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How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

nytimes.com

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Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#131

Post by dirtyid »

AlchemistCamp wrote: post #119
dirtyid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~500lb is very much an aspiration life time goal for most trained men, even revised army fitness standard full score doesn't ask for more than 340lbs. Minimum is 140lbs. I think NASA / astronauts prescriptions is also a very low sub bodyweight multiplier for reps to prevent atrophy AND MITIGATE INJURY RISK in space which is key. That is probably what the general population should shoot for. On social media, the gold…

> ~500lb is very much an aspiration life time goal for most trained men. I think that's a bit ridiculous. I could lift nearly that untrained, albeit overweight. I'm 40. Given the option, I'd be leaner and better at running!

BW / lean mass plays a huge part. There's a few powerlifting phenoms whose origin story is pulling 500lbs on their first try, albeit as skinny teenagers. There's people who worked on farms or have athletic backgrounds that's build a muscular base and moving to barbell is a relatively easy transition. And there's people who are genetically blessed. But I don't think that's typical. Here's the 2018 /r/powerlifting survey, even among trained people in a population dedicated to being good at deadlifing, the median deadlift is 450 for men not on gear. Relevant pic last result:

https://imgur.com/a/ozbvt8W#FOOYBVB

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#132

Post by rmdashrfstar »

01100011 wrote: post #43
BeatLeJuce wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you feel out of place because you're thinking in terms of "alphas" etc., which to me sounds like a totally douche/"bro" thing to do. Most people I know that don't lift don't care about body shapes etc., otherwise they would lift.

Heh, ya no. I use the term because it seems to be the closest word in common usage to what I'm trying to describe. I'm not going to spend 45 minutes typing a dissertation so I can avoid a sensitive term. There was also a time when I was a fat nerd, about 22 years ago when I emerged from college, and for a while would have made many assumptions about the intelligence of someone who was fit and especially someone who w…

You can say swole instead of buff if you want to be trendy.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#133

Post by jplayer01 »

dewote wrote: post #109
vl wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are few things they don’t tell you about weightlifting: - stretching is critical and takes time, without stretching you’ll eventually injure yourself. - eventually you’ll get some minor injury and will have to manage that and wait for it to heal. - start by getting a coach to specifically learn good from and find your max weights for different lifts. Strictly control trainer’s desire to add some non-core exerci…

Do you know of any recommended stretching routines?

Agile 8 and Limber 11 are the most common ones I've seen. The r/bodyweightfitness subreddit also has a decent routine.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#134

Post by jplayer01 »

sundvor wrote: post #116
red2awn wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are supposed to start with an empty bar and progress from there, so you have a good amount of time at low weight to work on form. That said, I do agree there should be more flexibility work. The suggested warm ups are also inadequate.

As a middle aged lifter I'm finding that the 2.5kg increase every session is one I'm best off disabling in the app as the lifts get heavier, having started from the bar. I still aim to increase once I'm solid at a level, but the important thing is getting consistent workouts. Getting injured runs counter to that.

You could try something like 5/3/1, which has you generally working at submaximal loads most of the time and only increases the weight every 2-3 weeks. One of Wendler's principles is that slow progress is still progress, something I agree with.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#135

Post by seanmcdirmid »

test1235 wrote: post #74
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In that context, it makes sense that the greatest danger to a workout plan is having kids.

Since my kid was born, maintaining a regular gym workout has been a lifesaver for me. I find it's so easy to lose sense of time and what is important when you deal with the constant demands of a little baby - having an exercise routine keeps me grounded - it's away from home, something I do on my own, on my own terms and leaves me feeling good about myself. Finding time to regularly workout is something I'd recommend…

Yes, but they have their own schedule that can mess that up (especially in the infant/toddler stages).

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#136

Post by asdfman123 »

01100011 wrote: post #35
leet_thow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."

Thank you for saying this, as I was about to post something similar. I came to the valley about 8 months ago, and switched from hiking to lifting because of time constraints. Since getting big, I've felt more and more out of place. I even caught one of my bosses referring to me as a 'bro' when he didn't realize I had dialed in to a meeting. Now, granted, the current crop of engineers I work with are some of the most…

As a guy who's bulking, I worry about this too. I've been skinny my whole life and true nerds have always recognized me as one of their own. Will that change with a lot of weight training?

It feels really silly to type that but I feel the ability to seamlessly fit into that culture is a big advantage.

