Workout/Lifting Thread and Health Thread
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BR1986FBNot necessarily "lifting" related but last night I go out to my garage to train arms. My garage isn't completely enclosed as there is space between the roof, where the slope ends, and the walls of the garage so birds, squirrels, etc can get in there. I'm putting weights on the Smith Machine to do close grips when I hear this loud noise coming from the corner. I get closer and figure it's either a squirrel or bird in the corner but I just can't pinpoint where it's coming from. I start lifting and I keep hearing it. Finally, I go over and look much closer....I have a cabinet, that is half moon shaped that covers the one corner of my garage. Whoever installed it apparently left a small gap between the cabinet and the wall. A poor squirrel must have fallen behind it, got trapped and can't get out. It's tail was hanging out from the bottom of the cabinet where the cabinet meets the wall. I need to either figure out how to get him out of there or I'm going to have a real ripe smell going on in their soon.
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Raw Dawgin' it
Anyone do Zercher squats? Read a cool article on t-nation.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/complete-guide-to-zerchers -
BR1986FB
I've tried them. They're a bitch. Not a fan.Raw Dawgin' it;1725082 wrote:Anyone do Zercher squats? Read a cool article on t-nation.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/complete-guide-to-zerchers -
BR1986FB
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jmogGot up 350 lb on bench for the first time since HS last night. A year ago I couldn't get up 225 (hadn't lifted in over a decade and was still recovering from injuries in both shoulders).
For reference I weigh about 185. -
BR1986FBNice
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jmogMost I ever got up in HS was either 365 or 370 (don't remember for sure), so getting closer. I was about the same weight back then too, just more muscle and less fat (you know, a body of an 18 year old athlete).
My shoulders are starting to feel strong for the first time in years (partially torn rotator cuff in right back 10 years ago, broken ball joint in other 3 years ago). Over the last year I have really concentrated on the muscles around the shoulder (from upper chest, shoulder, delts, lats, and traps). Mostly so I could throw a baseball again without feeling like my arm was going to fall off.
It has helped my bench as a side benefit as well. -
BR1986FB
[HR][/HR][h=1]LIFT-RUN-BANG.com[/h] Simple isn't sexy, but it works
Posted: 29 Apr 2015 11:33 AM PDT
I can't tell you how many times over the last two decades of training that I've heard the same story from advanced guys about a common mistake they often made in their training or dieting, that kept them spinning their wheels.
"Everytime I deviated from simplicity I made less and less progress."
And yet I can't tell you how many times I've read in regards to what I write about, or espouse, that I'm not offering anything "new" or groundbreaking.
Well no shit, Sherlock.
I'm not sure why people believe that complicated means better. But that often appears to be the case in regards to training, dieting, supplementation, etc. The more moving parts a training or diet program has in it, and the harder it is to explain, the more worth it seems to have. At least, on the surface or in some internet debate.
I think it's because people really love to debate and talk about training and dieting that makes those kinds of programs so popular. These days, it seems, lots of people would rather talk and debate about training and dieting methodologies rather than DO THEM. I literally had a discussion the other day where, of course, studies had to be thrown in to determine whether or not something was valid or not. When in this particular case, all that people had to do was actually TRY what was being debated. That's where we are at now, and have been for a while in regards to what is trending. Nothing is actually tried. It's just all debated on whether it will or won't work.
I watched a foremost expert in the field of strength training with more than 30 years of training some of the best athletes in the world defend his stance that doing antagonist muscle stretching before working the agonist muscle gave an increase in strength. In this instance, it had already been shown in a study but the fact was, instead of just trying it, people wanted to debate it.
People would rather debate about training and dieting modalities rather than do them. And of course, the more simple a training plan or diet is, the less merit it appears to have. Yet most of the guys I see debating about this all the time, don't even look like they lift. There seems to have been some kind of influx of nerds into lifting now that care more about debating than doing. Then of course, they get their panties in a knot when you tell them that your ideas work and you have a mountain of anecdotal evidence behind them to show they work, but some study says otherwise.
At some point, we have to get back to actual results. Because after all, isn't that all that really matters? As one of my friends, who also has a PhD in this field told me, "at some point you have to get back to results. Fuck your arguments. Produce or shut the fuck up."
I recently did a series of seminars in Australia with two of the very best in their respective fields. I can't say who, as then that qualifies me as a "name dropper". I never realized talking about the people I work with and talk with on a daily and weekly basis, guys that are also close friends, meant I was name dropping but apparently it does. So I will say it was Bert and Ernie.
