Anyone work out?

[Zeze]

I've been working out at home.

Just a pair of 20 lb dumbbells.... the best for hypertrophy (e.g. big muskuls) is 5 sets of 10 reps and you should be near failure 4th and 5th sets. I can do.. bicep curls, chin lifts, lateral raises, shoulder press, hammer curls, lateral lifts... all with the the pair of dumbbells. These cover most of upper body. That's 50 reps of each exercise. I also throw in 50 push ups (over 5 sets).

I do some casual indoor rock climbing with my daughter. They have a bench. I do the same 5 x 10 of 135lbs. I wish the bench press was more accessible to me. I want to pursue breaking 200 lbs eventually. If I'm maxing (1-2 reps), I can probably do 170 lbs~.

It feels great and looks great. A regular T-shirt fits so well with that T-body shape. I've been lazily skipping legs... sigh. They're skinny and I also need to work on them. They're harder to work with at home.

What are your favorite at-home solutions? I want to install a pull-up bar for dedicated lats.

Me after 5 weeks.


Moved from OT because what pete6032 said below.

admin allisolm

 

[lxskllr]

Working out is boring, but a rock wall seems like it would be fun. Better to do something enjoyable that accomplishes something. I do treework, but more in the cooler weather than summer. I used to do a lot of paddling. That's a good workout, and it'll take you places a lot of people don't see.

 

[pete6032]

We have a subforum for that.

 

[Zeze]

Working out is boring, but a rock wall seems like it would be fun. Better to do something enjoyable that accomplishes something. I do treework, but more in the cooler weather than summer. I used to do a lot of paddling. That's a good workout, and it'll take you places a lot of people don't see.

I had no idea how fun rock climbing was. Because they're graded by difficulty and colors. Each climb is like solving a different puzzle. It's addictive AND you'll be getting pretty damn tired. I'm just 3 months in. I suck.

 

[purbeast0]

I work out regularly but at a gym and have a regular routine.

While doing what you are doing is better than nothing, doing a few exercises with 20lb dumbells isn't going to do much for you. You are skipping legs, triceps, and back completely, hardly doing anything for your chest, then doing some isolated shoulder and curl exercises.

If you are serious about "at home" lifting, get a power rack, an adjustable bench, and some free weights. I personally would recommend going to a gym though.

During covid I got some of those bands and while they are better than nothing, they aren't even close to working out with actual weights. I had a decent routine I did to hold me over and hit every muscle group.

I've never done rock climbing myself but I have heard it's great for you, and that will definitely hit some muscles you aren't used to hitting, especially back since you have no back exercises in your routine.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Long answer: yes and no.

Don't call it work, because If it was work, I wouldn't do it. I do things I enjoy, physical benefits are ancillary. However, I can't say I always enjoy strength training. But seeing as it is the best base for supporting every other athletic endeavor I have ever undertaken, I do it even when I am not jazzed about it.

I don't agree the gym is the best option for all of us to lift though. If I had to drive some place to lift I would not make it there nearly enough. I decided to fully retire early, at the beginning of C19, so no job to stop at the gym before or after either. Really, I have only ever gone to them so I can spar and roll with other people. Which has been very infrequently since human malware.

Strength training I have almost always done at home. No cage either. I bought a Soloflex in 1986 for our first one bedroom apt. my gf and I got when moving out from our folks after H.S. Still have it. I don't use the bands anymore, though they did a much better job than most think they can. I laugh at the "you won't have functional strength" nonsense too. Now what makes the old Soloflex so great, has nothing to do with the bands, it is that it is a transformer. I use it with a weight belt and weights for pulls, chins, dips, and as a bench for Olympic dumbbells. Instead of a bunch of different sizes of them, I can just swap plates. Most of which I already had for curl and barbell. DId buy more 5s 10s and 4x25 for them.

Which is my strength training setup - dumbbells, barbell, curl bar, plates, all Olympic as noted, weight belt, and the Soloflex. Dumbbells I do flys, press, rows, chalice/goblet squats, lunges, Farmer's walk, rarely do much else with them. Barbell is dead lifts only. Curl bar speaks for itself, I do 3 different grips. Weight belt is for chins and dips. I do different push ups, especially knuckle on hard surface, and clapping, since 42 years of them makes it ingrained/habitual.

Combat sports I have Dollamur wrestling mats, ringside 100lbs heavy bag (Title Thai bag i had sucked for a guy my size to box with) focus mitts, kick shield and paddles, thai pads, gloves, sparring gear.

