Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Randorama
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

First, the necessary banter...

GP, after reading about your recent disadventures, FF shenanigans and "Man Jose", I thought that you were avoiding this thread for pretty delicate reasons.

...but then I see that you are cycling, so I guess that the problem has been solved.
*insert here horrible punch-line*
*badump thush!*

...OK, short message as I want to write a longer but also readable message within the coming week.

Diet-wise, I am aware that some recent studies suggest that as long as your calories intake is below or equal to your consumption, the exact time of absorption is not fundamental.
Or: carbs/proteins/etc. late at night or as soon as you wake up are fine, just don't go overboard. If you do go overboard, you will gain weight even by eating too much salad (hard to do that, really).

A different matter is how efficient absorption can be.
From what I can recall, carbohydrates should be timed before training sessions/exercise, as they give you "energy" that turns into "deposits" if not used within a few hours and are in excess.
Or: bread before training can give you energy, but if you don't consume those 400 calories, they will become love handles in 3 days or so.

Proteins should instead help you to maintain muscle and replace it after strenous exercise, and the maintenance part should be quite regular.
Or: muscles get smaller by the hour (72 hours without training, as BryanM mentioned), so you need to get "replacement material" regularly, or the body will recover muscular mass more slowly.

Personally, I eat proteins at lunch and dinner (plus nuts during the day), and concentrate most of carbs intake for breakfast and lunch (i.e. before and after training...I can afford training 11 am - 1 pm).
Breakfast, I need something that goes with honey, so French-style bread or pastry are OK for me (well, Chinese/Japanese/Korean "French-style": you know the style from the Tokyo days, I guess).

I go with eggs for lunch (+vegetable servings, and rice), and fish/meat/legumes for dinner (+vegetable servings, some rice if i am hungry).
My experience is that mis-timing of carbs means I cannot run (no energy, cramps, etc.), and deficient intake of proteins means muscle pains and loss of mass after training.

It is also true that the later you have your first meal, the slower your metabolism will be for the rest of the day, and the lower the general consumption will be.
Sumotori (...the sumo guys) delay breakfast on purpose to gain weight more easily, from I what I recall.

Personally, I eat within 10 minutes after waking up, also because I am one of those people who wake up with a ravenous hunger every single day (but in general I am "operative" for work within 30 minutes after waking up, tops: military training from many moons ago).

Of course, some proper reading on these matters will supersede any half-digested memory I have written down in this post.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

I had a nerve-racking month in June but I did in fact stay on top of my exercise game pretty well. I also kept my job through the pandemic (and my health) so I try not to complain.

I've come to the realization that I do not eat enough protein to gain muscle. I do an okay job of keeping fit, but my frame is big and at some point becoming "fit" by running and swimming will make me look a bit boney. So, I need to put on muscle, and to do that I need to eat more protein. I'm starting to count it, and it will be a challenge to do this daily. I weigh about 193 at the moment, so I am supposed to get 193g of protein a day. I think my normal diet is about 100. 150 I can get to w/ a little extra work. Another 43 on top of that is going to be challenging. That is with high-repetitions in the gym, so that will be a bit of a change. I usually start doing sets of 8, but apparently that's the low end. Will probably push that up to 10 and hopefully not hurt myself. I don't start that until next week so stay tuned here for more updates.
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Randorama
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Quick comment: I am tempted to suggest a side of legumes for both meals, or perhaps even tuna. Alternatively, bigger portions of salmon/protein shake/etc. for breakfast, or perhaps chicken.
You quite literally need to learn to eat more proteins, because in my experience protein increases tend to give a rather unpleasant feeling of "stuffiness", during the day.

The other issue is that if your body fat percentage is also low (you can check online in various ways), then getting the daily intake right is a necessary precaution against burning muscular mass to produce enough power to lift/cycle. Cycling in particular is deceptive: it requires more power than running when you push big gears (higher resistance on spinning machines), and thus requires more proteins.

Professional cyclists have protein problems all the time because they can reach 3% body fat in some cases (ultra-light body=easy to climb uphill and sprint to the finish line), and in fact they eat protein gels DURING competitions (and, like, chicken breast at 5 am...). More than one pro says that gels are terrible, but the feeling of your body literally burning muscle just to move is also terrible.

