Questions for weight lifting/fitness freaks.

[Guest]

I know this isnt a fitness forum, but I think this is the best place for this type of question, as a lot of you seem to have a 'keep fit regime'.

For all you keep fit/weight-lifting freaks-

What would you say was an decent fitness regime without actually going to the gym?

At home I have some 1 1/4 kg x2 (on each) hand weights sitting under my bed collecting dust.

Surely If I at least did 15 mins a day doing a combo of 100 lifts with those using in different ways + 50 sit ups, this would surely do some difference if I did this each day. Or would it make hardly any difference at all?

What would you say would be a decent home fitness regime for up in your room?

While I'm waiting for progress with minoxidil/finasteride, I might as well, do something constructive.

Will doing this daily speed up male pattern baldness?

I don't want to do take creatine or anything. Just a natural daily fitness regime.

- A bit like Danny Zuko from Grease - lol

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Re: Advice on weightlifting

I know this isnt a fitness forum, but I think this is the best place for this type of question, as a lot of you seem to have a 'keep fit regime'.

For all you keep fit/weight-lifting freaks-

What would you say was an decent fitness regime without actually going to the gym?

At home I have some 1 1/4 kg x2 (on each) hand weights sitting under my bed collecting dust.

Surely If I at least did 15 mins a day doing a combo of 100 lifts with those using in different ways + 50 sit ups, this would surely do some difference if I did this each day. Or would it make hardly any difference at all?

What would you say would be a decent home fitness regime for up in your room?

While I'm waiting for progress with minoxidil/finasteride, I might as well, do something constructive.

Will doing this daily speed up male pattern baldness?

I don't want to do take creatine or anything. Just a natural daily fitness regime.

- A bit like Danny Zuko from Grease - lol

Thanks.

You cannot get any real fitness benefit from the hand weights. Useless unless you want to use them as a weapon.

You can get a decent workout in your room if you can hook up a doorway chinning bar. Using chins, pullups, pushups, ab exercises and hindu/free squats, you can do very nicely.

Alternating the exercises will get your pulse up too.

For a bodyweight workout that will kill you, email me and I will send you a site to check out.

Re: creatine, it works, its safe and it is cheap.

Good luck

 

[dave01_us]

I bought a bowflex in May and love it also on Nitro Tech and Creatine to add more mass to my 6'4" frame

 

[Guest]

If you have the dough, the bowflex is a very very good machine. You can get a schwinn bowflex at Sports Authority for $799. which is about the best deal around on a new one.

 

[Bob Booley]

But Dave01... your monstorous 6'4" frame doesn't hide the fact that you have a bald shiny head on top!!!

 

[Guest]

But Dave01... your monstorous 6'4" frame doesn't hide the fact that you have a bald shiny head on top!!!

So, Bob, why are you posting here anyway??

 

[Healthy Nick]

I own a Bowflex, but I never use it. it is too complicated. I don't feel like I can get real results from it for some reason. I kind of abandoned it, and I have a bad taste in my mouth. Motivate me folks!

 

[Guest]

All I require for now is just a simple daily regime that will improve you over time, then up it after about 4/5 months.

Anyone done a similer thing?

Anyone here seen results in their upper strength from a regime on a daily basis, or any fitness regime at all? How long did it take you to see results in your fitness - without using creatine or anything?

If you did use any suplements then, also, how long did it take you to see results from your fitness regime?

For example, if a person did:-

Monday :- 50 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins.

Tuesday :- 25 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. lasting about 20 mins.

Wednesday :- 25 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins.

Thursday :-50 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins.

Friday :- 25 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins.

Saturday :-25 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins.

Sunday :- 50 sit ups, 50 reps on each arm using 1.1/4 kg hand weights + plus other lifts with the same weights. Lasting about 20 mins in all.

- Plus biking to work (which I have to anyway) for 15 mins Mon-Fri.

Would this sort of thing make some difference, or would it make little difference at best, if did for 2/3 months?

I'm a slim person btw.

 

[Guest]

Back to my first answer.

The handweights will do NOTHING in regard to strength.

Work on pushups, pullups, crunches/leg raises. squats.

Methodology can be gleaned from several books available at http://www.dragondoor.com. Also try http://www.stadion.con.

Oh, and for the last time, your hand weights will do nothing for strength, nothing.

You don't need creatine, it just makes things like getting stronger, easier.

 

[Guest]

Back to my first answer.

The handweights will do NOTHING in regard to strength.

Work on pushups, pullups, crunches/leg raises. squats.

Methodology can be gleaned from several books available at http://www.dragondoor.com. Also try http://www.stadion.con.

Oh, and for the last time, your hand weights will do nothing for strength, nothing.

You don't need creatine, it just makes things like getting stronger, easier.

What are hand weights used for then Bruce?

Oh yeah, fighting, like you suggested in your 1st post.

