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Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread
- Thread starter Ninahaza
- Start date
used a smith machine for a few weeks at a church gym
mostly i noticed it felt more like just going up and down, not really balancing myself. so i'm guessing that's part of what's missing from free weights. i think it's mostly stabilizers that don't get worked. just felt like benching without needing to steady the bar, squatting without worrying about sitting back too much.
also felt like i hurt myself the first time because i didn't use it right, there are instructions on the inside which i should have read first lol
mostly i noticed it felt more like just going up and down, not really balancing myself. so i'm guessing that's part of what's missing from free weights. i think it's mostly stabilizers that don't get worked. just felt like benching without needing to steady the bar, squatting without worrying about sitting back too much.
also felt like i hurt myself the first time because i didn't use it right, there are instructions on the inside which i should have read first lol
yeah it definitely does not work stabilisers as much as a free olympic bar. smith bar is also lighter so it is easier, but you probably already knew that though. i have had frequent knee and ankle problems though and found that squatting with the smith is much less harsh on the joints than olympic bar. so i guess that is a pro if youre worried about doing extra damage to already injury prone areas.
Okay, so, I am 15 and I probably shouldn't weigh as much as I do atm. Currently I am 6' 3" (88 cm I think?) and I weigh about 195ish pounds. I have been losing weight because of wrestling now, so I am happy about that. I don't really have a set goal for weight, but as long as I don't get put in with the guys who weigh a lot I'll be fine with it.
Oh, and this is the first school sport I've ever been in / the first time I am exercising besides a bit in the summer. I have absolutely no idea what to eat (besides fruits and stuff I guess) or how to bench or whatever. Tomorrow I am learning how, but I feel kind of dumb for being 15 and not knowing how to lift. How will I feel? I mean, I guess I am kind of strong now, but I don't know how much I can lift. I don't even know what an okay number would be.
But, yeah, I'm in wrestling and I'm slowly getting used to all of the running / wrestling, but today after practice my chest started hurting a bit, like a sharp pain in the middle of my chest. It could have been heartburn, but I've never gotten that before, so I wouldn't know. Also, I am pretty sure I either pulled something a little bit or I pinched a nerve in my leg (right under the hip,) so if anyone knows what this is then I'd be happy to know!
As far as motivation goes, I mainly don't want to have somewhat of a belly (I mean, I think that's it, but I'm not sure.) I think the correct term is muffin top? I'm not sure. But anyway, I'd like to develop even something that could be called abs, or maybe even just a flat stomach. Also, I think my thighs are really big when I sit down because I don't have a lot of muscle there (in my calves I do.) In addition, my wrestling could also be because of a girl, but even if things didn't work out I'd still do wrestling, because these guys seem really cool to be around and are pretty funny / nice, too.
Goals:
- Lose flab before the season starts
- Get stronger and leaner
- Learn how to eat right
- Be able to jog for 30 min.+
Oh, and a part under my knees kills whenever we get done sprinting. I'm told it's because I don't run right, but I don't know how to fix this. When I jog they hurt a little bit, but not much. What does it seem like I'm doing wrong?
Also, when I do pushups my stomach hurts a bit (like, where the last two "abs" are supposed to be is where it hurts.) I feel fine other than that, but is it because of crunches? Am I doing something wrong there too?
Overall, I am excited about practice every day, but the only thing I hate are showers because 1) I haven't really taken showers with other before and 2) I don't have the biggest of penises (p.s. I've never shared this before so here goes,) so I guess I am a bit embarrassed about that. Another thing is because of the flab, but I am hoping to get rid of that soon!
Sorry if I could just Google these answers, but I'd rather ask here than a search engine.
Oh, and this is the first school sport I've ever been in / the first time I am exercising besides a bit in the summer. I have absolutely no idea what to eat (besides fruits and stuff I guess) or how to bench or whatever. Tomorrow I am learning how, but I feel kind of dumb for being 15 and not knowing how to lift. How will I feel? I mean, I guess I am kind of strong now, but I don't know how much I can lift. I don't even know what an okay number would be.
