Fitness Checkin

[RoJoHen]

Over/under, in theory, is easier on your grip and therefore allows you to hold heavier weight. I personally think the over/under grip is awkward and uncomfortable, so I never do it. I always do over/over for deadlifts, and I do under/under for bent-over rows.

[Roger Wilco]

Yeah, but what do you think is better to develop grip strength, higher weight with over/under or slightly less weight with over/over?

I think I'll try hook grip next time, just read about it while surfing around; sounds painful though.

[RoJoHen]

Over/over is better for developing grip strength, I'd think.

[John O.]

RoJoHen wrote:

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Over/under, in theory, is easier on your grip and therefore allows you to hold heavier weight. I personally think the over/under grip is awkward and uncomfortable, so I never do it. I always do over/over for deadlifts, and I do under/under for bent-over rows.

I like over/under bc it's how I learned to do deadlift back in HS and it just feels more natural and my balance is better.

I'm transitioning into a routine w/ more cardio. This week was hell cuz I hadn't done much cardio in awhile so it's one of those things where you forget how to push through the pain. Today was good tho... I did arms only (when I was focusing on lifts I was doing like, 3 muscles a day), then I did about 3.5 miles of interval running, changing it up every 2-5 minutes, and then I was going to go home but it was absolutely beautiful out which is really unusual here, so when I got home I changed into fresh clothes and jogged up the street about a mile to this KFC where there's a tree with a perfect pullup branch and did about 45 or 50 pullups in sets of 10 and then jogged back home, great day.

[Shatnertage]

As far as sets/reps go, let me ask you guys this: if my goal is just general strength and muscle tone (not looking to bulk up or get exceptionally ripped, which would never happen), am I better off doing 4 sets of 10 or 3 sets of 10?

Does it matter?

I feel like my 4th set it a real challenge, but I also suspect that if I only did 3 I'd hesitate less between sets.

[John O.]

Short Answer: Your instinct was right, 4 sets will tone you faster.

Long Answer:

yeah, it matters. There are basically two different goals to weightlifting - aerobic and anaerobic respiration in the muscle cells. Aerobic is what you get from light weight, long duration output - makes you sweat, like running. Anaerobic is slower, heavier weight, shorter sets. You may see huge guys in the gym doing short sets of tons of weight, resting 2-3 minutes between sets, hardly sweating - that's what they're doing.

There's a million opinions on exactly how many reps per set constitutes aerobic or anaerobic, and it varies by body part (higher set counts on lower body muscles than upper body). The best flexible rule is if you're sweating, you're doing aerobic work. Numerically, if you're doing sets of 10, you're working in the aerobic area, you're sculpting, toning - not building, muscle. It means that over time you'll burn away lots of fat in that area of the muscle and it will show more, be more shapely and toned, but not extensively grow in size.

As far as number of sets, it depends on a few things. Let's say you're doing a chest workout. If you intend to do more than just 1 lift in this chest workout, like you intend to do dumbbell presses, the pec fly machine, and decline bench (just as an example), then you should be more concerned with the total number of sets you do than the number of sets of each exercise, because in general you're targeting one muscle group - the chest. Now the caveat that some people will point out is that each of those exercises specifically targets a different part of the chest (upper, lower, etc) but in general, each of those exercises relies on the whole chest. All that changes is which muscle is the isolation muscle and which are the control muscles, but they're all used in general.

The other question is how long you're resting between sets. Typically guys that are trying to get big, as I already mentioned, rest 2-3 minutes between sets because it allows the muscle to recover about as much as it possibly can, and then you go again and fatigue it all the way down to exhaustion all over again. In the case of trying to work aerobically, you don't want to rest that long - because you want to sweat. You want to rest 30-60 seconds between lifts, closer to the 30 side.

