Exercise and Fitness: bro science debunked

[Iskaral Pust]

I've had an increasing strain/pain between my right pectoral and bicep (I think that's where the pectoral attaches to the humerus) during bench press in recent weeks as I increased my heaviest workload.  So yesterday it was sore enough that I limited my sets to only 160lbs (down from 185lbs) and did 5x8 of those, plus some slow dumbbell flies and dumbbell incline press.  I got a decent volume of workload without aggravating it any further.

Any attempt to push through my established plateaus tends to bring an injury strain.  I know that most distributors of online advice claim that you should always be able to progress through any plateau, but I just don't think that's accurate.  I can vary things up, add sets, increase briefly my heaviest sets, etc.  But at some point I cannot sustain an increase in my heaviest weight for bench press, squats or dead lifts without causing strain.

[Greywolf2375]

I love the class aspect my gym has and once in a while a true partner workout is a nice break.  Get to potentially increase intensity knowing there's a break coming up.

Been working on handstand walks since 1/1.  Went from nothing to hitting 29' yesterday - my goal for the year is 30' so pretty close.  Been a lot of fun to try to get a new skill like this one!

[aceluby]

I've gone to the gym twice in the last month.  Between getting ready for the baby, and the baby being here, it's been really hard to carve out time for myself.  Lots of people stopping by, cooking, cleaning, and being there at any moment when mom needs a break means very little time to get out of the house.  Not going to worry about it quite yet as we're still figuring out our schedules.  Might try to see if morning workouts can be fit in during the week with 1-2 weekend workouts as well.  We'll see.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

8 hours ago, aceluby said:

I've gone to the gym twice in the last month.  Between getting ready for the baby, and the baby being here, it's been really hard to carve out time for myself.  Lots of people stopping by, cooking, cleaning, and being there at any moment when mom needs a break means very little time to get out of the house.  Not going to worry about it quite yet as we're still figuring out our schedules.  Might try to see if morning workouts can be fit in during the week with 1-2 weekend workouts as well.  We'll see.

I can't recall if you announced the baby or not before, but just to stay on the safe side, Congratulations! 

And just think about it like this Ace, your in the beginning stage of training for your dad bod!

 

[baxus]

On 2/15/2019 at 6:28 AM, Triskele said:

I got traumatized once upon a time about the military press.  I think that this was because I had a high school sports shoulder dislocation which wasn't fun, but it made me tackle the dead lift and the squat with abandon but not touch the military press.   Well, I will still not touch the version where the bar is behind your head, but I have thrown this lift back into the routine in the last few go-rounds, and it feels like a major addition in terms of a pump, endorphins, calories burned, etc...

It's a weird one in my mind because I try to compartmentalize days (eg leg day, back and bis day, chest and tris day) and don't know where to put that one.  That's probably true of shoulders in general, and I'd be curious for people's feedback on how they see it.  

Back in the days while I was going to the gym and doing chest and tris etc. I always did legs and shoulders in the same session.

I've been off that compartmentalization, as you put it, for a while now so I don't know if that answer is worth anything.

On 2/15/2019 at 3:51 PM, aceluby said:

I've gone to the gym twice in the last month.  Between getting ready for the baby, and the baby being here, it's been really hard to carve out time for myself.  Lots of people stopping by, cooking, cleaning, and being there at any moment when mom needs a break means very little time to get out of the house.  Not going to worry about it quite yet as we're still figuring out our schedules.  Might try to see if morning workouts can be fit in during the week with 1-2 weekend workouts as well.  We'll see.

Congrats, man! Hope the mom and the baby are doing great!

Don't worry about skipping workouts at all. When my daughter was born I skipped two months of workouts completely. Then I started getting back into it. I still skip a session now and again when I need to. You may need more or less time to figure out where to squeeze workouts in your new schedule but I'm sure it will work out fine.

Btw, I can't recommend morning workouts enough. It just feels much better than doing it after work. At least for me.

[Jordan La Cabra]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 5:28 AM, Triskele said:

It's a weird one in my mind because I try to compartmentalize days (eg leg day, back and bis day, chest and tris day) and don't know where to put that one.  That's probably true of shoulders in general, and I'd be curious for people's feedback on how they see it.  

You could try the 'Push/Pull/Legs' split. It is basically what the name suggests: a split dedicated to minimizing muscle crossover. In terms of your shoulders, you would train them in the day dedicated to muscles that predominantely involve 'pushing', which would be pecs, delts and triceps.

I mainly alternate between this and the typical 'Chest/Triceps; Back/Biceps; Legs; Shoulders/Biceps or Triceps' split, but I like to use 'Push/Pull/Legs' when I want to focus more on frequency and intensity rather than volume, as it basically means I get the chance to train the muscles again one or two days sooner than I would by using the traditional 'BroSplit'. But I wouldn't suggest tying yourself down to this split specifically, because sometimes it is good to give your delts a session dedicated almost exclusively to them, as they respond well to high volume and high reps.

A good idea if you do decide to use a 'Push' session is to alternate between training pecs and delts first in the session, so that you're not always training shoulders when they are already pretty fatigued after chest, and vice versa. Generally, though, it is the 'Push' day that I like least during that split, as I feel it's hard to get a decent volume for all three muscle groups in the one session without spending a lot of time in the gym. I'd usually limit pecs, delts and triceps to about three exercises each during a 'Push' session, or else try to throw in big compound exercises that heavily involve them all, such as bench press, shoulder press and dips.

[Iskaral Pust]

@aceluby congratulations on the new arrival.  I hope all are coping well with the traumatic change in circumstances. 

