Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance • Hacker News Board

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#71

Post by Evbn » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:03 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #56

hkmurakami wrote: post #3

I don't disagree with the overal theme of the article, but I have to disagree on some particulars. Some thoughts: >Habit First Absolutely agree, especially when you're trying to get out of morbid out-of-shapeness. I personally find that mixing it into a pre-existing daily routine works well. I personally do core work and pullups/chinups before my morning and evening showers, and stretch exercises while I'm in the sho…

If you're "starting out", then bodyweight exercises... Bodyweight exercises can be extremely frustrating when you are really just starting out. When I first started, I couldn't do more than 5 pullups or about 20 pushups, which made it unnecessarily hard to progress. I switched to weights so that I could lower the load and do 3 sets, and immediately made much better progress.

You can drop load by putting a knee down during a pushup.

Pullups I don't know how to adjust.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#72

Post by rdouble » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:05 AM UTC

Evbn wrote: post #71

sliverstorm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're "starting out", then bodyweight exercises... Bodyweight exercises can be extremely frustrating when you are really just starting out. When I first started, I couldn't do more than 5 pullups or about 20 pushups, which made it unnecessarily hard to progress. I switched to weights so that I could lower the load and do 3 sets, and immediately made much better progress.

You can drop load by putting a knee down during a pushup. Pullups I don't know how to adjust.

With bands:

http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/equipment/iron-woody-bands.h...

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#73

Post by rdouble » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:06 AM UTC

derleth wrote: post #68

hkmurakami wrote: post #3

I don't disagree with the overal theme of the article, but I have to disagree on some particulars. Some thoughts: >Habit First Absolutely agree, especially when you're trying to get out of morbid out-of-shapeness. I personally find that mixing it into a pre-existing daily routine works well. I personally do core work and pullups/chinups before my morning and evening showers, and stretch exercises while I'm in the sho…

> imo all processed items are bad And this is the point where I see the problem with 'diet advice' given online (and not online, too, but a lot of it is online): It's overbroad and not broad enough, because it focuses on the wrong things. Bread is processed, but saying bread is bad is idiotic on its face. Meats are largely unprocessed, but a diet that's all meat is not a weight loss plan unless you live in the high A…

He ate 4 twinkies per day.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#74

Post by Evbn » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:09 AM UTC

crusso wrote: post #14

You can quibble with some of his techniques or equipment. I found that they weren't objectionable and not far from what I've put together over the years. The main takeaway from the whole article is to minimize the difficulty in getting your workout done. Easy equipment to setup, adjust, and maintain in a convenient environment are critical factors. I set up a DVR with some news/interest shows that record for me every…

Seems bad for your neck to have eyes on a fixed TV during a moving exercise.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#75

Post by Evbn » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:11 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #29

My problem is I just do not enjoy exercise. I grant that some level of exercise is probably healthy, but I just don't enjoy it. At all. Not long ago I made myself run 3 or 4 days a week, for about 4 months. I did build up my ability to go longer distances but it never made me feel any better. After running I never felt energized or more productive; I felt tired and wanted to go to bed. I had similar experiences with…

Of course you are tired after you exercise. But a day or two later you should feel more energetic, after sleeping better. You have to do the sleeping too. And eating well. Don't pile on greasy calories to feed your exercising body, that will drag you down more as you eat note. It's all synergistic.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#76

Post by mutagen » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:25 AM UTC

dkarl wrote: post #63

Nice classy article, HN. - Links to over $500 dollars worth of equipment on Amazon, and over $1000 overall (I guess the Marcy device isn't sold on Amazon?) but no links to any sites with good information about lifting weights. - Recommendation of specific supplements and lifting program (including suggested numbers of reps and sets) but only a haphazard list of random exercises and no information about how to perform…

Matt Might enjoys a certain amount of credibility on HN for his fantastic blogging on CS topics. While I don't begrudge his attempts to share aspects other aspects of his life and even monetize his blogging, I think you raise some valid criticisms of this post. Certainly the topic of personal fitness and weightlifting is much deeper than a single article with sparse links, I'd treat this more as his personal experience with starting instead of a definitive guide to the subject.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#77

