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On June 07 2013 01:00 micronesia wrote:
I think what I need is a personal advocate to go through all of the advice in this thread and put it into a training program for me. Trying to make sense of this all is a bit overwhelming. Do this. Wait don't do this. Also do this. Wait don't do this if you are doing that.
More and more I feel like getting into fitness without a personal trainer is a huge mistake unless you are willing to pour your heart and soul into researching every aspect of it, and that's absolutely horrible from a perspective of trying to get people to be more fit.
No offense but this thread makes me want to say 'fuck it', order 2 pizzas, and watch movies all day.
I just want a simple plan that will be effective, doesn't cost more money, and matches me. My mind can't keep up with everything you are all telling me.
I do appreciate the responses though (considering I did ask for them), but this really turns me off to fitness ironically.
I've almost completely taught myself how to become a national level weightlifter using mostly youtube and reading articles. Personal trainers are usually a waste of money, a good training partner is always nice to have though.
If you want something simple and easy that will help you achieve your goals just buy (or torrent) p90x and follow it, it lays out everything for you and should help you achieve your goals.
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United States24723 Posts
On June 07 2013 01:09 decafchicken wrote:Show nested quote +On June 07 2013 01:00 micronesia wrote:
I think what I need is a personal advocate to go through all of the advice in this thread and put it into a training program for me. Trying to make sense of this all is a bit overwhelming. Do this. Wait don't do this. Also do this. Wait don't do this if you are doing that.
More and more I feel like getting into fitness without a personal trainer is a huge mistake unless you are willing to pour your heart and soul into researching every aspect of it, and that's absolutely horrible from a perspective of trying to get people to be more fit.
No offense but this thread makes me want to say 'fuck it', order 2 pizzas, and watch movies all day.
I just want a simple plan that will be effective, doesn't cost more money, and matches me. My mind can't keep up with everything you are all telling me.
I do appreciate the responses though (considering I did ask for them), but this really turns me off to fitness ironically. I've almost completely taught myself how to become a national level weightlifter using mostly youtube and reading articles. Personal trainers are usually a waste of money, a good training partner is always nice to have though. If you want something simple and easy that will help you achieve your goals just buy (or torrent) p90x and follow it, it lays out everything for you and should help you achieve your goals.
Okay I'll check it out. By the way, how many hours of effort, other than physical exertion, did you spend self-teaching? Think about how daunting that is for someone else to approach!
edit: I took a look at it; putting the price and whatnot aside, it says you will need, at a minimum:
* a set of dumbbells or lightweight resistance bands (which I do not have although I have access at a gym)
* a chin-up bar that fits in any doorway (I have nowhere to put this... not sure if there is one at that gym
* About 6 by 6 feet (believe it or not, I don't have this at home)
How viable is it to do all of the working out at the gym? So I would watch/study the videos, then try to emulate them from memory at the gym? Is that viable?
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Yeah you should be able to do them at a gym, most gyms have side rooms specifically for doing things like this, if not just a spot in the stretching area or w/e should work. Just bring your laptop and put it on by you.
Failing that, you could just jot down the program (usually its something like 1 min jumping jacks 1 minute push ups 1 minute pull ups etc)
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So the plan for this summer is to bulk, although I will be working 40 hours/week. I've gotten to reasonable deadlift/squat levels. Back pain is entirely gone. I'm much more flexible than i have been in 4-5 years, I'm feeling great thanks to tlhf.
At 135 pounds/60kg 5'5" how many calories is reasonable, apart from AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. I might cheate a little bit but being off of school meal plan is just about the best thing that's happened to me this year.
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On June 07 2013 01:07 decafchicken wrote:Is flat-out incorrect. All the pressure from your posterior chain is on the front of your knee UNTIL you go below 90 degrees at which point the stress is relieved. Also your toes going past your knees is completely fine and it's important to work on your knee and ankle flexibility to achieve this. For example: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/MYa0HFO.jpg)
Actually it is not flat-out incorrect
+ Show Spoiler +http://www.mlmixrun.com.br/artigos/Knee_biomechanics_of_the_dynamic.pdf
While the pressure is relieved from the front of the knee, it is transferred elsewhere. There are other injury-prone structures of the knee and the deep squat, as mentioned in this paper, is OK for healthy athletes but not recommended because it increases the risk to the menisci & cruciate/collateral ligaments. This particular paper recommends not exceeding 100 degrees flexxion. I would agree that working on ankle flexibility is important, but doing so in squats puts the knee at extreme angles.