Anyway, if there was a common theme shared between the three of us it was this -
1. Keep things as simple as possible
2. The answers usually lie somewhere in moderation, not extremes.
3. Don't deviate from what is working.
4. Make choices based on what can be done long term, i.e. longevity.
When Bert was going over his dieting strategy, I was shocked. Shocked because it was so simple. It was exactly what I used to adhere to, and I what I eventually came back to when the diet information overload got to me.
For years and years, I thought dieting was a really simple idea. You figured out your total calories needed to gain, maintain, or lose weight, factored in protein and fat requirements, filled in carbs with the rest and had your "diet". This is exactly what Dorian Yates did during the years he was winning the Mr. Olympia.
He simply reduced calories over time from 6,000 a day to 3,500 a day, and got shredded to the bone. Of course he did cardio and trained, etc. However his dieting strategy was that simple. But people will tell you now that it isn't that simple, and that while that worked for him, it won't work for everyone.
But because there is a new diet every few weeks in the industry filled with "science" as to why it works and is far more efficient in it's approach than the simplicity of "counting calories." After all, you don't need a degree in nutritional science to use an online calculator to figure this out. So something that simple surely cannot work. That would mean people could sit down and iron out a diet all by themselves, thus making diet coaches obsolete. Even worse now, is the diet coaches who use such simple and doable methods often get questioned because it doesn't seem complex enough. There has to be some crazy method involved that other people couldn't possibly fathom on their own in order to get leaner, or grow.
When Ernie and I were going over both offseason and contest peaking cycles, everyone was amazed at how simple it was to plan these out, so long as you adhered to some simple rules about planning...
1. Leave your ego at the door - Don't plan your cycle around unrealistic goals
2. Don't miss or grind any reps in training
Simple. And it works.
And simplicity is what has really become a lost art in training and diet. It's not sex or fancy and people constantly bitch that "this guy isn't writing anything new, and has nothing original to say."
I could make up some crazy ass training scheme or diet scheme, and use all sorts of fancy studies and manipulate them and I guess it could be a big craze but in the end, like a lot of fads that come and go, it would be seen as such and take away from what really works, and what people should be doing.
I think it's hard for people to accept that, to get shredded you're probably going to have to eat chicken and broccoli, and that to get stronger it's just going to take a long time more than likely, and you're just going to have to do the basics over and over and over again, but that is actually what works. I could sit here and write out all the complex and trendy diets and training methodologies that have popped up over the years, and show that they didn't last or have any sustainability but that would be a waste of my time. I've literally had to have arguments with people that doing more reps had far bigger benefits for hypertrophy than staying in low rep ranges. Nevermind that it's been proven for decades and decades, and that there are lots of studies that show it's far more efficient.
"No, you can gain the same degree of hypertrophy doing low reps as well."
You may can, but it's terribly inefficient at best, and pretty dumb at worst.
And for all the talk about people understanding what works and doesn't, I often see these very complex and dynamic systems pop up, and people get crazy about them, then they fall off after a while and everyone gets that they don't have merit.
Then they fall for it all over again in a few months when a new fad pops up. My guess is, these are the same people that spend money on trendy clothing and haircuts, get armband tattoos, and grow a beard because they think beard culture is awesome (yes I have a beard because I hate shaving more than having a beard).
I remember a conversation a few years ago where a guy told me that the naturally gifted guys could get away with just doing the basics because it was all they needed. That the people who weren't gifted would need to train in a more complex way to get to that level.
This made no sense to me at all. So then why didn't the naturally gifted guys also train in such a manner? Wouldn't this have made them even more elite? Like, elite elite? Does that make any sense?
I think some of this falls back on special snowflake syndrome. That being, if a guy isn't elite or competing at a high level or getting massive gainz from his program, then it must be because the program is flawed. It can't be because genetically he might be more inferior than someone else. His mom told him he was special, so it has to be true.
And yet, as I opened the article with, even the very special snowflakes, the genetically elite often found where they went wrong was when they deviated from staying basic and made things far more complicated than they had to be. So if the elite didn't benefit from getting fancy, you probably won't either.
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jmogI'm no expert, but I have had to explain this for the last year as I have lost 30 lbs and gained a lot of muscle. People ask me all the time
"are you doing cross fit?"
"no"
"are you on the 'xyz crazy' diet?"
"no"
"well what are you doing?"
