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The Zen of Weight Lifting

nytimes.com

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Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#41

Post by staccatomeasure »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

Many squat racks and benches come with safety features to prevent that kind of failure. Don’t let that fear stop you from getting a home gym. To avoid really bad situations just always have a safe solution to “what if I can’t finish this rep“. Separately, you’ll get regular injured at some point doing something totally safe. But that just comes with the territory.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#42

Post by zwarag »

strict9 wrote: post #29

An under-reported benefit of weight lifting: near-total elimination of RSI, at least in my experience. At some point a few years ago I decided to join a gym for the first time. While I improved my posture and BMI a good bit, I might be happiest with the elimination of RSI in my wrists and hands. It started out as something annoying in my 20s, and got very painful in my late 30s. Gyroscopes, powerballs, and other reco…

That is interesting to hear. After I started climbing, my RSI was also eliminated within weeks. I found that quite unintuitive and thought that maybe I did not have "real" RSI but just the symptoms of overburdened tendons.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#43

Post by ramses0 »

m463 wrote: post #3

I would like to know how to start strength training at home - to counteract sitting at a computer (strengthen the core, etc) and to trade some fat for muscle, becoming lean. any recommendations? EDIT: thank you for the overwhelming response

I had a great experience taking BodyPump classes for ~1 year: https://www.lesmills.com/us/workouts/fitness-classes/bodypum...

Start with basically no weight (1kg x 2 + bar for anything with arms, 2kg x 2 + bar for anything legs). It's cardio + weights, and they cover all the major muscle groups, and you're doing fairly rapid repetitions of a bunch of different lifts.

After 3-6 months doing _that_ class, I would then start supplementing that with occasionally (once every few weeks) doing a smattering of the lifts, but "heavy" and only a few reps out on the gym floor.

It's a great way to expose you to the lifts in a group setting, the instructors (in my experience) are always up for a quick chit-chat afterwards about form + safety, and once you've mastered the movements, it's pretty low equipment to set up a station at home and follow along with videos.

...but... it's super helpful to have a professional who can monitor your posture + movements and guide you to good habits when you're starting out.

I was typical nerd in high school, and now I can rattle of all the different curls, chest presses, flys, squats, deadlifts, clean and press, lunges, planks, crunches, blah blah blah, and I've enough confidence in my form and not hurting myself to pick up a bar + some weights and do it at home. It's a really nice skill to have and it's something I really miss... I'll have to make time and pick it back up!

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#44

Post by cspada »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

Dumbbells are a great alternative. You can still get injured, but you can also push yourself knowing that you can drop the weight and not risk it crushing you.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#45

Post by serjester »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

Have you tried pre-workout? Personally this makes going to the gym a blast when I'd otherwise be going through the motions. Just make sure you find something that's ranked well on LabDoor since admittedly the industry can be shady.

Lifting with someone else can also go a long ways in making it more enjoyable although this can often be difficult. A personal trainer can be a great substitute if you have the disposable income.

Lastly quantifying your lifts is great. This is coming from someone that ran cross country in high school but now mostly sticks to the gym and Jiu Jutsu. I have the opposite problem :)

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#46

Post by brandonmenc »

m463 wrote: post #3

I would like to know how to start strength training at home - to counteract sitting at a computer (strengthen the core, etc) and to trade some fat for muscle, becoming lean. any recommendations? EDIT: thank you for the overwhelming response

Renaissance Periodization gym free template:

https://renaissanceperiodization.com/rp-gym-free

The company is staffed nearly entirely by PhD researchers who also compete in sport:

https://renaissanceperiodization.com/team

It is imo the best source of cutting-edge science-based exercise and nutrition info, and while they work with elite athletes, they also produce a lot of guidance specifically for everyday people who want to casually get in shape with the minimal amount of effort.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#47

Post by protonimitate »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

Most at home racks have "safety bars" that you can adjust to act as a safeguard from dropping weights.

The most dangerous for dropping weight imo are bench and squat, and both are easily mitigated with the bars adjust to the correct height.

Ex: https://www.garage-gyms.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/squat...

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#48

Post by envp »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

I think you're overthinking. I had the same fear when I first started going to the gym.

So far my experience has been really positive, I find it hard to put myself in such situations as long as:

1. Always start with low weight and try to check if you're "feeling" the right part of your body, sort of like a form + mind-muscle connection check

2. If you plan exceed a previous maximum, try to

2.1. Do that with someone around you, or

2.2. Do it in really small increments

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#49

Post by strict9 »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

I don't think you should worry about it. Start small and incrementally work your way up. You shouldn't start with a load heavy enough to prevent getting out of.

A quality adjustable fitness bench with a bunch of free weights can go a long way. Though important to note you can still injure yourself with free weights (muscle injury with long heal time).

The key is to start small and work your way up in reps/resistance over time. Your body will tell you what you can do.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#50

Post by cspada »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

My tip, which helped me become consistent and motivated at the gym, is to make it part of your morning ritual. I am a morning person, so I find that making it a non-negotiable part of my morning forces me into the habit and also forces me to consistently eat a solid breakfast. At first I felt that I needed to force myself to go, but at this point I am so deep in the habit that I look forward to it each morning.
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