Exercise & Fitness III

[Swordfish]

Thanks, I'll try -- very carefully, at first. Of course it is also possible that the pain is caused by some other activity, but just happens to be particularly noticeable when squatting.

The area on the outside of the ankle is a little swollen now; I hope it will be better tomorrow morning.

If you are seeing noticeable swelling, then ice it and rest it for a couple days.

Don't push it.

[Lord of Oop North]

I guess I better start telling the carpenters to put more then a couple trim nails in those door frames, eh?

[Fleeing Finn]

Sorry, let me expand. In the long-term, all bodyweight exercises hit a plateaux in regards to strength gain since you can't increase the weight. Of course, nothing stopping you from doing weighted pull-ups, dips, whatever but I was just talking about bodyweight exercises above.

My recommendation is to go until you can do a solid set of 10 or so. Once you can do that get a weight vest or some way to add lbs. to yourself and then work towards being able to do a set of 10 that way.

Many of those home training contraptions have weight limits and I imagine the pressure could damage the door frames too at some point. You can add resistance by moving your body to a more unfavorable position. The reduced leverage will add a lot of resistance and will also help you build core strength. Example of a training program . As you can see you only need a pull up bar and some floor space. If you weigh 250 pounds though I wouldn't get my hopes up too much of ever being able to perform the most demanding exercises described in the program. I weigh ca. 190 pounds and I can only hold the front lever for like 5-10 seconds. It will take some months to build the strength necessary to perform the toughest movements but it's worth it.

[Jon Targaryen]

I did dumbbell squats with the superset second set being leg extensions. I did some dumbbell lunges sets but got nauseous and bowed out. I hate dumbbell lunges with a passion. They are so tiring.

[lokisnow]

two recent goals met

yesterday I did ten consecutive chinups (yay!) I also managed 190 across 3 sets of five (and punched out a sixth on the last set) 15 lbs from current body weight

then today I ran for a full 60 minutes without slowing down to walk or stopping. I punched through the entire time! my previous best was about 43 minutes two months or so ago

My trick this time was when I wanted to slow down or stop, I tried to open my awareness up and concentrate on my breathing. concentrating on my breathing meant giving more focus to the rhythm I was running in and just putting my attention closely on breathing takes your mind off being tired and after a bit your whining & defeated brain has been distracted and is no longer asking you to slow down or stop. Eventually your defeatist brain will try again, but this technique worked really well for keeping that silly fool in check. I really only need this when TV goes to commercial, when it's on a program, I can focus my attention onto the show and let go of worrying about being tired, it's the commercials I needed to get through (probably because we're all conditioned to treat the commercials as a break/reward time). and this helped a lot. :)

[Vestrit]

My trick this time was when I wanted to slow down or stop, I tried to open my awareness up and concentrate on my breathing. concentrating on my breathing meant giving more focus to the rhythm I was running in and just putting my attention closely on breathing takes your mind off being tired and after a bit your whining & defeated brain has been distracted and is no longer asking you to slow down or stop. Eventually your defeatist brain will try again, but this technique worked really well for keeping that silly fool in check.

Yep, concentrating on your breathing is a really good way of bringing your heart rate back down when it begins to climb and you begin to feel a bit distressed (for want of a better word).

In fact it's one of the reasons that trainers will engage you in conversation when they're testing your VO2Max; they do it so you can't concentrate on bringing your heart rate down and thus get an artificially low reading (and thus higher VO2Max score). Been snapped that way myself during VO2Max testing! (still got a score of 69 so wasn't too unhappy about it)

Fleeing Finn:

Forgot to ask. Who do you coach Vestrit? I'm always very intersted to hear how coaches of different sports apply weight training to their athletes' training regimen.

sorry mate, been meaning to answer you for days but just keep getting caught up at work. I coach national squad

players. The sport is essentially completely anaerobic and on-field movement is constant repetition on short sprints - lots of sudden acceleration and changes of direction but not many runs longer than 10m or so. As you can see from the clips, the players tend to be very lean and athletic, so we deliberately don't do much in the way of mass-building.

