Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

[Amber the Hedgehog]

Not exactly on topic but is there anyway to do strength training that isn't about repeating same small movements over and over again? If not any tips making less awful for my situation.

Do health issues and moving to other side of the country I'm working on getting back in shape and since I don't care for any form exercise anyway I thought why not give a new try on weight lifting too? I'm exercising purely for long term health and I know strength training is highly recommended for that. I have fairly decent idea what I'm going do with cardio but haven't found way to not be completely miserable while doing strength training.

Like I said I don't like exercising so I don't like cardio but I can get my walking done as long as treat is a mindless shore that I do during week but have weekends and holidays off. Might sound bad but after years of trying like and enjoy exercising or moving, trying so many different sports and ways to be physically active, this has so far resulted least amount bad feelings and best results. Since I don't like what exercise feels during or after and I don't find getting better at it rewarding, I just try get done so takes least amount mental energy. Walking is my cardio of choice because it doesn't require much reparations, I can do it anywhere, when walking I can basically just distract myself from what I'm doing and I only have keep eye on time. So I keep walking without stopping for 30 minutes, then get go home and as soons as the unpleasant after exercise feeling goes away, I get forget exercising till next day. It's still bad part of my life but perfectly manageable, especially because I have off days when I don't have think exercising at all.

I tried this approach to with lifting weights and body weight exercises before and I was just miserable. The biggest issues being that I absolutely hate repetition, I get distracted easily and so loose track what I have already done and unlike with cardio you actually have pay attention what you are doing. I can't just mindlessly get it done but instead have go trough list of various moves, have keep counting that I'm doing right amount, look that moves go just right and push hard enough to actually build mussels. To me this all worst parts of exercising all in one. The feelings, repatriation and keeping count.

So is there anyway to do strength training that minimizes these sides that are really not my cup of tea? I have some weights at home already and hopefully next month access to a gym.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

Not exactly on topic but is there anyway to do strength training that isn't about repeating same small movements over and over again? If not any tips making less awful for my situation.

Do health issues and moving to other side of the country I'm working on getting back in shape and since I don't care for any form exercise anyway I thought why not give a new try on weight lifting too? I'm exercising purely for long term health and I know strength training is highly recommended for that. I have fairly decent idea what I'm going do with cardio but haven't found way to not be completely miserable while doing strength training.

Like I said I don't like exercising so I don't like cardio but I can get my walking done as long as treat is a mindless shore that I do during week but have weekends and holidays off. Might sound bad but after years of trying like and enjoy exercising or moving, trying so many different sports and ways to be physically active, this has so far resulted least amount bad feelings and best results. Since I don't like what exercise feels during or after and I don't find getting better at it rewarding, I just try get done so takes least amount mental energy. Walking is my cardio of choice because it doesn't require much reparations, I can do it anywhere, when walking I can basically just distract myself from what I'm doing and I only have keep eye on time. So I keep walking without stopping for 30 minutes, then get go home and as soons as the unpleasant after exercise feeling goes away, I get forget exercising till next day. It's still bad part of my life but perfectly manageable, especially because I have off days when I don't have think exercising at all.

I tried this approach to with lifting weights and body weight exercises before and I was just miserable. The biggest issues being that I absolutely hate repetition, I get distracted easily and so loose track what I have already done and unlike with cardio you actually have pay attention what you are doing. I can't just mindlessly get it done but instead have go trough list of various moves, have keep counting that I'm doing right amount, look that moves go just right and push hard enough to actually build mussels. To me this all worst parts of exercising all in one. The feelings, repatriation and keeping count.

So is there anyway to do strength training that minimizes these sides that are really not my cup of tea? I have some weights at home already and hopefully next month access to a gym.

It depends what you mean by ‘strength’. If your thinking something like powerlifting, then you will likely be doing the same thing over again. However, if your not married to one system and you’re good with building different types of strength, there’s a lot you could do.
There’s these things that have been called “Flows”, where you have a tool like a kettlebell or a gada and you swing them around in various patterns and improvise once you get better and better. Those are great for a workout, are fun once you get the hang of it, and will absolutely get you stronger. Same with calisthenics, you can do circuits of various moves and some people fall in love with the feeling of moving their body in whatever way the desire.
Otherwise, it’s about building the habit and just grinding away until you either find something you live to do or just enjoy the feeling of exercise. Mostly, in my experience, this happens in about a mount or two, once you start to actually notice progress and improvement.
Walking is great, keep up with that.

