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Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
This year I finally took my health seriously, I quit drinking, lost 30 lbs due to that and better diet/exercise. I want to start weight lifting but I'm overwhelmed and intimidated. I don't want to be in the way as I learn my way around. I'm comfortable starting from zero, as we all start there, I just don't want to disrupt anyone else during the process. Any words of encouragement, or advice?
Honestly dont be afraid to ask people for pointers, specially the really big people. Everyone there is there was a beginner at some point and I'm sure most people would love to help you out on your journey .
Luckily for me I don't suffer from social anxiety and more than the next guy, also years in retail help with talking to strangers.
The hardest part about starting the gym is getting there. Just go in and start very simple. I feel alot of people overcomplicate training now adays. If you only focus on lifting with semi decent form and lift more than your previous session you will get very far! Just start easy and small :)
Yeah I want to start with the basic core lifts (BP, OHP, DL, SQ etc) but I keep seeing so many people complicate it with "oh, you have to do all this other stuff too" and it gets overwhelming.
You're fine focusing on those. You might find some traction with something like StrongLifts. The main thing to take away from that stuff is a methodical method for determining rep/set schemes and when/how to add weight and when to remove weight. You could skip the accessories while you develop your skill with the big lifts.
That's essentially how I started, just going in and alternating days for SQ/BP, DL/OHP. Then walking around and doing any machine that looked interesting.
Heres a noob question: do you need a spotter for every BP, or just the heavy lifts?
You should have a spotter anytime you want a spotter. People are cool with doing it, especially if you see someone sitting and resting between sets.
But decent benches should have some kind of safety that you can set near chest hight so if you fail you can set the bar down and wiggle out from under it. Squat racks also have these and they should be used.
If the benches don’t have safeties and you don’t want to look for a spotter you can pull a bench into a squat rack and use those safeties to protect yourself.
Thanks for the info and the safety hack! I really appreciate it.
Honestly you can do a lot with dumbbells. In fact the dumbbell BP can wreck if done correctly because of the added stretch under load. And you don't need a spotter. You won't push as much weight but that's a number only the ego cares about :)
Know your limits and make sure to keep one rep in reserve if you don’t have a spotter. Also, when without a spotter don’t use clips to secure the plates. Then you can angle the bar to have them slide off if you have the bar stuck on your chest.
Training should be easy and fun. Start going to the gym and maybe only do just a couple of those excerises you mention. And week by week you add another excersize into your regimen. Noone in the gym will stare at you for the entire session and judge your "plan". Just try some stuff out and build on that :) PPL is a popular easy general plan if you need something to follow.
In the beginning its all about getting your body used to working out, and 30 minutes is more than enough (unless youre hungry for more of course).
Honestly, just start with these. I hate the program because the weight progression and amount of squatting is somewhat absurd, but a few weeks of Stronglifts 5x5 is ok for this (skip/replace the pendelay row if it feels weird imo).
Once you feel comfortable with those lifts I highly recommend GZCLP, and much later Jacked n Tan 2.0. Don't judge by the terrible names, they are really good programs, just the dude who created them is a lifting forum frequenting, crayon eating Marine (so cut him some slack on marketing/branding).
GZCLP has full programs on reddit/the interwebs that cover all the big lifts, and then include some (but not many) accessory lifts that won't overwhelm you... Although the program itself may take a few full read throughs to fully grasp.
I like these two programs because they cover both strength and hypertrophy, but also include various exercises that aren't just 4 lifts at 5x5 ad infinitum. You aren't always doing massively intense sets of 2-3 reps, but also aren't pumping away at 10 kg curls 30x. It may seem overwhelming but after months on the same program a small amount of variety is nice. At the same time too much variety is chaos. GZCLP and JnT2.0 hit the sweet spot.
Just do it the comfort level will come. Anyone worth giving the time of day to recognizes someone learning the ropes. People love seeing new people joining in and I personally find it fun watching their growth. You pay for the gym and are entitled to just as much time on the equipment as anyone else. If someone asks to work in just give them a thumbs up and trade off sets. Depending on the gym some machines, platforms, racks are in more demand but it's first come first served.
