infinitenexus said:The Wife is 28 weeks pregnant so I'm trying to get her to do daily cardio but she has a limit before her stomach hurts, so we do what we can.
You know what's good cardio while she's pregnant? Giggity.
infinitenexus said:The Wife is 28 weeks pregnant so I'm trying to get her to do daily cardio but she has a limit before her stomach hurts, so we do what we can.
You know what's good cardio while she's pregnant? Giggity.
I think we (my wife and I) are going to start a 5x5 stronglift program. We'll be starting very light and slowly building - we're looking for better health, and specifically looking to not hurt ourselves. We haven't lifted in years. Let's just assume that, while we have lifted in the past and we are still active, we're brand new to it - it has been enough years that the only lifting I would count is the lifting that is inherent to having a toddler.
My plan is to go very low on the weights for the first month. Starting with the bar only. We'll reevaluate after a month and see if we think we should up the weights, but are really planning on starting with the bar and progressing with the program.
So before we do that - planning on starting on Tuesday - Do we need to get a back belt for the deadlift? Neither of us have back problems, and we'd like to keep it that way and are cognizant of the fact that we're getting older.
I think deadlifts with proper form and lighter weight are fine. Everyone has a different point where they might feel they need one—for me personally, with lower back issues, any time I hit 135 pounds on deadlift, squats, or standing overhead press I put on a belt. It makes a world of difference. If you have a healthy lower back and are just starting deads I'm pretty sure you're fine. Just learn proper form, be strict, etc.
Oh, and hold your breath during a deadlift. Seriously, don't breathe while lifting. Exhale at the top, then inhale before going down for another rep. Holding your breath triggers the valsava effect which creates a high pressure zone inside your torso and supports your spine from the inside. When you breathe during a deadlift you lose that, and you can get hurt.
mtn said:So before we do that - planning on starting on Tuesday - Do we need to get a back belt for the deadlift? Neither of us have back problems, and we'd like to keep it that way and are cognizant of the fact that we're getting older.
With what you are describing, I would not worry about it yet. It is good to learn technique and bracing with and without a belt. You are not talking about weight where bracing is going to be a factor.
Starting light and building slowly is good. Starting with just the bar is probably taking it too far. Adding some weight will make things feel a lot different. Too light can make it easy to have bad form. I actually can't get into my proper bench position with just a bar.
Much like learning performance driving, you will get the best training at 7-8/10's. As you get better, 8/10's will improve.
You'll have to figure out what that is for each of you. If I had to guess VERY roughly:
You:
Squat - 105-135
Bench - 95-115
Deadlift - 115-155
Overhead press - 55-95
Her:
Squat - 75-95
Bench - 45-75
Deadlift - 85-135
Overhead Press - 35-65
These are very conservative numbers assuming you are 40-65, in average shape, and have no underlying physical ailments.
Don't wait a month to reevaluate. You should go up in weight or reps every session as a beginner.
Edit: also 5x5 deadlifts is a LOT. Deadlifts are really taxing. I usually do 3 sets at working weight for other exercises. I only do two sets for deadlifts. If you are doing 5 sets for Squat, Bench, and Overhead Press - I'd only do 3 sets of deadlifts.
So I'll admit I've been slacking on my cardio, but I'm still in decent shape. But I haven't done anything maximal in a long time, years even. I got on one of those assault bikes and did a moderate 30-second burst, which got me pretty winded. The Wife showed me a video of Hafthor doing 50 calories in 22 seconds so I decided to see what I could do.
Well, I managed to hit 20 calories in 30 seconds, and thought I was going to have a heart attack afterwards. I haven't been that tired in a long time. A fun way to test my cardiorespiratory fitness though; i'll have to work it into my workouts.
Super stoked about a chiropractic program I started back in June and recently went to maintenance. The first time my shoulder hasn't hurt while doing bench press since October 2016 has been the last two workouts. I mean, it feel completely normal while benching. So looking forward to not having to baby that shoulder anymore and growing my chest and shoulders and triceps from here on.
mtn said:So before we do that - planning on starting on Tuesday - Do we need to get a back belt for the deadlift? Neither of us have back problems, and we'd like to keep it that way and are cognizant of the fact that we're getting older.
Personally, I'm not a fan of belts until much higher, near max effort weights. I've seen quite a few people that never squat or deadlift without a belt, so they never learned how to brace properly without one. Then they try to pick something up without a belt and can't keep their back from collapsing. If you're starting with just the bar, and have no previous back issues, you should be 100% fine without a belt.