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

It depends what you mean by ‘strength’. If your thinking something like powerlifting, then you will likely be doing the same thing over again. However, if your not married to one system and you’re good with building different types of strength, there’s a lot you could do.
There’s these things that have been called “Flows”, where you have a tool like a kettlebell or a gada and you swing them around in various patterns and improvise once you get better and better. Those are great for a workout, are fun once you get the hang of it, and will absolutely get you stronger. Same with calisthenics, you can do circuits of various moves and some people fall in love with the feeling of moving their body in whatever way the desire.
Otherwise, it’s about building the habit and just grinding away until you either find something you live to do or just enjoy the feeling of exercise. Mostly, in my experience, this happens in about a mount or two, once you start to actually notice progress and improvement.

More like general strength I guess, don't really know the terms. Like I said I'm in this for health so not really body building, just good posture, being able to lift crap when needed and not getting pain from too weak mussels. I'm a woman in early 30s if that has anything to do with anything.

That flow thing does sound promising. Any tips to where start or where to look advice?

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

More like general strength I guess, don't really know the terms. Like I said I'm in this for health so not really body building, just good posture, being able to lift crap when needed and not getting pain from too weak mussels. I'm a woman in early 30s if that has anything to do with anything.

That flow thing does sound promising. Any tips to where start or where to look advice?

In general, it varies form person to person, training an average man and an average woman isn’t too too different, they just tend to have different goals. But, since you are interested in general health, here’s a good routine to start off with. I would personally add some flexibility and stretching in, and Yoga with Adrienne is a great channel on YouTube for that.
As for the flows, Mark Wildman has many many videos on techniques with kettlebells, clubs, maces, things like that. He’s an expert, but you can easily lower the weight and string together your own flows once you get the grasp of things.
Overall, just keep at it, do some research, and eventually you will find something you really enjoy doing. Fitness isn’t anything close to one size fits all, so explore your options. The only thing you have to do is get into the routine, that’s all that really matters.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I would personally add some flexibility and stretching in, and Yoga with Adrienne is a great channel on YouTube for that.

I've been meaning to ask regarding this, I just wasn't sure if it was necessarily relevant to this thread. But since flexibility's good for weightlifting, what the hell.

I've been doing yoga for about a year, but I'm still very stiff, especially in my hips and hamstrings. I haven't been able to touch my toes without bending my legs for years now. Despite doing 35 minutes of yoga every day, I can't seem to get any more limber. Not to say there hasn't been any improvement, because my legs are slightly less stiff and I can actually touch the floor during a wide-legged fold, but I haven't seen much progress in general.

It might be because I am sedentary when I'm not exercising, and I've read this can cause incredibly stiff hips, but it's weird how even after a year I still can't do something as basic as touch my toes. Part of me thinks I'm doing something wrong, especially since I'm using a yoga app with no live instruction so I'm not receiving the guidance I need.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

I've been meaning to ask regarding this, I just wasn't sure if it was necessarily relevant to this thread. But since flexibility's good for weightlifting, what the hell.

I've been doing yoga for about a year, but I'm still very stiff, especially in my hips and hamstrings. I haven't been able to touch my toes without bending my legs for years now. Despite doing 35 minutes of yoga every day, I can't seem to get any more limber. Not to say there hasn't been any improvement, because my legs are slightly less stiff and I can actually touch the floor during a wide-legged fold, but I haven't seen much progress in general.

It might be because I am sedentary when I'm not exercising, and I've read this can cause incredibly stiff hips, but it's weird how even after a year I still can't do something as basic as touch my toes. Part of me thinks I'm doing something wrong, especially since I'm using a yoga app with no live instruction so I'm not receiving the guidance I need.

You might want to try different routines, and maybe ask your GP is you’re really worried about it. It’s hard to give really specific advice over the Internet.

 

[Canoodler]

I did 50 pushups today and I felt really light headed and had to lie down for a while. I've been able to do 50 for a while now, and I haven't gotten light headed before, so it's not like I did more than I could handle. I'm not quite sure what caused it.

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

I've been meaning to ask regarding this, I just wasn't sure if it was necessarily relevant to this thread. But since flexibility's good for weightlifting, what the hell.