The reason this effects how many sets you want to do is because if you're only resting 30s between sets, you don't need to do as many before your muscles will totally burn out, and that's the goal. The only reason you might want to do more than 3 sets (with your toning goal in mind), is if you are resting for longer periods of time in between sets than 30s, but doing longer sets (say 12 or 15 reps), and want to accomplish some measure of growth towards the end of your sets. Sort of like hybridizing the workout between aerobic and anaerobic. If that's not your goal, then you don't really NEED to do more than 3 sets.

Keep in mind you should always be going to exhaustion, the question is whether you're lifting a weight where exhaustion means 10 reps, or whether it means 6 reps. The 6 reps is where you'll get growth, the 10 is where you'll get toning.

[John O.]

I did kind of an oddball workout tonight. The gym was closing in an hour so I just decided to lump together 2-3 lifts for shoulders, chest, traps and upper back. I did:

Seated DB Shoulder Press
40/8
35/8
35/8

Flat DB Bench
70/8
70/6

DB Shrugs
85/8

DB Extended Shrugs
55/8
55/8

Arnold Press
55/8
60/8

Chest Press
240/5
200/6
220/5

Lat Pull Behind Back
140/8

Lat Pull Box Grip Front
150/8
160/8
165/6

Cycling
15:00, Hills, 75-90 RPM

[KJbushway]

I actaully lost wieght once by just drinking water and having small things to eat throughout the day. I didn't know why until later why I did lose weight this way, but now that I try to do it again I can't.

So I have decided to eat according to my activity for the day. If I don't do anything I just eat 1 meal(supper), I still exercise and walk both dogs.
If I have small amounts of activity I eat a healthy breakfeast and 1 meal.
If I have large amounts of activity I will snack that day while following the small activity meal plan.

This with the new dumbell exercise plus walking two dogs at good walking pace for 20 minutes going up and down hill should help me lose weight right?

[John O.]

KJbushway wrote:

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I actaully lost wieght once by just drinking water and having small things to eat throughout the day. I didn't know why until later why I did lose weight this way, but now that I try to do it again I can't.

So I have decided to eat according to my activity for the day. If I don't do anything I just eat 1 meal(supper), I still exercise and walk both dogs.
If I have small amounts of activity I eat a healthy breakfeast and 1 meal.
If I have large amounts of activity I will snack that day while following the small activity meal plan.

This with the new dumbell exercise plus walking two dogs at good walking pace for 20 minutes going up and down hill should help me lose weight right?

Small note - it's a little more in line to match exercise with what you ate the day before, because that's what your body's working on trying to burn. So if you're lazy one day, it's not the food you ate that same day that's not going to get burned, it's the food that's in your intestines from the day before.

And the answer to your question "Can a passive exercise/diet plan help me lose weight", is - it depends on your age and your sex.

If you're a man under 20, definitely. If you're a man under 30, possibly. If you're a man over 35, probably not.

If you're a woman under 20, yes. If you're a woman between 20-30, possibly - edging towards no after 25. If you're a woman over 30, no - and if you're a woman over 40, not even close.

Younger you burn calories more naturally, and men's bodies do it more efficiently than women's (in general).

But to make a note of one thing you mentioned - eating a healthy breakfast is great, but a 1-meal day isn't the ideal strategy for weight loss. When your body gets food once a day, it stores fat because the rapid swings in your glycogen and insulin levels prompt your body to store fat "just in case" a meal isn't forthcoming (old evolutionary trick we learned). Eating smaller meals 2 or 3 times a day (or even more than that) is the best way to maintain a healthy weight, because it keeps your insulin levels from fluctuating too wildly and your metabolism stays at a nominal pace instead of jacking up and down when you're eating / not eating.

Eating large number of small meals is, incidentally, ALSO the ideal way to GAIN weight if a person's on an intense muscle building workout, bc the end goal in both weight loss and muscle weight gain is the same - consistently high metabolism and low fat storage.

[Shatnertage]

John Q, thanks for that great and detailed answer to my question upthread. I've got a lot to think about as I fine-tune my weight routine.

