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Common Muscular Weaknesses

exrx.net

51–60 of 140 posts

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#51

The site recommends crunches and leg extensions... crunches are not a great exercise for functional ab muscles, and leg extensions are generally verboten due to stress on the knees from the open chain loading. It's good to be thinking of this stuff though. I highly recommend Athlean-X(his free youtube videos, can't say anything about his programs) and Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Between these two, I've…

> Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength I like this gist of his program, but as someone who did it years ago, there's a few things I'd change. First, remove cleans, and add barbell rows. Lots of people make this adjustment. I don't find the exercise to be beginner friendly. Second, deadlifts will be there own focused day almost immediately. Outside of one's probably first month, doing squats + bench + deadlift is nearly…

Agree with everything you said. I actually only do front squats now after a back injury from basketball. I find I can get a great squat workout with much less weight, and it forces good posture or else the bar will roll off the front of your shoulders.

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#52
OK, seeing "exrx.net" I was thinking that TFA would be about side effects of prescription (Rx) drugs. But it's not, and is a great overview.

However, from personal experience, if you're taking a statin, and experience muscle weakness, get it checked out.[0]

> Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low, and calculated in a few cases per million people taking statins. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.

Basically, some drugs can interfere with destruction of statins in the liver, and so dramatically increase effects.

0) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-ch...

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#53

The site recommends crunches and leg extensions... crunches are not a great exercise for functional ab muscles, and leg extensions are generally verboten due to stress on the knees from the open chain loading. It's good to be thinking of this stuff though. I highly recommend Athlean-X(his free youtube videos, can't say anything about his programs) and Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Between these two, I've…

The post is specifically on correcting weaknesses. Leg extensions verboten? That's a blatantly wrong statement because you're using it _absolutely_. Maybe for max loading, but nobody is recommending 1rm leg extensions. Specifically here it's being used to strengthen the VMO, so it would be in a moderate loading range. Without looking it up, can you think of another direct way to improve patellar tracking issues due to overdeveloped vastus lateralis?

Similarly, let's talk about 'functional ab muscles.' Functional is a needlessly vague term. Let's say I'm a powerlifter and I feel my core is limiting my squats. Don't tell me to squat more, because I am an advanced squatter and my core is weak despite heavy squatting, so clearly it would benefit from more direct work. How would you strengthen my abs so my squat can improve? Outside of extremists, most coaches supplement auxiliary lifts to improve weaknesses.

For what it's worth here's a video of Konstantinovs (800+lb deadlift) doing crunches, I don't think he would do that unless he found 'functional' value: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMjXVHHAJ70

I appreciate your enthusiasm but it sounds like you're very clearly a beginner and in situations like this you should keep a more open mind and avoid judging so quickly.

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#54
That's why I like the push-pull workout, since it focusses on building overall strength, also I've found don't just do the same exercises over and over, vary the workout, so you hit all muscle groups.

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#55

The site recommends crunches and leg extensions... crunches are not a great exercise for functional ab muscles, and leg extensions are generally verboten due to stress on the knees from the open chain loading. It's good to be thinking of this stuff though. I highly recommend Athlean-X(his free youtube videos, can't say anything about his programs) and Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Between these two, I've…

> Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength I like this gist of his program, but as someone who did it years ago, there's a few things I'd change. First, remove cleans, and add barbell rows. Lots of people make this adjustment. I don't find the exercise to be beginner friendly. Second, deadlifts will be there own focused day almost immediately. Outside of one's probably first month, doing squats + bench + deadlift is nearly…

Definitely agree on replacing cleans with more targeted movements -- slight nitpick, none of this is "weightlifting" which is a separate sport of its own requiring these movements but incorporating power and speed to efficiently perform the snatch and clean and jerk with maximal load on the bar.

One thing to keep in mind with starting strength is that it was meant for high school football players who needed to rapidly add mass and strength. Low bar squats emphasize the posterior chain which are simply larger muscles, and will help the beginner see bigger gains faster and without spending time on the particular advanced cues necessary to perform high-bar squats correctly and safely without injuring your joints. (I'm thinking particularly of adductor strength and thoracic spine mobility.) On the other hand the low-bar squat is often coached incorrectly , resulting in much worse stress on the back and elbows (terrible cues like "knees back", etc). When taught correctly, the pressure commonly felt in the shoulders and elbows in this lift is simply a lack of flexibility and will resolve itself.

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#56
post #6

i highly recommend AthleanX YouTube videos. This guy really knows his stuff and there’s a back catalog to keep you going for years!

I have such a hard time taking him seriously, he comes off as a salesman. His video titles are so click-baity they'd make Buzzfeed blush. And I can't trust that he's putting correct information over pumping out new videos with eye-catching claims. Are there really 2 episodes per week worth of useful training information to share? I don't know that he's necessarily wrong about much (he's probably better informed than many other youtubers, whatever that says), but he just feels slimy. Why do people trust him?

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#57
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Can't really blame him, it must be hard enough already to keep his balance in those running shoes.

Running shoes are fine, but after you stop rotating at the hip, you've reached the bottom of the stretch for the hamstrings, and everything else is just stretching the lower back for no apparent reason; could lead to a bulging disk.

Running shoes are a bad fit for it because they both alter the mechanics of the lift by raising your heels above the toes (which is why you shouldn't deadlift in oly weightlifting shoes with thick heels either) and use amortizing cushioning that compromises your stability. You are better off using something with a thin flat sole (think chuck taylors) or just taking off your shoes.

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Most fitness trainers went through a crappy class/college program and know less about fitness than the average fitness bro, let alone anything about muscle imbalances. At least, in my experience from paying a couple.

Oh wow, yeah I just checked it out ( https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDea... ) Das ist no bueno. At least he's using light weight, so it's less likely that he'll bulge a disk, but still bad.

GP is probably talking about https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBStiffLegDea...

Re: Common Muscular Weaknesses

#60
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had IT band and hamstring attachment tendinitis. I went to the best orthopedic doctor in the city. I explained my symptoms very clearly. He did identify the IT band tendinitis and walked out of the room. I had to catch him "after the appointment" to ask him why the back of my knee hurts then. He THEN did additional tests and identified the other source of the problem. This is my experience, always. At best, the doc…

Physiotherapists are not doctors, and doctors are not physiotherapists. So I'm not sure why you're replying to the GP.

Referrals to specialists from GPs/PCPs are often needed for insurance to cover visits.
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