Something that really helped me at first was joining small group classes. If you have the budget and the options near you to try it, even for a month or two, it could really help provide a baseline. It's easy to have that conversation with the instructor before class starts and you definitely won't be the only one there asking beginner questions.
Unfortunately the only gym I have access to is the soulless globo-gym kind. There was a sales person who wanted to do an introduction workout, but he tried to use some manipulative one liners that really turned me off going to him for help of any kind.
I appreciate the advice though; yourself and others have really helped with some of the anxiety. I appreciate your response :)
Alan Thrall, Brian Alsruhe, and Eugene Teo on YT are all decent. From what I have seen of most "affordable" PTs....(I am gonna trigger someone)...they are mostly scammers. All the good info like "how to do x lift" and programming is available online for free.
The main reason I see to pay for a PT is if you don't have the self-motivation at first (so the expense/PT provides it for you), or you just need some basic guidance on lifts (but check YT first so you can tell if the PT knows their shit).
If the PT has some top secret program for you that they can't describe in full with a week by week plan, they are probably stringing you along.
Seconded Alan Thrall and Brian Alsruhe. I'm unfamiliar with Eugene Teo.
But I cannot recommend "Calgary Barbell" (Bryce Krawczyk) enough. At first glance you might see a tatted up metal head gym bro. But his content is absolutely top-notch. Through the weird circumstances of Covid I ended up getting to know him a bit personally and I cannot give a stronger recommendation for his character and expertise. Full disclosure he did provide me with free individualized training for a period of time and a hefty discount on his paid programming app. But I pay full price because friends don't let friends give friends discounts.
Hadn't heard of him before, seems good. Kinda wonder where he buys his jeans though xD.
I have nothing but encouragement! I was intimidated too, I always felt very insecure of my poor health and reaction times growing up. I wasn't "athletic." But once I got into the groove of it, I found that lifting is probably the "easiest" of all workouts for me, in that:
The only things you need to do are
There are days where I go and do the minimum, days where I do the minimum of the minimum, and days where I work out like I'm going into the fight of my life. It's grounding.
I really appreciate you putting it that way.
It really is just showing up and giving it as much as you need to.
After having gone to the gym proper, I realized that the thing I need to practice is staring vaguely into the middle distance. I have a bad habit of people watching.
I’ve found those applications that generate workouts for you to be insanely useful. They have all the tips and form videos, and some of them even take into account your current ability to generate weight and exercise recommendations.
Personally I would strongly recommend paying for a personal trainer before you do any deadlifts or squats. It’s too easy to injure your back without getting your form corrected. You can stop paying for a trainer after you get it figured out.
Hello my favorite weekly survey! And in turn, my fitness pals of tildes (sorry, we're pals. I don't make the rules). This week has been decent. I finished week 5 of my c25k program just this morning and ran a continuous twenty minutes! It felt great but also my heart rate was a lot higher for more of a duration than I wanted so I'll need to work on that. Got a 13min mile which I'm super stoked about! I had to postpone my Monday run because I ran out of my inhaler. It was a whole thing to get the new one, but I can't run without taking it first. I tried once and it was terrible lol.
My swimming has been great. Did a mile in about a half hour. I'll be looking to both do it quicker and then swim more. I was able to do it in two sets of about 16 laps each. An actual mile is about 35 laps in a 25yd pool. The pool, however, will be closed next week for cleaning and maintenance. I. Am. Devestated.
I still love spit squats. That's it lol. But diet wise I think I've been doing a bit better and watching quantity and quality this past week so I'm hoping to keep to that!
That 20 min run in c25k is a real benchmark run, I think - once you can do that you know the rest is entirely possible! Well done!!
Thank you!! It really is a benchmark. I'm very proud of myself for making it this far and keeping at it.
