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Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

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Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#251

Post by debacle »

raverbashing wrote: post #203
mgkimsal wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really only devoted 5 hours per week?

What's the surprise? Most people would be surprised at "how little" bodybuilders work out. Sure, they work out much more compared to the average person, but less than let's say your olympic swimmer, volleyball player, etc It's still a "full time job" but training is not a lot of time compared to other activities (mainly eating)

bodybuilders spend a lot more time on their workout routine than power lifters.

A power lifter might spend 3-5 hours a week, but a bodybuilder likely spends up to ten or more.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#252

Post by BlackJack »

AutoKorrect wrote: post #241
BlackJack wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but caliper readings are pretty inaccurate. Losing 20 pounds in 6 months is solid and believable, but it's hard to believe that you put on 20 lbs of muscle in 6 months. Generally accepted advice is that you can gain about 0.5 lb muscle/week, so I could see you putting on 12-15 lbs tops. It's also very difficult to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, especially if you're not a teenager anymore. Still…

generally accepted advice isn't always right: I put on 17lbs of muscle in three months (Parris Island, SC). I was underweight at the time, and a teenager.

I did mention in my post that it doesn't apply to teenagers, although I should've been more explicit at that. Growing children can generally make tremendous progress, as can untrained novices.

Your post doesn't really refute my point anyways, because it's very hard to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time for adults. You're talking about one direction i.e. gaining muscle.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#253

Post by malbs »

frooxie wrote: post #211
malbs wrote: post #51

This is one of the best fitness articles I've read. Of course, that's me suffering from confirmation bias, because in 3 years of being on a health kick, I came to the same conclusions after talking to various people with a similar interest. My progression went:- Cycling -> Running -> Machines -> Body Weight Exercises -> Discovering Rippetoe/SS -> Barbell (Power Rack) The barbell is the king, and the great thing is in…

I've never tried a barbell, partly because people seem to have someone helping out when they use it. Would you recommend using one alone, or should I stick to dumbbells to avoid possible injuries?

I would recommend using one alone, because I do it all the time. Survivor bias! ;)

With SS/Stronglifts/Whatever, you begin with an empty bar, (or no bar if you can't squat at all), so the weight doesn't start out being something you need any genuine assistance with. With the power rack you have the safety pins. You adjust the safety pins to be at a point where if you are in the bottom of the squat, and you can't return to standing position, you just drop the bar off your back onto the pins (or lower it onto the pins)

With the bench press it's the same thing - you set the pins so they're below your lowest point in the bench press (bar touching sternum), but slightly above your neck level (I'm lucky in terms of bench / safety pin positioning, it's perfect for me) - when I fail a bench press, or can't push it off, I just let it hit the pins and slide out from underneath the bar.

Youtube example of what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCOo3RtKu1E#t=59s

If you don't have access to a power rack with safety pins I would not recommend doing the bench press without a spotter unless you back the weight off to something you will always confidently re-rack safely.

However a spotter with the squat is a recipe for ruin, best to just rely on the pins. Supposedly designed to handle 200kg+ dropped on them from 4+ft. Hopefully your gym hasn't bought a cheap shitty rack!

The thing I've come close to injuring myself the most with is the press. I was arching my back too much and putting a lot of pressure on my lower back - trick is to keep stomach tight when doing the press. Something I wasn't doing.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#254

Post by Bostwick »

psycr wrote: post #159
mattdeboard wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a crossfitter for about 2 years at the South Bay Crossfit gym (Jason Khalipa's). My big takeaway from that was that olympic lifting is much more fun and rewarding than CF for me. (Note to HN pedants: for me .) The only problem is that it's hard to find a big box with a barbell, let alone two or three. This article has fired me up again.

Huh, that's interesting. I go to a CrossFit affiliate that actually focusses pretty intently on olympic lifts. Each one hour session includes 20 minutes of practicing a specific lift. The two - olympic lifting and CrossFit - have become so intertwined in my mind that it's difficult to imagine one without the other.

I've been doing Crossfit for about five years, at multiple facilities. The really good CF facilities, including Crossfit Southie in Boston where I currently go, place a huge emphasis on powerlifting and olympic movements. Take a look at the Crossfit Games workouts (http://games.crossfit.com/), and you'll see snatches and deadlifts everywhere.