My own experience is that slowly increasing portions and adding a side of legumes hidden in the veggies side (say: tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and lentils) can be really helpful, but I am a big eater (luckily!). Basically, at this stage you also need to train dietary patterns, and that is an extra layer of mental work that requires patience. On days that you're tired, completing big meals is a challenge.

...and then there is sleep as another component of the big picture, but this message looks long enough already.

EDIT:

10 vs. 8 reps is a bit tricky. It is generally also fine to try 9 reps (and in general, odd-number reps) when you use the pyramids method. My own experience is that experimenting with new measures/exercises/schemas should be considered a "moderate exercise day".

Better to say "today was too light: let's increase workouts" than "today was a killer: tomorrow I will not move from the bed", especially when bodies lie and tell us "bro this is too easy, let's add 30% more!".
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

Plot Twist: I'm a pescatarian technically, but I do not eat that much fish. Almost never as a main (except tuna salad). So that's part of the challenge. :) I have a ton of lentils and shit here, so adding 20g here and there at every meal is probably the best way to go.

I've hurt myself many times in the gym, so hopefully I don't do anything stupid this time (knock on wood). I have a reference of what I just finished so I should be pretty dialed in. For the lifts I will repeat, I will probably do the same weight I used for 8 reps 6 weeks ago for 10 reps now and go from there. New stuff, will take it slowly.

Sorry guys, no before and after pics.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Well, salmon and tuna increases could work, and there are a few other options that are protein-rich and could be interesting to you.
An alternative is to add half a can (or even less, depending on needs) of chick peas or other high-protein legumes, per meal.
We are ultimately talking about one-two extra tablespoons of food in your lunch and dinner, so even on days in which you are dead tired, you should be able to gulp down the important proteins.

I wanted to post my current schedule but I am feeling lazy about writing a longer post (ah!).
I am quickly ammassing and saving edits, though.
I must say that I have had a lucky streak for no less than 2 years when it comes to injuries, so I consider myself blessed.

Well, considering how the last 12 months have unfolded, I may be really lucky but "Winners take chances", or so the poem recites.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Mortificator »

There's crazy amounts of protein in seafood, so if your beliefs and tastes allow I'd say to take advantage of it. Just space out your intake due to our shitty civilization's mercury pollution.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

Randorama wrote: An alternative is to add half a can (or even less, depending on needs) of chick peas or other high-protein legumes, per meal.
I will probably do something like this. Legumes are easy to make. Ultimately I should finally learn how to make a fucking Dal curry... but, would need to find an Indian shop to get the real curry powder I'm convinced!
I must say that I have had a lucky streak for no less than 2 years when it comes to injuries, so I consider myself blessed.
I have too, but you may have jinxed me. Last time I injured myself was probably 3 years ago, and it was when I decided to do a similar workout. Sad thing -- it wasn't even heavy weight at all. Anyway, fingers crossed! I will definitely be careful as I know I'm no spring chicken. Part of the reason I'm doing this. I generally am good about making exercise part of my lifestyle - even going when I'm dreadfully hungover. But sometimes the world around me prevents me. 2011 that fucking tsunami meant the state run gyms (the ones I went to) were closed for a while. A couple of years later they had to renovate the main one I went to b/c it was too old (less than 20 years, btw). Fucking Japan.
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Randorama
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

+1 for Mortificator's comment: after all, I have seafood often enough because of this reason (and crossing fingers that I don't die from mercury poisoning....).
I would add that I understand "seafood" as "sea critters with shells", as I somehow believe that in American English you started calling "seafood" anything from the sea.
Nothing against it, but just to be sure, my seafoods of choice are shrimps, vongolae, crabs and a few other crustaceans.

Mortificator, I tried to resist but...was your injury because of the two many Cho Reppa Dans? (Re: the joke on Andy Bogard, somewhere :wink: )

GP: "dreadfully hungover" :| :| :| Enjoy responsibly, not much because of the age, but because after a given point, any alcohol quickly turns into love handles (ahem!).
Jokes aside, drunken training sessions were OK when we were young and awesome. Now that we are only awesome, they are best avoided.

If you happen to have a good amount of patience, you can try to learn to prepare "pasta & fagioli", or in general to mix legumes to your pasta.
Boiled lentils and tomatoes, diced thin, are a lovely fresh condiment you can add to any pasta+oil base (and parmesan cheese, of course).
Really, lots of veggies and legumes can be boiled/lightly steamed/stir fried, added to pasta and turned into delicious meals.
Digesting will take longer though, as now I am used to rice and any time I eat pasta, I need to factor one more hour of digestion time.

