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27,204 |
<p>there are two ways to do a sit-up:</p>
<ul>
<li>the easy way, which is the way you probably do it</li>
<li>and the hard way, which involves
<ul>
<li>maintaining posture of straight back, with shoulders in their proper position</li>
<li>as if you were
standing confidently, unafraid, in front of an audience, perhaps as
if you were finishing an opera, arms extended, embracing the world.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>I've been doing them wrong my whole life.</p>
<p>I'm wondering what sort of difference I can expect in my abdomen. Which affects what muscles differently?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27206,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Fact is, neither of these sit ups realistically will build any muscle in your abdomen unless you are either relatively weak(doing under 20 sit ups), or if you are using a weight plate or kettlebell. However, they still are a form of exercise, so your gut might disappear if you do them consistently, but not because you are building muscles(most likely), but because you are burning a little, tiny bit of fat every time you do a sit up. Sit ups are harmful to your lower back though, anyway, if you want defined abs you should try doing pull ups, barbell squats, deadlifts(only once a week), push ups, and dumbbell/barbell rows. You also should also combine this with cardio and keep a fair diet.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37059,
"author": "David",
"author_id": 27773,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/27773",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You shouldn't do sit-ups at all. Sit-up are mainly done by your hip flexors, but these are strong enough most of the time. Do really target your abs, you should do crunches. <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunch_(exercise)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunch_(exercise)</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Every time you flex your hip (angle between legs and hip), it's done by your hip flexors. Every time you flex your spine, it's done by your abs. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/05
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27204",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16086/"
] |
27,209 |
<p>In madcow 5x5, it states you can substitute incline press for overhead press, which focuses on the shoulders. Does this mean incline press works shoulders primarily, too? I am confused here, I thought incline press built your chest. Help?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27749,
"author": "Willi Mentzel",
"author_id": 18292,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18292",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Bench press works mostly chest, incline bench works both to the same extend (45 degree angle) and overhead press works mostly shoulders.</p>\n\n<p>You can see the worked muscles in the order of percentage involved here:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/BBBenchPress.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bench press</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralClavicular/BBInclineBenchPress.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Incline bench</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidAnterior/BBShoulderPress.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Overhead press</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28051,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It does both. The amount of chest involvement depends on the width of your hand placement. Experiment with that and make note of where you feel it in your chest most.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Flat bench also works your shoulders, primarily the anterior delts</li>\n<li>The further inclined you are the more you hit the mid and rear delts as well</li>\n<li>All barbell bench variations will involve more of your arms than the chest</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In fact to really hit the chest muscles well, dumbbells work best because you need to activate the chest to keep the dumbbells over you.</p>\n\n<p>Incline bench can also be a good compromise between overhead and bench press.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/06
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27209",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691/"
] |
27,212 |
<p>I am wondering if doing lots of push ups(100), lots of pull ups(50), and lots of dips(40) daily will build muscles. That's all. Thanks.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27231,
"author": "Tobias Sjösten",
"author_id": 5746,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/5746",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It will, up to a point. If you can only do 5-10 straight reps before having to break then it's still heavy enough to build decent muscle for you. Once you can do around fifteen or more in a row, however, it'll start to become decreasingly effective.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27302,
"author": "Fort Ash",
"author_id": 17940,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17940",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The body responds to shock. Once you can successfully do 100 pushups, 50 pullups and 40 dips daily the body will no longer consider this a shock and rather a routine. At this point, if you keep at it, you will notice a decrease in muscle mass, but not a decrease in strength. Your body was piling up all those muscles because you told it to. Now its realising that it doesn't need all those muscles and can do the job with half less. The extra muscles are just extra maintenance so it will get rid of them.</p>\n\n<p>To answer your question: Yes it will build strength, but after a while you might want to change it up for something new. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/06
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27212",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691/"
] |
27,221 |
<p>I am a 21 years old male, around 1.80 cm and 72 kg. </p>
<p>I study at college so I spend most of the day seated, I try to keep a good posture but if I spend a lot of time seated I end up having bad postures and my lower back aches from time to time. I especially feel this if I don't do any kind of physical exercise. I've been told that strengthening the muscles of my back would help me. </p>
<p>I usually swim and it's quite effective but I will spend most of this month travelling and I won't have access to a swimming pool. I would like to do some kind of physical exercise to keep up during this month. I have tried doing some bodyweight exercises like <a href="https://www.freeletics.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Freeletics</a> and I was looking for something like that.</p>
<p><strong>What kind of bodyweight exercises would you recommend me to gain strength in my back?</strong> </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27224,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h3>Only A Few Recommended BodyWeight Exercises</h3>\n<ul>\n <li><strong><em>Pullup and Chinup:</em></strong> Seriously, this should be an exercise in everyone's arsenal. These exercises guaranteed to build your upper body, make you stronger, agile, and increase your strength and flexibility. \n<p><strong><em>Pull up</em></strong> <em>(fingers pointed away from your body)</em>:<br />\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AebUx.jpg\" />\n</p>\n<p>\n <strong><em>Chin up<em></strong> <em>(fingers pointed towards from your body):</em> <br />\n<img src=\"https://www.1hourathlete.com/uploads/4/6/0/8/46087455/751515_orig.jpg\" />\n</p>\n</li>\n<li><strong><em>Push up:</em></strong> If pull up is designed to build your back, push up is designed to build up your front. <strong><em>It's absolutely necessary to build both the back and the front; otherwise, you'll suffer from muscular imbalance and your posture will suffer for it.</em></strong> <br />\n<img src=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20150320222348/https://speedendurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Push-Ups.jpg\" />\n</li>\n<li><strong><em>Running:</em></strong> This won't necessarily strengthen your back; however, it's generally recommended for overall fitness.</li>\n<li><strong><em>Yoga and Pilates:</em></strong> These are slow moving set of exercises that are designed to strengthen your body.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>There are variations of these exercises that you can perform and regularly performing them will result in strong back, front, and core.</p>\n<p>\n <strong>Note:</em></strong> While strengthening your back is a great idea, you need to build your legs as well. <strong>Strong upper body and weak lower body isn't balanced.</em></strong>\n</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 39584,
"author": "Brainilack",
"author_id": 30405,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/30405",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Strengthening the/any muscles is rarely a bad idea, as long as you balance the tightening of said muscles with lengthening/stretching muscles that work contrary to the stronger muscles.</p>\n\n<p>Without an assessment it is very hard to ascertain the real cause for your pain, but i suspect its postural by nature. Slumped over a keyboard, with the back in a slightly kyphotic position, i.e. curved at the lumbar and thoracic regions.</p>\n\n<p>One thing you need to do is fix that postural habit by sitting 'straight' i.e. with a neutral spinal shape (google it).\nThis will strengthen the postural muscles anyway but adding some mid/low back exercises along with some shoulder girdle retracting movements (well, as most mid back movements involve girdle retraction i suppose that statement is redundant) like rope face pulls.\nShoulder external/lateral rotations. Band pull aparts...</p>\n\n<p>Low back raises are going to be indicated too.</p>\n\n<p>Do chest stretches, abdomen stretches, hamstring exercises, quadriceps/thigh flexor stretches.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/06
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27221",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17896/"
] |
27,223 |
<p>I am a 21 years old male around 180 cm and 72 kg.</p>
<p>I often do cardio exercise but I've never done any kind of strength related exercise. I want to start doing some and I was considering <a href="https://www.freeletics.com/" rel="nofollow">Freeletics</a> as a starting point.</p>
<p>What attracted me about it was the possibility of doing the exercises almost anywhere (because not much space is needed) and not needing any additional equipment.</p>
<p>But I tried some of the workouts and, while I felt perfectly capable of doing some of them, there were others that I think that are too hard for me at this time.</p>
<p>I don't know if it would be good for me if I keep doing those workouts that I'm capable of completing right know and trying those that I can't once in a while or if it would be better to do something else.</p>
<p>So, <strong>would Freeletics make an impact on me as a begginer or should I seek something easier at first?</strong> </p>
<p>EDIT: The main problem for completing the workouts is that some of them are too "long" for me and I don't have the required endurance to complete them (<strong>Dione</strong> would be a good example of this, 3 rounds, 75 jumping jacks, 25 burpees, 50 straight leg lever,75 jumping jacks, 50 situps, 25 burpees each one of them) and for individual exercises the problem usually is a lack of strenght (I can't do a proper pullup)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27297,
"author": "Fort Ash",
"author_id": 17940,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17940",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Freeletics are great. I myself sadly cannot stand doing those exercises (tried, failed), some of us are just better suited to be gym-rats.</p>\n\n<p>As a beginner these exercises will have a great impact on you. The main point being that you are a still a beginner and that means you need some quick and consistent results to keep you hooked on exercising.</p>\n\n<p>Begginers get what we call beginner gains (oh how I wish I could go back) where increases in strength and muscle happen rapidly and noticably. This happens for about 3 months until your body starts to get used to training and stops the rapid improvement (you still improve tho, but slower). By doing freeletics you will notice an increase in you muscle mass as well as a very important increase in strength and endurance. You will see this by being able to last more and longer and by being able to perform new, harder exercises. Thats great because it will motivate you to continue further.</p>\n\n<p>If you cannot perform an exercise just work towards it. There are tons of guides on the internet (for example. training for pullups) that will show you how to do exercises meant for building enough strength towards harder movements. Do those instead of the harder ones until you develop enough strength.</p>\n\n<p>To sum it up: Yes keep at this, it might be harder at first (just try to do as much as you can) but the results will be well worth it.</p>\n\n<p>Best of luck and keep on at it!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27318,
"author": "Marekkk",
"author_id": 17954,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17954",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, every type of exercise is good to start with. However I don't know for sure if freeletics is free, so you could also look up calistenics workouts on youtube or the rest of the internet, there are plenty. </p>\n\n<p>For gaining strength your body has to be shocked and has to addapt to that shock. The shock has to be great enough to still shock you. Freeletics is a many rep program, eventually you will be able to do 100 pushups easily so 50 pushups (E.G.) won't shock enough. At this time it will be better to just go to a gym or look up calistenics.</p>\n\n<p>When training for strenght/ muscle you will have to look to train all muscles, the workout you included doesn't train your back very well (which is a large and important muscle group) You must aim to train all bodyparts for more strenght and goodlookingness. </p>\n\n<p>It is good to start with a program, because consistency is key in training. And a program could help with this.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/06
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27223",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17896/"
] |
27,229 |
<p>Are there any connection with sweating and working out? </p>
<p>Does sweating more means that I am burning calories? or is it ok not to sweat while working out?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27230,
"author": "Tobias Sjösten",
"author_id": 5746,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/5746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sweating is your body's way of cooling down and it has nothing to do with burning calories. If you wanted to measure that you'd look for how much and hard you're panting – that's the fat oxidising away.</p>\n\n<p>The amount of sweat can very a lot from person to person and not sweating during a workout is of course okay but I'd question if you'd really gone as hard as you could have.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27233,
"author": "Sebastian Binder",
"author_id": 17901,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17901",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I myself don't sweat so much too. But if I workout regularly my body \"opens my pores\" faster and I sweat a lot more in a shorter time.</p>\n\n<p>It is like everything with your body:\nIf you do it on a regular basis your body will notice it and adapt to it.</p>\n\n<p>Tip: Go to the sauna until you are sweating really much. Now train the next day and you will sweat more (Don't forget to drink enough)</p>\n\n<p>And if you don't sweat AND don't feel exhausted after a workout - Go harder ;)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27229",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10263/"
] |
27,240 |
<p>I would like to start running long distance (well ~8km)
Is it better to start off walking, with occasional jogging, the 8km and transition over time into running the full distance, or to start off running shorter distances (eg. 1km) and increase the distance over time? </p>
<p>I have just started going for runs and walks again, after breaking my ankle ~9 months ago(tripped when running). So far, I have been going back and forth between these two options 3-4 times a week for the past two weeks. Is one option better than the other, or is an all together different option best?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27249,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you should ask yourself exactly what you're looking to accomplish. If you want to run a 10K in under half an hour, that's a whole different ball of wax than wanting to run a competitive time for your age, which is different than just finishing it without walking. They're all \"running a 10K\", but the training is a lot different.</p>\n\n<p>There's no right or wrong answer, but be honest about your goals as otherwise your training could have way too much or way too little stress.</p>\n\n<p>For competitive running in those distances, you'll want to work on a few things at once. I'm used to something a bit like this (for a 10k):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Tuesday: short, 30 minute. faster than comfortable, but not race pace.</li>\n<li>Thursday: short, 30 minute. hold race pace for a bit, drop down, back to race pace. maybe hill intervals.</li>\n<li>Saturday: long, 1 hour, comfortable pace.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I'm not a high level runner, and this training was in use maybe 15 years ago so perhaps things have gotten different. But in my experience I was trying to build endurance and speed at the same time just spread across different workouts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27261,
"author": "Tom",
"author_id": 17919,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17919",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Start by running shorter distances and work your way up. Push yourself to run the whole distance even if you are jogging at a super slow pace (obviously don't push yourself if you begin to feel pain).</p>\n\n<p>If you want a little more structure, you can google for \"8k training plan\" or \"half marathon training plan\" ect. depending on the race. What's nice about training plans is that they are designed so that you \"peak\" at race day, and often they recommend cross-training days.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27262,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For running, you will see the best results from a consistent program, and shorter + more often is usually better than longer and less often.</p>\n\n<p>To start, I would look at many of the couch to 5k programs, and use that until you can comfortably run a 5k. Once you get to that point, you can start a regular running program to get you to where you need to be for your fitness and/or competitive goals.</p>\n\n<p>The program that I usually recommend is a 3:2:1 program. It's designed for running 6 times per week, with 3 short, 2 medium and one long run. So if you do your 5k, and it takes you 30 minutes, that establishes your long run. Your medium runs would be 20 minutes, and your short runs 10 minutes. (Med = 2x short, long = 3x short). Do that for a few weeks, then you can start increasing distances by increasing your times. So your short run would become 12 minutes, your medium becomes 24, and your long becomes 36 minutes.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't recommend strict speedwork until you have 6 months or more of consistent mileage under your belt, but you can work pickups, fartleks or strides into some of your med/long runs.</p>\n\n<p>You can keep increasing distance, or once you get to the point where you are happy with what you are seeing, you can just maintain. Pay attention to your body, if you start feeling fatigued and/or beat up, you can ease back or take a couple days off.</p>\n\n<p>Also, if you are going to be running consistently and competing, I would recommend having 2-3 pairs of shoes, rotating among them consistently, and retiring them after 200-600 miles (It will depend on your weight, running style, gait, shoe construction, etc. If a run leaves you feeling beat up when it shouldn't, your shoes may be ready to be retired).</p>\n\n<p>Running isn't mysterious. The biggest mistakes people make are doing speedwork too soon, ramping up distance too soon, and most people don't run easy enough on their easy days, and not hard enough on their hard days.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27240",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17904/"
] |
27,242 |
<p>I've been doing short runs this summer (~5k in more or less half an hour) and I decided to buy <a href="http://www.aptonia.co.uk/iso-isotonic-drink-mix-650g-orange-id_8335611" rel="nofollow">this powder</a> to make isotonic drinks to recover after the exercise.</p>
<p>I know that in such a short time I have mostly lost water and salts from my body but I don't know if drinking an isotonic drink is useful or if it would be fine if I just drank some water afterwards.</p>
<p>When is it useful to drink an isotonic drink? How long should the exercise be? Does it make a difference in my recovery in my particular situation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27243,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me set a fine line: It isn't really THAT useful at all to drink a sports drink AFTER you go for a run. That sports drink stuff is supposed to give you energy to go running, not to recover. Besides, it is probably loaded with artificial sugars, anyway. I would suggest drinking water, milk, and protein shakes after a run, not a sports drink.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27274,
"author": "Sarge",
"author_id": 1833,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1833",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not useful at all.</p>\n\n<p>The reason to drink an isotonic drink is to get water and calories onboard during exercise. Isotonic means that it is at the same concentration as your blood so you're neither osmotically extracting water from your blood to dilute it so you can absorb it nor leaving nutrients behind because the concentration couldn't be affected.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, 5km is far too short to get anywhere near depleting the carbohydrate reserves in your liver (that point is at about 90mins).</p>\n\n<p>For a 5km race just drink whatever non-caffeinated drink you normally drink and get on with it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27275,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you look at the breakdown, it's got 364 calories per 100 grams, with 78.2 grams of sugar. So you're basically getting 312 calories directly from sugar substrates (dextrose and saccharose as well as maltodextrose).</p>\n\n<p>Also, the advertising tag line states that it's designed to be light in the mouth \"during sports\", not after. During, you want enough calories to sustain your activity, which you should have in plenty for short duration such as 30 minutes.</p>\n\n<p>After, you want to replenish and repair, and for endurance, a 3:1 carb to protein ratio is ideal, which oddly enough, is the ratio for milk. Milk has been proven in studies to be a great after endurance replenishment.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27242",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17896/"
] |
27,244 |
<p>Ok, so I'm 14 that means I can't lift a lot, and I have reached the maximum weight my parents let me lift (17kg), and I understand that for growing muscle, you need to stress the muscle breaking the muscular fibers, so to stress my muscle or feel tired I need to do like 30 reps on each set (lol) while the correct ammount is from 6 to 8 if you want to build muscle.</p>
<p>I know i'm not going to get extremely muscular at this age, but I gained some muscle and I want to keep gaining it. I know there are no cientific studies that say you will stop growing, but my parents won't let me, so what do you recommend me, to keep working out hard?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27247,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What country are you in? Does your country have a weight lifting tradition?</p>\n\n<p>I would contact a weight lifting or olympic weight lifting club, or possibly a professional body building gym, they will know what your body can handle, will teach you proper technique so that you don't injure yourself, and they are more likely to be able to convince your parents that it's safe. </p>\n\n<p>As parents, they would prefer that you take the safe choice rather than your \"best\" choice, because they are responsible for you, if you fuck up, they've fucked up, so you'll have to give them confidence that what you're doing is safe. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27250,
"author": "BackInShapeBuddy",
"author_id": 1054,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1054",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your parents are wise to supervise what you are doing to help you prevent injuring your body. An injury can be for life, so it is best to prevent them, by learning proper form and having expert instruction. Your parents are aware of your maturity level and how much they can trust you to follow your coach's instruction and how serious you are about safety and form.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, you may want to share this link with them from the <a href=\"http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/107/6/1470.full.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness,\nStrength Training by Children and Adolescents</a> </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>They recommend that you</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>begin with low-resistance exercises until <strong>proper technique is learned</strong>.\n When 8 to 15 repetitions can be performed, <strong>it is reasonable to add weight in small increments</strong>. Exercises should include all muscle groups and be performed\n through the full range of motion at each joint. .....and continue to add weight or repetitions as strength improves.</p>\n</blockquote></li>\n<li><p>As far as progressing your program they recommend:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Specific strength training exercises should be learned initially with no load (resistance). Once the exercise skill has been mastered, <strong>incremental loads</strong> can be added. Progressive resistance exercise requires <strong>successful completion of 8 to 15 repetitions in good form before increasing weight</strong> or resistance.</p>\n</blockquote></li>\n<li><p>As far as injury concerns, most injuries are muscle strains, but they do often affect the low back, and you definitely want avoid a back injury by using proper form and appropriate weights. As far as the epiphyseal joint concern they say that while there is:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>.. concern about epiphyseal injuries in the wrist and apophyseal injuries in the spine from weight lifting in skeletally immature individuals. <strong>Such injuries are uncommon and are believed to be largely preventable</strong> <strong>by avoiding improper lifting techniques, maximal lifts, and improperly supervised lifts.</strong></p>\n</blockquote></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Hope this helps you have a successful discussion with your parents and instructor.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27244",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16807/"
] |
27,245 |
<p><strong>I'm 14</strong>, so I can't really lift a lot of weight, but my question is simple, for example on <strong>pushups you lift about 60% of your body weight</strong> in <strong>my case about 29 kilos (58 pounds)</strong>, but trainers at the gym, say I <strong>can't lift more than 17 kilos (38 pounds) on machines</strong> and my question is: </p>
<p>Is there really a difference between machines and body weight? </p>
<p>Or could my maximum lifting weight be a little bit more, closer to what I lift with pushups?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27246,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It used to be believed that lifting weight could harm your natural growth as a young person, this is now considered a myth or at best outdated information. The trainers at your gym have probably learned \"weight lifting for young people is bad\" without knowing why they believe so. There's no real difference between doing body weight exercises and weighted exercises.</p>\n\n<p>One exception to the above is the fact that many 14 year-old's are immature and more likely to try using weights that could injure themselves, on the other hand, many grown ups are equally immature and stupid and shouldn't be allowed in a gym :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27251,
"author": "VeKe",
"author_id": 15542,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15542",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is there really a difference between machines and body weight? <br></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>All weight is the same. It's science.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>should my maximum lifting weight should be a lil bit more, closer to what I lift with pushups?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think it all depends on your stamina. If for one month I lift 10 kg dumbbells while working on biceps muscle, eventually slowly my stamina of lifting weight will increase. I will start with 10 kg weight and I will go for 12.5 kg and so on...</p>\n\n<p>So I don't think it has to do anything with age.</p>\n\n<p>I have seen fit teenagers lifting more weight than an unfit guy in his early 30's. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27245",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16807/"
] |
27,252 |
<p>I want to do muscle up. I can do 14 pull ups and I can get my elbow above the bar in to the muscle up position but when it comes to pushing down and completing the muscle up I don't have the required strength.</p>
<p>So I want to know what type of push up exercises I can do so I can push down something(complete the muscle up) more easily? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27253,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to do dips. Start with <a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/BWTriDip.html\">dips on parallel bars</a> and progress to ring dips.</p>\n\n<p>Push-ups aren't specific practice for the pushing motion of the muscle-up.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29095,
"author": "HamZa",
"author_id": 19601,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/19601",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The muscle up could be viewed as a 3 steps exercise:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Pull up</li>\n<li>Transition (the hardest part)</li>\n<li>Push down or sometimes called dip</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>It seems you have a problem with the last step. The exercise I recommend the most is <a href=\"https://youtu.be/Z8C3d9Gcdk0?t=56\" rel=\"nofollow\">straight bar dips</a>. In the beginning you might not be able to go that deep but don't fret about it. After a while you will be able to.</p>\n\n<p>In general, it would also help doing the muscle up in reverse but slowly.</p>\n\n<p>To answer the question at hand: I don't think that push-ups would effectively help you. The closest I could think of are <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN7e-APdfhc\" rel=\"nofollow\">tiger bend push-ups</a> in combination with close or diamond push-ups.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27252",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/13391/"
] |
27,255 |
<p>I started doing the 5x5 workout halfway through last summer, and have significantly increased my squat, bench, overhead press, row, and deadlifting weight. I weigh around 160 lbs., and it seems as though I've hit some sort of peak squatting 190. Is this a sign that the workout has become ineffective because I have been doing it for so long?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27256,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Each 5x5 (or 3x5) program has its own protocol for when you start stalling like you are doing. One of the more common ones, StrongLifts 5x5, suggests the following protocol for when you stall:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Attempt the same weight up to 3 times</li>\n<li>After the 3rd time, take 10% off the bar and work back up</li>\n<li>If you hit the wall 3x like this, switch to 3x5 and work your way up</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The fact you've been pushing a beginner's 5x5 program for just over a year attests to your fortitude. So please understand that beginner programs are designed for just one thing: <em>to take advantage of your beginner gains</em>.</p>\n\n<p>What's happening is that you are increasing the weight faster than your body can recover. <em>It's inevitable that you will reach that point on a beginner 5x5 program</em>.</p>\n\n<p>My suggestion to you is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Take 10% off the bar and switch to a weekly progression for a while until you hit the same barrier (which will be higher)</li>\n<li>Then switch to a monthly progression</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A common weekly progression would be Texas Method, or something similar. The bottom line is that for squats you'll be doing one volume day, one light recovery day, and one heavy day. The heavy day you are going for a higher weight than you used on the volume day.</p>\n\n<p>The bottom line is you are 160 lbs and you are squatting more than your body weight. You can add muscle mass, or just try to make the most of your body weight. It really depends on your goals. If your beginner program isn't working anymore after 3 months, it's time to switch things up. If it's still working, then keep at it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27259,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You have not stalled. The workout program has not become ineffective. Your struggle is normal. Barely finishing your last set is normal. It is okay. It is expected. Most of the time, it still means you should add weight to the bar the next time. Because you'll be able to lift it.</p>\n\n<p>The weight you're at is never going to feel light. It's always going to feel heavy. You'll just be able to lift it. That's a big transition right around 200 pounds--190 for someone your size, 210 or 220 for someone my size. It's where most people go from \"oh this is hard I suppose, but...grrr...OK there it goes\" to \"WHAT IS THIS ON MY BACK I'LL NEVER STAND UP GARRRHAGGAGGGAGHHHH\". You're in the transition from the weight feeling doable to the weight feeling heavy. Ignore this feeling. Lift it anyway. I bet you can. It will never get easier if you keep lifting 190 or less.</p>\n\n<p>This is actually the stage when the program becomes <em>most</em> effective. But you must push yourself, not just physically but mentally. You must attack the bar. Keep in mind good form and proper depth and so forth, but first and foremost YOU MUST LIFT THE BAR. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27255",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17910/"
] |
27,257 |
<p>Why are all of the workouts in the 5x5 Stronglifts program except the deadlifts? If I added an ab exercise to the workout (say Landmine 180s), would how do I know whether it should be 5x5 or 1x5?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27258,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>5×5 stands for five sets of five reps. These are the sets and reps you do on every exercise except Deadlifts. <strong>Deadlift is only one set of five reps (1×5) because doing more would beat you up. Plus, Squatting three times a week will get you stronger at Deadlifts since it works similar muscles.</strong>\n Read more: <a href=\"http://stronglifts.com/5x5/\">http://stronglifts.com/5x5/</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>From the page explaining the program.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27260,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Deadlifts are a very tiring, very strenuous exercise. You also only lift the barbell once during a deadlift, they are not meant to be exercises for repetition, this is part of the reason a deadlift is classified as a deadlift. I would suggest doing 1x5, it will still build muscles, and nothing is wrong with the program. And just to note, if you're performing ab exercises, or not, you still should stick with 1x5.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27263,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>After reading your comments to <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/27258/7091\">John P's quite accurate answer</a>, I think the question you're really asking is \"<em>why are deadlifts so much more taxing than squats</em>\" (maybe rename the title if I'm accurate on that).</p>\n\n<p>If that's the case, I'd offer these up:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Deadlifts put much more load on your <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_vertebrae\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">thoracic spine</a>, arms, shoulders, rhomboids, and hands.</strong></p>\n\n<p>You can see someone back squat with their hands off the bar, but that's obviously not going to happen with a deadlift. There are more muscles engaged in a deadlift than a squat.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Deadlifts are generally heavier than squats.</strong> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The weights are heavier, generally to the tune of 20% for most folks</a>. So a person squatting 300 should be in the neighborhood of a 360 deadlift. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Deadlifts lack a <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscoelasticity\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">viscoelastic</a> element that is found in squats.</strong></p>\n\n<p>From a <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-387-73906-9_10\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2008 study concerning viscoelasticity</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The high resilience of tendon means that it can serve as an effective\n biological spring.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You get a lot of power from a squat because of the loading up of your <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/25710/what-is-this-part-of-the-knee/25719#25719\">hamstrings and associated connective tissue</a>. You can try this for yourself if you're feeling brave: start a backsquat from the bottom (barbell on the safety pins in a power cage). You'll struggle much more than a typical up-and-down squat. In fact, one of Mark Rippetoe's big arguments for squatting as deeply as you (safely) can is because you need that hamstring load up to create the elastic spring.</p>\n\n<p>This of course is lacking in the deadlift, where as the name implies you're starting from zero each time. I'd add this is why deadlifts need to stop completely and you should in fact relax your grip momentarily between reps, to ensure that you are truly dead-lifting and not bouncing around.</p>\n\n<p><strong>CNS Fatigue</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/24919/7091\">This is a loosely understood (and commonly thrown around) statement</a>, that seems to be the catch-all phrase for \"you're tired\". But if you add up some basic facts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Deadlifts are heavier, and require more power production.</li>\n<li>Deadlifts require more muscles to be activated.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>It seems pretty reasonable that the drain on your CNS's ability to create and organize force production would be more impacted by a 3RM deadlift than a 3RM squat. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27257",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16432/"
] |
27,266 |
<p>I am signed up for a triathlon in June 2016, It goes from 9 AM-9 PM, we must run 30 miles, bike 60 miles, and swim 3. I believe I am fit for it because I can bike 15 mph forever on, but I swam a half mile in 20 minutes, and I can run for 2.5 miles easily. I am biking 10 miles a day, swimming 1, and running 2 miles total. This is combined with weights and calisthenics. Is this enough?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27267,
"author": "Kotte",
"author_id": 7549,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7549",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The biking in that triathlon seems to be really short compared to the running and the swimming. But running that distance require stepping a the distance gradually. So I would recommend that you try to step up the running distance slowly and see how it feels, that is probably one of the best ways to see if you are fit also. The other legs doesn't sound that bad.</p>\n\n<p>Also, try do some running after the biking and get to know that feeling.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27271,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As it stands, you may be fit enough, but you are not trained enough, unless you plan on walking pretty much the entire run portion of the event.</p>\n\n<p>Most marathon plans (Which is a distance shorter than the 30 miles) will have you running 50-70 miles a week, with quite a few runs in the 10-15 mile range.</p>\n\n<p>However, I think the biggest limiter right now is your swimming. At 20 minutes per 1/2 mile, you are going to be in the water for two hours, assuming you can hold the same pace the entire time. That is a very long time to be in the water doing full body exercise.</p>\n\n<p>What I would recommend is set up your own \"mini\" triathlon. Drive your bike to a local lake or pool. Swim your 1/2 mile, get on the bike and ride 30-40 miles at your 15 mph pace (Out and back, then throw your bike into the car), and then go run 2-3 miles. It's a lot more difficult than you think, when you stack everything on top of each other.</p>\n\n<p>If you maintain the same level of training you have now, I would predict that you would end up not finishing the bike leg, or possibly finishing it outside of the time cutoffs (Most 1/2 Iron distance events, which is about what that is have time limits for each event).</p>\n\n<p>My recommendation would be to go to a site such as beginnertriathlete.com, and look at their 1/2 Ironman plans. I would also confirm the distances, as the one that you describe has a run leg that is more than a full Ironman run distance, and a swim leg that is 50% longer than an Ironman distance. (Are you sure it wasn't 3k, 60k, 30k? That would make it about 1.5 mile swim, 37 mile bike and 18 mile run. Still odd distances, but much closer than if it is miles).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/09
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27266",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691/"
] |
27,294 |
<p>In short: I stepped on the scales, discovered I've gained a lot these past 3 months after starting new job and went into an alcohol induced depression that results in the purchase of many tabs to try and aid in my new regime.</p>
<p>I have a wedding in a year and I need to shift the excess by any means necessary, even to the point on contact a surgeon.</p>
<p>Unfortunatley the voice of reason and common sense is being dwarfed by the need and desire to shed this excess.</p>
<p>I spend 12 hours of my day sitting, when I return home I lack the energy to do anything other than carry on sitting.
I'm breaking this pattern by gym during lunch break and moderating my eating habits however, my question is really this:</p>
<p>I'm now consuming several tablets per day as an aid, today I noticed one of the side effects of 'Alli' when attending to business, it wasn't pleasant but I'm prepared to put up with it.</p>
<p>The combination of tabs is:</p>
<pre><code>Cod Liver Oil x1 in the morning
HTP-5 x1 in the morning.