Deep squats are alright if you are a competitive weight lifter because there is risk-benefit. But the increase in injury risk is intolerable for beginners or people who wish to gain strength for other activities. One can post videos of Haile Gebrselassie knocking out 4:10 mile repeats but it doesn't mean it is OK for a novice or cyclist to think about even trying it.
On June 07 2013 01:07 decafchicken wrote:
Also, I dont know where your disdain for barbells came from but they are absolutely phenomenal for building a muscle and core strength that will benefit anyone. I would normally agree that benching is fairly useless but it will provide muscle and strength that will make the push up part of his test easier. Dumbells are also good and do help build stabilizers but i would not say they blow barbells out of the water.
I may have come off a little harsh against barbells. I just see dumbbells as a much more functional strategy. Barbells can offer greater increases in strength with major movements but from a functional standpoint I don't see any advantage if you are not keeping your stabilizers on par--this is preference though. You are right that I should have said something more like "benching is less useful than people lead you to believe" rather than "useless." But I still prefer to use dumbbells over barbells even when benching =P
On June 07 2013 01:00 micronesia wrote:No offense but this thread makes me want to say 'fuck it', order 2 pizzas, and watch movies all day.
Awe don't take the easy way out =(
Because if you find a type of exercise you are awesome at, you can order 2 pizzas and watch a movie just because you need it to recover!
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Over the past year and a half TL&HF has given me a passion to research fitness stuff. I follow all the threads here and love it. That being said, I understand the "do this, don't do that" and getting overwhelmed. It still happens to me. Honestly, Starting Strength is just a beautiful thing. When I stuck to that program for three months, magic happened and I was loving my life. I injured myself not properly addressing a muscle imbalance from a knee injury playing sports years back. However, there was nothing I could find simpler and more motivating than the SS program. It was straight forward and I got results. Trying to program rehab and accessories is hard (bodyweight isometric hold sets too), it was better when I was a beginner and everything was simple :D Kind of a rant but there is something beautiful about SS simplicity. It's not the best thing for every thing by any means. There's plenty of fair critiques of it. But you know exactly what you are going to do every time without much calculation or thought every workout. And when you PR a big squat that you thought was way beyond your ability in 3 months, you honestly just feel like a man. It's a great thing. End random monologue in the Q&A thread.
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I have 3 problems:
1 is that there is a stinging feeling at times under my left shoulder blade (when I play piano this is prevalent). Got this feeling recently. Not sure if it says anything.
2 is that I'm not sure if I can actually do a set of deadlifts cause my back posture is fucking horrible.
3 is that my wrists hurt when I do squats (low bar) even when im doing the thumb grip so I'm not sure if this is cause my wrist is really inflexible or if the weight is on my wrist. to give you an idea how flexible they are, I can only bring them back about 40 degrees without using my other hand to force them back. (Also would like to know if I can do anything about this)
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you can start off with rack pulls you dont have the flexibility and/or strength to do a good deadlift from the floor at the lowest weight. just get blocks or weights to bring the bar up to a point where you can maintain the proper curvature of your back. also remember to start off with lighter weight. do this while working on your hip, hamstring, and ankle flexibility. eventually you should be able to lower the starting height of the rack pull until it's just a deadlift. or just keep doing rack pulls cuz people with long legs and short arms do have a more difficult time with deadlifts.
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On June 07 2013 12:19 Kenpachi wrote:
I have 3 problems:
Others have 99, you're pretty lucky dude!
1 is that there is a stinging feeling at times under my left shoulder blade (when I play piano this is prevalent). Got this feeling recently. Not sure if it says anything.
