The Do You Work Out Zone

[EnderD_503]

Crap...I just tried to post all this then my connection went kaput and I lost it all...so here goes an attempted repost

Push movements – the most basic push movement is the push-up. However, many of the sedentary folks out there may find it difficult to perform proper push-ups even from a kneeling position. If you do then start with a machine chest press.

Muscles worked: pectoral/chest muscle, triceps (back of arm), anterior deltoid (front of shoulder).

If you switch your hand position on any of these movements with a narrower position/grip you will transfer more tension to the triceps, while a wider grip will transfer more tension to the chest. For example a push-up with elbows tight to the sides, versus push-up with elbows out and wider hand stance.

A lot of people say they want to tone their triceps (back of arm) since the tricep is one of those underused muscles in daily life, and tricep isolation exercises are great for the aesthetic part of it. Some of those are: tricep extensions with dumbbell, barbell or cable machine.









Push-up form from knees: start from the bottom position with your hands placed directly under your shoulders, your elbows close to your sides. As you push upwards make sure your entire body (minus bent knees) remains straight, so that your lower back does not collapse, your shoulder blades do not round, and your butt doesn’t stick outward. When you come back down don’t allow your stomach or chest to touch the ground, continue to keep everything straight and solid. Also, don’t dip your chin downward either…doesn’t count as a completed push-up

Machine chest press: Adjust bar so that elbow with form a 90 degree angle, adjust seat so that your feet are able to sit flat on the ground. Begin with elbows at 90 degree angle and at about shoulder height, back against the back rest, head looking forward, wrists straight (not collapsed or rounded). When you press forward, press to a full extension but do not lock out/hyperextend elbows. Allow very slight bend to remain. When at a full extension, make sure you haven’t allowed your back/shoulders to round, your lower back to arch unnaturally, or your head to come forward. Return to start position in controlled manner.

Only proceed to a dumbbell chest press after you’ve grown stronger/obtained good form and decent amount of muscle control on the machine chest press. Ask a gym employee or experienced member to check your form if you aren’t certain.

Dumbbell chest press: Start light at first to be sure of proper form. Lie back on the bench and begin with dumbbells at an extended position – dumbbells in the air over your chest (not your head/neck), make sure your wrists are straight (not collapsed), bring DBs down carefully into a 90 degree position continuing to make sure arms form 90 degree angle/wrists are straight, then return to start position and repeat.

Some might ask why I've excluded the bench press, and the reason for that is that for many beginners it's far too challenging before they've learned proper form and to stabilise the weight, especially since here you're going down below a 90 degree angle right down to your chest, which increases the chance of a rotator cuff injury for those with little experience/muscle control/strength. Most sedentary women (and even some men) just starting off with weight training that I've trained have had trouble stabilising even 20-30 lbs in the first few months of their training, and consider the bar by itself weights 45 lbs, it's not the best for a beginner. It's also something you might want to get an experienced lifter help you with in person, rather than attempt on your own for the first time.

However, just to give you an idea of what some women are doing, look at female powerlifter, Laura Phelps. As far as I know her current record bench press is 520 lbs while she weighs approx. 181 lbs. The female all-time bench press record is 600 lbs.

Her 510 lbs lift, which she makes look easy lol

[EnderD_503]

Pull movements – Exist on two planes of motion that should be worked to avoid imbalance: vertical and horizontal

Lat. pulldowns (vertical pull): Adjust lat. pulldown machine so that feet are squarely on the ground and knee rest would be resting somewhat snugly across your legs/knees, but loose enough that you’re able to stand up after you’re done your set in order to place the weight back down.

When grabbing hold of the bar, aim to put your index finger across the top of the curve/indentation on each side of the bar. Once you’ve done so, sit down (still holding the bar), lean very slightly backward, tip your chin very slightly upward (you don’t want to lean back a lot or crank your neck up) so that the bar clears your face on its descent. Once you’ve done this, pull the bar down toward your chest. When you’re doing this it’s important to make sure that you’re not pulling the bar down directly in front of your chest, but that you’re pulling it more into your mid-chest. Try to lightly touch the bar to your chest before returning to the beginning of the movement.

