On October 14 2017 00:07 farvacola wrote: Ok so I've had well-equipped gym access for like over a decade now, so this isn't a problem I run into much save for when I travel. And to be frank, if I'm trying to do an intense workout in a limited space and I don't wanna do dumbass cardio, I really like some kind of dancing, as odd as that sounds lol. Even for those without any sense of rhythm, I've seen nothing better at getting the heart up to speed in a small room than energetic movement to music. Getting awkward clients used to doing it was actually one of the best parts of my stint as a personal trainer lol.
That said, I know you probably wanted more of a crossfit type thing, so perhaps someone with knowledge in that area would be of some real assistance
I really wish I knew how to dance. Me trying that right now is a disaster, though it's 100% on my bucket list to learn. Training aside, what's the idea behind "circuits". My understanding is that it's like cycling through a combination of lifts/cardio/calisthenics in fairly rapid order. So it seems like it's designed to be cardio with a little bit of lifting mixed in...but in my experience that's usually inefficient. I can't imagine you're going to do worthwhile work lifting if you're keeping yourself above 60% of VO2, but at the same time you're probably not getting as focused of an aerobic stimulus as you could if you just biked, ran, went swimming, or rowed.
As for the bolded...you definitely haven't been in my basement on my Wahoo kickr. The ultimate torture device
You ever tried Air Runner style treadmills, those are cardio from hell. Way worse than a normal treadmill. I hate fan bikes too, those are the devil especially if you're going for cals.
What makes them worse than regular? If I crank the treadmill up to a high speed it's going to be absolutely brutal.
Never ridden a fan bike, as far as I can tell it's basically a trainer but instead of using magnetic resistance it uses air pressure to control resistance.
As the schwinn Airdyne distributor en Chile (Assault bike is a piece of crap), the fan resistance gets "harder" the faster you go. Imagine as if when you pedal faster, you get more inclination aswell.
Air bikes are best for HIIT in my opinion, as they have a very little technique component, and you can accerelate/break instantly.
Does any trainer really have a technique component? You basically just get on and pedal. :D
That resistance curve actually sounds like what happens outside. Every mph on flat is much harder. It takes very little to go from 10 to 11mph. It takes a major increase to go from 35-46mph. That probably feels nice from a realism standpoint.
From the training side I guess for me it's never really mattered to me what the resistance curve does. On any trainer you can pedal unsustainably hard. If I want to do 6x3 min at 450 watts, or whatever workout I have in mind I can pedal at that power on any trainer, so what the resistance curve is doing doesn't matter...I'm still going to pedal 450w for my intervals.
This is getting more into "serious cycling" territory, but the main things I really like are a trainer that feels decent (some bad ones feel very blocky/jerky like you're pedaling in a square with stops/starts in pedal stroke) and most importantly has an ERG mode. This is basically making your bike like a treadmill. You tell the bike you want to do some wattage, say 300w, and it will force you to do 300. Try to pedal slower to go easier? It clamps down the resistance so you're still doing 300w. This is nice because you can just design your workout beforehand and tell the trainer at what times to change resistance and then just sit back and keep the pedals turning. No need to worry about whether your going hard enough or not.
On October 14 2017 00:07 farvacola wrote: Ok so I've had well-equipped gym access for like over a decade now, so this isn't a problem I run into much save for when I travel. And to be frank, if I'm trying to do an intense workout in a limited space and I don't wanna do dumbass cardio, I really like some kind of dancing, as odd as that sounds lol. Even for those without any sense of rhythm, I've seen nothing better at getting the heart up to speed in a small room than energetic movement to music. Getting awkward clients used to doing it was actually one of the best parts of my stint as a personal trainer lol.
That said, I know you probably wanted more of a crossfit type thing, so perhaps someone with knowledge in that area would be of some real assistance
I really wish I knew how to dance. Me trying that right now is a disaster, though it's 100% on my bucket list to learn. Training aside, what's the idea behind "circuits". My understanding is that it's like cycling through a combination of lifts/cardio/calisthenics in fairly rapid order. So it seems like it's designed to be cardio with a little bit of lifting mixed in...but in my experience that's usually inefficient. I can't imagine you're going to do worthwhile work lifting if you're keeping yourself above 60% of VO2, but at the same time you're probably not getting as focused of an aerobic stimulus as you could if you just biked, ran, went swimming, or rowed.
As for the bolded...you definitely haven't been in my basement on my Wahoo kickr. The ultimate torture device
You ever tried Air Runner style treadmills, those are cardio from hell. Way worse than a normal treadmill. I hate fan bikes too, those are the devil especially if you're going for cals.