Don't know, if it doesn't appear during workouts it can either be long-term damage by bad form or a simple posture problem while playing the piano OR something completely unrelated. If it doesn't get better, see a doctor.
2 is that I'm not sure if I can actually do a set of deadlifts cause my back posture is fucking horrible.
Work on it?! Do you have like a medical condition or something? Otherwise. . . . WORK ON IT!
(I always do 2 sets with only the barbell for any exercise to warm up and I really focus on form/posture at the beginning, then more warmups with higher weight, then working sets. That way you can really focus on the correct movement patterns and identify/work on problems, thus sooner or later get to good form with heavy weights.
Or you should just use less weight, cut down 20% and go from there to see if that fixes it.
Or both.
3 is that my wrists hurt when I do squats (low bar) even when im doing the thumb grip so I'm not sure if this is cause my wrist is really inflexible or if the weight is on my wrist. to give you an idea how flexible they are, I can only bring them back about 40 degrees without using my other hand to force them back. (Also would like to know if I can do anything about this)
Have you tried stretching your wrist to work against this?
I never had this problem so I cannot really comment on it specifically but usually stretching helps with flexibility. 
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So... I just wanted to assure you that I am serious about this and also tried researching myself but maybe someone has experience with this problem:
On June 06 2013 00:25 rEalGuapo wrote:
So... I just got into powerlifting and changed my workout 100% based on "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe and other sources.
An essential part of powerlifting is the Deadlift.
How do I stop my stuff from resting on the bar during lockout?
I changed from wearing Boxers to some tighter underwear during workouts but it changed nothing.
Sadly my Body is built in a way so that when I lock out during a Deadlift the bar is pretty much on level with my manly parts and they tend to take a rest on the Barbell and see what's up.
I don't want to change the moving pattern in any way since that would compromise safety or progress and there has to be another way.
I also don't want to tape my stuff back to my ass every time I wanna Deadlift. . . .
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lol just get some compressions shorts bro
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Went on a burrito binge for 3 weeks and haven't gone to the gym in 2 months. Shame on me.
I'm thinking about changing the amount of reps I do this time around on my bench. A co-worker of mine works out as well and he was one of those star-athletes back in High School, well for college too. We were talking about our routines, he told me about doing sets of 10 and how it was the way to go to really build that muscle strength.
His routine sounded something like this...
warm up with 45s on the bar 10 reps,
+10 lbs more, 10 reps
Continue doing this for another 2-3 sets and he finishes it off with 5 reps of 190
He's 5'8" and I think around 170 lbs. I dunno about you but that workout routine sounds pretty damn intense, a lot different from my nooby 3x5 starter strength. I was just wondering what you guys think about it and if I should even attempt a softcore version of it.
Man I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for the goddamn beef burritos. It's the devil's food man, too damn good.
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^His approach is more of a bodybuilding style (i.e. hypertrophy) using higher reps and volume.
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On June 07 2013 02:14 Froadac wrote:
So the plan for this summer is to bulk, although I will be working 40 hours/week. I've gotten to reasonable deadlift/squat levels. Back pain is entirely gone. I'm much more flexible than i have been in 4-5 years, I'm feeling great thanks to tlhf.
At 135 pounds/60kg 5'5" how many calories is reasonable, apart from AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. I might cheate a little bit but being off of school meal plan is just about the best thing that's happened to me this year.
I'd do 2400 kcals with a 40/40/20 split and see how it goes from there. Slowbulk>see food diet imo, shoot for +300-500 kcals. over your maintenance (but 2400 should be a decent starting number).
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On June 08 2013 09:43 NeedsmoreCELLTECH wrote:Show nested quote +On June 07 2013 02:14 Froadac wrote:
So the plan for this summer is to bulk, although I will be working 40 hours/week. I've gotten to reasonable deadlift/squat levels. Back pain is entirely gone. I'm much more flexible than i have been in 4-5 years, I'm feeling great thanks to tlhf.
At 135 pounds/60kg 5'5" how many calories is reasonable, apart from AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. I might cheate a little bit but being off of school meal plan is just about the best thing that's happened to me this year. I'd do 2400 kcals with a 40/40/20 split and see how it goes from there. Slowbulk>see food diet imo, shoot for +300-500 kcals. over your maintenance (but 2400 should be a decent starting number).