Stop talking rubbish. Of course they help.

You must be the only person who has dismissed them completely in all the forums I've posted this question.

Thanks for the links anyway.

Now, does anyone want to offer anything else?

 

[Guest]

Back to my first answer.

The handweights will do NOTHING in regard to strength.

Work on pushups, pullups, crunches/leg raises. squats.

Methodology can be gleaned from several books available at http://www.dragondoor.com. Also try http://www.stadion.con.

Oh, and for the last time, your hand weights will do nothing for strength, nothing.

You don't need creatine, it just makes things like getting stronger, easier.

What are hand weights used for then Bruce?

Oh yeah, fighting, like you suggested in your 1st post.

Stop talking rubbish. Of course they help.

You must be the only person who has dismissed them completely in all the forums I've posted this question.

Thanks for the links anyway.

Now, does anyone want to offer anything else?

You asked if the hand weights will help you build upper body strength. I contend they will do NOTHING to help you accomplish that goal. I would like to see any research (not opinion) that supports the use of 1 or 2 lbs weights to build any significant strength or body mass.

This simply is a non-starter. But you seem to want us to tell you yes anyway since you have them.

So, here is an experiment.

Go to a gym and have someone test you on a straight barbell curl, to see what your 1, 5 and 10 rep max is (normal test of dynamic strength).

Then go home and train for four weeks and curl those puny weights say, 100 times a day like you seem destined to do. Hell, make it a 1000 times.

Go back and test yourself at the gym in four weeks.

Want to bet how much strength you will have gained? Body mass increases??

During that same time, I will do pullups and I then get tested.

Want to bet how I do vs. you?

Again, you seem to want us to tell you your hand weight workout will work.

So, here you go,

SURE IT WILL WORK FINE!!

 

[nomad]

I drink a protein shake every morning, run 3 miles a day, do 50 pushups every 2 days, a variey of sit-up techniques, and an upper body work out every 2 days as well with freeweights to keep toned. I basically use the exact same workout routine that I used back when I played football, except for squats and bench. I have great results and I enjoy doing it because I know it works and I am not wasting time and energy on a crap workout.

Nomad

 

[Guest]

Simple, functional and effective!!!!!



Pullups: A Matter of Function

John "Pullups" Allstadt



Take a look around the majority of gyms in America , and what will you see?


Guys bench pressing. Guys incline pressing. Guys working their chest and arms into a state of non-functional pump. Some of these characters can even bench press decent weights without the aid of support gear (although, if I were they, I wouldn't go bragging to any power lifters). In fact, bench presses above and beyond 300 pounds are almost common in the commercial gyms of today.


You know what I say to that? I say whoopadeedo. Who cares? What can these guys deadlift? What can they squat? What can they clean, or overhead press, or snatch with dumbbells or barbells or, God forbid, kettlebells? What can these guys lift in any of the numerous lifts that require true functional strength? Last but certainly not least, what can these guys pullup or chin?


The unfortunate answer to all of these questions is-diddley squat.


(Please understand that I mean no offense to powerlifters. A big bench press can be an impressive thing in CONJUNCTION with lifts that display all-around power, such as the deadlift or squat. One-trick ponies do not impress me, particularly when it comes to the bench press.)


Let's focus on what are possibly the simplest of the aforementioned lifts: pullups and chins. I have personally witnessed 300+ pound bench pressers failing to do a set of 5 measly pullups. For that matter, I know of one man who can incline press 400 pounds (400!), yet who, on being coaxed into a set of pullups, hit failure at three reps. Three reps! This is a pathetic state of affairs.


It wasn't always this way. Consider the following pullup and chinup performances of some of the strength game's true greats. John Grimek and Olympic lifting legend John Davis could both chin themselves six or seven times with EITHER ARM, at bodyweights of around 200 pounds. Eugene Sandow could perform a one-arm chin with ANY ONE OF HIS TEN FINGERS, at a bodyweight of around 190. Marvin Eder could perform 11 one-arm pullups at a bodyweight of no less than 195, and also do 80 (that's right, 80) consecutive two-arm pullups. For you smaller guys, consider the many gymnasts out there who can perform numerous one-arm pullups, or even more frightening, the rock climbers of today who can chin themselves with as much as 150% of bodyweight.... with ONE arm! And of course, for you really big guys, think about this: Bert Assarti, a strength legend from the early 1940's, could chin himself three times with either arm at a bodyweight of 265 pounds! Mr. Assarti could also do a two-arm pullup with over 200 pounds of additional weight strapped to his body. Keep in mind that all of these performances were done well before anabolic steroids reared their ugly heads.


Now that you have a little inspiration, let's talk about how to train for pullup and chinning strength.As with most lifts, there are numerous ways to train for pullup power, as long as one stays within a general set of rules.


