All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[The Natural]

Went swimming today, first time in the pool in 25 years. I can swim but haven't for so long so used a float and will till my confidence/strong enough to swim without a buoyancy aid. Enjoyed it enough that I'm going with Julie from HOPE next week as well.

[The Natural]

So part of the BEEP scheme I get unlimited gym, swimming and exercise classes at a discounted price for a year at least and it should carry on after providing you don't cancel. Ellie my BEEP contact told me the classes go online the week before at 00:01am to book for. I did that today booking Pilates shortly (having missed out before) and while I was up, thought I might as well do Yoga as well for next week. Next week is a busy one with both alongside Swimming. Never done Yoga/Pilates before. Went back online after breakfast to find Pilates has sold out while Yoga was available (still is at 05:00pm). I'll trial both to see if I like It then will choose one to do either weekly or probably fortnightly/monthly. What are your experiences? Do you prefer Yoga to Pilates or vice versa?

It was nice meeting Ellie in person for the first time. I'm disappointed I'm at the same weight when I was weighed at BEEP in January. I thought I'd have lost some and going by my mechanical scales at home. Feel I've let myself, Ellie and Paul down. I won't see Ellie again in person. Ellie said I'd done well considering my challenges with Cerebral Palsy, Depression and Antidepressants. I go to extremes. My heaviest was 13st 9lb (86kg), I got down to 9st 11lb (62kg) then 10st 8lbs (67kg). I then went under at 8st 10lb (55kg) and my lowest was an insane 7st 10lb (48kg). It's a balancing act. In the past I didn't take antidepressants properly for a number of reasons: not wanting to be on them, stiff upper lip and weight gain through them. I've taken Trazodone as directed. Also heard weight is harder to lose as you age. I need to cut down on what I'm eating. We can be our own harshest critic talking ourselves down and you wouldn't talk to a friend that way.

So, yeah, not a good day today.

Edited April 27, 2023 by The Natural

[The Natural]

How I converted stones from the UK to kg in the USA:

https://coolconversion.com/weight/stones-pounds-to-kg/_13_st__9_lbs_to_kg_

Edited April 27, 2023 by The Natural

[Shartnado]

1 hour ago, The Natural said:

How I converted stones from the UK to kg in the USA:

https://coolconversion.com/weight/stones-pounds-to-kg/_13_st__9_lbs_to_kg_

That's kinda funny because I  also convert kg into lbs so people in the USA have easier time following my posts. I have used the calculator on my tablet all this time. That's dedication, right?

[Technico Support]

Hang in there @The Natural!  The mere fact that you're putting forth the effort to get to the gym means a lot more than the scale.  I know the feeling, bud.  I'm hard on myself as fuck all.  the.  time.

On a different note, the trainer I occasionally work with (just to show me new stuff) sometimes tells me to breathe the opposite way on some exercises (breathing in on the exertion) and it's weird as fuck.  Is he wrong or is this some new thing I just don't know about?  I have always breathed out on the exertion (effort) part, for the same reason tennis players yelp when hitting a ball.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Technico Support

[Contentious C]

Which exercises in particular is he trying to reverse?

Edited April 27, 2023 by Contentious C

[Shartnado]

So yeah, last week went as I suspected. Three morning runs and one short workout with the resistance band. I did carry (instead of dragging) my carry-on luggage for a mile or so to the bus stop when we were leaving, so that was something.

This week, I managed 3 workouts from Sunday night to Tuesday. The first two were just your usual pump stuff for the upper body, but the third was trapbar. I left home quite early so I could make sure I wouldn't run out of time.

The start seemed nothing special, I did get the 2 reps with 480 without Versas, as has been the norm recently. The 574 went up from a slightly shorter distance than previously, but I compensated by doing 3 instead of just one rep. The 675 moved, as expected, so I did singles with 683, 694 and 707 from almost the shortest distance. Then, from the dead shortest, I did 3x727 and then started working my way back down the weights. I don't really remember the reps but the weights were the same I used on the way up. Once I got down to 480, I used almost the shortest distance, but did more than 10 reps (probably not quite 15 though) with it. Then some light shrugs, as I still almost ran out of time before work.

The next day I was dead tired though, even if my body was not aching any more than usual. I guess the central nervous system got a bit overwhelmed there, so I called it a week and try to rest up.