What makes them worse than regular? If I crank the treadmill up to a high speed it's going to be absolutely brutal.
Never ridden a fan bike, as far as I can tell it's basically a trainer but instead of using magnetic resistance it uses air pressure to control resistance.
Regular treadmills you're kind of just keeping yourself vertical in accordance with speed, but with these things, you maintain the speed with your own work; you also have to deal with the fact the platform is curved slightly, so where your foot strikes can affect the speed you put into the machine
So you have to manage your own output, how fast you want to maintain your pace, and a few other variables that I find I don't have to think about on a normal treadmill.
Idk, I can do 10k on a treadmill at about a 50min time, but the Air Runner at my gym just slays me. You need to be really aware of how you run.
So I've been running my butt off. I'm just not making the progress I want.
After a few days of rest, I can easily run the 2.95 miles that is my go-to jogging session, takes me about 35 minutes to finish not that I've ever actually timed myself.
I try to stretch a little before but I think I'm crap at it.
After day 3 of running that distance (so I'll do like 2 days in a row, then a day break, then another run), I find that I have difficulty finishing the run. Which is absurd because less than 3 miles is nothing..
My calves will feel sore and/or swollen. Like, not actually swollen but they'll feel like they've been inflated or something. It doesn't hurt too bad or anything and after not running for a few days it definitely resets. The thing is, I've tried to rest for longer periods and this still comes up after a few days straight of running. It used to be that I could run for longer distances without too much trouble (like 6+ miles), regularly even.
I'm kind of unsure. I think I'm not stretching or warming up properly. Nutrition?
Also my day job consists of walking around an airport all day servicing aircraft and I will definitely run after a 6, 8 or 10 hour shift.
What I want to do is run longer distances and for longer periods of time and just burn energy. But I feel like my calves just can't keep up for some dumb reason.
Might just be doing too much together with the walking at work. Maybe technique is also lacking, especially if you are exhausting yourself too much. There is lots of stuff on the internet about it since it is a frequent problem.
Why not do some cycling or other cardio in between running days to give it some rest?
Btw personally I think timing and tracking your runs (or rides in my case) makes things much more fun.
On October 15 2017 23:18 Incognoto wrote: So I've been running my butt off. I'm just not making the progress I want.
After a few days of rest, I can easily run the 2.95 miles that is my go-to jogging session, takes me about 35 minutes to finish not that I've ever actually timed myself.
I try to stretch a little before but I think I'm crap at it.
After day 3 of running that distance (so I'll do like 2 days in a row, then a day break, then another run), I find that I have difficulty finishing the run. Which is absurd because less than 3 miles is nothing..
My calves will feel sore and/or swollen. Like, not actually swollen but they'll feel like they've been inflated or something. It doesn't hurt too bad or anything and after not running for a few days it definitely resets. The thing is, I've tried to rest for longer periods and this still comes up after a few days straight of running. It used to be that I could run for longer distances without too much trouble (like 6+ miles), regularly even.
I'm kind of unsure. I think I'm not stretching or warming up properly. Nutrition?
Also my day job consists of walking around an airport all day servicing aircraft and I will definitely run after a 6, 8 or 10 hour shift.
What I want to do is run longer distances and for longer periods of time and just burn energy. But I feel like my calves just can't keep up for some dumb reason.
Advice, anyone?
Are you running on a treadmill or out on the streets/jogging paths? In my experience early on in my running I had similar issues that abated after a few months but I do the majority of my running on a treadmill.
You could also think about how your foot is striking the pavement. If you're striking with your heel, maybe look at adjusting, or vice versa.
It'd probably not hurt to mind your hydration as well.
Just a few things to keep in mind, there are a lot of variables.
My heel doesn't touch the ground, I always run on the balls of my feet. I wonder if it's hydration. I drink more milk than water, maybe that's to blame.
I ran today and feel just fine, but also this is after a break of several days.
It's just that I used to do more than now. I'm wondering if my drinking/eating/life-style, which has changed, has any bearing on the soreness. Maybe I should just soldier through? Stop when it gets painful though.
On October 15 2017 23:18 Incognoto wrote: So I've been running my butt off. I'm just not making the progress I want.
After a few days of rest, I can easily run the 2.95 miles that is my go-to jogging session, takes me about 35 minutes to finish not that I've ever actually timed myself.
I try to stretch a little before but I think I'm crap at it.