Grenade Black ops x2 in the morning (http://www.grenade.com/uk/black-ops)
Alli x3 per day with meals. (http://www.alli.co.uk/)
Garcinea x3 with meals (http://www.hecticlifestyles.co.uk/nutra-direct-pure-garcinia-cambogia-wholefruit-vegetarian-capsules-90-capsules/?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=Cj0KEQjw98mvBRD-_ciSovKhq7gBEiQAEvsBZ0hj-ghPN1iSJf0nz69Y4fGgbcpZWOrNZU4g7FSHwYsaApZm8P8HAQ)
Sea Kelp x 3 with meals (http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/natures-garden-sea-kelp-tablets-15mg-60000628)
</code></pre>
<p>Besides this being a cocktail, are there any other potential issues that I should worry about?</p>
<p>Thanks for your time.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27296,
"author": "Fort Ash",
"author_id": 17940,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17940",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sorry if this sounds harsh but I see no reason for you to be ingesting all those pills every day. Surely there are ways to lose weight without destroying yourself!</p>\n\n<p>You say you are going to the gym and you are moderating your food intake and thats great. This is awesome you are on the right track! The wedding you are going to attend is a year away. Thats plenty of time for you to lose weight safely.</p>\n\n<p>I would really like to see more people consider weightlifting or atleast look into it before descarding it as a weight loss option. Rather people attend classes where they work until exaustion which does absolutely nothing for them but throw them further into depression beacuse of constant suffering and mediocre results. Weight training does take some time from each your day, but it is never exhausting and rarely painful, with proven results.</p>\n\n<p>Try weight lifting for a year, there are tons of free available fitness programs online. Just pick one and stay at it. You will gain muscle and strength, you will look and feel better, you will enjoy training and you will also lose fat.</p>\n\n<p>The body needs energy in order to maintain muscles. The bigger the muscles you have the more energy it needs. As you train your muscles get bigger and require more energy for maintenance, energy which your body can only get from dissolving fats (assuming you watch what you eat alteast a bit, no need for a full diet).</p>\n\n<p>Consider this post if you wish, I mean not to force anything on you, it's just a suggestion, but where you are currently headed is only bad for you.</p>\n\n<p>Matic</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27303,
"author": "BackInShapeBuddy",
"author_id": 1054,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1054",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>First and foremost, consult your doctor.</strong> </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You are experiencing a lot of changes that a doctor can help you address. You gained \"a lot\" of weight in 3 months. You went into an \"alcohol induced depression\". And this new job and future wedding may be causing you some distress. Your doctor can take measurements, help you find a good diet, help you with your depression, and advise you on that cocktail of tabs you are taking. Also your doctor can determine you if you are clear to exercise or if you need to take any precautions. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Diet and Exercise</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>For weight loss, appropriate diet and exercises are the way to go. Surgery would be your last choice and only if diet and exercise fail. Diet in conjunction with regular exercise is the key to weight loss. Your results from a consistent, proper diet and exercise will beat any cocktail of tabs. The biggest downside of the cocktail is thinking that it will do the trick.</p>\n\n<p>Joining the gym is a great step. Ask a trainer to set you up with a good program that includes cardio with intense intervals, resistance or strength training and some stretching. But check with your doctor first, especially before trying high intensity intervals.</p></li>\n<li><p>For depression, intense, regular <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/3753/what-kind-of-indoor-exercises-are-recommended-for-getting-rid-of-stress-and-depr/3761#3761\">exercise can help</a>. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Tracking Your Progress</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Track your progress by taking <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/3421/useful-measurements-tracking-approach-for-a-fitness-strategy\">measurements</a>. They are good for motivation when you feel your progress is plateauing. They can be useful in alerting you to when you need to make changes in your program. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Break Up Prolonged Sitting</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You need to take short movement breaks at work. See <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/24937/what-happens-to-people-who-are-sitting-8-10h-per-day/24941#24941\">What happens when people sit 8-10 hrs/day</a>. For ideas on exercises that you can do at or next to your desk with bodyweight or resistance tubing see this <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/6994/i-have-extremely-bad-posture-what-can-i-do/7015#7015\">posture answer</a>.</p>\n\n<p>When you get home do anything but sit. If you have to sit, get an exercise ball and bounce or roll around on it. Take a walk. Find a sport or activity that get you moving. Find active people.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>One year gives you a good time frame to create a healthier lifestyle which will help you normalize your weight. Getting weight off for a specific event is a good motivator. However, getting healthy for the rest of your life is even more important.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27294",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6398/"
] |
27,314 |
<p>I'm almost 19 years of age and I am regularly doing gym since 3 months. With the height of 5'10 and weight of merely 115 pounds, I initially joined the gym with the intention of becoming a little 'bulky' and put on some muscles.</p>
<p>I was very much a computer bug few months ago and didn't pay due attention to my own body or other's body as a standard of benchmark, but now that I do, I see in trains or other public places that most people already have bulky biceps and chest without maybe even visiting the gym once, then there are these bulky sorts of guys that come to the gym and the weight they lift or press, is laughable looking at their muscle mass. I mean it's obviously more weight than me, but not by a very large margin, just 2-5KGs more than what I do, so I believe its very attainable in near future.</p>
<p>Some time ago I came across the phrase hypertrophy vs strength training (for me strength training included all types of lifting earlier). Currently, my gym trainer has prepared a workout routine for me that is something like :</p>
<p>Everyday : Chinups : 15x5 ; Push-ups : 10x5 at start ; Wrist curls 20x5 and shoulder press 15x5 (with a weight lighter than I usually use for shoulder press)
Monday: Chest 4x10 (consists of 4-5 exercises for chest) ; Triceps : 3x10 (again, 4-5 usual exercises for triceps)
Tuesday : Back : 3x10 ; Biceps : 3x10
Wednesday : Shoulders : 3x10 ; Legs : 3x10
Repeat on tuesday, friday and satudray</p>
<p>There are some exceptions like for calf raise the reps are 20-25.</p>
<p>So from what I see, he wants me to train for hypertrophy? Again, I don't want to do all this hard-work and become simply fluffed, I want to genuinely get stronger, to lift more weights and strength that accompanies me everyday, not just the looks of it.</p>
<p>I have done some research of what hypertrophy is but I still remain largely a noob, so if I train for strength, lets say adding more weight than I currently do for 4-6 reps, that will make me neurologically stronger and <strong>also help with atleast some muscle gains?</strong></p>
<p>Or perhaps I should go for both of them? How do you suggest I incorporate those changes so that I train for strength as well as size?</p>
<p>Also, I understand what is progressive overload, but under what method is it applied? Strength or Hypertrophy? and how do you properly incorporate it?</p>
<p>Eg- I do military overhead press with let's say 5 KG on both sides, now for progressive overload to occur, should I increase subsequent reps from 6 to 8 to 10 in next sets or should I increase weight from 5 to 7.5 to 10 KG? and the reps go down from like 10 to 8 to 6?</p>
<p>Which is better and is there a difference? or should I maintain my rep count whilst increasing weight?</p>
<p>Then again, looking at my body frame of height 5'10, weight 115 pounds, 26 inch waist, 11 inch biceps and just chicken legs, which will be better for me? I intend to continue going to the gym for many coming years.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27315,
"author": "Marekkk",
"author_id": 17954,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17954",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you want to get stronger you need to get muscle and you need to make sure to use all the potential the muscle has. A bigger muscle has more potential, a smaller muscle can however still be stronger. </p>\n\n<p>Muscle growth is achieved by hypertrophy, Strenght is achieved by training the lift you want to be stronger at and train them in the couple of reps you want to get stronger. For strenght the exercises must have some overflow on your strenght goal.</p>\n\n<p>Most people consider a set of 5 as best of both worlds. It is close enough to have overflow with a 1RM and it is still enough reps to achieve hypertrophy. To get enough volume most people make it a 5 sets of 5 reps, which would make a total of 25 reps which is even more than doing 3 sets of 8 reps (equals 24).</p>\n\n<p>Progressive overload is a commenly used term, however as you said it doesn't really mean anything. One will not be able to progress every workout. Most strenght based programs are use linear progression. That means that you will add the same weight every week. This works pretty well for me, however this progression will eventually halt, this is when you'll have to look for what works for you.</p>\n\n<p>I am currently running the texas method, split version. This program is created by a world famous powerlifting lifter/coach Mark Rippetoe. You can look the program up on the internet. Or download the book (e-book) Practical Programming written by Mark Rippetoe.</p>\n\n<p>I can recommend this book very much, it teaches you about the most effective way of training for strenght. (My opinion)</p>\n\n<p>BTW; age, height or weigth should not make difference in the training style your doing. Ofcourse you could do cardio for wanting to lose weigth, but that's the only thing. What should make a difference is the training goal, time and willingness.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27320,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To start, I think that your current program is going to lead either to you burning yourself out, or to overuse injuries. Simply put, 75 (15x5) chin-ups is quite a lot to be doing <em>everyday</em> when you're still a beginner.</p>\n\n<p>Progressive overload can work in various ways. It can be used for both gaining muscle mass (size) and strength. You can achieve it by increasing intensity (weight lifted), volume (number of sets / reps), or both. Which one you utilize will be dictated by both your goals and if you're trying to break through a plateau. I'll touch on this a bit more after my next point.</p>\n\n<p>Hypertrophy can be broken down into myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Myofibrillar hypertrophy tends to be obtained through higher intensity (and is thus correlated with higher strength) while sarcoplasmic hypertrophy tends to be obtained through higher volume (and thus correlated with more muscle mass). Despite the distinction between the two, they exist on a continuum and are therefore obtained together to varying degrees. This is why 5x5 programs are rather popular, as they award the lifter with a relatively high intensity and volume to achieve both types of hypertrophy.</p>\n\n<p>So back to your goals. Since you are more interested in achieving higher strength, your focus should be on an intensity based progressive overload. Simply put, you should be trying to lift more weight each time you touch the barbell (at least for now). Once you stall on a particular lift (you can no longer continue to add weight each time you perform the lift for several sessions), then shifting to a volume based progressive overload may help you break past that.</p>\n\n<p>For example: Say over 2 months you add 5 kg to the barbell each time you do squat and get up to 100 kg. Lets say after this you get stuck and are unable to add anymore weight to the bar, despite trying in 2 or 3 different sessions. In this case increasing the volume that you squat at 100 kg may provide your body the stimulus it needs to lift more than 100 kg. So you might go from squatting 100 kg for 3x5 to 2x6 and 1x5 to 3x8 to 3x10 (for example). After that when you try to lift more than 100 kg, you are successful. In this scenario, changing your method of progressive overload allowed you to continue towards your original goal.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, in your situation, I would highly recommend ditching the program that your trainer gave you and use a program designed for beginners. Doing a Google search for 'beginning strength program' will yield a fair number of different programs that all work well for beginners. Each are slightly different in their own right. In the scope of being a beginner, the specific beginning strength program that you choose isn't a big deal. Simply choosing one that offers a schedule and set of exercises that works for you is better than getting caught up in the minor details of which is better than the next and then never actually starting one due to not getting a clear-cut-answer about which one you <em>should</em> do (since you can do any). Simply stick to a beginner program until you stall out of it, and then you'll have a solid foundation of strength (and a set of <em>real</em> one-rep maxes) that you can use towards your goals whether or not they change over those 6 months or so (an average amount of time it takes to go through one).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27373,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It is a misconception that strength and hypertrophy are somehow mutually exclusive things. Keep in mind that the strongest powerlifters train like bodybuilders most of the time, where the main difference appears when peaking for a competition, where the powerlifters peak towards maximal strength rather than maximal leanness.</p>\n\n<p>The strength of a lifter depends on three factors:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>(1) the cross-sectional area of their muscles (how big they are)</p></li>\n<li><p>(2) the neural efficiency of their muscles (how good they are at recruiting these muscles for lifting heavy things)</p></li>\n<li><p>(3) their anthropomorphy (i.e. their leverages)</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You cannot change (3) unless you go get very expensive surgery, so that's out of the question. Only (1) and (2) are somehow in your hands, and that's why we developed something called periodization, i.e. the training of multiple qualities (here hypertrophy, strength) over a period of time in order to maximize the overall performance of the athlete at the end of the cycle: you get bigger to improve (1), which gives your muscles more \"room\" to get stronger, which you take advantage of by then training for (2), which makes you stronger and lets you train for (1) with bigger weights, etc. They are two sides of the same thing! Now to answer your questions:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have done some research of what hypertrophy is but I still remain largely a noob, so if I train for strength, lets say adding more weight than I currently do for 4-6 reps, that will make me neurologically stronger and also help with atleast some muscle gains?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You are correct, that would mainly be neural adaptation (the second factor) with some small effect on size.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Or perhaps I should go for both of them? How do you suggest I incorporate those changes so that I train for strength as well as size?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You could alternate them (look up something called <a href=\"https://academy.sportlyzer.com/wiki/block-periodization/\">block periodization</a> which deals with that) or train them concurrently (frequent in <a href=\"http://www.strengtheory.com/the-bogeyman-of-training-programs-and-why-it-may-be-just-what-you-need/\">daily undulating periodization</a>, concurrent periodization and the western-style conjugate training à la Westside) and alternate the emphasis, depending on your preference. <a href=\"http://www.elitefts.com/education/training/powerlifting/overview-of-periodization-methods-for-resistance-training/\">This article</a> gives a good review of different periodization models, but a bit of googling can give you a lot more results if you are curious.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Also, I understand what is progressive overload, but under what method is it applied? Strength or Hypertrophy? and how do you properly incorporate it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is actually both. Progressive overload applies to a <em>stressor</em>, meaning something that causes adaptation in your body. If you progressively overload a stressor that generates hypertrophy, you will continue progressing for hypertrophy. Same for strength, endurance, etc.</p>\n\n<p>Let's define volume as an abstract measure of \"work\". It is usually calculated as sets x reps x weight (also called \"tonnage\"). Let's define intensity as a measure of relative weight: it's the percentage of your 1 rep max in a lift. </p>\n\n<p>Regarding hypertrophy, the main hypothesis at the moment is that volume in the 40%+ intensity range governs its progress. Volume is an abstract measure of \"work\". It is usually calculated as sets x reps x weight. Applying progressive overload to it would then be increasing volume: from 4 sets of 6, work up to 4 sets of 8 and that will be an increase in volume from 24xWeight to 32xWeight. From 3x10 work up to 5x10 and that will be an increase from 30 to 50 reps. </p>\n\n<p>There is an alternative hypothesis which says that a better measure of volume for hypertrophy is the number of \"hard\" sets (meaning sets which you have a hard time finishing).</p>\n\n<p>Regarding strength, the main hypothesis is that it is governed by volume in the 70% to 90% intensity range. That's where the traditional linear progressions with sets of 5 come into play. In that case you could progressively overload by adding a bit of weight to the barbell everytime you come in the gym.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding work capacity (your ability to do a lot of volume in a short time), the main hypothesis is that it is governed by your ability to go back to your resting heart rate after training. You could progressively overload it by removing 10 seconds of rest between each set everytime you go in the gym. Or trying to do a number of repetitions with a given weight in a minimum number of sets.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Eg- I do military overhead press with let's say 5 KG on both sides, now for progressive overload to occur, should I increase subsequent reps from 6 to 8 to 10 in next sets or should I increase weight from 5 to 7.5 to 10 KG? and the reps go down from like 10 to 8 to 6?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You could do both. Increase volume first by adding reps up to 10, then increase the resistance and go back to 6 reps, rinse and repeat (that's called a double progression).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Which is better and is there a difference? or should I maintain my rep count whilst increasing weight?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As explained before, they complement each other.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Then again, looking at my body frame of height 5'10, weight 115 pounds, 26 inch waist, 11 inch biceps and just chicken legs, which will be better for me?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What would be better for you is to do a little of both, and a lot of sleeping & eating. You are still 19, when your hormones are still highly tuned for growing. Take advantage of the next 10 years before your testosterone starts naturally dropping and go train.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend that you read this article by coach, writer and world record powerlifter Greg Nuckols: <a href=\"http://www.strengtheory.com/powerlifters-should-train-more-like-bodybuilders/\">Why powerlifters should train more like bodybuilders</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/13
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27314",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16217/"
] |
27,346 |
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>At my gym, I see many people weighing themselves while exercising. They are usually in their gym clothes, with shoes, socks, etc.</p>
<p>My immediate thought was that it's <strong><em>idiotic.</em></strong> This is because the clothes and shoes add to the body weight; also, the weight will fluctuate because of water intake, food consumption, etc.</p>
<h3>Question</h3>
<p>However, before dismissing this practice <em>(or engaging some of these people about their goals)</em>, <strong><em>is there any reason <em>(outside of not having a personal scale at home)</em> where it's efficient or acceptable to weigh yourself while exercising?</em></strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27358,
"author": "john3103",
"author_id": 10879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10879",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>The key thing to track one's weight is consistency.</strong> If each day you weigh yourself on the same scale, wearing the same clothes, and with roughly the same food/water/excreta weight, you should be getting a acceptably consistent weight. You ARE correct that different exercises and water intake will significantly shift one's weight one way or another. Perhaps these individuals are carefully tracking their water-intake and output. There's also no harm in weighing yourself more often (so long as you take the appropriate number of 'grains of salt' with that measurement). </p>\n\n<p>Also - if someone was trying to sweat-out a certain poundage on a treadmill (i.e. so they could 'make weight' as a boxer or MMA fighter) </p>\n\n<p>Lastly, many people are dumb and assume that a 30-minute treadmill session will result in several pounds of fat loss, and they're trying to instantly see the results of their efforts. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27384,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Useful uses for the scale just prior or just after training</strong></p>\n\n<p>I can't answer for what people I've never observed have done, but there is at least one legitimate reason for weighing yourself just prior to training:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Check progress toward weight class in competition conditions (i.e. if I can pass the weight class in full gear I have nothing to worry about at weigh-ins)</li>\n<li>Tracking progress when doing bodyweight exercises</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Even though I primarily focus on training for power lifting, I still incorporate certain bodyweight exercises such as push ups, dips, pull ups, etc. For me a set ends when I can't get a another full rep in. If my reps go down, but my weight goes up it might still be a net improvement.</p>\n\n<p>In either case, this number is kept separate from the weight I use for tracking general weight loss. My full gear weight can be up to 10 lbs heavier than my morning weight tracking due to water retention and the weight of the gear. The purpose of weighing myself just prior to training is simply for tracking my training progress--and is particularly important when I do body weight work.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Useful case for weighing yourself multiple times</strong></p>\n\n<p>The process of making weight for a competition sometimes requires dehydrating yourself just long enough to make your weight class. These people have already dieted down using normal means, and the effort to get those last couple pounds off means they have to sweat out or spit out the excess water until they hit the target goal.</p>\n\n<p>During this time, the athlete will be weighing themselves multiple times to see how close to their goal they've become. After the athlete weighs in, they start the process of rehydrating and refeeding themselves so they can be in the best competitive shape (and more than their weigh-in weight by several pounds).</p>\n\n<p>An athlete can reduce as much as 2-3% of their body mass safely using this process, but I've seen cases where it went poorly. A bad rehydration process cost a friend of mine several pounds on the platform as he had diarrhea. Trying to reduce more than your body can handle will require hospitalization to get back to proper health. Below are a few resources that detail the correct way to do this:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-weight-for-powerlifting/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cutting Weight for Powerlifting</a> <em>(Power Lifting to Win)</em>: male perspective</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2014/01/27/cutting-weight-rehydrating/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cutting Weight and Rehydrating</a> <em>(Juggernaut Training Systems)</em>: female perspective</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Scale addiction</strong></p>\n\n<p>There are those that go too far down the path of over-analysis. In that sense, the feedback from the scale is more like an addiction than it is useful feedback. While your weight can change during the course of a workout, it's usually not enough to impact anything. If you see someone getting on the scale several times during the course of a workout, they are most likely doing something very wrong.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/15
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27346",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894/"
] |
27,349 |
<p>My 15 year old is a sophomore running on the Varsity Cross Country Team. Last year he did Very good running with freshmen. So well that this year he is the #3 Runner on the varsity team. He is not doing so well because he is running against bigger stronger opposition this year. He is tall and lanky, I have been encourage him to start doing some type of training and diet to have some muscle gain. I feel he is getting bullied at the starting line because he is easily pushed or boxed in when the race starts. If he had more muscle i feel he wouldnt be pushed inside so easy and I feel he would be able to finish races stronger. He says muscle and gaining weight will slow him down. What is your opinion </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27351,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We have had two high school Cross Country runners with one a senior this year. </p>\n\n<p>First: Let the coach plan the weight workouts. They will know best what the individual athlete needs and I would hate to have a public forum dictate what a high school athlete should be doing while not running. If anything they could do basic core workouts without weights. This would include planks, situps, pushups etc. I would look at what the collegiate athletes are doing and what they look like. I think you will notice they are all pencil thin.</p>\n\n<p>To answer the second part of your question: General a Cross Country race is not won at the start. I am assuming they are running a 5k and they have a mass start. Your son will have time to move to the front of the pack with in the for 800m. If he is anything like runners in Minnesota, to win he will have to be around 16 minutes and he will drop many of the other runners by KM 3. (They will be running a little faster than a 5 minute pace.) Our first meet the winner of the race won with a pace of 4:55</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27353,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Running in a crowd is not necessarily dependent on having large muscle mass, but rather technique and being willing to stand your ground. Brent is right, the race isn't won in the first 800m, but it can be lost. I would assume that the coaches are doing drills and workouts to emphasize being able to near sprint out of the gate for position (400 - 800m work) and then be able to settle into a race pace. Cross country starts are kind of like the quote from \"Days of Thunder\" - \"No, no, he didn't slam you, he didn't bump you, he didn't nudge you... he rubbed you. And rubbin, son, is racin\"</p>\n\n<p>I would echo the statement that if he is doing that well as a younger member of the team, he has talent, and the best thing to do is let the coaches do what they are paid to do. There are many of us that are/have been runners (I ran x-country through college), but we don't know the specifics of the team training program. We could recommend things, but we don't know if that would help or hinder.</p>\n\n<p>It's also possible that growth is having an impact, and things will settle a bit when that slows down. Just relax, and if it keeps going, just (gently) let the coach know you have concerns about his starting techinque. Most likely they have it down as something to work on already. :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27355,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>To answer your question directly, I'll point you to a previous question about <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/19490/what-are-some-good-strength-training-routines-for-runners/19501#19501\">incorporating running and strength training together</a>.</p>\n\n<p>More broadly though, I think it's worth noting that the cross country coach at your local high school probably isn't a high level trainer putting people into the Olympics (or even an xc scholarship).</p>\n\n<p>If you want to make the biggest dent, I would find a coach for the non-xc season who can develop your son more directly and work with him for the ~9 months when most high school xc runners slack off or at best are just doing unstructured running. There are some <a href=\"http://runnersconnect.net/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">online coaching services</a> that you can consider, or possibly you can find a high quality team and talk to one of their coaches directly. </p>\n\n<p>As a former junior athlete, I can definitely say that the defining characteristic for high level juniors is whether or not they're adhering to a professional program. Hodge-podging stuff from Runner's World and a part time high school coach will definitely make him competitive, but you can do a lot more. </p>\n\n<p>When you look for coaches, look for ones who have proven experience with your son's age group and your son's distance(s).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/15
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27349",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15689/"
] |
27,361 |
<p>I'm 20 6'3 and trying to gain strength with very little increase in my size.Are there any specific things i should be doing when lifting so i gain muscle strength without any size increases? i notice a lot of powerlifters have size on them as well, which is not what i want.I want their strength but not the size.Keep in mind I'm not aiming to be a powerlifter.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27364,
"author": "ljk",
"author_id": 10681,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10681",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not sure if you're a beginner, but I'd say don't worry about \"increase size.\" The type of size you see on powerlifters take years of intense training, proper dieting, and carefully portioned supplements. </p>\n\n<p>I'd say the fear of \"getting too big\" is just as silly as \"I only want to lose weight in my [body part/area]\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27366,
"author": "Fort Ash",
"author_id": 17940,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17940",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The way it happened for me. And I must note that I didn't want this to happen yet I could not prevent it.</p>\n\n<p>Go to the gym, get yourself a couple of strenght and muscle gain oriented programs and do them as instructed. Increase the weight everytime you can and just stick to it. Do this for 5 months. While you do this you should also eat less (aim to be cut) and drink protein supplements (100% whey is by far the safest option). Then after 5 months stop exercising for a whole month and stop drinking protein. Your body will start to dissolve your muscles but your strength will remain. After that 1 month just start it over again. Key note: Do not eat a lot, eat maintenance or less.</p>\n\n<p>I am a steady gym goer, I'm counting my third year in the gym exercising 5 times a week religiously. This summer I injured my foot and I was unable to workout for an entire month. I lost a great deal (a great deal) of the muscles I had, but when I returned to the gym I was heart-broken to find out that I didn't lose or only bearly lost my strength. Now I'll have to work twice as hard just to get where I was before.</p>\n\n<p>Try this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27368,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two ways to approach this that can work together.</p>\n<h3>Diet</h3>\n<p>Your body's size is largely dependent on how much you eat, followed by how much of <em>what</em> you eat, and then by physical activity. The key point here is how much you eat. If you eat at maintenance, your body weight will remain the same (you might lose fat over time). You can also eat slightly lower than maintenance (no more than 10%-15% below). In this case your weight will decline, most of that weight will be fat loss. This also means that if you frequently eat above maintenance (once in a while won't hurt you) then you <em>will</em> gain size whether that's from fat or muscle.</p>\n<p>Note: After a while, eating at or below maintenance may affect your ability to continue getting stronger. In this scenario, it may benefit you to eat above maintenance for a while to increase strength further and then cut back down.</p>\n<h3>Training</h3>\n<p>Training for maximal strength tends to revolve around lower reps per set and a lower overall volume. If you are a beginner, then following a beginner's program is your best option at the moment.</p>\n<p>If not a beginner, structuring your training around a lower rep scheme will provide more benefit for your goals. Sticking to around 5 or fewer reps per set will provide more stimulus for your body to neurologically adapt to moving heavy weight (that's what strength is: your efficiently using your muscles).</p>\n<p>Following a good powerlifting program or Olympic weightlifting program (doesn't mean you have to compete) will also provide you the training you seek to increase strength. As long as you don't eat everything in sight, your size will remain more-or-less the same.</p>\n<p>A final note: as you lose fat you will appear to get bigger even if your size hasn't actually changed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27371,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There have been studies on that topic and it happens that strength more or less depends on 3 factors:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Cross-sectional area of your muscles (i.e. your \"size\") is the biggest/most reliable factor</li>\n<li>Neural efficiency is another factor: when you lift heavy things you get used to lifting heavy things</li>\n<li>Anthropomorphic factors, i.e. your leverages which will be more or less good for some lifts</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Powerlifting and general strength training consists (to simplify) in two phases (which are trained alternatively or concurrently depending on the level of the trainee and the training methodology):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Accumulating volume (think of volume as an abstract value quantifying how much work you have done) to generate hypertrophy. Hypertrophy helps you get stronger (see mainly factor 1), healthier by stabilizing your joints and helping your lift more safely, and in shape by burning calories.</li>\n<li>Taking the existing muscle mass and making it more efficient at lifting heavy weights (what we usually call \"strong\"). This is dipping more into factor 2.</li>\n<li>(there is also a 3rd phase called peaking, but that's purely for pre-competition purpose so I'll avoid talking about it)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Therefore, depending on what you mean by not getting bigger, you will either severely limit yourself to fighting for bits of neural efficiency out of your existing muscle tissue, push through and risk your health, or you will have to accept some degree of size increase. However, if your only fear is to become too heavy, rest assured that it will mainly depend on what you actually eat as your body cannot create muscle out of thin air.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, limiting your diet will mean that your body will have a harder time recovering from your training (as the absence of food is seen as another stressor), so you have to adapt your training accordingly.</p>\n\n<h3>Training</h3>\n\n<p>Look for low volume training regimen as they will not stress your body too much, allowing you to get stronger on a minimal diet. If you are just starting, I would recommend starting with something like <a href=\"http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program#Three_Flavors_of_Starting_Strength\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Starting Strength\">Starting Strength</a>, and follow it by the <a href=\"http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Texas_Method\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"the Texas Method\">Texas Method</a> once you will have stalled on your lifts. Once you've exhausted your gains on those two training templates, you will have to start gaining or stop there.</p>\n\n<h3>Diet & Recovery</h3>\n\n<p>Since you need to be in a caloric maintenance or deficit, it is important that you get your diet and recovery factors dialed in 100%. The first step towards that is to get your daily protein requirement so that all of your food is used intelligently. The usual cut off is 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, but you can go as low as 0.8g/lb with no harm.</p>\n\n<p>Recovery-wise, you <strong>need</strong> to sleep. Sleep is the most important recovery factor (along with food) and you are going to hurt yourself if you do not get at least 7h30 (+/- 30 min) per night.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck and train safely.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27374,
"author": "Hituptony",
"author_id": 6884,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6884",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"Train for Strength\" can mean very different things to different people. </p>\n\n<p>By strength do you mean muscular endurance, functional strength, powerlifting strength?</p>\n\n<p>To train to be a powerlifter - you will need to break down your muscles and rebuild them via protein synthesis and recovery periods in order to maximize your potential with the given goal with powerlifting.</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest reading up on Sarcoplasmic vs Myofibril Hypertrophy training types \n<a href=\"http://www.bodyvision.fitness/blog/hypertrophy-difference-between-myofibril-and-sarcoplasmic/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.bodyvision.fitness/blog/hypertrophy-difference-between-myofibril-and-sarcoplasmic/</a></p>\n\n<p>To train for muscular endurance - You can definitely keep your weights lighter and reps higher to stimulate muscular endurance and achieve a physique that will do more sculpting and oppose to a strength program which will give you more mass in your muscles by tearing fibers and creating scar tissue around those parts of the muscles thereby making the size of your muscles grow.</p>\n\n<p>If you lift heavy enough to stimulate a response, chances are you will grow even slightly. After 4 weeks of a consistent program one will notice gains. It may not be so noticeable that you're just a giant now, but your shoulders might be wider and more defined. Your back may be wider or thicker. Your arms may be more vascular, etc. These are side effects of effective lifting.</p>\n\n<p>My question then becomes, What's your goal? Hope this helps!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27375,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think a lot of the other answers are great, in particular <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/27371/7091\">this one</a>, but I'll give you another option to consider: kettlebells. </p>\n\n<p>\"Training for strength\", simply put, requires a degree of muscle enlargement because the size of a muscle has a significant (but by no means total) influence on strength and power output. </p>\n\n<p>Barbells are, point blank, the most effective way to build strength. If there was a better method, athletes who need strength with ditch barbell training and use the alternative. </p>\n\n<p>I wrote up <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/26123/7091\">a simple (but effective) barbell-less program centered around kettlebells</a> recently, and you might want to consider that.</p>\n\n<p>I think most people would consider Pavel Tsatsoline plenty strong, and to my knowledge he <em>only</em> does kettlebell and body weight training. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/hc20u.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/hc20u.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p>In fact, in <a href=\"http://amzn.to/1iwBowB\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">his book</a> Pavel mentions that a big reason kettlebells are popular in law enforcement is for folks who don't want to look big and want to keep hypertrophy to a minimum. I won't get into the not-really-saying-anything-specific term of \"<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_training\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">functional fitness</a>\", but kettlebell exercises are almost entirely multi-joint and frequently full-body. They offer a good blend of muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular stimuluation, and technical movement. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/16
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27361",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17989/"
] |
27,365 |
<p>I'm doing pretty good exercises for my abs, but i never feel the usual pain i feel when i exercise other muscles, why ? And does this mean I'm not having progress or not doing enough ? I like to feel this pain and would like to feel it on abs too</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27369,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h3>You Won't Have DOMS on Your Abs.......and that's an awesome thing!</h3>\n\n<p>\n Your abs muscles' primary function is to <strong><em>stabilize your upper body;</em></strong> this comprises more than half of your body weight.\n</p>\n\n<p>They also assist your lower body with your numerous movement, balance, and co-ordination.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>What do you think would happen if your core is so sore it can't keep you up?</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>\n Because these muscles are constantly working, they easily bounce back from any stress applied to them <em>(similar to your heart muscles when stressed)</em>.\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does this mean I'm not having progress or not doing enough?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong><em>Negatory!</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>First, having DOMS isn't a definite indication that you're having progress. It's simply your body's reaction to the previous work done.</p>\n\n<p>Any soreness felt should be gone in minutes or hours.</p>\n\n<p>If you perform your exercise with medium to high intensity, you should feel the effects. One of the effects I feel is the constriction in the muscles after the exercises. My mid-region will usually feel an inward push by the muscles. Another effect is <em>(and this usually happens if you have a low body fat %)</em> that the muscles should actually looked more engorged than usual.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Should You Feel The Burn During The Exercises?</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong><em>Absolutely!</em></strong> If you don't, increase the intensity.</p>\n\n<h3>Caution</h3>\n\n<ul>\n <li><p><strong>A lot of people <em>(at least the ones I've observed)</em> perform the core exercises too fast.</strong> Many people turn the exercises into cardio. Core exercises should be done with slow speed. Pause briefly at the top and bottom of each rep and actively engage the muscles.</p></li>\n <li><strong><em>Utilize the full ROM (Range of Motion)</em></strong>. Because core exercises are actually difficult when performed properly, a ot of people don't utilize the full ROM. <strong><em>The muscles have to be fully expanded and contracted to be activated.</em></strong></li>\n<li><strong><em>Too many reps</em></strong>. If you fully engage your abs while training, you shouldn't be able to perform a lot of reps. My recommendation is never to perform more than 20 reps for each exercise per set.</li>\n<li><strong><em>Your exercises should comprise those that engage the front muscles and the side muscles.</em></strong> Many engage the front muscles and ignore the sides; the benefits will be minimal this way.</li>\n<li>Lastly, <strong><em>many perform the exercises that activate the upper part of the abs (such as crunches) and ignore those that activate the lower part (such as leg raises).</em></strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Conclusion</h3>\n\n<p>Forget about DOMS for your abs. Focus on actively engaging them with high intensity and you'll feel and see the effects.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27370,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>And does this mean I'm not having progress or not doing enough?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There’s a common perception that <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_onset_muscle_soreness\">DOMS</a> is a valid indicator for muscle hypertrophy, and, is a desirable goal for muscular gain. It’s generally accepted that DOMS is <strong>not</strong> caused by lactic acid build up, as was originally thought, but, actually occurs <a href=\"http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/doms-the-good-the-bad-and-what-it-really-means-to-your-training\">due to connective tissue micro trauma</a>. It’s a byproduct of <a href=\"http://www.nsca.com/uploadedfiles/nsca/resources/pdf/certification/quizzes/quiz_pack_articles/october_2013_35.5.pdf\">EIMD</a> (Exercise Induced Muscle Damage). Exercises that emphasize the eccentric phase (lengthening or stretching of the muscle) have a more likely chance to result in DOMS. However, muscles tend to adapt to DOMS by preventing future muscle damage and soreness if the exercise is repeated in the same manner. So, even if DOMS was a valid goal (which it should not be), you would need to alter the stress placed upon the muscle (eg. Different exercises, more weight, different angles, etc.) in order to cause a DOMS reaction.</p>\n\n<p>Current research indicates that there is <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net/publication/221841567_Does_Exercise-Induced_Muscle_Damage_Play_a_Role_in_Skeletal_Muscle_Hypertrophy\">no causal relationship</a> to assume that DOMS/EIMD is a valid indicator for muscular progress (hypertrophy). As a result, I would suggest using a different indicator for your progress.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27376,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/19157/7091\">DOMS</a> has nothing to do with gains.</p>\n\n<p>Some exercises, like barbell good mornings, will wreck your hamstrings with DOMS, but that is because it's a lengthening (eccentric) movement, which is where DOMS shows up the most.</p>\n\n<p>Concentric (shortening) and isometric (held motionless under tension) are not commonly DOMS inducing, and are primarily how abdominals are used. Your abs are braced tight (isometrically) during the deadlift, and contract (concentrically) during sit ups and squats.</p>\n\n<p>If you wanted to cause DOMS in your abs, you can do something like an ab wheel, and rollout very slowly with your abs under tension, causing eccentric behavior. </p>\n\n<p>But trust me (and every other human who trains) on this one: if eccentric exercises (ie: DOMS causing) was the most effective way to train, we would all be doing eccentric exercises. Some eccentric exercises are good, but it's not common. What's a better way to increase your bench: add more weight and push it up, or add more weight and slowly lower it down? They both might be beneficial, but the concentric (tightening of your triceps and pecs) is what produces the power output and produces gains. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/16
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27365",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15362/"
] |
27,377 |
<p>I've been going to gym for about 3-4 month now.