The general supportiveness and help on this thread is pretty incredible. All of the fitness related threads I see in most places devolve to arguing and tearing people down pretty quickly.
I've spent the past 15 years doing bro splits, then crossfit, then high weight low rep (5x3 style) lifting. I've been between 170-180 the entire time at 6'4". I got tired of the struggle to get stronger and gain weight this year and started doing calisthenics in mid March. Since then, I've gained 5-10 lbs, look better, feel better, and it's more fun to me. Kinda pissed I didn't make the switch a long time ago. It's also great that there's a park with a body weight workout station about 4 minutes from my office, so I go there at least 3 times a week on my lunch break and don't have to take time away from the family.
In reply to shagles :
I'm kind of glad you mentioned your thoughts on belts. When doing lighter weights and reps on squats, deadlifts, military press etc. I like to strengthen my core by not wearing a belt. I also try and improve my grip so no gloves. I'm lifting way lighter than most here but I'm also doing lots of other things. If I get hurt or overly stressed lifting it will hurt the overall plan. I'm still slowly adding weight to the bar and getting stronger though. My dad just turned 78, and I want to be able to do a lot more when I get to that age.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:My dad just turned 78, and I want to be able to do a lot more when I get to that age.
This is very similar to my goal.
Also, what do folks think about no down time during their workout? I've been kind of pressed for time lately, and I was thinking I could get more workout in less time if I started using the rest time between sets to do things like planks, body weight lunges or sit ups. It'll keep my heart rate up while letting the weight lifting muscle groups rest. I see people at the gym doing this, so I know it's a thing, and now that I'm not trying to lift really heavy weights anymore it seemed like a good idea to try.
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:Also, what do folks think about no down time during their workout? I've been kind of pressed for time lately, and I was thinking I could get more workout in less time if I started using the rest time between sets to do things like planks, body weight lunges or sit ups. It'll keep my heart rate up while letting the weight lifting muscle groups rest. I see people at the gym doing this, so I know it's a thing, and now that I'm not trying to lift really heavy weights anymore it seemed like a good idea to try.
What's your goal? If your goal is to get stronger, this is probably a bad idea. If you're constantly doing exercises and keeping your heart rate up without rest, you're training cardio and muscular endurance, not strength.
If you want to structure a routine to use time more efficiently, I would superset exercises working different muscle groups with shorter rests in between. Like 30-60 second rests instead of 2-4 minutes.
I do this frequently if I want a quicker workout and usually when I'm doing less intensive exercises - push ups, single leg squats, light overhead press, pull ups, curls, etc. But for a big strength day on my Big 3, I take lots of rest time.
nothing much to add except that I hit 315 on the bench last monday (my heavy bench day) which is not only a PR, but a long time personal goal (like, been a goal for over 10 years). Mostly wanted to hit that benchmark because Chris Jones of Pumpchaser fame used to refer to that as 3 bad b_tches (3 plates on either end).
Then, I couldnt even unrack it a week later this monday...kinda deflating
In reply to Beer Baron :
The goal is to not lose strength during the weeks I'm unable to devote quality time to exercise. If I build cardio and endurance during that time, I'm all for it!
The main issue I have with efficiency is that I go to a public gym, so I have to use what's available to me when it's open. I'd love to superset exercises, but if I have to wait for the bench to open up (it's always the bench, btw) for 10 minutes, it's difficult. It's gotten so busy there, that I may need to join a different gym.
It's one of the main reasons I've been working on cardio over strength lately. It's very easy to just put on my running shoes and go run around like an idiot for 30-40 minutes when I have time.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
Ugh... sounds like that gym is the problem. That's tough. My advice there would be to just skip bench at that gym and focus on other exercises: deadlight, overhead press, squat.
Get a set of gymnastics rings and/or a pull-up bar. I especially love ring push-ups with my feet elevated above my hands.
Saturday I put together a really nice, quick circuit of: pull ups, ring push-ups, and 1-legged squats (pistol squats, but on a small platform so I don't need the flexibility). 3 sets of each and I was done in about 15 minutes because that's how much time I had.