I've been doing yoga for about a year, but I'm still very stiff, especially in my hips and hamstrings. I haven't been able to touch my toes without bending my legs for years now. Despite doing 35 minutes of yoga every day, I can't seem to get any more limber. Not to say there hasn't been any improvement, because my legs are slightly less stiff and I can actually touch the floor during a wide-legged fold, but I haven't seen much progress in general.

It might be because I am sedentary when I'm not exercising, and I've read this can cause incredibly stiff hips, but it's weird how even after a year I still can't do something as basic as touch my toes. Part of me thinks I'm doing something wrong, especially since I'm using a yoga app with no live instruction so I'm not receiving the guidance I need.

My brother has overly stiff mussels do his disability. He does regular almost daily flexibility exercises but the ones he does on his own can only maintain not actually improve his flexibility. He simply can't get the right pressure on his own to many areas of the body. His physio therapist helps him not only do the training harder and in better form but also gives massage afterwards when needed. This is crucial to him see any real results .

While your condition isn't as bad as his, you might be in similar boat and need outside help get ball really going. You probably aren't putting enough or right kind of pressure. Other explanation might be that you have unevenness in you mussel groups that makes bending in some directions hard. It might be worth to consider consultation with professional of some sort but as the previous post said impossible to say trough internet.

 

[WolfeTone]

An excellent way to maximize strength training while minimizing join damage is by adding small, 2.5-5 pound weights to your set every time, as well as going as slowly as possible.

Also always mind your form, squared shoulders, elbows don't go under 90 degrees and neither do knees. Same goes for going over 180 degrees, never lock a joint.

Flexibility is something that must be sacrificed for muscular form. Becoming musclebound is inevitable when you do targeted strength training, so a balance must be struck depending on what you want to do.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

An excellent way to maximize strength training while minimizing join damage is by adding small, 2.5-5 pound weights to your set every time, as well as going as slowly as possible.

Also always mind your form, squared shoulders, elbows don't go under 90 degrees and neither do knees. Same goes for going over 180 degrees, never lock a joint.

Flexibility is something that must be sacrificed for muscular form. Becoming musclebound is inevitable when you do targeted strength training, so a balance must be struck depending on what you want to do.

I have to disagree a little bit on that last point, you can absolutely become flexible while being swoled up. Not contortionist or master yogi levels, but still plenty stretchy.
Many Golden Age bodybuilders stretched all the time, considering it part of the training.
Flex Wheeler, pictured here;

had a deeper split than most people., and he was by no means small. Even Tom Platz, the Quadfather himself, was pretty flexible given his monstrous legs:

I think a large reason why people don’t think a big muscly dude could be flexible is because many of them just don’t bother with training flexibility.

 

[KateHikes14]

This is more about the food and "food" of working out, but as summer sneaks towards us, it is time to cut. I usually get the 20kg flour bag of whey isolate 90% unflavored, lasts about a year or so, Purebulk.com love it, recommend it.
But man cannot live on whey alone, for hitting those macros what do the swole here use to get their protein and not much else?

 

[JustFuckinaDude]

I did 50 pushups today and I felt really light headed and had to lie down for a while. I've been able to do 50 for a while now, and I haven't gotten light headed before, so it's not like I did more than I could handle. I'm not quite sure what caused it.

Dehydrated, poor nutrition, illness, lack of warm up spring to the top of my mind.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

This is more about the food and "food" of working out, but as summer sneaks towards us, it is time to cut. I usually get the 20kg flour bag of whey isolate 90% unflavored, lasts about a year or so, Purebulk.com love it, recommend it.
But man cannot live on whey alone, for hitting those macros what do the swole here use to get their protein and not much else?

Egg whites are great for cooking with, loads of different recipes. Fish is a great meat, squid is very overlooked as well. Ground turkey is good, as is lean ground beef or chicken.
As for protein powders, I usually just use them to cook with because if I drink it it won’t fill me up much. A mix of oatmeal, p2b peanut butter, sugar free raspberry jam, ground flax seed, and a scoop of protein powder is a pretty typical breakfast.
One great thing for protein is 0% fat Greek yogurt. It’s basically just protein, and you can mix in whatever you want, I really like Waldens Farm syrup or sugar free jelly in it.
Cardio is also something that’s important, aside from general health it’s also because you can eat more.

