thread of getting sw0le

re: Starting Strength - great in concept, but it's a lot of work and really geared toward athletes or potential athletes. Gym sessions will be long (if you're at the average gym with one squat rack) and DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) comes into play with the volume.

personal theory as to an exercise program that would meet the needs of 90% of humanity, if you had an average of one hour a day:
1. modified version of Pavel Tsatsouline's Power To The People program - two lifts, 2x5 - usually deadlift and press; the program is 5 days/week, but let's say 3 days
2. weighted walks once or twice a week - farmer's walk/suitcase walk/waiter's walk or just putting 20-30 pounds in a backpack and walking a couple of miles (aka rucking) - or you could throw in whatever functional shit you like here - sledgehammer swings, walking with a heavy-ass wheelbarrow, kettlebell swings
3. hour of walking on the nights you don't do the above for recovery/general health benefit; even better if you can walk more

truthfully, you could probably simplify shit even further by just doing a whole lot of rucking and things from 2. - it's worked for militaries for centuries. If you can march with a 40# (actually 100+ pounds for modern soldiers) for mile upon mile, you'll be in good shape

add stretching/yoga to 3., mobility stuff is v. v. important as you age

we're not trying to get army in here milo, we are getting sw0le

i thought one of starting strength's "things" was that gym sessions are unusually short. i probably do more than it calls for now and i never take more than an hour. i like work.

p.s. i am not walking a wheelbarrow through my neighborhood

that sounded like a knock on SS, shouldn't be. It's a great way to get stronger - I couldn't squat that much because I have random days that I spend climbing ladders. Climbing up on a roof with legs locked stiff from squatting the afternoon before seemed like a good way to break my neck.
Deadlifting (my preferred lower-body exercise) doesn't make me hurt as much and it's more of an all-over thing. Deadlifting and pressing happened to be the two movements I felt had the most value/carryover to real life, and there was a program that accomodated them quite well (PTTP).

with SS you should be doing ~5 warmup sets for each move before the three real ones, and you should be resting for a couple of minutes between the real sets and probably close to that for warmups. You want to recover as much as possible between each set with strength work

yeah it does seem like quads to get the most sore. it stopped for me after about 2 weeks of squatting though. however i'm just a lawyer and do not use my quads at work.

i'm only really sore from squats if i miss a week or three. lunges (warrior poses in teh yoga) the morning after usually help.

note: Ronnie Coleman (dude at the top of the thread) gave me a speeding ticket in high school; my assumption is that the local PD doesn't drug test for anabolic steroids

i'm gonna buy it now. tbh i am always wanting to do more sets but am disorganized about how much warmup i do. gonna get so sw0le.

there's a great video (maybe on youtube) of him in the late '90s following his average day - his cop job, then changing out of his uniform to work out, then spend his night in a super-depressing suburban living room walking very slowly on a treadmill watching TV
it seemed pretty depressing, even moreso because of the nasty protein shakes and boiled chicken that appeared to be his entire diet

that + internet forums + what supp companies call themselves are all reasons why i have contradictory feelings about wanting to get sw0le.

I fear their bowel movements

i think it takes more than some squats to get like sad huge ronnie coleman size

i said that wrong i mean, there are different degrees of sw0le

I feel like I Should lift things. But it always sucks.

bodybuilding.com was the first place i registered when i started working out a few years ago, and then i realized that these guys actually like know the size of their biceps in inches and it vave me this ~sad~ feeling. it is a super helpful site, though, they are truly martyrs for their cause

Call for I Lift Everything fitness sub-board

it doesn't suck Jeff, it's the funnest

A sad moment during this last marathon train cycle is when I tried on my old arm warmers and they kept falling down off the top of my arms. They used to fit tightly! My arms have dwindled down to skin and bones.

good lift imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRrIsoDpKg

also pro tip: don't wear a polo shirt when doing squats

people saying starting strength type routines are short are otm. not counting 2000m on the rowing machine at the end, i probably do my workout in 40m.

who does cardio the same day they lift here?

http://i.imgur.com/AfXz8.jpg

i finish with 2000m on the rower, but usually not on days i deadlift because i am dead.