Wow, I've been doing it all wrong. When I've gone to the gym in the past I've always done a bunch of reps, but never pushed myself that hard. Consequently I've been fit, but not especially strong. Several weeks ago I started with a personal trainer whose program is to go rapidly to max - set the weight such that around 90 seconds in you're dead tired and cannot push any more. Then on to the next setup. et cetera for about 1/2 hour. Twice a week. And it's working. In 3 weeks I'm stronger and leaner. Trainer makes the point that working to failure is key to get the message to your body to build muscle. If you stop short of max, the body says to itself "I got this" and doesn't add muscle. In the past, I'd make a big production of things: Do some sort of cardio machine for 25 minutes, stretch, lift, stretch again and by the time I'm done 2 hours have gone by. It's great to see more success at 1/4 the time commitment.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
http://youtu.be/UNCwdFxPtE8?si=rHHbklgK_-_uEC7w
I plug Huberman every chance I get. Guy goes DEEP into literature for longevity and sports performance.
He's got a lot of content centered on strength training, cardio and endurance, etc. No bro science. I build my routines around this guy's advice pretty much exclusively.
In reply to Turbo_Rev :
Thanks. I've been slowly working my way through Haberman. There's a lot of content to be had. Haven't gotten to the workout stuff yet.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
He has a video that's just called "Strength Protocol" or something like that where he goes straight into building a routine, to include cardio and nutrition. But anywho, glad to hear there's a fellow fan.
On Wednesday this past week I got home from work around 10:30 and the kids had spotted the tubes of cinnamon rolls in the fridge so they asked if we could make them. I said, "Hell yes, we can have some cinnamon rolls!"
The next day, after the late night pig out, I had an EPIC workout! I felt STRONGK. I managed to do halos with an 88 lb kettlebell before beginning my actual workout. I definitely don't eat like that very often, in fact I try not to eat anything after 1:00 pm but, holy E36 M3, that was an amazing feeling!
In reply to The_Jed :
I'm wondering what's going on as well. I had an amazing bike ride last night and a great swim today. Weights again Monday, and my expectations are high.
@ AnthonyGS: That's awesome, I don't know if it was the replenished glycogen stores or what but, particularly with the halos, I just felt like I was in complete control of the weights.
Yesterday was another good workout.
I did:
Incline Dumbell Press with a pushup drop set on the last set
KB Swings
Leg Press
PLate-loaded high row machine (I go ridiculously heavy on these with multiple drop sets as I strip the plates off)
Upright rows + lateral raises
Today I went to the local branch of the Peoria Athletic Club and participated in their No-Gi open roll. 16 rounds @ 6 minutes for each round. I feel spent, soggy, sullied, and unusual. It felt great to be grappling again after years of nothing but punching bags. I would love to join the gym but, other than Saturday and Sunday, they train in the afternoon/evening and I work 2nd shift. Also, it's $100 per month.
After I refuel I might go for a bike ride with the kids.
I nearly passed out yesterday while deadlifting.
I'm still a bit sore from the grappling this past Sunday so I rested on Monday, did a moderate boxing workout on Tuesday then, got back to my normal GRM routine yesterday. Once I hit about 70% or so of my 1rm on deadlifts I noticed I was getting light-headed immediately after setting the bar down. Of course, I continued adding weight but, once I got to 90% I nearly passed out. I flopped onto a bench and sat there for probably a full minute before I was confident I wouldn't face plant on the nasty gym floor. I'm mostly resting again today, just doing some mobility work.
On a positive note, after much flip-flopping with my diet, I decided to concentrate on consuming berries, whole grains, low caloric-density fruit, and supplement with meat and whey for protein. I still have a pig out day on Saturday but, my cravings for garbage have diminished greatly. I haven't weighed myself recently but, I can tell I'm much leaner. Now if I could just maintain this physique...
Edit to add another positive note:
All of the moving around on the wrestling mats didn't bother my foot at all, in fact it felt great afterwards. It felt surprisingly pain free and I was a bit shocked to be honest. I've been doing a lot of foot rolling on bottles and tennis balls along with deep tissue massages and it's been helping a lot.
In reply to The_Jed :
After I finish a heavy deadlift or squat, I take a couple seconds to gradually release tension to let my blood pressure normalize to avoid that.
This past weekend I ran in the Carolina Hurricanes Charity 5k. The cardio I've been doing has made a difference, I was minutes faster than last year.