 

[Megatardingo]

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

 

[KateHikes14]

p2b peanut butter

Thanks I had never heard of powdered peanut butter before, that sounds like an amazing addition to my routine and a way to avoid (((added sugars))).

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

No definitely not necessary, but the various supplements can give you benefits you would have a varying hard time integrating into your diet. Whey protein will help you recover quicker and make it easier to get the appropriate amount of protein in your diet. Fish oils offer help with joint and brain health. Those two examples can also be had from proper diet too, but the supplements are as simple as a shake and a couple pills respectively. There is also a significant point of diminishing returns as your stack grows, and it's far more important to actually get that gym time.

 

[nigger of the north]

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

Yes and no.

I'm a believer of if your diet is good and you're sleeping well, a moderate supplement regime will give you a little benefit. Fish oil, a multivitamin, vitamin D3 (if you live in a sunless shithole like Bongland,) creatine, and whey protein. Any other of the more uncommon supps, are, in my opinion, useless, or not worth the expense for the added 0.1% increase in performance you'll experience. Some people even claim whey and creatine are useless, but I can't agree with that.

Unrelated, but I was recently pointed in the direction of 'flared elbow' benching by an experienced powerlifter on r/weightroom.

I've been benching since the beginning with 45 degree elbows, keeping them 'tucked' as classic advice dictates. It turns out however that this piece of oft-toted advice is actually a cue from equipped powerlifting, being more reliant on tricep power and aiding in lowering the bar in bench suits.

According to some informative videos and an article this guy shared, benching with elbows flared, with most of the weight 'in hand' focussed on the outer fingers, it's perfectly safe to bench with more parallel elbows, touching at the same spot as you would with elbows tucked. The latter position being very tricep reliant, it does explain why my triceps have immense power, and how I get little chest activation unless I hit huge volume.

Supposedly, those who make the switch to flared elbows experience PRs on their first session. I've yet to try this and confirm, but will do on my next chest session on the weekend. I'll report back and share my experiences.

Moreover, it does explain my confusing OHP: bench press ratio, which is heavily skewed in favour of the OHP. According to traditional ratios, a 90kg~ OHP should see my bench being in the 130-5kg range, when it's nowhere near that.

 

[Lichen Bark]

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

If you're getting the required amounts of protein I would say you are good without it. Sometimes though, if you have an off day, or didn't plan properly a protein shake can get you where you need to be in relation to your daily protein goal. My buddy just eats chicken breasts like a fiend. Supplements aren't necessary. You're better off spending your money on a little robot that shocks you when you don't do your strength training.

 

[Bassomatic]

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

Hit macros and be ok.

Age is a thing too, I hate to admit it but being a fucking old man, protein shakes and few slices of chicken are a meal some times. Back when I was a little basso, dirty bulk meant go to a 6 pack vs 8 pack.

Creatine is a mixed thing not everyone works well with it (lots of people misuse but another story)

More "advanced" sups are great used correctly.

I tend to just eat well and feel ok but I could lean out adapting food for zinc pills or some shit, but then I don't get to eat yummy food and being I'm not a model (my career is moon paleontologist) I still look great so, it really comes down to what you want or need.

Now if you go pro anything sups are a need, my friend trains/rehabs NFL players and they all do supps of sorts depending.

 

[Freedom Fries]

Not exactly on topic but is there anyway to do strength training that isn't about repeating same small movements over and over again? If not any tips making less awful for my situation.

Do health issues and moving to other side of the country I'm working on getting back in shape and since I don't care for any form exercise anyway I thought why not give a new try on weight lifting too? I'm exercising purely for long term health and I know strength training is highly recommended for that. I have fairly decent idea what I'm going do with cardio but haven't found way to not be completely miserable while doing strength training.

Like I said I don't like exercising so I don't like cardio but I can get my walking done as long as treat is a mindless shore that I do during week but have weekends and holidays off. Might sound bad but after years of trying like and enjoy exercising or moving, trying so many different sports and ways to be physically active, this has so far resulted least amount bad feelings and best results. Since I don't like what exercise feels during or after and I don't find getting better at it rewarding, I just try get done so takes least amount mental energy. Walking is my cardio of choice because it doesn't require much reparations, I can do it anywhere, when walking I can basically just distract myself from what I'm doing and I only have keep eye on time. So I keep walking without stopping for 30 minutes, then get go home and as soons as the unpleasant after exercise feeling goes away, I get forget exercising till next day. It's still bad part of my life but perfectly manageable, especially because I have off days when I don't have think exercising at all.

