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Exercise and Fitness: bro science debunked


Iskaral Pust

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1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Besides, the Dad Bod is in anyways.

:P

Having just listened to two of the most insipid girls I've ever had the displeasure to sit beside have a conversation, I can confirm that dad bod is indeed "in."

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29 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Having just listened to two of the most insipid girls I've ever had the displeasure to sit beside have a conversation, I can confirm that dad bod is indeed "in."

Honestly it might be rooted in psychology. My understanding is that birth rates are down in the West, or at least they are occurring later in life, which could lead women to be attracted to men who are already fathers.

:dunno:

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16 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Do you mean 7-10 reps or do you really do as many as 7 sets?  I would be so shot.  

Me too man.  I’m usually good for one solid burst of pull-ups and after that I’m hating life.  I just got back into the gym after a 8-ish month hiatus.  Since we moved to a new house.  I hadn’t been doing nothing all this time, Ive been doing runs and body weight routines for several months now, but not as much as I should have.  Decided to join something more structured 3 weeks ago and I’m loving it so far, especially since I did a trial a different place a while back and didn’t like it.  

This new gym is very similar to a fitness class I used to do at the University of Texas when I lived close to the campus.  I like showing up and just doing whatever the daily prescribed routine is.  It’s also not too far from my house and I can cruise through the back streets, so I’ve been biking to the classes in the morning which adds an extra 5 1/2 miles of biking (round trip total) every time I go.  

Anyway, back to the pull-ups, the very first workout I did at the new place had pull-ups as one of the stations.  First go, I got up there and busted out a bunch of them, somewhat surprising myself as I’m probably carrying an extra 10-15 lbs since the last time I did them a year + ago.  But the second round I couldn’t do ONE without the aid of one of those rubber bands.  Third round I couldn’t do one without two of those bands helping me.  I suppose they’ll get a little easier as I shed a few lbs and get stronger but I can’t think of anything that causes me to run out of gas faster than pull-ups.  I remember them being easy at like 130 lbs in high school.   They will probably never be easy again.

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This is partly a question of pull-up technique. I am still a relative beginner because I neglected pullups etc. in favor of running, so I am still at around 7 clean slow ones or so.

But one key is not only/mainly pull with your arms but to "lock down" the shoulder blades and pull with your lats (or even more back muscles). This is easier said than done, though, because you need to get the connection stable so that you can fully engage the lat muscles. Maybe there are more specific exercises but pre-pullup exercise is to alternate between "passive hang", i.e. the complete "dead hang" with your ears between your shoulders and the "active hang" where you pull your shoulder blades together. 

To engage your arms/biceps more you can use the different grip with the fingers towards your face (they are also called chin-ups sometimes).

To improve grip strength, hanging without pulling is also a great general exercise/warmup (and generally good for your back because most of us are sitting for long ours). Include the changes between active/passive described above.

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12 hours ago, Triskele said:

Do you mean 7-10 reps or do you really do as many as 7 sets?  I would be so shot.

7 sets of 10.  I alternate with sets of shoulder press, just like I alternate cable rows with bench press.  I find that extends the work load capacity.

Sometimes I change it up and just max out each set, which means ~15 in the first couple of sets but probably declining to ~6 by the seventh set.  But that feels rushed.  So doing only 10 in the first two sets is more like a warm-up that allows me to do better sets 4 through 7 for a better overall workload.

Very important to do slow reps with full range of motion.  I used to do them slightly faster (but not bouncing) and only drop until my head was a bit below my hands.  It cost me some reps initially to slow down and go to full extension, but worth it.  And then the reps gradually returned anyway.

Somewhere along the way, the forearms stopped feeling any strain (grip was a challenge early on), and instead all sensation is in the lats as they contract.

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1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

7 sets of 10.  I alternate with sets of shoulder press, just like I alternate cable rows with bench press.  I find that extends the work load capacity.

Bloody hell. That's impressive, or crazy, one of the two.

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56 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

Bloody hell. That's impressive, or crazy, one of the two.

I only do the basics in my workouts.  So when I’m finished 7 sets each of shoulder press and pull-ups, I might do 1-2 sets of lat raises and then I’m finished for the day.   I don’t generally do additional sets for secondary muscles (like arms or abs) — I rely on the compound lifts to work them.

And I’m absolutely depleted by the end of each session. 

I generally find that 6-7 heavy sets (plus light warm-up sets on whatever exercise I start with) is the right workload for the main compound lifts.  Only exception is deadlifts: I limit that to 2-4 sets because I’ve already done 7 sets of squats beforehand. 

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1 minute ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I only do the basics in my workouts.  So when I’m finished 7 sets each of shoulder press and pull-ups, I might do 1-2 sets of lat raises and then I’m finished for the day.   I don’t generally do additional sets for secondary muscles (like arms or abs) — I rely on the compound lifts to work them.

And I’m absolutely depleted by the end of each session. 

I generally find that 6-7 heavy sets (plus light warm-up sets on whatever exercise I start with) is the right workload for the main compound lifts.  Only exception is deadlifts: I limit that to 2-4 sets because I’ve already done 7 sets of squats beforehand. 