...and said this, I am entering TL;DR territory:

Monday to Thursday, I give myself 2 h 10' to do the following:

40 minutes of calisthenics;
40 minutes of weightlifting;
40+ minutes of running & cycling;
10 minutes of stretching.

Friday, I warm up five minutes, then row one hour (today I eat 4 mins/1 kilometre), then stretch another five minutes.

For calisthenics I am finishing a semester of the following:

3 sessions of V-sit exercises
(hands and ass on the floor--> raise legs to form a V, raise body with arms pushing on the floor, hold 10 seconds-->open legs at 120 degrees, hold 10 seconds-->close, hold 5 seconds, legs to chest, raise)

6 sets of pull-ups with different grips (very wide, very narrow, standard, back and forward for each width), 15 repetitions if without weights, 12 if I wear 10 kgs (22 lbs?), 10 if I wear 15 kgs (31 lbs?), 7 if I wear 20 kgs (40 lbs?).

On two sets, I don't use weights but I raise my legs to V-sit position.

6 sets of push-ups, very close hands and scorpion feet, and I aim for speed and momentum (yes, this is a way to work on endurance, not strength; it's used in sports like rugby).
I lower the load to 10 kgs, basic weighted vest (60 reps), and do 2 sets without vest (90 reps).

6 sets of dips (push-ups at the parallel bars), same weights as per pull-ups, 2 series without vest but I am trying to learn doing them with legs in L-sit position (balance needs to improve).
30 repeats are OK at 20 kgs, but maybe 1-2 series. I focus on endurance if I am not wearing a vest, and can do up to 50 repetitions.

6 sets of front axis pull ups, i.e. pull ups in which I grab two bars aligned with the front axis of my body. Same weights and numbers as above, but these ones are definitely easier (ex-swimmer, and the movements focus more on the dorsal muscles used in butterfly/free style strokes).

I randomize weight loads and actual execution of the exercises, but I make sure that:

A. By Thursday, I have used 20 kgs loads at least two days, 15 kgs one day, 10 kgs a fourth day;
B. I do the 3 (V-sit)+6 sets (x4) each day.

For weights, I use a number of machines like the leverage press for the chest or the high pully for trap(ezoid)s.
I usually follow these rules:

A. 3 machines, pyramid+reverse pyramid (i.e. decrease to 2-3 reps at 100 kgs, then go down again), one movement for lower body, 2 for upper body;
B. No faliure/killing efforts, and focus on functional movements that I used in the sports I played.
Case in point, I do the vertical leg press (back almost parallel to the floor, push weights up), which is a key machine for training in cycling (and yes, I can do 2-3 reps at 340 kgs, but 400 kgs I could recover).

I believe that the weight part should be lighter than calisthenics, and more focused on increasing strength and endurance while avoiding dramatic size increases (see the "avoid failure" and "functional movement" comments). Calisthenics require more focus and concentration, too, and I also need 40' or so in which the machines guide my movements and ease my cognitive burden, so to speak.

For running/cycling, I tend to mix 30/10 minutes, 20/20 minutes (i.e. I run 30 or cycle 30 minutes). I add any leftover time from the first two parts to this part, so I may e.g. run 23 mins and cycle 20 mins.
I try to run at a decent pace (13, 14 kmts/hour), and cycle on a spinning machine at 30 kmts/hour, but with quite high endurance/gear (ex-cyclist, *way* easier than running).

I conclude with 10 minutes of stretching, but extra minutes are fine if the body asks for them.

Grand total is around 10 hours per week, but with an emphasis on asymmetry: Friday rowing feels definitely lighter to me (ex-rower, too...), and one hour of rowing feels like one hour of deep meditation at times. Nothing but the rythmic sound of the machine and the muscles slowly tensing and then expanding, getting tired but satisfied. Every once in a while I am actually tempted to spend one week just rowing 2 hours, Monday to Friday, and be one with the universe or something.

On top of this, I only walk to move around (2 kilometres per day, 5-6 kmts during week-ends, per day), and buying groceries has become a sort of rucking training session (i.e. I bring a backpack to buy food for at least one week, two people).