I tried this approach to with lifting weights and body weight exercises before and I was just miserable. The biggest issues being that I absolutely hate repetition, I get distracted easily and so loose track what I have already done and unlike with cardio you actually have pay attention what you are doing. I can't just mindlessly get it done but instead have go trough list of various moves, have keep counting that I'm doing right amount, look that moves go just right and push hard enough to actually build mussels. To me this all worst parts of exercising all in one. The feelings, repatriation and keeping count.

So is there anyway to do strength training that minimizes these sides that are really not my cup of tea? I have some weights at home already and hopefully next month access to a gym.

Depends on what you mean by reps. I highly recommend anyone starting to do starting strength training to do the Starting Strength - novice linear progression, or something similar. That means warmups sets and 3 exercises for 3 sets of 5 reps. It can get kind of time consuming though as recommended rest is pretty high, maybe an hour and a half. A lot of people find it boring, but it works great for people who want to see multi 100-500% gains in the first year or so of lifting depending on exercise. I'd say the biggest favor to that is the fact that you look and feel different very noticeably very quickly. You said that isn't a real motivator for you though...

I will say body weight exercises is probably the least efficient and most painful way of going about building muscle.

Egg whites are great for cooking with, loads of different recipes. Fish is a great meat, squid is very overlooked as well. Ground turkey is good, as is lean ground beef or chicken.
As for protein powders, I usually just use them to cook with because if I drink it it won’t fill me up much. A mix of oatmeal, p2b peanut butter, sugar free raspberry jam, ground flax seed, and a scoop of protein powder is a pretty typical breakfast.
One great thing for protein is 0% fat Greek yogurt. It’s basically just protein, and you can mix in whatever you want, I really like Waldens Farm syrup or sugar free jelly in it.
Cardio is also something that’s important, aside from general health it’s also because you can eat more.

I'd not recommend mixing whey powder with anything since part of the science behind it is the whole fast digestion jump-starting the muscle protein synthesis process. I guess it depends on when you're ingesting it and how often.

Quick question for you guys, are supplements 100% necessary or are they just to quicken the process? I was wondering if you could just keep a healthy diet and lift and still get your body right without the use of various powders (functionally, I don't care much about shape, I am looking at actual performance).

I'd say whey protein is a must since studies have shown a 20+% increase of lean muscle gain over "regular" diet for untrained test subjects doing the same exercises. Creatine is probably the other supplement that is highly recommended for increased burst energy as well as a lot of other promising health studies regarding neuroprotection.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

Depends on what you mean by reps. I highly recommend anyone starting to do starting strength training to do the Starting Strength - novice linear progression, or something similar. That means warmups sets and 3 exercises for 3 sets of 5 reps. It can get kind of time consuming though as recommended rest is pretty high, maybe an hour and a half. A lot of people find it boring, but it works great for people who want to see multi 100-500% gains in the first year or so of lifting depending on exercise. I'd say the biggest favor to that is the fact that you look and feel different very noticeably very quickly. You said that isn't a real motivator for you though...

I will say body weight exercises is probably the least efficient and most painful way of going about building muscle.

I'd not recommend mixing whey powder with anything since part of the science behind it is the whole fast digestion jump-starting the muscle protein synthesis process. I guess it depends on when you're ingesting it and how often.

I'd say whey protein is a must since studies have shown a 20+% increase of lean muscle gain over "regular" diet for untrained test subjects doing the same exercises. Creatine is probably the other supplement that is highly recommended for increased burst energy as well as a lot of other promising health studies regarding neuroprotection.

Creatine is something that’s good to take. It’s just one of those things your body loves to have, but doesn’t get much of daily. Besides that, protein powders are good for being convenient and getting lots of protein per calorie, fish oil doesn’t hurt either for them omega-3s, and even if you have a decent diet zinc may be worth it. Muscle building isn’t clear for the last one, but most people don’t get enough zinc anyways. It can also make you nut more, so there’s that.
As for cooking with protein powder and mixing it in, I’m not that worried about it. I basically only use it for things like ice cream or other desserts. I try to get more protein through normal food because I have a very big appetite, and protein powder isn’t that substantial even when mixed with stuff.