January Q and A thread
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I got my first workout today with my new Chuck Taylor Ox Bow shoes. Holy smokes, they rock! I've been lifting with regular tennis shoes for years, which when I got heavy squats meant my sessions would typically be limited, at least in part, to how well my knees held up.
Today, I didn't feel a thing, not a blessed thing, from my knees the entire squat/deadlift session. How blessed was that!2 -
Where on earth, and WHY on earth do you have a MFP shirt? UNSUBSCRIBE1
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Hey Patrick! Your client Jen here
I just watched your first video reply to AigreDoux about nutrient timing. I match one of your scenarios (fairly lean and attempting a lean bulk) where you said you would want to see good pre- and post- workout nutrition. I currently do eat both before and after my workouts, but I'd be really interested to hear if you have any specific recommendations on macros and calories for each (quick reminder: current intake is ~2800 calories with 130g+ protein and typically 370-380g carbs). Maybe we can chat about this in our next call? Thanks! 0 -
jenbob1985 wrote: »Hey Patrick! Your client Jen here I just watched your first video reply to AigreDoux about nutrient timing. I match one of your scenarios (fairly lean and attempting a lean bulk) where you said you would want to see good pre- and post- workout nutrition. I currently do eat both before and after my workouts, but I'd be really interested to hear if you have any specific recommendations on macros and calories for each (quick reminder: current intake is ~2800 calories with 130g+ protein and typically 370-380g carbs). Maybe we can chat about this in our next call? Thanks!jenbob1985 wrote: »Hey Patrick! Your client Jen here I just watched your first video reply to AigreDoux about nutrient timing. I match one of your scenarios (fairly lean and attempting a lean bulk) where you said you would want to see good pre- and post- workout nutrition. I currently do eat both before and after my workouts, but I'd be really interested to hear if you have any specific recommendations on macros and calories for each (quick reminder: current intake is ~2800 calories with 130g+ protein and typically 370-380g carbs). Maybe we can chat about this in our next call? Thanks!
Definitely
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Thanks again!! A million!!
In regards to the protein powder thing, how important is 3rd party testing? I assume you are talking about an independent lab confirming that it actually has protein and not just random powder? There are some "organic" brands that use Stevia as a sweetener. (example - https://www.amazon.com/Orgain-Protein-Powder-Creamy-Chocolate/dp/B01AAFZYX2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1483537197&sr=8-1&keywords=orgain+whey&th=1) but not sure how to see if they are tested.
Splenda is one of two foods I don't like. Had to stop drinking Diet Pepsi over it. Have one cousin with the same issue but everyone else seems to love it. Go figure.
Made overnight oats as per your suggestion last night. Just greek yogurt and plain oatmeal. Could only stomach 2 bites of that at 4:30. Ate another half of the bowl post workout between 6 and 6:30. Finishing it now (8:45). 37C/3F/28P. Will try this for a few weeks and see if I can notice a difference.
Does this apply to cardio as well? Some mornings I get up and run 3-5 miles, do I need to be as concerned about it on those days or not?1 -
Thanks again!! A million!!
In regards to the protein powder thing, how important is 3rd party testing? I assume you are talking about an independent lab confirming that it actually has protein and not just random powder? There are some "organic" brands that use Stevia as a sweetener. (example - https://www.amazon.com/Orgain-Protein-Powder-Creamy-Chocolate/dp/B01AAFZYX2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1483537197&sr=8-1&keywords=orgain+whey&th=1) but not sure how to see if they are tested.
Splenda is one of two foods I don't like. Had to stop drinking Diet Pepsi over it. Have one cousin with the same issue but everyone else seems to love it. Go figure.
Made overnight oats as per your suggestion last night. Just greek yogurt and plain oatmeal. Could only stomach 2 bites of that at 4:30. Ate another half of the bowl post workout between 6 and 6:30. Finishing it now (8:45). 37C/3F/28P. Will try this for a few weeks and see if I can notice a difference.
Does this apply to cardio as well? Some mornings I get up and run 3-5 miles, do I need to be as concerned about it on those days or not?
That's basically what I'm referring to with 3rd party testing. At the very least, go with a reputable brand.
I wouldn't be as concerned about nutrient timing with respect to cardio -- or at least I'd consider it of slightly lesser importance.0 -
jenbob1985 wrote: »...current intake is ~2800 calories...
Looking like that with 2800 calories?!? #jealous
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As per the other thread, Ive started with your version of 5/3/1 this week.
When I started lifting (20 months back) I was doing Stronglifts 5x5, and when I deviated from that I continued with a 5x5 approach.
I am finding the accessory work on 5/3/1, being sets of 10, exhausting!