Diet, I may go for another TL; DR if you guys don't kill me after this one :lol:
Last edited by Randorama on Sat Jul 17, 2021 6:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Nice! That's a good workout. I actually do pullups ("pretty" wide, and not wide at all). I was up to 3 sets of 10 reps at one point but that was a while ago. I will probably do about that much on back day in my upcoming cycle, if possible. Gotta remember I did very few pullups for the whole pandemic (despite having a pull up bar the park I walked in every day). That really is embarrassing.

The one thing I'm worried about is dead lift. Never been my strong suit but i need to strengthen my back, badly. I will do pretty light weight. I did the bar yesterday after a jog and wound up inadvertently doing stiff leg dead lift -- a great exercise, but not for the back. :)

Drinking: I have reeled it in considerably. This week I've actually had a bit of whiskey and a few beers but nothing too crazy. For most of the pandemic I only drank on the weekends, and even then, just a few cocktails. I'll still go to a picnic and have quite a few beers but my consumption in California is probably about 20% of my overall consumption in Chicago.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

Dude, 'member Tae Bo? I would have forgotten all about it if I wasn't reminiscing about the 90's due to all the Tokimeki reminiscing going on, and that's even with my underjustified animosity toward Billy Blanks. Something about those corporate Zumba images on image search make my skin crawl, the models look like the life's been squeezed out of them.

I never really understood why these fad aerobics videos were never about actually learning how to dance a bit, since if you're gonna look like an idiot bouncing around your living room, well, wouldn't it be ideal to have something to show for it?
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

BryanM wrote:Dude, 'member Tae Bo? I would have forgotten all about it if I was reminiscing about the 90's due to all the Tokimeki reminiscing going on, and that's even with my underjustified animosity toward Billy Blanks. Something about those corporate Zumba images on image search make my skin crawl, the models look like the life's been squeezed out of them.

I never really understood why these fad aerobics videos were never about actually learning how to dance a bit, since if you're gonna look like an idiot bouncing around your living room, well, wouldn't it be ideal to have something to show for it?
Barely -- those guys rose to fame when I was in the East. You'd have to have gone way our of your way (or actually like American Football) to know about them.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Thanks for actually reading that wall of text :wink:

Deadlift is a great, complete exercise on which you can progress very slowly and very safely, but still get great benefits out of it.
I am doing this as the main "free weight" exercise during the week, having started again from 50 kgs (ahah!), but adding 2.5 kgs every two weeks (So, currently lifting 110 kgs).
You can also see it as a perfectly reasonable, "real life" exercise: need to lift something, help a person, etc.? Deadlift sessions will turn out to be exactly what you needed.
In general, anyone who spends the long hours typing stuff on a keyboard can only benefit from a strong back and core, obviously.

Re: beer and such...I am half tempted to do another necrobump, but an hilarious paper I read (IgNobel candidate, even!) suggested that spirits and "kräuterlikörn" (herb-based spirits/liquors: Jägemeister and so on) are less problematic for diets because they are not made with carb-rich ingredients, unlike beer/whisky/vodka :wink:

Generally speaking, as long as you count the calories, alcohol is not a big deal (I mean: a shot of straight whisky is 100 kcalories or so, for the stronger ones).
However, the general rule I know is that alcohol turns into easily absorbed sugar very quickly, and can thus turn into extra reserves of body fat also very quickly (...and go away very quickly, I guess).

Consume those calories quickly and you should be fine, I'd say.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

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 admit it can make you look cool, though.

For the lower back, the classic used by football coaches everywhere is the good morning. It's not the kind of thing you try to make the numbers go up on, intensity is a terrible idea as the sinews of the spine are tiny and aren't built to handle that kind of shear force concentrated at one point. Light weight for high repetitions, and waking up curled up like a shrimp is what it's for. It's right there in the name~
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

Yeah ,I fucked myself w/ deadlift today. Smart enough to not finish the set and just walk away. Has to do w/ the bar. I'm okay w/ dumbells or that other weird ass bar that goes around you. I'm not down and out but I might switch up my days and swim tomorrow. So yeah ,fuck dead lift. I just don't have the posture for it.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

I swear, I wasn't trying to bring you bad luck or something!