The problem with Crossfit is that it is an affiliated brand. Every CF facility pays about $5,000 per year to use the Crossfit brand, but each facility is independently owned and operated, and so the programming at each facility is usually unique. There exist a number of questionable facilities, especially out in California where the concentration of gyms is much higher.

The Crossfit affiliates need to start doing some quality control. As I've watch the program expand over the past half-decade, I've been excited at how many people the gyms have helped, but dismayed at how the trainers at some facilities don't share the same love or ability for the basic lifts.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#255

Post by subwindow »

BlackJack wrote: post #236
subwindow wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's 40 pounds of muscle, give or take (at most) a couple of pounds of increased bone mass. I take weekly caliper-based readings of body fat percentage, which has fallen by over 10% in the last 6 months. Overall I've gained 20 pounds while losing 20 pounds of fat.

I'm sorry, but caliper readings are pretty inaccurate. Losing 20 pounds in 6 months is solid and believable, but it's hard to believe that you put on 20 lbs of muscle in 6 months. Generally accepted advice is that you can gain about 0.5 lb muscle/week, so I could see you putting on 12-15 lbs tops. It's also very difficult to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, especially if you're not a teenager anymore. Still…

Individual caliper readings have a pretty high margin of error- I've noticed up to 3% swings from week to week. But when the readings are done regularly and applied as a trend, it's pretty clear.

I've also changed my diet significantly- I eat way more protein and fat and almost no carbohydrates. I think that has as much to do with my fat loss as the exercise.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#256

Post by malbs »

jordinl wrote: post #180

Does anyone have any recommendations about dieting? I don't think that when it comes to strength eating paleo cuts it. Most of the powerlifters don't seem to care about being lean and only care about strength, so they eat a lot. I've got a lot stronger since I started training strength, but haven't got any leaner. Is there a way to have both or is it impossible?

Take a look at leangains.com .. The guy there suggests a form of intermittent fasting that works for him and others.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#257

Post by debacle »

jimbokun wrote: post #101

Anyone swim? My kids joined a swim team, so I decided to try it as a work out (already had a membership at a gym with a pool). I never swam as a workout before. I could barely do 500 meters when I started, switching up strokes (mostly free with my sad approximations of breast, fly, and back), having to stop and catch my breath often. Now I'm at 600, have to stop much less often, and see some upper body development. I…

Swimming is great, in many ways - great cardio, super low impact, endurance strength, high base metabolism, and puts you in line to have a good physique.

The biggest problem is that a standard swim is 2-3 hours, whereas I can complete all my lifts in 45 minutes.

I used to swim ~3 miles a day. That was before I had two kids, a house, etc.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#258

Post by debacle »

edwardunknown wrote: post #232

I would just add that machines aren't the devil; Depending on where you live the douchebag level may be intolerable in the free weights area which can be a huge demotivator, machines can help blunt that a little. And no matter what any one tells you squats are great but there is a 100% chance of injury with them, it's just a question of when. The leg press machine works just fine and can prevent chronic back and neck…

> squats are great but there is a 100% chance of injury with them

What?

Machines are terrible for you. They are to deadlifts what the treadmill is to a marathon.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#259

Post by dhimes »

tomasien wrote: post #11
dhimes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends what you are trying to do and your situation. Machines are safer , so if this is a concern for some reason (injury rehab, age, etc.), then machines in some cases can be better for lifting heavy weights.

There's nothing wrong with machines, except being less effective than free weights. They're still solid though, I got in the best shape of my life one time only on weights because I worked really really hard at it. But I accomplish 80% now with 40% of the time with free weights and compound exercises.

I do something similar. Two days/week: heavy weights, primarily machines (+cardio). Two days/week: free weights, compound+core exercises. Much lighter weights- still a grueling work out.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#260

Post by debacle »

frooxie wrote: post #211
malbs wrote: post #51

This is one of the best fitness articles I've read. Of course, that's me suffering from confirmation bias, because in 3 years of being on a health kick, I came to the same conclusions after talking to various people with a similar interest. My progression went:- Cycling -> Running -> Machines -> Body Weight Exercises -> Discovering Rippetoe/SS -> Barbell (Power Rack) The barbell is the king, and the great thing is in…

I've never tried a barbell, partly because people seem to have someone helping out when they use it. Would you recommend using one alone, or should I stick to dumbbells to avoid possible injuries?

Dumbbells are definitely safer if you need to drop the weights and don't have a rack, but I find certain lifts (power cleans mostly) put stress on my elbows if I'm not using a bar.
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