Rule number one: in accordance with Pavel's logic, forget about training to failure. You can train close, within a rep or two, and occasionally (perhaps once or twice a month) push a set all out (read: A SET), but if you train to failure often, forget about achieving true pullup power, and start worrying about your frayed and shattered nerves.


Rule number two: Vary your grip . I know that Pavel believes in overhand pullups first and foremost, and I do too. However, if you are not a member of SWAT personnel, and do not have to climb walls and ledges on a regular basis, go ahead and vary your grip. Doing so will ward off boredom, and train your neural pathways to a wider degree. Grips worth using are: 1) Overhand or underhand, with or without thumbs. 2) Neutral grip--the best way to do these would be to drape a thick towel over the bar for maximum grip work.


Worthless techniques 1) Wide grip pullups and 2) Pullups behind the neck. For some reason, boobybuilders think that a very wide grip makes for very wide lats! Ha! This is bogus for a few reasons, the first being the greatly reduced range of motion, the second being the greatly reduced leverage, and the third being the extreme stress on your rotator cuffs. Optimal leverage is extremely important in strength training.


Question: would you try to pull a heavy deadlift on your toes with a rounded back? I didn't think so. As for pullups behind the neck, the same reasons apply. Do yourself and your shoulders a favor--keep your grip slightly wider than shoulder width or less, and pull to your chest, not to the back of your neck. And no grip aids please! (chalk is o.k.)


Rule number three: You can vary the number of reps you use, just don't do it excessively. Pick a training goal. If it is maximum muscular endurance, stick primarily to high reps. If it is maximum pullup power, stick with five reps or less ( I prefer lower reps and use high rep DBell or KBell quick lifts for muscular endurance. Just a matter of preference).


Every so often, do the exact opposite of your current routine. If you are training low reps go high one workout, and if you are doing high reps try for some heavy sets of 3-5. That being said, there seems to be a fair degree of carryover either way, so don't sweat it if you are in a situation where you can only train high reps.


There really aren't any "tricks" to training pullups. In my training, there are only two things I do that I suppose one could consider "tricks". The first, and I have been doing this for as long as I can remember, is to alternate sets of overhead presses with my pullups. Not superset, but alternate. Do a set of presses ( whether they be handstand pushups, barbell or dumbbell presses, or kettlebell presses). Rest about a minute, then do a set of pullups. Rest another minute and go back to presses, and so on and so forth. This method not only saves time, but also allows the antagonist muscle groups to relax as the other muscle groups are working.


The second "trick" is to go out and find something weird and hard to do pullups on, such as rafters, door frames, or a sturdy tree branch. I do this for the variety, but more for the experience, just in case I happen to be stuck somewhere where there are no training facilities and I am forced to improvise ( this HAS happened to me, and I'm sure it will happen to you).


One of the great things about pullups is that with a little imagination, you can do them just about anywhere.


Here is my current pullup and overall training schedule. It is performed 3-5 days per week. Remember that I stick to this for the most part, but occasionally change things up for the hell of it.







Presses ( Handstand pushups or Kbell, Bbell, or Dbell). alternated with chins or pullups for 4-8 sets of 3-5 reps.

One legged squats 3-5 sets stopping a rep before failure.

Kbell or Dbell work (snatches, one or two arm cleans or clean- and-jerks), 4-6 sets of 5-20 reps, sometimes doing drop sets (when I can stomach it).

Hanging leg raises, 3-4 sets (these should help with your pullups).

I occasionally do weighted dips for two sets of 5-6 reps.



That's it. Keep in mind that there are many ways to skin a cat. This one just happens to be the most effective for me. Now check out the John Allstadt Guide to Pullup Greatness below, and get cracking!



The John Allstadt Guide to Pullup Greatness

 

[Guest]

More stuff


Strength Training Principles
Perform a minimum of eight to 10 separate exercises that train the major muscle groups (arm, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back, hips, and legs).


Perform at least one set of eight to 12 repetitions of each of these exercises to the point of muscle fatigue.

Do strength training two to three days per week (extra sets or days per week give little additional advantage for most people).


Perform every exercise through a full range of motion.


Maintain a normal breathing pattern (holding your breath while lifting).


Exercise with a partner if possible for added feedback, motivation, and safety.
Kinds of Exercises
Lifting weights or using weight machines is one of the best ways to improve strength. You can also do calisthenics such as sit-ups or curl-ups, push-ups, or pull-ups by using your body as the weight or resistance. Getting a few dumbbells is inexpensive and they are helpful for arm and shoulder exercises.

When first beginning, get help from a fitness trainer or knowledgeable friend to help you select a variety of appropriate strength training exercises and to help you in your technique.

Progression

Be sure to warm up before doing any near maximal activities. Start with easier activities and gradually progress to more strenuous workouts as you become used to the activity and your strength improves. This is especially important when you are first starting to prevent sore muscles.

