WTF is this exercise for??

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emmab0902
emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My trainer has me doing squats with a 5kg medicine ball held out in front with straight arms.

He says it's about "engaging the core" bla bla.

But

He knows I want to build strength particularly upper body, yet he has me doing this squat exercise instead of squats with a barbell!!

And the only shoulder exercises he has me doing are alternating front and sides raises (one arm goes front one goes side) with 5lb weights for 20 reps on a frigging bosu ball.

Am I missing something here?? Is this medicine ball squat thing something special and more effective than it seems. I should add that he actually told me to use a 2kg medicine ball but I upped it to 5kg myself.
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Replies

  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    He's probably used to working with sissy lala girls. Up the weight if you feel you can. A front squat will engage the core and shoulders if done properly.
    If you're really trying to strength upper body, do bench press which will hit pecks and triceps, lat pulldowns will hit lats and biceps, overhead military shoulder press will hit shoulders and a bit of triceps.
  • DKBelle
    DKBelle Posts: 585
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    Check out www.bodyrock.tv
    There are many exercises building strength.
    I hope you will find something!
    My trainer has me doing squats with a 5kg medicine ball held out in front with straight arms.

    He says it's about "engaging the core" bla bla.

    But

    He knows I want to build strength particularly upper body, yet he has me doing this squat exercise instead of squats with a barbell!!

    And the only shoulder exercises he has me doing are alternating front and sides raises (one arm goes front one goes side) with 5lb weights for 20 reps on a frigging bosu ball.

    Am I missing something here?? Is this medicine ball squat thing something special and more effective than it seems. I should add that he actually told me to use a 2kg medicine ball but I upped it to 5kg myself.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
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    He's probably used to working with sissy lala girls. Up the weight if you feel you can. A front squat will engage the core and shoulders if done properly.
    If you're really trying to strength upper body, do bench press which will hit pecks and triceps, lat pulldowns will hit lats and biceps, overhead military shoulder press will hit shoulders and a bit of triceps.

    He had me doing all the strength stuff at 3 sets of 15 reps with 30 seconds rest. Have changed that to 4 sets of 8 reps and am sure can feel progress whereas with his high rep stuff I wasn't getting anywhere.

    I do do military press with dumbells at home although so far am only managing 4 sets of 8 with 6kg dumbells - that should indicate I need to improve a lot lol. Am going to invest in a good barbell/dumbell weights set in the coming month.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    When I see a person with nice shoulders, I compliment them. I know it's very difficult for me to see noticeable results.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    repost
  • aa1440
    aa1440 Posts: 956 Member
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    If you think your trainer is not helping you try someone else.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
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    If you think your trainer is not helping you try someone else.

    Unfortunately he is the only one at my gym and am loathe to change gyms as this one allows me membership of the gym and pool - its the only one in my city with a swimming pool and I love swimming.

    I think I will just take the best of his advice and flick the rest.
  • buddha5050
    buddha5050 Posts: 40 Member
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    Try this I have seen many people both men and women have great success with it I am having excellent success so far as well. Just keep with it after a few weeks you will start to see good results.
    http://www.cutandjacked.com/Workout-Dr-Layne-Norton
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    You might need to restate your goals to him. If he still can't adjust it to fit your needs you might be better off building your own routines. Also if it's too light tell him. As a trainer he should be able to tell after a few reps if you're at a good weight.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
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    Problem is I think he is set on high reps low weight as he thinks it will help me burn more fat.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Problem is I think he is set on high reps low weight as he thinks it will help me burn more fat.
    \

    Ack. If that's the case, fire your trainer immediately. You can do better on your own than following someone else's horrible advice.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
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    I was offended - sheesh I think he has more body fat than me lol.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I wish their was more of a standard for people to become certified as a personal trainer. I mean, some people are extremely qualified and take it very seriously...then there's others who took a 3 day course and think they know everything there is to know when they only know a few tidbits and a lot of myths which they like to perpetuate, lol.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    Over the years I've been a member at four different gyms and they all had one thing in common - hopeless staff. From personal trainers who insisted I had to run on the treadmill for an hour (I've been on anti-arthritic medication for my knees since I was 14 and high impact is a big no-no) to one who, on my first visit, before asking my goals, looked me up and down and said "so you're here to lose weight, then?". No! Yes, I want to lose some weight but the main aim for me of exercising is to get my body working to the best it can be and for my heart and lungs to be fit and well enough to keep me going till I'm 100.