In my diet I tried to eat 2g of protein per 1kg of body mass, ~0.5g of fat per 1kg of body mass, and keep my calories intake >= calories burned overall. I gained some mass (both muscle and fat presumably). </p>
<p>The training program was mainly 4 sets of 8-12 reps, with following exercises(3 days a week):</p>
<pre><code>1) bench press, incline bench press, crossover chest,
pec machine, dumbbell shoulder raises, barbell shoulder raises,
biceps curls
2) wide grip pull-ups, bent over barbell row,
wide grip lat pull down, seated machine row,
seated cable row, dips (triceps version),
cable rope overhead triceps, one arm dumbbell triceps
3) barbell squat, leg press, seated leg curl,
lying leg curls, calves raises, various abs exercises
</code></pre>
<p>I increased weights somewhere about when I could do 4х10 with current weights.</p>
<p>Now I'm going to go for caloric deficit (~300-500kcal) (with same 2g of protein and ~0.5g of fat per 1kg of body mass, but less carbs) to reduce body fat and keep as much strength and volume as possible. How should I approach my workout routine in this period? I suppose adding weight is not a good idea on caloric deficit? (I do realize my routine was not ideal from the start)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27369,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h3>You Won't Have DOMS on Your Abs.......and that's an awesome thing!</h3>\n\n<p>\n Your abs muscles' primary function is to <strong><em>stabilize your upper body;</em></strong> this comprises more than half of your body weight.\n</p>\n\n<p>They also assist your lower body with your numerous movement, balance, and co-ordination.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>What do you think would happen if your core is so sore it can't keep you up?</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>\n Because these muscles are constantly working, they easily bounce back from any stress applied to them <em>(similar to your heart muscles when stressed)</em>.\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does this mean I'm not having progress or not doing enough?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong><em>Negatory!</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>First, having DOMS isn't a definite indication that you're having progress. It's simply your body's reaction to the previous work done.</p>\n\n<p>Any soreness felt should be gone in minutes or hours.</p>\n\n<p>If you perform your exercise with medium to high intensity, you should feel the effects. One of the effects I feel is the constriction in the muscles after the exercises. My mid-region will usually feel an inward push by the muscles. Another effect is <em>(and this usually happens if you have a low body fat %)</em> that the muscles should actually looked more engorged than usual.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Should You Feel The Burn During The Exercises?</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong><em>Absolutely!</em></strong> If you don't, increase the intensity.</p>\n\n<h3>Caution</h3>\n\n<ul>\n <li><p><strong>A lot of people <em>(at least the ones I've observed)</em> perform the core exercises too fast.</strong> Many people turn the exercises into cardio. Core exercises should be done with slow speed. Pause briefly at the top and bottom of each rep and actively engage the muscles.</p></li>\n <li><strong><em>Utilize the full ROM (Range of Motion)</em></strong>. Because core exercises are actually difficult when performed properly, a ot of people don't utilize the full ROM. <strong><em>The muscles have to be fully expanded and contracted to be activated.</em></strong></li>\n<li><strong><em>Too many reps</em></strong>. If you fully engage your abs while training, you shouldn't be able to perform a lot of reps. My recommendation is never to perform more than 20 reps for each exercise per set.</li>\n<li><strong><em>Your exercises should comprise those that engage the front muscles and the side muscles.</em></strong> Many engage the front muscles and ignore the sides; the benefits will be minimal this way.</li>\n<li>Lastly, <strong><em>many perform the exercises that activate the upper part of the abs (such as crunches) and ignore those that activate the lower part (such as leg raises).</em></strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Conclusion</h3>\n\n<p>Forget about DOMS for your abs. Focus on actively engaging them with high intensity and you'll feel and see the effects.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27370,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>And does this mean I'm not having progress or not doing enough?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There’s a common perception that <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_onset_muscle_soreness\">DOMS</a> is a valid indicator for muscle hypertrophy, and, is a desirable goal for muscular gain. It’s generally accepted that DOMS is <strong>not</strong> caused by lactic acid build up, as was originally thought, but, actually occurs <a href=\"http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/doms-the-good-the-bad-and-what-it-really-means-to-your-training\">due to connective tissue micro trauma</a>. It’s a byproduct of <a href=\"http://www.nsca.com/uploadedfiles/nsca/resources/pdf/certification/quizzes/quiz_pack_articles/october_2013_35.5.pdf\">EIMD</a> (Exercise Induced Muscle Damage). Exercises that emphasize the eccentric phase (lengthening or stretching of the muscle) have a more likely chance to result in DOMS. However, muscles tend to adapt to DOMS by preventing future muscle damage and soreness if the exercise is repeated in the same manner. So, even if DOMS was a valid goal (which it should not be), you would need to alter the stress placed upon the muscle (eg. Different exercises, more weight, different angles, etc.) in order to cause a DOMS reaction.</p>\n\n<p>Current research indicates that there is <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net/publication/221841567_Does_Exercise-Induced_Muscle_Damage_Play_a_Role_in_Skeletal_Muscle_Hypertrophy\">no causal relationship</a> to assume that DOMS/EIMD is a valid indicator for muscular progress (hypertrophy). As a result, I would suggest using a different indicator for your progress.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27376,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/19157/7091\">DOMS</a> has nothing to do with gains.</p>\n\n<p>Some exercises, like barbell good mornings, will wreck your hamstrings with DOMS, but that is because it's a lengthening (eccentric) movement, which is where DOMS shows up the most.</p>\n\n<p>Concentric (shortening) and isometric (held motionless under tension) are not commonly DOMS inducing, and are primarily how abdominals are used. Your abs are braced tight (isometrically) during the deadlift, and contract (concentrically) during sit ups and squats.</p>\n\n<p>If you wanted to cause DOMS in your abs, you can do something like an ab wheel, and rollout very slowly with your abs under tension, causing eccentric behavior. </p>\n\n<p>But trust me (and every other human who trains) on this one: if eccentric exercises (ie: DOMS causing) was the most effective way to train, we would all be doing eccentric exercises. Some eccentric exercises are good, but it's not common. What's a better way to increase your bench: add more weight and push it up, or add more weight and slowly lower it down? They both might be beneficial, but the concentric (tightening of your triceps and pecs) is what produces the power output and produces gains. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/17
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27377",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/12044/"
] |
27,378 |
<p>I am skinny (178 cm, 63 kg) but have a lot of visceral fat around the belly.</p>
<p>Should I bulk up first then worry about my belly fat? Or should I burn the fat first? </p>
<p>Ideally, I would like to achieve both simultaneously, but a bit of scavenging around the Internet revealed that losing fat and gaining muscles at the same time is impossible.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27379,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The best way to lose visceral fat is to do high intensity exercise, running intervals is a good way. In fact, the amount of exercise you get might have an effect on wether fat is stored viscerally or subcutaneously. Sumo wrestlers are known for being very fat, but they are also highly active and very strong, and they don't have much visceral fat or metabolic problems. </p>\n\n<p>So if you plan to do high intensity exercise, bulking up is fine, otherwise you might want to cut down first. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27381,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to wildly disagree with Mårten and forbid you from cutting. You are already extremely skinny and it's going to be near to impossible for you to get rid of that last little bit of belly fat without having any muscle in your body.</p>\n\n<p>Start eating +3000 kcal every day, lift heavy every other day. Until you've gained about 15 kg (which will take a while) don't even worry about cutting. You'll feel and look much better before that, though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27385,
"author": "Jose Roman",
"author_id": 13933,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/13933",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you start lifting, progressive overloading, and eating at maintenance your body composition will change and that visceral fat most likely will go away.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/17
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27378",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17996/"
] |
27,386 |
<p>This is what I look like if I flex: <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZLrwZ.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZLrwZ.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>But if I relax, my belly actually sticks out quite a bit: <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BEBV0.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BEBV0.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>Is this normal? Should I try to lose some fat?</p>
<p>EDIT: admittedly in the second picture I was purposely slouching in order to enhance the effect. Here's a picture I've just taken in which I'm standing as I normally would.</p>
<p>Visceral fat is extremely unhealthy, as far as I've read, so that's what I'm asking about. <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPK2u.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPK2u.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27391,
"author": "BKE",
"author_id": 5752,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/5752",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is perfectly normal. There is nothing inherently wrong with a relaxed abdomen \"sticking out\" like that. This is how a human beings look like when their body is in rest-and-digest mode. Even the abdomen of strong, perfectly healthy people can stick out, when they relax completely.</p>\n\n<p>That does not mean you should spend the whole day like that of course. If you have an active lifestyle, a balanced exercise program, and your diet is under control, there is no reason to obsess over your looks. In fact, misguided advice to always tense and pull in your abdomen can be bad for your digestion and can cause unnecessary stress. </p>\n\n<p>What is really causing your stomach to stick out on the second picture is called an anterior pelvic tilt. If it becomes chronic, it might cause back problems, and require fixing (preferably by a physio). But again, it might not be a chronic problem for you right now. If you want to read more about it, take a look at <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/2635/loose-lower-belly-bellow-naval-area/2638#2638\">this</a> answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27448,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h3>Is It Normal To Have A Belly When You Relax?</h3>\n\n<p><strong><em>Absolutely!</em></strong> If you've got a gut, you've got a gut; you can't be tensing your body all day; that will wear and tire you out quickly.</p>\n\n<h3>Should You Have A Belly When Relaxed?</h3>\n\n<p><strong><em>If your goal is to have six pack</em></strong>, it's not acceptable. Apart from any medical issue, I see it as a result of two issues:</p>\n\n<ul>\n <li><strong><em>Your body fat % isn't low enough.</em></strong> The lower the body fat percentage, the lower the gut, even when relaxed.</li>\n <li><strong><em>Your core muscles (especially the lower section) are still relatively weak.</em></strong> When you flexed, you were actively engaging those muscles, which was why the gut got pulled inwards. To get rid of guts, <strong><em>those muscles should naturally become tense.</em></strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>How Do I Make My Core Muscles Naturally Tense?</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Perform more full body exercises to engage your core muscles.</em></strong> Pullups, chinups, and pushups are great body-weight exercises <em>(although they hit the upper body more)</em> that strengthen the core. Deadlifts and squats <em>(back and front)</em> also perform wonders.</li>\n<li><strong><em>Don't ignore leg days.</em></strong> Unless performing isolated exercises, many of the leg exercises strengthen the core. Lunges, good mornings, front squats, standing cross squats, etc are good exercises to perform.</li>\n<li>Set apart time for core/abs training. Ask people with <strong><em>well-defined abs</em></strong>, they'll tell you that they set aside time to work on their abs. All the exercises mentioned above engage the core; however, the core muscles aren't the primary muscles engaged. Performing exercises such as Russian twists, leg raises, dead hangs, planks jack knifes, etc strengthen the core.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When you perform these exercises <em>(especially the core exercises)</em> often, you should begin to notice the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n <li>Your core muscles naturally stay tense for most part of your days <em>(without you having to suck in your stomach)</em>; they become naturally engaged.</li>\n <li>Your core actually feels tight, as if you're being constricted <em>(and nope, it won't feel like you're being suffocated)</em></li>\n <li>Simple movement such as light stretches readily make your muscles tense.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>At this point, your muscles will be tense even in your <strong><em>\"relaxed state\"</em></strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, all these won't make much difference without a low body fat %. The lower the %, the more rewards your efforts will see.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/17
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27386",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16348/"
] |
27,387 |
<p>I never did a set of sprints for a running routine/workout until this week. The workout didn't kick my butt as much as the recovery which is still going on, so I'm really looking for reasons to keep doing them. (other than: pain = improvement)</p>
<p>What are the benefits to including a sprint workout as part of a weekly routine which is focused more on running long distances like a marathon? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27395,
"author": "Tonny Madsen",
"author_id": 1664,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1664",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Nowadays, most training plans for Marathons, includes both lots of LSR and later a fair bit of speed work. The common idea is to first build up your ability to run long distances on fat and later add speed. As the first part will inevitably slow you pace a bit over time, the later part is needed to get the speed back into the run.</p>\n\n<p>E.g.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>the first 8-12 weeks: many <em>very</em> slow runs with pace <target pace>+45sec/km (for Marathons). So if I have a Marathon pace of 5:00 min/km, I go for 5:45 min/km for these runs. The distance gradually is increased to 60 km/week - usually over 3-4 runs every week.</li>\n<li>the last 8-12 week: more and more speed work with long intervals (1-2 km) with pace <target pace>-30sec/km (for Marathons). So I go for 4:30 min/km for these intervals.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27399,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>With the exception of a track event, most everything else will have hills. I've heard hill repeats referred to as \"speed work in disguise\". </p>\n\n<p>What they have in common is rather than the steady-state output you can build up on the flats, you need the ability to generate a lot more output, and then recover quickly back to your steady-state maintainable race place. </p>\n\n<p>Runners will talk about \"cresting\", which is that once you get to the top of a hill, rather than slow down and recover, you rapidly resume your faster steady-state race pace.</p>\n\n<p>It's all <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_training\">interval training</a> (a.k.a. fartlek), and deals with the fact that real world running requires shifting power outputs and rapid recovery. </p>\n\n<p>Not directly answering your question, but another reason to have \"fast\" days (not necessarily sprinting and shorter distances/time) is simply to learn what a race pace is.</p>\n\n<p>If you are running long-slower a lot, you won't get a lot of experience at your race pace. Boiled down, I think these are the main components of training for a distance runner:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Distance / time. Being able to run farther (in distance) and longer (in time) than your race.</li>\n<li>Speed. Being able to run your race at the fastest pace you can sustain.</li>\n<li>Intervals. Being able to modify output quickly and more importantly to <em>recover</em> quickly from increased output. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You're right though. Running fast is hard on the body, although as any sprinter can attest to, you will get used to it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27405,
"author": "ALM",
"author_id": 16264,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16264",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your \"steady\" pace will get faster : the aim is to run faster for a longer time. It also makes running \"slow\" easy in comparison. </p>\n\n<p>I ran my first half last year and only did 40-90 min steady runs for training. This year I included more intervals and hills, with one long run per week. I definitely feel faster on my long runs ! The important fact is that I don't feel myself slowing down at the end of the long run.</p>\n\n<p>I guess the important thing during long-distance events is to have a \"fast\" steady pace that you can hold for a long time and not slowing down in the last 3-4 miles.</p>\n\n<p>That's what the speedwork is for. Running long doesn't necessarily mean running slow. Enjoy !</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27732,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Basic speed workouts have these benefits:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Fast twitch muscle fiber recruitment:</strong> speed work is one of the only ways to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers. If you do sprint training, your body will learn how to recruit those muscle fibers for faster running in workouts and when finishing races.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Puts a large amount of stress on the central nervous system:</strong> by stressing your CNS, you learn to deal with high amounts of fatigue.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Encourages better biomechanics:</strong> people sprint on their forefeet, so by sprinting you can learn to run slower with better biomechanics.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Improves the body's system for storing and returning elastic energy:</strong> when sprinting, you stiffen your leg to prepare for impact as fast and powerfully as possible, so you are teaching your body to store and return that elastic energy as fast as possible. This will carry over to running on flatter ground.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Provides a foundation to build to longer, but still fast, race-specific workouts:</strong> a biomechanical and neuromuscular base from sprint workouts early in the season will allow you to move to longer, but still fast, workouts as the season progresses. You will be able to move from basic speed to speed endurance to anaerobic speed endurance much more effectively than if you didn't have that foundation.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/17
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27387",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8485/"
] |
27,388 |
<p>I'm 14 (think it's important for this question) and I love gym (safe way, no crazy weights). I read a lot about it and I pass through various articles saying that if you want to increase gains you need to eat like 5000 calories. <strong>First of all, I wonder if that is just to bulk as fast as you can then to cut, or is it to consistently build muscle without gaining a lot of fat?</strong></p>
<p>I know I'm growing, meaning that I need more food and protein (2700 calories without working out; I always work out different muscles every day). And I looked up on the Internet and it seems like a lifting session takes about 400 calories, and adding that I have a crazy thing for doing random push-ups:</p>
<p><strong>Do I need to eat around 3500 - 4000 to grow muscle and still continue growing in size (height)?</strong></p>
<p>I don't have problem with proteins because it is easy to eat around 80 grams of protein a day, although I don't know how I am going to keep it natural when growing up. As for macro nutrients, which I understand are fat, carbohydrates and protein, I take them specially in a bread called "semas", 8 grams of fat, 8 grams of protein and about 350 calories (totally recommended if they sell them out of Mexico (lol)). </p>
<p>I know I won't grow crazy muscle, but it is good to see how definition, strength and size go up.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27394,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my personal opinion, 5000 seems very high unless you plan on competing at 18.</p>\n\n<p>If you consume only 80 grams of protein per day, that's roughly 320kcal, leaving 4680 calories from fats and carbohydrates. That also seems like a skewed ratio.</p>\n\n<p>I'm almost certain that doing this will make you fat. Strong, but fat. And since you want definition, this is not the way to go.</p>\n\n<p>At 14, you don't even need to worry too much about this. You will grow naturally for another half decade at least, and if you keep working out, and just eat <strong>right</strong> (not over the top), you'll be lean as hell without even doing anything else.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27398,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Beware of any blanket recommendations you read for anything fitness or nutrition related!</strong></p>\n\n<p>The recommendation may be correct... for a certain population. It doesn't mean it's correct for you personally.</p>\n\n<p>Your best bet is to:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Get and stay active</li>\n<li>Focus on slow and steady improvements</li>\n<li>Learn patience with the process</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Below are some very general nutritional guidelines that work for a large number of people:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>0.8g of protein per pound total body weight. 1g / pound is easier to remember and it won't hurt you at all.</li>\n<li>20-30% of your calories from fats. Fat has roughly 9 calories per gram.</li>\n<li>All the rest from carbs.</li>\n<li>Try to stay between 8-15% total body fat</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Based on studies, the most protein a person can make use of naturally is about 0.83 grams of protein per pound. Anything more simply goes unused for building muscle. The carbs are very important for fueling an active life style.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Slow and Steady</strong></p>\n\n<p>When trying to increase your body mass, or decrease your body fat, a measured pace will always beat out \"quick gains\".</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>When trying to get bigger: increase 200-300 calories per day, and attempt to keep it to 1 lbs more per month</li>\n<li>When trying to get smaller: decrease 400-500 calories per day, and attempt to keep it to 1 lbs less per week</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Just keep in mind that you are still growing, and the years 15-17 are when most boys grow the fastest. You'll probably grow faster than the increase pace I recommended. Don't freak out, just try to keep yourself in a healthy body fat range and enjoy process.</p>\n\n<p>Just jumping into 5,000 calories a day will likely make you fat. The people who need that kind of food worked up to that level over years of training.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Crazy Weights</strong></p>\n\n<p>I do recommend doing some training in the weight room. Again, I recommend slow and steady improvements. That said, don't let a number on the bar scare you. At one of my power lifting competitions, a 14 year old boy deadlifted over 315 lbs.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Check your resources</strong></p>\n\n<p>I invite you to verify my recommendations with other resources. I've found Juggernaut Training Systems and Strengtheory to be very good resources by people I respect. Much of what I am recommending I summarized from several articles from both of those sites.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27414,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, 5000 calories a day is almost as bad as eating 500 calories a day. At your age, you should be eating a little more calories than an average adult if you are exceptionally active but it should be a maximum of 3200 calories, not 5000. 5000 calories may also get you strong, but it will get you fat at the same time, as Alec stated. If you are cutting lots of calories, you will not grow tall. If you are eating about 2500-3000 calories a day, it will benefit you with muscle growth, and you will still grow taller, too, assuming your diet is clean. If you must know, I would say that 5000 calories a day leans closer to \"bulking and cutting,\" than \"building size.\" If people are eating that much and are muscular and shredded, they probably have a career lifting weights or spend all their free time in the gym, one or the other.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/18
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27388",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16807/"
] |
27,390 |
<p>I'm preparing for running a 30 km road race (18/19 miles) in two months.</p>
<p>For the moment I have achieved 21 km, twice last year and once this year (last week end).</p>
<p>I have been advised not to increase the running distance more than 10% each for each long run ( each week end for me). That means I plan something like running 22km, 24km, 26km, 28km, 30km, in the next week ends.</p>
<p>I wonder if is it considered harmfull to run a half-marathon each week end ? Does it make the possibility of injury higher ? Is it irresponsible for a training plan ?</p>
<p>Beside, during the working week, I run 3 times, 5 km.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27392,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you have 8 weeks left you have plenty of time to build your LSD base. Lets assume that your 21k was your week one, the rest of your LSD runs would look something like two weeks of increased distance, followed by an easy week, then another two weeks. You should then taper your last 2-3 weeks before your race. I think at the 30k distance you can make your training run farther than your race goal. If you were training for a marathon you would not do this. For example, my training (for a marathon) includes at least 4 - 30k runs, and 2 - 35-38k runs. </p>\n\n<p>You want to have a cycle of hard and easy to give your body sometime to recover while still building on the base. You should also consider two mid week workouts that would encompass tempo, speed and hills. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27393,
"author": "Tonny Madsen",
"author_id": 1664,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1664",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I cannot tell whether running 21+ km once a week is too much for you body, but I can say that I have done this weekly for the last 2 years (give and take) without any major problems. Just LSR (long slow runs), not races every week! I do 8-12 HM races a year and usually 2-3 marathons.</p>\n\n<p>One old rule-of-thump is that you should run 1.5 x you target distance on a weekly basis with one long run to take up a good part of this. The rest should be restitution runs, tempo runs and possibly intervals. For a 30 km target, I would run 5 km (rest), 10 km (tempo), 5 km (intervals), 15-20 km (LSR)... </p>\n\n<p>As for your plan, it is usually enough to run just 2/3 or 3/4 of the target distance. So in your case, you can do with 22 km. Likewise, if you train for a marathon, you usually don't run more than 30 km before the event itself.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/18
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27390",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4629/"
] |
27,402 |
<p>I know that cardio exercises are really important to fat burn and heart health.</p>
<p>But, for a amateur bodybuilder in bulking phase, cardio are really necessary? </p>
<p>What's the importance of doing it?</p>
<p>Will cardio disturb my gains?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27463,
"author": "Sid",
"author_id": 16280,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16280",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For bulking cardio is not really necessary.However, including moderate amounts cardio exercise into your bulking routine can help control and limit the amount of body fat gained during a bulking phase. Additionally, cardio exercise increases blood flow, delivering more oxygen to your muscles and removing waste products, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. The increase in blood flow to the muscles promotes muscle building by delivering fresh nutrients to the muscles needed for growth and aiding in recovery.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27464,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Cardio is not necessary for anything. It's just good for you (up to a certain point).</p>\n\n<p>Apart from that, it burns calories so usually people use it when they're trying to lose weight. If you're trying to gain weight but still want to take advantage of the benefits of cardio that Sid pointed out, simply eat more so that the calories you burn doing cardio won't affect your bulking phase.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/19
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27402",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18013/"
] |
27,407 |
<p>and thanks in advance for your help. I've been weightlifting a few months, and I'm wondering just how far below my my strength is.</p>
<p>I am a 19 year old male.
My questions are:
What should a reasonably fit man of my age(not sick, not overweight or otherwise disadvantaged) be able to lift? General standards such as bench presses, number of chinups that can be done, weight that can be bicep curled, etcetera.</p>
<p>Is there a somewhat widely accepted physical fitness test to measure myself against? Maybe an army test or something?</p>
<p>What should a somewhat athletic person of my age and height be able to lift?
My height is about 5'4" and my weight is around 130 pounds.</p>
<p>I weightlift once every two days, upper body only, and very low weights and few reps. I am, as said above, relatively small, and weightlifting is my only exercise. As such, how many calories should I attempt to eat every day?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27408,
"author": "Soda Pop",
"author_id": 18023,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18023",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>So you want to know how strong you should be? I think that no matter your age, height, weight, experience... everyone will be different there are no standards to compare to and better yet no real reason to unless you want to compete. Generally I believe that as long as you are healthy and you're stronger than you were the last time you lifted (to an extent) that in itself is strong enough.</p>\n\n<p>However, I did find this site when I was looking for strength standards which I can't really attest for: <a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Strength Standards</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I guess according to this site you should be able to bench around 125lbs? (1RM)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27409,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Before I say this, I should warn you you might not like everything that you hear. If you are a 5'4, 130 Ib 19 yr old male, your bench should be roughly 65 Ibs, curl 20-25 Ibs, and since your weight is generally low, you should be able to do about 20 chin ups with correct form. This is referring to a person of this description who has average fitness. However, a \"fitness test,\" is not all about the weight you can lift. In order to measure your fitness, you should try doing pull ups, push ups, crunches, and running. A person of your description with reasonable fitness should be able to do at least 25 push ups, 40 crunches, 6 pull ups, and run a mile in about 8-11 minutes. If they are doing under 15 of any of these other than pull ups or of they are taking more than 13-14 minutes to run the mile, they are out of shape. If they are doing 40 push ups, running the mile in under 8 minutes, etc., they are exceptionally fit. Fitness should be measured by calisthenics and cardio, not weights. Also, your calorie count should probably range about 1900 calories, to be healthy with what you are doing. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/20
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27407",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18022/"
] |
27,410 |
<p>In addition to the core barbell exercises (in a 5x5 programme) I sometimes add <strong>dips</strong> and <strong>chin-ups</strong> at the end of the workout.
However, these are always at <strong>bodyweight</strong> (I don't have a belt/chains).</p>
<p>Transfering this situation into a more <strong>generic question</strong>:
if I keep doing the same exercise at roughly the same weight, what are the long term effects?</p>
<ol>
<li>The first phase will be gaining strength (getting to, let's say, 3x5 or 5x5)?</li>
<li>If you keep doing 5x5, eventually you will get stronger and be able to pull 3x8 or more?</li>
<li>When reaching 3x10 or 3x12, will the exercise yield more muscle mass then it did so far?</li>
<li>If 3x12 gets easy and let's say 3x20 is performed: what will the effects be on the muscle mass (and strength) gained so far?</li>
</ol>
<p>Is this the way those "street calisthenics" specialists achieve that combination of muscle mass, tension and endurance?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27408,
"author": "Soda Pop",
"author_id": 18023,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18023",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>So you want to know how strong you should be? I think that no matter your age, height, weight, experience... everyone will be different there are no standards to compare to and better yet no real reason to unless you want to compete. Generally I believe that as long as you are healthy and you're stronger than you were the last time you lifted (to an extent) that in itself is strong enough.</p>\n\n<p>However, I did find this site when I was looking for strength standards which I can't really attest for: <a href=\"http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Strength Standards</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I guess according to this site you should be able to bench around 125lbs? (1RM)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27409,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Before I say this, I should warn you you might not like everything that you hear. If you are a 5'4, 130 Ib 19 yr old male, your bench should be roughly 65 Ibs, curl 20-25 Ibs, and since your weight is generally low, you should be able to do about 20 chin ups with correct form. This is referring to a person of this description who has average fitness. However, a \"fitness test,\" is not all about the weight you can lift. In order to measure your fitness, you should try doing pull ups, push ups, crunches, and running. A person of your description with reasonable fitness should be able to do at least 25 push ups, 40 crunches, 6 pull ups, and run a mile in about 8-11 minutes. If they are doing under 15 of any of these other than pull ups or of they are taking more than 13-14 minutes to run the mile, they are out of shape. If they are doing 40 push ups, running the mile in under 8 minutes, etc., they are exceptionally fit. Fitness should be measured by calisthenics and cardio, not weights. Also, your calorie count should probably range about 1900 calories, to be healthy with what you are doing. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/20
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27410",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18010/"
] |
27,413 |
<p>What is most important, completing my daily calorie intake regardless of how many meals I eat in a day, or eating 5-6 meals a day?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27417,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As long as you meet your calorie goal, how you eat them doesn't matter. However, how you eat might affect how easy it is to eat a lot, apparently, some people have a hard time eating a lot ;) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27421,
"author": "Stefan Scubasteven Lekovic",
"author_id": 18034,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18034",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The frequency of your intake of food doesn't matter. It's a myth suggestions that your metabolism is heightened and keeps your body \"burning calories\".</p>\n\n<p>Actually the levels rise depending on the quantity you eat. Making the sum all the same in the end of the day. </p>\n\n<p>With that said, eating your total daily calorie intake in one meal in the morning probably won't keep your hunger away for the whole day. So try to spread it out so you aren't hungry. </p>\n\n<p>For some people 3 meals is fine, for others 6 smaller meals is better. But in the end, If the calories are the same the results will be the same. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27424,
"author": "e1che",
"author_id": 5699,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/5699",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Chris Aceto (nutritionist, he was working with Jay Cutler back then) advices to eat 6 meals per day with a lot of carb with the breakfast and after the workout. For the 4 other meals keep the carb \"low\". Keep your protein intake the same for each meal.</p>\n\n<p>I don't have his book under my hand but i give your its name : <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0966916808\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.amazon.com/Championship-Bodybuilding-Chris-Acetos-Instruction/dp/0966916808</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27427,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Multiple small meals just make it easier to shove a lot of food in your face and reach your caloric goal without resorting to \"nutritional garbage\" (which can be delicious but void of interesting macro or micronutrients and full of calories). By having 6 or 7 small meals, you can keep them \"healthy\" and make the most of it. But that's it, if you can reach your macros in 3 meals all the better for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27432,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From what I can gather about meal frequency is that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Over 3 meals a day, the benefit diminishes greatly</li>\n<li>Below 3 meals a day, and more meals benefit much more</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you can easily eat the amount of healthy food to hit your calorie goals while also hitting your macronutrient goals in 3 meals, use 3 meals.</p>\n\n<p>I know of a couple people who feel physically ill if they try to eat more than a certain amount at a time. For them, higher meal frequency worked better because they were able to get the calories they needed from good food.</p>\n\n<p>Some people find that higher meal frequency interferes too much with their life and struggle to get all the meals in. For those people, fewer meals work better.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Bottom line:</strong></p>\n\n<p>Go with at least 3 meals, and get your food from good sources 90% of the time. (That can translate to 3 cheat days a month, or however you want to divide it up). Choose a meal frequency that will work for you and your lifestyle, because sticking with your plan is more important than which of several good plans you choose.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27413",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18028/"
] |
27,415 |
<p>if I were too thin and want to have a muscular body, should I grow fat first and then go to gym? or just start GYM directly?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27416,
"author": "Totoro",
"author_id": 16662,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16662",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Start gym directly, and follow a healthy strict diet. Diet is most important factor. It will take time to build muscles and you should not lose hope, just go everyday. Some days you are going to feel lazy and wouldn't want to go but I suggest that you suck up and go anyway. Persistence is the key.</p>\n\n<p>Quoting Paulo Coelho: \"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal.\"</p>\n\n<p>So my friend build a routine and follow it no matter what , be persistent and you will definitely see gains.</p>\n\n<p>Once People get where they want to be they stop working hard, thinking \"Now I have reached my goal.\" but the thing is after reaching your goal you should work more hard to be there otherwise your success will plummet. \nSame is with body, you should always exercise. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27426,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Eat and train, no need to get fat. As you train, the calories you absorb will be allocated to either fat storage or muscle hypertrophy depending on something called your p-ratio. Sadly, your p-ratio gets worse as you get fatter* (iirc beyond 18% bodyfat for males), so I would encourage you to stay within a safe limit of that threshold.</p>\n\n<p>* fat tends to decrease your levels of free testosterone, which is why with the new trend of raw powerlifting (meaning without powerlifting gear that advantages fat lifters) most elite powerlifters now tend to be quite lean.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27415",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18029/"
] |
27,423 |
<p>I am planning on playing squash once a week with a friend of mine, so on a casual level, however I am overweight (well squash would help in that sense for me lose weight also) and I go to gym regularly (3x a week).</p>
<p>my question is if there is anything i should watch out for? or any specific warm up i should do to avoid having knee problems?</p>
<p>many thanks</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27425,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A (sports) physiotherapist would be able to answer that question better so I would encourage you to find one and ask them this question. If you can afford it, investing in a good pair of knee sleeves (both for the gym and for squash) like some Rehbands might be a good idea. They can help lock your knee in place and keep it warm during your training sessions. If you plan on keeping it on for a prolonged period of time do not buy one that is too tight.</p>\n\n<p>Anecdotally, I have managed my own knee pain by reinforcing the surrounding muscles, meaning doing a lot of leg curls (to reinforce my hamstrings) and squats/front squats (to reinforce my quadriceps). I avoid the leg extension machines are they can be bad for the knee joint (it depends on your leg proportions but I'd rather not take any risk).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27436,
"author": "BackInShapeBuddy",
"author_id": 1054,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1054",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As others have said, check with your doctor before taking on a new exercise regime esp. because you say that you are overweight and concerned about your knees. I also agree with @Jeremie that a sports physical therapist or physiotherapist can help you with a specific program for your knees. Often strengthening the hip muscles (glutes) helps to minimize knee pain. You could then incorporate these exercises in your gym routine.</p>\n<p>As for squash, it requires quick starts and stops. This can be hard on the knees. If you have access to a pool, you could do sprints in waist deep water to condition your legs for the quick acceleration and deceleration needed.</p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/8262/dynamic-stretching-as-warm-up\">dynamic warm-up</a> is important to get your body parts ready for the quick movements.</p>\n<p>The quick push off can also be hard on the quads, hamstrings, calf muscles and Achilles tendons. A regular stretching program and after you play will help prevent injury and give you the flexibility you need. The following questions/answers have specific stretches:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/4192/reducing-tightness-in-calf-and-soleus/5667#5667\">Gastroc-soleus stretch</a></p>\n</li>\n<li><p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/24512/developing-calf-and-hip-flexor-flexibility/24515#24515\">Quad and Hip Flexor stretches</a></p>\n</li>\n<li><p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/576/how-can-i-stretch-hamstrings-in-isolation/3940#3940\">Hamstring stretches</a></p>\n<p>You will also want to make sure that your shoulders and wrist muscles are warmed up well.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>BTW, squash is fun and a great way to exercise for weight loss. The quick intense bouts are like intervals.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27423",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18037/"
] |
27,431 |
<p>I usually walk 5 km everyday and suddenly thought of doing squats without any warm up. I did 20 repetitions, 2 times, and never felt any pain at all. In the evening, I felt stiffness, but then, I was not able to sleep or sit because of that. It's been 2 days, and I am still feeling the same. What could be wrong? Are my thighs injured? Should the cramps last more than days? How should I handle this? I am not able to sleep, I feel pain below my buttocks, and I am not able to use steps. I am feeling really worried. Should i go to a physician?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27433,
"author": "Sparafusile",
"author_id": 35,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/35",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>What you are feeling is normal. Any time you do a new exercise, or even an old exercise in a new way, you will be pushing your muscles past the point where they are comfortable and making them sore. For the most part, this is lumped into the term Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).</p>\n\n<p>For some people, the presence of DOMS becomes a goal or a indication of a good workout because, as you do the same exercise over and over again, your muscles get use to the activity and no longer need to adapt. As a result, serious lifters will try to change up their workout to re-engage their muscles - usually by increasing the weight.</p>\n\n<p>For you specifically, you are sore because a) you are doing an exercise in a new way and b) you are engaging the largest muscle system in your body - your quads and glutes. The good news is that this will pass. Further, you will probably never feel this sore again.</p>\n\n<p>If you still hurt, take a hot bath, give yourself massage, and then go for a walk. The soreness will subside on its own in a couple days.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27435,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I primarily agree with Sparafusile. DOMS is pretty normal, especially for those impulse exercise sessions where you haven't warmed up, or haven't done the exercise before. Over the counter painkillers and anti-inflammatories such as aspirin or ibuprofen combined with heating pads or hot baths will give you enough relief to be able to sleep. For steps, as silly as it might sound, if you're having trouble lifting your legs, try going up them backwards or sideways. It uses different muscles, so sometimes it can work as a short term workaround.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, if the pain is extreme or is starting to interfere with your ability to get around or to work, consider seeing a doctor. It is possible to injure yourself in a way that doesn't become evident right away, there are some serious conditions such as <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_vein_thrombosis\" rel=\"nofollow\">thrombosis</a> that can be caused by exercise (although they're rarely seen in more casual sessions such as you did), and a $50 doctor's visit that nets you a prescription for a stronger painkiller might mean the difference between missing work and being able to continue making money.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27431",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/2757/"
] |
27,445 |
<p>I'm not a complete couch potato but I don't exercise near enough either. I'm skinny and around 170 cm (or 5 feet, 7 inches). I would like to start a jogging schedule but I have no idea where to start and I haven't done it in the past. Also at what speed is jogging actually jogging and not walking/running? So my questions are:</p>
<p>1) When do i go jogging? For how long? How does this increase?<br>
2) What distance/time ratio is qualified as a "jogging speed" ?<br>
3) Is it ok to drink water while jogging?<br>
4) Are running shoes very important to the jogging experience? Especially when you're just starting out and not doing it consistently.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27446,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>1) Whenever you feel like it. For however long you feel comfortable doing it. As you get into a routine, your stamina will increase and you'll be able to exercise for longer and at a higher intensity.</p>\n\n<p>2) There's not, as it's something totally dependant on an individual and his/her specific conditions. But the more that you run, the faster that you'll be able to do it after some time.</p>\n\n<p>3) Sure, but do it too much and it may end up bothering your stomach.</p>\n\n<p>4) They are important in the sense that if you run with some awfully uncomfortable $5 sneakers that end up destroying your feet after each run you may not feel like running again for a while. I would not advise a beginner to buy any $100-$200 shoes until they know for sure they like running and will be doing it consistently.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27447,
"author": "lank81",
"author_id": 18054,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18054",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I was always active when I was younger but it was until I hit my 30s that I finally decided to dig in and start running. The first thing I'd advise is to use a workout such as Couch 2 5K which helps ease you in to the whole process of running/jogging. </p>\n\n<p>It is a great interval trainer that will get you running a 5K in 9 weeks. It really helped me want to continue to run since I progressed every week and didn't feel like death.</p>\n\n<p>As for shoes, don't Google anything ... seriously. I went down this road and wanted to find that \"perfect\" shoe for my foot - High Arches/Supinate - I even had orthotics for a long time period. Anyways, what I've come to find out is it's trying and training in shoes that really lets you know what works for you. For Instance I love Nike Free's for that barefoot/minimalist feel but also dig Acsics Gel-Nimbus for a more cushioned ride.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, ease in to it and take your time. Make sure you can have a conversation while jogging, this will let you know if you're going too hard. But yea, ease in and enjoy!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27461,
"author": "Pallavi",
"author_id": 18071,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18071",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For starters, I would not worry too much about all these details. Just go out and (warm up and) start running! </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Any time you feel comfortable. If you are a morning person, go early morning. You will feel fresh throughout the day.</p></li>\n<li><p>You can not run faster than your maximum speed.. Try running a bit slower than your max, so that you can maintain it for a longer duration.</p></li>\n<li><p>It helps to drink water a little, energy drink helps more :) Don't empty more than one bottle during one run though.</p></li>\n<li><p>As long as they are comfortable, any shoes are fine. You can try insoles too. They are very soft.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Make sure to enjoy it. Make a playlist of your favorite songs/ audio book.. get a buddy to run with you.. set targets, compete with yourself.. anything you like and you will have fun :)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/22
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27445",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16506/"
] |
27,449 |
<p>What is the best practice as far as the thumb goes with respect to the bar?</p>
<p>I normally have my thumb aligned with the rest of my fingers, but I often get asked why I don't wrap my thumb around the bar (and form a fist). They say it looks unsafe, but anyone who uses this grip knows that it feels as fine as the wrap.</p>
<p>Besides, if the bar is rolling out of your hand, your thumb is laughably unsuited to stop it. But this, as we all know, is generally not an issue anyway.</p>
<p>My reason is mostly comfort, as I haven't researched best practices.</p>
<p>What do you do, and why? Bonus upvotes for sources, as always.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27450,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>TL; DR: The unwrapped position is called the \"suicide grip\". 'Nuff said.</p>\n\n<p>While you state that if the bar rolls, your thumb won't stop it, the thumb gives you enough control over the bar that you are much less likely to roll it. And realistically, if you are at all worried that you might lose control of the bar, you should be using at least one spotter. (You never bench without a spotter, right?)</p>\n\n<p>Anatomically speaking, the unwrapped grip placed a greater amount of stress on the wrist. To keep the bar on the palm, you have to extend your wrist to form a small shelf in the hand to place the bar into. If you wrap your thumb around, this allows you to do a bench press (or other exercise) with your hand and forearm aligned, so the weight is transferred straight through the forearm, rather than at a shearing angle.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, the thumb is a major component of grip strength. You simply cannot grip the bar with as much force in an open grip as you can a closed grip.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drsquat10.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">What Dr. Squat says</a> (Founder of ISSA)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://leehayward.com/blog/bench-press-suicide-grip/\" rel=\"nofollow\">What Lee Hayward says</a> (Bodybuilder and trainer)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.muscleandstrength.com/forum/threads/36682-Bench-press-do-you-use-your-thumbs\" rel=\"nofollow\">Random bro argument #1</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.criticalbench.com/power-bench-press.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Another trainer</a> (MSS, CSCS, MEd)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27451,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This topic can be as divisive as whether training deadlifts with straps is effective or not. Since powerlifting is my background, and powerlifters tend to be the biggest proponents of the <em>false grip</em> (AKA suicide grip), I'll attack the question from that perspective.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Beginners</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Have no reason to use a false grip on bench press. There's too much they need to get right to add unnecessary risk.</li>\n<li>A beginner is using such light weights that if they do end up letting the bar roll, the thumbs around grip will be good enough to help them catch themselves.</li>\n<li>For sources, check out \"Starting Strength\", and I believe venerable Mr. Wendler with 5/3/1 also suggests that beginners use a thumbs around grip.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Overhead work</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Any overhead press doesn't have the same risk involved as a bench press</li>\n<li>If the bar rolls out of the hand you drop the bar and have the opportunity to get out of the way</li>\n<li>Wendler absolutely advocates a thumbless grip for overhead press in his 5/3/1 book.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.t-nation.com/training/nailing-the-overhead-press\">Paul Carter</a> advocates it for overhead work as well.</li>\n<li>I've found it to be less stressful on my wrists</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Bench Press</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>As you progress your technique enough, you can consider using the false grip.</li>\n<li>I've found it really depends on how wide your grip is as to which grip feels better. The wider the grip the more false grip feels better. The narrower the grip, the more thumbs around feels better.</li>\n<li>Paul Carter uses <a href=\"http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2011/11/developing-your-raw-bench-part-1.html\">thumbless</a> grip, but <a href=\"http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2011/12/developing-your-raw-bench-part-2.html\">recognizes that it's a very individual choice</a>.</li>\n<li>Most powerlifters I follow take more of a laid back attitude along the lines of \"if you have everything in order and it feels better, use the false grip\".</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I've seen arguments on both sides, but the general consensus seems to be it's not something beginners should do because of their inexperience.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Bench Press Safety</strong></p>\n\n<p>The biggest detractors of the false grip site safety as the number one reason why not to use it. The problem is, the bench press accidents I've personally witnessed and ones I've read about wouldn't have turned out any other way if they used a thumbs around grip.</p>\n\n<p>In a power lifting competition, it is quite common to have 3 spotters. One on each end and one in the middle. The problem is that the reaction time for anyone is so small, chances are the bar is going to hit you. When the bar has 350+ lbs loaded on it, the bar is going to continue falling even though the spotters are doing their best until they can overcome the inertia of the moving bar.</p>\n\n<p>For normal training, I have a squat rack with spotter arms attached. They are set just below the arched chest level so that they don't interfere with training, but I only need to flatten my arch to avoid getting my chest slammed. This is the safest way to bench.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Personal Preference</strong></p>\n\n<p>I use a full grip for bench press, but I also have a somewhat narrower grip than those I've seen that use the false grip. However, I do use false grip on overhead work. It keeps the bar path over my shoulders where it is the strongest, and my wrists thank me for it.</p>\n\n<p>I do recommend using wrist wraps if you use a false grip. I find it's more likely that the bar will roll toward the fingers than off the front of the palm of the hand. Wrist wraps provide additional stability so you can at least offload the bar safely and readjust.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27469,
"author": "Dustin Kreidler",
"author_id": 16824,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16824",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Cost benefit analysis: If thumbless is more comfortable, you might conceivably lift a few more pounds.</p>\n\n<p>If the bar slips out of that grip, unless your spotters ALREADY had a grip on the bar (ie, it was already not a real lift (google \"Clemson 640 bench.\" Perfect example of a non-lift.)), its gonna mash your face/neck/ribs before they even have a chance to react. Most of the severe benching injuries I've ever \"seen\" (youtube, etc, so total keyboard warrior here...) have been extremely sudden bar-drops. A failed lift takes a second or two, and even the lifter is able to exert <em>some</em> slowing force on the bar, and everyone has time to react. A slipped bar? Not a chance. </p>\n\n<p>Wrap the thumbs, unless you're a sponsored powerlifter and its literally your JOB to lift every last possible ounce. Everyone else, who's supposed to be making themselves BETTER in the gym, not getting injured pretending they're a pro powerlifter IN a meet... wrap the thumbs. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/22
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27449",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828/"
] |
27,455 |
<p>Between running in a slow pace but at that constant speed for a 30 min and running at high speed but get tired after 10 min, through which will you lose weight faster? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27457,
"author": "ALM",
"author_id": 16264,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16264",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are just looking to lose weight, you should do slow pace running. The point is to elevate your heart rate so that you are slightly out of breath and you will start burning fat. </p>\n\n<p>You need to be consistent and do that several times a week though, along with a proper diet otherwise it will not have so much impact. Also don't overestimate how many calories you burn while running and do not treat yourself too much after each run (that's what many people do). </p>\n\n<p>Remember that you need to be in caloric deficit to lose weight. Eating too much will defeat the purpose of the run.</p>\n\n<p>Doing intervals (sprint-rest-repeat) won't hurt anyway, it could help you to vary your training a bit. Good luck !</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27458,
"author": "Tobias Sjösten",
"author_id": 5746,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/5746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You will burn pretty much the same amount of calories running 1 kilometer really fast, as lightly jogging the same distance. When it comes to movement the distance is what decides how much energy you'll burn.</p>\n\n<p>Running the 1 km will, however, be much faster than the light jog. If you only have half an hour to train you'll be able to squeeze more kilometers into that session if you move faster – thus burning more calories.</p>\n\n<p>You might tire more quickly when going too fast, forcing you to rest and netting you less distance in the end of the session, than if you'd paced yourself. It sounds bad but this intensive training will increase you aerobic capacity over time and enabling you to go longer and faster as time goes by. This will let you burn more calories over the long term.</p>\n\n<p>Short term – go only as fast as you can maintain movement throughout the whole training session.\nLong term – mix it up with high intensity interval training to increase your aerobic capacity.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37482,
"author": "Elliot",
"author_id": 28202,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/28202",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The weight you can lose by changing your diet is much, much greater than the weight you can lose by burning calories by running or exercise. Exercise is great to keep your muscles in condition but not lose weight.</p>\n\n<p>I have been doing both most of my life. In recent years I have been unable to lift weights or run as I had done, yet I can lose thirty to forty pounds as needed by modifying my diet over a five month period. Keeping it off for years has been a matter of building and using cooking skills despite life's demands on my time.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/23
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27455",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17918/"
] |
27,465 |
<p>Let's say I'm riding a stationary bike with a power meter. It measures my power as 200W and I workout for 10 minutes. This is a total work of 120 J or 28.7 Cal. Now is that how many calories I've "burned", period? Does heart rate, age, sex, weight, temperature, etc affect this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27466,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Calories burned are <strong>directly</strong> correlated to heart rate, which on its own, is directly correlated to a bunch of different factors as the ones you mentioned (age, sex, weight, physical shape of the individual).</p>\n\n<p>To illustrate this, imagine a young, female and very small marathon runner, jogging for 10 minutes at a very slow pace around the block. She isn't going to be very tired and will barely make a sweat. Now think of a very obese, older man who hasn't done any exercise in decades trying to do the same thing. He will burn way more calories than her, since (1) he's much bigger and the energy required to move his whole body from point A to point B is higher and (2) he's so out of shape that the littlest exercise will get his heart racing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27467,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Now is that how many calories I've \"burned\", period?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The short answer to your question is No. Other factors <strong>do</strong> play a part in how many calories you burn during exercise. Since calculating the exact amount is somewhat difficult, researchers have published tables of energy expenditure for common activities. The energy expenditure is typically expressed in <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_equivalent\" rel=\"nofollow\">METS</a> for some of the tables. The tables are not an exact measurement of the expenditure for physical activity, but, rather a way to classify physical activity by METS. In the <a href=\"http://www.juststand.org/portals/3/literature/compendium-of-physical-activities.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Compendium of physical activities: classification of energy costs of human physical activities</a> (<em>Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Exercise Science, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina</em>), the researchers indicated that the amount of energy expended for weight bearing exercises was…</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>“…higher among heavier individuals than indicated by the Compendium’s\n MET intensities. For these individuals, use of the MET intensities in\n the Compendium would underestimate the actual energy cost of weight\n bearing activity. The opposite pattern would be observed for\n non-weight-bearing activities.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Additionally, they stated that…</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>“Similar observations may apply to individuals who differ in age,\n cardiorespiratory fitness levels, and mechanical efficiency and when\n activities are performed in varied geographic and environmental\n conditions.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So, the take away from this type of research would indicate that there <strong>are other factors</strong> that come into play when determining the energy expenditure of an activity. These include…</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>“…differences in body mass, adiposity, age, sex, efficiency of\n movement, geographic and environmental conditions.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/24
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27465",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18072/"
] |
27,473 |
<p>I am 5.5 feet, 71kg, waist 32 and my stomatch is out. I recently joined gym and the trainer tells me that we will put on more weight on the upper part like on chest and biceps so when the biceps becomes like 20 inch then we can cut it by work outs and it will stop at 15-16 inches and will be very hard like stone. Is this the right way of body building??? Will i not face the problem of being over weight????
