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The title of this blog might be misleading. If you came here looking for a detailed analysis of the proper motion and benefits pertaining to the front squat then this isn't it. Tnation and bodybuilding.com are probably your best bets.
Those are the two major sites that I have been reading in the last few months. I got turned off from more interactive sites such as /r/fitit, and even the fitness forum here on TL. I don't know if I am not good at asking questions, but those places feel like they aren't receptive to my type.
What is my type?
Well I guess you can say that no, I don't lift. Or rather I haven't seriously considered body building or lifting as a priority. Ever. That's not to say I am not healthy, or in shape. I just never thought of myself as a lunk head.
I played a lot of ice hockey and soccer in high school. As such, those teams in my school didn't have any activity in the weight room, unlike the football and even baseball team. Soccer was a ton of running, and hockey was all about the ice time.
If you have read my previous blogs, you might have gotten wind that I have changed from being out of shape and depressed, to being in shape and happy. But I got there through diet and at home exercise programs.
I have successfully completed both p90x and insanity on multiple occasions. And over the last 5 years I have been anywhere from 175lbs at my fittest, and all the way up to 220 at my most out of shape.
During my most recent attempt at p90x I tried to recruit a support team here on TL. I posted a new years blog and asked who would join me in the 90 days.
There was one response in particular that really stuck out.
On December 21 2012 03:43 Flying Potato wrote:
What are you going to do after P90X?
The brevity of this post made me angry. But the point was well taken. Maybe the reason I have fluctuated so drastically and so frequently in weight over the last 5 years was that these programs end and then.. then what? What am I going to do next?
Well I can tell you what I did after each round, successful or not, of p90x or beach body this or that. I enjoyed my cut body for about 1 - 2 months and then started gaining weight.
I can tell you honestly that I did not do more than 40 days of the round of p90x that I started in January.
I started researching other things. I had recently moved into a new house. I found a gym nearby, and decided to take a tour.
This place was unlike anything I have seen before.
I can tell you, that I have been a member of planet fitness before. I was master of the elliptical machine. That was all I ever used. So the statements "I was a member of planet fitness" and "I have leased an elliptical machine for $10 a month" are equivalent.
This new gym I discovered has, a tennis courts, pool, dumbbells, every type of barbell you can imagine, 5 or 6 power racks, 3 or 4 different sections of cardio equipment, a half basketball court, free classes, and a large cross training area with big tires, sleds, kettle bells, rings... the list goes on and on.
I signed up on the spot. It is expensive, but the place is never crowded, and I have never had to wait to use something.
Now the problem was. What should I do?
I found one program on tnation and I tried it for 2 weeks, but it didn't feel right. I would go in to the gym 3 times a week, I would do the lifts that the program suggested and I would be done in less than 20 minutes later.
In addition to the time it took to complete other things about the program bugged me. Although I knew what lifts to do, and exactly how many reps/sets I didn't know what to actually lift in terms of weight. And nothing ever changed. Go to gym. Do 3 sets of 10 bench. Then 3 sets of 8 of flys. Etc. Is this what lifting was? I was bored already.
In my frustration I found the program I am currently on which I love so far. GST, if you haven't heard of it stands for growth stimulus training. I found this program in the workout section of bb.com
What I like about this program is that it solves the two major problems that I had with the other random go to gym do 3 sets of 10 reps of bench presses routine.
The first week is completely dedicated to figuring out what weights to use. There is a process and structure to figuring it all out. Start with a warm up with just the bar, add 50% of what you think you can do. Then gradually increase weight by 10% untill you can only do 4-6. Then there is a formula for calculating your 1 rep max.
Your next 4 weeks heavily rely on your 1 weight max. But everything is calculated. You know how many reps and at what percentage each lift is going to be. You know what lifts to do on what days. Everything is compound movements. There are main lifts and supplemental. rep schemes for supplemental rotate.
Each workout is different, with a different rep scheme, different supplemental lifts, different calculations. By the end of the 4 weeks, everything is reevaluated and you recalculate your 1rm and have a goal of setting new personal records.