Been nursing a sore shoulder so I've been working with more sets, more reps, and lower weights. Also been trying some new lifts and new tweaks to old lifts, really paying attention to what feels best. I haven't done flat bench press in a while, I've just been doing incline. I've also been working hard on getting enough calories in each day and not missing any meals or snacks, and my weight is up to 175, which is great (I'm only 5'7"). I told myself if I hit 180 while staying this lean, I'll try my hand at making some videos and being a fitness influencer for a while. If nothing else it'll motivate me to workout better.
I'm focusing on bulking until the end of the year, and in January I'm going to work on burning off a few pounds of fat.
Oh, I've also noticed that while my squats have gone up, my legs are still skinny but I have a big butt. That was a pretty good sign that I need to modify my form, so I tried putting a 5lb weight beneath each heel, and that made a huge difference. It allows me to keep my torso more upright (which also helps considering my bad back) and put much more emphasis on my quads. I squatted 70lbs less than normal and got twice the workout.
I'm also looking at some things to focus on health and longevity, since a high calorie diet sometimes includes some pretty crazy things—like my breakfast this morning contained 134g of carbs. That's a lot of pressure on my pancreas, so I'm talking to my doctor in a few days about using small amounts of insulin prophylactically, to help prevent beta cell burnout and insulin sensitivity.
Nicole Suddard said:Alright, I'm making my plan for the new year. Fitness goals:
- Get back down to a strong 140-145lbs, which is, from experience, my lowest manageable weight. Currently floating around 155lbs. I think inconsistency and stress have been the main things keeping me from leaning out these past couple years.
- Get my bloodwork in check, which for me means doing enough cardio and eating enough vegan meals to keep my (genetically high) cholesterol out of the danger zone. To this end, I'm also trying out meal prepping.
- Stick to a consistent routine, even when traveling. I did pretty good with this in 2022, but there's always room for improvement.
Here's roughly what my weekly training schedule will look like:
- M,T,Th: 30min strength training (with personal trainer) in the evening, followed by light cardio (long walk or bike ride) or dance class.
- W: 1hr at the bouldering gym (stretching, climbing, strength training)
- F: Rest day, light cardio if feeling up to it.
- Sat: Brave the weekend morning mob at Planet Fitness - 35min Stair Climber ("Fat Burn" setting) to warm up, 1hr training arms, legs, and core (3 sets of each exercise, 8-12 reps at highest tolerable weight), 20min high-incline walk on treadmill or medium-intensity eliptical to cool down.
- Sun: 1hr Yoga Class at bouldering gym, followed by climbing
My meal plan for most days will be protein shake or bar and coffee for breakfast, small lunch of Huel, soup or salad, a small carby afternoon snack to maintain energy for evening exercise, and a dinner varied in macros and volume depending on the day's activity level. This is basically what I've already been doing for years, but I'll admit that lately my dinners have been more tailored to cravings and a need to clean out the pantry than to nutritional needs.
So, as we get closer to the end of the year, I'm reevaluating this plan. I ended up not sticking to it very well and gaining a lot of weight this year because of
A) Stress, we lost our pet early in the year and around the same time my mom almost died from a burst appendix and my dad had radical surgery to remove a cancerous mass,
B) Travel, our schedule has been way tighter than usual this year and we've been spending 2-3 weeks at a time away from home with not a lot of weekends at home either. A lot of it is fun, but it takes a toll on the diet and exercise schedule and adds to physiological stress
C) I just didn't like this routine and it made me dread working out. Going to the gym right after work every day was exhausting and cut into my ability to do my job, and 30 minutes is just not enough of a workout for me. Meal prepping didn't work because our schedule changed so much, and we always ended up wasting food at the end of the week.
The fact that my left foot is still in a 4lb boot for at least another month is also a complicating factor.
So, new plan to get back on track and finish this year strong:
M, T, Th: Intermittent fasting, healthy dinner after work, go to gym from 7-9pm for cardio and strength training, go to bed at a reasonable hour to reduce stress
W: Intermittent fasting, climbing gym for 1hr after work (can't climb with boot but they have weights and cardio equipment there that I can use while Tom and friends climb), dinner with friends, back home and in bed at a reasonable hour
F: Intermittent fasting, rest day, healthy dinner at home
Sat: Intermittent fasting, fasted morning cardio and strength training for at least 1hr followed by healthy meals
Sun: Intermittent fasting, 1hr morning yoga class
My macro goals are 25% Carbs, 35% Protein, and 40% Fat, with a calorie cap of 1,240 (I'm only 5'3" and I have a desk job, so I don't need a lot of calories to begin with)
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