Random Fitness Questions

Brid Hegarty · 07-10-2021 12:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117987739#Comment_117987739

But isn't there more of it now than before. I'd imagine it's things like PC screens being too low. Or handle bars on a bike being too low.

As a tall man I've realised that it's actually more convenient to walk around in a slightly hunched position given that so many of the things I have to do (be it door handle or worktops) involve stooping.

Cill94 · 07-10-2021 01:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117987907#Comment_117987907

i don't know if there is more of it now tbh.

If it were the case that leaning forward changes your head posture, then changing thatt would be as simple as focusing on keeping a more upright head posture.

bladespin · 07-10-2021 01:32PM

Prolonged driving, it absolutely breaks me tbh, no proble :(s after squats, RDL etc but that leaves me in bits :(

Brid Hegarty · 07-10-2021 01:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117988010#Comment_117988010

They're all saying that you're generally posture changes into a more forward position even if you aren't leaning forward.

Cill94 · 07-10-2021 02:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117988197#Comment_117988197

For many people it does, but that's part of the ageing process. Our musculoskeletal structures get weaker and worse at resisting the force of gravity. Hence the classic hunchback granny look. Maybe a certain amount of that can be staved off with resistance training. Again, we don't really know.

Stretching the hamstrings likely has no connection to any of that though.

Brid Hegarty · 16-10-2021 03:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117987272#Comment_117987272

This one, called the nordic ham curl is the only one I know of. I must try it soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PAm7gEVCAg&ab_channel=AnabolicAliens

Brid Hegarty · 16-10-2021 03:30PM

@Cill94 Stretching the hamstrings likely has no connection to any of that though.

This is where I heard it said (from 6:02) about stretching the hams having an indirect effect on posture. Sounded convincing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-7ZWPCWv0U&ab_channel=ATHLEAN-X%E2%84%A2

j@utis · 16-10-2021 11:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117917159#Comment_117917159

Get yourself a cheap luggage scale and you can weight everything around your gym. Cable pulley markings are way off in our gym - up to double the amount stated on the labels, SSB weights 22kg (not branded).

Cill94 · 17-10-2021 12:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028779#Comment_118028779

Yeahhh... AthleanX isn't exactly evidence based fitness information. I'll admit he's good at sounding like he knows what he's talking about though.

Brid Hegarty · 17-10-2021 09:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118031066#Comment_118031066

But where did he come up with it? He hardly just made it up... he claims it worked for the dude in the video.

Cill94 · 17-10-2021 11:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118031468#Comment_118031468

I don't know where he came up with it. There's two types of quacks in the fitness industry: ones who know they're wrong and just want to make an easy buck, and ones who think they're right but don't realise because they're getting results for people.

The limited studies that are available on using exercise to change posture will on average show that it doesn't work. http://www.greglehman.ca/blog/2012/05/17/the-limitations-of-specificity-defending-the-plank-and-the-curl-up

Despite the fact that video shows no before or after to verify if his posture changed, I'll take him at his word. So really all we know is that the guy's posture changed, not that it was specifically because he did those exercises. Maybe Jeff made him more aware of his posture and the guy chose to start changing how he moved.

silverharp · 17-10-2021 12:17PM

just based ona quick google, a gym website mentions something called "joint by joint" theory but the article says hamstrings are of minor importance

https://www.vivafitness.com.au/improve-posture/

this article seems to say there are unsubstantiated claims

https://www.strengthzonetraining.com/the-joint-by-joint-approach-claims-vs-the-evidence/

Cill94 · 17-10-2021 12:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118031917#Comment_118031917

The first article is based on a popular theory from Yanda known as upper/lower cross syndrome. It's a nice sounding theory, but there's no support for it. It still gets taught to musculoskeletal health professionals and parroted despite its lack of scientific support.

You'll notice the second article has actual research citations, and unsurprisingly comes to the conclusion that posture isn't likely to be changed by exercise. We don't even have evidence that one type of posture is better/worse for pain. The more you delve into the research on musculoskeletal health, the more you realise that a lot of the claims made by physios/therapist/chiros etc. have no backing.

Brid Hegarty · 27-10-2021 05:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118031935#Comment_118031935

Seeing as you've quite a bit of knowledge I might ask you another question.

Have you any tips for how to get a flat stomach? Taking myself as an example; I have a six pack but I'd like to get my stomach in more. I'd be considered skinny, and I've been keeping a consistent core exercise routine for a number of years now. But at the end of the day my belly sticks out a little bit.