Like, my fiancee is an attractive latina woman and she is the biggest geek I know, but she feels like she has to "prove herself" to other geeks. I hardly know anything about that culture but they instantly see me as one of them.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#137

Post by asdfman123 »

nextlevelwizard wrote: post #111
circlefavshape wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Problem is one of discipline Not discipline - priorities. I'm lean and fairly fit, and while I would like to be a little bit more muscular I'd rather spend the time at the piano or with my family

>I'm lean and fairly fit Judging this is real hard since fairly fit means such different things for different people, but spending 5 hours a week at the gym isn't a big time investment. It obviously won't be getting you Mr. Olympia body, but it will make you bigger and stronger than most people. Part of discipline is also fighting against excuses. Excuses like I don't have time to work out. I don't have time to prep…

For some of us skinny guys it's really hard to even get basic beginner gains. I tried it on and off for years. My form was good, too, and I stuck with it for long periods.

Finally, I learned to get on a good program and TRACK MY MACROS. That's making a huge difference.

It's not always discipline. Sometimes it's finding the right program. It took me literally 20 years to figure that out, because I was laboring under the bad advice that "you should just eat healthy and you'll get there" that my dad kept telling me.

For the naturally skinny, you need a constant caloric surplus (or even just a regular amount of calories to recomp -- I couldn't even recomp effectively because I'd starve myself) or you're mostly wasting your time.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#138

Post by User23 »

nextlevelwizard wrote: post #83
User23 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is to say get a competent coach or record every compound lift you do and form check the videos. You may think you are doing a lift correctly, but you're rounding out or whatever. It's very hard to tell without that extra evidence. Done correctly powerlifting is about as safe as strenuous physical activity gets, but with bad form you will ruin your knees, your back, and who knows what else.

If you are doing SL 5x5 correctly you don't need coach because you start with an empty bar. What you should do is to read and watch tutorials on how to perform each lift correctly. Then as your progress you can do some recordings to check your form, but there is no need to out source that stuff. Just take things slow. Only time someone starting has had issues with form is when they rush things. Either they don't star…

You do you.

However, plenty of people with sedentary lifestyles, which includes many who will read this, will have mobility issues that they may not be aware of without coaching. Sure nobody is going to do major damage with the empty bar, but the bar doesn't stay empty.

That said when I say coach I don't mean some random "functional fitness" type that a chain gym will push on you. I mean a powerlifting coach, ideally one who trains people for competition.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#139

Post by asdfman123 »

hueving wrote: post #27
fortran77 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure. Even though I don't want to admit it, I'm sure I, along with many others, would have more confidence in a fit, muscular person than an out-of-shape slovenly one.

I'm the opposite for hardcore engineers. An in-shape, muscular person looks like they have dedicated a non-trivial amount of time to not software. I presume most people that look like that just see writing software as "a job" and won't be as capable of fully owning anything more complex than small portions of a complex application.

Richard Stallman said, "My hobbies include affection, international folk dance, flying, cooking, physics, recorder, puns, science fiction fandom, and programming; I magically get paid for doing the last one."

I don't see how you could be an intelligent, creative person and only be fixated on one thing your entire life. The smartest people I know have all sorts of creative outlets. I think I saw something that said a very large portion of Nobel prize winners are musicians, too.

Personally, I exercise because if I don't my mood suffers. It's a big problem, which I have found a solution to. Don't judge people.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#140

Post by shakestheclown »

vl wrote: post #81
kasey_junk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong recommendation for the StrongLifts 5x5 iOS app. That said there are some downsides to 5x5. - the lifts in it are simple, but also very easy to hurt yourself with if you don’t have good form. Form work is not emphasized. - there is no flexibility work in it. It’s basically impossible to do strength work without flexibility. To the point 5x5 should likely recommend yoga as a central component or something. - whi…

There are few things they don’t tell you about weightlifting: - stretching is critical and takes time, without stretching you’ll eventually injure yourself. - eventually you’ll get some minor injury and will have to manage that and wait for it to heal. - start by getting a coach to specifically learn good from and find your max weights for different lifts. Strictly control trainer’s desire to add some non-core exerci…

Can you point me to a study that shows stretching has a statistically significant positive impact on injury rates?

I know it's the common school of thought, but the studies I've read have found it was beneficial for flexibility, ROM, and soreness but no statistically significant impact on injuries or performance (data is mixed positive and negative for performance).

Anecdotal data is useless, but I've been lifting relatively heavy for years with little to no stretching with no ill effects. I do use warm-up sets but no other warm-up/stretching techniques. However, I am definitely open to changing my routine when the data supports it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1250267/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15233597

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.525...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15076777

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