JonDrees Member

1-8 reps is going to be your ideal rep range. After your newbie gains are done, it'll be tough to gain much strength without adding size, though.

30-45 degrees might be a little extreme, but 5-15 degrees is fine. If you need to go out that far, you probably have some underlying ankle mobility or core stability issues.

Raised calf raises just increase the range of motion. Doing 100 reps of calf raises will do very little for the size of the muscle. Stick with squats and deadlifts.

Just to buck the trend a little, I'd recommend going barefoot/socks whenever possible vs. adding tons of padding to your shoes. If you have access to a nice strip of grass/turf you could try some walking or jogging on it, if your PF allows. Also, there are plenty of HIIT style workouts you could complete that require…

Most people I see are 5-15% stronger with a trap bar. If they use the high handles, it's probably closer to 25%.

I have an hour or two, so I figured I'd bump this ancient thread. Fire away if you have any questions.

In a sense, your lower back is suppose to be tight. Try stretching your hips and your chest, and work on your technique.

I actually recommend it before strength training in most cases. If your goal is maximal strength, I would switch it to after, but if you are like the average person that wants to gain some muscle and lose some body fat, it's probably more optimal to do it beforehand. This is assuming you are doing the typical 10-20 minutes…

A client bought be some new shades B)

Not lifting related, but set a new PR on my vertical jump! https://www.instagram.com/p/BW8MzQ-DQAi/?taken-by=jondrees

You would maintain muscle in a cut the same as you would put on muscle in a bulk. The mistake many people make in a cutting phase is that they switch over to light weight and high reps, but I would stay in the 1-12 rep range.

Two 30 minute workouts should be superior to one 60 minute workout, but for most people the difference would be minimal, which probably doesn't make it worth the hassle.

I found this TDEE calculator to be really easy to use and accurate for my clients - https://tdeecalculator.net/

When you start a new program it could take up to a week to recover completely. In normal circumstances, it should only last 1-3 days.

BCAA are great for you, but I get mine from eating meat and taking whey protein....there is probably no need for you to take them individually.

It's possible, but challenging. "Don't worry about calories" is another way of saying "don't worrying about how your body looks." You need to know how many calories you are taking in and how many you are burning, otherwise you are very unlikely to reach your goal.

No PRs here, but it felt good to get back to lifting a little heavier after nursing injuries for 6 months. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTW2FncDqN0/?taken-by=jondrees are Instagram videos blocked now?

Speaking from a coach's perspective, I put things in my clients' programs based on what I feel they need to reach their intended goals - nothing more, nothing less. While you may feel there is things in there that are not necessary, whoever wrote your program (hopefully) had a good reason for putting them there. With that…

An over extended back is just as bad as a rounded back. By pulling the ribcage down into a neutral position, OP would be much safer and stronger.

You're misinterpreting what chest down means.

One thing that I don't think anyone has touched on yet is your set up. You are in what I would call an extended position - knees locked, back arched, ribcage up. I would try to pull your chest down, unlock your knees, and tuck your butt under. When you finish a rep, end with "soft" knees and come forward with your hips.

Single leg work can be fatiguing to the muscles of your feet. Shoes probably won't change much. Gradually your feet will get stronger. You could try holding onto a squat rack with one of your hands as you perform the exercise. This will reduce the need for stability until your body adjusts to the exercise.

I think it's better to select exercises based on movements, not whether it's targeting a certain muscle. So you might pick 1-3 exercises that are knee dominate and 1-3 exercises that are hip dominate for your lower body day. For upper body, you would pick 1-3 pushing exercises and 1-3 pulling exercises. To go a little more…

With your height, you might not be a good candidate for deep squats - it really depends on segment lengths though. A wide stance does allow for disproportionately long femur people to squat easier, but it's important to push the knees out just as far as your shoes. Like others have said, without a video there isn't much…

Raising the heel does make squatting easier for most people, but it also places more stress on the knee.

I know there are people that love running for various reasons other than just to burn a few calories - many of my clients run. They just have to be smart and work on correcting the imbalances that running causes. Even I enjoy running to clear my head and to think (probably much shorter distances than most of you though :)…

I'm not sure, it would be kind of comparing apples to oranges, though because I don't think there has been a study that has compared multiple forms of exercises into one study. Just doing a quick Google search I found a little info: Cause of injuries in triathletes: Running - 50% Cycling - 43% Swimming - 7% I just read…

It depends. If they are really green, I don't worry about their 1RM. They probably don't have the technique to perform a max. Plus, their strength will go up after each session, so there is no benefit in knowing what they can do for 1 rep on any given week (other than tracking progress). So, with them I would just find a…

For the most part, if they are a weight loss/fat loss client, I just do arm, waist, hip, and thigh measurements. We test every 4-6 weeks. You won't see much improvement in less than a month's time. Diet. Things are easy when they are losing each week, it gets tough when they have to wait 1-2 months for those same results.