91–100 of 108 posts
This article is terrible. If you want to get fit/strong/whatever your goal, just do it properly. Go to a gym, go and run, whatever. This is an awful article. The general theme is good, and there is some good info in there, but I wouldn't expect much result or progress from it.
While "hacking your body" sounds appealing to CS people (work smarter not harder!), the reality is there is no shortcut. You'll have to lift a lot of iron regularly, for a lot of time, while eating correctly, for anything serious to happen.
Following advice like in this post, will most likely end you up with a lighter wallet and a garage full of unused Flexotronic Bulkmaster 2000 machines and expired supplements. In worst case with a serious injury, you'll carry around for a long time.
Today everybody's an expert on everything, but do consider taking CS advice from a CS prof, and strength advice from a strength trainer.
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…
- Bodybuilding.com workout planning, which addresses your points 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11
- The fitness subreddit, and its FAQ, which addresses most your points
- Examine.com, which addresses your point about the actual effects of creatine and other supplements
Matt shared his experience and gave out the references that helped him get started, does everything have to be a batteries-included exhaustive guide to everything these days?
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…
Also, yoga. It's ubiquitous, you can start small, and although you may, you don't have to interact with people so it's a great stepping stone for a shy person.
Sure a high chance of meeting women (which is nice if you don't want to be Forever Alone), but other than the ability to strech a little more what is the gain?
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, yoga. It's ubiquitous, you can start small, and although you may, you don't have to interact with people so it's a great stepping stone for a shy person.
What do you get out of it, though? Sure a high chance of meeting women (which is nice if you don't want to be Forever Alone), but other than the ability to strech a little more what is the gain?
A lot of what he advocates still displays that he's largely a novice, just one with more knowledge than your average programmer. But still a novice. Research (I'm not finding the studies, sorry) has indeed shown that protein intake is minimally correlated to muscle growth. He was on the mark by mentioning that only certain amounts of protein can be used in one setting, while the rest is wasted by the body. It's not o…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you get out of it, though? Sure a high chance of meeting women (which is nice if you don't want to be Forever Alone), but other than the ability to strech a little more what is the gain?
It's excercise like any other, it's just using the body's own weight instead of dumbbells to create load. Stretchin is a lesser part of yoga than strength.
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…
There is an "external resources" section at the end of the article, containing: - Bodybuilding.com workout planning, which addresses your points 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 - The fitness subreddit, and its FAQ, which addresses most your points - Examine.com, which addresses your point about the actual effects of creatine and other supplements Matt shared his experience and gave out the references that helped him get sta…
does everything have to be a batteries-included exhaustive guide to everything these days?
No, and that's my point. Things get written that way when they really shouldn't.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A word of caution... StrongLifts and Starting Strength promote advanced compound motions (ie., deadlift, bench press, squat, etc). So, it's great to kick start your muscle growth mechanism and gain strength. It's hard to argue against the deadlift, squat and bench press. But personally I've found that these exercises can be difficult and you need instruction. For the bench press you want to arch your back and bring y…
What do you suggest for someone that wants to be efficient and effective at home, without assistance, and without lots of equipment?
If I had to workout at home (I don't because my gym is just 5 minutes away and currently I'm doing a very-efficient workout just once every 3 days for under 30 minutes), then I would probably get some decent equipment. I'd might go with a good power rack, bench, and barbell/dumbbell set. Here's the workout I probably would do:
1. Leg #1 - I would do mostly squats with the power rack and have the safety bar set up. I would do 4-5 sets with moderately heavy weights to tire my legs out but wouldn't go to total failure with the heavy weights. I might go to failure with a final set with light weight (for safety) or do a final set of air squats (or with dumbbell) to tire my legs out completely.
2. Leg/Lower Back #2 - I would do a modified stiff-leg deadlift (see Dorian Yates do this on YouTube). This would exercise my hamstrings and lower back. I personally don't really like doing full deadlifts. I just feel unsafe with them (just personally). With the stiff-leg deadlift I'd do probably 3 sets with moderate-heavy weight and wouldn't go to total failure (to be safe).