Feels pretty nice to be able to do sets of 10 at 205lb bench again, I'll say that. I don't see myself going too much heavier than that in the near future--but I'd like to improve my decline and inclines.

[KJbushway]

I think that mowing the lawn for a good hour and a half should be considered a workout. I move at a good pace and when I get done I feel lighter and feel hungry even though I try to eat near the time I mow.

[RoJoHen]

I am making my roommate lift with me today. I am going to take advantage of his company by going really heavy on chest. It's very rare these days that I have a spotter.

[John O.]

RoJoHen wrote:

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I am making my roommate lift with me today. I am going to take advantage of his company by going really heavy on chest. It's very rare these days that I have a spotter.

I'm jealous. I've gotten buddies w/ a dude who works at my gym so if he's around he'll spot for me but most strangers don't really exude "I'm up for helping out for 30 seconds" so it's not always possible to get a spot.

[John O.]

I've been resting for 2 days. 2 days is the most I have rested in a row in several months, and I'm considering going 3 because I've written a new workout that I'm going to try and it's brutal, I'm going to need to be 100% to even try it. I posted this as a note on FB. Nevermind the motivational intro, I wrote it right after the news broke I'll stick it in quotes...

2011 ABBOTTABAD CHALLENGE

Today, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces rejoice in the successful completion of a mission objective set down almost 10 years ago; the capture or killing of a war criminal, a tyrant, a deceiver of faithful, a killer of children and seeder of hate.

The achievement of this feat slips far above our lowly brows on the shoulders of the mighty warriors of the west; a new breed of soldier scholars and warrior monks: United States Navy SEALs. In the rarefied air of the SEAL way of life; humps are measured in days, runs are measured in hours, and challenges are measured in terms only the Olympians of Old can fully appreciate. The physical thresholds are daunting; the mental stamina the stuff of hero legends.

In honor of the commitment, fortitude, and precision craftsmanship with which U.S. Navy SEALs conduct their thankless careers of self-sacrifice, I have devised a workout based on SEAL Candidate training, Crossfit, and Kokoro Camp Training. Each phase of this workout is loosely based on the phases of a covert action plan similar to the one conducted 1 May 2011 to the successful assassination of Usama bin Laden.

Standard: 2:00:00 – 2:30:00
Silver: 1:30:00 – 2:00:00
Gold: 1:30:00 or less

First, warm up and stretch. The next 2 hours are going to be the most painful of your life (unless you’re SEALFit).

Complete for time.

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Stealth Ingress

1. 100 meter low crawl
Alternative: Tabata (x8) Dumbbell Lunges – 25lbs – 30 seconds on / 30 seconds off

2. Tabata Planks (x8) – 60 seconds on / 30 seconds off

Scaling the Wall

1. Rope Climb Machine – Climb 100 meters at maximum difficulty
Alternative: 100 pullups, underhand

2. Wall Hand Stands – maximum in 2:00

Crossing the Courtyard

1. 400m sprint – 4
2. 1.5 mile timed run

Defeat the Enemy

1. 2 lb Weighted Shadow Boxing – 5:00
Alternative: Cable Punches – 20 lb – 5:00

2. Burpees – 250

Hostile Egress

1. 30 or 36” box jumps – 50
2. Rope Climb Machine – Climb 100 meters at maximum difficulty
Alternative: 100 pullups, overhand


Casevac

1. 400m sprints – 4
2. Snatch, Grab, Press – 50 lbs – 50 repetitions

[John O.]

New max yesterday, leg press: 460, cable curl: 185.

Did over/under straight leg deadlift for the first time today in awhile. I'm thinking of transitioning from leg press as a lower body workout to dead lift. Managed a set of 6 at 210 after 3 or 4 sets of building up, hadn't done it in awhile.

And in an obsessive drive for arm strength and ab definition, I expectedly lost some mass in my chest. I've dropped 2-3 lbs and correspondingly lost about 20 lbs on my benchmax.