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Squats can boost brain activity [video]

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Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#81

Post by rpmisms »

justrudd wrote: post #72
rpmisms wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to do the powerlifting exercises on a powerlifting program, and then do arms and back on a bobdybuilding program. Keeps it interesting.

I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but for others - check out powerbuilding. It is the combination of power lifting and body building. https://www.nifs.org/blog/powerbuilding-the-middle-ground-be...

This is approximately what I do. I don't like eating a ton, so I try to strike a balance between aesthetics and deadlifting a lot.

Edit: for a balanced approach, the Youtuber Jujimufu is a great watch. He's a bodybuilder who also does acrobatics and competes in powerlifting, and will often spring a backflip after a really impressive lift (https://youtu.be/_ydPYzYCpgU). Truly impressive.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#82

Post by Pungsnigel »

justrudd wrote: post #69
robomartin wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mentioned Rippetoe (Starting Strength). Did you leave it because you found flaws/issues with the program or you simply chose to switch to yoga. I am about to start lifting again after being away for a couple of years. Back then I was training at a Starting Strength certified gym. I also did a seminar with Mark. For me this was an eye opener. Up until I was introduced to his book I failed at anything having to do…

I’ll give you my 2 cents about Starting Strength. And please remember this is a sample size of n = 1. Other people (including yourself) will obviously have very different outcomes. TL;DR - starting strength got me to the strongest I’ve ever been. It got me stronger than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m 45 now and started when I was 32. I went from 180ish pounds to 230ish pounds in 19 months. I went from squatting the b…

The point of starting strength is also to do it until your beginner goals are done. At that point you are strong. What you do from there is up to you, and I doubt Rippetoe would care. If you add cardio and focus less on strength at that point, that's not a problem. The point he's always hammering in is to "get strong first". Strength lasts. But it does take time to build up.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#83

Post by bamboozled »

mmaunder wrote: post #6

Funny how people become obsessed with specific movements, specific exercise styles, etc. I’ve done it all including becoming obsessed with Mark Rippetoe and the derivatives, cardio like running and mountain biking, swimming 2km a day (80 lengths) etc. The one thing that has absolutely transformed my life is yoga. No more back pain, insane strength I never had, no more injuries from eg lifting a 100 lbs propane tank a…

Funny because I did yoga for years and I've never felt better since doing olympic weight lifting and other forms of strength training.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#85

Post by jokethrowaway »

mmaunder wrote: post #6

Funny how people become obsessed with specific movements, specific exercise styles, etc. I’ve done it all including becoming obsessed with Mark Rippetoe and the derivatives, cardio like running and mountain biking, swimming 2km a day (80 lengths) etc. The one thing that has absolutely transformed my life is yoga. No more back pain, insane strength I never had, no more injuries from eg lifting a 100 lbs propane tank a…

I started with beachbody as a teenager (a mix of weights, calisthenics, yoga) and it was fun and dandy. Soon enough I found myself progressing to gymnastic and yoga. I never really experienced particular benefits of yoga, even after years of doing it, but that's probably because I was never completely untrained as a teenager.

It's basically mostly flexibility focused gymnastic with extra lore. Pilates is similar.

Personally I just didn't get strong with yoga, albeit retaining some decent strength and I eventually transitioned to just gymnastic (focusing on rings in particular). I got pretty strong in terms of techniques I could do, but not in terms of amount of weight I could move. Then I got injured, spent 10 years doing random sport activity (circus training, climbing, weight lifting) and staying relatively weak.

The only way I got stronger was when 3 factors aligned: - Progressive overload - Sleep - Not being stressed / depressed - Caloric surplus with high protein intake

After I peaked at linear progression in terms of strength, periodization became a good way to squeeze some more strength and I'm still there (probably for life).

Starting strength was admittedly the first that worked for me in order to get stronger, but I failed it a good 3 times before over 10 years (mainly because of diet / sleep / stress). In my experience it's hard to get progressive overload without weights or without a good calisthenics coach. Sleep and diet are also incredibly hard to get right because the rest of your life gets in the way.

Claiming that yoga alone will make you strong depends on your definition of strength. If you have back pain (probably because of muscular weakness), probably any kind of full body exercise will fix that.

Also, is someone doing handstand pushups at 70kg stronger or weaker than someone over head pressing 70kg at 90kg? That's a very personal choice. I'd say weight lifting is great to increase strength in specific movements, calisthenics is great for moving all around. Different kind of freedoms and equally important.

I would recommend this kind of programming for someone looking to get stronger and then adapting it to whatever exercising style you like: https://youtu.be/1CM7wI3k7KI

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#86

Post by bob1029 »

Squats are fantastic. They force your brain to recruit a tremendous number of muscle fibers and coordinate them simultaneously. The impact this has on how your brain/body works is really cool.

If you want to take it to the next level, look into the [power] clean (and press) or the snatch. These take the power profile of a squat, and add explosive speed to the mix. If you think simply engaging all your muscles is good, wait til you add in the speed component and/or the upper body... Definitely higher-risk exercises, but you get what you pay for in my experience. Just think about the kinematics of moving a barbell from the ground to as high as you can possibly hold it within 1~2 seconds. These are the most incredible exertions your body can possibly make. Some athletes can put out in excess of 4kW of power [1] when performing these movements. Imagine the adaptations the human brain would have to make in order to properly manage this amount of power.

  [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7392903/

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#88

Post by overlordalex »

londgine wrote: post #13
mmaunder wrote: post #6

Funny how people become obsessed with specific movements, specific exercise styles, etc. I’ve done it all including becoming obsessed with Mark Rippetoe and the derivatives, cardio like running and mountain biking, swimming 2km a day (80 lengths) etc. The one thing that has absolutely transformed my life is yoga. No more back pain, insane strength I never had, no more injuries from eg lifting a 100 lbs propane tank a…

there are 2 types of yoga that I found. one focusing on strength and flexibility, like you talked about. and one that feels like meditation, with a pagan ritual to the sun. when looking for a yoga program, how can I specify the former?

To throw my suggestion in there, the FitOn app[1,2] is free and separates exercises into categories and intensities, and you can even sort by time if want.

The instructors are pretty good, and if you just want to try out Yoga for a week or two and see how difficult it can really be I can recommend it.

I normally do 15 minutes over lunch, and I can recommend the "Flamingo Flow" for balance, and "yoga core" for core strength

[1] Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiton.andr... [2] iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fiton-workouts-fitness-plans/i...

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#89

Post by rocknor »

pcmoney wrote: post #61
shortsightedsid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately type 1 is a classic case of cultural appropriation. Yoga is fundamentally a spiritual exercise that aims to strengthen not just the body. Therefore, practices like Surya Namaskara are not just a series of exercises for strength and flexibility but also a must for spiritual improvement.

Taking the parts you like from something and leaving the parts you do not is not cultural appropriation. Any culture can redefine anything they want from other cultures. Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not.

> Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not.

That is false. Please don't spread this myth. The homophobia is mostly a social hangover from colonial times. Steps are being taken to change that, and it should go away with time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India

https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian...

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-...

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#90

Post by HatchedLake721 »

paulcole wrote: post #55

Let’s all just blindly comment with our own personal favorite workouts like we do in every discussion of exercise on HN.

Dumbbell chest press. I used to hate it, I barely could do it. After doing it a few weeks with a PT it became my favorite exercise.
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