Will i get abs and biceps i wanted ??
Is trainer going the right way ??? Please answer me asap. I am really worried .very worried.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27495,
"author": "user1930712",
"author_id": 7629,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7629",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm pretty similar dimensions, but bulked up nicely a few years back and have a couple of thoughts:</p>\n\n<p>Your trainer's advice sounds good for rapid bodybuilding, but not for what it sounds like you want (toned body, flat tummy, etc). If he's telling you to do a bicep curl, then drop him and prepare to spend several weekends reading way too much conflicting advice online :)</p>\n\n<p>Muscle burns fat, so if you want to lose fat, it doesn't hurt to do some hypertrophy to build muscles quickly. However, I wouldn't focus too much on dimensions. Your biceps are tiny things compared to the legs/core/back, so building them up will achieve next to nothing in terms of burning fat. Focus on core (deadlifts, squats, freeweights etc), functional training, and as an added bonus you will go into middle age (or further) with a body thats built to work. Trust me, that gets pretty important.</p>\n\n<p>Building abs is frankly impossible. What you need to do is lose fat. This is as much diet as anything else. Once you've built up a good base of muscle, and are moderately fit, shift your focus onto high-intensity sprints, a good clean diet, avoid beers & milk etc. Drink more water, whatever your doing is not enough. I also found tabata sprints did wonders for me, as did a short spurt of going vegan, but you will probably need to experiment to find out is needed at each plateau to keep you going. Also - try to measure your bodyfat (you can get passable bodyfat callipers for about $30), and forget the scales.</p>\n\n<p>tldr; Do a functional workout, get a flat stomach, forget your biceps. By the time you have the tummy, the biceps will look great anyway. Also remember, the faster it comes, the faster it goes. Don't look for miracles, and even after a long winter in front of the computer you'll still be able to flex and find your 6-pack.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31837,
"author": "Olympian",
"author_id": 23318,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/23318",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My recommendation is to set up a healthy diet and work to build muscle and burn off the weight you currently have on your waist. There is no need to go \"off season\" per say when you are just starting out. You don't have enough muscle mass to get rid of it efficiently. There are many bodybuilders who don't even add any more to their calorie intake but just to maintain, but that's further down the road. For now, stick with a healthy diet and weight train and get to know what works with your body. One exercise can work at one point than not at another. The challenge is to get past your body getting used to a muscle building activity and pulling out another exercise to get it to grow a little bit more. Keep in mind, that we can reach a great physic naturally without resorting to unnatural ways of doing it. So, we may not turn into Ronnie Coleman but you will still feel bigger and this time, it will not be your stomach. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/25
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27473",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18082/"
] |
27,474 |
<p>I currently do squats, barbell curls, sit ups and bench press all in one go- consecutively -THEN i take a break and repeat a few more times before moving on.</p>
<p>I was wondering if i was taking the wrong approach as when i've looked around at different strength and muscle building workouts i see stuff similar to the above, except i'd have a break in between each. I've seen that more frequently than my method, but wouldn't it make sense to take less breaks like i do overall, to increase hypertrophy, etc? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27495,
"author": "user1930712",
"author_id": 7629,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7629",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm pretty similar dimensions, but bulked up nicely a few years back and have a couple of thoughts:</p>\n\n<p>Your trainer's advice sounds good for rapid bodybuilding, but not for what it sounds like you want (toned body, flat tummy, etc). If he's telling you to do a bicep curl, then drop him and prepare to spend several weekends reading way too much conflicting advice online :)</p>\n\n<p>Muscle burns fat, so if you want to lose fat, it doesn't hurt to do some hypertrophy to build muscles quickly. However, I wouldn't focus too much on dimensions. Your biceps are tiny things compared to the legs/core/back, so building them up will achieve next to nothing in terms of burning fat. Focus on core (deadlifts, squats, freeweights etc), functional training, and as an added bonus you will go into middle age (or further) with a body thats built to work. Trust me, that gets pretty important.</p>\n\n<p>Building abs is frankly impossible. What you need to do is lose fat. This is as much diet as anything else. Once you've built up a good base of muscle, and are moderately fit, shift your focus onto high-intensity sprints, a good clean diet, avoid beers & milk etc. Drink more water, whatever your doing is not enough. I also found tabata sprints did wonders for me, as did a short spurt of going vegan, but you will probably need to experiment to find out is needed at each plateau to keep you going. Also - try to measure your bodyfat (you can get passable bodyfat callipers for about $30), and forget the scales.</p>\n\n<p>tldr; Do a functional workout, get a flat stomach, forget your biceps. By the time you have the tummy, the biceps will look great anyway. Also remember, the faster it comes, the faster it goes. Don't look for miracles, and even after a long winter in front of the computer you'll still be able to flex and find your 6-pack.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31837,
"author": "Olympian",
"author_id": 23318,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/23318",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My recommendation is to set up a healthy diet and work to build muscle and burn off the weight you currently have on your waist. There is no need to go \"off season\" per say when you are just starting out. You don't have enough muscle mass to get rid of it efficiently. There are many bodybuilders who don't even add any more to their calorie intake but just to maintain, but that's further down the road. For now, stick with a healthy diet and weight train and get to know what works with your body. One exercise can work at one point than not at another. The challenge is to get past your body getting used to a muscle building activity and pulling out another exercise to get it to grow a little bit more. Keep in mind, that we can reach a great physic naturally without resorting to unnatural ways of doing it. So, we may not turn into Ronnie Coleman but you will still feel bigger and this time, it will not be your stomach. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/25
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27474",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16193/"
] |
27,475 |
<p>I started working out in January 2014, and managed to drop from 250-260lbs ish to 218lbs in a year and I felt very accomplished. For other reasons, I stopped training and got back to working out on June 6, 2015. I can feel myself getting stronger, and I can feel my muscles. But I can't see them. I don't carry a lot of weight. I only squat/bench a bit over half my weight which is not a lot, but, I don't want to focus a lot on pure strength since my goal is to burn as much fat as I can (without any supplements, pure dieting and gym). I've read reps are what gets you toned. I'm not looking to get hyper ripped either, but, I want my muscles to be noticeable. Should I drop weight on the bar and do more reps, while sacrificing the strength I've gained? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27495,
"author": "user1930712",
"author_id": 7629,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7629",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm pretty similar dimensions, but bulked up nicely a few years back and have a couple of thoughts:</p>\n\n<p>Your trainer's advice sounds good for rapid bodybuilding, but not for what it sounds like you want (toned body, flat tummy, etc). If he's telling you to do a bicep curl, then drop him and prepare to spend several weekends reading way too much conflicting advice online :)</p>\n\n<p>Muscle burns fat, so if you want to lose fat, it doesn't hurt to do some hypertrophy to build muscles quickly. However, I wouldn't focus too much on dimensions. Your biceps are tiny things compared to the legs/core/back, so building them up will achieve next to nothing in terms of burning fat. Focus on core (deadlifts, squats, freeweights etc), functional training, and as an added bonus you will go into middle age (or further) with a body thats built to work. Trust me, that gets pretty important.</p>\n\n<p>Building abs is frankly impossible. What you need to do is lose fat. This is as much diet as anything else. Once you've built up a good base of muscle, and are moderately fit, shift your focus onto high-intensity sprints, a good clean diet, avoid beers & milk etc. Drink more water, whatever your doing is not enough. I also found tabata sprints did wonders for me, as did a short spurt of going vegan, but you will probably need to experiment to find out is needed at each plateau to keep you going. Also - try to measure your bodyfat (you can get passable bodyfat callipers for about $30), and forget the scales.</p>\n\n<p>tldr; Do a functional workout, get a flat stomach, forget your biceps. By the time you have the tummy, the biceps will look great anyway. Also remember, the faster it comes, the faster it goes. Don't look for miracles, and even after a long winter in front of the computer you'll still be able to flex and find your 6-pack.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31837,
"author": "Olympian",
"author_id": 23318,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/23318",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My recommendation is to set up a healthy diet and work to build muscle and burn off the weight you currently have on your waist. There is no need to go \"off season\" per say when you are just starting out. You don't have enough muscle mass to get rid of it efficiently. There are many bodybuilders who don't even add any more to their calorie intake but just to maintain, but that's further down the road. For now, stick with a healthy diet and weight train and get to know what works with your body. One exercise can work at one point than not at another. The challenge is to get past your body getting used to a muscle building activity and pulling out another exercise to get it to grow a little bit more. Keep in mind, that we can reach a great physic naturally without resorting to unnatural ways of doing it. So, we may not turn into Ronnie Coleman but you will still feel bigger and this time, it will not be your stomach. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/25
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27475",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17969/"
] |
27,476 |
<p>I don't have access to whey powder. What's the next best alternative food-wise for building muscle?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27490,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Assuming you are in search of protein-packed foods, let me remind you of your best friend. Fish. An average serving of any type of fish usually will easily provide anywhere from 20-60 grams of protein. Fish is usually somewhat affordable for a middle/working class citizen; at about $6 or $7 a Ib. Heck, if you're up for it or have money problems, you might even want to catch your own fish. But the point is, fish is your friend, and eating it will build strong muscles.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27492,
"author": "Pallavi",
"author_id": 18071,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18071",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you search over the internet for sources of protein, you will get a bunch of results and foods that you can choose from. Even with whey powder, you need to watch your diet as it is healthier to get your protein directly from the food you eat and rely less on the supplements. </p>\n\n<p>If you are a vegetarian, load up on beans and nuts. Best practice would be to eat eggs right after your exercise. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27554,
"author": "L.P.",
"author_id": 12151,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/12151",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>According to most points of basic research the main type of protein that your body absorbs in a manner that you'd want is eggs. One of the best absorbed proteins by the body. Can be made to taste almost however you'd need it to with spicing, and is really relatively inexpensive. \nYou could go with fish, tuna is your best friend, again cheap but straight from the can 26 grams at about 50 cents a can. Can't get better than that if you're aiming for about 200 or so grams a day. \nThe go to in food again is chicken. Not as good with the protein/fat ratio as tuna, but if you're not worrying about that then you can make it taste way better than the past two. </p>\n\n<p>If you're thinking shakes or things of the sort, you could go about getting into an egg based isolate powder. There are vegan protein powders as well, look into ALOHA plant based powder. </p>\n\n<p>There are a ridiculous amount of things out there with a high protein content. If there's really no health reason behind not wanting to take in a whey protein then you shouldn't avoid it. You can get a relatively good powder in Dymatize that will yield about 80+ servings for about 60 bucks from BB.com if expense would be a reason for not taking it something along the ways of this would be good. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27863,
"author": "Paul K",
"author_id": 18395,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18395",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The wording of your question suggests that whey would be the best protein source, which might be questioned. Whey is cheap (since it is a by-product) and easy to isolate. </p>\n\n<p>Egg protein - others stated - is good, since it has the optimal combination of amino acids, but the yield ratio is quite bad, since one egg has only about 6g of protein. I'd see beans and nuts rather ambivalent because of the high abount of starch and fat respectively. I'm no low-carb or low-fat bigot, but satisfying your demand of protein (especially when you want to build up muscle mass) with beans or nuts would mean, that you'd increase your carb- or fat-intake respectively severly. Good alternatives (besides lean meat - which I will not discuss, for I have not experience with because of my vegetarianism) are (low-fat) curd or cottage cheese. They are not too expensive but contain a quite good amount of casein, which is digested way slower than whey protein, BCAAs (at least curd afaik) and vitamin B12.</p>\n\n<p><strong>And</strong> you can easily make shakes out of curd. Just put it in a shaker with some milk, water, etc.; add some vanilla or cinnamon and shake it. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/26
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27476",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,477 |
<p>I have a friend which I think is a little overweight. When I mentioned this to him and tried to aspire him to loose some weight to get to BMI "Healthy Zone" weight, he said that BMI is a useless tool for calculating a "right" weight for a person and referred me to articles like <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3152862/The-graphic-reveals-BMI-useless-Scientists-reveal-radically-different-body-shapes-readings.html" rel="nofollow">this</a>.</p>
<p>Are there more reliable calculations than BMI to determine a healthy weight for a person?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27478,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When people say \"healthy weight\", it is remarkably open for interpretation. My personal opinion, is that one should strive not just to remove as much fat as possible (because a lot of the fat types have purposes), but to remove as much <strong>visceral fat</strong> as possible.</p>\n\n<p>Visceral fat is the type of fat that wraps around the inner organs, and wreak havoc on your general health. It increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and dementia.</p>\n\n<p>Measuring visceral fat is primarily done by a CT scan, or the more expensive option, a bioelectrical impedance machine. Getting one of these scans done can be beneficial, but it's not needed. Visceral fat can be managed by cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, and dieting. The best thing to do is just say \"let's pretend I just had a scan, and it turns out I have a lot of visceral fat\", and just get to work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27499,
"author": "arober11",
"author_id": 10175,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10175",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>BMI is far from ideal for the tall, the short or for athletes. If your friend falls into one of these suggest he checks his: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist%E2%80%93hip_ratio\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Waist to hip</a>, or <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-to-height_ratio\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Waist to Height</a> ratios, as these have been shown to be better indicator of potential health problems than a BMI figure, as they scale / take account of muscle.</p>\n\n<p>If you're after a weight or weight range, then there are numerous other formula that claim to offer a better / alternative metric, give a couple a go and if they similarly indicate you've eaten too many pies, they're probably correct: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>NewBMI</li>\n<li>ABSI</li>\n<li>BAI</li>\n<li>BMAI</li>\n<li>CI</li>\n<li>PI</li>\n<li>Ideal Range (Met Life)</li>\n<li>Ideal Range (Broca)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Bornhardt)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Devine)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Halls) </li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Hamwi)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Lemmens)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Lorentz) </li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Miller) </li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Monnerot & Dunaine)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Peck)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Pendle)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Perrault & Creff)</li>\n<li>Ideal Weight (Robinson)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There are websites and app's that will do the calculations for you.</p>\n\n<p>Similarly an estimate of your body fat may validate the above weights and indices, see: <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/262/how-to-calculate-body-fat\">How to calculate Body Fat %</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Personally I use the <a href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.arcalot.biometrics\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">BioMetrIcs app</a>, to do both.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/26
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27477",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18086/"
] |
27,484 |
<p>I'd like to know what the lap distances are for each lane on a standard running track. I saw marks for a mile and other distances but didn't really look for it while I was there. Are the lane distances marked on the track?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27547,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Most tracks are 400m so on the inner lane one lap would be 400m. As you go out the distance is farther</p>\n\n<p>There also should be markings on the track for 100,200,300,400 and 1 mile </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The formula, L = 2S + 2pi(R + (n-1)w) can be used to calculate the\n distances around the track for the various lanes. In this formula L\n equals the lane distance, S equals the length of the straightaway, R\n is the radius of the turn, n is the lane number and w is the width of\n the lane.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You can find the formula from here for each lane going out.\n<a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/168904-what-is-the-distance-around-a-running-track-for-each-lane/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.livestrong.com/article/168904-what-is-the-distance-around-a-running-track-for-each-lane/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27731,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Lane 1 of a standard track is 400 meters. As you go farther out to lanes 2 - 8, the distance increases. That's why there are different starting marks for several distances at different parts of the track.</p>\n\n<p>For races in which runners stay in their lane (200m, 400m, 300 hurdles, etc.), there are starting lines in each individual lane. For races where runners break to the inside lanes, there is one waterfall starting line which curves forward so that people starting farther out run the same distance.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/26
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27484",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8485/"
] |
27,493 |
<p>I am a woman and I exercise to gain weight. This includes weight lifting and I am starting to show biceps. I do not like the muscly look. Is there any way I can avoid that and still gain weight?</p>
<p>EDIT:
I usually work out 3-4 days a week alternating between upper and lower body, with 3 set of 12-15 reps for each exercise. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27547,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Most tracks are 400m so on the inner lane one lap would be 400m. As you go out the distance is farther</p>\n\n<p>There also should be markings on the track for 100,200,300,400 and 1 mile </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The formula, L = 2S + 2pi(R + (n-1)w) can be used to calculate the\n distances around the track for the various lanes. In this formula L\n equals the lane distance, S equals the length of the straightaway, R\n is the radius of the turn, n is the lane number and w is the width of\n the lane.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You can find the formula from here for each lane going out.\n<a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/168904-what-is-the-distance-around-a-running-track-for-each-lane/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.livestrong.com/article/168904-what-is-the-distance-around-a-running-track-for-each-lane/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27731,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Lane 1 of a standard track is 400 meters. As you go farther out to lanes 2 - 8, the distance increases. That's why there are different starting marks for several distances at different parts of the track.</p>\n\n<p>For races in which runners stay in their lane (200m, 400m, 300 hurdles, etc.), there are starting lines in each individual lane. For races where runners break to the inside lanes, there is one waterfall starting line which curves forward so that people starting farther out run the same distance.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/27
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27493",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18071/"
] |
27,494 |
<p>How accurately does an exercise bike simulate "real" biking? Are the statistics displayed on the screen realistic?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27509,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It's really difficult to say whether the readouts are accurate without reference to the specific readouts and the bike model. However, a few notes:</p>\n<h2>Different muscles are used</h2>\n<p>Bicycling primarily targets the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, shins and calves. <a href=\"http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/better-workout-spinning-vs-outdoor-cycling\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Stationary bicycles put more strain on your hamstrings</a> due to the need to exert muscular effort to slow the flywheel. There's also less variation of muscles used since you're not turning and you're not dealing with going up and down inclines. That said, you're only going to be seeing significant gains there if you're doing heavy activity, which frankly most people aren't on either an indoor or outdoor bike.</p>\n<h2>It's easier to "coast" with an exercise bike</h2>\n<p>I think we've all experienced this, getting to a particular speed and the flywheel is pushing your feet almost as much as you're pushing the pedals. Compare that to biking outdoors where, unless you're on a decline, you have to keep putting effort into the system to keep it moving.</p>\n<h2>Distance traveled and speed tend to be accurate, but calories burned may not be</h2>\n<p>Speed and distance are essentially a function of rotational speed of the wheel and its diameter. So yes, outside of flywheel coasting, the speed at which you're turning the pedals probably does work out to that speed, and maintaining that speed for a given time will model the distance. <a href=\"http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/dont-believe-everything-your-exercise-machine-tells-you/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Calories are more tricky</a>. First of all, they're generally based on a formula that combines your height, weight, and age, so it's an estimate from the start. Secondly, most exercise machines don't subtract resting metabolic rate, so the figures look slightly more impressive than they are. <a href=\"http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/how-many-calories-you-burn-when-you-stand-work\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">You burn about 130 calories per hour just sitting at your desk, 180 per hour if standing</a>. A moderate pace on the bike burns about 490 calories per hour. The machines will be indicating the highest figure they can, generally including a chunk of your resting rate. That said, it's not that uncommon for "calories burned" to be listed that way in general, so the machines aren't terribly deceptive there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27820,
"author": "Fattie",
"author_id": 1039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1039",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your aim is <strong>purely to burn calories</strong>, an exercise bike is fine.<sup>1</sup></p>\n\n<p>Thought: consider a <strong>rowing machine</strong>, which is much tougher and burns even more calories.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding the <strong>accuracy</strong> of calorie calculations: quite simply ALL calorie calculations have a very high margin of error. For instance, if you ride a bike, or indeed go jogging, for X hours, the guess of how many calories burned is very much a <strong>guesstimate</strong>. Really I'd say the calorie guess on a exercise bike (or a gps watch, or using a formula) is \"reasonable\".</p>\n\n<p>Regarding the relatively unimportant question of which of an exercise bike versus real biking \"burns more calories\". At some level of comparison, real biking is more <strong>irregular</strong>, and hence, burns more calories. (Same with jogging versus treadmill.)</p>\n\n<p>However, exercise bike is a far more <strong>consistent</strong> exercise experience. If you go out on a real bike (unless you're a real pro, as SeanDuggan suggests) you're messing around a lot: if you sit down on an exercise bike and actually do it for 30 mins, that's 30 real mins of exercise. (Again, consider instead a rowing machine - perhaps alternate each day?)</p>\n\n<p>As long as you stick at it, exercise bike is one of the great basics of aerobic exercise - calorie burning - so sure, go for it.</p>\n\n<p>Your question is quite abrupt so I've attempted to guess at what you're really asking. Cheers</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><em><sup>1</sup> (if your aim is to actually \"be good and/or fast at bike riding\", just forget the exercise bike and ride an actual bike. But I believe this has nothing to do with your question.)</em></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/27
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27494",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18101/"
] |
27,498 |
<p>To clarify I'll provide some examples of what I mean by "holding":</p>
<p>Say when you are doing a situp, you can hold the position part way through and then just stay there and it will work your muscles. Another example is holding a dumbbell horizontally, or doing a chin up so that your biceps are approximately horizontal and then just holding that position.</p>
<p>Is doing exercise like this bad? Why is it never recommended to do this over doing the entire motion? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Are there dangers of holding?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27503,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's a good question. It's called isometric training and some people swore by it in the beginning of the steroid era because they used it as an excuse for their incredible gains (while hiding that they actually came from pharmaceutical companies).</p>\n\n<p>It's not good or bad, it's a tool to increase time under tension. My personal opinion is that you should train a muscle the same way you are planning to use it, so if you find it useful to be in a position, train it. An example of that would be to progress a lift: if you find yourself for example constantly struggling in the same part of a bench press, removing some weight and pausing the movement in that part of the lift can help make you stronger at it, and overcome a plateau. Hypertrophy-wise, which might be what you are after, it was very big in the past with tempo reps (for example bench press 5x10 3-1-1 meaning 3 seconds eccentric/going down, 1 second isometric contraction at the bottom, 1 second concentric/going up) and is still present in a lot of bodybuilding programs. It will not make or break your program but it can be a fun addition if you get bored.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27507,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are some benefits, however there are also some attendant risks with isometric exercise.</p>\n\n<p>First, isometric exercise doesn't really build much strength overall, they really only build strength in that one position. They can help maintain strength that you have already developed, however and it can be very useful in a rehabilitation type setting.</p>\n\n<p>These types of exercises (Since there is no motion) won't really help speed or athletic performance either.</p>\n\n<p>What they can do very well, is increase the effectiveness of stabilization muscles, as they are forced into greater and greater recruitment to sustain the isometric contraction. There is also <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1501558\" rel=\"nofollow\">some recent evidence</a> that it can help to lower resting blood pressure. They can also be useful exercises if you have a lowered range of motion due to disease (arthritis) or injury.</p>\n\n<p>These types of exercises do raise blood pressure during the exercise, and if you intend on doing them, be aware of intensity and not holding your breath, as these are two other factors that can also raise your blood pressure dangerously.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/28
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27498",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315/"
] |
27,500 |
<p>I am obese (300 pounds now, down 40 pounds) and have been for the better part of my life. As I've acquired a great interest in medicine and sports medicine I've decided to shed most of my weight and get as fit as possible as I applied to medical school and got accepted (as it would be quite hypocritical to be a fat doctor). I have 4 months left till I start and I am aware that I cannot reach a healthy weight by then, but I'll be on my way there and I can handle a few stares.</p>
<p>This is my current exercise regime (I just graduated from high school, don't have a job so during down time from exercise I sit at home and read, play):</p>
<p>3x a week (mon, wed, fri): Wake up, do "foundation training" which includes stretches for posture, walk 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) to the gym, do Stronglifts 5x5 (squats, bench, deadlift, rows and press), walk home 3 kilometers. At home, do grip training. </p>
<p>3x a week (tues, thurs, sat): Wake up, do "foundation training", walk 5 kilometers to a place I like to do cardio, do couch-to-5k training (intervals), rest for a little bit on a bench and then walk home 5 kilometers. Total 11-12 km. </p>
<p>Sundays: Take a 5-20 kilometer (3-12 miles) walk depending on mood.</p>
<p>On top of this, when I'm at home playing/reading/watching movies I get up every 30 minutes to move for 5-10 minutes and clean the house a bit, get some water and so on so I work up a sweat over 8 times a day. But the problem is with the above training and standing up regularly, I still sit down for an average 8 hours a day. I have purchased an ergonomic chair and I've noticed that my posture is a lot better with my exercise (especially the stretching in morning, squats and deadlifts help a lot) but I still sit down too much. How can I change this? I've heard sit/standing desks are good, but I also need a new pair of running shoes now that winter is coming and I have to transition to treadmills and so I can't afford both. </p>
<p>Also, do I need to incorporate another exercise form? I've heard stretches before/after activity can be good but I feel that my morning stretches leave a great impact for the rest of the day. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27505,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Train hard, and recover harder. This is a very complete schedule, but I would warn you to be careful of the other part of the equation that is recovery. Your body is a machine that is tuned to respond to external stress (dieting, strength training, aerobic training are all stressors) and that stress needs to be increased slowly so as to not cause yourself to stall or worse, get hurt, and it needs to be evacuated (by taking lower effort weeks here and there, called deload weeks in strength training) regularly. Sleep a lot, eat well and take it slow - think of it as a marathon, not a sprint.</p>\n\n<p>Stronglifts is a good start but I wouldn't recommend to stay too long on it as it isn't a very balanced program. It will help you exploit your existing muscle mass to the fullest very fast but it lacks the hypertrophy work to make you a well-rounded lifter, which can lead to potential injury on the long run. Once you are past the \"easy gains\", switching to a more well-founded program (like the Juggernaut Method, 5/3/1, or any periodized program) will help you move forward. I would also recommend that you read \"Scientific Principles of Strength Training\" if you are interested in resistance training - despite its name it's an extremely easy and fast read (I got through it in an afternoon).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27560,
"author": "eatlunchnow",
"author_id": 18136,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18136",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Congrats on the forty pound weight loss!</p>\n\n<p>You mentioned that you sit for eight hours a day and the only way to change that is to not sit. Research has shown that our prolonged sitting is killing us. Experts agree that we should all work our way up to standing for four hours a day to avoid health issues. If you are on the computer a lot a stand up desk is a great idea. If you can't afford one stack books on top of a desk and go from there. It may feel awkward but you can stand while you are watching tv. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/28
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27500",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18104/"
] |
27,508 |
<p>I am starting a 12-Week program to gain muscle mass and weight. I'm taking Dymatize Elite Mass High-protein muscle gainer as a supplement. I take one scoop before workout and two scoops along with a fruit after workout. I would like to know what else should I consume to maximize my gains besides my post workout shake because I don't know whether it is enough to drink my shake along with a fruit and then wait for lunch.</p>
<p>Thank you!