But, yeah, I'm in wrestling and I'm slowly getting used to all of the running / wrestling, but today after practice my chest started hurting a bit, like a sharp pain in the middle of my chest. It could have been heartburn, but I've never gotten that before, so I wouldn't know. Also, I am pretty sure I either pulled something a little bit or I pinched a nerve in my leg (right under the hip,) so if anyone knows what this is then I'd be happy to know!
As far as motivation goes, I mainly don't want to have somewhat of a belly (I mean, I think that's it, but I'm not sure.) I think the correct term is muffin top? I'm not sure. But anyway, I'd like to develop even something that could be called abs, or maybe even just a flat stomach. Also, I think my thighs are really big when I sit down because I don't have a lot of muscle there (in my calves I do.) In addition, my wrestling could also be because of a girl, but even if things didn't work out I'd still do wrestling, because these guys seem really cool to be around and are pretty funny / nice, too.
Goals:
- Lose flab before the season starts
- Get stronger and leaner
- Learn how to eat right
- Be able to jog for 30 min.+
Oh, and a part under my knees kills whenever we get done sprinting. I'm told it's because I don't run right, but I don't know how to fix this. When I jog they hurt a little bit, but not much. What does it seem like I'm doing wrong?
Also, when I do pushups my stomach hurts a bit (like, where the last two "abs" are supposed to be is where it hurts.) I feel fine other than that, but is it because of crunches? Am I doing something wrong there too?
Overall, I am excited about practice every day, but the only thing I hate are showers because 1) I haven't really taken showers with other before and 2) I don't have the biggest of penises (p.s. I've never shared this before so here goes,) so I guess I am a bit embarrassed about that. Another thing is because of the flab, but I am hoping to get rid of that soon!
Sorry if I could just Google these answers, but I'd rather ask here than a search engine.
The general consensus from everyone else I asked was similar. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I jumped the gun a little, didn't I? Too eager to move on, I guess. And I actually didn't know about the deloading. Still new, still learning. Thanks for the advice.
I'll continue the SS, but my stats are:
Bench - 120
Squat - 180
Deadlift - 150
I had someone call this pathetic, but it's a huge improvement for me compared to when I started lol.
important to note for yourself what your goals are for sure
personally i don't think it's a stretch to say ss can take you to 1.5x bw squat minimum. i didn't leave it (for 5/3/1[dont do this]) until i hit intermediate standards here: http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm
that was just a benchmark i used for myself. i think i was just short in press, like 145ish instead of 155. i might have weighed more than you, i was around 220ish last summer so yours might be lower. keep in mind that list is for 1RM too, you won't be looking to do like 300 3x5, it'd be 300x1 (or whatever number fits you).
of course, that's not the only way to look at if you're ready to move on. you can set number goals you think are achievable (1.5x bw squat, 1x bw bench kind of thing) or just decide you think your lifts are high enough and you want to move on to something else. your body, your call. i made my decision based off some advice from some redditors from fittit to wait until i hit those intermediate lifts based off my goals, which were to be strong as fuck. your goals might be different, idk.
but you are definitely making progress and you're putting in hard work that some people just don't have the drive to. i'm a little concerned about your squat being higher than your deadlift, usually its the other way around. you might be working with form or something though, who knows. good work anyway.
---
a little note on how i'm doing, my celiac disease scare is over (which i guess only some guys knew about anyway) but i do have a high intolerance to what feels like a million different foods and liquids that causes my stomach and intestines to either not digest them or to vomit the food back up. my diet sucks because it's just a huge list of foods not to eat and drinks not to drink. my new medicines are kick ass though. biggest problem with this sickness (and it's been a while since i was told i had celiac, basically since i said something about it on fb) was i got super fucking sad about it and did what i knew how, ate and slept. stopped lifting (i kind of mentioned that earlier) and actually skipped 2 weeks of school just sitting in the student center while my parents thought i was in class. was really bad. got over it though so that's pretty good, but i weigh 245 now so thats bad, haven't lifted in a while so thats bad, and i shot my chemistry grade so thats bad (considering im a chemical enginer major trololo). but this week was a good week, spring break gave me a chance to recollect myself and my parents helped work me through a lot of mental problems i was having. got back under the bar this week just to feel the high again, but i'm more focusing on running now than lifting. i can come back to lifting later but since i didn't have soccer and i fucked myself up i feel like (and know) i'm not close to the shape i used to be in cardiovascular wise and wanna fix that. plus i'm jelly of stat and windsong and lee D: so there's my catch up post, ridiculously poorly formatted just for fun
personally i don't think it's a stretch to say ss can take you to 1.5x bw squat minimum. i didn't leave it (for 5/3/1[dont do this]) until i hit intermediate standards here: http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm
that was just a benchmark i used for myself. i think i was just short in press, like 145ish instead of 155. i might have weighed more than you, i was around 220ish last summer so yours might be lower. keep in mind that list is for 1RM too, you won't be looking to do like 300 3x5, it'd be 300x1 (or whatever number fits you).