Short answer: Yes.

And I agree with @purbeast0. Even if you don't have room for the cage, the bench is a great addition. I can't recommend a pull, chin, and dip station highly enough. Get the weight belt and weights if body weight gets too easy. Lots of great dumbbell routines out there. The Olympic setup I have is significantly cheaper than having to keep buying another set when you need more weight. Can't do things like squat and farmer's walk with 20s and get much from it. At least not for long, you will shoot past that quickly, even if a n00b.

 

[mikeymikec]

My routine currently involves going jogging and slow push-ups (ie. reach the lowest position, hold it for 3 seconds, come back up again). I haven't managed to keep either up religiously but they've made a difference to my physique.

 

[dank69]

No, but I keep buying Pelotons hoping the stock will go back up.

 

[deadlyapp]

You need more than a single weight. If you are not progressing / varying in some way, you'll end up plateauing quickly. You should be changing rep schemes, weights, movements - at the very least something each week. You sound like you need a plan or program, right now you're just exercising for the sake of exercising.

 

[mikeymikec]

You need more than a single weight. If you are not progressing / varying in some way, you'll end up plateauing quickly. You should be changing rep schemes, weights, movements - at the very least something each week. You sound like you need a plan or program, right now you're just exercising for the sake of exercising.

+1

With jogging I'm vaguely working with the 'couch to 5k' goal in mind. They advise a certain amount of jogging and walking in timed intervals to do that, and I found that I plateaued (I think because I was running rather than jogging to begin with), so I changed up the timed intervals with jogging slower and seeing how long I could jog, which seems to avoid the plateau or perhaps the impression of it (which can be really demoralising). I've been out of practice for a while now, so I used the timed intervals + jogging approach in an easily manageable goal so I didn't end up pulling a load of muscles right at the start. It seems to have worked. I'll probably go back to the long jog, not sure yet. Overall my goal is to be able to run say 5k rather than jog it. Ideally I'd like to compete locally, but perhaps I should 'face the fact' that I suck at running

I haven't hit much of a plateau with the push-ups yet, I've been steadily working up from zero and peaking at around 17 I think. As I restarted recently, I quickly went from 10 to 15 when my body felt ready to push that bit further. I just add 1 or 2 more when I feel that I'm ready to go a bit further. I'm not overly concerned if I do one less one day.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've been doing planks every weekday for 3.75 years now, a set of 3 with a 2 minute rest between. 1st one is always the longest, I'm not aiming for a specific goal, just holding as long as I can keep proper form, and times have gone up over the years. This morning it was 4:34, followed by 1:38 and 2:02. Beyond that, I just walk and hike a bit. I'm at 129 miles for August. Only hit 116 in July, but I'd caught Covid at the end of June and took it easy for a couple weeks. So I'm not muscular, but I'm fairly toned (being muscular isn't particularly appealing to me)
So I guess I wouldn't say I "work out" as such, but I do get exercise in.

 

[deadlyapp]

I've been doing planks every weekday for 3.75 years now, a set of 3 with a 2 minute rest between. 1st one is always the longest, I'm not aiming for a specific goal, just holding as long as I can keep proper form, and times have gone up over the years. This morning it was 4:34, followed by 1:38 and 2:02. Beyond that, I just walk and hike a bit. I'm at 129 miles for August. Only hit 116 in July, but I'd caught Covid at the end of June and took it easy for a couple weeks. So I'm not muscular, but I'm fairly toned (being muscular isn't particularly appealing to me)
So I guess I wouldn't say I "work out" as such, but I do get exercise in.

Mix it up by doing some hollow holds. Same idea, but you're on your back.

Working out your core like that is pretty questionable (benefit wise) but doing something I suppose is better than doing nothing.

 

[nakedfrog]

Mix it up by doing some hollow holds. Same idea, but you're on your back.

Working out your core like that is pretty questionable (benefit wise) but doing something I suppose is better than doing nothing.

Everything I've read seems to indicate having good core strength is beneficial? I did do some reading before starting out since I was originally looking at crunches or sit-ups and wanted to see what would best suit me.

 

[deadlyapp]

Everything I've read seems to indicate having good core strength is beneficial? I did do some reading before starting out since I was originally looking at crunches or sit-ups and wanted to see what would best suit me.