You should not be leaning back as you pull, set up while you're at the top of the first movement, then remain in that position as your back muscles contract along with your biceps in order to bring the bar down into your mid chest...some people really make this exercise dangerous by swinging their entire body into the movement, which not only defeats the purpose of the exercise, but puts them at a high risk for injury. Also, some people claim that sitting facing outward is more effective, however, by doing this your reaching beyond your natural range of motion and putting excessive pressure on the back of the neck, so it's best to sit facing the machine.

One arm dumbbell row (horizontal pull): Pick up a dumbbell and head over to a free bench. From there, put one knee down on the bench, one knee off to the side of the bench (back and outward). Lean forward and place one hand flat on the front of the bench. Before starting you should make sure that your back if flat (not rounded) and that your shoulders are square (not one lower/higher than the other). Begin with the hand holding the dumbbell hanging down beside the bench (again, watch your shoulders are square), then row the dumbbell up by driving the elbow upward (elbow flexion), squeezing your shoulder blade trying to use the corresponding back muscles (largely the mid trapezius, infraspinatus, teres major, upper lats and rhomboids/overall muscles of the mid back) to move the majority of the weight (though you will also feel tension in your bicep, but don't want the bicep to dominate over the back muscles).

I know most people have probably seen these exercises before, but for those who need the visual/don't know the names, this is a lat. pulldown machine:



And this is what a one arm DB backrow looks like:

[EnderD_503]

Bending movement: Requires flexion/extension of the lower back, which often also recruits the hamstrings and glutes to some degree (as secondary muscles, depending on where you place the emphasis/the exercise). The most basic and easy exercise you can do for this is a back extension, if your gym has a back extension machine.

Back extension: step on to the back extension machine with calves pressed up against back pads and feet flat on the supports. Lean your hips against the top of the machine (adjust so that it’s not too high/low), place hands across chest then begin to bend at the hips bringing your torso toward the ground, once parallel with the ground extend back upward. Keep a straight back throughout the process (only go so far as you can without rounding your lumbar spine, keep shoulder blades together). A lot of people feel nervous using this machine because of the tension (not pinching feeling) they feel in the lower back, which is perfectly normal. Also, because it's fairly common, make sure to talk to your doc. about this exercise if you have any kind of issues with your lumbar/lower back vertebrae to make sure its safe for you to do.

Your gym might have one of a few variations of these machines, all the same principle, though:







You can technically do these on the ground as well, however, out of necessity this one causes you to drastically hyperextend the spine, which some say is fine, while others claim is not good for the spine. Something to keep in mind.

If your gym does not have a back extension machine, then give the Romanian deadlift a try.

Romanian deadlift: pick up either a barbell or two dumbbells. Begin in a neutral stance with feet shoulder with a part and weights/hands in front of you. While beginning the movement make sure your shoulder blades are together/not rounded, begin to stick your butt out/backward. This one depends on how self-conscious you feel at the gym, because your really have to get your hips back and butt out in an almost over-exaggerated way. While moving downward, don’t allow hands to dangle in front of you, but bring them in toward your legs so that they’re almost tracing down your legs as you move downward. Stop when you get to just below the knee and come back up again, focusing on the lower back, and glutes and hamstrings.

Visual gist of the movement:

[EnderD_503]

Twisting movement: There are quite a few, but here’s one example.

Russian twists: sit down on the floor in a V position (so, knees bent, leaning slightly backward so that there is tension on the abs to keep your torso up). Depending on your ability either lift your feet off the ground remaining in the V position, or keep them on the ground while only your torso leans backward. All the while you should be holding a medicine ball or dumbbell in your hands so that once you’re in position you begin to twist your torso from one side to the other. You should not just be moving your arms, but your entire torso with your shoulders and head also following the ball/dumbbell as you twist, which is what is going to help you hit your obliques/tone your sides. Exercise should be felt in upper and lower portions of your abs, as well as in the obliques (sides of your abs). Also, be careful not to round your back/shoulders.