This is the 12-week program by Jim Stoppani <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/shortcut-to-size.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/shortcut-to-size.html</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27510,
"author": "TestWell",
"author_id": 17926,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17926",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Timing isn't as important as you may think. The 'Anabolic Window' has been proven a myth (<a href=\"http://breakingmuscle.com/nutrition/is-the-anabolic-window-a-myth\" rel=\"nofollow\">see here</a> for a study). Instead, calculate your total calories for the day and find out where you are. Estimate your sustainable caloric intake - the amount of calories to neither lose nor gain weight - and add 500 to that. Ask yourself other things like:</p>\n\n<p>What else am I eating?\nHow many grams of protein/carbs/fat/sugar am I taking in each day?\nWhat are the ingredients of what I'm eating?</p>\n\n<p>Nutrition weighs heavily on the results you'll receive from working out. I've always been hesitant to take 'gainer' supplements as most of them are full of sugar and leave me feeling bloated. Another thing to consider is the amount of <em>real food</em> you're taking in. If the gainer keeps you full for such a long time that you aren't able to eat enough real food, I would cut back on its usage.</p>\n\n<p>As for what else to eat, bodybuilding.com has <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mohr60.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">an entire meal plan</a> laid out that may give you some ideas. Knowledge is key, do as much research as you can about nutrition and the way our body processes food. Hope this helps!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27530,
"author": "pufferfish",
"author_id": 6711,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6711",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The foundation of any good diet to make “gains” (build muscle mass) is high quality complex carbohydrates. I.E. oatmeal, sweat potatoes, yams, pumpkins, squash, brown rice, rice. Notice a starch that I left out? Corn. Corn in an unprocessed form is virtual indigestible by humans. </p>\n\n<p>Dymatize Elite Mass High-protein muscle gainer primary carbohydrate source is Maltodextrin. *“Maltodextrin can be enzymatically derived from any starch. In the US, this starch is usually corn” This product’s Supplement Facts list 75g of Total Carbohydrate 8g as Sugars. Maltodextrin a heavily processed corn product that while technical not a sugar it is processed very similar to sugar. *“Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose”.</p>\n\n<p>Taking Dymatize Elite Mass High-protein muscle gainer before your work out is going to cause a sharp insulin response during your work out which is not what you want. This product is meant to be taken after a workout not before.</p>\n\n<p>To answer your question about “what else should I consume to maximize my gains?” </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Consume high quality complex carbohydrates early in the day before\nyou work out</p></li>\n<li><p>Avoid all easily digestible Carbohydrates (sugur, Maltodextrin,<br>\nMaltose, corn surup) before your work out.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrin\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrin</a> *</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/28
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27508",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18108/"
] |
27,516 |
<p>I have been working out moderately for 1 years now, and the last year I have been training to develop more strength (~85-90 max weight, 5-3 reps range) but seem to hit a plateau where I experience soreness after every single workout which is fine but after 2 weeks or so of continuous training the soreness becomes excessive and it takes away from my enthusiasm and energy so I have so stop and rest a week so the soreness goes away and I can train again. </p>
<p>I still get results but it seems to be at a very slowly rate(it takes about 6 weeks to be able to add 5 more lbs). So my question is this a good sign saying yes my workout is being effective or is it a sign that I might be putting too much strain? Or is it cause more of nutrition and/or rest? Or is this what I should expect from this kind of training? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27518,
"author": "user17883",
"author_id": 17883,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17883",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You typically want to give each muscle 72 hours to heal. To maximize your results try breaking your body into 3 parts. Push muscles( chest, shoulders and triceps), legs, and then pull muscles( back and bicep). Ideally you'd like to be getting 1 gram of protein for every body pound. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27519,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are getting sore because you are dramatically increasing your volume (sets times reps times weight) instead of progressing it slowly, thus not recovering. Then even worse, you stop altogether, and start over at full speed which gives you more soreness.</p>\n\n<p>Take it slow, keep track of your volume per bodypart to learn how much you can get away with. Generally, doing more is always better from both strength and hypertrophy perspective <strong>but</strong> you need to work up to it over weeks, months and sometimes years in order to recover properly. When you start over again, remove some weight (keep 2/3 to 3/4 of the weight), and remove some sets (keep 2/3 of the sets) and keep the exercise selection very strict. On your first few sessions, you shouldn't be getting even near tiredness and you should leave the gym frustrated that you didn't do more. Then over the following few weeks, work up to the planned weight and sets by small increments. Then go past it, by doing more sets, using more weight. That's how progress is made, and it's the essence of progressive overload.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/29
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27516",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18110/"
] |
27,517 |
<p>This weekend I had a bad calf cramp in the last part of a combat stick sparring match (Calf cramped right as I pushed off for a strike, and then really locked up). Yesterday and today sore when walking at the push off of the stride.</p>
<p>Gym today, and while the calf felt better, didn't want to risk either squats or the hip sled. So, I opted for leg extensions and curls. The extensions were fine, but when I was doing curls, I could feel the calf wanting to tense. I was using the curl machine where you are in a seated position, rather than one where you lay on your stomach.</p>
<p>However, the curl <em>should</em> be a calf neutral exercise. I tried varying my foot position, concentrating on solely using the hamstrings, but unless I had the weight low enough where it was just an exercise in form, the calf rebelled.</p>
<p>What form break am I missing that would cause the calf to be active in an exercise where (theoretically) it should be completely neutral?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27527,
"author": "Noumenon",
"author_id": 8332,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8332",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The gastrocnemius is a two-jointed muscle, with its origin on the condyles of the femur. Knee flexion is part of what it does. This is why you usually have to dorsiflex the ankle during lying leg curls, so that you don't enter active insufficiency by tightening the calf across both joints at once. To work the hamstrings in isolation from the calf, you can train them across the other joint they cross instead, by extending the hips instead of flexing the knee. That's the Romanian deadlift.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27528,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I’ve had the same issue when occasionally using that machine(1). While compiling some anecdotal evidence, it always seemed to happen after a recent bout of calf cramps. I played with the positioning of the seat and other machine adjustments until I realized that I could not totally remove my calves from the exercise. Rather, I would lessen the involvement of the calf muscle by dorsiflexing (pointing my toes toward my head) while seated. I then found <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E97A365fiJM\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Muscles Worked in a Seated Leg Curl : Leg & Back Exercises</a> which made things clearer.</p>\n\n<p>(1)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/PtOnp.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/PtOnp.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/29
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27517",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736/"
] |
27,521 |
<p>How come women on the same dosages of steroids, with the same training experience, on the same programs, with the same bodyweight or even heavier by 30 lbs, as men on steroids are still considerably weaker, for example female competitive powerlifters, olympic weightlifters?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27535,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The explanation for this is because men naturally have higher levels of testosterone. This is because men have hormones that they possess in which people of the opposite gender likely would not. On average, a man usually has 20 times as much testosterone in him than a woman, no joke. This is why you will probably wonder why the majority of females at your gym are only lifting 5 or 10 pound dumbbells while you are pumping out a 180-Ib lift on the bench press. This isn't to say women cannot possibly be strong, it is just more of a struggle for them than men, and if a man and woman trained equally the man would probably bulk more because of his hormonal composition and levels of testosterone.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27544,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Other factors might include anthropomorphic differences (limb length, bone size and density, etc.) and also the crucial fact that the men in your comparison have been training for multiple years with those hormonal levels, which accounts for a superior lean mass and thus superior strength. Female competitive powerlifters or weightlifters or bodybuilders are much, much stronger than the average (and even slightly above average) gym goer because they have spent more time training in an anabolic state than them (despite their sex difference). I'd recommend taking a look at the international rankings in powerliftingwatch.com for anyone who doesn't think that is the case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27546,
"author": "The Real Bill",
"author_id": 1103,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Because all other things are certainly <strong>not</strong> equal. The cow isn't a sphere, it is a cow.</p>\n\n<p>Testosterone is critical, absolutely. However, it is more of a limiting factor than a dominant directly causal one. The male and female hormone systems are different in more than just T levels, and these additional hormones such as HGH, IGF, and others play a significant role as well.</p>\n\n<p>Part of your question also stems from a societally induced belief that steroids simply make you big. They do not. Going above your body's natural growth limits may require steroids, but it will also require much more in terms of other bio-chemcial regimens and will have to be different for the sexes due to the underlying structural differences. </p>\n\n<p>Thus putting a man and a woman on the same regimen will not produce the same results. For that matter, you can put two \"near identical\" men on the exact same regimen and not get the same end result. Other factors such as microbiome, individual normal shifts, and even mental factors throw a monkey wrench in the basic premise.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, the changes necessary for the stronger muscles happen much earlier in life. Adding steroids or testosterone after physical maturity can not retroactively build the body for the higher load of activities such as powerlifting. Hypothetically it may be possible to produce a female with the same makeup by applying drastic hormone and strength training at a <strong>very</strong> early age but it would be a dubious proposal and certainly not one I'd expect to ever be done.</p>\n\n<p>All of this doesn't mean an <em>individual</em> woman can not be stronger than an <em>individual</em> man. It simply means that the strongest male powerlifter will be capable of lifting heavier than the strongest female powerlifter - even (or especially) with the same regimen.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/29
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27521",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18112/"
] |
27,537 |
<p>I just wanna know if there are any daily routines or exercises that - do not necessarily build muscles but in fact - make the distance between your shoulders higher and eventually widen the very upper body .</p>
<p>Pushing those blue points outside. Any suggestions? Exercises, workouts, stretches ...</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1DgV9.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1DgV9.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27574,
"author": "lgritz",
"author_id": 1311,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1311",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Exercises that build muscle in your upper arms, shoulders, and upper back can make your shoulders <em>look</em> wider, but they won't change the actual distance between your joints. Although weight-bearing exercise can increase bone density, the basic geometry of your skeleton isn't really altered by exercise. There's no exercise that will make you taller or have longer arms, either, for the same reason.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31507,
"author": "JaredW82",
"author_id": 19550,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/19550",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, regular physical fitness routines will indeed make a difference on bone structure and growth as well as muscle mass giving net result as an increase in shoulder distance. The younger you are as you begin, the greater the effect will be. Specifically, weight training and other anaerobic and high impact routines will have the greatest effect on both bone and muscle growth. This, however, needs to be consistent training over a long period of time in order to realize the effects long-term. </p>\n\n<p>The goal is to naturally increase your growth hormone (GH) levels as osteocytes and osteoblasts are stimulated by GH and by mechanotransduction. Actual bone length may not be effected at all and may have more to do with genetics. See my other answer <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/29051/relation-between-upper-body-workout-and-wrist-size\">here</a> (relating to wrist size, but also relevant for other bones and muscles) for a detailed explanation. HINT: Read the section entitled \"Detailed Explanation of Bone Growth\".</p>\n\n<p>Diet also plays an important role. You need to have enough protein as well as many other nutrients in order to support and maintain the muscles and bones.</p>\n\n<p>Just about any upper body workout involving the shoulders, chest, or upper back overtime will give the impression of a greater shoulder distance and increase bone density and growth overtime. You should, however, not endeavor to make this your main goal. Ideally, overall health and fitness and proportionate body strength should be the main goal to strive for. Besides, as your leg and glut muscles are the largest in your body, they will therefore have the greatest net effect in increasing your GH levels.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/29051/relation-between-upper-body-workout-and-wrist-size\">Relation between upper body workout and wrist size</a> </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/09/29
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27537",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18120/"
] |
27,559 |
<p>I read on this site that a full workout consists of a pushing exercise, a pulling exercise and a legs exercise.</p>
<ul>
<li>For the pushing exercise I have bench presses.</li>
<li>For the legs exercise I have weighted squats.</li>
</ul>
<p>It's the pulling exercise that I'm mainly concerned about, I'm doing dead lift as I read it somewhere but after doing it for the first time I felt like the dead lift was more of a legs exercise. Is it an appropriate exercise to fill the "pull" slot in my workout?</p>
<p>What would be a pull exercise that I could use instead if deadlift does not meet the pull criteria?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27562,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is where the pull/push division breaks down :)</p>\n\n<p>Deadlifts use (if you do them correctly) your hamstrings, which is definitely a pulling muscle, but they also use your quads, which is a pushing muscle. It also uses your ass, and what's that really? Probably more of a pulling muscle... They also use your back a lot, which is mostly pulling muscles.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend doing a 3-split instead:</p>\n\n<p>Monday. Pull, upper body</p>\n\n<p>Wednesday. Push, upper body</p>\n\n<p>Friday. Legs + deadlift </p>\n\n<p>That's the best way of getting enough rest between workouts for all muscles I think. The legs get their own day, and the back work on friday doesn't interfer too much with the pull work on monday. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27577,
"author": "Kyan Clay",
"author_id": 18143,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18143",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As mentioned earlier, deadlifts, when performed correctly, require lower back, core, and even upper back strength. However, pull-ups are extremely effective as a pull exercise, because:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>like a deadlift, they're a compound movement (require multiple large muscle groups);</li>\n<li>relatively easy for progressions (assisted pull-up machine through to weighted pull-ups);</li>\n<li>bodyweight movement (therefore safe and low impact when performed correctly);</li>\n<li>simple to adjust to target different \"pull\" muscle groups i.e. biceps (chin up); lats (wide grip pull up), inner back/rhomboids (close-grip pull-up) etc...</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>All the best!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/02
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27559",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315/"
] |
27,564 |
<p>I am an engineering student studying at a good school in Silicon Valley. Over the summer, I started working out and I continued for almost two months until my school started. Now that school started, I find it really hard to make time during the weekday to go to the GYM and workout, due to homework and lectures. However, I do find time on Fridays and weekends, but I am not sure how to compensate for the whole week in only three days. <br>
<strong>Here's my plan:</strong><br> Do two workout consecutively in a day, and take "pre-workout" after finishing first workout, so that way I can have energy to do the second workout. Is this a good approach?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27571,
"author": "eatlunchnow",
"author_id": 18136,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18136",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't work out twice a day. If you only have three days to work out, work out those three days. Unless you are doing intense hours long workouts you should be able to manage three days in a row of working out. What workouts do you plan on doing?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27584,
"author": "user18156",
"author_id": 18156,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18156",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should be able to do Starting strength twice a week. Or a similar linear progression Full body workout twice a week. Won't need more than 45 minutes. I wouldn't recommend doing 3 days in a row or working out twice in a day.</p>\n\n<p>3 days a week would be ideal, but it would be detrimental to your progress if you do 3 consecutive days, in my opinion.</p>\n\n<p>source: 550lbs deadlift</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27620,
"author": "james",
"author_id": 1835,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1835",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Since you are only able to train on weekends, you want to make the most of your time. Train on Friday and Sunday, full body. There are a lot of full body routines out there to choose from. But be sure to focus on the compound exercises that deliver the most bang for your buck. (Squats deadlifts, presses, rows, etc.) designing a specific schedule of exercises and progression would be specific to your goals. I'm assuming you're mainly interested in general strength and conditioning. </p>\n\n<p>Now, because of the timing of your training sessions, you'd be best off keeping intensity high and volume low on the Friday session. Don't take any sets to failure, and no grinding reps. Save that for the Sunday session when you'll have plenty of time to recover before you train again the next Friday. On Sunday, do higher volume and moderate intensity work. Here, you can take some sets to failure, or near failure, and the odd grinder will be tolerable. </p>\n\n<p>Consider doing deadlifts only on the Sunday session. </p>\n\n<p>If you really want to do something on Saturday, consider just doing some LISS cardio. You could also do some HIIT cardio at the end of your Friday and Sunday sessions. On the other hand, some brisk walking or biking during the week would be more beneficial, if that would fit for you. (E.g., walking or biking to campus.)</p>\n\n<p>Be certain to attend carefully to your recovery between the Friday and Sunday sessions. Get lots of sleep and food. Actually, that applies every day but, I get it, you're in school. Best of luck. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/02
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27564",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6747/"
] |
27,586 |
<p>Whenever I do a pull up or a chin up my palms hurt, like where your knuckles are but on the palm side. I feel like it's being squished and stretched. After I perform a few, say 3, it's difficult to move my fingers at all for a bit, like it's very stiff in that position.</p>
<p>Is this normal for someone just starting out? (both exercise and these particular exercises)</p>
<p>I've recently lost a considerable amount of weight (~20kg) could this be a reason as to why my palm is hurting? I'm thinking of this because maybe the skin is looser.</p>
<p>Is there any way I can avoid this? I've tried wearing (gardening) gloves but it didn't help, it was the same.</p>
<p>Should I continue doing these exercises? Will it eventually become less painful?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27598,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I honestly don't have enough data to give you a proper answer, but I've been there before. My hands got really sore, almost swollen, and I developed calluses along there. Some of it is just unaccustomed strain, having to squeeze more tightly with your hands than your used to to hold yourself up. Some of it is the skin getting abraded, particularly if you have knurled grips (small thing that really helps on that is to take off any rings you have). In the end, it's generally something that you just have to work through, and is not, at leas tin my experience, something indicating actual permanent damage happening.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27600,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Years ago, I had a similar experience that actually led to <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trigger-finger/basics/definition/con-20043819\" rel=\"nofollow\">trigger finger</a>. I have only anecdotal evidence, but, I am convinced that doing chin ups was, in some way, related to the cause of my problem. Once my problem was resolved, I still wanted to perform chin ups, so, I invested in a good pair of <strong>padded</strong> weight lifting gloves, and, more importantly, a set of <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOVW3qYCTg\" rel=\"nofollow\">wrist straps</a>(*). Wrist straps allowed me to continue doing the exercise without having to concentrate (fully) on my grip. I also switched to a fingers <strong>and</strong> thumb grip over the bar rather than a thumb under the bar. This seemed to alleviate some hand discomfort. While this approach may not resolve your problem, it’s worth looking into.</p>\n\n<p>(*) I don’t agree with all of the claims made for wrist straps, but, the video does show their many uses.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/05
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27586",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315/"
] |
27,589 |
<p>I'm currently 17 and my friend and I have been lifting weights for about 5 months. My friend started taking these vitamin pills Dianabol, and although we use to lift the same weights he now lifts like 100lbs more. I don't wish to take supplements because I don't believe in them. Are there any training programs I can do to increase my strength? I heard Creatine is good but I don't want to cheat. I feel I eat a lot: I eat Kraft Mac and Cheese, Tyson Nuggets and Peanut Butter and Jelly, but I haven't gained much weight. Do I need more protein?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27593,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Dianabol seems to be steroids and taking those can have all kinds of nasty medical consequences, they are not vitamins! Don't sacrifice your health just to get to take a shortcut.</p>\n\n<p>Creatin is good, it's openly used by a lot of athletes, what it does it increase your ability to supply energy to your muscles so that you can do a few more reps and thus get more out of your workout. Not all people have an effect though.</p>\n\n<p>Diet wise, make sure you get enough calories that you add weight over the weeks (not days) and eat a lot of protein, protein shakes are good, get the cheapest one you like the taste of. </p>\n\n<p>And to increase bench, bench, add other chest exercises as well, like dumbbell bench press, flies, tricep exercises and so on. Having a strong back will become important too. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27613,
"author": "spooky655",
"author_id": 18176,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18176",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This sounds like a troll, but I'll answer for anyone interested.</p>\n\n<p>For your bench press, the best way for a novice to bench more weight is to just bench more. You can likely recover after about 48 hours after every workout so you can bench three times per week. You might be able to add five pounds to your bench after each workout assuming you eat and rest enough. Eventually, you can get microplates and add 2.5 lbs each workout when five pounds is too much.</p>\n\n<p>For your diet, a calorie surplus is beneficial. Probably about 10% - which should be about 200-300 calories. You might gain 0.5 lbs to 1 lb per week. Some people will tell you to eat limitless calories and honestly you might make good progress but you'll get fat. You can track your calories with an app like myFitnessPal, or, more simply, you can just eat the same way you do now (assuming you are currently maintaining your weight) but eat an extra 200-300 calories snack. Protein is important, but you don't need as much as 1g/lb of bodyweight as people say. 1.6 – 1.8 g/kg of bodyweight has been proven to be sufficient (<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129168/\" rel=\"nofollow\">link</a>).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27636,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let's start with some basics:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Dianabol is a known anabolic steroid, not a vitamin</li>\n<li>Creatine is not a steroid, nor does it function like one</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>An <a href=\"http://examine.com/faq/is-creatine-a-steroid/\" rel=\"nofollow\">excellent article</a> at Examine.com explores the difference.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Genetic Differences</strong></p>\n\n<p>Even if your friend did not resort to using dianabol, there can be genetic differences that affect how quickly you can get good at the bench press or even build muscle. The bench press favors people with a barrel chest and short arms because they don't have to move the bar as far as someone with long arms.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, genetic factors control:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>How quickly you can build muscle/strength</li>\n<li>What kind of response you can get from steroids</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In short, some people only need a little dose of a steroid to make a big difference, and others can be complete non-responders (i.e. the steroid does nothing for performance).</p>\n\n<p>There is a lot you can do with just training, and 5 months is just too early in the game to take short cuts.</p>\n\n<p><strong>How to build a bigger bench</strong></p>\n\n<p>The main areas to build a bigger bench include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Technique -- fixing bad technique accounts for the fastest improvements</li>\n<li>Neural efficiency -- more practice helps you recruit more of the muscle you already have</li>\n<li>Muscle size -- more muscle means you can ultimately lift more</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Most beginners and early intermediates are really held back by the first two bullets. Improving those will probably have the most impact on your bench press as of right now.</p>\n\n<p>That said, when you are staying clean and keeping off \"gear\" (as the steroid using community likes to call it), be careful not to test your max all the time. Strength is built in the 70-85% range. By that, I mean most of your reps are 70-85% of your 1 rep max. Just to give you an idea of what that means when you don't know your 1 rep max:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>70% is your 10 rep max (one set, and you can only get 10 reps)</li>\n<li>75% is your 8 rep max</li>\n<li>85% is your 5 rep max</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I've found Strengtheory.com to be an excellent resource for science based strength training articles. Recently, Greg Nuckols did a 2 part series on <em>your</em> drug free muscle and strength potential.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.strengtheory.com/your-drug-free-muscle-and-strength-potential-part-1/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Part 1:</a> how big can <em>you</em> get?</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.strengtheory.com/your-drug-free-muscle-and-strength-potential-part-2/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Part 2:</a> how much <em>should</em> you bench and how to get there</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In part 2 of the series, there's an outline for a 5 day a week program to help you make the most of the muscle you have. It's a prime example of what I mean by keeping most of your reps in the 70-85% range. In fact, I wouldn't test your maxes any more frequently then once a quarter. I personally only do it when I'm preparing for a contest which I do once or at most twice a year.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/05
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27589",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18157/"
] |
27,623 |
<p>I have heard multiple times that going to the gym for about 2 hrs.+ each day often, weakens your immune system for a while, and breaks it down for a while. I would like to know if anyone has ideas to prevent this from occurring if I carry my workout through, because I want to work out 2 hours a day, 5 times a week. Any advice?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27630,
"author": "DavidR",
"author_id": 18185,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18185",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've never noticed this temporary immune system crash from training, however, to strengthen it so you can avoid the crash and get the most from your workouts/avoid overtraining injury, which I'd be more concerned about:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Sleep at least 7.5 hours (go for 9 during the first month)</li>\n<li>Eat clean</li>\n<li>Drink a lot of water, like a glass every few hours</li>\n<li>Don't drink alcohol/don't smoke anything (just for the first month)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I'm assuming you never trained like this before, so the above will definitely get you a good start.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck, avoid injury (don't get lazy and cheat on form etc/don't try to do too much)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27644,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll be honest, there are some people who spend 2 hours in the gym and they accomplish less than others who spend only 45 minutes. Keep in mind that is a huge investment in time and energy, and without a great plan of attack you will end up doing too much too soon. The people who are spending 2 hours a day in the gym have built up their work capacity over time to handle the stress of that kind of work.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Managing Recovery</strong></p>\n\n<p>Managing recovery is the priority number 1 when dealing with this kind of work volume:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. Take naps if you have to.</li>\n<li>Nutrition becomes very important. You will likely need pre, post, and intra-workout fuel. Chocolate milk can be very good for this.</li>\n<li>Limit yourself to only taking caffeine prior to working out. Caffeine can affect your sleep, and your natural recovery so only use the stimulant when you need to do work (coffee, sodas, caffeine pills, etc.)</li>\n<li>When you are resting, rest</li>\n<li>No extra work. Have your plan and execute it. Throwing in extra work can dig a deeper recovery hole.</li>\n<li>Vary weight and reps throughout the week. One or two days will have higher weight with fewer reps, and the rest will have lower weight with higher reps.</li>\n<li>Incorporate cooldown walks as part of your training regimen. The slow and steady cardio can help your muscles recover from the work you've done</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Coaching</strong></p>\n\n<p>When you are really pushing yourself, it pays to get a coach to manage your workload for you. They know how to help you navigate managing your recovery and adjust training as necessary. They also will end up pushing you harder than you would yourself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27645,
"author": "Remo Williams",
"author_id": 15962,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15962",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Moderate exercise boosts your immune system, but you experience diminishing returns as you increase in intensity (<a href=\"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/45336\" rel=\"nofollow\">one study here</a>).</p>\n\n<p>The two biggest factors that can have negative effects on your immune system are inflammation (inflammation suppresses your immune cells), and overtraining syndrome (<a href=\"http://www.nature.com/icb/journal/v78/n5/full/icb200070a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">list of symptoms to monitor</a>).</p>\n\n<p>David and Berin's answers are solid; get plenty of sleep, eat right (especially avoiding foods that cause an inflammatory response in your body), and allow yourself to recover. </p>\n\n<p>The only thing I would add, especially if your going hard during those two hours, is listen to your body before, during, and after training. Consider monitoring biomarkers like HR, HRV, CNS tap testing on a daily basis; push through discomfort, but don't push through pain; and on the days you're working out, if you're not feeling it, don't kill it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27623",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691/"
] |
27,626 |
<p>Whenever we want to build general muscle, we do at least 6 reps and at most 12 reps on like 3 sets, then why does abs workouts tends to be conducted to fatigue? (I mean 20 to 50 reps on 5 sets)</p>
<p>Isn't it faster to achieve <em>failure</em> when we are working our <em>core</em> with few reps and sets? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27627,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ab exercises themselves are very complex. They have been advertised to build shredded abs, which they do, but the problem is they DON'T BUILD STRONG ABS. Any exercise that has you doing high repetitions is endurance training, with not as much muscle growth. The reason that they build shredded abs is because most people get on a plan that has them doing enough to define their abs, but not enough to strengthen them. If you actually want to strengthen abdominal muscles, you should perform deadlifts, squats, and exercises that use weights while still activating them as a primary muscle used. Almost all exercises targeted directly for abdominals are bodyweight exercises, which usually are other forms of endurance training, the exceptions usually revolving around pull ups and dips.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27628,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Aside from having a lower potential for overall muscle growth, the abdominals are much like any other muscle group. In other words, it is up to the user on how many reps they use; though some exercises tend to work better with fewer reps (weighted exercise for example) while some tend to align with higher reps or time (purely body weight exercises).</p>\n\n<p>The reason that it's common to see many using higher rep schemes with ab exercises is the misconception that ab exercises themselves are responsible for defining one's abs. Simply put, many believe that performing higher reps will get them shredded.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, performing higher rep ab exercises isn't necessarily a bad thing. The core (and the abs by extension) play a large role in stabilizing the upper torso during movement. A certain degree of muscular endurance is required of the muscles in the core for it to perform its job well enough to prevent injury. How much is required depends on the level and type of activity the person in question is generally involved in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27629,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>Why Do Abs Exercises Have So Many Reps?</h2>\n\n<h3>Short Answer: To feel \"The Burn\"</h3>\n\n<p>Many people erroneously feel that most abs exercises are cardio exercises. As a result, they try to perform as many reps in as short a time frame as possible.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>First</em></strong>, because the abdominal muscles perform many functions,they're capable of being stressed longer than most muscles. As a result, the burn isn't usually felt until after a lot of repetitions.</p>\n\n<h2>Should Abs Exercises Have So Many Reps?</h2>\n\n<h3>Ideally.....nope.</h3>\n\n<p>Abs exercises should be performed in a <strong><em>slow, methodical fashion; there should be a pause at the top and bottom of the movement.</em></strong> Equally important, <strong><em>the exercise must target the specific muscles being exercised.</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>When performed with these considerations, \"the burn\" will be felt in as low reps as between 10 and 15.</p>\n\n<h3>Another Note Worth Considering</h3>\n\n<p>No one single abs exercise target every part of the abdominal muscles; you'll need to perform different exercises that target each segment of the abdominal muscles.</p>\n\n<h3>Lastly</h3>\n\n<p>Without a low body fat percentage, <strong><em>abs exercises don't mean squat aesthetically.</em></strong> The muscles might be strong and puffy; however, without a low body fat percentage, you won't be able to show them off <em>(this could be one of the reasons people use abs exercises as cardio)</em>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27626",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18182/"
] |
27,635 |
<p>I often get blurred vision after exercising. (moderate cardio) Sometimes it is right after, other times, it is about 15 minutes after exercising. It lasts about 30 minutes. My blood pressure is on the low side but is good. I am anemic. Could it be the anemia causing the blurred vision?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27627,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ab exercises themselves are very complex. They have been advertised to build shredded abs, which they do, but the problem is they DON'T BUILD STRONG ABS. Any exercise that has you doing high repetitions is endurance training, with not as much muscle growth. The reason that they build shredded abs is because most people get on a plan that has them doing enough to define their abs, but not enough to strengthen them. If you actually want to strengthen abdominal muscles, you should perform deadlifts, squats, and exercises that use weights while still activating them as a primary muscle used. Almost all exercises targeted directly for abdominals are bodyweight exercises, which usually are other forms of endurance training, the exceptions usually revolving around pull ups and dips.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27628,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Aside from having a lower potential for overall muscle growth, the abdominals are much like any other muscle group. In other words, it is up to the user on how many reps they use; though some exercises tend to work better with fewer reps (weighted exercise for example) while some tend to align with higher reps or time (purely body weight exercises).</p>\n\n<p>The reason that it's common to see many using higher rep schemes with ab exercises is the misconception that ab exercises themselves are responsible for defining one's abs. Simply put, many believe that performing higher reps will get them shredded.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, performing higher rep ab exercises isn't necessarily a bad thing. The core (and the abs by extension) play a large role in stabilizing the upper torso during movement. A certain degree of muscular endurance is required of the muscles in the core for it to perform its job well enough to prevent injury. How much is required depends on the level and type of activity the person in question is generally involved in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27629,
"author": "Kneel-Before-ZOD",
"author_id": 7894,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7894",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>Why Do Abs Exercises Have So Many Reps?</h2>\n\n<h3>Short Answer: To feel \"The Burn\"</h3>\n\n<p>Many people erroneously feel that most abs exercises are cardio exercises. As a result, they try to perform as many reps in as short a time frame as possible.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>First</em></strong>, because the abdominal muscles perform many functions,they're capable of being stressed longer than most muscles. As a result, the burn isn't usually felt until after a lot of repetitions.</p>\n\n<h2>Should Abs Exercises Have So Many Reps?</h2>\n\n<h3>Ideally.....nope.</h3>\n\n<p>Abs exercises should be performed in a <strong><em>slow, methodical fashion; there should be a pause at the top and bottom of the movement.</em></strong> Equally important, <strong><em>the exercise must target the specific muscles being exercised.</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>When performed with these considerations, \"the burn\" will be felt in as low reps as between 10 and 15.</p>\n\n<h3>Another Note Worth Considering</h3>\n\n<p>No one single abs exercise target every part of the abdominal muscles; you'll need to perform different exercises that target each segment of the abdominal muscles.</p>\n\n<h3>Lastly</h3>\n\n<p>Without a low body fat percentage, <strong><em>abs exercises don't mean squat aesthetically.</em></strong> The muscles might be strong and puffy; however, without a low body fat percentage, you won't be able to show them off <em>(this could be one of the reasons people use abs exercises as cardio)</em>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27635",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18192/"
] |
27,640 |
<p>I recently got complimented cause workout results are showing, the thing is the compliment included the words <em>"your shoulder's look bigger"</em> and it got me thinking, cause I'm already a wide guy as is. The last thing I want is to get wider. The shoulder workout I do doesn't include heavy weights. 10Kg dumbbells at most. Is there anything I can do to avoid getting any bigger/wider? </p>
<p>The reason is that I've always struggled fitting into nice shirts with my shoulders and always have to end up getting a size that's bigger than what I want because the other sizes although they fit nicely everywhere else they're too tight on the shoulder/armpit area. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27641,
"author": "FDM",
"author_id": 18010,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If your workouts are yielding results, I'm guessing that (1) you're lifting good and consistently, and (2) your diet allows for muscle growth.</p>\n\n<p>That being said: you're using light weights for your shoulders.\nImplicitely that translates to many reps per set. So you are probably doing between 8 and 12 (or maybe 15) reps, which puts the focus on hypertrophy. (More than that will focus endurance most.)\nIf that's the case, you can either:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>go for a heavy weight (low reps) which will focus more on strength than size (although size gains are possible, but to a lesser extent most likely).</li>\n<li>don't workout your shoulders directly anymore (because, duh, muscles grow after they've been stressed). They are already activated in many compound exercises - that should suffice if you're happy with them. Work for growth on everything else instead.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In any case, the two muscles giving you width are the side delts and the lats (so watch out how you construct your sets/reps for rows and pull-ups too).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27651,
"author": "DavidR",
"author_id": 18185,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18185",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Avoid any overhead press. Overhead press is an exercise known by many who actually lift to widen your appearance. Here is a thread with many responses by people who lift confirming that overhead press is a major mass building exercise for your shoulders. <a href=\"http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=887\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=887</a> There are many things you can avoid, but this is around the top. If you go with this advice be sure to check back in and let everyone know your results. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27653,
"author": "Rob Sterach",