....but posture training is something you should also do, from time to time, and especially since you're quite tall (and, I guess, an ectomorphic/mesomorphic type with long limbs).
Anyway, yeh, swimming is the perfect subsitute to everything, and I am not biased in writing this just because I am an ex-swimmer (of course).
I plan on swimming a bit when I will be on holiday, in a few weeks' time, if only because a few laps at a gentle pace act as long stretching sessions.

..In perfect Chinese style, my gym started minor renovations for 2-3 weeks without updating customers about the situation.
This means that I need to train outdoors for these remaining three weeks of the 23-week cycle.
Wuhan has a typical East Asian, monsoon-driven summer, and mosquitoes are big and aggressive at night.

I am training in the early morning with 30 celsius and 85% humidity, which is surprisingly not so hard (OK, I handled worse weather in Guangzhou).
Same workload with calisthenics and running, but I swapped weights and machines with fixed-sit rowing, using one of those machines you can find in parks and public spaces (surprisingly, in good shape).
Rowing while looking anime-like summer skies, the deafening sound of cicadas as background music, is not so bad.

I must be losing 3-4 kgs per session via dehydration, though, so I am always bringing plenty of water with me.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

Yeah, a very deep squat is necessary to have a more vertical back on the deadlift. I had chronic issues with starting the squat decades ago, which were corrected by modifying my posture so that it'd be putting compressive force on my spine, instead of shear force. Shear force = a good morning, but with way more weight than even grizzly bears recommend as max.

The players in the NFL flat out don't deadlift, the power clean is their core torso exercise. Many deadlift record holders didn't train with the entire thing as their primary movement... It's abnormally popular, honestly. I attribute it to its coolness factor; the name, the high amount of weight on the bar, people seeing how cool you are when you squeeze your tummy on a full lunch. Good mornings in comparison are totally lame - the name's weak and sissy, you're prancing around with a tiny amount of weight on the bar, bleugh. "Deadlifts", now that's powerful.

Every deadlift performed coulda been a squat. Unless one is a competing power lifter, that's a terrible trade imo.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

I swim 3000 yard (not 3k b/c they measure the pools in yards here) twice a week. Took a while to build back up to it. When I was in Tokyo I was doing 3k twice a week for most o the time. Also, jogging 12k twice a week, in 30 degrees with 80-85% humidity so I know what a PITA that is. I was working nights at one point and jogged home from work at midnight. Rung my shirt out when I got home and there was a puddle of sweat. Disgusting. Oddly though, Tokyo doesn't have a ton of mosquitoes despite having a shitty rainy season.

So, the lower back is bad enough to probably not quite get into squats just yet. I'll do Bulgarian Split Squats in the meantime. They definitely don't get the coolness factor but who the fuck cares. My gym is 90% dudes anyway, just like any indoor business in Silicon Valley. The trick now is to keep my cardio game on point while doing a harder weight regimen. Should be able to do it -- 7 mile jog tomorrow.

On that note, I'm getting some good TV in on the treadmill / indoor bike. Rewatching Watchmen and I think it's better the second time. This fucking delta variant may get mask mandates back on the table though despite the fact that my county has probably the lowest new cases per 100k rate in the country.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

BryanM:


Popularity notwithstanding, deadlifts are used in some sports as a form of training to, for instance, shovel people around (e.g., rugby, in which it is more or less legal to do so).
I kept the movement in my routine because I used it when playing rugby (and squatting, too), and...cycling.

My cycling coaches made claims about "complete functional movement" and "total control on bicyle when handling (parabolic) curves", and frankly I was fine with not reading the relevant literature (don't train with academics: it's "read the peer-reviewed papers in the reading list" as soon as you *look* puzzled).

Generally speaking, I think that functional movements tend to develop a type of popular diffusion that becomes more or less arbitrary, once people start using them without really having a function for it.
I guess that sport psychologists may have published studies on this topic, but I suspect that I really don't want to know more (as in: "yes, people take the *dead* in *deadlift* seriously").

I do shovel/move stuff around, from time to time (long story...), so I am keeping it in my routine, for now.
Oh, and Good mornings look nice but honestly, NFL-related stuff...I must support my prejudices against yankee sports with tempo, sorry!

...but honestly, never heard of them and the gym's closed, so I must wait before trying.
Can I use a name like "bear killer moves of deadly death!!!1!" or something, though? If somebody asks me, it's an exercise that uncle Vladimir P. does when getting ready to kill puny western spies :lol:

GP: swimming yes, but I guess: free style?
I haven't swum in ages, but I would mix styles a bit and use butterfly as a "pure power" exercise (3k/1 h as a long distance effort, too).