Yes - core strength is beneficial. I'm saying doing something as one dimensional as planks for time is not beneficial on its own. Your core is never tasked with holding that position in real life, so why would doing that exercise alone be helpful. Crunches are even worse, putting your neck in flexion. Situps are a bit more useful since when done right, it forces your core to stay stabilized through a range of motion (similar to a back extension).

 

[nakedfrog]

Yes - core strength is beneficial. I'm saying doing something as one dimensional as planks for time is not beneficial on its own. Your core is never tasked with holding that position in real life, so why would doing that exercise alone be helpful. Crunches are even worse, putting your neck in flexion. Situps are a bit more useful since when done right, it forces your core to stay stabilized through a range of motion (similar to a back extension).

Fair enough
It's certainly done more than nothing for me, so I'm pretty satisfied with my results.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Fair enough
It's certainly done more than nothing for me, so I'm pretty satisfied with my results.

If my brain damaged memory serves; He is a pro trainer that is part owner of a gym. I.E. He knows his stuff. It is very cool of him to dispense advice for free here. You are well advised to take it seriously imho.

 

[nakedfrog]

If my brain damaged memory serves; He is a pro trainer that is part owner of a gym. I.E. He knows his stuff. It is very cool of him to dispense advice for free here. You are well advised to take it seriously imho.

Yes, that's certainly kind of him, and I'm sure he's right, but currently I don't have the desire or inclination to research what the end result/benefit of changing my routine is, and as an autistic person, I'm not likely to change my routine without an understanding of why I'm doing so. I've accomplished what I had in mind when I started doing planks, and now they're just maintenance.
All my intentional training takes place on the trail, doing what it is that I'm training to do

 

[deadlyapp]

Any exercise is better than no exercise(as long as you're not doing something with a risk of trauma). It's more about how fast you'll hit diminishing returns doing something. When it comes to planks, once you can hold it for about 40-60 seconds - you're pretty much good to move on. Exercise that involves core stabilization in dynamic, rather than static would be a lot more benificial for everyday life, since that's kinda what core does.

Yep. This exactly.

 

[Kaido]

Any exercise is better than no exercise(as long as you're not doing something with a risk of trauma). It's more about how fast you'll hit diminishing returns doing something. When it comes to planks, once you can hold it for about 40-60 seconds - you're pretty much good to move on. Exercise that involves core stabilization in dynamic, rather than static would be a lot more benificial for everyday life, since that's kinda what core does.

On a tangent, I've struggled with physical fitness my entire life because it doesn't make me feel good to do it. I recently discovered that I may have "histamine intolerance" (HI), which appears to be the root cause. 3 of my struggles have always been:

1. Low energy (high resistance to any physical activities)
2. Exercise intolerance (pain & fatigue)
3. Post-exertional malaise (feel like crap for hours or days afterwards)

When people would say "feel the burn!" I would feel the burn within 60 seconds of exercising; my whole body would hurt & I'd immediately have to go horizontal to take a nap. Doing the mile in high school gym glass would knock me out for days. Always thought I was just a wuss lol. I've been on a histamine enzyme (NaturDAO, an OTC tablet from Amazon) for the past few weeks & feel better than I have in my ENTIRE LIFE! Makes me wonder how many people struggle with hidden barriers like this. I'm undergoing testing this month for MCAS/HI. I've never experienced pain or fatigue-free exercise in my life, I always had no idea why people did sports or went hiking or anything like that because it was so exhausting for me!

 

[Zeze]

Working out is so time consuming jeez. I got some good visible gains on my upper body. Then I was knocked out by covid for nearly 3 weeks before I could start working out again.

3 weeks is all it took for me to look skinny-scrawny again. Ugh.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Working out is so time consuming jeez. I got some good visible gains on my upper body. Then I was knocked out by covid for nearly 3 weeks before I could start working out again.

3 weeks is all it took for me to look skinny-scrawny again. Ugh.

On the upside, getting your gains back is easier than getting them that first time.

 

[Zeze]

On the upside, getting your gains back is easier than getting them that first time.

Aye.

 

[mikeymikec]

Crunches are even worse, putting your neck in flexion...

I didn't know that (though I had noticed the strain on my neck and was attempting to correct it). I was just starting to roll chest crunches into my routine, perhaps I'll be going for situps instead!

 

[RPD]

oohh, yes (humble brag time!)

 

[Zeze]

Wow. It's outdoor too. Which region are you from? (hot or cold)