"author_id": 16691,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16691",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me give you an easy solution to your problem. Stop working out your shoulders. If you have an imbalance relating to your deltoid muscles, which many men can naturally genetically suffer from, or \"broad shoulders,\" as referred to in some cases, then your shoulders shall always be buff and there is nothing you can do to change it. I suspect you do have this because of your statement about how you've always struggled to fit into shirts. However, what you can do is to bulk up the rest of your body consistently in order to make the other muscles the equivalent size. Unfortunately in your case, it is extremely difficult to work your chest muscles without assistance from your shoulder muscles. However, if you don't directly work your shoulders, a difference in their size will be minimal, as for most other muscles, too. But I would take your shoulders as a gift and keep working them anyway, unless they look too distinct on your body compared to the other muscle groups. :)</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/08
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27640",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17969/"
] |
27,656 |
<p>My height is 165 cm, and i just want to loose my thigh fat,calf fat and my muffin top </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27659,
"author": "Tas",
"author_id": 18169,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18169",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have you tried anything yet? Is something not working? For the purposes of my answer, I will assume you are inactive.</p>\n<h1>TL;DR</h1>\n<ul>\n<li>You aren't able to lose fat from certain areas of your body. Any exercise will help you lose fat including walking and running. If you wish to lose fat from the legs and tummy, focus more on toning those areas with lunges or squats</li>\n<li>Make sure you have measurable goals. You will find it hard to determine <em>when</em> you've lost your tummy fat, so ensure you are measuring either by taking measurements with a tape measure or a body composition test. Try to avoid weighing yourself</li>\n</ul>\n<h1>Exercise</h1>\n<p>Losing fat from certain areas isn't possible (in fact: it's <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23222084\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">disproven</a>). If you are interested in <em>fixing</em> those areas, the way to do it would be to tone them up with muscle instead! It's likely the abdominal exercises and leg exercises would be the way to achieve this, and you can try <strong>squats</strong> and <strong>lunges</strong> as a way of engaging your legs and abs. Both are able to be performed without any equipment (you can just use your body weight) and both should leave you exhausted afterwards! As an example program, you could do what was taught to me as <em>24-7</em>: 24 squats, 24 lunges (12 each leg) and then a 100m sprint. Repeat for 7 times total. Try that 3 times a week (should take approx 20-30 minutes but don't fret if it takes you longer).</p>\n<p>However, since those exercises won't help you lose fat in those areas any more than say bench pressing, you can simply do any exercise (walking, running, swimming, bench pressing etc). I recommend those exercises as a way of toning the muscle in those areas as well as losing fat (from your entire body).</p>\n<p>Don't be afraid of the term <em>muscle</em> either: you don't have to worry about having enormous, muscly legs after a dozen squats. Body-builders spend years getting their bodies to look the way they are.</p>\n<h1>Measurable goals</h1>\n<p>My final thing to mention is to have a measurable goal. Wanting to "lose fat from my thighs and tummy" is great for motivating yourself to do something, but you need to have a measurable goal and I recommend measuring yourself! Although you mention losing 10kg, depending on what you weigh that might be more difficult than you think. Start by taking measurements now and then repeat every 2-4 weeks (note: do not do it too frequently. Losing weight won't happen overnight!). Make sure you measure yourself consistently!</p>\n<p>To measure your legs: take a tape measure mark the middle part of your leg from your hip to your knee. Then wrap the tape measure around and record the number.<br />\nTo measure your tummy: wrap the tape measure around the largest part of your waist (where your belly button is)</p>\n<p>I don't advise weighing yourself, since muscle weighs more than fat and if you start to build muscle (again: don't be scared of building muscle. Think of it more as sculpting your body) you won't necessarily lose weight. Taking measurements is far better for what you want, since even if you tone up with muscle your measurements will go down from the fat loss.</p>\n<p>Alternatively, you can obtain a body composition test which will measure your fat and muscle percent.</p>\n<h1>Diet</h1>\n<p>Note that when I use the word diet I am talking about the food you habitually eat. This only requires a brief mention, because as long as you aren't putting on weight the food you are eating is probably fine. Your body will convert your fat and carbs into energy for you when you start needing it (e.g. exercise), so it's more about <em>using</em> that energy than altering what you are eating. So: if your diet (the food you habitually eat) isn't causing you to gain weight, there's <strong>no need to alter it</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27665,
"author": "Marekkk",
"author_id": 17954,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17954",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/27659/18169\">answer given above</a> is perfect. Just count calories and try to do more physical activities. Less calories in than out is the way to lose fat. A good app to track this is <a href=\"http://www.myfitnesspal.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">MyFitnessPal</a>: it's available on the internet, Android, iOS and Windows phone. I lost about 15kg using this.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore: if you are willing to lose weight, make sure to not overdo it. If you do you may binge and you'll get more calories in than out. Also if you overdo it you may overeat after you've completed your diet.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27656",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18215/"
] |
27,658 |
<p>Many of my friends use a pre workout such as C4 prior to lifting. I have never used one but am curious if I would see a major change in the effectiveness of my workout. I do a lot of strength training and weight lifting for my hour long workouts. Will using pre-workout help at all besides giving me more energy?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27659,
"author": "Tas",
"author_id": 18169,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18169",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have you tried anything yet? Is something not working? For the purposes of my answer, I will assume you are inactive.</p>\n<h1>TL;DR</h1>\n<ul>\n<li>You aren't able to lose fat from certain areas of your body. Any exercise will help you lose fat including walking and running. If you wish to lose fat from the legs and tummy, focus more on toning those areas with lunges or squats</li>\n<li>Make sure you have measurable goals. You will find it hard to determine <em>when</em> you've lost your tummy fat, so ensure you are measuring either by taking measurements with a tape measure or a body composition test. Try to avoid weighing yourself</li>\n</ul>\n<h1>Exercise</h1>\n<p>Losing fat from certain areas isn't possible (in fact: it's <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23222084\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">disproven</a>). If you are interested in <em>fixing</em> those areas, the way to do it would be to tone them up with muscle instead! It's likely the abdominal exercises and leg exercises would be the way to achieve this, and you can try <strong>squats</strong> and <strong>lunges</strong> as a way of engaging your legs and abs. Both are able to be performed without any equipment (you can just use your body weight) and both should leave you exhausted afterwards! As an example program, you could do what was taught to me as <em>24-7</em>: 24 squats, 24 lunges (12 each leg) and then a 100m sprint. Repeat for 7 times total. Try that 3 times a week (should take approx 20-30 minutes but don't fret if it takes you longer).</p>\n<p>However, since those exercises won't help you lose fat in those areas any more than say bench pressing, you can simply do any exercise (walking, running, swimming, bench pressing etc). I recommend those exercises as a way of toning the muscle in those areas as well as losing fat (from your entire body).</p>\n<p>Don't be afraid of the term <em>muscle</em> either: you don't have to worry about having enormous, muscly legs after a dozen squats. Body-builders spend years getting their bodies to look the way they are.</p>\n<h1>Measurable goals</h1>\n<p>My final thing to mention is to have a measurable goal. Wanting to "lose fat from my thighs and tummy" is great for motivating yourself to do something, but you need to have a measurable goal and I recommend measuring yourself! Although you mention losing 10kg, depending on what you weigh that might be more difficult than you think. Start by taking measurements now and then repeat every 2-4 weeks (note: do not do it too frequently. Losing weight won't happen overnight!). Make sure you measure yourself consistently!</p>\n<p>To measure your legs: take a tape measure mark the middle part of your leg from your hip to your knee. Then wrap the tape measure around and record the number.<br />\nTo measure your tummy: wrap the tape measure around the largest part of your waist (where your belly button is)</p>\n<p>I don't advise weighing yourself, since muscle weighs more than fat and if you start to build muscle (again: don't be scared of building muscle. Think of it more as sculpting your body) you won't necessarily lose weight. Taking measurements is far better for what you want, since even if you tone up with muscle your measurements will go down from the fat loss.</p>\n<p>Alternatively, you can obtain a body composition test which will measure your fat and muscle percent.</p>\n<h1>Diet</h1>\n<p>Note that when I use the word diet I am talking about the food you habitually eat. This only requires a brief mention, because as long as you aren't putting on weight the food you are eating is probably fine. Your body will convert your fat and carbs into energy for you when you start needing it (e.g. exercise), so it's more about <em>using</em> that energy than altering what you are eating. So: if your diet (the food you habitually eat) isn't causing you to gain weight, there's <strong>no need to alter it</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27665,
"author": "Marekkk",
"author_id": 17954,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17954",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/27659/18169\">answer given above</a> is perfect. Just count calories and try to do more physical activities. Less calories in than out is the way to lose fat. A good app to track this is <a href=\"http://www.myfitnesspal.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">MyFitnessPal</a>: it's available on the internet, Android, iOS and Windows phone. I lost about 15kg using this.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore: if you are willing to lose weight, make sure to not overdo it. If you do you may binge and you'll get more calories in than out. Also if you overdo it you may overeat after you've completed your diet.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27658",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6321/"
] |
27,661 |
<p>Try to flex your biceps as hard as you can. It feels like if you were lifting right? So does this mean that microtears are getting broke and therefore we are having the same effect as lifting(Muscle growth)?</p>
<p>Simple question but I was wondering this, maybe I can get out my non-lifting program, lol.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27663,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer: Yes. But don't.</p>\n\n<p>Long answer: It is a huge waste of your time, because you're not going to be doing more than 1-2 muscles at a time. And the set of muscles that can be worked like this is very slim. For instace, how are you going to train your lower back?</p>\n\n<p>Seems like the only reason you'd do this, is because you don't want to go to the gym. Obviously, you should go to the gym if you want to build muscle.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27667,
"author": "rrirower",
"author_id": 7242,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7242",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What you are describing is called <a href=\"http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/isometric-training-what-it-is-and-how-to-do-it-correctly\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Isometric training</a>. It’s a little used, and much misunderstood, form of training in which the muscle tenses without changing its length. Each contraction is typically done for 6 to 10 seconds at a specific angle. For example, think of a bodybuilder holding a front double biceps pose.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/96Cdz.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/96Cdz.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a> </p>\n\n<p>During a competition, poses are typically held for quite a long time. That’s why most competitive bodybuilders practice static (isometric) posing. Isometric training assists in holding a pose for a long time without shaking from muscle fatigue.</p>\n\n<p>While isometric training is not popular, it does have its merits as evidenced by a 2005 study titled “<em>Strength training: isometric training at a range of joint angles versus dynamic training</em>” by Folland JP1, Hawker K, Leach B, Little T, Jones DA. That <a href=\"http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/2012/08/21/isometric/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">study</a> concluded that:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Isometric training at several equally spaced joint angles can produce\n similar full-ROM isokinetic strength gains as full-ROM isokinetic\n training. This could be useful for training with minimal equipment or\n for designing bodyweight training programs for building strength\n through full ranges of motion using only static positions.</p>\n \n <p>Both isometric and isokinetic training do not build strength equally\n at all joint angles. Therefore, if your sport or task requires\n strength at a specific joint angle, it might be necessary to look at\n targeted methods of increasing the strength at that specific angle,\n either by partials, eccentrics, isometrics at long or short lengths,\n or dynamic exercises that stress a particular ROM.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Isometric training will not provide the mass gains that resistance training will provide. But, it does have some value and should be thought of as an additional tool in your training arsenal.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/12
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27661",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16807/"
] |
27,668 |
<p>In 2015, I ran four races of three different distances - 2 5ks (9:20/mile and 9:04/mile), a 10k (11:15/mile), and a half marathon (11:50/mile). In 2016, I'm planning on running 2-4 5ks, 1-2 10ks, a 15k, and a half marathon. I'm about to start generating my training plans for the off-season and into next year.</p>
<p>Previously, I planned race-to-race. I did a very generic workout in the off-season, but I really need something more structured, and run-oriented, so I'm looking to start planning. Race season is April-October, so I'm starting to plan for how I'm going to train in the off-season.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://smartcoach.runnersworld.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">training plan generator that I use</a> takes the input of a recent race time and distance, a distance that I'm training for, an intensity level, a current distance per week, when to start the plan, when the race is, and when I long run.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/VepqD.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/VepqD.png" alt="Runner's World SmartCoach Training Plan Generator"></a></p>
<p>The only thing that I have a question about is how to appropriately chose what recent training run I provide. I plan to adjust the distance I'm training for, intensity, and distance per week appropriately for improvement and maintenance throughout the year as the dates for the races settle.</p>
<p>I see a few options:</p>
<ul>
<li>I should always choose my most recent race time and distance. No matter what I enter for the distance I'm training for, I always look at my most recent race time and generate a plan based on that.</li>
<li>I should always choose my longest race time and distance. No matter what distance I'm training for, I would use my longest race.</li>
<li>I should always choose my fastest pace. Regardless of what I'm training for, I build my plan around the fastest mile pace I've ever run, using that race's distance and time.</li>
<li>I should choose a race time and distance closest to the distance I'm training for. For example, if I'm training for a 5k, I'd use my most recent 5k time. For 10k or 15k training, I'd choose a recent 10k or half marathon. For half marathon training, I'd choose my most recent half marathon.</li>
</ul>
<p>Which option is preferable?</p>
<p>Keep in mind:</p>
<ul>
<li>I will be regenerating plans throughout the year, based on race distances and dates and performances in previous races. I'm just interested in what baseline I should be using for past performance every time I generate a new plan.</li>
<li>Not using a training plan is not an option. I need structure, so a very generic template is not suitable. I need something that is specific, day-by-day, with distances and target times.</li>
<li>I'm not interested in switching tools. Using plans generated by this tool, I managed to reduce times in the 5k (both between 2014 and 2015 and between my two 5ks in 2015) and train enough to finish my first 10k and half marathon.</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27669,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would use the half marathon.</p>\n\n<p>The half marathon plan <em>should</em> give you the most complete training for the other distances, as some of the finer details in a half marathon plan are going to be a different emphasis than a 5k plan.</p>\n\n<p>If you do the 5k or 10k plans, they may or may not give you enough distance work for the 15k and the half, and may place a little too much emphasis on the speed aspects. The half plan should give you enough distance base to easily complete the other events, and you can always play with the speedwork as needed to accommodate the shorter races.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27683,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would go for the following approach:</p>\n\n<p>You should at least start with a base that allows you to do at least 2 workouts (speed, tempo, hills etc) and one long run. Consider this your daily driver. This will give you some base that you can work off of. You should always consider your mileage and how that will be increased over time. The wonderful thing about 21k races is they don't beat you up like a marathon does. You could race every other weekend if you wanted to. (Depending on age and body of course)</p>\n\n<p>Now I would look at your Half Marathon race date and then do your Half Marathon plan around that date. So a half plan is normally 12-16 weeks. Pick your race and go back from that date and do the training for that race. </p>\n\n<p>You could then do speed work for your 10k/5k training during the rest of the year. You can slightly modify your basic weekly training to give you the results you want for your race. </p>\n\n<p>For example if you have a 5k race in 8 weeks then you would start on shorter speed workouts and perhaps even shorten your weekend long run to 15k or less. The key is getting that short speed work in on the track. You should also start to pick some goal times that will allow you to see your progression. </p>\n\n<p>Your first goal time maybe 24 minutes. You can use a pace calculator to determine what speed you should be doing your shorter increments at. </p>\n\n<p>If you plug in 24 minutes to a 5k race calculator you will find that you should be able to do 800m in 3:06 and 1 miles in 6:54. Of course the time is arbitrary but it will give you an idea of where you are at and what you need to do to get where you want to be. </p>\n\n<p>Here is a great tool for determining pace. \n<a href=\"https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27685,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should use your most recent training time, even if you aren't going to be focusing on that distance this season. One mistake that people often make is that they assume they should be running as fast as their PRs, or relative PRs over several distances, tell them. Instead, fitness changes throughout the training and racing season. Your most recent time will indicate what fitness you are in at the moment, and training at that fitness level will facilitate high quality training much more effectively than a different fitness level.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27714,
"author": "Sylverdrag",
"author_id": 4868,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4868",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ul>\n<li>Which distance & times should you use?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You need a RECENT time as it is obviously used to determine how fit you are at the start of the program. </p>\n\n<p>So you want a time from the last 1-2 months at most.\nIf you have had several races in the last 2 months, then you can chose the one closest to the distances you want to run as it will be the most representative of your performance for that distance. But don't go taking the times from a race in January. It needs to be recent. What matters is how fit you are right now, not how fit/unfit you were. </p>\n\n<p>If in doubt, follow their advice: go to a track and run a mile at top speed and use that. </p>\n\n<p>Personally, that's what I would do: Enter the last race details and generate a plan. Then go to the track and do a mile run as as fast as I can and generate another plan for that. Compare both plans and see how different they are. </p>\n\n<p>They should be pretty much the same, but maybe you have changed since your last race:</p>\n\n<p>For instance, if your last race was 90 days ago and you have been training regularly since, you are probably better now than your last race's time would suggest. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/12
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27668",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1867/"
] |
27,671 |
<p>Where is the most amount of strain in both situations? What are the health disadvantages for both? </p>
<p>What will be the effects when increasing to a sprint?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27674,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ankle weights will affect how your legs move as you run, and will likely cause injury. Weighted belts won't change your biomechanics much, but a greater impact can lead to injury as well. Even if you accelerate to a sprint, weighted ankles will keep your legs from moving normally. The weighted belt, on the other hand, won't affect you much at all in a sprint.</p>\n\n<p>If you're interested in getting faster (both for distance events or sprinting), I would recommend other training methods.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27696,
"author": "Sylverdrag",
"author_id": 4868,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4868",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ankle weights will affect how you move your legs and put additional strain on your knees, which isn't a great idea. (i.e: it's a terrible idea)</p>\n\n<p>Weighted belt is a better way to add weight, but will be rather uncomfortable. A weighted jacket provides better weight distribution. </p>\n\n<p>However, I would challenge the reason why you want to add weight while running. </p>\n\n<p>Running puts already quite a lot of stress on your joints, and increasing the weight just means increasing the potential for injury. Not worth it.</p>\n\n<p>You need to think about what you are trying to achieve, and look into the solid proven training methods to achieve those goals. </p>\n\n<p>For instance, if you want to burn more, just pick up the pace or do intervals - you will burn more, guaranteed.</p>\n\n<p>if you want to improve your sprint times, loading up on weight while running is NOT the solution. A much better idea would be a weight training program with squats, deadlifts, cleans with heavy weights combined with uphill sprints and interval training - and of course regular sprints. </p>\n\n<p>To increase strength significantly, you need heavy loads, and as heavy loads are dangerous, you need to handle them with safe controlled movements like squats and deadlifts, not running around and getting tired with carrying heavy loads. Besides, if you can do more than 10 reps, it's not heavy enough, so forget about running with weight, just do your squats, deadlifts and cleans.</p>\n\n<p>If you insist on running with weights, a good solution is sled work. Go for about 10% body-weight for sprints and you will gain speed. </p>\n\n<p>What you should NOT do is anything that puts your joints at risk. Injure a knee and you will be out for 6 months. Totally counter productive.</p>\n\n<p>Your first step is to clear up your goals, what you want to achieve, and research a program to do that. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27704,
"author": "George I.",
"author_id": 18254,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18254",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Both can increase the risk of injury. \nThe belt will put pressure on knees and the weighted ankle will put pressure on hips.</p>\n\n<p>It can be done without injuries if controlled carefully.\nBoth can help developing force, but because of the risks, other methods are preferred. </p>\n\n<p>Running with extra weight leads to muscle mass increase. \nThe benefits could be higher in endurance running, if the weights are decent. </p>\n\n<p>I ran with heavy military boots in one winter and the core strength developed great, but it didn't improved the speed.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/13
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27671",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18228/"
] |
27,675 |
<p>My dad doesn't want me to lift more than 20kg (44 lbs) in any exercise because I'm 14. I know a lot of teenagers don't take this seriously and do bad form just to lift more weight, but I don't wish to do that. </p>
<p>The problem is that I can easily do more than 15 reps with 20kg in almost every machine and as we know what I'm targeting here when doing more than 15 reps is mainly resistance, I know I won't become Schwarzenegger (I don't take steroids); but, I know I can get a little more muscular and mainly increase my strength, so the question is:</p>
<p><strong>Can I only use one arm on machines without damaging my muscles (or something like that) yet still target the muscles in a correct way?</strong> For example on Lat Pulldowns (obviously with one hand grip) or Inclined Bench Press Machines.</p>
<p>Meaning that I would still lift no more than 20 but just with one arm, so in theory I would be able to lift about 35-40 with the 2 arms.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27677,
"author": "Tas",
"author_id": 18169,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18169",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As @Alex L points out in the comments: yes you can, but why not just use your body weight or free weights instead?</p>\n\n<p>Instead of doing <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/one-arm-lat-pulldown\" rel=\"nofollow\">one-armed lat pulldowns</a>, do <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/pullups\" rel=\"nofollow\">pull ups</a>: it's the same motion, but there isn't a machine stabilising the weights for you and you are lifting your entire body weight. If that's too difficult you could also consider a <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/one-arm-dumbbell-row\" rel=\"nofollow\">one-armed dumbbell row</a>.</p>\n\n<p>There are plenty of isolated and compound exercises you can perform with free weights or just your body weight that should keep you going!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27692,
"author": "PmanAce",
"author_id": 6625,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6625",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As others have mentioned, start doing dips (you can even add weight when it gets too easy), pull-ups and chin-ups, same principle, add weight when you can do more than 8 for example. Those three exercises there will bulk your biceps, triceps, chest, back.</p>\n\n<p>Bent over rows with free weights would be good too, standing shoulder press also if you want to target shoulders, standing makes it more difficult.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/14
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27675",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16807/"
] |
27,678 |
<p>I consider it as a related and continuation to my <a href="https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/16629/what-are-the-rules-to-be-followed-while-doing-push-ups-at-home">previous question</a>. I am doing push ups daily for the past 2 months regularly without missing a day. I am doing 5 reps of 15 push ups. I have question here, I am not sure if I am doing it the right way. I am just holding up my breath until 15 push ups. I read somewhere in the internet about breathing techniques from pro body builders. Some say to hold breath, other say to inhale when going down and exhale when coming up and somebody argues that its that other way around.</p>
<p>So, I am confused with these multiple opinions/suggestions. What is the ideal way of breathing which is good for our health having no adverse effects while doing push ups. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27679,
"author": "Mårten",
"author_id": 6368,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/6368",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not breathing at all seems like a bad idea, especially at high reps. When you bench press, you should inhale as you lower the bar and exhale as you lift it. So I would try inhaling as lower yourself and so on, but I would also try the other way around and see what feels best. If it feels good and you perform well, it's the right way. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27682,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, breathe while doing pushups. Conventional wisdom, as with most muscular effort, is to exhale as you're expending your effort (pushing-up) and inhaling as you move back (lowering yourself to right above the floor), but I personally find that, if you don't think about it too much, your breathing usually takes care of itself. It's worth noting that, probably due to the muscles involved, <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/4914/difficulty-breathing-in-push-up-position?rq=1\">some people have trouble breathing normally during pushups</a>, but you should try to at least breathe some.</p>\n<p>Holding your breath during a heavy lift is generally known as <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/know-when-to-hold-it-how-to-breathe-while-lifting.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the Valsalva maneuver</a> and it has contraindications:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It's worth emphasizing that the Valsalva maneuver is only for short-duration, high-exertion efforts. The same technique that provided a core of strength for your PR back squat can become a serious headache—literally—when you apply it to a run-of-the-mill bench press.</p>\n<p>Many beginners—and a few experienced lifters—stop breathing during repetitive, low-intensity lifts, either because they think it'll make them stronger, or because they just plain forget. An extended Valsalva maneuver like this can cause a dangerous spike in blood pressure, bursting blood vessels in your eyes and forehead, causing headaches and temporary vision disturbances.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/14
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27678",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4797/"
] |
27,699 |
<p>I've heard from many people that if you are exercising at the gym, then your height will stop increasing. Is it true for 19 year old male?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27700,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The exercise itself will not impair your growth. In fact, <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark41.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">exercise can increase secretion of Human Growth Hormone</a>, which can lead to a height gain. However, if you are chronically under-nourished, <a href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask442\" rel=\"nofollow\">there is a risk of you winding up a few inches shorter than you might have been</a>. <a href=\"http://musqle.com/does-lifting-weights-affect-the-growth-in-teenagers\" rel=\"nofollow\">If you injure your growth plates, that may affect bone growth</a>, but the risk is <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/536757-does-playing-sports-at-a-young-age-affect-bone-growth/\" rel=\"nofollow\">primarily in broken bones, and even those seldom cause problems if properly set</a>.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that lifting weights will <a href=\"http://www.stronghealthtips.com/lifting-weights-shorter\" rel=\"nofollow\">temporarily make you shorter</a> due to compression of the spine, but the effect is entirely temporary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27740,
"author": "xlharambe",
"author_id": 18287,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18287",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends. If you do plenty of cardio (e.g. short burst sprinting, swimming, etc.), your body will secrete growth hormones. </p>\n\n<p>However if you lift heavy, especially chest or back related workouts since your bones are less dense and still growing it will stunt that growth.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest doing more high intensity workouts with lower weight and higher rep range!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/15
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27699",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18250/"
] |
27,707 |
<p>Let's say you've been lifting heavy ass weights, consistently eating well for a while, and you've accomplished the physique you wanted when you started doing exercise. You're pretty big, but you don't want to get any bigger, and of course not smaller. </p>
<p>Let's say you're eating exactly at your maintenance every day. How much strength training is required at that point to simply stimulate your current muscle enough that you don't lose it, but also don't gain anymore?</p>
<p>To put up an example, I'm wondering if someone who's been doing your main compound lifts with heavy weights 4x a week for a couple of years and built mass that way, can get by with working out 2x a week or maybe even simply do bodyweight exercises and not lose muscle (as long as they're eating enough, of course).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27711,
"author": "Felix L.",
"author_id": 16765,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16765",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would say it is almost impossible to exactly mantain body size. I would recommend to alternate low workout periods with higher ones (say, 1 month of aerobic and low intensity and low volume weight training and 1 month of higher weight training).\nIn this way, you would lose a bit of muscle while reducing body fat and re-taking previous muscular condition at the next month. This is just an example and many routine periodization might be valid. </p>\n\n<p>The target of altering training method is to avoid the body to get used to a routine and reducing the results obtained, what would happen if you just train less than usual but always the same way.</p>\n\n<p>The point of my idea is not to keep the goals obtained but be arround them, slightly bigger and slightly smaller.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27717,
"author": "Roman",
"author_id": 10014,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10014",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you still like working out 4 times a week, try doing same compound lifts 2 times a week, and another 2 days spend doing something completely different. This way you space out your lifts, so that it takes 2 weeks to complete the cycle instead of one, and you have 2 more days to do something completely different, new, unique.<br>\nHeavy lifts will let you \"maintain\" the mass, and \"something new\" will introduce novelty and variation. It could be anything: boxing, running, crossfit, bodyweight exercises... Who knows, maybe you will love it, and want to do that more :)</p>\n\n<p>This is an estimated and simplified case just for the purpose of showing an example. After a week/two/month you will have to re adjust and tweak the program. </p>\n\n<p>As Krotanix said, it is very difficult to maintain the exact physique, so you can use this as a \"low\" period. And introducing new stuff will make you more well rounded athlete, and your muscles more adjusted to an exposure to different stimuli.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27747,
"author": "Lloyd Moore",
"author_id": 8255,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8255",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To achieve maintenance in place of gains, you can train at the same intensity, but reduce the volume to around 30 - 40%.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/16
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27707",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789/"
] |
27,726 |
<p>I did Olympic weightlifting for 4 months with dream of becoming a competitive lifter but unfortunately had to move out of town and here I don't have access to any coach or even a proper gym for that matter. After 8 months of getting frustrated & sitting idle, I started StrongLifts 5x5 and following standard program:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Workout A: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row<br>
Workout B: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift,</p>
<p>Training 3 days a week with a linear progression of 2.5kg and switching between A/B/A and B/A/B workouts every week.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'll get back to my town and thus to Olympic Lifting in an year or so. Currently I'm 1 month into StrongLifts 5x5 and squatting body-weight (60kgs). </p>
<p>In this program, <em>Deadlift</em> takes care of lifting weight off the ground to knee level. <em>Over Head press</em> takes care of lifting weight from shoulder to over-head. What I think lacks, and even miss, in this program is lifting weight from knee-level to chest level (or even over-head) which is key component of Olympic lifting. <em>Power Clean</em> or <em>Snatch</em> or <em>Clean and Press</em> integrates all 3 segments of lifting into one good compound exercise with long range of motion. How can I integrate any of such exercises into this program?</p>
<p>To be quite honest I am really missing the rigor of training I had under coach. We used to train everyday, both morning & evening. Working just 3 days a week and that too 3 exercises per workout, seems quite lazy to me. Can I add any other exercises which will help me further in my Olympic lifting?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27729,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If doing a program similar to StrongLifts is important to you, consider buying the Starting Strength book and following its program. It is similar to StrongLifts, but more detailed and includes the power clean.</p>\n\n<p>Also consider following an Olympic-lifting-specific program, like <a href=\"http://www.catalystathletics.com/article/1686/The-Simplest-Olympic-Weightlifting-Program-in-the-World/\" rel=\"nofollow\">something from Catalyst Athletics</a> (see <a href=\"http://www.catalystathletics.com/olympic-weightlifting-workouts/training-programs/\" rel=\"nofollow\">other</a> <a href=\"http://www.catalystathletics.com/article/131/Starter-Program-for-Catalyst-Athletics-Online-Workouts/\" rel=\"nofollow\">resources</a> from them) or the <a href=\"http://www.pendlay.com/a-training-system-for-beginning-olympic-weightlifters_df_90.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Glenn Pendlay beginner program</a>. It's possible to lift more than 3 times a week. It's possible to do Olympic lifting as a focus or as a supplement to basic strength lifts. There's no need to restrict yourself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27730,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems that you either started too low on StrongLifts, or you are indeed a beginner based on continuing to make progress on the program. You'll only benefit from exhausting your beginner gains in a linear based program like this. You'll be able to go back much stronger for your Olympic lifts.</p>\n\n<p>In the meantime, to avoid losing technical proficiency, I'd start warming up each day with some variation of the O-lifts. Even if they are not max effort (probably for the best at this point), you'll be able to focus on maintaining technique so that you don't have to relearn when you get back to your coach.</p>\n\n<p>I'd personally do a snatch variation on non-deadlift days, and a clean variation on deadlift days. You could also add in some jerks after doing presses to help keep that technique strong as well.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that the variations of the o-lifts don't just include the full and power variations. There are also the hang positions from varying heights, block pulls, etc. Utilizing all of them (not all at once) will help you maintain, or improve, your lifting technique.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/18
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27726",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/692/"
] |
27,727 |
<p>What type of exercise (HIIT, weight lifting, aerobic) is optimal for reducing proinflammatory cytokines (like TNF-alpha) and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines (like IL-10)?</p>
<p>C-reactive protein (or CRP, another inflammation marker) levels drop with physical activity, but I'm more interested in cytokines, which are not reflected in CRP levels.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32043,
"author": "Liv",
"author_id": 23472,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/23472",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Exercise stimulus is a pro-inflammatory process. </p>\n\n<p>If you do a quick search in scientific litterature you will notice. The best way to reduce inflammation was thought to be cold exposure, but has been widely debunked in recent decades.</p>\n\n<p>The best way to reduce inflammation is probably recovery, and with this I mean every kind of low intensity active recovery type of activity.</p>\n\n<p>This will actually increase blood flow in the district area and reduce inflammation.</p>\n\n<p>If you are referring to whole body inflammatory process, oriental meditative disciplines are claimed to be useful in this sense: but no real proof at all of this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32774,
"author": "Harry Singh",
"author_id": 24207,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/24207",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are looking to reduce inflammation, diet and environment are just as important as workouts. Minimal carbs/sugar, tons of vegetables, and cold showers definitely help.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/18
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27727",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18274/"
] |
27,738 |
<p>After starting lifting, or perhaps it was from bad posture at my desk job, I got what I think is a muscle knot and I'd like to know more about them.</p>
<p>What causes muscle knots? On both a higher level and a deeper scientific level.</p>
<p>Are there exercises or stretches or something that can be done to remedy muscle knots and why does it work?</p>
<p>Does stretching before/after exercising prevent muscle knots? Is there any other way to prevent muscle knots?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32771,
"author": "Kirby225",
"author_id": 23637,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/23637",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What you're referring to is possibly a muscle cramp, that is, an involuntary and forceful contraction of the muscle. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 33104,
"author": "G_H",
"author_id": 19986,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/19986",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What is referred to as a \"muscle knot\" is also known as a \"trigger point\" or \"myofascial trigger point\". They are medically controversial little things, because despite being talked about so much and all of the equipment and \"specialists\" (sorry, I'm definitely gonna have to leave that in quotes) out there that claim to be able to alleviate them, their exact causes or even nature are unknown.</p>\n\n<p>One of the theories is that they are local, painful spots in fascia. The fascia is thin, very tough yet flexible tissue surrounding muscles. It provide compartments for the muscles that protect them, transmits tension and reduces friction. There's probably still quite a bit to learn about them. The idea that these tissues could somehow become \"bunched up\" or otherwise develop \"knots\" which could be resolved with massage or foam rolling is contested.</p>\n\n<p>Another idea is that these trigger points are actually localized patches of muscle tissue that are retaining waste metabolites. If true, massage and foam rolling could work by helping disperse these metabolites and improve blood flow to drain them.</p>\n\n<p>Some information about the definition of trigger points can be found here: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myofascial_trigger_point\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myofascial_trigger_point</a></p>\n\n<p>For a thorough, very long but <strong>highly</strong> interesting read, I'd like to refer you to this article. Paul Ingraham has devoted enormous time to the study of pain, stays on top of the latest information and reworks his viewpoints and articles based on new evidence: <a href=\"https://www.painscience.com/tutorials/trigger-points.php\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.painscience.com/tutorials/trigger-points.php</a></p>\n\n<p>It would take some time to read through that, but it's a good investment of that time.</p>\n\n<p>Even though the exact nature of muscle knots is not well understood, there are therapies that people report success with. One of the most popular ones is foam rolling, a form of self-myofascial release. The painful part of the muscle is placed on a foam roller, pressure applied (lots of it, usually using a good portion your the body weight) and the area and surrounding tissue are rolled on. A decent foam roller will last a long time (don't go with the cheaper ones, they'll break), it can be used at home or in the gym without assistance and it seems to help for a lot of people. There's still some study required about how to roll effectively and safely. For example, rolling your upper back is fine, but don't roll your lower back. Don't roll directly over joints, but rather over muscle and ligaments near them.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I've neither found foam rolling or stretching to seem to deliver noticeable benefit on a short term for me, which makes me a bit skeptical. Weight lifting, on the other hand, has provided immediately noticeable results (such as being able to lift more weight consistently with training progression) and seems to have made my body less susceptible to some muscle and joint pains I used to have. So I'd rather put my time into what actually works for me. Your mileage may vary. Of course, being 31, my opinion on this might be very different in 10 years or so.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/19