Jogging...yes, that kind of experience, though I am not doing more than 3-4k these days (fixed seat rowing+jogging in this weather=certain death, honestly).
Guangzhou was sometimes 35-36 celsius and 93-94% humidity (and mask!), which means that I would swim in sweat after 5 minutes of running (and TONS of very scary mosquitoes chasing me around).

Re: general...cardio is always good, at the end of the day (unless you have a heart attack because you overdo it, of course).
Weights...really, "haste makes waste" may be the only relevant truth, for all I care. Bryan's 5%/95% ratio is a timely reminder that there is no hurry to increasing strength.

Random: I admit that I usually read when cycling, listen to music when using the treadmill (no headphones, though), and just empty my head and soul when rowing (really, it's my "meditation-like" exercise).
I watch next to no TV (Bryan don't get me started on animu PLZKHTX), but I think that I'd kill myself easily, if I dare reading/watching something on a treadmill.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by BryanM »

The power clean is very popular with those in contact sports. Just... gotta own the rubber plates and a safe place to drop them. Any gym worth a damn should support them, or by god have a gigantic swimming pool at least. Planet Fitness was always a hilarious meme with their "lunk alarm" - god help you if you clinked some metal or had to breathe or god forbid make a noise out of your mouth while lifting, as a siren would go off and a poor scrawny nerd from the front desk would have to walk up to you and say "mister... mister you're being too loud."

Of all the simple machines, the lever has always been looked at with awe. Complimented throughout time with remarks like "these things are like hacking the universe." And indeed, being able to trade distance for power is very cheaty indeed. The theoretical perfect lever, with one end right on top of the fulcrum, would output infinite power (with the slightly inconvenient aspect of having zero displacement on the thing it won't be moving.) Subjecting such forces to one's spine should be done with care, an empty barbell for 10 or 20 reps is plenty to start adjusting to them.

Ah, as I mentioned earlier "good morning" is a whimsical joke on how one's mornings feel after heavy work with the movement. An honest translation would be "spine crusher" or "spine destroyer" but normies would look at them and say "isn't that too sissy an exercise for such a cool name?" And thus, the whimsy.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

I do 1/3 Freestyle, 1/3 Elementary backstroke, and 1/3 Breast stroke. I'm not that great and don't claim to be, but I can go for a solid hour w/o a break unless I have to piss which actually does happen regularly.

I was able to jog 5 miles today before the back started acting up. Probably stupid. I'll find out in the morning. Might switch to a swim tomorrow to give it some time to heal.

But, feeling better... and eating a ton of food so if in a month I don't feel any stronger I will break something in the house.

EDIT: Back not too bad (it was actually more of a burning butt cheek). Some ibuprofen and a lot of sleep helped. I will probably take it easy today. They really need to figure out this aging thing. :)
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Was out of town for two weeks. Rather than obsess over finding time to work every day I pick a day midway through and just do a single maintenance day. Keeps me sane, gets me some alone time, and my endurance doesn't take a hit.

I'm used to only doing two exercises a day - so to do everything in one go is a lot. I go just hard enough to get through everything.

Yesterday was pull ups and handstand push ups. My gains with ROM on the HSPU have been insane since I simply switched it to my pull up day. I had been struggling with it for years on my push up day and it took me far longer to move it to another day than it should have. That said there is no stopping me now.

One step closer to a strict one arm push up. Archers are still my work set, but I've discovered I can do sliding one arm push ups which are just a little harder. Can do four on each side so not quite ready for them to be my work set, but close.

Here is an example of a sliding OAPU if you're curious:

https://youtu.be/6bXV576zK08?t=39
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

I'm confused -- so you do two exercises while in the gym -- that's the workout? How long does that take? How many sets and reps?
So if you go 6 days a week you do 12 exercises total?
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

GP: that's actually an excellent workout and, besides, we are not competing on anything, are we? :wink:
The one conjecture I have is at some point you may want to dab with the butterfly stroke, since you should have a apt body for it.
Butterfly is good for short, powerful bursts: once you learn the technique, you can try a few (short) laps as a way to increase a "strength-oriented" (well, for the upper body) phase in your swimming sessions.