After day 3 of running that distance (so I'll do like 2 days in a row, then a day break, then another run), I find that I have difficulty finishing the run. Which is absurd because less than 3 miles is nothing..
My calves will feel sore and/or swollen. Like, not actually swollen but they'll feel like they've been inflated or something. It doesn't hurt too bad or anything and after not running for a few days it definitely resets. The thing is, I've tried to rest for longer periods and this still comes up after a few days straight of running. It used to be that I could run for longer distances without too much trouble (like 6+ miles), regularly even.
I'm kind of unsure. I think I'm not stretching or warming up properly. Nutrition?
Also my day job consists of walking around an airport all day servicing aircraft and I will definitely run after a 6, 8 or 10 hour shift.
What I want to do is run longer distances and for longer periods of time and just burn energy. But I feel like my calves just can't keep up for some dumb reason.
Advice, anyone?
- Timing yourself is easy if you have a phone. Just get Strava, it's unquestionably the best tracking app out there.
- Stretching before a run isn't considered the best idea, it's best done after once your muscles are warm. Better for the muscles and there is decent research that suggests stretching beforehand actually hurts force production.
- I can't say for certain, but what you're describing sounds ALOT like what I deal with.
- When you say you have difficulty finishing, I'm going to assume given the context that you aren't struggling to finish aerobically (i.e. lungs/legs burning, hurting too much aerobically to keep pushing) but rather it's just your calf giving you shit. This is pretty much the story of my running. When I was younger, closer to 20 rather than 30, I never had a problem; but now if I start running I need to ease back into it. I strongly suspect for me it's an ankle mobility thing, related to flexibility of the ankle/achilles tendon. Like you my heel doesn't touch the ground (or does ever so barely) and I think that's related to the ankle mobility. For me, what I need to do is ease into running over 2-3 weeks; and aggressively do stretching for achilles and for ankle mobility. I'll start with 1-2 mile runs the first week, every other day; and move towards 3-4 miles on by the third week, perhaps adding a 4th run on the third or fourth week. On the stretching side I'll usually stretch 3-4 times a day, doing long holds of about 30-45 seconds. This so far always does the trick for me.
If I don't stretch/run consistently (I'd say I need to run minimum 2-3 times a week) then the issue will return.
- I really doubt diet is to blame. I've never heard of that causing injury sensations. Now,if you were getting obvious cramps that would be one time where perhaps electrolyte balance could be looked at...but it doesn't sound like cramping at all.
- When you say "not making the progress you want" can you elaborate more? Are you meaning that you're trying to progress the duration of your runs but feeling limited by injury?
Obviously lot of glorious novice progression, but I'm fairly happy with where I've come. Bench has been the hardest for me, I've had a decent number of sessions where I didn't hit 3x5 and didn't progress. At least a few of these were clearly technique related, getting the bar on a bad path and missing the rep.
Squat/DL both have overhead to get better, I'm still working lighter than I feel capable with as I want to try and get the technique as good as possible. Same for DL, I'll probably revisit some form work with that over the next few weeks.
I realize this might be stupid, but I've reached a point for me where I just don't want to get any fatter (I'm not super fat, perhaps 16-20%) but much fatter than I'm used to being and it's too much for right now; so I'm planning on doing a full cut down to something pretty lean, 8% ish, and then getting going from there, knowing that I can comfortably eat and gain for 6 months and still not hit the percent BF's I am now.
Will try to get some progress picks up tomorrow when I'm not still a little pumped from the gym. Unfortunately I don't have any really good pics of starting, so the comparison won't be ideal but I can probably get it close.
On October 16 2017 11:39 Incognoto wrote: I jog on streets and walkways.
My heel doesn't touch the ground, I always run on the balls of my feet. I wonder if it's hydration. I drink more milk than water, maybe that's to blame.
I ran today and feel just fine, but also this is after a break of several days.
It's just that I used to do more than now. I'm wondering if my drinking/eating/life-style, which has changed, has any bearing on the soreness. Maybe I should just soldier through? Stop when it gets painful though.
I'd look into heel strike running too, staying on the pads of your feet would undoubtedly cause some discomfort in calves over 3 miles until you adapted to it.
The other factors are definitely worth looking into though. Get your potassium too.
- When you say "not making the progress you want" can you elaborate more? Are you meaning that you're trying to progress the duration of your runs but feeling limited by injury?
I'd like to run 4 to 5 miles on a regular basis without it being difficult for me to finish. Say, every other day.