Some added ab exercises:

Plank: The plank is an isometric (meaning your body does not attempt to move any weight, but resists/remains stable and unmoving against it) exercise great for core strenght, and you're all probably using it already Basically, you begin by lying flat on the ground with your elbows bent (hands in front of you, elbows beneath your shoulders), and your legs out straight so only your toes are touching the ground. You then lift your body up so that it rests only on your forearms/elbows and toes. Your core (abs and lower back) remains tight, so that your lower back does not sink/arch/sag to the ground, your butt does not stick up into the air, and your entire posterior chain forms a straight line from your heels, up your legs, butt, back to the top of your head.



Situps: Folks have been shit-talking sit-ups lately, but I think there's a reason militaries around the world, including some of the best armies in the western world, continue to use them to condition their soldiers. The biggest thing is to make sure your back/neck does not curve too much as you perform them. Different for folks with pre-existing issues back issues.

If those are difficult try crunches on a Swiss ball. This helps because it allows you to crunch from a position in which your torso lies below your pelvis (like on a decline bench), which allows you to develop your abdominal muscles using a more functional range of motion (when using the abs in this kind of motion in daily life, one is more often come from a position where the upper body is extended behind the pelvis and moving forward, not from a neutral position and moving forward). Also, many people who are just getting active find it easier on the back.

Take a seat on the Swiss ball and make sure you've found your centre of balance alright. Slowly begin to walk your feet forward as you bring your back down to rest on the ball. Once it's done so, walk your feet backward so that your head/shoulders hang somewhat over the edge of the ball, but make sure that you're not in a position where your feet will leave the ground when you begin the exercise. Once you're in this position begin to perform your crunches at an even tempo (think 2 seconds up, 4 seconds down), making sure not to perform them to quickly. Also, to avoid cranking your neck forward, put your hands at your temples instead of behind your head.

Some things to keep in mind while weight training:

Time Under Tension/Tempo: when performing a given movement, try to think 2-3 seconds for the concentric phase, 4 seconds for the eccentric phase…which means no performing exercises at the speed of light Weight training requires a lot of mental concentration, so you should be thinking about the movement as well as the affected muscles as your doing the exercise...not about what you're having for dinner or what you're going to be doing over the weekend or what's on tv tonight

Breathing: exhale when the weight (whether the weight is a dumbbell, barbell or plate on a machine or your own body) leaves the ground, inhale as the weight comes back down. For example, during a back extension you would inhale while your approach the ground, and exhale as you come up. During a chest press, you would exhale as you push the weight away from your body, inhale as it comes back toward you.

About sets/reps: A lot of people are told low weight and high reps are the way to go in weight training, however, this kind of training only promotes muscle endurance, and not muscle strength or very much toning. It can reveal previously achieved toning when such a method is used during a few weeks of circuit training, but it doesn't do much to actually create the muscle/toning effect.

For beginners, however, 3 sets of 15 repetitions with light weights is recommended for the first 6-8 weeks of training in order to master the correct form without having to worry about injury due to heavy weight/incorrect form.

As you gain experience, and feel you've improved as far as muscle control/stability and strength, begin to increase the weight to something more challenging. By challenging, I mean a weight that you find it difficult to complete 12 repetitions with. If you can reach 15 reptitions or more, the weight is too light for toning and increasing strength.

Most people who are just looking to tone and increase their strength a little will want to work with 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions, increasing the weight when they can reach upward 12 repetitions fairly easily with good form. This also works for those who want to lose weight as well. Overall, the best thing to do is to do some reading on periodisation, which means that you might spend 8 weeks working within a 8-10 rep range with around 1 minute rest in between sets, followed by 6 weeks using a 15-20 repetitions while moving quickly through a series of 5-6 different exercises with little rest in between and so on (such a period is not good for muscle/strength building or toning, but for cardiovascular fitness, revealing muscle toning by reducing fat more rapidly, and muscular endurance).

Remember that, eventually, your body will adapt to a certain movement/exercise and you will have to change some factor of the exercise (increase weight, decrease base of support/stability, increase/decrease tempo, manipulate set/rep range etc.) in order to continue to see results.