I'm pretty pleased with how I look but when I look at the side view of my belly in the mirror, I do wish it would be sucked in a bit more. I've no doubt my muscles there are in great condition, and I could pull my stomach way in if I'd to pose for a photo shoot. But I'd like my stomach to be that way naturally... something like the way the guy appears in this photo. I don't know if he's pulling it in, but there are people who's bodies are naturally like that.

Funnily here's the same guy in another photo from the same shoot, and if you were to see him from the side you can imagine his stomach would be sticking out more than his chest. Maybe it's something to do with westerners having an S-shaped back that forces their stomach out more.

There are quite a few fitness people who have bellies too! This girl is actually a good example. She's clearly a fitness enthusiast, yet her belly sticks way out in spite of her being so young!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26quQivDbBw&ab_channel=BeckyFidler

I think it happened to me when I was about 12. I just remember my belly going out a little bit. And it's been there since. Don't know why!

Cill94 · 28-10-2021 12:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118081343#Comment_118081343

Just so you know, that 'guy' is Mark Wahlberg 😂

As for your Q. It's probably not what you want to hear, but maybe that's just how your stomach looks 🤷‍♂️ Losing belly fat is one thing, but you seem to be talking about posture. I would contend that it's anatomically normal for a human belly to protrude and that what you see in a Calvin Klein ad is not indicative of how a normal stomach looks. The idea that the girl in the video has a 'belly' is insane. She just isn't trying to flex when she's talking.

I did a post on this exact topic recently that involved me getting my nips out

https://www.instagram.com/p/CU45etRsR6q/

silverharp · 28-10-2021 09:44AM

leaving aside any photographer tricks, I'd guess many models are 3KG or 4 KG below their normal weight on the day of a shoot like that

the baby bull elephant · 28-10-2021 10:01AM

It's impossible for some people to have completely flat stomachs at rest without removing a few of those pesky organs...

Brid Hegarty · 28-10-2021 11:06AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118083974#Comment_118083974

Some people do. It's rare enough though. I think Enrique used to.

Brid Hegarty · 28-10-2021 02:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118083251#Comment_118083251

It's a funny one, in that true beauty shouldn't look better from different angles. Take a healthy german shepherd for example; you won't find yourself saying "gee actually it doesn't look too good from this angle". We humans are an exception in this regard in that we take one view of ourselves from the side (at the mid section) we can look pretty bad. Of course it suits us to say that certain looks are unattainable giving that we're now the second most obese country in Europe.

I wasn't sure people would recognise him as Wahlberg as he looked so different back then. And I'm not gay or anything but I didn't even notice Kate Moss in that clip!

atilladehun · 28-10-2021 06:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085689#Comment_118085689

I'm in no position to give you advice but you reminded me of that scene.

Brid Hegarty · 28-10-2021 10:33PM

The photo's a bit too bright but Chris Hemsworth has got to be the king for flat stomachs. Now I don't think he'd look any worse from different angles!

Cill94 · 28-10-2021 11:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118087844#Comment_118087844

Again: angles, flexing.

Actors and models are paid to know how to do this. It's not what they look like 24/7.

Brid Hegarty · 08-11-2021 03:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118031935#Comment_118031935

Could I ask another question while I have you? I'd like to know what your opinion about cold immersion therapy is? A scientific explanation about what goes on in the body during cold immersion can sound quite convincing to a lay person... when you hear all this talk about cold shock proteins, inflammation, longevity and whatever else! But as with the hype around fasting, is it really all that good? Or do people just get a placebo effect.

I was listening to the 'healthy or hoax' podcast and I heard Professor Jim Cotter from the University of Otago suggest cryotherapy is over-hyped. It reduces inflammation and pain but he says animal data shows that it could impair the health of that tissue in the long run.

Assuming cold immersion therapy is good, then water/ice would likely be better than cryo as it's much more cardiovascular. With water although the temperature isn't as cold, the underlying tissue is cooled faster. Cold water is harder on the heart than cryo, as it has to push against the increased blood pressure caused by the cold. The heart should be getting more oxygen when it beats faster, but in this case (according to him) it actually gets less.

I go to the sea at least once a week at the moment which I enjoy. I suppose it's possibly beneficial if you keep it up regularly, but if you were to do it out of the blue in mid winter it could quite taxing on the body.

Black Sheep · 08-11-2021 04:29PM

I'm not Cilian, but I've been doing various forms of cold water therapy for years. Daily cold showers most commonly.