of course, that's not the only way to look at if you're ready to move on. you can set number goals you think are achievable (1.5x bw squat, 1x bw bench kind of thing) or just decide you think your lifts are high enough and you want to move on to something else. your body, your call. i made my decision based off some advice from some redditors from fittit to wait until i hit those intermediate lifts based off my goals, which were to be strong as fuck. your goals might be different, idk.
but you are definitely making progress and you're putting in hard work that some people just don't have the drive to. i'm a little concerned about your squat being higher than your deadlift, usually its the other way around. you might be working with form or something though, who knows. good work anyway.
---
a little note on how i'm doing, my celiac disease scare is over (which i guess only some guys knew about anyway) but i do have a high intolerance to what feels like a million different foods and liquids that causes my stomach and intestines to either not digest them or to vomit the food back up. my diet sucks because it's just a huge list of foods not to eat and drinks not to drink. my new medicines are kick ass though. biggest problem with this sickness (and it's been a while since i was told i had celiac, basically since i said something about it on fb) was i got super fucking sad about it and did what i knew how, ate and slept. stopped lifting (i kind of mentioned that earlier) and actually skipped 2 weeks of school just sitting in the student center while my parents thought i was in class. was really bad. got over it though so that's pretty good, but i weigh 245 now so thats bad, haven't lifted in a while so thats bad, and i shot my chemistry grade so thats bad (considering im a chemical enginer major trololo). but this week was a good week, spring break gave me a chance to recollect myself and my parents helped work me through a lot of mental problems i was having. got back under the bar this week just to feel the high again, but i'm more focusing on running now than lifting. i can come back to lifting later but since i didn't have soccer and i fucked myself up i feel like (and know) i'm not close to the shape i used to be in cardiovascular wise and wanna fix that. plus i'm jelly of stat and windsong and lee D: so there's my catch up post, ridiculously poorly formatted just for fun
Man, stylish, the second half of your post put a large smile on my face. Here's to the restart, brah
Also heepo I hate it when people put others down in the gym. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you, those numbers you posted aren't the most impressive, but we all start somewhere and as long as you know that you are improving, then thats all that should matter.
I used to have haters and especially doubters when I first started, but today that list is now filled with believers and some of those very haters have come to me for advice and my "opinions" on more than one occasion. Only allow the negativity of others to fuel you to become a better person and better at what you do, nothing more
Also heepo I hate it when people put others down in the gym. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you, those numbers you posted aren't the most impressive, but we all start somewhere and as long as you know that you are improving, then thats all that should matter.
I used to have haters and especially doubters when I first started, but today that list is now filled with believers and some of those very haters have come to me for advice and my "opinions" on more than one occasion. Only allow the negativity of others to fuel you to become a better person and better at what you do, nothing more
okay, for the running part it's really too easy to be able to run 30+ minutes in a row. it seems hard now, but if you do one thing then your performance will skyrocket. that one thing is run. at your level, you can pretty much go run (at a mid-slow pace) until you are too tired to continue, then stop and catch your breath, and keep going until you reach the set distance you want to run. slowly you will notice that you can run farther and farther before you must stop, and pretty soon you'll be at your goal of 30 minutes jogging!
