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How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

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Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#51

Post by tejohnso »

js2 wrote: post #50
tejohnso wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get pretty far with kettlebells too. And they're easier to deal with for a home gym.

Do you have a site you recommend with good routines? r/kettlebell maybe? I'm familiar with kettlebells from Crossfit, but I know CF catches a lot of flak for how they use them.

Haven't been to r/kettlebell but I like what they have over at onnit[1] for beginners. I'm in the camp that would recommend against crossfit.

[1] https://www.onnit.com/academy/full-body-kettlebell-workout-f...

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#52

Post by 1123581321 »

jseliger wrote: post #47
gutnor wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if I made that comment already on HN. But I was watching a documentary on some amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe. All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream.

All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream. I've seen comments like this before, and they're valid, but I've also seen evolutionary biologists and/or anthropologists point out too that many if not m…

That's valid if someone's saying hunter-gatherers lived healthier lives on average, but in this case, the OP is presumably healthy enough to do strength training so can fairly compare themselves to a healthy group of hunter-gatherers.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#53

Post by bane »

deskamess wrote: post #27

Do we always need additional/external weights, or are there any body weight exercises that can target your bones? Perhaps leg bones are easier since the body weight goes through them. How about upper body (like shoulder area) and the spine?

Isometrics are pretty good. You have to do them at various angles to build strength up across a range of motion, but they're very effective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_exercise

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#54

Post by [deleted] »

jseliger wrote: post #47
gutnor wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if I made that comment already on HN. But I was watching a documentary on some amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe. All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream.

All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream. I've seen comments like this before, and they're valid, but I've also seen evolutionary biologists and/or anthropologists point out too that many if not m…

[deleted]

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#55

Post by shahbaby »

One thing I wish I realized earlier in regards to strength training:

It's very easy to do at home if you have the space for it.

You don't need an expensive machine. A used power rack and bench can be found for cheap. I now get my workouts done in the amount of time it would've taken me to drive to/from the gym. Listen to whatever music I like. Don't have to worry about other people. Don't have to worry about weather.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#56

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

tejohnso wrote: post #38
ec109685 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which nutrients are pizza missing for building muscle? The problem with pizza is that it is way too easy to over indulge, but I don't think it is lacking "nutrients".

Protein. Pizza is a high carb dish in most cases. If you're getting a whole chicken breast worth of chicken per two or three slices, that's a different story. But in general it's mostly a bunch of white bread with some tasty sauce on it.

Pizza has cheese which has a decent amount of protein in it.

Lots of pizzas also have meat toppings as well.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#57

Post by nikofeyn »

ramparrt wrote: post #46
randlet wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd probably see nice returns in your cycling if you started doing heavy barbell squats too.

It's not really very useful. Most serious but recreational cyclists are limited in terms of available training time and recovery. When faced with the option of spending their limited time on the bike or in the weight room with the objective of going faster, the bike is almost invariably the right answer. The reason for that is that watts/kg and watts/cda are the 2 basic determinants of how quickly a cyclist can get a…

there is hardly a sport where strength training and conditioning is not useful.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#58

Post by cameldrv »

shahbaby wrote: post #55

One thing I wish I realized earlier in regards to strength training: It's very easy to do at home if you have the space for it. You don't need an expensive machine. A used power rack and bench can be found for cheap. I now get my workouts done in the amount of time it would've taken me to drive to/from the gym. Listen to whatever music I like. Don't have to worry about other people. Don't have to worry about weather.

Very true. Dialing it down even further, a bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells can be had for even cheaper and take up a lot less space. You won't be able to progress as far, particularly with leg exercises, but a small flat bench with dumbbells under it fits in the corner of a room when not in use. The power rack, bench, weights, and barbell may not be too expensive, but the extra room to hold all of them is.

That said, I'm a huge fan of the home workout. There's at least an hour worth of time overhead in going to the gym, and there's mental activation energy too. At home, I can easily start a workout, I never wait for a machine, I change in my bedroom instead of a locker room, I'm using my own shower, and it takes zero time to get there.

Especially for beginners, the downsides of only having dumbbells are dwarfed by the benefits of doing it at home.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#59

Post by fuwafuwa »

cameldrv wrote: post #58
shahbaby wrote: post #55

One thing I wish I realized earlier in regards to strength training: It's very easy to do at home if you have the space for it. You don't need an expensive machine. A used power rack and bench can be found for cheap. I now get my workouts done in the amount of time it would've taken me to drive to/from the gym. Listen to whatever music I like. Don't have to worry about other people. Don't have to worry about weather.

Very true. Dialing it down even further, a bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells can be had for even cheaper and take up a lot less space. You won't be able to progress as far, particularly with leg exercises, but a small flat bench with dumbbells under it fits in the corner of a room when not in use. The power rack, bench, weights, and barbell may not be too expensive, but the extra room to hold all of them is. Th…

If you're really hard up for space or money, resistance bands offer one of the best tradeoffs. The modular sets scale up to high weight and will last a while.

The issues that I think hit most people are not really with equipment, though, but time/motivation/energy. For that, it takes ordinary habit forming and logging progress.

Re: How Strength Training Changes Your Body for Good

#60

Post by trentmb »

shahbaby wrote: post #55

One thing I wish I realized earlier in regards to strength training: It's very easy to do at home if you have the space for it. You don't need an expensive machine. A used power rack and bench can be found for cheap. I now get my workouts done in the amount of time it would've taken me to drive to/from the gym. Listen to whatever music I like. Don't have to worry about other people. Don't have to worry about weather.

One can get pretty far with just a pull up bar and gymnast rings.
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