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Squats can boost brain activity [video]

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Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#121

Post by vkk8 »

deviation wrote: post #24
colechristensen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I think yoga does particularly better than many other activities is target really broad sets of muscles. I don’t do it much but after a few initial classes it was so strange for muscles i didn’t know existed to be sore.

Stabilisers! People take them for granted. Typical strength training is usually lack-lustre in building these. This benefit is not unique to yoga, though.

Depends on how you do it, I guess. Squatting low weights or just body weight indeed doesn't involve stabilisers very much. But try squatting 2x your bodyweight on the bar and you find that it takes everything you've got to keep the body stable.

(Note: don't actually try to squat 2x your bodyweight unless you have some years of experience in squatting and know what you are doing)

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#122

Post by vkk8 »

jimt1234 wrote: post #67

Funny, back in my powerlifting days, I used to get asked a lot about "plateauing". My advice was almost always the same: do squats. The conversation usually went like this: - I'm benching all the time, but I can't get past 275. - How often do you squat? - Huh? I'm talking about bench press!

What if you plateau on squats?

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#123

Post by ryanianian »

thujlife wrote: post #113
emptyfile wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I find yoga and most stretching to be a waste of time. You can do mobility work with strength exercises. Nothing transformed my life more then serious strength training. Everything from sitting behind a desk to running uphill is a hundred times easier. I'm sure you can achieve the same strength with yoga, but it seems to me its very inefficient. You can do strength training 2-3 times a week for an hour and it j…

Counterpoint. Yoga, and body weight training may as well have done nothing compared to how amphetamine has helped me.

Amphetamine being adderall (or similar adhd medications)?

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#124

Post by poorjohnmacafee »

ses1984 wrote: post #22
vmh1928 wrote: post #18

My theory is that anaerobic exercise, like squats, uses up ATP in the muscles. To replenish the ATP, muscle cells pull glucose from the bloodstream thus lowering your blood sugar level which leaves you feeling relaxed. If done prior to sleeping it can help you sleep through the night rather than wake up at 2am. There may be other benefits as well. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

I think at least one study has shown that strenuous exercise before sleep is not good for your sleep.

Anything that raises your body temperature is not good before sleep.

Your body temperature has to actually drop a bit lower from normal before all your regular sleep cycles can kick in.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#125

Post by chronogram »

mmaunder wrote: post #51
deviation wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting- The benefits you mention are primarily physiological. I would argue that if building strength, clarity, and focus is someone's main goal then this could be just as easily achieved by regular routine exercise like a calisthenics or bodyweight program with a healthy diet to boot. At least this way you can realise the benefits much quicker than a year or two. I can't speak to the rewarding 'zen' nature of Y…

Oof. Watch out for anything with 'zen' in it. There's a lot of bull around yoga classes and yoga people. If you just do yoga, breathe and focus on the breath, you are meditating. Simple as that. The rest is just branding and bullshit, to be avoided. As someone who used to lift and absolutely loved it, I wanted to try to explain the difference between lifting and yoga. Lifting is awesome and I used to absolutely love…

How come you don't do both yoga and strength training, just like other people do both sports and strength training? Is it not possible to get a bar and a rack to the island?

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#126

Post by XIVMagnus »

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…

Sounds like you fixed your hip flexors, because thats been my issue lately. Besides having some back problems from sports + lifting, getting strength back in my hip flexors has been relieving my backpain the most. I kinda did the same thing with Mark Rippetoe's starting strength / guides on lifts. Which led me into powerlifting for maybe 1 year. Honestly its all great but I ultimately agree that yoga should be a fundamental for people. I've done MMA for years and moved into pure BJJ now, doing yoga and sports is a very underestimated benefit.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#127

Post by Retric »

atom-morgan wrote: post #106
bamboozled wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have really different outcomes though. There's absolutely no way you can stress the nervous system and build muscle and bone density as efficiently as with lifting weights. Calisthenics, which is what Yoga is, body weight exercises, can never achieve the same results. You can come close in a lot of ways, one legged squats etc, but ultimately, you cannot work your back and your core as effectively as with a 1.5x…

Unless we're talking about the calisthenics we did in school gym class, circles with your arms, you can get pretty big and shredded with it. Calisthenics is basically gymnastics and gymnasts are much bigger than yogis. Note on bias: I do calisthenics...and weightlifting ( https://www.instagram.com/p/CScdKCjr_0c/ )

Serious Gymnasts also lift weights at specific points in their overall training. It’s faster and helps avoid bad habits to have the strength to do specific moves before attempting them. This is especially true after injury.

However spending hours a day doing gymnastics is plenty to maintain that level of physical strength and even slowly improve.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#128

Post by throw1234651234 »

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 am a professional weight lifter. I gave up all my specific training to do yoga. 5 minutes of warrior 3 and a couple of reps of rocking off of knees in crane pose, and I am able to compete at a 615 deadlift for 10 without all the CNS fatigue of actually training for it.

I also stopped running - the benefits of Yoga are sine parallela. It's truly an ancient art. No wonder Alexander never conquered them and Oppenheimer read the Bagavad Gita.

*this post is a work of fiction. However, this is the level of magic the parent is ascribing to something that's not a bad general mobility routine. Taking a nap at the end of the session is nice too. Namaste.

Re: Squats can boost brain activity [video]

#129

Post by XIVMagnus »

thujlife wrote: post #113
emptyfile wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I find yoga and most stretching to be a waste of time. You can do mobility work with strength exercises. Nothing transformed my life more then serious strength training. Everything from sitting behind a desk to running uphill is a hundred times easier. I'm sure you can achieve the same strength with yoga, but it seems to me its very inefficient. You can do strength training 2-3 times a week for an hour and it j…

Counterpoint. Yoga, and body weight training may as well have done nothing compared to how amphetamine has helped me.

in terms of "increasing brain function", I 100% agree with that amphetamine.. lol
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