The squad already includes European gold and silver medal winning teams but we just wanted to take the fitness training up a level to boost our competitive advantage and also prevent some of the common injuries. So, make them quicker, more agile, more powerful and more sports-specific fit and also strengthen those areas contributing to common injuries. This year we've got a tournament against England, Wales, Ireland and Jersey, next year is the European Champs and 2011 is the World Cup.

The weights work has focussed on strength chain and core stuff, so lots of deadlifts and squats (squats, front squats, overhead squats...) and core work, and then introducing power lifts and their derivatives. This is alongside sports specific aerobic and anaerobic conditioning and SAQ work.

We're in the first year of a three-year programme so this year has largely been education and getting them used to it, with a view to reviewing, refining and ramping things up a bit at the end of this current season.

Seems to be going well.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Great workout today -- of course, I had my trainer there to keep me honest. Some new exercises (including body-weight rows, which brings my repertoire of row-type exercises to 5) plus weighted lunges, squats (using a kettlebell this time to make sure I am squatting deep enough, which was really, really helpful), and pullups with a different hand config. I think I am going to start doing assisted dips soon because my upper body strength is finally getting to the point where I might be able to actually do them.

[Vethnar]

If you are seeing noticeable swelling, then ice it and rest it for a couple days.

Don't push it.

Thanks for the advice.

There's still a small, but noticeable swelling. I'll stick to exercises which don't involve much ankle movement for a few more days. Unfortunately, this excludes almost all the really fun exercises.

:angry:

[Stego]

I did dumbbell squats with the superset second set being leg extensions. I did some dumbbell lunges sets but got nauseous and bowed out. I hate dumbbell lunges with a passion. They are so tiring.

That's what makes them so good, Jon. :D

[Stego]

Just got back from a shoulder/tricep day as week two of working out with my cousins begins. Firstly, let me restate that they are beasts and they push me to my absolute limit. And I am so incredibly sore after a week of this that I want to sleep for a month.... and I love it.

But... OW!

[Xray the Enforcer]

Kick ass, Stego!

Of course, you're totally going to destroy me in the tricep face-off. I told my trainer that we had to step it up because I couldn't be humiliated! :P

[cjfshaw]

Today is my leg day, meaning Tabata style dashes, sprints, and uphill sprints, and if im still alive after that it is time for bodyweight squats and 10-counts

[Jon Targaryen]

That's what makes them so good, Jon. :D

Can't I get a good workout from without feeling like I'm doing intense cardio and feeling like I'm going to puke? Ah well, it's probably just because I'm just getting back into it after a 2 month layoff.

I did the 20 minute gradual up to max-down-repeat run today.

[QuietColours]

Sorry, let me expand. In the long-term, all bodyweight exercises hit a plateaux in regards to strength gain since you can't increase the weight. Of course, nothing stopping you from doing weighted pull-ups, dips, whatever but I was just talking about bodyweight exercises above.

You can make just about any bodyweight exercise harder without any weights or any extra equipment--just change your leverage. If push-ups are too easy, do handstand push-ups, then move on to doing them in a planche. If you can can easily do one-armed planche push-ups, get enough power out of a squat jump to throw a layout (I've only ever seen someone able to do a tuck), and easily hold a Victorian, you might be getting to the limits of bodyweight training. Most people's body's would give up before they hit that point, though. I could probably find a way to make it harder, but I'd probably just stare in awe. I'm having enough trouble with handstand push-ups and trying to do squat jumps into a pike.

Using weights can get you great results, and I know a lot of people prefer it--it's what they're trained to do, and it can be easier to see your progress. Bodyweight training can sometimes have slower progress, as well. But it has some advantages--you don't need any equipment (some people don't have access to any), it can be easier on the joints, there's lots of room for creativity, and you're often using a huge number of muscles for each movement if you're using good form. And you can see great results. Better yet, do both and try and get the best of both worlds.