@Triskele you’re basically doing a PPL (push, pull, legs) system now, so shoulder/military press fits with chest and triceps.  In which case, it might help to alternate between starting with the chest or shoulders so that you are not always short-changing your deltoids for your pectorals.  PPL is really effective if you can do each twice a week for breadth/variety and fuller workload.  Since I cannot get to the gym six times a week — I struggle to do three some weeks — my preferred alternative is to do a slightly different system of (1) horizontal push-pull, (2) legs, (3) vertical push-pull.  That means I still do two days each week of heavy push and heavy pull exercises, but chest (bench press) happens only once a week, and shoulders (shoulder press) happens once a week on a different day.  Similarly lats happen once a week (pull-ups), while traps/rhomboids/posterior delts (various rows and shrugs) happen once week on a different day.

If you’re doing a heavy bench press, it’s difficult (and redundant) to do a lot on triceps and shoulder/military press in the same session.  You can still do some as supplements, but you have to scale back the weight a bit and acknowledge that your triceps and deltoids are already pretty tired.

[KingintheNorth4]

I broke my record today. 400 crunches.

[KingintheNorth4]

54 minutes ago, Triskele said:

But...why?  

To test my limits.

[3CityApache]

Returning to running after three and a half months break due to injury was a real bugger. First 3k jog felt like I have never been running before. I don't know if it's a matter of individual predispositions, or just age, but I can see going back to improving PB's will be a long and painful road.

[Heartofice]

Just now, 3CityApache said:

Returning to running after three and a half months break due to injury was a real bugger. First 3k jog felt like I have never been running before. I don't know if it's a matter of individual predispositions, or just age, but I can see going back to improving PB's will be a long and painful road.

I dunno about anyone else but I've always found with cardio that your fitness will drop off massively after a break, but also return to almost the same level in pretty quick time too.  Don't get too disheartened

[3CityApache]

@Heartofice Define "pretty quick".  It's been more than two months since I started jogging again, and three weeks since I returned to regular trainings. And I'm still pretty far from the shape I was in when the injury happened.

[baxus]

@3CityApache I had a 2 month break from training last summer after my daughter was born. Just like you, I felt as if I'd never trained before but it went away in a few weeks and I got to the point I was at before the break after a month or so, or at least that's the way I felt. And that was without any injury.

Don't focus on PBs, focus on training itself. Over time, you'll get to PBs levels again. Worst thing that might happen is that it will take couple of weeks or months longer.

[KingintheNorth4]

On 2/26/2019 at 9:54 PM, Triskele said:

Part of where my jape comes from is that I swear I've seen such conflicting stuff about the usefulness of ab workouts. 

I suppose that part of that is that sometimes people are talking about core strength and sometimes people are talking about getting a six pack.  In the case of the latter I tend to hear that almost nothing matters but how much fat you have or don't have.  In the case of the former though perhaps it can be quite useful.  

Since I've gotten back into the gym this last year I've neglected abs pretty badly with hanging leg raises or captain's chair being the main things I've done with the occasional planks.  

I do them to strengthen my core muscles, plus out of all the ab exercises out there, I find crunches to be the easiest and most effective. Also, I'm starting to get a faint four pack.

[aceluby]

Weighed myself after neglecting my workout routine and eating habits for the last 3 months or so and I've gained 25 pounds.  For the first time in my life though, I'm not too distraught about it.  Taught a class and took a class on Sunday, while planning on getting a couple of 6am workouts in tomorrow and Friday, then getting a couple classes in on Saturday/Sunday.  I feel like 4-5 times a week and starting up my keto diet again and the pounds should come off pretty quickly.  I'm exhausted in the afternoon, but bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:30am with my son nearly every day anyway, so the 6am workouts should fit in nicely.

[HexMachina]

What’s 25 pounds against enjoying time with your new child anyway

[Conflicting Thought]

I stop doing the regular crunches when i began to feel lower back pain and then i found out that doing crunches works your psoas and thats not good. 

[Iskaral Pust]

@aceluby new parenthood is a tough time.  Definitely don’t get stressed about weight gain because your wife is probably struggling with her own stress about post-baby figure and you don’t want to amplify that.  You know you can get back on a healthier track once your routine stabilizes a bit. 

@Triskele nice going on the pull-ups.  I still do 7x10 pull-ups on my vertical push-pull day (which was today, as it happens) but I don’t get any noticeable forearm fatigue.  My forearms look disproportionately small now but they don’t seem to grow at all just from grip requirements in pull-ups or deadlifts.  I really feel pull-ups in my lats, but not the forearms.

In other news, my hamstrings are incredibly tight and sore after squats and deadlifts on Sunday.  My quads and glutes don’t feel anywhere near as strained.  I can never tell if I have been undertraining or overtraining the hamstrings but they are what hurts the most.  And last year I had to stop squats and deadlifts for five months when I had a persistent hamstring strain.  I’ve omitted hamstring curls since I returned from that injury. 

[aceluby]

@Iskaral Pust My wife has already lost 1/2 of her weight gain and is feeling really good.  She'll get cleared to work out again in ~2 weeks, but so far has done really well in postpartum with just about everything.  Also, just want to throw out how much my wife is an absolute badass.  She actually taught a barre class the morning she gave birth, and has already taught two yoga classes within the first month after having the baby.  It's part of the reason why I'm so motivated to get back into some workout routine.

This morning my son was up a 4, bright eyed and bushy tailed.  So I ended up going to the 6am class which was great.  SUPER tough because I'm out of shape, but it felt good regardless.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

What’s 25 pounds against enjoying time with your new child anyway

Besides, the Dad Bod is in anyways.