"I lift 3 or 4 days a week, hitting every muscle group, simple regular exercises like bench, squat, dips, pull ups, etc 3 sets of 6-8 each (whatever weight I can do 6-8). I do cardio 3 days a week (no jogging, walking up hill or sprinting). I count my calories (no specific diet, just keep track). And I try to eat more protein than carbs (doesn't always work). My work outs last about 45 minutes a day during my lunch hour at work. Never more than an hour".
The response I get "come on, it can't be that simple?!"
It really is that simple, keep track of your calories, based on what your goal is (lose, maintain, gain), and simple workouts. -
thavoice
Pretty much the same thing for me.jmog;1725422 wrote:I'm no expert, but I have had to explain this for the last year as I have lost 30 lbs and gained a lot of muscle. People ask me all the time
"are you doing cross fit?"
"no"
"are you on the 'xyz crazy' diet?"
"no"
"well what are you doing?"
"I lift 3 or 4 days a week, hitting every muscle group, simple regular exercises like bench, squat, dips, pull ups, etc 3 sets of 6-8 each (whatever weight I can do 6-8). I do cardio 3 days a week (no jogging, walking up hill or sprinting). I count my calories (no specific diet, just keep track). And I try to eat more protein than carbs (doesn't always work). My work outs last about 45 minutes a day during my lunch hour at work. Never more than an hour".
The response I get "come on, it can't be that simple?!"
It really is that simple, keep track of your calories, based on what your goal is (lose, maintain, gain), and simple workouts.
Idiot brother in law saw me on easter for first time since Christmas. Every get together he talks about how fat he is, how is trying _________ plan starting on monday.
He saw me and asked about those same questions.
My answer was simple........move more, eat less. -
BR1986FBthavoice;1725435 wrote:Pretty much the same thing for me.
Idiot brother in law saw me on easter for first time since Christmas. Every get together he talks about how fat he is, how is trying _________ plan starting on monday.
He saw me and asked about those same questions.
My answer was simple........move more, eat less.
It's really not that difficult. People think they need this elaborate "plan" to cut weight. I lift heavy, walk/sprint/push/carry heavy things and eat natural, whole foods timing my carbs during the peri-workout window on training days. It's not rocket science. -
Automatik
I tell them it's Advocare!!!!!jmog;1725422 wrote:I'm no expert, but I have had to explain this for the last year as I have lost 30 lbs and gained a lot of muscle. People ask me all the time
"are you doing cross fit?"
"no"
"are you on the 'xyz crazy' diet?"
"no"
"well what are you doing?"
"I lift 3 or 4 days a week, hitting every muscle group, simple regular exercises like bench, squat, dips, pull ups, etc 3 sets of 6-8 each (whatever weight I can do 6-8). I do cardio 3 days a week (no jogging, walking up hill or sprinting). I count my calories (no specific diet, just keep track). And I try to eat more protein than carbs (doesn't always work). My work outs last about 45 minutes a day during my lunch hour at work. Never more than an hour".
The response I get "come on, it can't be that simple?!"
It really is that simple, keep track of your calories, based on what your goal is (lose, maintain, gain), and simple workouts. -
Heretic
BR1986FB;1725440 wrote:It's really not that difficult. People think they need this elaborate "plan" to cut weight. I lift heavy, walk/sprint/push/carry heavy things and eat natural, whole foods timing my carbs during the peri-workout window on training days. It's not rocket science.
Yeah, the plan I started is only complex in the way that each exercise works for multiple muscles and a few of them aren't necessarily intuitive movements (best comparison would be one time someone tried to teach me golf posture for hitting drives and it felt like my body was being contorted into a posture that I wasn't anywhere close to being used to).
But doing 3-4 exercises over 20+ minutes three days a week and 20+ hard minutes on a stationary bike the other two, HIIT-style is pretty damn simple. And time-efficient. I like that the most. I feel more ragged after 15-20 than I have after entire, much-more-lengthy workouts.
After that, you just eat what you feel is necessary to lose, maintain or gain weight -- depending on your goal. I'd gotten down to about 166 with my previous self-made workout before it stagnated, I didn't react to that quickly (or at all, really), and I wound up gaining up to 177-179 and a lot of my pants weren't fitting so good any more.