if losing weight is your aim, it's not very hard. simply eat less than you take in. this will be considerably easier seeing as you're doing a good amount of exercise at your wrestling practice and possible running for cardio. as for eating healthy, it's a little harder but truly not that difficult. talk to your folks about it and i guarantee that they will be super enthusiastic if you're willing to stick with it. try eating more white meat; tuna, chicken, fish, pork, as opposed to greasy/fatty red meat. it's much leaner and still contains lots of protein (tuna especially, try to like eating tuna someway). get a balanced diet too, grains, vegetables (shy away from canned if possible), and plenty of water. if you can stomach it switch to whole-grain rice, bread, etc. the main goal, if you are conflicted about what to buy and eat, is to stay away from heavily processed foods. chips, soda, cakes, and the like are the main offenders. definitely cut that junk out, it makes huge difference.
other main thing is not to snack really. if you are hungry have a meal, but don't graze on junk stuff because you're hungry. otherwise, fill up at meals but don't overeat, and try drinking some water to see if that quells your hunger
if you have any more questions feel free to VM me and if anything here looks wrong feel free to call me out smogon
If your only goal with regards to nutrition is to loose weight, I can personally attest to the power of a gluten-free/low-carb diet
in early January, I was about 150 pounds (I'm 5'11") when I decided to try gluten free for non weight reasons (if you are interested, read Wheat Belly by William Davis). That meant no wheat, rye, barley, etc or any products containing ingredients with gluten.I also greatly restricted white and refined carb consumption, meaning no white rice and rarely having potatoes. After two months now I've had to stop because I lost 12 pounds without changing anything else (I swear I was actually eating more) and at my size I really can't afford to be losing weight like that.
This may not be the best diet for overall health, though, as whole grains are incredibly important. I still had oatmeal, but wasn't in a position to be able to frequently consume non-gluten grains such as quinoa or couscous, and so probably was consuming far too few carbs for my exercise workload. And even then grains such as rye, barley, and bulgur do have their benefits, as they contain a lot of fiber and other nutrients. In general, though, try not eating as much wheat, and when you do make sure it's 100% whole wheat and not just 'wheat bread', since literally all bread is wheat bread.
I'm a bit of a health freak, so if you have any additional questions about nutrition feel free to ask. I love helping people with stuff like this :)
in early January, I was about 150 pounds (I'm 5'11") when I decided to try gluten free for non weight reasons (if you are interested, read Wheat Belly by William Davis). That meant no wheat, rye, barley, etc or any products containing ingredients with gluten.I also greatly restricted white and refined carb consumption, meaning no white rice and rarely having potatoes. After two months now I've had to stop because I lost 12 pounds without changing anything else (I swear I was actually eating more) and at my size I really can't afford to be losing weight like that.
This may not be the best diet for overall health, though, as whole grains are incredibly important. I still had oatmeal, but wasn't in a position to be able to frequently consume non-gluten grains such as quinoa or couscous, and so probably was consuming far too few carbs for my exercise workload. And even then grains such as rye, barley, and bulgur do have their benefits, as they contain a lot of fiber and other nutrients. In general, though, try not eating as much wheat, and when you do make sure it's 100% whole wheat and not just 'wheat bread', since literally all bread is wheat bread.
I'm a bit of a health freak, so if you have any additional questions about nutrition feel free to ask. I love helping people with stuff like this :)
Can't really help with vertical, but the best exercises I can reccomend are:
Biceps: Straight bar standing bicep curls, weighted pull-ups (or chins, whichever is palm facing you)
Triceps: Weighted dips to parralel, close grip bench press on a smith machine
Rear delt: Rear delt flies, face pulls (Face pulls are the best)
Rep range is 6-10 for biceps and triceps, 10-15 for rear delt. Try 3 sets of each.
Biceps: Straight bar standing bicep curls, weighted pull-ups (or chins, whichever is palm facing you)
Triceps: Weighted dips to parralel, close grip bench press on a smith machine
Rear delt: Rear delt flies, face pulls (Face pulls are the best)
Rep range is 6-10 for biceps and triceps, 10-15 for rear delt. Try 3 sets of each.
Had a sesh with my new pt yesterday, focusing on activating muscles. He said that my squat form is pretty good, but that once I'm below parallel my back struggles a little (I've had a few back problems). Got a series of stretches to hopefully fix and to slightly loosen my hips so I become more explosive!