Structure and muscle confusion, have a stumbled upon the p90x of lifting?
I have done lifts I didn't know existed. And that in and of itself builds confidence. Using a trap bar for deadlifts was exciting and a learning experience of how not to load weight. Last Saturday I did front squats for the first time. I spent 10 minutes in front of the bar trying to figure out how to hold the damn thing.
It’s a good feeling to figure this stuff out because the next time you go, its familiar and you know what you are doing.
It’s been quite a learning experience for me. And has opened a door into a new hobby. I hope the structure of the program and my current enthusiasm are enough to keep me going to the gym.
 
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nice that you found yourself a good program to stick to. but why would you say that the TLHF forum is not for "your type"? the general training recommendations sticky basically outlines a program for you that has what any good program should have - training parameters for determining how much weight you should be lifting, how to progress, and what lifts to do on what days - the same things that you emphasized in your post.
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On April 02 2013 01:57 ieatkids5 wrote:
nice that you found yourself a good program to stick to. but why would you say that the TLHF forum is not for "your type"? the general training recommendations sticky basically outlines a program for you that has what any good program should have - training parameters for determining how much weight you should be lifting, how to progress, and what lifts to do on what days - the same things that you emphasized in your post.
I guess it is more of a personal feeling I have while browsing or posting. I just feel like I don't belong. This may sound ignorant, but it seems like posting a question is frowned upon, and everything is answered in the stickies. In fact you just pointed me to the stickies. It just doesn't seem friendly or inviting to me.
I mean, reddit and TL are supposed to be communities that support one another. Not the type of environment where that scorns you for not reading all the scientific articles. Perhaps my experiences are not the norm in these places.
But when I found GST, I had a question and I posted it. Ryan the creator of the program, took time to give me a genuine personal answer, even though he has answered 1000 variations of the same question I asked. He didn't just write, "look at the OP".
I took that experience and actually felt welcome.
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posting questions isn't frowned upon. just look at the "questions and answers" thread. lots of good questions, lots of good answers. but yes, if you came in and asked "im looking for a good beginner strength training program, what should i do?" you will get directed to the stickies. i mean, why not? the info is there. it's great that GST's creator has enough time and dedication to answer you personally, but i think you're taking something here for granted. shouldn't you be at least a little grateful that someone took the time to write up an entire guideline for training so that anyone who reads iit can access it? it's like you expect someone to dedicate their time and effort just to please you, and anything short of that is "uninviting."
He didn't just write, "look at the OP".
i mean, this just makes you sound unappreciative. someone wrote that OP for the benefit of everyone else. but if you really need and expect someone to dress up a response and spoonfeed it to you to get you motivated, then you probably wont fit into TLHF anyways.
TL scorns people who makes claims without solid evidence. why is that something you don't want? dubious claims arent acceptable in TLHF because they shouldnt be. no one goes around saying "you dont know shit unless you read these peer-reviewed studies." we discuss things normally. but if you're gonna go out and make some claim that isn't common knowledge, then yeah, you need something to support it. most of us don't even do that - we talk about our experiences, and what worked for each individual, without claiming that it's the ultimate truth.
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weightlifting is better long term but whatever
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Your problem that you get in shape then let it go is due to your reliance on these fixed routines. P90x, only 90 days and then what? You either do it again or find something else, or in your case lose interest.
You're over complicating lifting. If you find it boring, then maybe it isn't for you.