Diet starts next week, so if I can repeat what I did this week a bit later on, I would be lifting 4 times my own bodyweight, nevermind how short the actual distance is.

So yeah, I'm happy about that.

[Technico Support]

4 hours ago, Contentious C said:

Which exercises in particular is he trying to reverse?

The only ones I remember were leg extensions, but there were a few others.

BUT he did introduce me to the concept of doing a drop set after your regular sets are finished, and holy fuck my shoulders want to kill me today.  He also introduced me to squatting and it's ridiculous.  Leg press machine (the one with plates)...I can do 1000 pounds.  Squat?  Just the bar.  Fuuuuuck.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Technico Support

[Contentious C]

Hmm, leg extensions are a weird one, but I suppose I can see it, since if you exhale, your back and core might slacken up a bit and you may not necessarily keep the tension through your entire quads without being really braced into the machine.  But...that's sort of a reach.

I would think you'd do it more for squats since that's how you brace your core anyway.  Breathe in, down, hold your breath and brace on the way down, then exhale on the way up as the move comes out of the bottom/hardest part.  At least that's how I've done them and found them easier.

If you love/hate drop sets, look up myoreps sometime.  Those are for the real sickos.

I've been at it pretty hard for 2 straight months now, so I'm going to do a deload week starting Saturday.  Today was warm-up with Smith good mornings, belt squats (aka my new favorite machine, because I love pain and I love gains), Bulgarians (which I still can't do without a balancing stick, because FML), RDLs, and glute drive.  If I'd gone hard on one more thing, I think it would've been a puke workout.

I'll give the leg extension thing a try on Monday when I do lower for my deload.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Contentious C

[The Natural]

19 hours ago, Shartnado said:

That's kinda funny because I  also convert kg into lbs so people in the USA have easier time following my posts. I have used the calculator on my tablet all this time. That's dedication, right?

Great minds think alike as the saying goes.

18 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Hang in there @The Natural!  The mere fact that you're putting forth the effort to get to the gym means a lot more than the scale.  I know the feeling, bud.  I'm hard on myself as fuck all.  the.  time.

Thank you, my friend. Needed that pick me up and I can relate to talking myself down. Fucking sucks, doesn't it? Thanks again, Brian xxx.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

Hey hey hey. Tl; dr - still training. It's been a bit start-stop, for a few reasons - it is what it is. 

Finally visited the local meathead gym and it's messy af, but the equipment is pretty amazing - they have a Wenning Belt Squat and also a rudimentary reverse hyper. They also have a, by UK standards, crazy amount of speciality barbells. Used a cambered bar for the first time, mad fun.

Idiots fucked up the pads on the SSB at my home gym so didn't use it for a bit. Got under it and went to a squat training max of 120kg, which is ok as my sleep had been bad the previous few days. I actually did 3 singles at that weight. But I could tell I was detained - especially when I did GMs with the bar at 60kg for a 6x6. Tbh I have no real wish to get under a barbell for squats right now but I would like to hit a new SSB PR at some point.

Bench I haven't gone past 80kg for 10 yet (my Rep PR is 100kg x 10). I did the Larsen Press yesterday as I forgot my gym shorts again lol. Bicep injury still a factor. Realistically the biceps are themselves detrained - I can do 20 reps with 13kg dumbells on hammer curls, but yesterday I did a 3 x 10 on barbell curls at 30kg and it was pretty hard. Need to work on that. 

The good news is that I am doing cardio!

Bank holiday weekend here, so I am thinking of going to my work gym tomorrow - will be kind of weird to commute there!

[Shartnado]

Welcome back, @SprintingFromAmerica, it's been a minute.

[Contentious C]

I had a visit with a rheumatologist for the first time last week, and hey, turns out my lifelong shoulder problems are at least partly a perpetually-nagging (and by perpetually I mean literally 25+ years) case of biceps tendonitis.  So, that's fun.  Wouldn't want to leave any tendons and ligaments out of what amounts to a body-wide protest these days.  Fucky elbows, fucky knees, fucky wrists, fucky shoulders, fucky back, fucky hips - I got it all.

But hey, my ankle mobility is solid!