Yeah, we'll see. Also I'm fairly active right now (biking to class, etc). I'll have a full time desk job which both hurts and help, depending on how you look at it.
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On June 08 2013 08:21 Thor.Rush wrote:
^His approach is more of a bodybuilding style (i.e. hypertrophy) using higher reps and volume.
Hmm yeah that's pretty much what it is. My mind is always looking for a easier way to gain strength but I guess nothing really beats dedication and hard work in lifting.
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On June 09 2013 03:55 Snuggles wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2013 08:21 Thor.Rush wrote:
^His approach is more of a bodybuilding style (i.e. hypertrophy) using higher reps and volume. Hmm yeah that's pretty much what it is. My mind is always looking for a easier way to gain strength but I guess nothing really beats dedication and hard work in lifting.
5x5 Starting Strength is a good program, stick with it.
Every work out routine works, as long as you have exercises like deadlift, squats in them. Just keep at it.
I would argue that diet is much more important than workout, when it comes to building muscle.
Btw. I believe Lyle McDonald has a scientific paper out that says that 6-8reps per set and in total over a week 120reps for big muscle groups (breast,legs,lat) and 60 for smaller ones (shoulders,biceps etc.) are best for building muscle.
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Ok not sure if I should post this in injury or what but I am having serious problems with deadlift, the only thing I Can say for certain is that I am not having a rounded back, if anything the problem with my form is that I am not bending over enough (am only bending over a little bit and keeping my back straight, honestly almost feels like the position is that of a squat, except I am holding the bar in my hands instead of on the back.). I will get some time with personal trainer guy to help me with my form when I get paid (25th) but until then is there anything else I can do to exchange deadlifts for in doing starting strength? I did deadlifts with almost just the bar (32.5 kg) and only did 5 reps and noticed my back started getting uncomfortable so I stopped and now its sore (in what seems to be a non DOMS way, just sore in a don't do that again way.) its more in the upper back (like right under the shoulder blades) than the lower back though.
I had some form of back injury a long time ago from working out, and now it just seems to be extremely sensitive to deadlifting in some form or another, so dont really want to experiment any more with form untill i get a professional to look at it\help me out in person.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
Record the heaviest weight you can do without pain and upload it here
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On June 11 2013 16:31 Earll wrote:
Ok not sure if I should post this in injury or what but I am having serious problems with deadlift, the only thing I Can say for certain is that I am not having a rounded back, if anything the problem with my form is that I am not bending over enough (am only bending over a little bit and keeping my back straight, honestly almost feels like the position is that of a squat, except I am holding the bar in my hands instead of on the back.). I will get some time with personal trainer guy to help me with my form when I get paid (25th) but until then is there anything else I can do to exchange deadlifts for in doing starting strength? I did deadlifts with almost just the bar (32.5 kg) and only did 5 reps and noticed my back started getting uncomfortable so I stopped and now its sore (in what seems to be a non DOMS way, just sore in a don't do that again way.) its more in the upper back (like right under the shoulder blades) than the lower back though.
I had some form of back injury a long time ago from working out, and now it just seems to be extremely sensitive to deadlifting in some form or another, so dont really want to experiment any more with form untill i get a professional to look at it\help me out in person.
So, you hade "some form of back injury" and now deadlifting feels weird. That is all the information I got out of your text.
How could anyone on the planet give you any advice knowing only this?
Also in the squat your legs should be a lot further apart, otherwise the position at the bottom have similarities for sure. You want to have the bar over the middle of your feet and be down low in both the squat and the deadlift, of course they will look similar, the big difference is in the motion.
During the squat your hips drive upwards and your back keeps the pace so you don't get a weird angle.
In the deadlift you use your legs and lower back a lot more, getting a little less out of the hips, meaning you get straighter sooner during the motion.
Anyway, if you can post pictures/videos someone might be able to comment, otherwise maybe you should check with a doctor to find out if you are totally gonna kill yourself doing deadlifts after that injury.
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EPT