    I gave up in the end and bought a book and CD by a trainer called David Marshall. The version I bought from his website came with a CD, which is loaded up to my iPod and talks me through each exercise in turn. You have to do it in an exact order on the basis that it helps you 'clean as you go', with each exercise stretching out the muscles used during the previous exercise, preventing lactic acid build-up. It's meant I can do up to two hours at the gym without aching the next day - which means I've got faster results. It may be too basic for anyone who is past a certain level of fitness but I love it (and he does train a lot of British footballers using the same routine, so maybe the fitter you are you just up the weights?).

    I've just checked his website (bodydoctor.co.uk) but it doesn't seem to be working :(

    His basic book (without the CD) is on Amazon UK but not sure if you can get it in the US. Perhaps there is something similar you can get in the US for your iPod?
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,337 Member
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    I'm not in the US I am in New Zealand but will have a look for that sounds good.
  • symegeer
    symegeer Posts: 143 Member
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    I don't know if this helps but my all time fave shoulder move is (and I'm not sure what it's called):

    Start with dumbells held out directly in front of you, arms fully extended, weights either held horizontally or vertically (works slightly different muscles each way). Bring your arms up and out over your head in a triangle (keeping arms fully extended), so you end with your arms above your head but out wider than hip width apart. You're drawing a triangle in the air with your dumbells. It's my favourite for 'coconut shoulders', those awesome defined shoulders that I lust after! If I use a weight that I can barely complete a second set with, that's about right.

    Good luck with all your goals!
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    Cancel your PT plan. You're obviously not happy, nor getting good service. You can get better routines and help online or from books.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    I'm not in the US I am in New Zealand but will have a look for that sounds good.

    Doh! Totally forgot! Milford Sound is top of my places to see before I die list ;)
  • JamesBurkes
    JamesBurkes Posts: 382 Member
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    Sadly, fitness, like music and fashion, goes through trends and fads.

    At the moment we seem to be going through a "work the core through instability" trend. Now, I may be old-fashioned but to build strong muscles and work the core you just can't beat loading up the weights and lifting heavy, and maybe doing directed ab work. Doing curls on one leg, squats on a Bosu or shoulder raises in Warrior Three may be difficult but just because it is a difficult action doesn't mean it's working the body harder and is more effective.

    For example, I'm still dubious about the whole "core" thing as a concept, primarily because I have a weak "core" but I can do planks and side planks all day long as well as most of the other moves that supposedly work the core. Throw me some good old fashioned "ab work" though, and I can feel the burn instantly and am failing all over the place.

    This whole "instability" thing seems pointless to me unless you are training for some activity that actually requires you to work on an unstable surface (like maybe skiing or sailing). Apart from that, I just can't see the benefits over working heavy, with compound movements.
  • JamesBurkes
    JamesBurkes Posts: 382 Member
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    And of course these trends extend to other aspects as well, another being HIIT. HIIT is definitely a useful tool to have in your arsenal but I see so much misinformation about how much "afterburn" you get from it, and people get so evangelical about it and so dismissive of other options, I can't help but wonder if some people are missing out on a lot of benefits of alternative workout styles. Don't get me wrong - I do HIIT twice a week. But Low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio definitely has a place despite a lot of HIIT evangelists being so sniffy about it. HIIT is great at improving fitness quickly, but burning fat? I really don't know - I've always had the best results from powerwalking up hills for 90 - 120 mins. Time consuming, yes! But it burns calories like Hell, keeps you in the fat burning zone for hours, is low impact so can be done every day (try doing HIIT every day and see how long it takes you to cough up a lung!) and can be relaxing mentally, too. That is what has always worked for me.

    As I say, HIIT has a purpose and I do it myself. But as with all fitness trends, people get so caught up in their "I'm right, you're wrong!" mentality that some trends become far more pervasive than they should. Just to go back to the core example - in the 80s and 90s I remember the idea was to isolate the abs so you could work them efficiently without other muscles, like the hip flexors, interfering. Now it's the opposite - you want to hit everything from your knees to your nipples to hit the core. However, all I know is I can do core work all day and not feel it. Doing direct ab-work (leg raises, crunches, seated twists, windscreen wipers etc) and my midsection is on fire.

    The best thing IMO is just to try things then see what works for YOU....

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