One thing I would suggest to everyone wanting to get into better overall is swimming. Excellent full-body workout, and to anyone under 18 the summer season is coming up, which is a great place to get started. It pays dividends everywhere (case in point: I picked up soccer about a year ago, and while I'm pretty solid overall, my throw-ins can go double as far as anyone else- the only upper body work I do is summer swimming) :D
Hello Redew. As a wrestler who has gone through a very good high school program and performed well at the state level, I think I can help you out. My thoughts/advice will be bolded.
Yes yes yes yes yes
I love swimming, and it involves so many different muscles and improves so many different aspects of your fitness. If you do it right (ie not just swimming a really long distance at a slow pace every single time) you not only can build muscle and burn fat, but you improve endurance and aerobic capacity in general
plus it's just fun
So, just looking for some advice really :O Don't know if anyone can really help!
I broke my collar bone just under a year ago playing Ultimate Frisbee, been doing physio for it (Stopped after about 8 weeks, but continued the exercises) and the like to get my shoulder back into some semblance of shape. The Physio said I'd lost around 60% of my muscle mass (I'm a very slim guy) in my left shoulder from the time in the sling and the lack of usage of my arm. I didn't have it operated on, and I can link an X-Ray if people want!
I have been using the arm relatively normally (I've avoided lifting heavy objects etc) since I came out of the sling, but recently started cycling to and from the nearest town for work (Approx 4 miles one way). It's been great for my cardio/general fitness, but when I've been working really hard on some of the hills my shoulder (more the anchor muscles in my back) gives me a lot of pain. Could this be down to rebuilding some of that muscle again? The physio exercises were more stretches/movement building than muscle building. The pain resides after 5 or 10 minutes of not using the arm so much.
tl;dr: Am I just being a pansy and is it normal for it to cause so much pain while rebuilding a muscle?
I broke my collar bone just under a year ago playing Ultimate Frisbee, been doing physio for it (Stopped after about 8 weeks, but continued the exercises) and the like to get my shoulder back into some semblance of shape. The Physio said I'd lost around 60% of my muscle mass (I'm a very slim guy) in my left shoulder from the time in the sling and the lack of usage of my arm. I didn't have it operated on, and I can link an X-Ray if people want!
I have been using the arm relatively normally (I've avoided lifting heavy objects etc) since I came out of the sling, but recently started cycling to and from the nearest town for work (Approx 4 miles one way). It's been great for my cardio/general fitness, but when I've been working really hard on some of the hills my shoulder (more the anchor muscles in my back) gives me a lot of pain. Could this be down to rebuilding some of that muscle again? The physio exercises were more stretches/movement building than muscle building. The pain resides after 5 or 10 minutes of not using the arm so much.
tl;dr: Am I just being a pansy and is it normal for it to cause so much pain while rebuilding a muscle?
does anyone else use a pussy pad
yes
anyway, today i was doing close grip pull-ups and i experienced some kind of pain that seemed to originate just under my sternum. it wasnt really a sharp or debilitating pain, it just made the whole exercise really uncomfortable. anyone know of any possible causes? i'd like to get it dealt with pretty quickly as i dont want to have to stop doing pull ups :(
Probably just abdominal soreness, if it continues you should probably see a doctor though.
I was just in a training session, I played a few friendly tournaments but it was mostly just Uni level. I'd love to play some more though, it was great fun.
That's the X Ray of my collarbone after I crunched it... I was chasing after a disk at full pelt outdoors, jumped up and grabbed it... Then realized I had no idea how I was going to land...
Ouch....I was just in a training session, I played a few friendly tournaments but it was mostly just Uni level. I'd love to play some more though, it was great fun.
That's the X Ray of my collarbone after I crunched it... I was chasing after a disk at full pelt outdoors, jumped up and grabbed it... Then realized I had no idea how I was going to land...
I don't know anything else to say lol
Anyone else swim? It's a great way to avoid injuries like the one above me.
Swimming is just fantastic. I've talked about how good it is before, but it keeps me in such good shape through the summer, when otherwise I would get fat!
I swim year round, competitively, and because of that health and nutrition have never really been a problem.