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haha t-nation is funny for the flame wars on the forums and the sell out nature of every article posted there, but once in a blue moon i guess it gets something right
ive never viewed bodybuilding as an activity in which you "lift", i've usually reserved that phrase for actual weightlifting but thats just semantics i suppose. Bodybuilding isnt about strength, its about looks (i find it silly but I admire the dedication). weightlifting and powerlifting is strength!
honestly since you're new to weight training in general (p90x and that jazz is cute but come on) any decent program (and there are dozens of good ones) will get you significant results. in terms of keeping you interested, you don't necessarily need a program that calculates projected 1RM and has built-in tapers and deloads and 80% of 3RM for pause squats for a set of 5 and jazz like that. Just keeping a notebook with the power lifts and oly lifts (if you do them) with a reasonable spread of variations (so for squat, record your 1RM, 3RM, 5RM, etc), for clean and jerk have your PR, your PR double, your hang clean PR, etc etc whatever. Just knowing you increased on a particular variation can be sufficient motivation
and I personally think people are more motivated to go to the gym when they do primary heavy compound movements, it's easy to get bored when you go curl every other day but its harder to get bored when you load 300 pounds on your back and squat down to the floor six times a week
On April 02 2013 02:34 urSa wrote:
weightlifting is better long term but whatever
also safer, more functional strength, far better posture etc. also looks FAR more badass.
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I love front squats! Let me know if you need any help. Going for 200kg in the next couple months :D
As for the rest of your article. I both disagree and know where you're coming from. I know at times the threads can seem like a bunch of cookie cutter meat heads arguing or something but thats not what TLHF is all about at all. I've found it to be one of the most supportive and informative places i've ever been and has VASTLY changed my life (i would have lol'd if you told me 3 years ago I would be going to weightlifting nationals because some kids that play starcraft said i should try out olympic weightlifting) yet here I am.
A lot of questions do get answered with 'read the stickies'. Why? Because a TON of time and information was put into those stickies to help out people. Read them first and post something more specific questions that can't be answered by a few minutes of research. The same few questions about diet/exercise get posted VERY often and after a couple years it gets to be tiresome answering them over when the answers are conveniently located somewhere already.
There's a place for everyone there. Anyone who runs, bikes, power lifts, bodybuilds, olympic lifts, plays sports, and more are all welcome...the biggest thing is to forget everything you thought you knew and a desire to improve yourself.
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On April 02 2013 02:14 Smancer wrote:Show nested quote +On April 02 2013 01:57 ieatkids5 wrote:
nice that you found yourself a good program to stick to. but why would you say that the TLHF forum is not for "your type"? the general training recommendations sticky basically outlines a program for you that has what any good program should have - training parameters for determining how much weight you should be lifting, how to progress, and what lifts to do on what days - the same things that you emphasized in your post. I guess it is more of a personal feeling I have while browsing or posting. I just feel like I don't belong. This may sound ignorant, but it seems like posting a question is frowned upon, and everything is answered in the stickies. In fact you just pointed me to the stickies. It just doesn't seem friendly or inviting to me. I mean, reddit and TL are supposed to be communities that support one another. Not the type of environment where that scorns you for not reading all the scientific articles. Perhaps my experiences are not the norm in these places. But when I found GST, I had a question and I posted it. Ryan the creator of the program, took time to give me a genuine personal answer, even though he has answered 1000 variations of the same question I asked. He didn't just write, "look at the OP". I took that experience and actually felt welcome.
I'm not sure how some of the other threads are, but I know the running thread operates this way. I've probably answered at least 20+ times now the general question of "new to running, want to run a marathon in 4 months. Help!". The answers are somewhat repetetive overall, but each case is a little different and my recommendations are subtly different.
I think that's also why I was drawn to running, each day is different training and there is no "end". It's not a 90 day, 90 week, or 90 month, program. You can always get better.
I do think that is helpful, to have something you are always reaching for, not just 90 days of program X, or reach X pounds. Afterall, as you said, what incentetive is there for you to continue? Setting some sort of performance goal can be a good way to start, knowing that when you reach that you will set another, more difficult goal. I will say it gets pretty fun when you look back and remember how insane that goal you set 2 years ago looked, and now it isn't even challenging anymore.
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I think I need to change the way I have been viewing TLHF and give it another shot. Perhaps I am the problem.
Edit:
Also just to be clear, the whole point of the OP was not to bitch about this site or that site. Is was more about my journey from doing things like p90x to actually lifting weights.
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EPT
