Beginners (noobs) Questions - V.4

Walker147 said:
Thank you and as straight forward as that response is, it probably says everything, how about adding in a few sets of power cleans somewhere? Maybe after warming up on boxing days? Are the going to add anything or maybe alternate them with deadlifts?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't
 
Hey guys, to give an update from my earlier post, in the month following that post I finally got proper form dialed in and made huge noob gains, increasing my max by over 100 lbs thanks to the advice from you guys. However, during one of my sessions I was doing a light warmup and I got a bit impatient and made the dumb decision to adjust my foot positioning with the weight on my back. The weight was low and I only moved my foot an inch or two, but it was enough to cause some kind of injury to my back. It usually doesnt hurt, but it does when I move in certain ways, most commonly when I am going to bed and brace my weight on my arm. The pain is in my upper back, slightly off centre. I went to a doctor and not surprisingly they just told me not to lift weights anymore. Its probably been about 3 weeks now and for the last two I havent touched a weight, but the injury persists. Does anyone have experience with something like this and know how long it might take to heal? I would go to the doctor again but it was a 6 hour wait the first time and I got pretty generic advice so I dont really feel like doing that lol Hopefully mods wont have an issue with me asking.
 
SuperLuigi said:
I went to a doctor and not surprisingly they just told me not to lift weights anymore.
Click to expand...
You waited six hours and the doctor did the classic doctor joke? And that was it? I would have been fucking pissed.
 
I'd like to start doing these. Anyone have experience with it and are there things I need to consider safety-wise?

 
I agree with the comment about the mobility work. I would also add a day of flexibility and no they are not the same thing. Difference is mobility is your actual ability to move easily and flexibility is how easily you can touch your toes and bend your body. As an example, I usually lift four days a week, do at least one day of mobility, one day of Yoga and do one long run a week. And yes I also do some running a couple of other days asa well but they are usually split up throughout the day.
 
jgarner said:
You can't deadlift or squat, but in your program you have....

GOBLET SQUAT
SPLIT SQUATS
HAMSTRING CURL
LUNGES


For some reason, I don't believe that you can't squat.
Click to expand...
What's the reason behind why you can't squat? if it's because of hip or knee issues I would strongly suggest adding in some exercises that contain exercise bands and get the cloth kind so they don't break. If you don't have any you can get them for $10 on Amazon.
 
Armand Ruiz said:
What's the reason behind why you can't squat? if it's because of hip or knee issues I would strongly suggest adding in some exercises that contain exercise bands and get the cloth kind so they don't break. If you don't have any you can get them for $10 on Amazon.
Click to expand...

Quoted the wrong person. I can squat. Not a lot by some standards but I'm proud of it.
 
This was only if you had weak knees or hips because squatting, especially really large amounts of weight like that can be detrimental.
 
Hey guys, back with another question about squat form. As I make more and more gains I noticed I felt stronger and stronger the more I used a wider stance. Nothing too crazy but def wider than shoulder width. About 2 weeks ago I started feeling a slight pain in my hip joints when squatting, and since then the pain has gotten stronger. I am hoping this is just something to do with my form and can be fixed quickly. So today I was experimenting with form and I noticed the pain reduces by about 90% if I use a narrow stance. The problem with this is it makes me worry about balance and also pretty much all the guides I have seen recommend shoulder width, and also the narrow stance makes my balls rub uncomfortably against my legs. For now I will keep using the narrow stance but I have a feeling this wont be ustainable. Does anyone have any advice for such an issue?
 
SuperLuigi said:
Hey guys, back with another question about squat form. As I make more and more gains I noticed I felt stronger and stronger the more I used a wider stance. Nothing too crazy but def wider than shoulder width. About 2 weeks ago I started feeling a slight pain in my hip joints when squatting, and since then the pain has gotten stronger. I am hoping this is just something to do with my form and can be fixed quickly. So today I was experimenting with form and I noticed the pain reduces by about 90% if I use a narrow stance. The problem with this is it makes me worry about balance and also pretty much all the guides I have seen recommend shoulder width, and also the narrow stance makes my balls rub uncomfortably against my legs. For now I will keep using the narrow stance but I have a feeling this wont be ustainable. Does anyone have any advice for such an issue?
Click to expand...

Had you been squatting with the wider stance for a long time before it started hurting? I wouldn't automatically assume that pain is due to technique. It may be related to other variables, for example, training too heavy/too high volume for too long, poor sleep, or other factors. Does it still hurt if you lower the load? If you slow down the tempo? It is possible that all you need is a small temporary decrease in load/volume. If the narrower stance doesn't hurt I don't see any problem using it, but I also wouldn't discard going back to the wider one once the pain dissipates.
 
Volador said:
Had you been squatting with the wider stance for a long time before it started hurting? I wouldn't automatically assume that pain is due to technique. It may be related to other variables, for example, training too heavy/too high volume for too long, poor sleep, or other factors. Does it still hurt if you lower the load? If you slow down the tempo? It is possible that all you need is a small temporary decrease in load/volume. If the narrower stance doesn't hurt I don't see any problem using it, but I also wouldn't discard going back to the wider one once the pain dissipates.
Click to expand...
I would still feel it with lower loads, my tempo is generally slow. As an update I suspect you are right about a short break potentially being the only needed solution. My last session I did mostly narrow before switching to middle-wide for the last two sets and didnt feel any pain or at least very little.
 
I'm going to start back to lifting a bit after a long hiatus. Have some back/disc issues from an old injury, so would like to avoid overhead presses/squats/deadlifts/etc. Not trying to do anything crazy. I just want to get a little stronger and look a little better.

