> outdated barbell movements I stopped reading about here.
Then your reading comprehension is probably lacking. You do realize that the article is a strong defence of classical barbell excercises?
Defence from what? His own faulty preconceptions?
Fitness Crazed
81–90 of 118 posts
Re: Fitness Crazed
#82Here's a link to Starting Strength[1]. I highly recommend it for people looking to bulk, tone, and put on some real muscle. It did wonders for me and I'm sure it will for you too. I also recommend doing these powerlifting exercises (such as squats, bench, and deadlift) with a focus on FORM first instead of weight. It'll prevent you from getting injured and payoff when you start lifting real heavy weight. I highly rec…
Rippetoe's workout is not as simple as the article portrays "built around five old-fashioned lifts" and all that. The rumors people may have heard are true, he really does write sixty pages on how to squat properly without hurting yourself, and other exercises. The article also has a strong style over substance aspect wrt "photographs were so poorly shot". No they're actually pretty awesome if you're trying to learn…
I have the same sort of, and similar length, history with weight training.
I believe that's because it's pretty widely accepted now that free weights are more effective than machines. And, the difference is large enough that even people outside of weight lifting circles have a vague awareness of this. In the 80s, it was still really popular to use machines because they were "safer" (which is not necessarily true), they isolated specific muscles for training (mostly true, but not actually optimal), and they seemed easier than learning proper form for lifting free weights (it's still pretty easy to do it wrong with a machine).
That said, my first exposure to weight training was via a Gold's Gym book that I got at a garage sale, which also focused solely on free weights. I think the gym rats have always known iron was superior to rubber bands and elaborate systems of ropes and pulleys.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#83To each his own but I find it easier to get fit as a side effect from practicing a "regular" sport, like swimming, climbing, running, boxing etc... I feel it's less artificial and much more entertaining. However, not many sports can give you those huge muscles people get from a proper strength training with high protein diet.
I agree with that in principle. The problem is that you have to do those sports a lot in order to stay fit, and people start companies, write books and do other things that leave them with too little time for it. Climbing over a lifetime beats weightlifting, but weightlifting beats sitting in a chair for two years.
Also, olympic lifting might look like brute force, but it's actually as tricky and interesting as swimming or gymnastics.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#84Here's a link to Starting Strength[1]. I highly recommend it for people looking to bulk, tone, and put on some real muscle. It did wonders for me and I'm sure it will for you too. I also recommend doing these powerlifting exercises (such as squats, bench, and deadlift) with a focus on FORM first instead of weight. It'll prevent you from getting injured and payoff when you start lifting real heavy weight. I highly rec…
Unless your rail thin and a teenager, I'd avoid Rip's diet advice. It will undoubtedly get you fat. Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com is, as far as I'm concerned, the best nutrition resource on the internet. Lyle does a great job of taking clinical research and boiling it down to practical applications for people who train.
I also think the focus on squatting and dead lifting does not produce very aesthetic results for a lot of guys. Some people have twiggy legs and benefit from putting on some lower body mass. But a lot more guys who progress to intermediate squat and deadlift numbers wind up with over sized thighs and glutes and frankly it doesn't look good. Nor is it very "functional" outside of the lifts. That kind of bulk definitely slows you down on the court/track/field.
People get caught up in stuff like the deadlift because you build up to what seem like big numbers. But the fact is, it's not very impressive. Most guys can get there. And it's not very useful, athletically speaking.
I think Rippetoe's original schtick was built around bulking kids up for certain positions on high school football teams. Having an extra 20# to throw around at age 17 is going to really help a lineman. I'm a bit skeptical about the wider reverence the Rippetoe approach gets these days.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#85The fitness regime I got more out of than anything else has been interval training. I worked out with weights for years and occasionally would do some cardio. I think the logic was... cardio doesn't make you look good in a swimsuit like lifting weights does, and at the time impressing ladies and intimidating other guys was priority (lets don't lie to ourselves about motive here!). Then, I got a little older and impre…
HIIT is a good form of interval training for people who want to do cardio but are also afraid that cardio will detract from their "look good in a swimsuit"-look.
> , and at the time impressing ladies and intimidating other guys was priority (lets don't lie to ourselves about motive here!).
Let's not project, either.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rippetoe's workout is not as simple as the article portrays "built around five old-fashioned lifts" and all that. The rumors people may have heard are true, he really does write sixty pages on how to squat properly without hurting yourself, and other exercises. The article also has a strong style over substance aspect wrt "photographs were so poorly shot". No they're actually pretty awesome if you're trying to learn…
I have the same sort of, and similar length, history with weight training. I believe that's because it's pretty widely accepted now that free weights are more effective than machines. And, the difference is large enough that even people outside of weight lifting circles have a vague awareness of this. In the 80s, it was still really popular to use machines because they were "safer" (which is not necessarily true), th…
> it's pretty widely accepted now that free weights are more effective than machines.
I don't buy that. The people who say that stuff are the same ones who go on about stabilizer muscles, when there's no such thing. Machines are safer than barbells. For overhead and pull-down stuff the good machines minimize dangerous shoulder stress. Barbell squats and deadlifts quite simply are somewhat dangerous and even very experienced people manage to tweak their backs.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#87Here's a link to Starting Strength[1]. I highly recommend it for people looking to bulk, tone, and put on some real muscle. It did wonders for me and I'm sure it will for you too. I also recommend doing these powerlifting exercises (such as squats, bench, and deadlift) with a focus on FORM first instead of weight. It'll prevent you from getting injured and payoff when you start lifting real heavy weight. I highly rec…
Unless your rail thin and a teenager, I'd avoid Rip's diet advice. It will undoubtedly get you fat. Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com is, as far as I'm concerned, the best nutrition resource on the internet. Lyle does a great job of taking clinical research and boiling it down to practical applications for people who train.
Diet != losing weight. The GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) diet is not designed for you to lose weight. It's designed to maximize daily caloric intake, which in turn maximizes speed of recovery.
Once you're done with starting strength, you switch to something like IF (intermittent fasting) to cut the excess fat. Then you end up with lots of muscle and no fat.
You can either lose fat or gain muscle. It's incredibly difficult to do both at the same time.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless your rail thin and a teenager, I'd avoid Rip's diet advice. It will undoubtedly get you fat. Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com is, as far as I'm concerned, the best nutrition resource on the internet. Lyle does a great job of taking clinical research and boiling it down to practical applications for people who train.
I also think the focus on squatting and dead lifting does not produce very aesthetic results for a lot of guys. Some people have twiggy legs and benefit from putting on some lower body mass. But a lot more guys who progress to intermediate squat and deadlift numbers wind up with over sized thighs and glutes and frankly it doesn't look good. Nor is it very "functional" outside of the lifts. That kind of bulk definitel…
"the deadlift [...] is not very impressive, [...] and it's not very useful, athletically speaking."
That is probably the most false statement I've ever read on the internet. Which is saying something. Athletically speaking, there is no single exercise better than the deadlift. With the squat coming in at #2.
Re: Fitness Crazed
#89I agree that you don't need any new fancy techniques and equipment to get in shape. However, doing the same week every week just isn't very fun. Most of the problem with being and staying in shape is the lack of interest in it. The author enjoyed weightlifting because he had never done it before and he saw himself getting stronger, which is very fun the first time you do it. The most important part of a fitness progr…
It is called STARTING strength for a reason. :)
In my experience (which is not universal), the workouts aren't boring though. Running on an eliptical for an hour is boring. Getting into the gym, warming up, doing my workout, cooling down, taking a shower, changing my clothes, and walking out of the gym in 45 minutes isn't boring - it's awesome.