BryanM: power cleans are the province of front rowers, in rugby (i.e. the guy in the first row of the scrum).
My sole personal objection to the exercise is that I would kill myself with the bar alone - they require more coordination that I already have.
Maybe a shame, as the local gym seems to support shouting as a way to promote group bonding among the bros (I swear, the kids are always !"#%ing loud, when they lift).

The ugly truth is that when it comes to weights, machines are the safest way to exercise, for me. If it is not my own weight, I tend to have balance issues easily.
I accumulated 3 concussions so far (car accident + 2 devastating tackles in rugby), and I get to pay an ultimately small price for them: lowered sense balance and stiff necks on rainy days (...for now).

Stevens: ROM (=Range Of Movement, right?) on HSPU, but how much? Balance is a killer for me, so I am afraid that I will never learn this one, but do you have a set-up to go below your palms?

Spammer part:

...tried out a few lever exercises today by hanging from an horizontal bar at the park, hoping not to have vertigo and fall. Surprisingly for me, I could even perform a sub-optimal version of the horizontal lever (I mean, this one). I suspect that some of these basic static strength exercises should now be easy for me, as long as balance requirements are low.

It does help that I am down to 70 kgs, all of a sudden (less fat for sure, but it must simply be the weather). Now, if only the excess skin would magically disappear...
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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GaijinPunch wrote:I'm confused -- so you do two exercises while in the gym -- that's the workout? How long does that take? How many sets and reps?
So if you go 6 days a week you do 12 exercises total?
No gym my friend, the world is my gym. As luck would have it I also work in a gym, but that is beside the point. Here is my current work schedule from a page back:

Tuesday: Close Grip Pull Ups and 1/2 Handstand Push Ups

Wednesday: Pistol Squats and Horizontal Pull Ups

Thursday: Archer Push Ups and Hanging Bent Leg Raises

Friday: Dips, Bridges, Finger Push Ups, and Press Flag Work

Saturday through Monday rest

One day a week per exercise. Every movement is accounted for - Vertical pull and push, horizontal pull and push, leg push, convex and concave.

Most things in there are two sets, but bridges and pistols I only do one of. Working for reps on the squats now and am up to 13 but think I am at the point I would like more intensity. Two set exercises I rep until I can do 10 a few weeks in a row and then I move onto a harder version of that exercise which will usually drop my numbers down to 3 - 5.

EDIT - https://youtu.be/Igy1S44v1X0?t=193

I really like this kids channel. Nice to know I am not the only person with this philosophy.
Randorama wrote:GP: that's actually an excellent workout and, besides, we are not competing on anything, are we? :wink:

Stevens: ROM (=Range Of Movement, right?) on HSPU, but how much? Balance is a killer for me, so I am afraid that I will never learn this one, but do you have a set-up to go below your palms?

Spammer part:

...tried out a few lever exercises today by hanging from an horizontal bar at the park, hoping not to have vertigo and fall. Surprisingly for me, I could even perform a sub-optimal version of the horizontal lever (I mean, this one). I suspect that some of these basic static strength exercises should now be easy for me, as long as balance requirements are low.
:)

Yes sir you are correct on ROM. I do have a set up, but it goes under my head - a stack of books about five inches high. Palms on the floor. The stack height is reduced as needed with my head going to the floor eventually. I have done full ROM HSPU's before, but I wasn't ready and it got me in trouble.
By the way these aren't free standing, use a wall if you need to. I do! Remember balance comes with strength! Free standing handstand is on my to do list, but not a priority just yet. I know I mentioned it last post - but I can't get over how much progress I've made just moving my HSPU's away from my regular ones.

This was the one exercise that injuries have gotten the best of me on over the years. First I did too much too soon and that erased about six months of training. Then I tweaked something doing press flag work and that was another set back about two years ago. A few posts back I mentioned that if I am making progress in too many demanding movements somethings gotta give. That was my lesson there.

Haven't dabbled in levers too much (I think that pic you linked is a guy named Chris Heria), but they are fantastic. That one would be the front lever, but there is a back lever too. Most people find the back lever a bit easier to get first, but I've heard of some having an easier time with the front lever. Experiment: )

Here is a great tutorial for the back lever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SECHUBj7pl0

Levers can be done statically or for reps.