What does a workout look like for you then? That seems like a lot of volume, but probably not if you are limiting yourself to the main compound lifts and doing 3-4 exercises a session?

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Just now, Heartofice said:

What does a workout look like for you then? That seems like a lot of volume, but probably not if you are limiting yourself to the main compound lifts and doing 3-4 exercises a session?

I have three different sessions I use.  I try to do all three weekly, but often that gets stretched to doing all three every ten days. 

#1: horizontal push-pull: (a) bench press, sets of 8 reps, two light warm-up sets then 5-6 heavy sets ranging from 160-185lbs (I weigh 180lbs).  Then do another 2 sets afterward on the chest press machine (230lbs for 6 reps) or incline dumbbell press (2x50lbs for 15 reps). (b) alternating with bench press is cable rows, sets of 12-15 reps, two light warm-up sets then 6 heavy sets of 150lbs — maximum available.  Followed by some sets of barbell rows or face pulls and shrugs.

#2: lower body push-pull: (a) squats, sets of 8, three light warm-up sets then 6-7 heavy sets of 200-220lbs.  Followed by (b) deadlifts for 2-4 heavy sets of 8 reps at 250lbs alternated with (c) calf press 2-4 heavy sets of 10-12 reps at 400lbs.

#3: vertical push-pull: (a) shoulder press, sets of 10-12 reps on dumbbells or 7-8 reps on shoulder press machine, a light warm-up set with dumbbells and then 3 heavy sets of dumbbells (2x50lbs) and 3 sets of shoulder press machine (160lbs).  Alternated with (b) 7 sets of 10 pull-ups.  Followed by (c) 1-2 sets of lat raises.

So any given session has 15-20 heavy sets of compound lifts, with plenty of rest for a muscle group between sessions. 

 

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Was able to sneak in another 6am workout this morning.  Down 3 lbs of water weight :)  Decided to explore some new recipes in my diet this go around and made a delicious cauliflower 'penne' bake that I've been reheating on a bed of chicken.  Also made some cauliflower 'mac' and cheese that I've been mixing with jerk chicken.  Broccoli cheddar soup was a couple nights ago.  And tonight I'm making an asian cabbage stir fry with veggie crumbles instead of meat.  It's referred to as crack slaw in the recipe I got.  Wife is also loving that I'm making all of this as veggie options for her as well.  

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17 hours ago, Triskele said:

I just came to ask a question that doesn't have anything to do with Iskaral's post above though it might seem like it does.  Those above are mixes of days, but I've seen a few places online where people suggest that the deadlift is more of a pull lift than a legs lift like in the push, pull, legs system.  

This seems wild to me.  I swear it's way more of a legs lift that just happens to require a little of back.  At least when I do it I try to get into a good stance and just use my legs and glutes to push against the ground as much as possible to lift it with a neutral spine and minimal back activity.  

A conventional deadlift uses all those muscles of course but if you want to put it into a box it is definitely more of a back exercises than a leg one. If you are trying to squat the weight up you are doing it wrong. It is a hinging movement.

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9 hours ago, Triskele said:

I'm grateful for this feedback and have to say that I trust the source.   I have definitely been "trying to squat the weight up."  Almost a perfect description of how I've been approaching it.  I need to study up on the better approach.

Something about this excites me because I've been putting squats and deadlifts into the same box doing one or the other at the start of leg day and then alternating which I'd do from one day to the next.  Now I'm hopeful that I can start pull day off with this other huge lift and effectively get more of both of these big compound lifts into the routine overall.  

 

https://startingstrongman.com/2017/10/28/hips-dont-lie-fixing-your-deadlift-with-hinge-patterning-work/

Really good article here about movement patterns. Well worth a read. 

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Because of equipment available, I’m limited to rack-pull deadlifts that start from knee height.  It’s a pity to lose some of the range of motion in the exercise.  On the positive side I don’t have to deal with shin scraping, there’s no danger of rounding my back, and I focus my form on the hip hinge range of motion (no temptation to squat lift the weight).

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Hi everyone!, i started exercising like 2 months ago, but as i am socialy anxious (and poor) and after a little research started to do calisthenics.

I would like to know if some one has any recommendations or advice. Im having a little trouble creating a routine for the week, like i've heard about dividing it into push/pull and legs (i think), but have also read that, thats like, outdated science now. 

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On 3/8/2019 at 9:01 PM, Iskaral Pust said:

I caught another cold, FFS.  I'll have to skip the gym until next weekend.

You should pick up some of this and keep some in your bag at all times since you travel often:

https://www.amazon.com/Zarbees-Naturals-Daytime-B-Complex-Elderberry/dp/B01M3URAP2/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1TQQPJCO3GG35&keywords=zarbees+cough+and+mucus&qid=1552307330&s=gateway&sprefix=zarb%2Caps%2C304&sr=8-8

I just mix it in some cold water and chug it down whenever I have a tickle in my throat or a bit of the sniffles.  Since I've gotten it early I haven't had a full on cold or flu in over two years.  Before I started doing that I'd use it after getting sick and would feel better in a day or two.  There's also a nighttime version.  

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