I am not affiliated in any way with Grey Cook, but I've got his books and have found them really helpful in improving my movement patterns and coaching others ... before getting under heavier weights, it's a good idea to do this self-screening to discover and address any imbalances in your basic mobility and stability. Check out the squat test in particular (it's the first of the five tests shown).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8G6jkEf1uI

"people saying starting strength type routines are short are otm. not counting 2000m on the rowing machine at the end, i probably do my workout in 40m."

They are only short at the beginning. As you start to reach your max lift weights and improve as milo z points out you'll need both longer warm ups AND longer recovery times. So while the time actually spent lifting may be short, the time at the gym is generally not.

I've used Starting Strength and various Mad Cow routines and a couple of different Body Weight routines in the last couple of years and they're all fine, but the key is really to switch it up after a while anyway (if for no other reason than doing the same exercises after a while gets boring). Currently doing the New Rules of Lifting routines (about 2/3s of the way through them) which are pretty good. Unfortunately the time I spend lifting has stayed pretty static while the time I spend running and biking has decreased dramatically (thanks a lot 2 yr old!)

I don't do ss, so im not doing his warm up sets. And obviously any resistance routine is going to get longer as you get stronger.

xp Gray Cook, not Grey Cook -- too much time on ILX

who does cardio the same day they lift here?

^ I do. at least 4 days a week. Then cardio itself two other days.

*GRUNTS*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDl0yF2HB98

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kRSopj87qbU/TZXWjhTauII/AAAAAAAAADc/VzAM_i23-Gk/s1600/over-the-top.jpg

The last time I tried lifting weights, I tried the Body by Science method of only going once a week and doing super duper slow reps. As slow as possible without degenerating into starts and stops. You only do 5 exercises each workout. It was miserable and only lasted 2 weeks for me.

my sister has been training me at the gym so I can get swole-ish. Or something. Is there a guide or FAQ somewhere on the internet I could read so I can keep up with this thread and not be confused? Right now she is doing core strengthening and working on balance before I move to free weights.

btw this guy cracks me up with his eating habits. some of it sounds so gross. his rule is that if it tastes good you should spit it out! and he regularly eats beans from the can that he keeps in the trunk of his car.

scoobysworkshop.com

slow reps you hate and won't do? spitting out food that tastes good? yeah idk guys

when i got semi-sw0le i used this book and it worked well:

http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/103860000/103861710.jpg

^ good book

haha i just realized i've seen that scooby dude on youtube before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuNYjG6YTBQ

xpost

i mean it's probably not anything a lot of ppl on this board don't know -- lots of basics with free weights

but i liked that they had these pages with all your daily routines that you could photocopy and then mark down your reps and stuff

mostly it was just nice to know exactly what exercises you were supposed to do and not have to think about what you were gonna do each day

homo ii i got new rules of lifting 4 women (no idea if it's different than regular or if there's any point to them having two different ones beyond taking a lot of space to explain why typical women-focused advice is totally wrong) and i think it would probably have what you're looking for. and i would try some free weights now, they will strengthen your core and improve your balance!

i'm going to do some deadlifts today

well one thing that might be useful about the for women book is it talks about how women have stronger quads and abs than the muscles on the back of the body and it makes you have bad posture.

my gym doesn't have enough of the stuff i need to do every exercise though. there are no steps or boxes in the weight room. i have been doing step-ups on a bench but i need something a little higher. stage 2 has you doing deadlifts from a step but tbh i'd prefer to just do regular deadlifts so i'm pausing nrolfw for now.

I feel like I Should lift things. But it always sucks.

― Jeff, Thursday, October 25, 2012 10:52 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

deadlifting v good for running they say

It's weird, I like being tortured by exercise, it's part of the appeal for me. But only in certain ways. I'd rather run for 3 hours than have to lift heavy things for 20 minutes.

But I certainly want to like lifting. I've got really muscular legs but nothing up top.

i did some squats today

p good, kindof hurts my knees