Post by prodigal_erik » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:25 AM UTC

derleth wrote: post #68

hkmurakami wrote: post #3

I don't disagree with the overal theme of the article, but I have to disagree on some particulars. Some thoughts: >Habit First Absolutely agree, especially when you're trying to get out of morbid out-of-shapeness. I personally find that mixing it into a pre-existing daily routine works well. I personally do core work and pullups/chinups before my morning and evening showers, and stretch exercises while I'm in the sho…

> imo all processed items are bad And this is the point where I see the problem with 'diet advice' given online (and not online, too, but a lot of it is online): It's overbroad and not broad enough, because it focuses on the wrong things. Bread is processed, but saying bread is bad is idiotic on its face. Meats are largely unprocessed, but a diet that's all meat is not a weight loss plan unless you live in the high A…

It's true that processing isn't inherently evil; I've had good luck with protein and fiber shakes between very small meals. But processed white bread (or pasta or white rice) might as well be candy--just a big hit of carbs that'll leave you craving more right away. Whole wheat and brown rice are only somewhat better.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#78

Post by derleth » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 4:28 AM UTC

Evbn wrote: post #70

derleth wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> imo all processed items are bad And this is the point where I see the problem with 'diet advice' given online (and not online, too, but a lot of it is online): It's overbroad and not broad enough, because it focuses on the wrong things. Bread is processed, but saying bread is bad is idiotic on its face. Meats are largely unprocessed, but a diet that's all meat is not a weight loss plan unless you live in the high A…

Not massive amounts. The Twinkie guy ate 1800 calories a day, including protein shakes. And vitamin suplements to cover his deficit. The balance of the diet matters, so it is a very narrow claim to say that twinkies aren't bad because someone has 1500 Twinkie calories per day and no other junk food He just got all his carbs from twinkies, and used willpower to force himself to not eat when he was hungry. His "massive…

> A bad food is something that doesn't satiate you as it gives you calories and fat, so you need to do other work to force yourself to not overeat. Example: twinkies

OK, this is a reasonable first step. My point, really, is that even 'bad' foods can be part of a healthy diet, because health is determined by the overall diet.

Demonizing food leads to unhealthy psychological results in the form of the sin-guilt-redemption cycle, when what you really need to lose weight is a clear-headed appraisal of your current state and what you're capable of doing to reach your goal.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#79

Post by mark_h » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 4:35 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #8

I've plugged this here before, but so what: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-tra... . The key observation here is that your average person doesn't need a particularly sophisticated routine to get "average in shape" (if that makes sense). I think the conventional wisdom that you need to be eating health food all the time and running an hour a day makes people feel like it's just not worth the e…

Since this is turning into a recommendation thread, I'll add Jim Wendler's 5/3/1: httup://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_build_pure_strength You can buy the ebook and I'd recommend it, but you can also find essentially all the details online. A very similar philosophy of big-lifts basics, constant incremental progression, etc.

Re: Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance

#80

Post by mortehu » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 4:52 AM UTC

lutze wrote: post #5

Some of this is terrible advice. You want strength, you do high weight, low rep sets of compound barbell lifts. Dumbbells are a body-building tool, not a strength building one. Press machines are horrid horrid horrid. At best they don't target the important stabilizing muscles that compound lifts are supposed to. At worst they can pull your movements into unnatural ranges of motion, causing lasting damage to your joi…

> [Unlike barbells,] Dumbbells are a body-building tool, not a strength building one.

Can you explain further? Clearly, barbells are easier to lift (see e.g. Effects of body position and loading modality on muscle activity and strength in shoulder presses), probably because they activate less muscles, but you seem to suggest that there's evidence that lifting barbells will also make you gain strength faster than when lifting dumbbells?

My guess would be that replacing dumbbells with barbells is bad for the same reason that you say using press machines is bad.