Edited April 29, 2023 by Contentious C

[Shartnado]

2 hours ago, Contentious C said:

I had a visit with a rheumatologist for the first time last week, and hey, turns out my lifelong shoulder problems are at least partly a perpetually-nagging (and by perpetually I mean literally 25+ years) case of biceps tendonitis.  So, that's fun.  Wouldn't want to leave any tendons and ligaments out of what amounts to a body-wide protest these days.  Fucky elbows, fucky knees, fucky wrists, fucky shoulders, fucky back, fucky hips - I got it all.

But hey, my ankle mobility is solid!

Funny you should mention ankles, as I just bought a pair of ankle supports today, as I'm about to start the running regularly for the spring and summer and would hate to mess any of that up with a sprained ankle or something. I am glad a part of you is still functioning properly!

[Technico Support]

Quick question for @Shartnado and anyone else who cares to weigh in.  What’s your opinion on stretching before lifting?  I used to run for 10 minutes to warm up, then go lift, no warmup sets.  But I worked out a few times with a trainer and he recommended stretching.  So lately, I run for five minutes, stretch whatever muscle group(s) I’m working that day, then I lift, doing three warmup sets on whatever my first exercise is.  I’d rather run for 10 minutes and get the added calorie burn and cardio benefit if stretching isn’t that important.  Thoughts?  Thanks!

[Contentious C]

Well, "added calorie burn" from cardio is kinda sorta a myth.  You may burn more fat while doing cardio, but often your body adjusts to it so that you burn less fat at rest and mostly balance back out.  Adding muscle and eating below maintenance calories are the best fat burners there are.  I've never especially needed it to get a workout going, but the most important component of any workout is that you'll stick to it, so you do you.

I used to not stretch, but given how fucking broken my body is, I'm finding that it helps, a little bit.  But I've done it a lot with and without and I'm not 100% certain there's a huge difference.  Then again, I'm not pushing at the higher ends of my capabilities like others.  I think if I were going for PRs, I would stretch more for those lifts, but not to the point of coming remotely close to fatiguing from the stretch itself.

Honestly, I think that 3 warmup sets is probably overkill, but 2 sets of 5 at substantially easier weights are actually pretty good.  The potentiation does help with keeping the movements grooved the right way.  It's less about your muscles and more about your nervous system, anyway.  I would definitely focus on full range of motion on the lighter weights, or even change exercises so you get a better range of motion (like doing dumbbell presses instead of barbell) if you're mostly in the newbie gains phase. 

And because lifting needs to be even more complicated, stretching is actually really important *during* lifting.  One of your best hypertrophy stimuli is stretch under load, so that's another reason to not cut your range of motion short.  And another tip is to close workouts with exercises that enhance the stretch for the target groups, like Nordics or RDLs on leg days or the fly machine on a chest day.

 

[Shartnado]

9 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Quick question for @Shartnado and anyone else who cares to weigh in.  What’s your opinion on stretching before lifting?  I used to run for 10 minutes to warm up, then go lift, no warmup sets.  But I worked out a few times with a trainer and he recommended stretching.  So lately, I run for five minutes, stretch whatever muscle group(s) I’m working that day, then I lift, doing three warmup sets on whatever my first exercise is.  I’d rather run for 10 minutes and get the added calorie burn and cardio benefit if stretching isn’t that important.  Thoughts?  Thanks!

What you are doing now sounds good to me. I usually already have a bike ride or a work day behind me before workout, so I'm properly warmed up and limber (as much as one can hope at this stage) from the get-go. I do stuff with a broom stick to stretch and warm-up shoulders and rotator cuffs and face pulls and scapula work with resistance band(s) before I start for real. After each workout I also use a hard foamroller on my back and quads and then hang upside down for a few minutes. This has worked for me for a good while now. If I have the time, I also try and take a minute to stretch my hamstriings and quads during the workday. At home, I use the electric massage hammer every now and then, mostly on my traps, arms and shoulders. All in all, warming up and being warmed up before a workout is more important than stretching, if you're only going to do one or the other.

[Log]

I don't stretch before I lift, technically. I like to do an active warm-up. I have a few moves I do before every workout mixed with some lift-specific ones. Like, on my squat day, I'll do touchdown squats on the stairs, banded hip mobilizations and kettlebell weight shifts. That's in addition to some warmup for my core and my shoulders/back.

I look at it as getting the muscles "primed" rather than stretched out.

