Random Fitness Questions

the baby bull elephant

Deleted User wrote: »

My move onto gzclp has been disastrous.

I was doing a routine that was posted here and for good reason, told it was wrong. Big gains though.

But learning deadlift, bench, and overhead press has taken so long, I've stopped progressing totally. I'm still struggling with the squat because I can't get low enough.

I need reassurance. Do I just spend a few more months learning these moves to be safe instead of what I was doing? It's so frustrating.

I'm using Alan Thrall for technique. The PTs here aren't good.

Why have you stopped progressing? Is it because you can't move more weight or because you feel your form isn't good enough? Despite what large swathes of the internet would have you believe there is no 'perfect form' we're all built differently and there's going to be a certain amount of variance between what our lifts look like. Yes there are certain principles that should be followed but 'perfect form' is essentially an impossible goal to reach. Your perfect form should be what allows you to avoid injury and to be able to progress.

You say you can't squat low enough, what depth are you trying to hit? Not everyone can be Clarence Kennedy and scrape the floor every rep. Given some peoples design it won't happen no matter how flexible they are they'll never get the same depth. Hitting parallel is generally the accepted standard now but if you're not competing in powerlifting it isn't even necessary to hit that every single rep. Thrall actually had a good video on that recently.

Also how are you assessing your form? Are you looking in a mirror (not really a good idea), going by feel or videoing yourself?

The 'big 4' lifts will definitely help you a lot more than other exercises out there and are worth persevering with but again unless you're competing there's nothing to stop you doing close variations if they really feel a lot better. But keep in mind that especially at the beginner stage all it can take is for one cue to click and suddenly you're getting that sweet linear progression.

As far as sources for helping with form, on Youtube Brian Alsruhe has a load of different tutorials including three part videos for each of the big 4. I found them particularly useful for OHP and deadlift. Calgary Barbell also has a lot of useful videos on form including a form check Friday where he looks at user submitted videos who may be having similar problems to you.

For written sources Stronger by Science has very detailed articles on squat, bench and deadlift.

This is the squat one: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-squat/

silverharp

So got a gym programme from a trainer, the rep range is generally 10 which is grand, mostly 3 sets, there is a general comment in their programme card it reads

"Always try to get more than 8 reps. Over time when you get to 16 reps, you are now strong enough to move the weight up. Push for more than 8 reps when the weight goes up"

without getting into the weeds too much, is that suited lower weight exercises but not something like dead lifts or barbell squats?

world class wreckin’ cru

I would say that sounds like accessory movements or machine exercises like lat pull down for example.

Can’t imagine anyone doing 16 reps on a deadlift.

Depending on the exercise, I’d even say once you get to 12, increase the weight and start over.

I generally try (or used to!) to lift heavy on squat, bench, deadlift and then work in 8-12 range for accessories.

bladespin

16 Squat reps, fark that!

It would be very difficulty to keep proper intensity and form up for 16 reps - sounds a bit mad.

caviardreams

Nevermind the increased likelihood of losing count halfway and actually ending up doing 17 just to be sure

coffee_cake

caviardreams wrote: »

Nevermind the increased likelihood of losing count halfway and actually ending up doing 17 just to be sure

More like 12

silverharp

I'd be inclined to go with 12 for an isolation type exercises if I was to use that method

Alf Veedersane

bladespin wrote: »

16 Squat reps, fark that!

It would be very difficulty to keep proper intensity and form up for 16 reps - sounds a bit mad.

Depends on the percentage of your 1RM and what stage of a training cycle you're at but nothing wrong with building some work capacity.

No need to destroy yourself though. Leave a couple of reps in the tank.

Mellor

bladespin wrote: »

16 Squat reps, fark that!

It would be very difficulty to keep proper intensity and form up for 16 reps - sounds a bit mad.

Whether it's hard to keep proper form depends on the intensity rather than the number of reps.


16 reps with 50% would be breeze.
Where as 5 reps with 90% would be almost certainly be bad reps or outright misses.

silverharp

Avoiding overtraining?, on the assumption that you are not overtraining on a weekly basis, is there a simple rule to follow , like take the last week of a quarter off or some such?

Mellor

silverharp wrote: »

Avoiding overtraining?, on the assumption that you are not overtraining on a weekly basis, is there a simple rule to follow , like take the last week of a quarter off or some such?

Overtraining is much more rare than the internet would have you believe.
If you’re training casually, a few times a week, rather than hitting semi-professional amounts of training. Then it’s unlikely to happen.
All imo of course

Alf Veedersane

silverharp wrote: »

Avoiding overtraining?, on the assumption that you are not overtraining on a weekly basis, is there a simple rule to follow , like take the last week of a quarter off or some such?

If you're not training stupidly and allowing for recovery, then overtraining shouldn't be an issue for most people.

Alf Veedersane

Mellor wrote: »

Overtraining is much more rare than the internet would have you believe.
If you’re training casually, a few times a week, rather than hitting semi-professional amounts of training. Then it’s unlikely to happen.
All imo of course

I'd agree. It's more relevant to athletes etc that are putting their body through more of a workload than the general population.

Mellor

And if you were on the verge of overtraining. You’d need more than a week off to prevent it.