You should be! It’s a real achievement, well done you :)
Love the update and progress! Keep it up, I've been biking but getting back into running has been a challenge. How many days a week do you run? When is the race?
Thank you!! I run 2 days a week. I run Mondays and Thursdays, swim Wednesday, and cycle either Tuesdays or Fridays (either indoor or outdoor). I had been running 3 days a week but it was too hard on my knees so I make sure I have recovery time and it's been so much better. I'm looking into races for October! Haven't picked one yet, waiting until I actually run a 5k during training.
This week I finally got my 5k under 30 minutes! My 10K race is in 3 weeks and my ideal is to do it under an hour - I’m not sure this is going to be possible unless race day adrenaline gives me a serious boost, but I should come close!
I’ve been doing Caroline Girvans Epic I YouTube workouts and I feel so much stronger already. Looking forward to the day I can make it all the way through her videos without extra breaks.
That's awesome! The 30-minute 5k is a big deal and 10k under an hour is tough but it's a great goal! I was in pretty much the exact same place as you like 3-4 months ago and you can see how far I'm running now (just try not to give yourself tendonitis like I did)!
My 5k PR now is under 25 minutes and I highly doubt I could have done 30 minutes in April, so keep it up and I'm sure you'll hit that 10k goal and more!
Thanks for the encouragement! I’m totally confident I can get my 10K under an hour at some point, not so sure about the race in 3 weeks but I’ll be proud of myself either way for the training I’ve put in to get there :)
25 minute 5k is my next goal!
3 weeks isn't a long time, but as someone who could barely imagine running a 10k a few months ago and who is now on the verge of running a marathon, I think I can confidently say that you've got it! I'm not doing anything too special, just following the Nike Run Club training plan, so I know that if I can do it, you can too!
I’ve got up to 8.5ks so far so I’m confident about finishing. We’ll see what race day brings for speed! Thanks :)
Awesome! Just keep chugging along!
A little update to this: I hit my goal of a 10K under an hour today! 59:36!
That's amazing!! Congrats!
Thank you!! This’ll be you in a few more months :)
Congrats, that's a great feat! Was there a clock that you could see when running or did you not know until afterwards? I always debate if I do better when I know vs not knowing my time
Thank you! I have a running watch that has current and average pace, so I knew I was on track all the way around. I was really clock-watching the last 2ks though - mentally that kills me but I can’t help myself because I’m struggling so hard at that point!
It's been a great week.
How long did it take you to get to a 220kg deadlift?
I'd say about 5.5 years. With a recently ended 2.5 year hiatus in there. It took about 3 years to go from 120-200. Gained weight while away from the gym but I have a set up in my basement so I'd have fits and starts at training throughout that period. Which was helpful for maintaining some level strength.
As a reference many of the people who were around my strength level and continued training through that period, they are pulling ~270kg.
I was officially diagnosed with Achilles tendonitis this week (I already knew I had it) and the doctor said no running for a month but I have a marathon coming up in a few weeks and my Achilles hasn't been hurting at all when I run so I'm going to just cautiously ignore what he said. This weekend is my longest run in the lead-up to the marathon so it's pretty important that I don't miss this run if I don't want to totally die when I run the actual race.
I've never really been interested in running a marathon in the past but I get days off of work for doing this so it's totally worth it. After I finish the marathon, I'm looking forward to doing more running of my own choosing--trail running and training for one specific 5k race because I really want to win one of their unique awards next year.
I never ran any significant amount since high school football ended...15 years ago, so it's weird to suddenly run a lot, especially knowing that I don't run much compared to the actual fast runners.
Wow! I’m so in awe of people who tackle a marathon. It’s an impressive physical feat of course but an even more impressive mental one! Hope that Achilles tendon doesn’t flare up for you 🤞🏼 good luck!
Well don't be too impressed yet ;) 26 miles still scares me a bit! But in the future I would like to get into ultra marathons. I have a literal long way to go before I can try racing one of those but I would like to prove to myself that I can do it. I did actually do 38 miles during a 12-hour charity event...but that's how I got tendonitis!