[greeneyedlady]

Thanks Ender!

Lots of information for me to read later.

Do you take any supplements?

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by greeneyedlady

Thanks Ender!

Lots of information for me to read later.

Do you take any supplements?

Allmax's Isoflex (whey protein isolate) is the only supplement I take at the moment (have never taken any other supplements except protein supplements or multivitamins, the latter I don't take anymore since only the expensive ones are really worth it and the cheap ones really aren't worth even that little bit of cash).

I drink milk mixed with a scoop of Isoflex 3xday (upon waking up, post-workout, before bed) if I can't get in a real high protein food source at any of those times. The reason is to make sure that my nutrition supports my strength goals, but I don't let it act as a substitute for a proper workout, good nutritional habits and adequate rest (though the added BCAAs do help recovery).

Basically, each person's protein needs (and therefore how/if they should supplement) differs depending on their level of activity, goals, medical conditions etc.

Edit: oh and to add to the post something of my own workouts since it's been a while and I'm actually really proud of my injury recovery lately...really happy lately with how my knee is finally improving!

Today I managed to make it through 15 mins of interval sprints (granted, not at as high speed as I used to do) without too much pain. About 10 mins in I started to feel something (though not so much pain or discomfort, just acknowledgement that the knee is 100% yet), but managed to make the whole 15 mins. Some discomfort afterwards, but nothing too serious.

For months after my injury I could barely do a leg workout to save my life (and actually had to leave leg workouts out for almost 2 months), but in my last workout I managed to do 40 lbs alternating jumping lunges (which makes me hopeful that I might one day get back to doing proper plyos again), which is a huge change from the last few months of attempted bodyweight lunges followed by screams of excruciating pain But there was an obviously lack in explosive strength in my right leg compared with my left leg. At least I managed to do them, lol

I also managed 10 reps of 160 lbs in quad extensions, which, again is a huge improvement from before where I could barely do 115 lbs quad extension for reps without a lot of discomfort in the right knee, which allows me to have hope that I'll be able to return to my previous strength and hopefully beyond. There was actually no pain after this last leg workout. Even with deadlifts, I had to go for a relatively light weight, but now I'm almost over the 200 mark without shooting pain afterward. It's still kind of discouraging, though, that this time last year I was eons away from where I am now. It reminds me of how easily achievement can be taken away in just a split second with an unlucky hit.

Squats are the only thing I'm still really having difficult with, but largely because I've found that my injury oddly left me with far less flexibility in my hip flexors than before...which sucks. Oh well, slowly but surely.

Just wanted to share that, because I'm really happy that there's actually a hope of getting back to where I was before and continue to do what I love.

[Linus]

Welp. I started the P90X program yesterday (FINALLY!!) and managed to get through about 45 min of the Shoulders CD. I decided to leave out the "bonus" stuff for now. I'm going to go for a ride later today (I tend to ride better in warmer weather and don't have arm/leg warmers for early morning rides). Unfortunately, as luck would have it, just as I get started into this stuff, I have to travel. My visa paperwork is finally arriving and I'll likely have to trudge up to Canada to get my visa done as well as fly back to the US to go through Customs to get it the final stamp of approval. This will likely mean nearly a week on the road, no cycling. I can do the P90X, at least, in my hotel room so that's one comfort. Once I've done that, then I'll head to Seattle for a week (I also have a trip to Reston, VA scheduled for the first week of Dec). So, lots of travel.

I've been doing some reading for some cycling specific training and am looking at Chris Carmichael's Time-Crunched Training Plan (using 6-8 hours a week to train for centuries and the like but not a professional athlete's level). I want to get back into long distance cycling. I'm thinking of doing L.A. to San Diego and back either later this year or early next. I figure that would be roughly about 100 miles (give or take) each way and would be a good weekend project trip.

I was curious if anyone else was vegan and training. And if so, what protein supplement do you use? We recently found Raw Revolution (great quick raw food bars) but they are high in their use of agave syrup. I do have Vega and am contemplating getting a protein I can add to homemade smoothies (a plain flavour option in addition to adding flax for Omegas).