D'Agger

I don't see a 'Rate my Squats bro' thread - okay to put up two videos of my Squat technique for review here?

silverharp

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'd agree. It's more relevant to athletes etc that are putting their body through more of a workload than the general population.

so just look after the weeks and let the months look after themselves?

Alf Veedersane

silverharp wrote: »

so just look after the weeks and let the months look after themselves?

Look after your training and recovery and the rest will look after itself.

If you do find your fatigue increasing and results plateauing/decreasing, it's not because you didn't take a week off but that your training needs an overhaul

Alf Veedersane

D'Agger wrote: »

I don't see a 'Rate my Squats bro' thread - okay to put up two videos of my Squat technique for review here?

Fire away. Not enough traffic for its own thread these days

D'Agger

Apologies for the poor angle for both videos, rare occasion where I wasn't training on my own and had a friend video me doing squats at 30KG & 60KG. Most recent trip to the gym I was back doing 80KG and was very much feeling it in my quads/glutes so reckon I'm doing them right but would appreciate any feedback. If you need different angles then I can try to sort that too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY2FKrIDtxM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48a9UEg7c9w

Alf Veedersane

To be honest, your squat would want to be horrendous for anything glaring to stand out with 30kg given how far it is from your max. 60 to a degree as well.

One thing I will say, and its probably a function of the weight being light for you, is that you don't seem to brace and you don't look like you keep everything tight even at the top.

Don't just start preparing yourself for heavy squats when the bar is heavy.

Again, that's just based on those 2 vids and I'm not a PT but that's what I can take from those. Other than that, didn't really pick up much wrong from first glance but heavier weight will show up where your squat issues may be

Mr. CooL ICE

What Alf said.

Repping 70% of your 1RM and up should be a high enough intensity to notice form breakdown. If you don't know what your 1RM would be, then perhaps pick a weight you feel you can only do 5 reps with, and record yourself doing 3 reps at that weight.

Brian?

Mark Rippetoe wrote: »

What Alf said.

Repping 70% of your 1RM and up should be a high enough intensity to notice form breakdown. If you don't know what your 1RM would be, then perhaps pick a weight you feel you can only do 5 reps with, and record yourself doing 3 reps at that weight.

+1 to this.

The only things I take from those 2 videos is that

-you have reasonable hip and ankle mobility. So nothing major to fix.

-you have a very short pause at the top between reps. I can’t see you resetting/bracing for the next rep. This could be because it’s easy.

D'Agger

Thanks all, will try get a video of a weight closer to my 1RM

Mellor

SuprSi wrote: »

I train my chest once a week, switching between dumbells and barbells. I mix it up with flys, pushups, drop sets, and other exercises. I keep a log...

Sounds very sporadic and random.
Which is exactly when I'd expect to see plateaus.

What have your last 4 weeks of chest looked like?
Exercises and sets?

SuprSi

To be honest, since posting that and taking onboard the advice, I've started doing chest twice a week, and I've seen significant improvements, both in terms of size and strength. My workout may still be somewhat random, but generally look like;

Mon
Barbell chest press
Barbell incline chest press
Barbell decline chest press
High/middle/low cable flys
100 pushups (in 4 sets)

Thur
Dumbbell chest press
Dumbbell incline chest press
An Athlean-X kneeling press using 2 cables
Single-arm machine press
Machine flys

All the above are 4 sets, so when I posted the question, for the dumbbell bench it was 34/36/38/40KG, but I couldn't complete 40, usually only getting about 6 in the last set (and being stuck on that for ages). Now, I've gone beyond 40 and am failing just before finishing 42, which is great. For the incline, I've gone up by 4KG in each dumbbell for each set.

For the barbell, I was struggling to clear 85KG, now I'm clearing 6 reps on 90KG and hoping to move up to 95KG soon. The other thing I'm doing is changing the order of the exercises. I always started with the flat bench, but have now started with flys, or decline bench, just to mix it up a bit.

So in short quite a lot of change - I must measure my chest to see, but visually it looks fuller, which is great.

Minime2.5

I have my own opinion about this myself but is the following movements enough for cutting

Squat
Dead Lift
Chest press movement (Shoulders & Triceps are getting some work)
Shoulder press movement(Triceps getting some work)
Back Pull ups(Biceps getting some work)

Alf Veedersane

Minime2.5 wrote: »

I have my own opinion about this myself but is the following movements enough for cutting

Squat
Dead Lift
Chest press movement (Shoulders & Triceps are getting some work)
Shoulder press movement(Triceps getting some work)
Back Pull ups(Biceps getting some work)

Why would that be specifically for cutting?

Minime2.5

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Why would that be specifically for cutting?

Because I would have thought for muscle building you'd need

1. More volume
2. More exercise variety
3. Target specific muscles more directly

Alf Veedersane

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Because I would have thought for muscle building you'd need

1. More volume
2. More exercise variety
3. Target specific muscles more directly

There's no mention of volume. Or frequency.
Mode variety than what?
What specific muscles?

Nothing wrong with squat deadlift and pressing but it needs more pulling.

beertons

What would be a decent click on the stairs climber? I was only on the way out today, and hopped on. Level 7, 5 mins, 20 floors.