xidia Member

This happens depressingly often. I would just stand your ground: "Thank you for your advice. However, I'd really like to do this programme, so in this session with you I would like you to check my form." You could also point him at gokaleo.com :smile:

The Smith exists because it was a great commercial proposition several decades ago. It's easy to teach, because the machine does much of the fine control work for you by holding the bar in grooves. This means commercial gyms could use less-experienced PT staff and put everyone on Smith machines rather than free weights.…

Er, what? Start with a light weight (preloaded bars or the lightweight studio bars if the oly one is too heavy), get the form right and then increase the weight. If bodyweight squats and a 5kg deadlift are what you can start with, start with those. But to compare those two lifts to one handed push-ups and the Pacific ocean…

I'd really suggest following Starting Strength. 5 lifts to learn, 3 sessions per week. The first is Squat, Bench, Pendlay Row, the second is Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift and then you just alternate between the two workouts every time you hit the gym. Barbell work will strengthen your core and work more stabiliser…

Love the title! Macy - my running pace has got faster (to the point that my CV system can't fuel the power my legs can produce) through weightlifting so you may well be right with the backpacking. I'm hiking next weekend for the first time since October (pre-lifting) so I'll let you know if it seems easier :) Deadlift day…

Keep lifting 2 or 3 times a week. This will be harder than it sounds with moving house, a hen party and a wedding plus finishing off prep for my wedding! Keep eating at 1700+ exercise and 80g+ protein per day. That's it. The weights will do what the weights will do this month.

Starting Strength or Strong Lifts - 3/week full body workouts centering on 5 main lifts. (Squats each workout, then overhead press + deadlift one session and bench press + Pendlay row the next.)

Sounds to me like you're not eating enough in general and your body is crying out for fuel. Can you get something like a tuna salad (light or no dressing) for lunch and chicken with steamed veg and rice dinner? And then check out In Place Of A Roadmap…

I aim for 90-100g protein per day and 1700 cals plus exercise. My diary is open: this week isn't too bad, last week was terrible, but anything from 2 weeks back is a pretty standard week to see what I eat.

I have scoliosis and what I thought was chronic lower back pain. Lifting is the only thing that has ever made a difference. (Hours and hours of "ab and core work" did nothing - lifting heavy for 4 months sorted it right out.) Take it slow, get the form right, and don't go above what your core can support, and you'll be…

For push-ups, don't do the modified knee push-ups: they're a different exercise. Do full ones, but raise your arms onto a reebok step, or some other stable-off-the-floor surface - I guess the lowest stair or two in a flight would work too. As you get stronger, reduce the height until you are doing them flat on the floor.…

Drive by hi and totally random comments based on what I can remember from scanning the thread: Kira - great story! It's always nice to know that someone else find one attractive! Dani - love the photo. I might need to show my Mum that. May Goals - congrats to those that hit them and well done to those who made progress.…

I'm going to take a guess and say it's down to increased muscle size (not mass, size, eg glycogen and water). For men, it may well be that plus increased muscle mass, but it's unlikely for a woman. If you're not already lean, I'd expect it to go away as you drop body fat and the circumference of your thighs decreases.

I did the exact opposite. It depends on your priority. My priority then was a triathlon, so I did cardio first and lifts second. Now I've done the triathlon and my priority is body recomposition, so I lift first, and run when I can (now on different days). I'd suggest starting one for a month or two, then adding the other…

Rippetoe has a section on young person lifting in Practical Programming. I haven't checked his citations (if he gives any) but it was basically that you're never too young or old as long as you programme properly.

Another UK breakfast code: HLRQCZ And for the normal UK box: 2GN9W42

Thanks. If only we had a functioning forum-specific search :)

I figured I'm shorter (5'4") than the average guy so to get the same biomechanical position I should be pulling from lower anyway. Many women here stack up unused plates under the plates that are loaded on the bar to raise it. I'm lazy, and find the rolling around every time I put it down on stacked plates intensely…

Tameko - great squat and lovely turn of phrase! Kira - sweet potato brownies sound lovely! Can you post the recipe to the food thread please? Dani - sounds like a great week. If you wanted to continue trying to run, have you had yourself fitted for some proper running shoes with gait analysis. That can make a world of…

I guess there's a scale from "time to reset" to "time to start a new set" and the question is where one becomes the other. Training with singles is a valid approach, so it's not like it's going to be harming you. It may mean you're pulling closer to your 1RM than 5RM, but unless you compete, the numbers don't really matter…

I use a protein shake in the morning on my cereal. I have meat in my lunch, and usually wholemeal bread which also has some protein. Dinner always includes meat, ideally 30g+ protein, and if I'm running short garden peas are a great way to add it. I snack on nuts and I have milk in my tea, all of which add up in 1s and 2s.…

See, I would say it is failing, but I that's not based on very much other than the programme is 1x5, not 5x1. Maybe Tameko can clear it up?

Muscle and strength aren't build while you're lifting, they're built while you're recovering from a controlled overload. So you do the overload in the gym, and then you rest/recover so the muscle can adapt. 3x whole body compound lifts a week is ideal for most recreational lifters. If you want to go more often then look…

I'm still not on the Oly bar several months in! I've switched to fractional weights, so I go up 1 or 2lbs a time at the moment. OHP is the hardest lift for women to make progress on, so there's no shame at all in dropping to smaller increases. Any progression is good - ideally weight (however small!), but adding just one…

All the exercises mentioned, plus eat protein (1g/lb LBM/day) and a slight caloric surplus. Be prepared to diet away the fat that you'll inevitably gain while eating a surplus, but if you do a good resistance routine (lifting heavy is the most efficient, but othet regimes work too) most of what you gain will be muscle.

Not caught up on reading, sadly. First session with the PT today. It seems I'm switching to a one-lift-per-workout schedule with weekly weight increases. I'm happy to give it a go for a bit: squats and dead were getting HARD. So, Romanian Deadlifts today to focus on the posterior chain, then a regular set, then some split…

I either pull from the floor on the first rep in each set then from a hang on the subsequent ones at "about" big plate level, or I set the bar up on a Reebok step and pull each rep from that. It just depends on whether the step is free or not.

The best thing I did for my back was to start lifting barbells, following Strong Lifts 5x5. Get advice from your Dr though, to make sure that your back isn't in such a curved state that moving large proportions of your body weight in compound (whole body) lifts around isn't going to damage it! If that programme is not…

What's your height, weight, age and how much have you been told to lose? What's the degree of your scoliosis? You could post in the scoliosis group here for more informed advice from fellow sufferers: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7164-scoliosis

Great job! Those are surprisingly high numbers to start with for 5x5, so you may find you stall out much earlier than if you start with lower weights. But if you can do them and it's not killing you yet, it might be worth sticking with them.