Post-workout, like @Shartnado , I do some foam rolling.

I've been doing this for the past few months, and so far, so good.

[Contentious C]

The "breathing in on leg extensions" thing is... OK, I suppose?  It does kinda feel like it braces your core a little better so you stay rooted into the back of the seat, but that's the only thing that was even marginally different, and that could be confirmation bias since I expected it.  If anything, having to think about breathing in meant I wasn't focused on what my lower legs and feet were doing.  I dunno.  Weird.

[Contentious C]

OK, so I just searched the topic and it came up kind of empty so, maybe it's time for us to talk about something we're all ignoring.

Shoes!

What shoes do you have for lifting? I've been wearing a pair of Merrell Road Glove 2s for about 10 years now, but they're starting to get a bit threadbare (they only come out for the gym, which is why they lasted this long).  One of the things I picked up from Squat University on YT was the idea that I needed a wider toe box.  My feet aren't huge, but they're not small, either, and most of my 'regular' shoes feel better when they run a little wide.  And my Road Glove 2s are...not that.  They're usually a struggle to get into, so I've wondered if that's a little bit of an instability issue for things like squats.

I just ordered a pair of Xero Prios in Mykonos Blue and they seem like a potentially viable option.  I definitely prefer the more "barefoot" styles because I like being able to actually feel the ground under my pressure points, and these are supposed to run wider than their other styles.  I'm skipping Merrell because they discontinued the Road Glove ages ago, and the newer Trail & Vapor Gloves have this dumbass gel crap as the 'sole' that feels super-unstable, particularly in the heel.  So maybe these will be better.  On the other hand, I ordered them online and buying shoes online is a giant fucking crapshoot, and there's only one REI store close by to return them, and it's a massive PITA to park there, so...maybe I just bit off more than I want to chew.  Or maybe they're going to be just what I need.

[Shartnado]

Re: Shoes

Mine are Under Armour training shoes that I got last fall. They have been definitely good enough, I don't think they are anything too special. The price was very reasonable when I bought them. Before that, I had a pair of black Nike trainers for yeah, close to a decade.

For running, I have a pair of New Balance running shoes that have been very good so far. I will get a pair just like them, once I have worn these ones out.

Edit. As for this week, I came down with a slight flu, so it has been shit. Not enough to knock me down, but enough for me to understand that running and working out were definitely out of the question. So, a terrible start for the diet. All I could do was to restrict my caloric intake, which I certainly did. The weight stayed pretty much unchanged for most of the week at 184, but was down to 181 this morning. As I said, I'm starting at a lower than usual weight, so it shouldn't be much of a setback aside from the fact that I'm not looking as lean as I should at this weight. Here's to hoping that I'll be back in the game by next week.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Shartnado
Might as well edit this in here

[Log]

I squat in a pair of Adidas lifters. For anything else, I have a pair of Nike Metcons from a few years ago that I wear.

I do a lot barefoot now. I deadlift barefoot, and do things like split squats or 1-let RDLs barefoot. I have a gym at home, so I don't have to worry about anyone's rules. I tried squatting barefoot for a while, and noticed that I need to have my heels sightly elevated, so I went back to the lifters.

[Contentious C]

Hmm, I wonder if I would struggle less with Bulgarians while barefoot. My gym is pretty cool about temporarily taking off shoes.

Nah, probably not, I have the worst balance ever for someone who doesn't have a diagnosed problem (guess I should find one, gotta catch em all, medically speaking).

Edited May 4, 2023 by Contentious C

[The Natural]

Please keep the following to here and away from Facebook for now:

I had a great first half of today doing Pilates for the first time and the second half really went downhill. An emergency doctor's appointment led to me getting sent straight to hospital and an emergency operation tomorrow. Gym, swimming, pilates and yoga's going to be out. Bugger.

Edited May 4, 2023 by The Natural

[Shartnado]

8 hours ago, The Natural said:

Please keep the following to here and away from Facebook for now:

I had a great first half of today doing Pilates for the first time and the second half really went downhill. An emergency doctor's appointment led to me getting sent straight to hospital and an emergency operation tomorrow. Gym, swimming, pilates and yoga's going to be out. Bugger.

Well, that's just terrible! I hope you will be OK and everything will go as planned with the surgery. Man, that just plain sucks! Dammit.