Thanks for the well wishes!
I’m as impressed by the training as I will be when you’re done! Ultras are a whole different beast. I’ll be looking out for you in these threads to see how you’re getting on!
Don’t mess with the Achilles! I ruptured mine in April . Surgery recovery was intensely painful. The mandatory bed rest was mentally taxing, and my physical therapy has been extremely slow going.
Thankfully I have access to a lap pool for cardio, and I’m able to walk, and do upper body strengthening.
A word of warning- I also didn’t have any pain before it snapped. I felt like I was in the best shape of my life!
Well darn, I was going to say that I haven't had any pain since I made that comment, but I guess you made that moot. Now I'm scared to ever run again...
Just because it happened to me doesn’t mean it will happen to you. I would recommend following your doc’s advice though. Its going to be a few months before I can run properly again, and even more than that before I can return to the same rigorous level of activity I once enjoyed.
Just personal experience but I have insertional achilles tendonitis which, while less common in the overall population, is apparently more frequent with soccer players. Really look out for it and take your time with the rehabilitate it. I was given the wrong exercises by my first PT which set me back but honestly, I shouldn't have pushed it and kept playing on it so I'm at the point where I have constant pain but not enough to stop me from playing 2x a week, though with more pain/recovery that I think is necessary. I guess what I'm saying is I wish I took more time off as I think it would have saved me some pain now.
I haven't committed to a routine because I'm depressed and I lack the energy to do so.
Last year, after a disastrous breakup, I tried to go into bulking up, originally doing bro splits then doing a 6-day PPL routine. Two months later I quit because I was just mentally and physically burned out. Also, I have a suboptimal diet for bodybuilding but not a lot of control over it.
A few friends (one's my bestie, one's his bro, and the other is a friend we knew from secondary school) recently talked me into going to the gym with them but I haven't had time to go with them, either because their gym times directly clashed with my work, or because I had conflicting plans. I just feel it's pointless unless I can get control of my life.
Maybe I’m bringing this up too much on this site - but have you ever had magic mushrooms? They won’t necessarily fix everything in your head but they’re a great way to gain perspective and clear out junk in your mind. If you can find a trip-sitter (ideally a professional) then it’s hard for things to go wrong.
I haven't. On a somewhat related note, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that everyone should try acid at some point in their lives. Heard both good and bad things about it.
Well personally I do not like acid. It makes me anxious and self conscious. But I’ve never met someone that didn’t like shrooms.
Does anyone have any suggestions for online yoga, pilates, or similar videos? I'm in the market for something that's no nonsense, no spirituality/mysticism, and not some gym-rat barking orders at me. I just want to get stretchier and a bit less squishy in the middle. To quote my buddy Cairne, "My old bones ache. I pray this old body does not fail me."
Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube is pretty great! She doesn’t go into anything spiritual, she’s good about giving modifications for beginners, and she has lots of videos for specific concerns (eg yoga for back pain, yoga for tight hips, etc) as well as more general practices
Yeah, this is more or less what I was looking for, thanks! I'm not sure about grounding my side body energy into the earth or what-have-you, but I tried the 30 min beginner video and it's pretty good.
I’m no expert, but when yoga instructors talk about grounding the energy in x body part I think they’re just saying to pay attention to that part and make sure you’re actively pushing it into the ground. For example if youre in plank/push up position and they say to ground your arms or hands into the mat, theyre saying to focus on your arms and hands and actively push them into the mat. You can stack your shoulders over your wrists in a way that your muscles aren’t doing much, or you can make sure your elbows aren’t locked and every part of your arm and hand is working to keep you there - this second one is what they mean by grounding (I think 😂 like I said, I’m not an expert but this is my impression)
Oh good to have that confirmed, thanks!
Yes, I do online yoga/pilates as a regular part of my fitness routine! I agree that Yoga with Adriene is a good starting point.