"The literature" is reasonably clear that cold water immersion is detrimental for muscular hypertrophy if you do it after lifting to at least some extent. I also think there's at least some basis for believing it can have an anti inflammatory effect, indeed the two things would go hand in hand.

The extent to which it does that, probably negligible enough that it doesn't matter for most people, and I think that's true of most of the claimed benefits.

So why do it?

Because it does make you feel invigorated, when you towel off after 3-5 minutes of it.

Yes, it can be unpleasant and it's normal that when people start they don't enjoy it and they lose control of their breathing and generally it's a form of masochism.

I'm not really into doing it in order to build mental toughness, but I know some people feel that way about it. My observation has been that with time you actually just don't find it that unpleasant anymore, to the point that I wondered was my shower running warmer than it used to (It isn't).

Wim Hof - who admittedly is hit and miss - has a theory that your skin is a giant organ that has become over sensitised because we are so well wrapped up and protected against the elements. It tingles and feels weird, basically, and he feels that a benefit of cold water therapy is that you progressively desensisitise your skin so that you are not as easily made to feel unpleasant (Basically). I guess my experience would be that he's possibly onto something there.

Patsy167 · 08-11-2021 04:45PM

A question on Minimum required volume - I'm currently doing the following 3x per week and wondering whether this is enough volume to make strength increases (All at an RPE of 7-8). I've never enjoyed any training with a lot of volume so trying to get strength increases with the minimum effective amount -

Pull-ups (5x5)

Lat Pull down (5x5)

Seated Row (5x5)

Walking Lunges (5x5)

Hamstring Curl (3x5)

Seated leg curl (3x5)

Black Sheep · 08-11-2021 05:16PM

That's quite low intensity and low training frequency. The volume is moderate at best considering the RPE mentioned.

RPE 8 can mean different things to different people. I'm taking it that you would mean you would have a few more reps in the tank at RPE 7 or 8 i.e you're nowhere near failure on your work sets.

Some of the machines you are using would probably lend themselves to using a slightly higher rep range and progressing by weight and rep PRs week on week. You don't typically see sets of 5 seated leg curls.

There's a strong tradition of low volume machine-based training that's still around, albeit typically with hypertrophy in mind versus strength, but it is renowned for high intensity work sets... Basically, you'd be a lot closer to failure (or at failure) if you're doing such low volume, on the basis that you really need to push yourself hard in order that you're getting in several effective reps at the end of your work sets which will give the body a reason to adapt. Even then, a lot programs using this approach have higher volume on a given day overall. There might be just 1-2 hard work sets on the high bar squat, for example, but then the quads would be smashed again on lunges, leg extension and so on. Again, more of a hypertrophy protocol than a strength approach it must be said.

Considering your exercise selection I'm taking it you're in a commercial gym... Why no use of quad dominant machines - leg extension, hack squat? You've got also two vertical pulls and a horizontal pull ... But no pressing at all? Just curious, maybe it's injury related.

Cill94 · 09-11-2021 12:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118136562#Comment_118136562

My opinion about coldwater immersion is that it's something you can do if you enjoy it. Most of the claims I've heard about what it can do aren't scientifically supported. And we do have some science to show that it can have a detrimental effect on muscle adaptations. Depends on how much of it you're doing though. Until it's been sufficiently studied, placebo effect is never something you can rule out when it comes to any health intervention. What you believe often matters more than whether the thing really works.

People don't want to hear this, but if you're looking to boost longetivity, it mostly comes down to exercising regularly, having good nutrition and sleep, and socialising. Social class is also extremely indicative of lifespan, but harder to control.

Everything outside of that, whether it's fasting or coldwater therapy, is often just a distraction created to sell you a product.

17-11-2021 06:05PM

.

Brian? · 23-11-2021 08:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118136982#Comment_118136982

That looks like a recipe to burn out and stop making any gains, I don't understand why you are doing such low reps on isolation lifts. Do low reps because you don't enjoy higher reps is a bad idea IMO. You need a properly structured program instead of a random selection of lifts.

Cill94 · 26-11-2021 11:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118136982#Comment_118136982

No pushing exercises, why?

Yet there are 3 pulling exercises and 2 hamstring exercises.

Walking lunges aren't well suited to going that heavy as it's not a very stable exercise. Seems like everything in there is heavy.

I think you'd get much better progress out of following an established programme. It would have more balance and a built in method of progression. Reddit's fitness forum has a section on this and there's a thread on here called 'beginner strength programmes'.

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