Glad this thread picked up some steam again. With the exception of a few weeks a year I always take off I am training.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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Stevens: ...forgot along the way that I can use walls, yes, and the book technique is interesting - I simply didn't think about it!

But balance is an issue, anyway: to simplify matters a lot, my balance is impaired under conditions of intense load, and thus I risk losing any sense of up and down if handstands tax my balance too much (or any other movement, really).

I am guessing that coupling them with pull ups would be a winning move, as in your case. After all, both exercises involve "vertical" movements, don't they?
Which reminds that for levers, I am finding them easy to go into position, and I need to work on lengthening duration and then adding reps.

I should go into rest period by the 6th of August: 3 weeks, 1 total rest week, 2 something light like lots of stretching and/or swimming.
Work is demanding until then (deadlines aplenty until this month, then wrapping up loosing ends), so I still need to properly read/study most of your suggested readings.
I mean, I am reading coming or playing games on the little free time :wink:

I want to tweak things a bit and renovate my calisthenics routine, and most importantly start working towards one-arm exercises.

In the meanwhile, I wanted to add one more piece to the puzzle. Sleeping and recovery: how do you guys go about it?
Last edited by Randorama on Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

I generally do a four on three off.

I have eight exercises that are the uh...core of my training?

I will generally do all eight in a given week. I'm pretty good about not skipping and even if I am feeling a little less disciplined I will still usually be able to get at least a set of something in for maintenance and I'm at the point now where an extra rep every week or two is progress.

I haven't really gotten into static holds outside of some straight arm training. Haven't gotten into levers at all, but respect the amount of strength and control they take to do. I think eventually (if I can increase the rom on my hspu) I would like to get into free standing handstands.

All that said working unilaterally is really satisfying. Not to sound like a hippie, but calisthenics really gets you to know how your body moves.

Occasionally I will take an entire week if I feel I need it.

We have blackout curtains that do an OK job of keeping the room dark. We also have had a chilly pad for a bit over two years now:

https://www.chilisleep.com/products/cube-sleep-system

I'm a big fan of it. I don't wake up sweating ever.

I also try to wind down for 30 minutes or so before bed. No screens, just kind of chill and call it a day.

Wall of text. I'm feeling creative. Weed.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

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I incorporated Bulgarian Split Squats into my workout.

1) Fuck me
2) I can't get my back foot up that high b/c my balance (on my right food) is such garbage so that's somewhat embarrasing -- thinking of doing Yoga to aid that.
3) 2 days later ass is still buggin'. I guess that's good but damn. I've most definitely not been ignoring my glutes through the pandemic either.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Randorama »

Quick one because I simply cannot resist :wink:
GaijinPunch wrote:I incorporated Bulgarian Split Squats into my workout.

1) Fuck me
Oh duh OK, but...
3) 2 days later ass is still buggin'. I guess that's good but damn.
Hmm, you need for calisthenics for the glutes. Of a more...pleasure-oriented kind, though?

*Badump-thumpsh!*

BTW, if I don't fall, I can almost do a single HSPU. Balance is killing me though, so I must get used to the position first. The strength seems to be there, though.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by Stevens »

Randorama wrote:
BTW, if I don't fall, I can almost do a single HSPU. Balance is killing me though, so I must get used to the position first. The strength seems to be there, though.
Still trying free standing?

I would follow the path of least resistance.

I'm guessing you can hold a static wall handstand for a minute or more. Great prerequisite for HSPU's of any kind.

If you're having trouble with one rep I would decrease your ROM to something you can comfortably do 3 - 5 reps of. Comfort is important - you always want to have enough strength left to lower yourself safely. Use a stack of books or whatever five to six inches high.

When you can do ten solid reps (meaning you could eek out 11 or 12) decrease the height of the stack by half an inch, maybe an inch. Repeat.

I really hurt myself years back right where you are now - trying to get that first one. Don't make the same mistake I did. It set me back by a year at the time.
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Re: Weightlifting/exercise thread

Post by GaijinPunch »

Hurt like muscle hurt, or like landed on your head and fucked your neck hurt?

I think split squats just isolate the glutes at a really low level... so all the shit I've been doing has just not compared. The YT video series I've been doing has split squats in them but I don't have a lot of weight, and not a real apparatus to do them at home so was doing lunges. Most definitely not the same!

I jogged 7 miles Monday and swam 3000 yards today so I'm still alive.
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