Im taking longer breaks between sets, and may consider lowering the weight a bit if I dont adapt (still preferring to complete a cycle first and evaluate then), but was wondering if there are any other tips to dealing with/adapting to the extra volume.
For example, squats today, 4 x 10 x 52.5kg.
I can knock out sets of 5 all day long, no problem. First set of 10 and I was feeling it!
I did all 4, but I knew I had been in the gym at that pont
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I have a question on Butt Wink
I have noticed that when I am squatting using the high bar style that I get quite a bit of butt wink before I even hit parallel. I have tried adjusting my stances from narrow to wide and even tried pushing out my knees slightly further. This has only marginally decreased the point where butt wink occurs.
Would this be chalked up to having poor moblilty? ie being very very stiff (Could not resist it) or would I need some more refinement on my squat technique? 0 -
TexanCowboy wrote: »I have a question on Butt Wink
I have noticed that when I am squatting using the high bar style that I get quite a bit of butt wink before I even hit parallel. I have tried adjusting my stances from narrow to wide and even tried pushing out my knees slightly further. This has only marginally decreased the point where butt wink occurs.
Would this be chalked up to having poor moblilty? ie being very very stiff (Could not resist it) or would I need some more refinement on my squat technique?
A video would be of great help here. It could be any number of things, including not actually a "butt-wink," but just having your back arched too much at the beginning, so that you're just getting back to neutral.
In addition - have you tried low-bar and/or is there a particular reason you squat high-bar?1 -
^I was going to ask about low bar too. Also, have you tried squat shoes?0
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samhennings wrote: »I am finding the accessory work on 5/3/1, being sets of 10, exhausting!
Im taking longer breaks between sets, and may consider lowering the weight a bit if I dont adapt (still preferring to complete a cycle first and evaluate then), but was wondering if there are any other tips to dealing with/adapting to the extra volume.
Per the other thread, you'll be increasing the accessory weights from one cycle to the next, so if you're having troubles now it'll only get worse. Perhaps consider dropping the weight for now so you can get used to the reps as you get stronger for future cycles.0 -
A video would be of great help here. It could be any number of things, including not actually a "butt-wink," but just having your back arched too much at the beginning, so that you're just getting back to neutral.
In addition - have you tried low-bar and/or is there a particular reason you squat high-bar?
Sorry about the delayed reply could only get into the gym today. Hope the video helps
In regards to low-bar. I have tried it a couple of times but it always felt so awkward so never really carried on with it. So I just stuck with doing high-bar._benjammin wrote: »^I was going to ask about low bar too. Also, have you tried squat shoes?
I have not
I only started looking into getting myself a pair of squat shoes when I noticed what I thought was "Butt Wink". I don't think my Asics are helping much in that department.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwkAVcAm-v8 0 -
^ Video is set to private -- please change to unlisted or public. Thanks!0
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Yup.
That's mild/moderate IMO. Squat looks decent from a technique standpoint. You could try squat shoes just to see if this makes it any better. I'd be curious to see the squat from knee height from the side to see how deep you are going. It looks like you're well below parallel here but that's hard to gauge when I'm not looking at it around knee height.
IF you are well below parallel you could cut depth a bit and see how much that helps.0 -
One additional thing. It appears you're looking downward. I don't know if it will help with this, but it'll almost certainly help in the future - look forward. Try to pick a point directly in front of your face and stare at it throughout the lift. With looking down, you'll probably find that you collapse with heavier weight. I know I had that issue when I trained in front of a mirror - take a peak to see how the knees look/depth...and fail.0
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End of week one feedback......
So here's one way you could attempt to set this up. Consider this as somewhat of napkin programming but I think this is likely to work well for you.
I'm going to list this in lbs instead of kg, hopefully that''s not too annoying. I'll assume 3 training days per week, I'll assume you're benching first as your main press movement (meaning, if you squat before that, fine, but I'm assuming you're not doing things like a tricep extension before benching which I doubt you would because you know better)
I'm going to outline this such that the TOP LINE is week 1 and each line below that is the next WEEK.
Day 1
4 x 8 @ 165
4 x 7 @ 170
4 x 6 @ 175
5 x 5 @ 180
5 x 4 @ 185
6 x 3 @ 195
Day 3
4 x 5 @ 180
5 x 4 @ 190
6 x 3 @ 200
6 x 2 @ 210
8 x 1 @ 220
Test AMRAP at 220 week 6
Skip all pressing movements on day 2 week 6 -- so basically whatever you do at your non benching gym in that middle session, skip pressing entirely for recovery and maybe take it easy on other stuff as well.