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27738",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315/"
] |
27,748 |
<p>I would say that I have a fairly strong grip. But when I pull 170 kg I feel the bar starting to slip (double overhand, no straps, no hook grip) right before lockout, so I missed the full lockout, because my strength gave in (the bar was not dropping, I was still able to set it down).</p>
<p>With mixed grip I pulled 3x165 kg the next day which is a greater achievement considering the predicted 1RM of 175kg.</p>
<p>The numbers don't matter here and are just a mere example. My question is:
Can my body output more power/strength when my grip is stronger, let's say so strong that I don't even feel holding something?</p>
<p>Is there a study about that topic?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27750,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, some anecdotal tips.</p>\n\n<p>What I've noticed is that when I'm lifting heavy, and it's quite clear that my grip is the limiting factor, I'll literally break form because I'm focusing so much on my grip that I forget to focus on the important stuff like thoracic extension, neck position, shoulder engagement, relative joint angles in the hip/knee/ankle etc.</p>\n\n<p>What I can recommend is that when you know you're going heavy, and you know your grip is a potential game breaker; use straps. Yes, you lose out on the grip training a deadlift offers, but it's very easy to compensate for this by doing some grip-specific exercises afterwards.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The most relevant article I've read is <a href=\"http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=gradschool_theses\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a>, a study of muscle activation depending on if you use a double prone (overhand) grip, or a switch-grip (over/under). And it is the reason why I prefer to use straps and continue double prone rather than change my grip position. Long story very short; the biggest takeaway I had from this report is that the over/under grip generates bilateral asymmetry. It's worth noting that it wasn't confirmed that this produces long-term asymmetries or imbalances, but I'd rather not be the first one to find out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27751,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Can my body output more power/strength when my grip is stronger?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2>Yes.</h2>\n\n<p>If you can't hold something, you can't pick it up. Rippetoe & Kilgore in Starting Strength mention that there is also an unconscious feedback effect, where if one's grip starts to fail, the rest of the body refuses to lift properly:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Grip strength is crucial to the deadlift, and the deadlift works grip strength better than any other major exercise. It is the limiting factor for many lifters with smaller hands or short fingers, or those that rely too much on their straps when training. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>...</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The back will not pull off the floor what the hands cannot hold, due to proprioceptive feedback that tells the back the weight is too heavy.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(page 207, 2nd edition)</p>\n\n<p>A strong grip is paramount to lifting heavy things off the ground.</p>\n\n<p>If your 1RM deadlift is failing due to grip, then I'd recommend using a lot of chalk (which takes some practice to apply correctly) and a hook grip (the thumb inside the fingers). If this doesn't help after a few sessions of practicing, then consider adding grip-specific work like static top-of-the-deadlift holds or farmer's walks.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27748",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18292/"
] |
27,756 |
<p>At my work weight it takes me between 60 and 75 minutes to finish the novice Starting Strength program.</p>
<p>I would like to be in and out of the gym in about 40 min. </p>
<p>When I diminish my work weights I'm able to do the exercises faster, but when I try to push my current max I fail the sets if I cut the rest time shorter.</p>
<p>I have been following a strength training program for about 14 months (Stronglifts 2.5 months, Starting Strength the remaining time).</p>
<p>My current program and max work weights are:</p>
<pre><code>Day 1
Squat 3x5 115kg
Bench 3x5 65kg
Snatch 5x3 37.5kg
Day 2
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5 42.5kg
Dead 1x5 100kg
Chins 9x6x5 (target is 3x15)
</code></pre>
<p>I follow this <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmWyzQPqnP1wcGxsU1FwNlpITmFBcUZGcHBESXVfSkE&hl=en#gid=0" rel="nofollow">warmup schedule</a> and rest 5 min between sets.</p>
<p>Can I optimize Starting Strength for workout duration while still doing progress, even if moderate?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27764,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Forty minutes of gym time is an unrealistically low expectation if one is looking for the same effects as a multi-exercise program.</p>\n<p>If 40 minutes is a hard cap--which I'd advise against having--then first I'd only do one work set. Warm up with the bar, add weight in logical big-plate increments (e.g. 20kg, then 40kg, then 60kg, then 80kg, then 100kg), then do a single maximal set (e.g. 115kg x5 reps). This eliminates nearly a majority of rest time since there is no rest time between warm-ups and after the work set you can immediately strip the plates and move to your next exercise.</p>\n<p>That's probably not enough to get a workout down to 40 minutes. Remember, 40 minutes is a ludicrously short period of time to expect to complete a whole-body strength workout. At this point you need to start dropping exercises. Forget chin-ups, at least.</p>\n<p>Thirdly, switch to a 3-day split so you can do fewer exercises per day. For instance:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>A</strong>: Squat, bench</p>\n<p><strong>B</strong>: Deadlift, overhead press</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This kind of schedule with only 1 work set would probably, most days, fit in a 40-minute workout.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27769,
"author": "TestWell",
"author_id": 17926,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17926",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On Day 2, you wouldn't need to follow such a strict warm-up set for deadlifts since you'll be nice and warmed up from squatting. It looks, in my opinion, that a lot of the time is being spent warming up and resting. Even 5 min between sets seems overkill if you're not working the same muscles directly after (like on Day 1). You can probably also eliminate some of the warm-up sets. On squat day, adding 15 lbs to the bar to knock out 5 reps, removing the weight, adding the next weight amount, etc. takes a lot of time. Add weight in 50 lb increments instead.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/21
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27756",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10376/"
] |
27,762 |
<p>I have worked with calisthenics for over a month now, and now I want to work harder for my goal. I am 15 years old and my parents say that I work out way too hard. I exercise 6 times a week. My exercise form Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are doing pull ups, dips, push ups, and squats. I do 12 reps and 8 sets of these exercises. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I am doing cardio like burpees, mountain climbers, high knees, and jumping squats trying to burn fat. I really don't feel any soreness the day after. Am I over training? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27764,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Forty minutes of gym time is an unrealistically low expectation if one is looking for the same effects as a multi-exercise program.</p>\n<p>If 40 minutes is a hard cap--which I'd advise against having--then first I'd only do one work set. Warm up with the bar, add weight in logical big-plate increments (e.g. 20kg, then 40kg, then 60kg, then 80kg, then 100kg), then do a single maximal set (e.g. 115kg x5 reps). This eliminates nearly a majority of rest time since there is no rest time between warm-ups and after the work set you can immediately strip the plates and move to your next exercise.</p>\n<p>That's probably not enough to get a workout down to 40 minutes. Remember, 40 minutes is a ludicrously short period of time to expect to complete a whole-body strength workout. At this point you need to start dropping exercises. Forget chin-ups, at least.</p>\n<p>Thirdly, switch to a 3-day split so you can do fewer exercises per day. For instance:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>A</strong>: Squat, bench</p>\n<p><strong>B</strong>: Deadlift, overhead press</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This kind of schedule with only 1 work set would probably, most days, fit in a 40-minute workout.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27769,
"author": "TestWell",
"author_id": 17926,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/17926",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On Day 2, you wouldn't need to follow such a strict warm-up set for deadlifts since you'll be nice and warmed up from squatting. It looks, in my opinion, that a lot of the time is being spent warming up and resting. Even 5 min between sets seems overkill if you're not working the same muscles directly after (like on Day 1). You can probably also eliminate some of the warm-up sets. On squat day, adding 15 lbs to the bar to knock out 5 reps, removing the weight, adding the next weight amount, etc. takes a lot of time. Add weight in 50 lb increments instead.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/22
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27762",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18307/"
] |
27,781 |
<p>It's protein or carbs or what so that one can gain weight for a movie project but after completing it would also be easier to get back into shape.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27784,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no food which makes future weight loss any easier than any other.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to gain weight, you need to construct a diet where you have a caloric surplus over any given period of time.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to lose weight, you need to construct a diet where you have a caloric deficit over any given period of time.</p>\n\n<p>This all depends on your calorie usage, bodyweight, and most of all how disciplined you are at following your plan.</p>\n\n<p>My favorite food for gaining weight is brown rice. Whenever I have a period where I want to gain weight and strength, I eat brown rice with pretty much every dinner. With fish, meat, tuna, you name it. Any of these will do.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27796,
"author": "Aequitas",
"author_id": 15315,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All food is the same after consumption. The food is broken down into energy and this energy, if it is not used, will be stored as fat for when your body needs energy later.</p>\n\n<p>The amount of energy in food is called calories. So the more calories in the food that you consume the more fat can be made as fat takes about 3500 calories in order to make one pound of fat.</p>\n\n<p>So if you consume more calories than you need you will gain weight in the form of fat.</p>\n\n<p>The amount of energy you need is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) there are plenty of BMR calculators available online which you can use. This is the amount of calories that your body will use in order to keep you alive. Any exercise you do, you should add the amount of calories used from that exercise to your BMR. If that total energy out (BMR + exercise for the day) is more than the energy in (the calories that the food you consume contains) then you will gain weight.</p>\n\n<p>The opposite is also true. If your energy out is greater than the energy in than your body will use your fat in order to get the extra energy for that day. Resulting in your fat stores being consumed and expelled from the body, meaning you will lose weight from the form of fat.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/23
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27781",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18320/"
] |
27,792 |
<p>My nephew was 60 kilograms, 17 years old and 5 foot 6 inches tall six months ago.</p>
<p>He started weight training and now he weighs over 85 kilos. </p>
<p>Is this possible without steroids & peptides?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27793,
"author": "Felix L.",
"author_id": 16765,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16765",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, this is hard to say without a blood analysis, but if these 25 kg are muscle and not fat, and it has really been in 6 months... yes, he has taken steroids. And I would not say he has taken a little bit. Even if he would had win 5 kg I would say the same. \nMe, with 8 years of training, had won arround 10kg. I'm not into bodybuilding as a job, just as a hobby. I could have gained more weight maybe, but never ever so much as he did, always speaking of pure muscle weight.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27795,
"author": "Aequitas",
"author_id": 15315,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes it is quite possible to accomplish this, but not if it's pure(mostly) muscle.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that they are still a teenager and as thus they are still developing and growing his body. A teenager can easily gain 5-10kg a year just through normal body growth.</p>\n\n<p>The fat and muscle that they gain on top of this could in total add up to the 25kg. It depends on how much fat they have gained, gaining fat is far far easier, than gaining muscle. An average adult male can gain muscle at about a rate of 0.25 - 0.5 pounds per week. For a 6 month period that works out to about 6kg.</p>\n\n<p>So assume they put on 5kg (a lot for a late teenager) from growth and they gain 6kg of muscles which again is quite a lot. That leaves 14kg unaccounted for which is possibly fat.</p>\n\n<p>Does your nephew look like he has gained a lot of fat? 14kg in 6 months seems like a lot of fat and it definitely is not healthy however it is more than easily accomplished. That works out to less than 0.6kg a week which can be very easily done if a person's food intake is too high. Even 25kg in pure fat is believable in a 6 month period.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>So to answer your question, yes it is possible to have gained 25kg in six months however the chances of gaining 25kg of muscle is impossible. Over the course of their lifetime, maybe but not six months. The other weight can possibly be attributed to fat. If you had measured their body fat percentage before and after you would be able to see how much was fat and how much was lean mass.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/25
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27792",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18333/"
] |
27,817 |
<p>I've been working out for a while and just began to add deadlifts to my routine on back day. My problem is that I can't deadlift much. Mainly because I'm 400 lb and my knees aren't the best, I generally only get 25lb plates on the bar max. I don't use the shorter bar because the one at my gym is broken.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've read that proper deadlift form should have you either tap the weight on the ground or near tap it, but that's usually with a 45 plate on the bar. If I'm going with less weight, should I start my lift higher? And also should I stop my descent lower, as though I had 45s on the bar?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27818,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For starters, deadlifting properly (in a technical sense) involves neither tapping the ground nor nearly tapping the ground with the weight. It is a full stop between reps. However, in your case, this may not be what's best.</p>\n\n<p>There are several options that you can make use of.</p>\n\n<p>If you have access to bumper plates, then consider using these, as each plate is the same diameter as a 45 lb plate.</p>\n\n<p>If bumper plates are not an option, consider a deadlift variation. In your case, I would recommend a Romanian deadlift. This starts at the top and only goes as low as your neutral back will allow. Stiff-legged deadlifts (SLDLs) are another option, which also start at the floor but the knees experience very little flexion or extension during the lift. However, the SLDL is a bit more technical and can set you up with bad habits for when you get back to normal deadlifts.</p>\n\n<p>Another option is to do block pulls or rack pulls which will raise the bar to a more comfortable height. This will, however, shift the focus more towards your back (not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind).</p>\n\n<p>Pulling in a sumo stance may be another option that might work for you. Due to the angles of your legs in this stance, there is relatively less knee bend while doing sumo deadlifts than conventional deadlifts. Granted, more hip mobility is required for this stance than a conventional deadlift.</p>\n\n<p>If none of these work well enough for you, then perhaps revisiting deadlifts after you have lost some more weight or can tolerate the necessary mobility will be better.</p>\n\n<p>As a final note, deadlifts don't have a requisite height, rather they simply become relatively easier as the bar starts at a higher position relative to the ground. It's common to start with a 45 on either side, as that's the highest a standard deadlift will get as the weight goes up. A lot of lifters don't want to constantly mess around with changing from smaller to larger plates for warming up, so starting with 45's is a decent compromise (and as one gets stronger 135 becomes a valid weight for starting one's warm-up). There is nothing wrong with starting with a light deadlift that sits lower than a standard deadlift (with 45's) and then working up in weight (even if that too is lower).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27819,
"author": "Dylan",
"author_id": 18354,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18354",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could do straight leg dead lifts which don't need to be taken all the way to the ground. You could also put some plates on the ground on either side aligned with the 25 lb plates on your bar. This will in effect raise the ground to allow you to only go as low as the plates are stacked high. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/28
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27817",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16109/"
] |
27,840 |
<p>I have been doing Wendler's 5/3/1 for about 6 weeks now (2 cycles) and am really enjoying it. I am lifting 4 days a week. For assistance, I've been following the boring but big template.</p>
<p>Foodwise, I've been taking my own homemade mass gainer (on lifting days) which consists of the following ingredients:</p>
<ol>
<li>2 scoops protein powder (240kcals)</li>
<li>2 cups milk (300 kcals)</li>
<li>1 cup oats (300 kcals)</li>
<li>2 scoops almond butter (200 cals)</li>
</ol>
<p>Everyday, I am consuming approximately 2500-3000kcals. </p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>My question is:</strong> My weight has shot up by about 4 pounds since the start of 5/3/1, and I've noticed that I've gained a bit of fat. Should I decrease my calorie intake? I ask this because I am worried that my decreasing my calorie intake, I might lose strength gains. Anyone been on 5/3/1 with a similar dilemma?</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27818,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For starters, deadlifting properly (in a technical sense) involves neither tapping the ground nor nearly tapping the ground with the weight. It is a full stop between reps. However, in your case, this may not be what's best.</p>\n\n<p>There are several options that you can make use of.</p>\n\n<p>If you have access to bumper plates, then consider using these, as each plate is the same diameter as a 45 lb plate.</p>\n\n<p>If bumper plates are not an option, consider a deadlift variation. In your case, I would recommend a Romanian deadlift. This starts at the top and only goes as low as your neutral back will allow. Stiff-legged deadlifts (SLDLs) are another option, which also start at the floor but the knees experience very little flexion or extension during the lift. However, the SLDL is a bit more technical and can set you up with bad habits for when you get back to normal deadlifts.</p>\n\n<p>Another option is to do block pulls or rack pulls which will raise the bar to a more comfortable height. This will, however, shift the focus more towards your back (not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind).</p>\n\n<p>Pulling in a sumo stance may be another option that might work for you. Due to the angles of your legs in this stance, there is relatively less knee bend while doing sumo deadlifts than conventional deadlifts. Granted, more hip mobility is required for this stance than a conventional deadlift.</p>\n\n<p>If none of these work well enough for you, then perhaps revisiting deadlifts after you have lost some more weight or can tolerate the necessary mobility will be better.</p>\n\n<p>As a final note, deadlifts don't have a requisite height, rather they simply become relatively easier as the bar starts at a higher position relative to the ground. It's common to start with a 45 on either side, as that's the highest a standard deadlift will get as the weight goes up. A lot of lifters don't want to constantly mess around with changing from smaller to larger plates for warming up, so starting with 45's is a decent compromise (and as one gets stronger 135 becomes a valid weight for starting one's warm-up). There is nothing wrong with starting with a light deadlift that sits lower than a standard deadlift (with 45's) and then working up in weight (even if that too is lower).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27819,
"author": "Dylan",
"author_id": 18354,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18354",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could do straight leg dead lifts which don't need to be taken all the way to the ground. You could also put some plates on the ground on either side aligned with the 25 lb plates on your bar. This will in effect raise the ground to allow you to only go as low as the plates are stacked high. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/10/31
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27840",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,847 |
<p>I do weight lifting once a week starting with a warm up set of 2kg, then sets of 14kg, and then drop sets. The last time I did was the 17th of October and after that my muscles were sore and now again lifting on the 30th of October I am sore again. I don't understand why my muscles are sore again. I tried to lift 16kg with a 2kg warm up as before and was barely able to do a 3rd rep at 16kg. I know DOMS happens when your body does a new effort of which it is not used to. After the DOMS goes away, does it mean that I have gained more strength than before and my body will adapt to the weight?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27818,
"author": "Alex L",
"author_id": 16204,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16204",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For starters, deadlifting properly (in a technical sense) involves neither tapping the ground nor nearly tapping the ground with the weight. It is a full stop between reps. However, in your case, this may not be what's best.</p>\n\n<p>There are several options that you can make use of.</p>\n\n<p>If you have access to bumper plates, then consider using these, as each plate is the same diameter as a 45 lb plate.</p>\n\n<p>If bumper plates are not an option, consider a deadlift variation. In your case, I would recommend a Romanian deadlift. This starts at the top and only goes as low as your neutral back will allow. Stiff-legged deadlifts (SLDLs) are another option, which also start at the floor but the knees experience very little flexion or extension during the lift. However, the SLDL is a bit more technical and can set you up with bad habits for when you get back to normal deadlifts.</p>\n\n<p>Another option is to do block pulls or rack pulls which will raise the bar to a more comfortable height. This will, however, shift the focus more towards your back (not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind).</p>\n\n<p>Pulling in a sumo stance may be another option that might work for you. Due to the angles of your legs in this stance, there is relatively less knee bend while doing sumo deadlifts than conventional deadlifts. Granted, more hip mobility is required for this stance than a conventional deadlift.</p>\n\n<p>If none of these work well enough for you, then perhaps revisiting deadlifts after you have lost some more weight or can tolerate the necessary mobility will be better.</p>\n\n<p>As a final note, deadlifts don't have a requisite height, rather they simply become relatively easier as the bar starts at a higher position relative to the ground. It's common to start with a 45 on either side, as that's the highest a standard deadlift will get as the weight goes up. A lot of lifters don't want to constantly mess around with changing from smaller to larger plates for warming up, so starting with 45's is a decent compromise (and as one gets stronger 135 becomes a valid weight for starting one's warm-up). There is nothing wrong with starting with a light deadlift that sits lower than a standard deadlift (with 45's) and then working up in weight (even if that too is lower).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27819,
"author": "Dylan",
"author_id": 18354,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18354",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could do straight leg dead lifts which don't need to be taken all the way to the ground. You could also put some plates on the ground on either side aligned with the 25 lb plates on your bar. This will in effect raise the ground to allow you to only go as low as the plates are stacked high. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/01
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27847",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16349/"
] |
27,851 |
<p>I've been lifting for the past 6 months but my nutrition side has been mediocre. Mostly due to lack of time as a student and dangling from home to gym to school. Recently, I came across books on bodyweight exercises and they have been really impressive.</p>
<p>I respect calisthenics and I have done a lot of bodyweight exercises, and I look forward to it more because my joints feels really uncomfortable after working out with free weights- especially my shoulders. </p>
<p>So is anybody here who have followed a good bodyweight-based workout routine/program for at least 4 weeks and seen really good results? Like the programs offered by books mentioned in the title? (PS- assuming your nutrition and diet aspect are well under control)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27857,
"author": "Paul K",
"author_id": 18395,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18395",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'ts merely always a trade-off. I am following YBIYG and I am quite happy with it, since it is quite great if you have little time and/or want to spend little money. YBIYG presents some example programs with 4-5 training days a week and 20-36 minutes of training a day, which I am following. My body has changed since I started the program, I am more defined and feel stronger, but you should note that the progress is a quite slow one, which - I think - is always the <em>\"problem\"</em> with BWE. </p>\n\n<p>Admittedly I am not the muscular type and 20-36 mins is not that much, hence you might experience a quicker progress if you have another body type and/or increase the intensity/volume of the training.</p>\n\n<p>At the end of the day I think - if it's done correctly - the training you choose is mostly a matter of preference and goals, but you should really watch your nutrition, because thats a crucial point. In my opinion the overall goal of a training program should be the functional fitness and health and you'll have a harder time achieving them without a proper nutrition.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28046,
"author": "Noumenon",
"author_id": 8332,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8332",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I did not have good results after six weeks, but I feel my movement patterns have gotten better. Found a lot of little snaps and twinges that I got rid of. Identified some major stabilization issues with my right leg. Bodyweight is very functional training by its nature.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/01
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27851",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18385/"
] |
27,854 |
<p>I am looking at building endurance and all round fitness with the hopes of being able to run half marathon to marathon length runs, non competitively. I have very limited experience with running (less than 2 months) but have seen great boosts in my endurance over such a small amount of time. My challenge now is to push myself harder to attain my aforementioned goals. The Internet provides many answers about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and the benefits it has on increasing endurance. But I wondered what benefits, if any, of steady state intervals, but lots of them, would have vs a HIIT approach.</p>
<p>For example,
If I run 1 mile steady state, then walk for 5 minutes, then repeat for as many times as desired. How would that compare to a HIIT approach and which one would offer the best approach to increasing the following :</p>
<ul>
<li>speed</li>
<li>endurance</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27855,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Both steady state and HIIT workouts (among others) are useful for running fitness. Each type of effort has its own purpose.</p>\n\n<p>HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT methods are usually 10 - 60 seconds of very intense effort. In the running world, this is speedwork. While speedwork is important, it's only one part of getting to a high level of fitness. In half and full marathons, you won't be anywhere near your top-level speed, so it's not quite as important as longer workouts. However, it certainly does have its benefits (biomechanical improvement, muscle fiber recruitment, making the marathon pace seem easier, etc.). See <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27387/why-include-sprint-workouts-in-a-training-program-focused-on-long-distance/27732#27732\">this answer</a> for the benefits of speedwork.</p>\n\n<p>Steady state runs are slightly above a tempo pace (lactate threshold). The two main benefits of steady state/tempo runs are that they improve your ability to clear lactate from your blood and mentally prepare you to be uncomfortable for an extended period of time. This will be more useful to you as a marathoner, but as I said, all aspects of training are important.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27858,
"author": "Dimitri Coukos",
"author_id": 18397,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18397",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I partially agree with mathguy54's answer, but if I understand his answer correctly, he believes that doing distance training is sligtly more important than doing speed work, whereas I hold the opposite view. </p>\n\n<p>Both types of training are important. However, the benefits from each are largely overlapping. If your main goal is to train for a half marathon, you will need to include both in your training. That being said, speed work can be used to increase your speed (clearly) but will not lead to concomitant loses in endurance. Actually, research has found quite the opposite - a HIIT workout provides roughly the same stimulus to your cardiovascular system as about four times the amount of slow distance work (with respect to time). The speed you develop will be important if you want a \"kick\" in your run or race.</p>\n\n<p>Continuous work in a longer time domain will, however, wear away at your speed. As mathguy54 mentioned though, distance work is important to teach your muscles how to operate when under stress for an extended period of time. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27860,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Most of my answer is already contained <a href=\"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/23691/training-advice-on-long-distance-running-for-a-newbie?rq=1\">in this answer</a>, although the questions are not really duplicates.</p>\n\n<p>A couple things that I will reiterate:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The biggest mistake that the vast majority of runners make is going too hard on their easy days, and not hard enough on their hard days.</li>\n<li>Speedwork is the icing on the cake, make sure you bake the cake first (i.e., get your mileage in before worrying about speedwork).</li>\n<li>Not all speedwork is done on the track.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Make sure you have a base first. For new and returning runners, the best gains are made from the day in, day out putting in the miles. For a non competitive runner, this is going to be the biggest thing. Get out there, get the miles in, recover/rest as necessary. There are many many runners that run every day and do so quite safely.</p>\n\n<p>Once you have a base and are running consistently in the 30-40 miles per week (mpw) range, you can start throwing in things like hill repeats, pickups/strides within your runs, all of which will start helping your speed. At this point you can start working on pace/tempo runs, individualized track sessions (such as 1-2 mile warmup, 8x800 on 2 mins rest, 1-2 mile warmdown), other traditional speed workouts. You'll come across two terms, interval and threshold. Interval work increases your top end speed, threshold work increases the time you can spend at or near that top end speed. Even when you start incorporating speed workouts, the majority of your time should still be spent in steady state running, with the addition of the pickups and strides.</p>\n\n<p>And, if you are carrying extra pounds, the apocryphal lore (Borne out in my own personal experience) is that you will gain 3-5 seconds per mile for every pound of weight you lose. So if you weigh 180 and run at an 8 minute/mile pace, lose 20 lbs and the same effort should get you to a 7 minute/mile pace. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/01
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27854",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4752/"
] |
27,866 |
<p>I love climbing, be it high wall or bouldering.</p>
<p>Here's what I plan to do:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>2 hours bouldering 3 times a week</p></li>
<li><p>1 hour calisthenics 1-2 times a week</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I weigh 62kg and I'm 6' tall - and will aim to eat ~3,000kcal a day.</p>
<p>Will this workout scheme build muscle? Most climbers I've seen are incredibly, incredibly strong but are thin, and I don't exactly want to be like that.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27869,
"author": "Roman",
"author_id": 10014,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10014",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>\"Building muscle\" is a very broad term. Will your program allow you to build muscle? Yes. Will you look like a bodybuilder? Probably not.\nCalisthenics 1-2 times a week, assuming properly executed, has the ability to give you good results. Bouldering - that depends... From what I know (and guess), probably won't build big muscles, but will give you a very good grip.</p>\n\n<p>Diet wise - that is totally depended on your own body, there is no one rule fits all. Start with 3000 calories. Check your weight at least weekly. See how you progress, then adjust accordingly. If you feel like you are gaining fat - cut 500 cals. If you are constantly hungry and don't have enough energy to perform your routine ( or don't gain any muscle) - add more calories (preferably in protein form). \nEach body is unique and must be handled uniquely. </p>\n\n<p>Try your program for 6 weeks and see how you progress. If you love climbing, then at the very least you will have a lot of fun and make progress. \nBest case - you will have fun AND build the body of your dreams.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27870,
"author": "john3103",
"author_id": 10879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10879",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Yes, but not as much as you'd get from standard weightlifting.</strong></p>\n\n<p>How much all depends on how much muscle you have currently, and what your genetics (e.g. testosterone levels) are. </p>\n\n<p>If you DO pursue bouldering, be sure to spend some time doing 'pushing' exercises (push-ups, overhead-pressing, etc) to keep your shoulders balanced. Otherwise you might be at risk for an injury. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27943,
"author": "Dade",
"author_id": 18364,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18364",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to your question depends on what do you consider as building muscles. If you want to build \"spindle-shaped\" muscles, that look more natural, then climbing is a good option. However, if you want to build your muscles to look more like body builders, then climbing isn't gonna help you that much. In that case, you should do some heavy lifting. 3000 calories are ok at this point, but make sure you're eating well every day. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/03
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27866",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16591/"
] |
27,872 |
<p>I want to build a muscle body, and heard I should eat eggs, but I don't know if I should eat fried eggs or boiled eggs, is there any suggestion?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27876,
"author": "Mayank Singh",
"author_id": 18412,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18412",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It really depends on what kind of diet you follow , Fried Eggs doesn't make much difference . If you compare both Fried and boiled ,both will give 6gms of protein, 1gm of carbohydrate .But the Boiled on differs in Fat and Calories content ,as it gives you 70gm calories where as Fried one will give you 90 and the fat content will also differs from 5.3 to 6.8 .</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27897,
"author": "Lisa Beck",
"author_id": 18423,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18423",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends on whether or not you want a chunky muscle body or a lean and ripped muscle body. I am not a body builder, nor have I ever trained to be one, but I have skimmed through the diets that some of them follow and I don't ever recall seeing fried eggs on those menus. In fact, typically they do eat a lot of eggs in the form of egg whites, but little to no egg yolk. If you're really serious about developing a muscle body, I recommend you train yourself to start incorporating egg whites into your diet. You can even buy them by the carton at most grocery stores. I've listed a few links to some articles that may interest you on this topic:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Ava Cowan's Diet Plan (you'll see egg whites on the menu):</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.fitflex.com/ava-cowan-pics.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.fitflex.com/ava-cowan-pics.html</a></p>\n\n<p>She doesn't describe how she prepares the eggs, but I doubt she fries her egg whites in butter.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Recipes from Monica Brant (many include egg whites):</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/monica4.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/monica4.htm</a></p>\n\n<p><strong>Lots of ideas here that don't involve frying:</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/7-ways-to-cook-eggs.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/7-ways-to-cook-eggs.html</a></p>\n\n<p><strong>I myself am a big fan of the Egg White Frittata. Below is a recipe I've never tried, but it looks quite good:</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.foodiecrush.com/2015/02/spinach-and-mushroom-egg-white-frittata/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.foodiecrush.com/2015/02/spinach-and-mushroom-egg-white-frittata/</a></p>\n\n<p>You'll find a lot of new and interesting diet strategies out there these days, but you asked about eggs, so I'll stop here.</p>\n\n<p>As always, exercise (and diet) at your own risk and see a doctor if you're concerned about your health or the diet you're about to follow. If you decide to stop eating fried eggs, with or without the yolk, I think most doctors would be okay with that. For further proof that frying may not be all that healthy, you may want to read this article here: <a href=\"http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/eating-fried-foods-tied-to-increased-risk-of-diabetes-and-heart-disease/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/eating-fried-foods-tied-to-increased-risk-of-diabetes-and-heart-disease/</a>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/04
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27872",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18029/"
] |
27,878 |
<p>I've been doing StrongLifts 5x5 program for past one-and-half month. Currently my squat has just crossed my bodweight. And my deadlift is 10kgs more than my squat. My goal is to squat 2 times my bodyweight and deadlift 2.5 times my bodyweight.</p>
<p>I squat ass-to-ground and I've been doing all exercises barefoot on a concrete floor covered with 1/2 inch rubber padding. I don't have any mobility issues and so far I didn't face problems of any kind. Can I safely continue like this? Even Arnold did the same:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uIIr6.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uIIr6.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/vT17K.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/vT17K.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>It also makes me wonder, if going barefoot is safe then why would people always recommend weightlifting shoes? I'm bit confused. Honestly I cannot afford weightlifting shoes. I have running shoes but I read that running shoes are worse than barefoot.</p>
<p>I don't know if this has anything to do with going barefoot. But after today's workout, I'm feeling a burning sensation in my feet. I read online that it could be due to Vitamin B12 deficiency (and I was recommended Vitamin B12 in the past, though not for the same reason)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27879,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Potential issues with barefoot lifting:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>No ankle support / Flat heels - Some people argue that one of the advantages of proper weightlifting shoes is that they provide support and stability for your ankles by their stiffness and the <a href=\"http://breakingmuscle.com/olympic-weightlifting/weightlifting-shoes-why-you-need-a-pair-what-to-look-for-and-when-to-wear-them\" rel=\"nofollow\">raised heel</a> gives you a better angle on your ankles by angling your feet forward.</li>\n<li>Drop protection - While the average set of shoes aren't going to do a lot to save your toes if you drop a weight plate on them, it's still more than bare feet offer you.</li>\n<li>Sanitation - Gym floors are gross places. Exposing bare skin on them can lead to nasty diseases such as MRSA or Athlete's Foot.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Personally, I think that none of these ascend to the height of being important enough to avoid bare feet, especially since <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-you-shouldnt-wear-shoes-in-house_55a11558e4b0a47ac15caad1\" rel=\"nofollow\">shoes are dank caverns that incubate mold and bacteria</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27880,
"author": "Tarius",
"author_id": 15023,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15023",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I haven't heard of any reliable sources recommending not squatting barefooted. The only reasons I can think of are probable imbalances (the one Alec suggested) , hygiene issues (some gyms may not like you squatting barefooted due to cleanliness) and dropping the weights on your toes (which even with shoes wouldn't make too much difference to the health of your feet).</p>\n\n<p>Whereas squatting with bare feet, can be advantageous in a few aspects, such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>One of the most important things in squatting is to keep the weight on your heels. Wearing shoes (especially those with big heels) can push your centre of gravity forward.</li>\n<li>Better balance, more tactile feedback from the floor due to absence of a compressible cushion in between.</li>\n<li>Bare feet can give you more 'grip' on the floor than shoes.</li>\n<li>Improves mobility, allowing you to squat deeper, especially important if you're an ass to the grass man like myself.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Overall if it's okay with your gym, I would keep on squatting barefooted. I currently do it as well, and would totally recommend it to anyone who squats.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/04
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27878",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/692/"
] |
27,882 |
<p>I am playing soccer on amateur level and want to change my off-season program for basic endurance from just running to a mix of running and swimming.
