51–60 of 127 posts
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If you are serious about it, there's a book by Mark Rippetoe called Starting Strength that explains this in more detail.
That's the program I follow as well, and the article conveniently refers to it. I knew most everything in the article, but I thought it would be an excellent piece to show any of my gym "fuckaround-itis" friends.
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I actually have a lot of trouble running outside. You see, I can't pace myself for sh*t, so I always wind up running at like a 6-minute-mile pace no matter what shape I'm in or how far I'm going. I've discovered treadmills are useful in that regard.
Pacing can be difficult. On a hard workout, I find I can go out way too fast. I wear a Garmin watch that lets me monitor my pace and adjust it. Some of the people I run with are really good at setting a pace, so I'll follow them. Getting a feel for setting the pace just takes some practice.
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Congrats! That's some pretty big gains The hour workout touches on some studies that I have read that going over an hour often doesn't get you much with respect to strength training. Another good book is "The New Rules of Lifting."
I love deadlifting, if I wasn't in the offseason training for a sport I might be able to get up into your realm :) There's something so basic and satisfying about picking up something really heavy. It seems (from my reading) that once you reach weights like yours, progression gets much harder. There's lots of tricky assistance work you need to figure out, you need to eat like a friggin animal, and you need to work ju…
And yeah, progression slows and waivers depending on current bodyweight, current emotional state, time of day, etc... It can take months to add another 5lbs onto the bar.
I usually just throw on my workout clothes and take a pre-workout product, then I'm ready to work out. I don't know if pre-workout drinks work all that well but they certainly add a placebo effect that makes me feel ready to workout...caffeine can help too.
This is silly, is it really that hard to go to the gym? I mean, you just go the first time. Then when it is "tomorrow". You just go again. Then the next day ... again. It's not that difficult a concept, the only thing you must take care of is that you don't break the cycle. When I was still going to a gym I was there two hours every evening, at the same time, no matter what. When I suddenly couldn't afford it anymore…
two hours every evening Bodybuilders don't work out that much, you know.
Just getting strong or fit can be done in much less time, though it may leave you without the beach muscles, if that's what you're after.
So let's say you join a gym, but don't know very much about working out. You walk into a room with hundreds of machines, and are expected to know how to structure a work-out, how each machine works, be familiar with all the muscle groups and exercises, and also really care about planning out and recording every exercise you do to track your progress on the gyms website. It's the biggest turn-off.
Why can't a gym hold your hand and treat you like somebody who wants to start working out but doesn't know anything yet? "Express tracks" are a good start, where 10 machines are set up in a row, and if you do 3 sets on each one, you have a good work-out session. That's easy to understand and do. And maybe later, once people have created their habits, they are more likely to learn the finer details. But expecting every new member to care about putting a ton of effort into learning everything about working out is a killer.
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I love deadlifting, if I wasn't in the offseason training for a sport I might be able to get up into your realm :) There's something so basic and satisfying about picking up something really heavy. It seems (from my reading) that once you reach weights like yours, progression gets much harder. There's lots of tricky assistance work you need to figure out, you need to eat like a friggin animal, and you need to work ju…
Thanks! Yeah, if I could keep my eating right I could probably get there. I am much stronger with my weight over 200lbs, but life has been so busy I'm down around a lean 185-190 right now. For me finding time for the gym has been the easy part. Figuring out how to eat enough through the day has always been the problem. And yeah, progression slows and waivers depending on current bodyweight, current emotional state, t…
It's much more useful for lifters than /r/fitness is. http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom
I think those theories are missing the main point. Going to the gym is not fun, because gyms have a crappy user experience. So let's say you join a gym, but don't know very much about working out. You walk into a room with hundreds of machines, and are expected to know how to structure a work-out, how each machine works, be familiar with all the muscle groups and exercises, and also really care about planning out and…
However, I can guess why it isn't common. What you suggest would be labor-intensive, and thus expensive. Some people don't want to pay for the hand-holding. So the gym would have to offer multiple plans: cheap do-it-yourself and expensive hand-holding. My guess is that this has been tried, and the number of customers for the high-end plan is not enough to justify offering it. Alas.
I think those theories are missing the main point. Going to the gym is not fun, because gyms have a crappy user experience. So let's say you join a gym, but don't know very much about working out. You walk into a room with hundreds of machines, and are expected to know how to structure a work-out, how each machine works, be familiar with all the muscle groups and exercises, and also really care about planning out and…
Also, all the machines have little informative placards on them explaining which muscles they work and how to use them. I think they're also laid out in a way such that by going from one end to the other they'll give you a fairly decent all-over workout.
If you haven't heard me say it enough, note that bit about "Given the choice between buying X units one at a time or 2X units all at once for a modest discount, people will often buy 2X units and fail to use them all." That is very important to keep in mind when designing e.g. the packaging options of a SaaS business.
Combining this principle with a time-limited offer can be staggeringly effective, I imagine by enhancing the sense of impending loss. I've seen orders-of-magnitude difference in revenue from such "new customer only" discounts.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a bath in acetone to sluice off the shame.