Keep a written record of your progress including the exercises you do, the weight resistance, and how many days you train. It's rewarding to see your progress week by week as your strength improves.

Keep your workouts fun by doing them with other people. Exercise to your favorite music. Don't overdo. It needs to be fun if you intend to keep it up for a lifetime.

Strength Building Exercises
Examples using resistance equipment

Leg extension
Lateral pull-down
Back hyperextension
Standing press
Biceps curl
Toe raise
Leg curl
Triceps extension
Seated leg press
Rowing
Bench press

Examples using conditioning exercises and hand weights

Bent-knee sit-up or curl-up
Side leg raisers while lying on side
Arm curl with hand weights
Triceps press, standing using hand weights (with arms extended overhead, bring weights back over head to shoulders and then extend overhead again using triceps)
Pull-ups using a bar
Shoulder shrug with hand weights
Side arm lifts, using hand weights
Push-ups from knees or toes
Wall slide/sit (feet 12 inches from wall, slide down to a sitting position, then slide back up)
Back hyperextension (lying on stomach, raise head and shoulders from mat keeping chin tucked in)

Sources:

1. Physical Activity and Health, A Report of the Surgeon General, 1999. Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/sgr.htm. Accessed January 16, 2002.


2. American College of Sports Medicine. Guidelines for Exercise, Testing and Prescription, 6th ed. 2000. Lippincott William & Wilkins, Philadelphia.
Building lean body mass with strength training enhances your metabolic rate.
Surgeon General's Report on Fitness and Health

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[zak84]

here's my gym workout routine, i do four exercises for each muscle

monday and thursdaychest, back, biceps, forearms)

chest:

flat/decline/incline bench press, in that order and ill switch it up from time to time using dumbells and barbell

then either flyes, cable cross-overs, or weighted dips


back:

close grip pulldowns
rows (varies from machine, dumbbell and barbell)
t-bar
pullups

biceps:

reverse preacher curl
concentrated curl
cable curl
incline curls

forearms:

front and back wrist raises

tuesday and friday (legs, triceps, deltoids)

legs:

squat
leg curls
leg press
leg extension
seated calf raises
standing calf raises

triceps:

skull crushers
close grip bench press
push downs
seated dips


shoulders:

military press
lateral raises
posterior deltoid reverse fly
should pull ups


i do 45 minutes of cardio (usually on an ellipitical) and abs everyday

i also take creatine and have never had any problems with it

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hey Brucelee, just wondering what sort of weight you overhead press and whether you wear a weightlifting belt to support your back?

Slarti

 

[Guest]

Hey Brucelee, just wondering what sort of weight you overhead press and whether you wear a weightlifting belt to support your back?

Slarti

I dont do much overhead pressing these days as my shoulder (which has been surgically repaired) does not handle it all that well.

I used to military press about 120-140 in training reps and had a max of near 200 but that was many years ago (body weight 160).

I have always used a belt when doing certain exercises but that may be just because it feels more comforting. Some folks don't support this notion.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I dont do much overhead pressing these days as my shoulder (which has been surgically repaired) does not handle it all that well.

I used to military press about 120-140 in training reps and had a max of near 200 but that was many years ago (body weight 160).

Sorry to hear about your shoulder, hope it doesn't give you too much grief.

I usually overhead press about half a dozen reps at 180 (body weight 168) so do you think it would be beneficial to reduce the weight to allow more reps?

Thanks,
Slarti

 

[VoRteX]

Here is my regimen for anyone that cares

MWF weight split
Monday-chest shoulders tri
Tuesday-Back/Biceps
Friday-Legs

My overall strength is a bench max of 250lbs
I can squat free weight 315x10
Deadlift 225x10
Leg press 600lbsx10 with full range of motion.

I do cardio on my off days. I do cardio at least 3-4days/week keeping my HR 140-180 for 30-40minutes depending on the type of session I do.

In the last 6months I've lost 25lbs of pure fat while gaining muscle mass.

My goal is another 30lbs of pure fat loss while continuing to build mass. I eat low carb/moderate fat/high protein and try to keep my cals at 2000-2500/day(i weigh 223). I could probably lose weight faster considering all the exercise I do but those damn frequent cheat days kill me :freaked2:

 

[Guest]

I dont do much overhead pressing these days as my shoulder (which has been surgically repaired) does not handle it all that well.

I used to military press about 120-140 in training reps and had a max of near 200 but that was many years ago (body weight 160).

Sorry to hear about your shoulder, hope it doesn't give you too much grief.

I usually overhead press about half a dozen reps at 180 (body weight 168) so do you think it would be beneficial to reduce the weight to allow more reps?

Thanks,
Slarti

My shoulder is fine now as long as I behave.

On the reps, it all depends on what you are training for. What are your training goals?

BTW-those are very impressive poundages for your bodyweight.

Way to go!