I eat a lot of bananas. I think I have potassium, but maybe I'm wrong.
Sounds like shin splints to me, would it be fair to say that you've upped your intensity rather quickly? Also, have you run on gravel/dirt and had the same post-workout calf stuff happen?
Yes! I used to run on grass/dirt/mud before and never ran into this. Now I run on paved surfaces only.
Shin splints sound somewhat accurate (in the 3 minutes of google I just did) since I've been out of running for a little while now and only recently started running hard again. I'll look into that a little more. Thank you.
- When you say "not making the progress you want" can you elaborate more? Are you meaning that you're trying to progress the duration of your runs but feeling limited by injury?
I'd like to run 4 to 5 miles on a regular basis without it being difficult for me to finish. Say, every other day.
I eat a lot of bananas. I think I have potassium, but maybe I'm wrong.
These two are the main core focus for me. Adding in some eccentric heel drops also seems to help significantly. Between those stretches and the calf raises that usually covers me.
On October 17 2017 20:00 Incognoto wrote: Yes! I used to run on grass/dirt/mud before and never ran into this. Now I run on paved surfaces only.
Shin splints sound somewhat accurate (in the 3 minutes of google I just did) since I've been out of running for a little while now and only recently started running hard again. I'll look into that a little more. Thank you.
From what you describes it's not shin splints. That's usually an anterior (front) or in some cases just sort of general mid leg pain. If you're feeling it in your calf especially on contraction or landing that's not at all how any case of shin splints I know behaves. Especially taken with how you described your heel as never touching the ground.
Shin splints is a misnomer anyhow, my running buddy recommended this article.
Shin splints is actually a bit of a misnomer and should really be referred to as "exercise-induced leg pain", as I will explain. The most common type of exercise-induced leg pain is medial tibial (shin bone) stress syndrome (MTSS) which doesn't exactly role off the tongue, but is a more accurate term. The other two main types are a stress fracture or compartment syndrome.
MTSS occurs when the muscle that inserts just behind the shin starts to pull away from the bone. There is a sheath around the bone called the periosteum, and this can get inflamed as a result of the pulling away, and cause pain. If this inflammation of the periosteum persists, because someone continues to run without attempting to treat it, then it may go on to cause a stress fracture. A stress fracture is not like a traumatic fracture that occurs suddenly. It is a continuum. So it may start with a worsening of the inflammation around the periosteum, and then slowly go into the bone itself.
The good thing about this is if it is caught early enough, it is possible to prevent a full-blown stress fracture. And this is definitely something you want, because a stress fracture can mean being put in a boot and no running for around 12 weeks.
Compartment syndrome literally means that the different muscles that make up the calf – which are split into compartments – get too big for the muscle sheath they are in and can cause quite severe pressure pain.
What causes it? All three types of exercise-induced leg pain come under the category of "overuse injuries" (which are the most common types of running injury) as opposed to trauma. Biomechanics (how our movement is controlled in relation to our joints and muscles), training or the environment (running surface and footwear), or a combination of all these, can make someone vulnerable to developing an overuse injury.
MTSS results from a repetitive overload and the pelvis, and all the joints from the hip down to the foot may potentially contribute to the onset of symptoms.
One of the most common causes of MTSS is excessive or poorly controlled pronation (flattening of the foot). Pronation is a normal movement that occurs in the foot to help with shock absorption. Efficiency during running relies on achieving the right amount of pronation and supination. Things like fatigue, tight calves and gluteal (bottom muscle) activation can have an effect on the control of the foot as it hits the floor. Footwear and the surface that you are running on are also important factors.
Most patients that come in with MTSS describe an increase in their training volume/intensity or new footwear leading up to their symptoms. As a stress fracture can occur with untreated MTSS, many of the causes are the same.
Compartment syndrome is often related to a sudden change in training or load and can also occur with tight calves. The pain from compartment syndrome is not something you can run through and patients will describe their calves as feeling hard, and a sense of pressure building up in them....
Now a question for the experts here, my lifting partner recently decided he too wanted to start doing more DL/Squat/Row stuff, and he's primarily been a BB Bench + machines kinda guy, but decided he wasn't really getting anywhere.
Anyway, he went to do some rows and his back was all over the place with all kinds of rounding. Helped him a little bit trying to get him to feel those muscles better and put his back in a more stable position, and up to a point he can do it. However, he can't seem to maintain it past a certain point. If he leans over to about 90 degrees he can maintain that flat back position, but the moment he goes to bend his knees at all he immediately rounds pretty good.