[cjfshaw]

I've found that these two websites are extremely informative in the way of exercise.

www.bodybuilding.com

www.bodyweightculture.com

[Liffguard]

Yeah, I definitely agree with you QC. On reflection, I didn't really think my original statement through. Basically, when I said "significant gains" I was just thinking of the raw ability to shift heavy weight up and down. So yeah, I retract that statement.

On an unrelated note, I had a freakin awesome BJJ session today. After driving round all day dropping off CVs at various employers I was hot, tired and not in the mood. I almost didn't go, but there's a competition coming up so I forced myself there. Once on the mat, a magical thing happened. I was exhausted and frustrated enough that I just said "fuck it" to winning or really pushing myself. Paradoxically enough, this enabled me to relax, try new techniques I wouldn't normally go for and generally take more risks. That's the type of training that leads to improvement. There's a time in Jiujitsu for sticking to your game and only using what you know. There's also a time to just say "fuck it" and go for some crazy shit. Tonight was one of those times.

[Kat]

Speaking of bodyweight exercises...

Yesterday my friend dragged me to a cardio kickboxing class, which is something I hadn't done in a long time (3 years maybe?). It was pretty intense, and was ok with it until near the end, but then the instructor had us lie on our back and try to lift both legs up and down while they were straight. Back was just in neutral position. Can someone tell me if this is as bad for your lower back as I think it is? The instructor wasn't giving any special instructions, or if she was, they were inaudible over the music, and my back hurt on the first one, so I gave up and did something else instead.

[QuietColours]

Speaking of bodyweight exercises...

Yesterday my friend dragged me to a cardio kickboxing class, which is something I hadn't done in a long time (3 years maybe?). It was pretty intense, and was ok with it until near the end, but then the instructor had us lie on our back and try to lift both legs up and down while they were straight. Back was just in neutral position. Can someone tell me if this is as bad for your lower back as I think it is? The instructor wasn't giving any special instructions, or if she was, they were inaudible over the music, and my back hurt on the first one, so I gave up and did something else instead.

Every instructor I've had who's had us do this has instructed us to keep our backs flat on the ground. Not doing that (or trying really hard--I have lordosis and cannot flatten my back, although I'm constantly working on this) has always been very painful and hasn't been nearly as effective an exercise.

[ztemhead]

but then the instructor had us lie on our back and try to lift both legs up and down while they were straight. Back was just in neutral position. Can someone tell me if this is as bad for your lower back as I think it is?

I've never had problems with that before. :dunno:

I did my 21 mile bike ride today. It was hot and I was carrying 15 lbs. I drained through both water bottles by mile fifteen. At times I was reverting to the old alpha male trick of calling myself out, like, "Oh come on, this isn't so bad, you big pussy."

I'm glad I did it though. Sometimes you gotta push. ;)

Now I'm gonna eat about a pound of chicken, and a few roasted peppers.

[cjfshaw]

Yeah, I definitely agree with you QC. On reflection, I didn't really think my original statement through. Basically, when I said "significant gains" I was just thinking of the raw ability to shift heavy weight up and down. So yeah, I retract that statement.

On an unrelated note, I had a freakin awesome BJJ session today. After driving round all day dropping off CVs at various employers I was hot, tired and not in the mood. I almost didn't go, but there's a competition coming up so I forced myself there. Once on the mat, a magical thing happened. I was exhausted and frustrated enough that I just said "fuck it" to winning or really pushing myself. Paradoxically enough, this enabled me to relax, try new techniques I wouldn't normally go for and generally take more risks. That's the type of training that leads to improvement. There's a time in Jiujitsu for sticking to your game and only using what you know. There's also a time to just say "fuck it" and go for some crazy shit. Tonight was one of those times.

Nice man! I feel like capoeira is the same way.

Kat, are you talking about lying leg raises or am I just completely misunderstanding what you are describing?