3. Leg #3 - I'd work out my calves by holding a heavy barbell and doing calf raises (standing on toes and back down). I'd do heavy and failure, probably just one set.
Now, the legs are done. I wish I could do leg extensions but that's tough with just a power rack. If you have space or in the future want to expand your equipment, that might be a good piece to have. Also, leg press is a great machine too but would probably take up a lot of room (but squats could perform a lot of the similar function).
4. Chest - I'd do bench press (or incline/decline bench press) with moderately heavy weights, probably 2-3 sets (not to failure). I'd do a final set to total failure with lighter dumbbells (for safety because a barbell if let loose could really do serious damage on your face/throat), pushups, or dips.
5. Shoulder #1 - I'd probably use dumbbells and do shoulder press for one set to failure (warm-up sets ok, but final set should be heavy and to failure).
6. Shoulder #2 - I'd choose one of the following and mix them up: front lat raise, side lat raise, bending over lat raise, shoulder shrugs. One set to failure.
7. Back - You can do a good back workout with pulls-ups and chin-ups using the power rack (if the power rack supports your weight). If it's difficult to do pull-ups/chin-ups, then try using a chair and doing negatives (just the down motion very slowly to build strength). You can also get a power rack with a lat pull down (I don't know how good it is but here's the link, http://www.amazon.com/Valor-Athletics-Inc-BD-Power/dp/B002EJ...). If you have this, then do one set of wide-grip lat pull downs to failure with heavy weight and then immediately follow it with close-grip (palms facing in) lat pulldowns (this combo will work your back like crazy).
8. Triceps - I'd do some tricep extensions (standing or lying down) for one set to failure. (Close-grip bench press is also good. Dips are great as well, especially immediately follow tricep extensions.)
9. Biceps - I'd do barbell curls or isolated dumbbell curls. One set to failure. (Chin-ups immediately following are great to work biceps more.)
10. Abs - I'd mix it up with ab exercises and choose from crunches, reverse crunches, hanging knee raises. Just one set very slow to failure.
My strategy in working out would be to do full-body workouts (that last no longer than 30 minutes) every 3 days. For safety reasons, I wouldn't go to failure using heavy weights on squats, deadlift or bench press (that's why I'd do more than one set and use moderately heavy weight to tire muscles out and with legs/chest I would go to failure using another easier exercise like air squats w/dumbbell or push-ups). For all other exercises the basic concept would be to lift heavy, do just one set, but do that one set to failure. You can do warmup sets (lighter weights for a few to several reps) to warm up the muscles as needed. I would suggest doing rotator cuff warmups/exercises to prevent rotator cuff injury (the most common bodybuilding injury).
Also, for all movements I suggest doing them slowly. This will remove momentum, help prevent injury, and also increase how much your muscles are working out. It's most important when you first start a movement not to to start fast, be jerky and use momentum. This could result in injury. Start slow and controlled.
I also suggest learning proper form for all exercises, but especially the squat, bench press and modified stiff-leg deadlift. There's a good youtube series called So You Think You Can Squat and another called So You Think You Can Bench. For squats remember weight back on your heels, knees out and back arched. For bench press remember back arched and shoulder blades toward each other, and your elbows tucked in a bit. Starting Strength has a decent DVD where Rippetoe teaches several students the squat and bench press (and other movements). For stiff-leg deadlift I suggest watching Dorian Yates do his modified version of the stiff-leg deadlift (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtevN0SWp-o). He doesn't go all the way down to the floor (just below knees). This is my personal preference for safety reasons.
For equipment, I'd recommend a decent power rack (see Amazon), a good bench (Amazon again), and a good barbell/dumbbell set. For the barbell/dumbbell set, I'd recommend some olympic plates (something like http://www.amazon.com/Body-Solid-ORST255-Rubber-Olympic/dp/B...) with one barbell bar and two dumbbell bars.
If you actually follow through with this, I'd love to help you get started and see your progress. I can also suggest more resources along the way. You can get in touch with me at heydave at gmail.com.
Update: Here's a video demo of some of the exercises you can do with a power rack, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3I_HCum1Zg .