I would expect the first few weeks to be pretty easy although it's possible that even at the lower intensities you may still feel like this is a good amount of volume since you're doing straight sets across
For warmups I'll just list 1 example of how you could do this, lets assume it's Day 3 @ 180lbs
Empty bar 1 to 2 sets of 10+
95 x 8 (optional if you can go straight to 135)
135 x 6 - 8
155 x 4
170 x 1 to 2
180 working sets
Example for 220
Empty Bar 1 to 2 sets of 10+
95 x 8 (optional if you can go straight to 135)
135 x 6 - 8
155 x 4
175 x 1 to 2
190 x 1
205 x 1
220 working sets
The other thing I'd add to the above is that I'd expect the following things, or I'd recommend them:
1) On the middle day where you're at your non benching gym I'd keep rep ranges in the 6 to 15 range depending on the exercise and I'd make sure you're limiting it to about RPE 8 on most sets. Don't take pressing movements to failure and don't do an assload of volume.
2) On the main benching days I would expect your RPE on working sets to range between about 6 and 8 for most sets with the final sets being slightly more challenging, but I wouldn't expect you to be flirting with failure at all.
Let me know if you have questions, you're not obligated to run this just because I took the time to lay it out. I found this question interesting and I've been doing a lot of thinking about programming in the past few weeks so I felt compelled to crank this out -- no guarantees to others in this thread that I'll always do this to this level of detail but you're of course always welcome to ask.
Your estimated loading ranges for the working sets were excellent!
Week one Day 1
4 x 8 @ 165lbs suggested - actual was 4 x 7 @ 165
Week one Day 3
4 x 5 @ 180lbs suggested - actual was 4 x 5 @ 176
Knocked it back slightly as shoulder grumbling a bit and also realised I had been a bit lazy on form recently on my lighter lifts (just pumping them out because I could....). Concentrating on a plan rather than doing things by feel sharpened me up a bit.
Kept the RPE down this first week by lifting without safety bars to ensure I kept a couple of reps in the bank.
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End of week one feedback......
Your estimated loading ranges for the working sets were excellent!
Week one Day 1
4 x 8 @ 165lbs suggested - actual was 4 x 7 @ 165
Week one Day 3
4 x 5 @ 180lbs suggested - actual was 4 x 5 @ 176
Knocked it back slightly as shoulder grumbling a bit and also realised I had been a bit lazy on form recently on my lighter lifts (just pumping them out because I could....). Concentrating on a plan rather than doing things by feel sharpened me up a bit.
Kept the RPE down this first week by lifting without safety bars to ensure I kept a couple of reps in the bank.
Excellent. Yeah you're definitely going to be better off keeping RPE a tad conservative in the beginning.
I would expect strength to go up and ALSO RPE to go up slightly as it gets heavier.
Glad you enjoyed it!
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I added BB rows as super-sets with my 4x12 bench press day, went way too heavy (used the same bar for both bench and rows). Completed all the reps, but there's no way I'd be able to keep increasing with passing weeks at the same rate as my bench. Gonna have to do the math to figure out my 1RM for rows and then back off to the same percentage I reckon.
Only got in three sets of squats on heavy DL day. It's been forever since I did legs twice in a single week, it took something out of me this morning!
I also forgot to do the "+" part of the last heavy set on everything but the bench. Oops.0 -
Just stopping by to say thanks for the tip on the bench grip. I was definitely gripping the bench like a baseball bat which was adding unneccessary torque on my wrists. feels much more comfortable gripping it deep in the palms.
Additional question since you appear to be the master. One of my goals for the new year is to get back to squatting. My main limitation when I attempt them (no weight or light weight) is severe lack of mobility in the hip and groin region.
What do consider the go to resources for fixing this issue.
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Just stopping by to say thanks for the tip on the bench grip. I was definitely gripping the bench like a baseball bat which was adding unneccessary torque on my wrists. feels much more comfortable gripping it deep in the palms.
Additional question since you appear to be the master. One of my goals for the new year is to get back to squatting. My main limitation when I attempt them (no weight or light weight) is severe lack of mobility in the hip and groin region.
What do consider the go to resources for fixing this issue.
one thing you can try to do is a rockback test on all fours to diagnose whether it's actually hip mobility or not.
Place your fee up against a wall while on all fours and rock your hips backwards. See if you can get your hips below your knees while on all fours. In theory, this would demonstrate that you have the necessary mobility to hit a deep squat position and the issues you have may not directly be mobility related, it could be balance or proprioception.
Additionally, sometimes due to hip anatomy people get bone on bone contact at the bottom of the squat depending on the angle of the hip sockets and the shape of the femoral neck.
In some cases it's a matter of experimentation -- try going narrower and also try wider and see if either of these provides an easier time hitting depth.
