypse scenario.
More on the serious side, I guess that being able to lift myself or another person with a single arm could be useful, in general.

I actually tried 1. and 2. to see how much strength I am missing.
I am not in a hurry (of course), but I was curious to gauge my current strength levels and eventual asymmetries.
I twist my matching hip a bit on both sides (i.e. I cannot fully maintain form) for 1., and I can use a towel to grab for 2., and...the left arm is a bit worse than the right arm.
Since I am a weak left-handed type (I write and eat with the left hand, otherwise I am ambi-dextruous), I was wondering if it makes sense that my left side appears weaker than the right side.

Any thoughts?
I am thinking of testing legs and their strength, too.
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DDDP
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by DDDP »

Been exercising since March 2020. Was above 300 lbs a few years ago and now I'm just below 200, 6ft tall.

Shmups actually got my mindset properly tuned for fitness. I got into the habit of starting each day with the shmup I was learning, only 10 or 15 minutes. Keeping up the daily habit of shmup sessions -- even though sometimes it was only 10m per day -- allowed me to rapidly improve my skills and learn routes. It also helped me to chill out and not stress so much about practice. Shorter daily sessions helped me keep my eye on weekly/monthly progress and essentially ignore any ups and downs from day to day. I rarely played for more than 30m at a time, patiently backing off and resting when I felt stress and fogginess creep in, trusting in habit, trusting the process of long-term time investment would pay off (it did).

I carried this exact mindset over to fitness and have never been healthier, stronger, or skinnier than I am now (33 yrs old)
Randorama wrote:I would like to develop enough strength to be able to do:

1. One arm push ups;
2. One arm chin- and pull-ups*;
3. HSPU;
.
You have an intense vertical pulling and pushing (hspu + pullups) but only one horizontal pushing (one arm pushups). Add in ring rows or machine rows for horizontal pulling and you're set for upper body.
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EmperorIng
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by EmperorIng »

Pretty inspiring stuff in this thread all around. I am mostly a distance runner, running 5k's with a goal to get back under 30 minutes (like I could in high school). Closed in on 30:30 the other week in 85f heat and humidity... I hope a cooler day pushes me over the edge. Of course, how I managed to run three miles in 22-24 minutes as a teenager escapes me.

Been working this 'pandemic' to keep myself in shape as well. I've lost over 50lbs since 2019, 30 of them being in 2021. But most of that was dietary changes rather than the exercise; I had been thinking I should start doing something to build up my arm muscles as I continue to lose mass.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Welcome on board, lads. My 2 cents before coach Stevens will guide you to glory:

DDDP:

I do machine rows and rowing (a rowing session on Fridays), but I am curious on which one is ring rows. This one, right? That would be a nice option, indeed!

EmperorIng: Strength Rules by Danny Kavadlo has a very clear, very nice introduction section to basic exercises for the upper (and lower) body.

Actually, all the books that Stevens suggested a few posts ago are excellent in that regard, so you may get one of these books, study the basic movements, and spend 1-2 semesters mastering them.

In my experience, body weight/calisthenics is tricky when you have to lose weight: even the basics may be hard when you are overweight, but training and loss of weight will suddenly make things too easy, too quickly.

So, I suggest starting from basics, studying the book(s) carefully (especially matters of recovery, rest, nutrition), and...enjoy exercise sessions one day at a time :wink:
Chomsky, Buckminster Fuller, Yunus and Glass would have played Battle Garegga, for sure.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Great to hear Emp, keep it up. Happy to help in any way I can.

Thanks for the kind words Rando, I just know a little about what I'm interested in.

As far as progressions for what you posted: HSPU we covered a few posts back. I wonder how GP has been doing with that? How has your progress been?

One arm push up:

After five plus years of progress (with setbacks here and there) I'm very close with these.

https://farran.abwe.org/uploads/9/7/1/2 ... t_orig.jpg

In the top left you'll see CC's progression. It has ten steps, but step nine (levers) I spilt into four. Let me explain:

Steps one through seven are pretty solid as is. Step eight was a bit weird for me so I tweaked it a little. I changed it from 1/2 one arm to 1/2 lever push ups.

The lever push up I spilt into three variations.

One with a basketball, then a foam roller, and finally a parallette. Each one gradually moved my hand closer to the floor until I had the strength to do an archer pu.

From archers I'll move onto sliding 1 arm and then finally to legit one arm.

Your journey may have more or fewer steps than mine, but these are the steps I've taken. I remember when I could just perform the concentric portion of the lever with a basketball and couldn't get back up. I've come a long way.

As always if I've muddied anything or if you have any other questions you know where to find me.

Pull ups incoming.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by DDDP »

Randorama wrote: DDDP:

I do machine rows and rowing (a rowing session on Fridays), but I am curious on which one is ring rows. This one, right? That would be a nice option, indeed!
Yep! Since you mentioned one-handed variants, the rings would allow you to "easily" work up through two-handed versions into one-handed versions via the archer set of progressions.

i.e. archer chin up, archer push up, archer ring row, etc.
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