Would like to do maybe 3 nights a week, 30-45 min a night, with some cardio / stairs on the off days. Only have a bench and dumbbells (up to 50lbs) right now. Please critique and give thoughts if you have any. I just threw this together tonight so maybe sucks.

Day 1:
Chest Press
Dumbbell Pullover
Overhead Tricep Extensions
Chest Flyes
Tricep Kickbacks

Day 2:
Dumbbell Renegade Rows
Bicep Curls
Dumbbell Reverse Flies
Hammer Curls
Single-arm Dumbbell Bench Row

Day 3 (core stuff, some lower body):
Front Plank / bird dog
Glute Bridges
Side Plank
Dead Bug
Heel Raises / hamstring curl / something?
 
Hi. I have recently started going to the gym and have found my 1 rep max on 9 machines. I am nowhere near the full stack on any of them except the out abductor (the one where you sit with your knees together and move your legs apart to lift the weight). On that one I can do 9 reps of the full stack, which is 60kg/132lbs. Do I have disproportionately strong out abductor muscles or something? (this machine and the one where you sit with your legs apart and push your knees together to raise the weight are both just called 'abductor').

Second question: I have been maybe 10 times now and I have never seen anyone stretching. I stretch before workout, this is what we always did when I used to do various sports. Now it seems some say you should stretch after workout or not at all. Is stretching at the gym obsolete? Thanks.
 
650lb Sumo said:
Hi. I have recently started going to the gym and have found my 1 rep max on 9 machines. I am nowhere near the full stack on any of them except the out abductor (the one where you sit with your knees together and move your legs apart to lift the weight). On that one I can do 9 reps of the full stack, which is 60kg/132lbs. Do I have disproportionately strong out abductor muscles or something? (this machine and the one where you sit with your legs apart and push your knees together to raise the weight are both just called 'abductor').

Second question: I have been maybe 10 times now and I have never seen anyone stretching. I stretch before workout, this is what we always did when I used to do various sports. Now it seems some say you should stretch after workout or not at all. Is stretching at the gym obsolete? Thanks.
Click to expand...
You're probably just a regular human in terms of strength ratios.
Stretching can be good. Warming up is definitely good.
 
650lb Sumo said:
Second question: I have been maybe 10 times now and I have never seen anyone stretching. I stretch before workout, this is what we always did when I used to do various sports. Now it seems some say you should stretch after workout or not at all. Is stretching at the gym obsolete? Thanks.
Click to expand...
A friend of mine took some kinesiology classes in school and told me he read a study which said a small amount of stretching can have some benefit but stretching too much is greatly detrimental and can ruin your gains. It seems the general trend is less stretching, more warming up.
 
Hey guys, I've noticed that when doing heavy squats the biggest limiting factor on my ability to progress seems to be some kind of energy constraint. To explain what I mean, I generally work on my 5 rep max for a few sets, and I notice between each set I am really out of breath and it takes me like 10 mins to catch my breath, and after about 4 sets I can just feel it in my body that it doesnt want to work anymore. If I try to push onward a strange thing happens where my body basically "locks" at about 90% of the ROM and refuses to go any lower. I'm not sure how much of this is mental and how much of it is just that my body is simply out of energy resources. When this state is reached I can lower the weight by 20 lbs, wait 10 minutes, and still can't do 1 rep with full depth. I never encountered this at lower weights or with any other workout and suspect the higher weight using more energy is part of the problem.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. I do a session once every 4-6 days, which hardly seems like it could be too taxing. So I was curious if anyone has any experience with this and how they may have overcome it? I could clean up my diet a bit and its not uncommon for me to get a bad nights sleep, so or course there are the obvious solutions of eat better and sleep better, but I am wondering if I am doing something wrong besides that.
 
SuperLuigi said:
Hey guys, I've noticed that when doing heavy squats the biggest limiting factor on my ability to progress seems to be some kind of energy constraint. To explain what I mean, I generally work on my 5 rep max for a few sets, and I notice between each set I am really out of breath and it takes me like 10 mins to catch my breath, and after about 4 sets I can just feel it in my body that it doesnt want to work anymore. If I try to push onward a strange thing happens where my body basically "locks" at about 90% of the ROM and refuses to go any lower. I'm not sure how much of this is mental and how much of it is just that my body is simply out of energy resources. When this state is reached I can lower the weight by 20 lbs, wait 10 minutes, and still can't do 1 rep with full depth. I never encountered this at lower weights or with any other workout and suspect the higher weight using more energy is part of the problem.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. I do a session once every 4-6 days, which hardly seems like it could be too taxing. So I was curious if anyone has any experience with this and how they may have overcome it? I could clean up my diet a bit and its not uncommon for me to get a bad nights sleep, so or course there are the obvious solutions of eat better and sleep better, but I am wondering if I am doing something wrong besides that.
Click to expand...

It seems like you’re simply training too heavy. You can’t do your 5 rep max for several sets, otherwise it wouldn’t be a max. But if you’re creeping into a territory where you don’t even have 1 or 2 reps in reserve, and you’re doing that for several sets across, it seems like your muscles might start failing on the next sets. Also, 10 minutes seems a bit impractical as a rest period. At some point you will need to accumulate volume to improve, and you can’t do that if you’re working so close to failure that you can’t even do the work, or if the workout takes 4hs.

What’s your program like? It seems to me like you simply need to work in a more productive zone percentage wise that allows you to complete the necessary volume in a sensible amount of time. Conditioning and work capacity will improve with time as well, but if you’re working so close to failure, it will be difficult to develop them, as you will simply be too exhausted to complete the session without going into fatigue death.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,049
Messages
55,463,682
Members
174,786
Latest member
JoyceOuthw

Share this page

Back
Top