Finally, if it ends up being tightness in those areas you can try some general mobility work like segments of Agile 8 or Limber 11 (Joe DeFranco), you can try foam rolling just before squatting to see if you get a short term mobility benefit, you can try frequent goblet squatting to a box and over weeks, lower the box (start with it at a height that you can hit depth, obviously.
Those are initial thoughts anyway.1 -
First time doing standing military ohp at a gym, the only bar under #45 was an ez curl bar. My question is, does using a curved bar for military press effect the exercise, or make it less effective as a shoulder workout?
Thanks, any input appreciated...0 -
First time doing standing military ohp at a gym, the only bar under #45 was an ez curl bar. My question is, does using a curved bar for military press effect the exercise, or make it less effective as a shoulder workout?
Thanks, any input appreciated...
Shouldn't make it less effective necessarily.
What is the overall goal you're trying to achieve with the overhead press?
One option may be to just use dumbbells.
I'd be very mildly concerned for safety regarding grip on the curl bar for overhead pressing but if it's comfortable for you, have at it.0 -
Thanks @SideSteel and @TR0berts. I got some squat shoes over the weekend and adjusted my head position. Everything is a lot smoother now and I don't seem to feel it as much. Thanks for all the help!!!2
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I still have a habit on OHP of leaning back as I do them. Is it more a matter of strengthening my core, or throwing my hips back slightly? Or am I just overachieving and need to cut the weights back even further? (I'm already at only a fraction of the weight I can use during a seated OHP.)0
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one thing you can try to do is a rockback test on all fours to diagnose whether it's actually hip mobility or not.
Place your fee up against a wall while on all fours and rock your hips backwards. See if you can get your hips below your knees while on all fours. In theory, this would demonstrate that you have the necessary mobility to hit a deep squat position and the issues you have may not directly be mobility related, it could be balance or proprioception.
Additionally, sometimes due to hip anatomy people get bone on bone contact at the bottom of the squat depending on the angle of the hip sockets and the shape of the femoral neck.
In some cases it's a matter of experimentation -- try going narrower and also try wider and see if either of these provides an easier time hitting depth.
Finally, if it ends up being tightness in those areas you can try some general mobility work like segments of Agile 8 or Limber 11 (Joe DeFranco), you can try foam rolling just before squatting to see if you get a short term mobility benefit, you can try frequent goblet squatting to a box and over weeks, lower the box (start with it at a height that you can hit depth, obviously.
Those are initial thoughts anyway.
It wasn't directed at me, but thanks for posting that rockback test. I have big trouble hitting parallel on squats (I'm 6'6"), and I just tried that test. No problem getting my hips well below my knees, but my ankle flexibility completely sucks - I can't get my heels against the wall no matter what I do.
If I try to do a standing body weight squat, I have to keep my back at about a 45 degree angle as I descend and can't hit parallel without falling over backward (and it gets worse when I do weighted squats). I can go ATG and keep my upper body fairly upright with my heels on the ground if I hang on to something in front of me, but I'd be on my butt the second I let go.
Interesting test. I've always wondered if my lack of mobility was in my hips or ankles. Now I know why I look like an origami project and can only hit about 3/4 depth when squatting.0 -
I apologise, and you've probably heard this question a million times, but I can't seem to find it (why can't we search just in this forum grrrrr).
Is there any reason why dropping to low calories for an extended period of time to lose weight would be bad?
For reference, I would be talking about 1000 - 1200 calories a day, most likely eaten in an 8 hour window. I weigh ~200lbs so this would be below BMR.
I know this would most likely not be the advised method, but for my mental health this method would be preferable to me. I can't remember if we're on the "starvation mode is a myth" or "starvation mode is valid" train of thought.
I would also be training at the end of the fast and then eating immediately (which I know is not your preference SideSteel from your response to Aigre) so could split up my end fast meal to eat pre and post training if needed.0 -
It wasn't directed at me, but thanks for posting that rockback test. I have big trouble hitting parallel on squats (I'm 6'6"), and I just tried that test. No problem getting my hips well below my knees, but my ankle flexibility completely sucks - I can't get my heels against the wall no matter what I do.
If I try to do a standing body weight squat, I have to keep my back at about a 45 degree angle as I descend and can't hit parallel without falling over backward (and it gets worse when I do weighted squats). I can go ATG and keep my upper body fairly upright with my heels on the ground if I hang on to something in front of me, but I'd be on my butt the second I let go.
Interesting test. I've always wondered if my lack of mobility was in my hips or ankles. Now I know why I look like an origami project and can only hit about 3/4 depth when squatting.
If you don't have squatting shoes with an elevated heel you should definitely consider it.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaRJTVsUGzs&feature=youtu.be
This discussion has been closed.