Tuesday of this week after cardio -- 177.4; today -- 174.4. Hmm...apparently working out more intensely and eating less at the same time has an effect on things. FUCKING HARVARD-LEVEL SHIT RIGHT THERE PEOPLE!!!! -
BR1986FB
Well all of these so called fitness "experts" have gotten it to the point of ridiculous. Whoever the "genius" was who thought it would be "cutting edge" to have someone squat with a 135 lb barbell on their back while standing on top of an unstable Bosu or yoga ball should have their nuts cut off. Keep it simple, stupid!Heretic;1725479 wrote:Yeah, the plan I started is only complex in the way that each exercise works for multiple muscles and a few of them aren't necessarily intuitive movements (best comparison would be one time someone tried to teach me golf posture for hitting drives and it felt like my body was being contorted into a posture that I wasn't anywhere close to being used to).
But doing 3-4 exercises over 20+ minutes three days a week and 20+ hard minutes on a stationary bike the other two, HIIT-style is pretty damn simple. And time-efficient. I like that the most. I feel more ragged after 15-20 than I have after entire, much-more-lengthy workouts.
After that, you just eat what you feel is necessary to lose, maintain or gain weight -- depending on your goal. I'd gotten down to about 166 with my previous self-made workout before it stagnated, I didn't react to that quickly (or at all, really), and I wound up gaining up to 177-179 and a lot of my pants weren't fitting so good any more.
Tuesday of this week after cardio -- 177.4; today -- 174.4. Hmm...apparently working out more intensely and eating less at the same time has an effect on things. FUCKING HARVARD-LEVEL SHIT RIGHT THERE PEOPLE!!!! -
jmogThe only thing I have found that isn't necessarily "keep it simple" work out more/eat less is the ratio of carbs to protein in the diet and/or timing of each.
I had stagnated on actual weight for awhile (I am sure that I was losing fat/gaining muscle) and changing nothing other than the protein to carb ratio (more protein) and timed it more for carbs before workout and protein after. I dropped 6 lbs in less than 2 weeks and have stayed there for quite awhile. I changed nothing else, kept the same workout, kept the same total calories, everything. -
Heretic
Is that something that's actually for real? What. The. Fuck.BR1986FB;1725492 wrote:Well all of these so called fitness "experts" have gotten it to the point of ridiculous. Whoever the "genius" was who thought it would be "cutting edge" to have someone squat with a 135 lb barbell on their back while standing on top of an unstable Bosu or yoga ball should have their nuts cut off. Keep it simple, stupid! -
Automatik
I saw a guy lat week standing on one of those half ball balance things....not sure on the name of it.
Anyway, he was holding one dumbbell over his head doing a tricep press motion, while curling with the other. Think rubbing belly, while tapping your head at the same time. Fucking ridiculous. :laugh: -
BR1986FB
This one guy, Charles Poliquin, who really knows his shit, will post videos on his Facebook wall of some of these dipshits doing stupid exercises. I lmao. And yes, I've seen people squat on yoga balls. It's a torn knee waiting to happen and there are actually trainers there, spotting them, advocating these exercise.Heretic;1725512 wrote:Is that something that's actually for real? What. The. Fuck. -
jmog
Look up crossfit fails on youtube, you will definitely see a few that show this exact thing...it doesn't end well for quite a few people apparently.Heretic;1725512 wrote:Is that something that's actually for real? What. The. Fuck. -
BR1986FB
The best video Poliquin has posted was some dumbass on a cable crossover machine with the D handles in each hand. He loaded the machine with weight and just fell back, lying on his back, only for the force of the weight to pull him back up. He kept doing this over & over.Automatik;1725518 wrote:I saw a guy lat week standing on one of those half ball balance things....not sure on the name of it.
Anyway, he was holding one dumbbell over his head doing a tricep press motion, while curling with the other. Think rubbing belly, while tapping your head at the same time. Fucking ridiculous. :laugh:
If you're on Facebook, look up "Strength Sensei." -
Raw Dawgin' it
gym fail videos are the best. you see people do some weird shit with the lat pull downs and rope attachment for the tricep pull down machines.BR1986FB;1725522 wrote:The best video Poliquin has posted was some dumbass on a cable crossover machine with the D handles in each hand. He loaded the machine with weight and just fell back, lying on his back, only for the force of the weight to pull him back up. He kept doing this over & over.
If you're on Facebook, look up "Strength Sensei." -
BR1986FB
There was one where I saw the dude take a loaded curl bar off the preacher bench and instead of doing curls he kept thrusting the weight away from himself as violently as possible like he was doing some kind of psycho standing triceps extension.Raw Dawgin' it;1725567 wrote:gym fail videos are the best. you see people do some weird shit with the lat pull downs and rope attachment for the tricep pull down machines. -
BR1986FB10 underrated strength building tips....
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-10-most-underrated-strength-building-tips.html -
Azubuike24
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Automatik
OUCH