I did a bit of research about swimming, but did not find a sufficient answer to my question, <strong>whether swimming (according to an exercise plan of course) can contribute significantly to my basic endurance on land.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Can I cut back my running and make up for it with swimming?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27883,
"author": "Uchsun",
"author_id": 18421,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18421",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Absolutely Can,</p>\n\n<p>both running and swimming is cardio. Running for a long time is for build endurance, swimming is to. So you can choose Swim for alternate your Cardio</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27885,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. Swimming is one way to maintain or improve your \"land endurance\" (as you put it). Don't start doing too much - start at a comfortable volume of exercise. As you grow accustomed to the new activity, increase as necessary.</p>\n\n<p>If you're trying to avoid or recover from injury, swimming is one good option (elliptical and bike are also good options). However, if you're trying to improve your fitness, running is the best way for you to get fit for soccer. Not only will you be doing something closer to what soccer is, but you'll also be building up a general resistance to injury. The movements involved in running and swimming are very different, and soccer is a lot closer to running.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27896,
"author": "Lisa Beck",
"author_id": 18423,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18423",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Have you ever trained for a triathlon? I find that triathlon training programs incorporate even levels of training in three different disciplines -- running, biking, and swimming. At various times in my life, I've had to cut back on running due to overuse injuries and during those times I tried to focus more on swimming, sometimes even doubling the workout (not something I would recommend for everyone). For good beginning triathlon training programs, this site has more than one to choose from: <a href=\"http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms.asp\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms.asp</a>. The programs are free. So, if you're looking to cut back on running, both biking and swimming may be good swaps.</p>\n\n<p>From personal experience, I know that swimming doesn't always feel as challenging of a workout as running, but to get around that I recommend a few things:</p>\n\n<p>1) A music device designed for water (my favorite is the Swim iPod: <a href=\"http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1002620-REG/waterfi_sw3_ssi_waterproof_ipod_shuffle_swim.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1002620-REG/waterfi_sw3_ssi_waterproof_ipod_shuffle_swim.html</a>). Nothing like stroking to the beat of your favorite tune to pick up your speed and take out the monotony.</p>\n\n<p>2) Swim training aids ... from paddles to fins, they can take the monotony out of swimming and make your swim more challenging. I've always had good experiences buying from Swim Outlet (<a href=\"http://www.swimoutlet.com/resistance-training-c10805/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.swimoutlet.com/resistance-training-c10805/</a>).</p>\n\n<p>3) I don't know if you check your heart rate when you run (to make sure you're working at your target rate), but if you're looking to improve your cardiovascular fitness while swimming, you should probably do the same. Keep in mind that your heart beats slower in the water and you should adjust your target heart rate accordingly. This article has more on the topic if it interests you: <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/166752-heart-rate-during-swimming/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.livestrong.com/article/166752-heart-rate-during-swimming/</a>.</p>\n\n<p>As always never stop improving and never stop having fun, but exercise at your own risk whatever form it may take.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31564,
"author": "LSU Moose",
"author_id": 22010,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/22010",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are serious, do contact your local swim club to join their masters (adult swimming) group where you'll learn all the strokes and how to design a proper swimming workout. It is practically impossible to get the full benefits of swimming if you only go about it alone, with no-one to train with and no-one to show you the ropes.</p>\n\n<p>Having said that: even if you do go at it on your own – only reading advice from triathlon websites – you will get some benefit from swimming, enough to motivate the time spent on it. You could always replace one running session per week with two swimming sessions and get better for it. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/01
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27882",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18428/"
] |
27,887 |
<p>For the first time I am going to start a cutting phase so i have a number of questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Q1:Would Training with same volume on cutting phase as on bulking
result in loss of muscle to provide energy to my body to continue
training?</li>
<li>Q2:How much cardio should i do everyday and which one should i do hit
for 10mins or 60mins walk?</li>
<li>Q3:Should i train with progesssive overload as i did on bulking
phase.?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27888,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Cutting in general will result in loss of muscle. However, as long as you continue lifting at a similar level and don't go overboard with the cutting part (keep a 20% caloric deficit at maximum), most of what you burn will be fat. If you want to minimize the muscle loss you'll want your deficit to be as small as possible (maybe 5% or 10%), although of course that means it'll take longer to burn the fat away.</p>\n\n<p>The type of cardio you do hardly matters as long as you control your calories. And if you can keep adding weight to your lifts constantly in a cut, either you're a beginner and your deficit is very, ver small or you're probably eating more than you think. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27889,
"author": "Roman",
"author_id": 10014,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10014",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I find it hard to believe that you will be able to train with the same volume during cutting. Assuming classing cutting of ~500 cal/day from surplus of ~500 cal/day, we are looking at ~1000 cal/day different in energy consumption. Assuming you are not planning to be at the gym for 4 hours - I highly doubt that same volume can be achieved (or should be achieved, for that matter). While cutting, the main goal is to retain the most amount of muscle mass, so decreasing volume from the bulking levels is ok. You probably will lose some muscle mass, but that is a part of the deal, when you are cutting.</p>\n\n<p>As to cardio, I prefer HIIT, but doing it every day is unmanageable, and according to some literature, down right bad for your heart. You can do cardio every day, but alternate between steady cardio and HIIT. If you only have time for cardio 3 times a week because the rest is taken by lifting - just do HIIT. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>5 min warm </li>\n<li>10-15(or even 20 if you are THAT good) HIIT,</li>\n<li><p>5 min cool down.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't add much lifting after HIIT, simply because it is a very energy-depleting process. If you try to lift something heavy afterwards - your form may suffer and/or you may get an injury.<br>\nIf you have a recovery day, and you still want to do something, recovery 1h walks with some incline may be beneficial.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As to progressive overload.... Within the cutting face, you will probably need to drop some weights on your working sets ( eventually ). That is ok. If you really feel that you can progress, increase the intensity. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Shorten down the break time.</li>\n<li>Add extra couple of reps.</li>\n<li>Do an extra set, if you must.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The goal here is major decrease in body fat percentage, so don't run after strength progression, just try to lose fat without loosing too much muscle.</p>\n\n<p>And the best advice you can have and I can give: educate yourself... A LOT!!! \nRead a crap load of articles, a book or two, talk to someone who you think is a knowledgeable person in what you are trying to achieve. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/05
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27887",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16349/"
] |
27,895 |
<p>I have read so much about diets that warning that not eating adequate amounts of protein will result in muscle loss. On the other hand I see people like Christian Bale almost flaunting this rule going up and down the built_rake-thin scale multiple times successfully. </p>
<p>Is it true that muscles lost is lost forever ? If so how do people like him do it ? When I see him in the Machinist I don't think his frame just shows water loss from muscles only right ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27899,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Where are you getting this information?</p>\n\n<p>Unless you have some sort of muscular dystrophy, you can ALWAYS build muscle. It doesn't matter if you're building it for the first time, or re-building it for the tenth.</p>\n\n<p>Why would lost muscle mass be lost forever?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27928,
"author": "Dade",
"author_id": 18364,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18364",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't worry, you have the wrong information. The only truth is, you can build back your muscles. Big and extreme changes like those on Christian Bale are not good for health at all. If your body is constantly in shock, after some time it can become \"stubborn\" in terms of difficult weight gain/weight loss. That's why balance is the best solution for your body. If you've lost your muscles, just keep eating protein-rich foods and exercise. The changes will come soon. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/05
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27895",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/4768/"
] |
27,901 |
<p>Hey I'm relatively new to weight lifting and I have friends who take Creatine before working out. They said it really helps build muscle. But I've also heard it can be bad for you. How true is it, and is it worth the risk?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27902,
"author": "Sean Duggan",
"author_id": 8039,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>TL;DR:</strong> There don't seem to be many negative side effects besides water retention and the need to take in more water, although the benefit is limited for people who aren't already up against their limits and it doesn't seem to help for endurance training.</p>\n<p>Per <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-873-creatine.aspx?activeingredientid=873&activeingredientname=creatine\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">WebMD</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Creatine is LIKELY SAFE when taken by mouth appropriately for up to 5 years.</p>\n<p>When taken by mouth in high doses, creatine is POSSIBLY UNSAFE. There is some concern that it could harm the kidney, liver, or heart function. However, a connection between high doses and these negative effects has not been proven. Creatine can also cause stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle cramping.</p>\n<p>Creatine causes muscles to draw water from the rest of your body. Be sure to drink extra water to make up for this. Also, if you are taking creatine, don't exercise in the heat. It might cause you to become dehydrated.</p>\n<p>Many people who use creatine gain weight. This is because creatine causes the muscles to hold water, not because it actually builds muscle.</p>\n<p>There is some concern that combining creatine with caffeine and the herb ephedra (also called Ma Huang) might increase the chance of having serious side effects such as stroke.</p>\n<p>There is concern that creatine might cause irregular heartbeat in some people. But more information is needed to know if creatine can cause this problem.</p>\n<p>There is concern that creatine might cause a skin condition called pigmented purpuric dermatosis in some people. But more information is needed to know if creatine can cause this problem.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>BodyBuilding.com comes up with <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/is-creatine-safe-how-the-king-of-supps-affects-your-organs.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">similar results</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Creatine does not cause damage to skeletal muscle or the heart, liver, or kidneys.</li>\n<li>Creatine, at this moment in time, seems to be fine for kidney disorders that are not characterized by edema and tissue swelling.</li>\n<li>Based on limited research, it is probably wise to avoid creatine supplementation if you have polycystic kidney disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or another kidney disorder characterized by tissue swelling.</li>\n</ul>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Lastly a <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10609446\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">medical study</a> found the same things, but also warns that commercial supplies may have other additives due to how badly regulated the supplementation industry is.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27934,
"author": "blacklab",
"author_id": 18459,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18459",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>most people resort to creatine after an extended period of training where they're not getting bigger, or stronger, or both. as a beginner, you should see pretty rapid gains in both size and strength as long as you've got a solid workout plan and you're eating a ton. i don't think it makes sense for a beginner to take it. creatine isn't that risky compared to, like, anabolic steroids...but way, way riskier than a bunch of chicken breasts and whole milk.</p>\n\n<p>if you do choose to try i would recommend against a \"loading phase,\" which is several weeks of very high daily creatine intake (around 20 grams), followed by a moderate daily dosage (some call it a \"maintenance\" dose) of 5-ish grams, continued indefinitely. most of the creatine horror stories i've read are dosage-related.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/06
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27901",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18430/"
] |
27,907 |
<p>I am scrawny. I've always been scrawny. But a few years ago I've lost the muscle tone in my hips and I developed intermittent knee pains before of that. In the passing year I lost my lower back muscles definition as well, and about a month ago I decided it's time to get back into shape.</p>
<p>So I'm doing daily routines (+twice a week an extra and longer workout) for the past month and things are much better now. Everything I do is just body weight exercises (push ups, all sort of stomach exercises, back hyperextensions, squats).</p>
<p>But I'm running into a problem, and I hope that you can give me some guidance.</p>
<p>Most people have their quadriceps end at the knee on both sides of the knee. So right above the knee you usually see two bulges of muscle. I only have one, on the interior side of the knee. On the exterior side the muscle ends up rather high above the knee, and you can see the ligaments and tendon stretched out when I lock my knee.</p>
<p>As my quads improved in the past two weeks, I feel that the one "head" is applying some pressure on my knee; and whereas most people would have this evened out by the vastus lateralis that reaches all the way to the knee, I don't have this privilege.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is there any reasonable way, which does not include going to the gym or using lifts, to increase the length of my vastus lateralis so it can even out the pressure?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I will also add that I am quite careful in my work out, and if I feel that I'm doing something wrong, I will probably look up a few videos online and practice in front of a mirror in order to get the proper technique (e.g. after a couple of days I realized that I'm doing something wrong in my squats; but I quickly corrected it and now they are far more effective).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29443,
"author": "george_t",
"author_id": 19951,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/19951",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well you can try air squats(google it ) in front of a mirror for example .As far as the shape is concerned , the number of 'heads' of the quad depends on how shredded you are . The first two visible are the two you already mentioned . My opinion is that squats are the best workout for quads.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29447,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You might consider </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/bodyweight-squat.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">body squats</a> or <a href=\"https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/bodyweight-jump-squat.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">body jump squats</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQA08SlJnM\" rel=\"nofollow\">burpees for full body involvement</a></li>\n<li>stair steppers or step ups (or a similar lunging motion)</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/wide-stance-45-degree-leg-press.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Leg press machine</a> or <a href=\"https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/narrow-hack-squat.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">hack squats</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Then you could begin to add dumbbells to your body squats or lunging exercises. If you get to a place where you're starting to utilize heavier dumbbells, you could then consider the gym and using a barbell through a squat rack. </p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27907",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,912 |
<p>I'm stumped. I'm 32 yrs old and my weight has gone up and down over the last 10 years but I've never had trouble getting it off when I workout and count calories. I'm currently 5'5 160 lbs. My normal/ideal weight is 135. I've been working out 5-7 days a week, strength and cardio (when it's 7 days I generally just walk a mile or two with my dog) eating 1100-1300 calories of healthy, non processed, whole foods, no sweets or junk, I'm mindful of macronutrients, drink 32-64 oz of water every day (water is the only thing I drink except for 1 or 2 cups of black coffee in the morning) I don't drink alcohol or smoke and I get at least 8 hrs of sleep a night. It's been a month of dieting and working out now and I haven't lost even a single ounce, and my clothes fit me exactly the same. What could I possibly be doing wrong here? I've scoured articles online and it's always "too much" of something (exercise, water, calories) or "not enough". I'm frustrated and disheartened! Please help!! </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27913,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Like @AlexL, I'm worried that you're not eating enough, and that your body is adapting by shorting some processes, rather than burning fat.</p>\n\n<p>What you have to understand, is that in order to be healthy, you have to have a healthy diet. Too many people try to lose weight by trying diets that <em>exclude</em> this and that. The problem there is that they're excluding important nutrients, vitamins and minerals, simply because the food also has, say, sugar.</p>\n\n<p>You seem to be in the habit of counting calories, and that's very good! But try to make sure of these things;</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Your diet includes sugars. Good sources are fruits. Bad sources, I think you know.</p></li>\n<li><p>Your diet includes fats. Good sources are fish, nuts, seeds, and for dinner, use olive oil when you fry meats.</p></li>\n<li><p>Your diet includes proteins. Good sources are meats and fish. Again, dinner should cover this.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you cover all this, and keep track of your calories, you'll be able to tweak it. For instance, if you try consuming 1500 calories/day for a month(*), and your weight stays the same, lower it to 1400, and try that for a month.</p>\n\n<p>(*) When I say a month, that's because noticable changes take a while. Any fluctuations in weight from week to week should not be used as a statistic, because it's subject to far too many factors.</p>\n\n<p>And as always, any venture to change your body is NOT going to yield results in just a few months. I always say, give it <strong>a year</strong>. It sounds like a lot, but if you can't stay disciplined for a year, whatever you accomplish in one month, is going to be lost the next. For the changes to be permanent, you need to keep your discipline. This goes for all of us, whether we're losing or gaining weight.</p>\n\n<p>I sincerely wish you all the best, but you're the one who has to go fetch.</p>\n\n<p>Pep talk over.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27930,
"author": "Dade",
"author_id": 18364,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18364",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to your question might be- you're lacking some calories. You should eat at least 1800 a day if you're on a diet. Normal intake for grown men is around 2000 calories a day. If your body is spending more energy than it has, it's possible that, after some time, your body will react. That means that your body will be too \"afraid\" that it won't get enough energy, so it will store all the calories it can. The result is, you're not losing any weight (or you just don't see the changes). So, the main recommendation for you is - eat more!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27935,
"author": "blacklab",
"author_id": 18459,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18459",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>eating that amount of calories and training 5-7 days a week could force the body to go into starvation mode and stockpile whatever weight it can in order to counteract the effects of malnutrition.</p>\n\n<p>alternatively, if you've been doing the same stuff forever you could be in plateau mode - where you're so accustomed to your current program that you're going to realize diminished returns until you move on to something new.</p>\n\n<p>what's your macro ratio look liek? you could try a high-fat/low-carb macro ratio. supposedly good for weight loss, but i wouldn't recommend it without adding a couple hundred gross calories, first. unless you want to be really tired and irritable all the time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27960,
"author": "Cristey",
"author_id": 18436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18436",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Thanks everyone, for your input and advice!! I want to first mention that, I am a stickler for measuring everything. I use a food scale, measuring cups/spoons etc so that I know EXACTLY how much food I'm eating. Not only for the sake of calorie counting but also portion control and to keep track of my macros ingested as I intend to lose weight the healthy way and not just a \"crash\" diet. So the chance that I'm miscalculating and OVER eating was very slim. I have lost 20-30 lbs a couple of different occasions before in my life so I'm no stranger to how this works. However, in the past I was not AS active as I have been this time around. Therefore, 1100- 1200 this time was just not enough fuel. I took @AlexL 's advice and upped my calories to 1400-1500 a day. Since then, 4 days ago, I've lost 4.5 lbs. Every morning I wake up in down another pound. I don't expect to stay on that trend DAILY but at least the scale is moving now!! I also added a protein shake to my daily routine. So far so good and I'm feeling pretty optimistic!!! ☺️</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/07
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27912",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18436/"
] |
27,947 |
<p>I have been doing Calisthenics for 2 months now. I can see that muscle increase from my arms, chest, legs, etc. The problem is that when I look in the mirror all I see is that fat covering my muscle. I have been trying to keep a steady diet. Eating 5 small meals a day. Each meal containing Protein, Carbs, Unsaturated Fat, and Lots of water. I drink 6 bottles of water each day. Eating 5 fruits or veggies a day. The only exercise I do to burn fat is High Knees, Mountain Climbers, Jumping Lunges, and Burpees with Push ups. I want to burn this fat badly. I also don't want to lose my muscle by doing to much cardio. What should I do? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27948,
"author": "Aequitas",
"author_id": 15315,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15315",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my opinion the best way to lose fat is by counting calories.</p>\n\n<p>It's great that you are eating healthy and often and such, however if you are still eating more, or the same amount of calories as you are burning; you will not lose fat.</p>\n\n<p>In order to lose fat you will need to create a calorie deficit, ie. Eat less calories than you are using. A deficit of 400-1000 calories a day would be typical for most people aiming to lose fat. The greater the deficit, the faster you will lose fat. However if you have too large a deficit you may become lethargic, have trouble maintaining your current strength and may lose some muscle mass.</p>\n\n<p>In order to know how many calories you are consuming a day you need to keep a log of all the calories you eat each day, there are plenty of websites, programs, apps that will do this easily for you. In a lot of countries packaged food is required to have a nutritional information label that will tell you how many calories or how much energy in kj (you can convert these two units easily, 4kj roughly approximates to 1 cal) is in that food. You can approximate all other food by weighing the amount you eat and then looking online for its approximate calorie content. (Google itself will show you the calorie contents of certain foods; If you google \"calories in carrots\" for example). Make sure you log everything you eat even healthy things like salads, it all adds up. Also make sure you overestimate or round up as there are many factors that could easily mean you consume more calories than you think you are.</p>\n\n<p>The next thing to do is to work out how much you are burning each day. This is most easily achieved with a heart rate monitor like a Fitbit or something, but again you can always approximate it yourself. The largest source of calories out will be what is called your BMR which is basically how many calories you burn by just being alive. You can approximate your BMR online with a BMR calculator. Then you can approximate how many calories you burn from any exercise that you do that day, again by looking it up online. Make sure you underestimate or round down to provide a buffer zone just in case you aren't actually burning that much as every body is different. Note that unless you're doing hours of high heart rate activities, the total calories burnt from exercise won't be all that much and you can probably just use your BMR for your calories consumed. </p>\n\n<p>Then simply make sure that your calories consumed each day (from food) is 400-1000 calories less than your calories burnt each day (from BMR and exercise) and you will lose fat.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27953,
"author": "Dade",
"author_id": 18364,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18364",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In order to lose fat and not the muscles, I suggest you cut the meals. That means, you should eat less because no matter how much you work out, if you don't burn more calories than you have, you won't lose fat. For example, men need 2000 calories a day and you should cut to 1500 calories a day. Women need 1500 calories a day, so 1000 calories is their goal. Keep working out. That way you don't have to worry about losing muscles. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27958,
"author": "Gabriel",
"author_id": 2899,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/2899",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try carb cycling. See <a href=\"http://www.cutandjacked.com/Carb-Cycling-Made-Easy\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> and <a href=\"http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par30.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>, for detailed explanations.</p>\n\n<p>In a nutshell, you spend 2 to 3 days eating very little to no carbs then one day eating plenty of it. The no-carbs days deplete your glycogen reserves and make your body start tapping the fat reserves, then the carb day resets the counter before your body swithes to store-it-all mode, where it would store everything you eat as fat because it's been so starved recently.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27947",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18307/"
] |
27,950 |
<p>I just bought a ab wheel and have been doing it for a few time by now but I noticed that a lot of videos on YouTube with ripped guys showing how to use the ab wheel they use much bigger wheels than mine. </p>
<p>Are bigger wheels better than smaller wheels ? If not why their size varies and which size is better for me? I wonder that the ripped guys use bigger ones for a reason right?</p>
<p>My AB wheel is about this size :</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2MNw.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2MNw.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
<p>And I've seen guys using ones about this size :</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/t0nRo.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/t0nRo.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27987,
"author": "mitro",
"author_id": 18502,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18502",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I belive that the resistence is different smaller wheels = harder due to increased range of motion. Comparable to regular vs. Inclean push-ups </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28321,
"author": "Erhann",
"author_id": 18811,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18811",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Size won't have much of an impact</strong>. The only difference is the height between your hands and the floor, which is not even relevent to toning up your core.</p>\n\n<p>If there is a difference, you could argue that using the smaller wheels is harder. Just imagine a VERY BIG wheel : your hand being high above the floor results in a tilt of your body, which would lead to a easier exercice (less weight, like you could experience with a pushup).</p>\n\n<p>That being said, the difference is very small, and you wouldn't feel that one is better. The only thing that could differ from one wheel to another is how \"well-oiled\" it is. A wheel that rolls very smoothly is harder to keep in place. You have to counter this absence of resistance by yourself, thus involving your muscles more.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28322,
"author": "Eric",
"author_id": 7091,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7091",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Anecdotally I've used smaller ones and bigger ones and never noticed much of a difference. The bigger and fancier ones, honestly, are generally just about marketing. Instead of buying the <a href=\"http://amzn.to/1ZeEQvB\" rel=\"nofollow\">$9 one</a> at Target, you can buy the <a href=\"http://amzn.to/1ZeEOEf\" rel=\"nofollow\">$59 version</a> that has a ripped model on the front and some thermoplastic spokes in an Ⓐ anarchy symbol. </p>\n\n<p>I've noticed that higher hand positions make it easier in fact. You can see this if yourself if you do <a href=\"http://www.fitstream.com/exercises/ring-rollout-a162\" rel=\"nofollow\">ring rollouts</a>. From that linked website:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The closer you are to being parallel to the ground and at full stretch\n the more difficult the exercise becomes.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So the higher your hands are, the easier it is. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27950",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/15362/"
] |
27,952 |
<p>I have recently bought a bike and would like to find a good program/plan to follow that includes cycling, weight training and maybe another type of sport (which I can do by myself).</p>
<p>What I am looking for is some kind of advise on how to split exercise days (for example I was thinking going cycling 2-3 times a week and the other days I go do some weight training in the gym).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27954,
"author": "Dade",
"author_id": 18364,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18364",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Cycling is a great workout but it's necessary to add other kinds of workout to it and I see that's exactly what you want. I suggest you go cycling 3 times a week. Other 2 days do cardio workouts and the 2 other you can go to the gym and do weight training. Of course, you should make a good diet plan. If you want to exercise every day, you should eat 2000 calories a day. Eat proteins, also add veggies and fruit, as well as whole grains to your meals. I wish you best of luck. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27967,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should consider incorporating Running, Biking, Swimming and Weights into your program. The following schedule could be used, but you can change things up as you need to. You can find a 4 day weight program online to do your individual exercises. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Monday</strong></p>\n\n<p>Swim: 30 minutes\nRun: 30 minutes\nWeights: Legs 1 </p>\n\n<p><strong>Tuesday</strong></p>\n\n<p>Bike: 30 Minutes\nWeights: Chest / Shoulders</p>\n\n<p><strong>Wednesday</strong></p>\n\n<p>Bike: 30 Minutes\nRun:30 Minutes</p>\n\n<p><strong>Thursday</strong>\nSwim 30 minutes\nWeight: Legs or arms</p>\n\n<p><strong>Friday</strong></p>\n\n<p>DAY OFF</p>\n\n<p><strong>Saturday</strong>\nBike: 30 minutes\nWeights: Back</p>\n\n<p><strong>Sunday</strong>\nRun: 30 minutes</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28609,
"author": "Jérémie Clos",
"author_id": 7436,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/7436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Look up Alex Viada's work, he is a world class strength and endurance athlete. He has a great book on hybrid training, but even if you don't want to buy a book he has two blog articles called \"so you want to run and be strong\" (<a href=\"http://www.completehumanperformance.com/want-run-endurance-training-strength-athletes-part-1/\" rel=\"nofollow\">part 1</a> and <a href=\"http://www.completehumanperformance.com/want-run-endurance-training-strength-athletes-part-2/\" rel=\"nofollow\">part 2</a>) as well as many other interesting blog posts on his website, <a href=\"http://www.completehumanperformance.com/article-list/\" rel=\"nofollow\">completehumanperformance.com</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28614,
"author": "mitro",
"author_id": 18502,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18502",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have a look at <strong>Jerred Moon’s One Man One Barbell</strong>, it would fit I guess. \nAs you have not specified any concrete goals, you should have a look at it.</p>\n\n<p>In the program conditioning is laid out, but CrossFitters do their own thing, cyclists do their own thing and runners do their own thing. It’s been used and tested effective with multiple different forms of conditioning.\nHere is the link to the page, but you should be able to find the program layed out somewhere out there: <a href=\"http://www.onemanonebarbell.com/#welcome\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.onemanonebarbell.com/#welcome</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34262,
"author": "FenryrMKIII",
"author_id": 25426,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/25426",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Without goals, devising a program is difficult since one does not know where to put the emphasis (cardio? Strength? Technique?).\nPlus, when you have a precise goal, you sometimes need to favor efficiency over fun factor while if you just train/do sport to be fit and in shape then you shall rather do what you find fun</p>\n\n<p>Taking the assumption that you just want to be fit and in shape without any particular goal, your programming shall be just based on common sense and personal feedback i.e. if you know you will rest during the weekend, then favor putting a difficult training (e.g. long bike ride or long run i.e. high volume) on friday, favor putting technical work when feeling fresh e.g. strength training involving barbell lifts or technical movement beginning of the week or before doing a run/bicycle run the same day. </p>\n\n<p>Arrange your workout to avoid strength/cardio work the same day (it is possible to do but since you just want to be fit, I would not see the point except if you have time constraints) and arrange your split in strength session to avoid fatiguing muscles you will use the next day e.g. legs before run/bike is not optimal</p>\n\n<p>To adjust your training log, keep track of your own sensation (tiredness, stress from work and other factors) and your results (e.g. a heavy drop in performance can indicate over training and you should reduce the load). </p>\n\n<p>Once you will have more precise goal (if you do) then you could fine tune your programming.</p>\n\n<p>Example programming for a week</p>\n\n<p>Monday : Strength (upper)\nTuesday : Running\nWednesday : Rest or Strength (core/legs or all body)\nThursday : Strength (Upper)\nFriday : Biking\nWeek-end : rest</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27952",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
27,955 |
<p>For instance, if you weigh 180, is it realistic to shoulder press 90s overhead or should one stick to pressing bodyweight with the barbell?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27959,
"author": "Mark",
"author_id": 18478,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18478",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>By realistic do you mean functional? Either case no. The overhead press is typically one of the weaker lifts as it uses smaller specialized muscles in a motion that is not typical of daily life. But I figure that is not what you mean.</p>\n\n<p>By realistic do you mean plausible? Absolutely. While it would be easier to lift bodyweight (plate's and bar) rather than bodyweight plus the bar, you can train for either and I'm sure you can get there. That being said, it would be rather difficult but not un-doable.</p>\n\n<p>Be safe lifting and have fun. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27961,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I haven't seen the double-half-bodyweight dumbbell press before, but it seems like a perfectly reasonable feat of strength. Since plenty of people can press more than bodyweight overhead using a barbell, I think doing so with dumbbells is within reason. Just like pressing bodyweight in barbell form, it will take a good deal of work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27963,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Is it realistic? Yes. In fact there is a Strongman event called the circus dumbbell.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/S9tg4.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/S9tg4.jpg\" alt=\"Circus Dumbbell Event\"></a></p>\n\n<p>There is a proper technique to getting that bell overhead, and the folks at Lift Big Eat Big have a good article on how to do it: <a href=\"http://liftbigeatbig.com/mastering-the-circus-dumbbell/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://liftbigeatbig.com/mastering-the-circus-dumbbell/</a></p>\n\n<p>The technique high points include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Clean the dumbbell to your shoulder with both hands</li>\n<li>Rotate your elbow out, resting one end of the dumbbell on your shoulder</li>\n<li>Jerk the dumbbell up</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You'll find the big trick is to get under the dumbbell as soon and as confidently as possible.</p>\n\n<p>BTW, the circus dumbbells can weigh over 200 lbs. I have a loadable one, and completely empty it is 135 lbs.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/11
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27955",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18474/"
] |
27,965 |
<p>When you start poking around parkour videos, you'll start to see a trend of people wearing extremely baggy pants, often with the crotch hanging down to about knee level. This is particularly odd to me since you'll also find references to <a href="http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_duct_tape's_role_in_preforming_Parkour">using duct tape to tape down baggy clothing</a> to reduce air resistance, specifically taping down the cuffs to keep from tripping on them and to keep them from catching on obstacles.</p>
<p>The closest I've found to an explanation is <a href="http://www.farangclothing.com/3-reasons-why-freerunners-wear-baggie-pants/">this article</a>, which posits that it's a combination of follow-the-leader (everyone else is wearing baggy pants, so it should be good, right?), hiding sloppy technique (baggy pants hide the fact that your legs aren't quite moving together by masking the outline), and comfort (when not doing jumps, baggy pants are just plain comfortable).</p>
<p>So, is there any particular reason why so many parkour practitioners wear extremely baggy pants?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27969,
"author": "Alec",
"author_id": 8828,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I personally don't see any aerodynamic advantage. If anything, it would get in the way. But I do think it's good for other reasons.</p>\n\n<p>If you look at practitioners like Timothy Shieff and Ben Jenkins, you'll often see them wearing these pants, and to a large extent, they are some of the biggest trailblazers in parkour and freerunning. They are idolized by many, and it's not uncommon to take on the clothing style of someone you admire.</p>\n\n<p>As for practicing in it, I suppose it does have some \"freedom\" to it, as flexibility of the fabric is suddenly a non-issue (and it tends to be a limiting factor). Also, for warmer areas and intense workouts, having baggy pants would help with staying cool.</p>\n\n<p>But then, there's the topic of how you look, or rather, if you look different. Many moves and techniques can get a completely new aesthetic to it if you do it in different clothing. And since many like to shoot videos of themselves and others performing moves, it's not unlikely that the visual effect is desirable.</p>\n\n<p>As for hiding flaws in one's technique, as you mention, I don't think that's important. One of the key elements of parkour and freerunning is that you're <em>supposed to</em> do it in your own way, and that looking different is charming.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28042,
"author": "Andy Keller",
"author_id": 18566,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18566",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The French founders originally wore baggy pants because they wanted to emulate characters from Dragon Ball Z. After that, I think it's a combination of comfort/flexibility, style, and community influence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32967,
"author": "Brett E.",
"author_id": 24374,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/24374",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been practicing parkour for about seven years, and I of course have seen a huge amount of people wearing these oversized baggy pants. I think there's a few different reasons for this.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It's kind of a fashion style. It started off with one or two famous parkourists adapting this style, and now it's the cool thing to do.</li>\n<li>It makes some flashy tricks look really cool. For example, aerials and other moves where you flare your legs, the baggy pant legs look pretty cool compared to regular pants.</li>\n<li>They're extremely comfortable to wear, and they give you a good amount of flexibility because they aren't constricting. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Overall theres a few more reasons, and I actually found a pretty cool article talking about it at <a href=\"https://thebestparkourgear.com/parkour-clothing-pants/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://thebestparkourgear.com/parkour-clothing-pants/</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>While you don’t exactly need too long pants, they are very uncomfortable. If you’ve ever trailed on rough concrete in shorts, you will exactly understand the same feelings. Also, on concrete or bricks, you’ll quickly accumulate scratches and corrosion. Longer length sweatpants protect your legs. In addition, a pair of loose, flowing long sweatpants seems cooler than your (likely hairy and bloody) legs do in athletic shorts. The moves look cleaner because the material of the pants tends to make your legs look straighter, which looks better and also let you play conveniently. Exercises will become rather difficult if you’re wearing the kind of dress for games like athletic/basketball which are usually in short length. The cloth tends to fall and gather around your area, as well as, you come to the picture. The jeans material isn’t good for Parkour. They’re too tight and strict to skin, although they do a good job of protection which is a reason not helpful for playing the Parkour.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36877,
"author": "Common sense Logic",
"author_id": 27567,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/27567",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's hides the pads underneath. You can't have tight jeans or shorts or the padding won't fit or look right. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/12
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27965",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8039/"
] |
27,966 |
<p><strong>Background</strong></p>
<p>The past 6 months, I've been on a bulking phase, where I've been able to gain about 9kg (from 78kg to 87kg), a mix of muscle and fat.</p>
<p>The past 6 weeks, I've been doing a benchpress program that increased my 1RM by 10%.</p>
<p>I'm now looking to shift into a cutting phase, and lose some of the fat I've gained, while retaining as much of the muscle mass as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong></p>
<p>Are there any recommended workout plans for one's cutting phase?</p>
<p>My plan is currently as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>3-split (legs, push, pull)</p></li>
<li><p>5x5 on main exercise each day (not counting warmup sets)</p></li>
<li><p>switch main exercise every time, or in periods (for instance between flat/incline bench on push day, and between squats/deadlift on leg day)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I obviously want to keep as much of my 1RM as possible, but I concede that it might not be achievable to keep all of it.</p>
<p>Any experiences/tips/ideas/articles?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27968,
"author": "erictrigo",
"author_id": 16789,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/16789",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Don't change what's working out for you. Keep your lifts (or as close to it as possible) and eat slightly under maintenance, and you'll lose fat almost exclusively.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27975,
"author": "Berin Loritsch",
"author_id": 879,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/879",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You'd be surprised by what your body can handle on a mild calorie deficit. If you aim for losing at a pace of roughly 1 lb a week (0.5 kg / week), you might not have to change anything.</p>\n\n<p>The biggest challenge will be ensuring you don't fatigue too quickly to accomplish the work set out for you. If you find that being the case, then I would alter your set/rep/weight schemes. An example is to work like this:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>8x75%, with 2 more sets 10 lbs less each set</li>\n<li>5x85%, 2 more sets -10 lbs/set</li>\n<li>3x90%, 2 more sets -10 lbs/set</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Just vary the work so you have a mental break day.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27983,
"author": "mitro",
"author_id": 18502,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18502",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you cut calories, you are losing muscle. You need to tell your body that it dont burn muscle while in that state (because it needs it to survive :-)) and the only way to achieve that is by doing some heavy low rep training avoiding fatigue to have the body to respond with a Lot of testosterone. .. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/12
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27966",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8828/"
] |
27,974 |
<p>I'm currently taking my Whey with additional BCAA and Glutamine powders.
Some people are skeptical about the benefits, I tested it myself, and for me it works.</p>
<p>I'm a little in doubt with one certain aspect of this mix. Can I mix the ingredients in a small container, and keep it, like a week?
Are there any chemical reactions between the BCAA, Glutamine and Whey, when store them together in one container? Instead of keep them separately and only mix them together, right before drinking?</p>
<p>In my opinion, since the three components are all dry powders, I think there is no chemical reaction. But still I'm curious if anyone knows the answer to this problem?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27979,
"author": "ryanmavilia",
"author_id": 18499,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18499",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should be good to go for mixing. They sell some BCAA + Glutamine powders already and adding in whey to the mix shouldn't cause any reactions. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28055,
"author": "aghil mohammed",
"author_id": 18588,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18588",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No problem. Go ahead; just make sure you use 300 ml water for a scoop of all of those mixed together.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/13
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27974",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18492/"
] |
27,985 |
<p>I'm doing StrongLifts 5x5 for close to two months now. I'm happily making steady progress. All the excitement of lifting personal best weight every other day in gym got diluted last week.</p>
<p>I wanted to improve my number of pullups from 6 to 12, so I started a 30 day 'The Fighter Pullup By Pavel' last week. Because rest time between sets isn't mentioned in the program, I adopted Grease To The Groove method (spreading sets through out the day), as per Pavel's suggestion in one of his forums. After 2 days into the program, in one of the sets, I didn't do any warmup and got my shoulder-tricep area injured. Its painful but that is not what I am worried about the most, I'm giving it some rest and it will be cured.</p>
<p>What worries me is doing a simple pullup without warmup injured me. I'm currently Squatting 1.3 times and deadlifting 1.5 times my bodyweight. Do these numbers mean anything outside in realword? Because when I need to lift a heavy object or another person of comparable (or bit less) weights in gym, it is ridiculous to do incremental warmup sets before. It simply isn't possible. Does that mean I'll get injured?</p>
<p>One of the motivations for getting stronger is to <a href="https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/18744/how-to-become-good-at-lifting-and-holding-my-girlfriend-in-arms">lift my girl friend</a>, who is of my current body weight. One cannot say that I need to warmup everytime before lifting her. Is warmup before lifting really necessary in real world outside the gym? How do these lifting numbers inside gym translate into real world? What is the safe weight I can lift outside gym without warmup ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27988,
"author": "mitro",
"author_id": 18502,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/18502",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Lets try to answer this question now differently. \nFirst it is impossible to make a proposal on a 'safe' weight as you may saw in one of the previous answeres someone had pain after moving a bike of 40 pounds ... (Im not sure if the age is really relevant to the pain though).\nHowever, we need to find out what it is, that we 'feel' is heavy to prepare the body with some kind of activity, not to injure ourself while doing what we aimed for. There are following factors that are important for the equation:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Genetics: Are we somewhow in a disadvantage? By that I mean if there are any bone structure discrepancies, fascial tissue weaknesses to be prone to hernia, body type etc.</p></li>\n<li><p>Lifestyle: Are we doing manual labourer work? Are we somewhow involved in physical activities where we lift, move, push or drag things regurarily ex. Wheightlifting, Combat Sports etc.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This is defining our sense of what is heavy for each person individualy.</p>\n\n<p>Now that we know who we are and what we can do, we need to set some realistic goals, 'I want to lift my Girl' is not verify specific as there is a big difference in lifting a living and a dead object, also what hight, what distance etc. The technique for the objects you want to lift also may vary so this leads us to a certain aknowledgement already. The strategy Im proposing is to raise your ability to lift a certain weight where you currently feel is heavy to be your starting warm-up weight - so that the actual warm-up is not needed.\nSo how do we do this?</p>\n\n<p>We need to selected the exercises that are transfering the most to every day movements, examples are: Deadlift, Front-, Zercher-Squats, Overhead press and flat bench press. For the assistance movements (movements that support and enhance the major exercises) I would suggest calisthenics aka bodyweight movements to achieve also a healthy muscular balance. Even incorporating Single limb exercises (like one arm snatches, windmills, bend press, pistols etc.) would be recommended to tax the even most hidden muscle and force the body to act as one unit.</p>\n\n<p>Now the most Important part. You need to do the work, on a regular basis! The main movements need to be trained at least twice a week and increase the stress regurarily.\nExample: \nFirst session: 5 singles with 85% of max\nSecond session: 6 singles with 85% of max\n... till you reach 15 singles.\nAfter that I would suggest adding some weight and continue at 5reps again.\nThe assistence exercise would be 4 to 5 sets asmrap. For the single limb exercises doing double and tripples would be enough or simply using prillipin table as reference.</p>\n\n<p>What will happen is the following;\nDue to the new situation your body is facing, you will feel terrible :-) but that will be soon gone and you will notice an increase of your PRs pretty fast, but you need to be carefull and listen to your body as muscles get used to stress quicker then tendons and if you start feeling small soreness (not pain) on your wrists or elbow joints you should do a week where you just do the main exercises and no other exercise in the following maner. You start ramping with the bar and just do singles until you reach a weight where your form break down (take your time and do small weight jumps). Then call it a day.</p>\n\n<p>After you have been patient and consistent a couple of month, you will have changed the sensibility of your golgi tendons and will have a different feeling about what is heavy and what not.\nYou will be able to lift things without warm-up for that you needed a warm up before ... I m sure your girlfriend will notice a change in your body composition too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28011,
"author": "Dave Liepmann",
"author_id": 1771,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/1771",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The goal is to get strong enough that lifting your girlfriend is not a near-maximal effort. If she weighs as much as you do then this is entirely reasonable. Get to a 5RM of 1.5xBW squat and 2xBW deadlift and carrying your girlfriend 10 yards won't be a considerable effort.</p>\n\n<p>In general, one should walk around able to do the things they want to do. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to warm up one's joints in the morning, so that you can enjoy full mobility throughout the day. This can be as complex as an hour of yoga practice or as simple as some arm circles, toe touches, and a squat. Personally I like Hindu push-ups, a 3rd-world squat, leg swings, and arm rotations. If you are stagnant (say, sitting or lying down) for a prolonged period of time during the day, it can help to repeat the morning's mobilization.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28022,
"author": "Noumenon",
"author_id": 8332,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/8332",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You will need warmups even when it's not a maximal effort. At age 38 I have had pain for days from lifting a 40-pound bike. I think learning how to warm up to prevent this was one of the most functional skills I learned in the weight room.</p>\n\n<p>You don't warm up for lifting your girlfriend by doing several sets with a nearby child, though. Simply warm up your upper body with some of <a href=\"http://www.usmsswimmer.com/201001/swimmer_stretching.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">these swimmer warmups</a> (thanks John P), the lower body with <a href=\"http://strengthrunning.com/2010/05/elite-core-and-dynamic-warm-ups-a-comprehensive-guide/\" rel=\"nofollow\">these runner warmups</a>, and the wrists with <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWtvCGCYbYc\" rel=\"nofollow\">these wrist warmups</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The key is learning from your injuries. Which warmups you must do or you'll get hurt, and even better, what's wrong with your movement pattern that made you get hurt in the first place. If I pick up my bike while using my lower traps to keep my upper back tight, I don't get hurt. So I just make sure they're warmed up before I start any similar lift.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/14
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27985",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/692/"
] |
27,989 |
<p>I have been running for 3 months now and am not sure if i am eating enough protein. I am practically a vegetarian purely because i find meat makes me feel heavy and it is pretty calorie dense. I usually eat lots of veggies and rice/pasta and watch what i eat quite carefully.</p>
<p>I have previously done quite a bit of strength training and that usually requires adequate amounts of protein in order to build muscle. Is running the same, or do i not need to be as concerned about protein intake as i would be during strength training? I have supplemented my protein intake in the past and am wondering if this is also a good idea now.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 27990,
"author": "brentwpeterson",
"author_id": 10532,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/10532",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes Protein is essential after a hard workout. There are many studies that show muscle recovery is enhanced by consuming protein after a workout. Of course water is the first thing you need, then carbs, but protein is right up there.</p>\n\n<p>This is from Dietitian Jackie Dikos (<a href=\"http://nutritionsuccess.org/about/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://nutritionsuccess.org/about/</a>) : Divide your weight by two, and eat that many grams of carbohydrates, plus 10 to 20 grams of protein after a hard workout.</p>\n\n<p>USING THE 4:1 RATIO:</p>\n\n<p>WEIGHT DIVIDED BY 2 = CARBS DIVIDED BY 4 = PROTEIN</p>\n\n<p>125 pounds 63 grams carbohydrates 15 grams protein</p>\n\n<p>170 pounds 85 grams carbohydrates 21 grams protein</p>\n\n<p>Remember to drink water!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28019,
"author": "JohnP",
"author_id": 3736,
"author_profile": "https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/3736",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You still need adequate protein, but for endurance training, it's not quite as important as it is for strength training, i.e. if you don't get protein immediately it's not world ending. As brentw points out, the ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 carbs to protein is a good mix.</p>\n\n<p>If your vegetarian definition is loose enough to allow dairy products, then milk or chocolate milk has been proven to be one of the best endurance recovery drinks around. If not, then you can make smoothies with a pea protein or similar to hit that combination. Make sure you follow up with solid nutrition later.</p>\n\n<p>One of the concerns that you might want to look at (especially if, as your profile indicates, you are female) is sufficient iron intake. Endurance runners have higher iron needs as they tend to go through RBC's faster than the average person, due to the high impact in the feet. That tends to break down blood cells, and females have higher iron requirements anyway. Just something to think about with everything else.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/11/15
|
[
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/27989",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com",
"https://fitness.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
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