My overall favorite yoga instructor is Erin with Five Parks Yoga, and my favorite Ashtanga Yoga standing series is with instructor Michelle Merrifield. SarahBeth Yoga, Boho Beautiful (both pilates and yoga), and Move with Nicole (pilates) are also good. There's the obligatory Blogilates (Cassey Ho), who is a very popular pilates instructor. She has good classes and instruction, but some might find her endlessly sunshiney cheer a turn-off. GymRa is a channel that has lots of different types of workouts (yoga, pilates, strength, hiit) with multiple instructors, so I've had some really great videos from there and some that were more of a miss.
I hope this is helpful for finding exactly what you're looking for!!
I bought a trap bar to do deadlifts in a "better" posture, but recently my lower back pain came back.
I injured myself doing heavy deadlifts 5 years ago. The pain is above the left side of my butt. I think is the SI joint.
The next day after deadlifting I can't stay seated for more than 10 minutes without having pain. Not sharp pain, but awful soreness and tiredness.
It was not an issue after it went away in the past, but it came back recently. Like a month or two ago.
I guess I'll have to dial back and focus on bird dogs and glute bridges/hip thrusts all over again.
I fear this will haunt me when I'm old (I'm 37 now).
I would strongly suggest seeing a good Physio if you aren’t already. I have SI pain for different reasons, but my Physio has helped me strengthen the surrounding small muscles that I would never have known were weak.
Do you think a regular physio is good enough or should I look for a sports oriented one?
Regular should be fine. Try and get a personal recommendation though, or at least look at lots of reviews - I’ve seen some wonderful physios and some terrible ones!
See a physio. But in the mean time you might be suffering from tight hamstrings. This happens when I am away from squats/deadlifts. Extremely bad lower back pump and in some cases difficulty sitting for extended periods. I spend about 5 minutes doing pigeon pose stretches and your basic hamstring stretch (sitting with one leg stretched forward, lean forward and touch your toes on the straight leg with back straight), then some very light goblet squats with the focus on getting as deep as possible.
I really enjoy setting lofty goals. As an example my goal for august was to run every single day (even if just a slow jog around the block) and do one other workout every day (even if just stretching and foam rolling).
The absolutely crucial thing though, is flexibility. I didn’t hit my goal because my Physio advised me to take 2 days off from running when my back was starting to hurt. I knew she was right - carrying on could have put me out of action for weeks.
But do I feel like I failed?? Not at all! I’ve done more running and more workouts than I would have otherwise, and I protected my body. That’s a win-win in my book.
I would encourage you not to feel disappointed in not hitting your goal this week, but recognise that missing a workout for a legitimate safety reason is still a win :)
Late to this one but hoping to get some feedback. I'm at the point (really age) in my life where things like getting a sub 30 min Murph, passing the 1000 lb club, or running a sub-6 minute mile no longer interest me, I'm just looking to stay healthy and drop weight/muscle mass to make it easier on my body.
Does anyone have a workout program they really enjoy or have found to be effective? I know weight wise I need to be better about my diet but I'm trying to find a good program/regime to allow me to hit some decent but overall unimpressive numbers. I'm thinking 5k around 24 min, 5RM on bench/deadlift/squat in the low 800s, and additional accessory exercises to reduce the chance for injury.
I stay active by playing soccer 2x a week and going to the gym 2-3x a week but I've sustained some wear and tear (particularly in the knees/achilles) over the last few decades so anything that's somewhat mindful of that is great but honestly, any suggestions would help.
little late but does anyone have the old c25k running program, but in just text format?
Many years ago I used the app developed by the c25k.com guy, but they've since sold and the app is now bloated with permissions it has no need for and no business asking for -- I just want the spreadsheet of days - run time - walk time.
Any idea where I can find such a thing or recommend an app that's simply a set of timers?
I don’t know about c25k since there looks like there’s a million of them now, but the none-to-run plan is a little more forgiving for beginners. I liked it when I did it:
https://nonetorun.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/None+to+Run+Plan+(July+2019).pdf
Thank you ! That's way way way more helpful than an app :)