I can't tell if this is a queing issue, and I just don't have a good idea for how to help him control his back there; or if there is an underlying flexiblity issue. Here's a video showing the problem for reference:
His back gets nice and flat just leaning over/bowing, but once he goes to drop his hips at all and get to the bar it rounds hard.
That's hamstring and glute tightness without a doubt, you can tell that his ass isn't taking practically any of the weight as he assumes grip position. Many, many people aren't used to activating their glutes as part of the posterior weight-bearing chain and back rounding is a natural consequence of the weight being taken further up the chain into the lumbar spine.
In terms of fixing it, exercises that isolate the glutes should help force the glutes into the chain of activation (think those silly looking kickback machines) and are a good place to start. RDLs and stiff-legged DL negatives can also help get a lifter comfortable with full activation all the down and up through the posterior. Though silly-looking, barbell hip-thrusts are also a good option and will be especially helpful if the inflexibility at issue relates more to pelvis/hips than glutes and upper hams.
On October 18 2017 04:42 farvacola wrote: That's hamstring and glute tightness without a doubt, you can tell that his ass isn't taking practically any of the weight as he assumes grip position. Many, many people aren't used to activating their glutes as part of the posterior weight-bearing chain and back rounding is a natural consequence of the weight being taken further up the chain into the lumbar spine.
In terms of fixing it, exercises that isolate the glutes should help force the glutes into the chain of activation (think those silly looking kickback machines) and are a good place to start. RDLs and stiff-legged DL negatives can also help get a lifter comfortable with full activation all the down and up through the posterior. Though silly, barbell hip-thrusts are also a good option and will be especially helpful if the inflexibility at issue relates more to pelvis/hips than glutes and upper hams.
Thanks for the thoughts! Giving how much difficulty it seemed he was having, that was sorta my suspiscion. Only reason I wasn't confident in that is that he is overall one of those hyperflexible types that can move his body into all sorts of ridiculous positions.
Any tests/tips for diagnosing what specifically might be an area of inflexibility; it's harder to identify with someone who is generally as flexible as he is.
Well, the best test for glute inflexibility in my experience is looking to see if a lifter's back rounds while gripping or performing DLs If you have equipment access, it's also worth trying a few super-wide stance sets on a leg press as part of leg day; when I used to train novice lifters who had problems "sitting on their butt," super wide stance, toes pointed leg press sets that forced the glutes into the lift were a surefire way to produce ass-soreness that carried over nicely as a means of improving DL/squat form/numbers.
On October 18 2017 04:32 L_Master wrote: Now a question for the experts here, my lifting partner recently decided he too wanted to start doing more DL/Squat/Row stuff, and he's primarily been a BB Bench + machines kinda guy, but decided he wasn't really getting anywhere.
Anyway, he went to do some rows and his back was all over the place with all kinds of rounding. Helped him a little bit trying to get him to feel those muscles better and put his back in a more stable position, and up to a point he can do it. However, he can't seem to maintain it past a certain point. If he leans over to about 90 degrees he can maintain that flat back position, but the moment he goes to bend his knees at all he immediately rounds pretty good.
I can't tell if this is a queing issue, and I just don't have a good idea for how to help him control his back there; or if there is an underlying flexiblity issue. Here's a video showing the problem for reference:
His back gets nice and flat just leaning over/bowing, but once he goes to drop his hips at all and get to the bar it rounds hard.
yo that's horrible.
in addition to glute activation work like farva said i always cue people by telling them to think "push hips out" on the way down AND "push hips in" on the way up instead of thinking "bend over." you need to think in terms of moving the hips
Next round of squat work video. Sorry for the crap shoes, its on the to do list but even the $50 for new kicks isn't something I can pull off right now. Latest is by Christmas, but hoping for sooner on that. Tried to go barefoot, but college gym did NOT like that. Was almost immediately told I couldn't
What needs work most critically? I've been trying to que hips back on the way down, and I think it's better...but not sure I'm there yet. Depth seems better, but still seems like I need another 5-10 degrees or so.
EPT
![[image loading]](https://rollerderbyathletics.com/wp-content/uploads/CalfStretches1.gif)
If you have equipment access, it's also worth trying a few super-wide stance sets on a leg press as part of leg day; when I used to train novice lifters who had problems "sitting on their butt," super wide stance, toes pointed leg press sets that forced the glutes into the lift were a surefire way to produce ass-soreness that carried over nicely as a means of improving DL/squat form/numbers.
